BT Group Reveals Changes to its Board

BT Group plc (“BT Group”) has announced that Maggie Chan Jones and Ruth Cairnie will be joining its Board as independent non-executive directors. Maggie joins the Board effective 1 March 2023 and as a member of the Nominations and Digital Impact & Sustainability Committees.

Ruth joins the Board effective 6 April 2023 and as a member of the Audit & Risk, Remuneration and Nominations Committees.

Iain Conn will step down from the Board as a non-executive director at the conclusion of the 2023 Annual General Meeting in July after serving on the Board for 9 years, Ruth will succeed Iain as Senior Independent Director.

Adam Crozier, BT Group’s Chairman said “Iain has been a great asset to the Board in his role as Senior Independent Director and I would like to thank him wholeheartedly for his significant contribution to BT Group and personal support to me”.

As previously announced, Sir Ian Cheshire will also step down from the Board as a non-executive director at the conclusion of the 2023 Annual General Meeting in July and Ruth will succeed Ian as Remuneration Committee Chair.

Ruth has extensive experience gained from a broad range of executive and non-executive roles at leading industrial companies, both in the UK and Internationally. Ruth was formerly Executive Vice President for Group Strategy & Planning at Royal Dutch Shell plc. She is currently Chair of Babcock International Group plc and Senior Independent Director of Associated British Foods plc.

Maggie is the founder and CEO of Tenshey, a tech-enabled executive coaching company that focuses on elevating more women and underrepresented leaders in leadership roles and the boardroom. This followed a highly successful career in marketing at several of the world's largest technology companies, including Microsoft and SAP.

In welcoming both to the Board, BT Group’s Chairman Adam Crozier said “The Board is delighted to welcome Maggie and Ruth, both of whom will add significant breadth of experience and diversity of thought to the Board. Both will be key in support of the important transformation agenda ahead for BT Group”.

Maggie commented “I’m honoured to join the Board of BT Group, whose purpose to connect for good is essential to the consumers, businesses, and communities it serves. I look forward to applying my experiences in business transformation, marketing, and diversity and inclusion to help BT accelerate its ambition and lead the way to a bright and sustainable future”.

Ruth added “I’m delighted to be joining the BT Board and supporting the company in its ambitious transformation. Successful delivery of BT’s mission will strongly support the transition of economies and societies to a more digitally enabled future and its role is particularly critical for the UK.”

There are no additional matters that would require disclosure in respect of Maggie Chan Jones and Ruth Cairnie or pursuant to 9.6.13R of the Listing Rules of the UK Financial Conduct Authority.

Maggie is currently a non-executive director of The Sage Group plc and USTA, a non-executive board advisor for Open Systems AG and was previously a non-executive director at Avast plc. She is a recognised executive in business transformation, marketing, and ESG. and frequently recognised as a thought-leader. Maggie was a recipient of industry awards including Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business (2021), Women of the Decade in Marketing, Branding and Communication (2018); Forbes World's Most Influential CMOs (2017); Woman of the Year (2014), among other accolades.

Ruth brings a wealth of experience and was formerly Executive Vice President Strategy & Planning at Royal Dutch Shell plc and has been a Non-Executive Director of Rolls Royce Holdings plc, ContourGlobal plc and Keller Group plc, and a member of the finance committee of the University of Cambridge and the Chair of POWERful Women. She has a Masters of Advanced Studies in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge and holds a BSc Joint Honours in Mathematics and Physics from the University of Bristol.