Telecom giant BT Group Plc. (BT_A.L, BT) Wednesday said Gavin Patterson would succeed Ian Livingston as chief executive of the company.
Livingston has agreed to take up a role in government as Minister of State for Trade and Investment. He will join the House of Lords prior to taking up his front-bench government post in December. He will continue as chief executive of BT until he steps down from his post and from BT's Board in September.
Sir Michael Rake, Chairman of BT, said, "Ian has done a tremendous job in transforming BT...He leaves behind him a very capable team, one which will take forward the strategy that has served BT well and which lays out the path to further success.''
Gavin Patterson, 45, has served as chief executive of BT Retail and as a BT Board member since 2008. He joined the company as a senior executive four years before that. He will assume the new role in September.
Gavin joined BT in January 2004 as managing director of its consumer division. He previously spent four years at Telewest, which later merged with NTL to become Virgin Media, including as managing director of its consumer division. Before entering the communications sector, he spent nine years at Procter and Gamble, rising to become its European marketing director.
Gavin oversees corporate responsibility program for BT Group. He represents the company on the CBI's Climate Change Board. He has served as President of the Advertising Association since June 2011, and is a non-executive director of British Airways as well as a Trustee of the British Museum. He also sits on the advisory board of the Cambridge Judge Business School.
Patterson said, "The company is in a strong place. We have great opportunities ahead and are well placed to take advantage of them, in the UK and internationally. We have the people, the technology and the plans we need to build on our current successes. I look forward to leading a dynamic team to ensure we do just that."
The stock is falling 2.3 percent on the LSE at 312.00 pence.
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