Sir Christopher Bland Chairman^d,e,f
Sir Christopher Bland was appointed to the Board as Chairman on 1 May 2001. He chairs the Nominating and Community Support committees.

He was chairman of the BBC Board of Governors from 1 April 1996 until 30 September 2001. From 1972 to 1979, Sir Christopher was deputy chairman of the Independent Broadcasting Authority and chairman of its Complaints Review Board. In 1982, he became a non-executive director of LWT Holdings and was chairman from 1983 to 1994, when LWT was acquired by Granada Group. From December 1994 to May 2000, he was chairman of NFC. From 1977 to 1985, he was chairman of Sir Joseph Causton & Sons.

Sir Christopher, who was chairman of the Hammersmith and Queen Charlotte's Hospitals Special Health Authority from 1982 to 1994 and of Hammersmith Hospital's NHS Trust from 1994 to February 1997, was knighted for his work in the NHS in 1993. He was chairman of the Private Finance Panel from 1995 to 1996 and a member of the Prime Minister's Advisory Panel on the Citizen's Charter. He is senior adviser at Warburg Pincus. Aged 63.

Executive Directors

Ben Verwaayen Chief Executive^a
Ben Verwaayen was appointed to the Board on 14 January 2002 and became Chief Executive on 1 February 2002. He chairs the Operating Committee.

Ben Verwaayen was formerly vice chairman of the management board of Lucent Technologies in the USA from October 1999. He joined Lucent in September 1997 as executive vice president international and became chief operating officer the following month. Prior to joining Lucent, Ben Verwaayen worked for KPN in the Netherlands for nine years as president and managing director of its telecoms subsidiary, PTT Telecom. From 1975 to 1988, he worked for ITT in Europe and the USA. He is a member of the advisory council of ING. A Dutch national, he is aged 50.

Ian Livingston Group Finance Director^a,f
Ian Livingston was appointed to the Board on 8 April 2002 and became Group Finance Director on 23 April 2002. He was formerly group finance director of Dixons Group from 1997. He joined the corporate finance department of Dixons in 1991 after working for 3i Group and Bank of America International. His experience at Dixons spanned a number of operational roles, including international acquisitions and disposals, and he has spent time working in the USA. He was also a director of Freeserve from its inception. He is a Chartered Accountant. Aged 37.

Pierre Danon Chief Executive, BT Retail^a
Pierre Danon was appointed to the Board on 19 November 2001. He joined BT as Chief Executive of BT Retail in October 2000 and was a member of the former Executive Committee. From 1981 to 2000, he worked for Rank Xerox (which became Xerox Limited in 1997), latterly as president of Xerox Europe. He was a senior vice president of Xerox Corporation since 1997. He is a non-executive director of Hays plc. A French national, he is aged 46.

Andy Green Chief Executive, BT Ignite^a
Andy Green was appointed to the Board on 19 November 2001. He was appointed as Chief Executive of BT Ignite in October 2001. Since joining BT in 1986, he has held a number of positions, including Chief Executive of BTopenworld and Group Director of Strategy and Development. Andy Green was a member of the former Executive Committee from February 1995. Aged 46.

Dr Paul Reynolds Chief Executive, BT Wholesale^a
Paul Reynolds was appointed to the Board on 19 November 2001. In April 2000, he was appointed to the former Executive Committee as Chief Executive of BT Wholesale. He joined BT from the company's predecessor corporation, which he joined in 1983, and has held a number of roles, including Director of the Office of the Chairman, Director of Multimedia and, from 1999, Managing Director of Networks and Information Services. Aged 45.

Non-Executive Directors

Sir Anthony Greener Deputy Chairman^b,c,d
Sir Anthony Greener was appointed to the Board on 1 October 2000. He was appointed Joint Deputy Chairman and chairman of the Audit Committee on 1 January 2001. He became Deputy Chairman and chairman of the Remuneration Committee on 18 July 2001.

Sir Anthony is chairman of University for Industry (learndirect) and a non-executive director of Robert Mondavi Corporation. He was formerly chairman of Diageo. Prior to the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan, he was chairman and chief executive of Guinness, having been chief executive of Guinness since 1992. Aged 61.

Louis R Hughes^b,c
Louis Hughes joined the Board on 1 January 2000. He is non-executive chairman of Maxager Technology Inc. (USA). He was formerly president and chief operating officer of Lockheed Martin Corporation and previously executive vice president of General Motors.

Louis Hughes is a non-executive director of AB Electrolux (Sweden) and Sulzer AG (Switzerland). From 1993 to 2000, he was a member of the supervisory board of Deutsche Bank. A US national, he is aged 53.

The Rt Hon Baroness Jay of Paddington PC^b,e
Baroness (Margaret) Jay was appointed to the Board on 14 January 2002. She was formerly Lord Privy Seal, Leader of the House of Lords and Minister for Women. Previously, she was Minister of State at the Department of Health.

Baroness Jay is a non-executive director of Independent News & Media UK and has held non-executive positions with Scottish Power, Carlton Television and LBC. Currently chairman of the Overseas Development Institute, she has been a member of the Central Research and Development Committee for the NHS, was a founding director of the National AIDS trust, a governor of South Bank University and a member of the Meteorological Office Council. Aged 62.

John Nelson^b,d,f
John Nelson was appointed to the Board on 14 January 2002. A Chartered Accountant, he retired as chairman of Credit Suisse First Boston Europe (CSFB) on 31 January 2002. He was a member of the executive board and chairman of the European executive committee of CSFB.

Prior to joining CSFB in January 1999, John Nelson spent thirteen years with Lazard Brothers. He was appointed vice chairman of Lazard Brothers in 1990. He was also a chairman of Lazard S.p.A. in Italy and a managing director of Lazard Freres, New York.

He was a non-executive director of Woolwich plc until it was taken over by Barclays Bank in 2000. In January 2002, he was appointed deputy chairman of Kingfisher. Aged 54.

Carl G Symon^b,c
Carl Symon was appointed to the Board on 14 January 2002. He is managing director, global business development, for DiamondCluster International Inc. (USA). He retired from IBM in May 2001 after a 32-year career, during which he held senior executive positions in the USA, Canada, Latin America, Asia and Europe, including chairman and chief executive officer of IBM UK.

Carl Symon is chairman of MetaPack, Riversoft and Worldmark International, a non-executive director of Rolls-Royce, and a member of the advisory board of Cross Atlantic Capital Partners. A US national, he is aged 56.

Maarten van den Bergh^b,c,d,f
Maarten van den Bergh was appointed to the Board on 1 September 2000. He chairs the Pension Scheme Performance Review Group. He is chairman of Lloyds TSB Group and a non-executive director of Royal Dutch Petroleum Company.

Prior to his retirement in July 2000, Maarten van den Bergh was president of the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company and vice chairman of its committee of managing directors from July 1998, having been appointed a managing director of the Royal Dutch Shell Group of companies in July 1992. A Dutch national, he is aged 60.

Key to membership of principal Board committees:
^a Operating
^b Audit
^c Remuneration
^d Nominating
^e Community Support
^f Pension Scheme Performance Review Group
All of the non-executive directors are considered independent of the management of the company

Operating Committee

Ben Verwaayen Chief Executive
Ian Livingston Group Finance Director
Pierre Danon Chief Executive, BT Retail
Andy Green Chief Executive, BT Ignite
Dr Paul Reynolds Chief Executive, BT Wholesale

Alison Ritchie Chief Executive, BTopenworld
Alison Ritchie joined BT from the company's predecessor corporation, which she joined in 1981. She was appointed a member of the former Executive Committee in December 2000.

As Chief Executive of BTopenworld, Alison Ritchie has responsibility for all BT's mass-market internet activities, including BTinternet, BTopenworld broadband and BT's ISPs in other markets. Before joining BTopenworld, she was BT's Restructuring Project Director, co-ordinating the project teams working on the financial, organisational and managerial restructuring of BT. Aged 41.

Company Secretary

Larry Stone
Larry Stone, formerly Corporate Governance Director from 1 June 2000, was appointed Company Secretary on 27 March 2002. He previously held external relations and regulatory roles with BT in Tokyo and Brussels and with BT Cellnet (now O2 UK). He is a trustee of the BT Pension Scheme and a member of the executive committee of the British Quality Foundation. Aged 44.