Lord MacLaurin has been on Vodafone’s board since January 1997 and was widely viewed as one of Vodafone’s old guard that last month sought to replace chief executive Arun Sarin. Following the boardroom bloodletting last month, which saw former chief executive Sir Christopher Gent relinquishing his life presidency, and the departure of chief marketing officer and executive director Peter Bamford, it was expected that Lord MacLaurin would leave in the summer, along with another Gent man, Vodafone’s deputy chief executive Julian Horne-Smith.
However, Lord MacLaurin might have helped his position when he issued a statement during the height of the bloodletting in which he publicly backed Sarin’s leadership and strategy at the Newbury, UK-based operator.
According to an article in the Daily Telegraph, which quoted an unnamed source, Lord MacLaurin is to be given a role as adviser to the operator, and he will become chairman of the charitable Vodafone Group Foundation when he hands over the chairmanship of the board.
The foundation is the operator’s charitable trust, and works with smaller country-focused Vodafone Foundations across the world. In the 2003-2004 financial year, these foundations reportedly invested 16.8m pounds ($29m) globally into a variety of charities.
The exact purpose of Lord MacLaurin’s advisory role is as yet unspecified, but the Telegraph confirmed that Lord MacLaurin will have to give up his Westminster office, which is paid for by Vodafone on his behalf.
The newspaper said it was understood the premise of both roles has been confirmed internally at Vodafone. Cynics would argue that these positions are being used to justify a rumored payout of 7m pounds ($12.1m). Investors will be keeping a keen eye out for more details of these new positions, and his ongoing remuneration, when published in the operator’s annual report, expected sometime in June.
