Adam Crozier, the former chief executive of ITV, has been appointed chairman of British telco BT.
Crozier, whose appointment was first mooted by British media earlier this month, will join the board as an independent non-executive director and chairman designate from November and will become chairman from Dec. 1. He takes over from Jan du Plessis, who revealed he was stepping down from the role back in March, after four years in the position.
Crozier, who headed ITV from 2010 to 2017, is currently chairman of fashion retail giant Asos, Kantar Group and Premier Inn owner Whitbread. While he is expected to step down from Asos, he will maintain his posts at Kantar and Whitbread. He is a past chief executive of Royal Mail, where he spearheaded a major modernization of the service.
Iain Conn, senior independent director at BT, said that Crozier’s appointment was made following a comprehensive process, and that he was the “unanimous choice” of the board. “He has significant experience in leading public company boards, developing teams and managing stakeholders and brings a strong transformational and operational track record in large-scale executive roles,” continued Conn.
Crozier’s appointment comes during a turbulent period for BT, which is led by chief executive Philip Jansen.
Billionaire Patrick Drahi’s French telco Altice became the company’s biggest shareholder back in June when it dished out £2.2 billion for a 12.1% stake. Meanwhile, BT is also amid a nationwide full-fibre broadband rollout through its Openreach brand, which still lags behind rivals such as Virgin Media. The business was looking for a partner to help achieve its goal of reaching 25 million homes by 2026 when the Altice deal came about.
“It is an honor to join the board of BT and to succeed Jan as chair,” said Crozier. “BT is a hugely important company, with a critical role to play in building the digital networks and services to support the U.K.’s future. I look forward to working with the board, Philip and his executive team to create value for all our stakeholders.”