Allison Kirkby will be BT’s first female CEO when she assumes the role early next year
Britain’s largest broadband and mobile company BT Group announced on Monday that Kirkby, current chief executive of Sweden’s Telia Company, will be taking on the role of BT’s next CEO.
She is scheduled to assume the new role by the end of January 2024, replacing the current CEO, Philip Jansen, who disclosed his upcoming departure earlier this month.
Jansen said he would be stepping down from his role at BT within the next year.
Since Philip Jansen assumed the role of CEO in February 2019, BT’s share price has experienced a significant decrease, nearly halving in value.
Jansen will continue to serve as the CEO until Kirkby assumes the role.
Kirkby has been serving as a non-executive director at BT since 2019. Due to her role and qualifications, she had emerged as one of the top contenders to succeed Philip Jansen as the CEO of the company.
There will not be much change policy-wise apparently. Kirkby expressed her backing for BT’s existing strategy, which involves substantial investments in constructing a nationwide fibre broadband network and expanding 5G mobile coverage.
“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,” she said.
Kirkby will be receiving an annual salary of £1.1 million in addition to a bonus that can go up to 200 per cent of her salary. She will be eligible for other share awards, aligning her remuneration package with that of Philip Jansen.
Over the past eight years, Kirkby has held leadership positions in three of the largest Scandinavian telecom companies.
She served as the head of Swedish telecom giant Telia Co AB starting from 2020. Before that, she was leading Denmark’s TDC A/S, and prior to that, she held a leadership role at Sweden’s Tele2 AB.
At TDC, she oversaw the breakup of operations into networks and services through a consortium led by Australian asset manager Macquarie Group Ltd.
More recently, Kirkby orchestrated the sale of mobile towers from Telia to private equity firm Brookfield Asset Management Limited.
