BT to restructure business following EE takeover

BT is set to restructure the business following its buyout of UK mobile operator EE, with the changes to take effect from April.

Under the new structure, BT will have six lines of business, including a new division to serve businesses and the public sector in the UK and Ireland, and an EE division that will see the mobile operator retain its brand, network and high street stores.

The new Business and Public sector division will combine the existing BT Business  unit with EE’s business division and parts of BT Global Services that are UK focused. BT Business boss Graham Sutherland becomes CEO of this division.

EE’s chief commercial officer, Marc Allera, will head up the EE unit as CEO. The mobile operator confirmed last month that previous CEO Olaf Swantee would step down shortly after BT completed the EE buyout.

EE’s chief sales and marketing officer, business, Gerry McQuade, will also take on a big role as part of the restructure, becoming CEO of BT’s Wholesale and Ventures division. News of the appointment comes after BT Wholesale CEO Nigel Stagg said last week that he will leave the company after 36 years in various roles.

Overall, the six divisions of the restructured BT are: Consumer; EE; Business and Public Sector; Global Services; Wholesale and Ventures; and Openreach.

These six business lines will be supported by Technology, Service and Operations, a separate unit that is already responsible for BT’s ‘core’ networks in the UK and overseas, its IT platforms and its global R&D arm. As of today, BT executive Howard Watson takes over as CEO of Technology, Service and Operations, replacing Clive Selley.

Selley meanwhile takes over as CEO of Openreach – a role he was appointed to in January after former Openreach CEO Joe Garner announced he was leaving BT to become CEO of Nationwide Building Society.

BT Consumer will continue to be led by its CEO John Petter and BT Global Services will continue to be led by its CEO Luis Alvarez.

The news comes after BT closed its £12.5 billion (€16.7 billion) buyout of EE on Friday.

BT CEO Gavin Patterson said the deal was “great news for our shareholders, our customers and for UK plc given we will continue to invest and innovate. Customers will benefit as we combine the power of fibre broadband with the convenience of mobile.”

“The acquisition provides us with a chance to refresh our structure and we have done that by creating a major new division that will focus on businesses and the public sector in the UK and Ireland. We want to support those sectors by offering customers the very best services whether that be dedicated private lines, network products such as fibre broadband, mobile solutions, IT services or cyber expertise to keep them safe.

“We will continue to offer many of these services to multinational companies and major overseas customers via our Global Services division. It is an important part of the company and this new structure will enable it to sharpen its focus on its key areas of strength”.