Captain Kirkby to lead BT starship as new CEO

Former Telia CEO Allison Kirkby is taking over the top job at BT starting January 2024

BT has appointed Allison Kirkby as chief executive, taking over from Philip Jansen around the end of January 2024.

Allison has been president and CEO of Swedish telecom provider Telia since early 2020.

She moved into the TMT sector in 2010, initially joining Virgin Media, and was most recently president and CEO of TDC, the largest telecommunications company in Denmark, and president and CEO of Tele2 AB, the largest challenger telecommunications company in Sweden and the Baltics.

Earlier in her career she held a number of financial and operational roles at Procter and Gamble and qualified as a chartered management accountant in 1990 whilst at Guinness.

Kirkby has been a non-executive director at BT since 2019 and is also a non-executive director and member of the audit committee of Brookfield Asset Management.

"The board is delighted to have appointed Allison as our new chief executive. She is a proven leader, with deep sector experience and a history of having transformed businesses," said Adam Crozier, BT chairman.

"I look forward to supporting her as we drive our long-term strategy to transform BT Group, ensuring it delivers for all our stakeholders."

Kirkby commented: "I'm incredibly honoured to have been appointed as the next chief executive of BT.

"Having been a member of the BT Group board for the past four years, I'm fully supportive of our strategy and am excited about leading it into its next phase of development, as we grow to support customers, shareholders and the UK economy."

Jansen will continue to serve as CEO until the end of January 2024 at the latest.

When Jansen steps down he will be available to support the handover until the end of March 2024, at which point he intends to retire from executive life.

In respect of the transition period, Crozier said: "Philip continues to lead the business very effectively as can be seen in the good progress shown at our most recent financial results.

"Given Allison is already on the board, we are confident we will have an orderly leadership transition and handover of responsibilities."