Sir Michael Rake, the current chairman of accountancy firm KPMG International, is to succeed Bland, who along with chief executive Ben Verwaayen, has transformed the UK carrier into one of the most dynamic incumbents in Europe.
BT described Rake as one of the world’s most experienced and influential accountants.
I am thrilled to be joining a company which has achieved so much in recent years and has such ambition for the future, said 59-year old Rake. Sir Christopher Bland has done a magnificent job setting BT on a secure financial footing and developing a strategy for the future. I feel extremely enthusiastic about helping to build upon the success of a company which has already given Britain a position of international leadership in broadband availability and has established itself as a world leader in networked IT services.
I am excited at the prospect of working together with him at BT, said Verwaayen in a statement. We have accomplished a great deal, but there is still much more work to be done building BT’s global presence and ensuring that the UK stays at the forefront of the broadband revolution.
Speaking to Computer Business Review, a BT spokesperson confirmed that the UK carrier had used a firm of headhunters to compile a shortlist of candidates, with Rake at the head of the list. He would not reveal the other names on the list.
Bland began his tenure at BT in May 2001 and will be chiefly remembered for bringing some much-needed stability to the carrier, which was then saddled with a debt burden of approximately 30bn pounds ($58.4bn). He was responsible for appointing well-respected Verwaayen as chief executive in 2002, and together the two men transformed the finances at the British carrier and have overseen its emergence as a serious player in the services sector.
BT has recently been on an acquisition spree that began in February 2005 when it completed the $575m of network services provider Infonet Corp, and followed that up later in the year by taking control of Radianz, a services vendor to the financial services sector. In April 2006 it acquired online UK retailer Dabs.com in order to boost its online sales and service credentials. Then last October BT Services paid an undisclosed sum to buy privately owned Counterpane Internet Security Inc in a move designed to extend its range of security products and services.
It followed this with the $126m purchase of internet service provider PlusNet Plc, a move that that had as much to do with increasing market share as about acquiring ownership of a well-regarded internet traffic management system.
It furthered its strategy of building assets in developing countries with the purchase of the assets of Telexis Brasil, Fiat’s Brazilian telecommunications business, in November 2006. Two weeks ago it purchased i2i Enterprise Pvt Ltd, an enterprise communications provider based in Mumbai, India.
