Marketer Patterson takes BT Group CEO role
BT has appointed marketer Gavin Patterson as CEO of its entire Group of businesses.
Patterson will lead BT’s four principal lines of business – Global Services, Retail, Wholesale and Openreach – when he takes up the role in September.
He will take over from incumbent Ian Livingston, who has been asked by Prime Minister David Cameron to take on the role of Minister for Trade and Investment, with a remit for helping the growth of British companies. Livingston will join the House of Lords prior to taking up his front bench Government post in December.
Patterson has served as chief executive of BT Retail and as a BT board member since 2008. Most recently he has been overseeing preparations for the launch of the company’s first TV channels BT Sport.
He comes from a marketing background, including a nine year stint at Procter & Gamble rising to the role of European marketing director, and was appointed president of The Advertising Association in June 2011.
Patterson originally joined BT in 2004 as managing director of its consumer division. Prior to that, he held executive roles at Telewest – which later merged with NTL to become Virgin Media.
