BT moved quickly today to replace the departing CEO Philip Jansen, hiring company insider Allison Kirkby to take on one of the most demanding jobs in corporate Britain.
Kirkby is the boss of Sweden’s Telia company and has been on the board of BT since 2019.
She will be paid a basic salary of £1.1 million, a bonus of up to twice that, and other share awards that will make her total pay among the most lucrative in the FTSE 100.
Running BT is unlike almost any other top business job, since the success of the business has such an impact on the whole UK economy.
Jansen has worked, in his words, to “build like fury”, laying out the ultra-fast fibre optic cable network that should ensure the UK has one of the best internet networks in Europe.
Completing this task is hugely expensive and disruptive, with shareholders questioning whether they will ever get a return on the investment and politicians regarding its success as vital.
The switch to AI means BT plans to cut up to 50,000 of its 130,000 workforce by 2030. Kirkby will be one of only nine female leaders of FTSE 100 companies,
Jansen, a cricket lover who arrived at BT as CEO in February 2019, earnt about £50 million from the sale of Worldpay in 2015.
He had to handle tough strikes with BT staff, some of whom branded him “Foodbank Phil” given the disparity between his wealth and their pay, as they saw it.
He caught coronavirus in March 2020 but seemed to recover quickly.
He will stay as CEO until the end of January, will offer support after that, but then says he intends to quit executive life.
While regarded as a highly effective CEO, the BT share price has been stubborn. It is down 47% over five years. Today it was steady at 123p, which values the business at £12 billion.
Kirkby, 56 has been CEO of Telia, based in Sweden, since 2020 after roles at Virgin Media, Procter & Gamble and Guinness.
Chairman Adam Crozier said: “She is a proven leader, with deep sector experience and a history of having transformed businesses. 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 said: “BT is such an important company for the UK, and our many customers both in the UK and internationally and is uniquely placed to help everyone benefit from the rapid advances in digitalisation. Our products and services have never been more important to how our customers live and work, and thanks to the significant investment BT is putting into digital infrastructure and in the modernisation of its services.”
Some shareholders had already complained that she holds too many non-executive roles to give enough attention to BT.
