UK-based TalkTalk announced CEO Tristia Harrison would step down as it outlined plans to split into three separate business units, a move which will result in job losses.

In a statement, TalkTalk explained the demerger of its operating businesses will lead to the creation of three standalone companies: B2B Wholesale Platform; TalkTalk Consumer; and TalkTalk Business Direct.

The businesses will respectively be headed by current company executives Tom O’Hagan, Adam Dunlop and Ruth Kennedy.

A limited number of redundancies will occur as a result, primarily from central corporate functions.

Harrison has been CEO since 2017 and will oversee the demerger plan by chairing a newly established oversight board.

The new companies will become operationally separate from 1 November and legally separate from 1 March 2024. At this point, Harrison will move to become a non-executive director of the B2B Wholesale Platform business.

Each company will “focus on meeting the needs of their distinctive customer bases”, eliminate operational complexity, and support balance sheet refinancing and investment on a standalone basis.

UK newspaper The Telegraph reported in August the company was mulling a three-way split as it faced pressure to meet deadlines to repay a debt load which stood at more than £1.1 billion.

It had appeared in 2022 TalkTalk could be subject to a £3 billion takeover by VMO2, however talks were abandoned.

Vodafone Group, BT Group and Sky have also been linked with a take over of TalkTalk in the past.