Board of Directors and Operating Committee

chairman            
  Sir Michael Rake            
Chairman            
executive directors   executive directors   executive directors   executive directors
  Ben Verwaayen     François Barrault     Hanif Lalani      Ian Livingston
Executive directors
 

Board of Directors

Sir Michael Rake
Chairmanc,d,e,f
Sir Michael was appointed to the Board as Chairman on 26 September 2007. He chairs the Nominating Committee and the Committee for Responsible and Sustainable Business and is a member of the Remuneration Committee and the Pension Scheme Performance Review Group. He was formerly chairman of KPMG International from 2002 to 2007, and previously held other roles in KPMG from 1972.
     He is chairman of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, and a director of Barclays, McGraw Hill and the Financial Reporting Council. Sir Michael’s appointments include vice-president of the RNIB, member of the board of the TransAtlantic Business Dialogue, member of the CBI International Advisory Board, the Chartered Management Institute and BERR’s US/UK Regulatory Taskforce.
     A Chartered Accountant, he was knighted in 2007 for his services to the accountancy profession. Aged 60.

Executive directors
Ben Verwaayen
Chief Executivea (steps down as Chief Executive on 31 May and as a director on 30 June 2008)
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 was formerly vice-chairman of the management board of Lucent Technologies in the US 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 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. In 2006, he was created an Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau and appointed a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur. He was appointed an honorary KBE in 2007 in recognition of his services to the communications industry. He is a non-executive director of UPS (a US corporation). A Dutch national, he is aged 56.

François Barrault
Chief Executive, BT Global Servicesa
François Barrault was appointed to the Board and became Chief Executive, BT Global Services on 24 April 2007. He joined BT in April 2004 as President BT International, BT Global Services. François was formerly president, Lucent Technologies and previously held other roles within Lucent including president and CEO Mobility International, and president and CEO Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Before this, François worked for Ascend Communications where he held the position of senior vice-president, EMEA and International until its acquisition by Lucent. He previously held executive positions with IBM, Computervision/Prime and Stratus. He is a non-executive director of eServGlobal (an Australian corporation). A French national, he is aged 47.

Hanif Lalani OBE
Group Finance Directora,f
Hanif Lalani was appointed to the Board on 7 February 2005 as Group Finance Director. He was formerly Chief Financial Officer for BT Wholesale. Since joining BT in 1983, he has held a number of positions, including Chief Executive of BT Northern Ireland and Managing Director BT Regions. Hanif was also chairman of OCEAN Communications (BT’s subsidiary in the Republic of Ireland). He was awarded the OBE in 2003 for services to business in Northern Ireland. He is a Chartered Management Accountant. Aged 46.

Ian Livingston
Chief Executive, BT Retaila (becomes Chief Executive, BT Group on 1 June 2008)
Ian Livingston was appointed as Chief Executive of BT Retail on 7 February 2005. He was formerly Group Finance Director from April 2002. Prior to joining BT, he was group finance director of Dixons Group from 1997. He joined Dixons in 1991 after working for 3i Group and Bank of America International. His experience at Dixons spanned a number of operational and financial roles, both in the UK and overseas. Ian was also a non-executive director of Ladbrokes (formerly Hilton Group) and a director of Freeserve from its inception. He is a non-executive director of Celtic. He is a Chartered Accountant. Aged 43.

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