VODAFONE today moved to plug a major gap on its board by re-employing a former director who has been a long-standing friend and colleague of chief executive Arun Sarin.

Vittorio Colao, 44, left Vodafone two years ago to run Italian publisher RCS Media, which owns Italy's leading newspapers Corriere della Sera and Gazetta dello Sport.

He was forced to resign in July after a disagreement on future strategy with the group's 15 major shareholders, led by Mediobanca, Fiat and Pirelli. This followed a 60% fall in first-quarter profits. He was due to leave the Italian company next week.