BT appoints Worldpay's Philip Jansen as new chief executive

BT Group announced the appointment of Philip Jansen as its new chief executive on Thursday.

The FTSE 100 telecoms giant said he would join the company and be appointed to the board as an executive director on 1 January and, following a handover period, would take over from Gavin Patterson as chief executive on 1 February.

Jansen was joining from payments services group Worldpay, where he would be stepping down as co-chief executive at the end of the year.

He has been chief executive of Worldpay since 2013, leading it through its flotation in 2015, until its combination with Vantiv earlier this year.

Previously, he was CEO and then chairman of Brakes Group, and held a variety of senior roles in Sodexo Group, latterly as chief operating officer and CEO for Europe, South Africa and India.

Earlier in his career, Janes was COO of MyTravel and managing director of Telewest Communications’ consumer division.

He began his career with Procter & Gamble.

“The board is delighted to have appointed Philip as our new chief executive,” said BT Group chairman Jan du Plessis, calling Jansen a “proven leader with outstanding experience in managing large complex businesses”.

“Philip's strong leadership has inspired his teams, successfully transformed businesses across multiple industries and created significant value for shareholders.

“His most recent success at Worldpay, a technology-led business, means he is well suited to build on the solid foundations that are in place at BT,” du Plessis added.

“I look forward to working with him to position BT at the heart of the UK's digital economy.”

Philip Jansen said he was “honoured” to be appointed as the next chief executive of BT Group, describing it as a “special company” with a “wonderful history” and a “very exciting future”.

“It has built a leading position across fixed and mobile networks, creating an opportunity to deliver increasing benefits for our customers, the UK economy and our shareholders.

“In a competitive market we will need to be absolutely focused on our customers' needs and pursue the right technology investments to help grow the business.

“I'm excited to get to know all the people at BT and work together to take the business forward.”

Gavin Patterson would continue to serve as chief executive until 31 January , the BT board confirmed.

In respect of the transition period, Jan du Plessis thanked Patterson for his continued leadership of the business, as well as his commitment and “the good progress” made in recent months.

“To ensure an orderly leadership transition and handover, Gavin and Philip will work together during January, with Gavin presenting our third quarter results on 31 January, before handing over to Philip on 1 February.”