Telecoms giant BT hires Allison Kirkby as its first ever female boss with women now in charge of defence, insurance and water sectors

BT has appointed a female boss for the first time in its history.

In a surprise move, the telecoms giant announced that Allison Kirkby, who has served on the BT board as a non-executive director since 2019, will take over from Philip Jansen by the end of January next year.

Her swift appointment wrong-footed many industry observers, with Marc Allera, the head of BT’s consumer arm, having been widely tipped as the most likely successor.

Kirkby’s impending arrival restores some much-needed female leadership to the FTSE 100. 

Alison Rose quit as NatWest boss last week after being caught up in the fallout after former Ukip leader Nigel Farage’s account was closed by private bank Coutts, owned by NatWest.

Called up: BT announced that Allison Kirkby (pictured), the current head of Swedish telecoms giant Telia, will take over as chief exec by the end of January next year

It means that for the first time, the UK’s two biggest telecoms firms will be run by women, with rival Vodafone appointing Margherita Della Valle to the top job earlier this year.

Women also have a strong presence in the boardrooms of the UK’s top water, defence and insurance companies.

Anita Frew is chairman at Rolls-Royce, Cressida Hogg holds the same position at defence group BAE Systems and Ruth Cairnie at engineering giant Babcock.

In the insurance sector, Amanda Blanc runs Aviva, and Milena Mondini de Focatiis is chief executive at Admiral.

Kirkby, 56, who has headed Swedish telecoms group Telia since 2020, will be paid a base salary of £1.1million on her appointment as BT’s chief executive but will also be eligible for an annual bonus and share awards that could quadruple the figure.

‘I’m incredibly honoured to have been appointed,’ she said.

‘Our products and services have never been more important to how our customers live and work, and thanks to the significant investment BT is putting into digital infrastructure and in the modernisation of its services, I see us playing an even more important role going forward.’

BT chairman Adam Crozier added: ‘The board is delighted to have appointed Allison as our new chief executive.

‘She is a proven leader, with deep sector experience and a history of having transformed businesses.’

Kirkby’s appointment followed news this month that 56-year-old Jansen would be leaving the business early next year.

He will remain available to the company until March to support the hand over, after which BT said he planned to ‘retire from executive life’. 

But Kirkby potentially faces a frosty reception from some of BT’s investors after 12 per cent voted against her re-appointment to the board at the firm’s AGM earlier this month amid concerns she held too many positions.

Aside from her non-executive role at BT – Britain’s biggest telecoms group which also owns the EE mobile network – and being the boss of Telia, Kirkby also serves as a non-executive director of Canadian asset manager Brookfield. 

Many analysts predict she will continue to push ahead with the strategy drawn up by her predecessor, which is aiming to rapidly expand BT’s fibre broadband network across the UK while also cutting up to 55,000 jobs by the end of the decade.

BT plays a pivotal and high-profile role in the upgrading of the UK’s digital infrastructure. This has resulted in pressure from the Government, the regulator, customers and competitors. 

The FTSE 100 group has been hit by the rising costs of labour, energy and construction.

Karen Egan at Enders Analysis said Kirkby would be ‘more of a continuity candidate’ which ‘made sense as BT is mainly trying to stay the course.’

This was echoed by Paolo Pescatore at PP Foresight, who said the appointment ‘suggests the strategy is unlikely to change.’

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk