BT Group has announced the appointment of Allison Kirkby as its new CEO, succeeding Philip Jansen by the end of January 2024.
Kirkby joins the telco from Sweden’s Telia where she has been president and CEO. She has been a non-executive director at BT Group since 2019.
Jansen will continue to serve as chief executive until the end of January 2024 at the latest, said BT, and will be available to support the handover until the end of March 2024, at which point he intends to retire.
Speaking about Kirby’s appointment, Adam Crozier, BT Group chairman said: “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. 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 added: “I’m incredibly honoured to have been appointed as the next chief executive of BT Group. 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, I see us playing an even more important role going forward. 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.”