He will join the board as an independent non-executive director and chairman designate a month before, taking the chairman position when his predecessor retires from the board. Du Plessis announced his intention to retire earlier this year, following a rumoured falling-out with BT CEO Philip Jansen.
Crozier has a wealth of experience across both public and private businesses, having been CEO across four different sectors over a couple of decades – including at ITV, Royal Mail and the Football Association.
He is currently chairman of restaurant and hotel company Whitbread, online fashion retailer ASOS and market research firm Kantar Group, as well as a non-executive director of Sony Corporation. He will step down from the positions at ASOS and Sony once he assumes chairmanship of BT.
The appointment comes amid BT ramping up its rollout of full-fibre broadband, with a goal of reaching 25 million premises by the end of 2026, and unveiling plans to combine its mobile, Wifi and fibre infrastructure into the “UK’s first fully converged network”. Rumours have also emerged of BT being a takeover target, while billionaire Patrick Drahi’s telecoms group Altice took a 12.1% stake in the company for £2.2 billion this June.
“Adam is the unanimous choice of the board,” said Iain Conn, senior independent director at BT. “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.”
“BT is a hugely important company, with a critical role to play in building the digital networks and services to support the UK’s future,” added Crozier.
