Gavin Patterson

Patterson speaking at Chatham House in 2016

Gavin Echlin Patterson (born 6 September 1967) is a British marketer who was appointed chief executive of BT Group plc in September 2013. Before joining BT, he worked for Telewest and Procter & Gamble. He is the president of the Advertising Association.

Childhood, education and personal life

He was born in Altrincham in 1967 and attended schools in Warrington and Yeovil.[1][2][3] He graduated from Emmanuel College, Cambridge with a B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering.[1] His wife, Karen, is a fashion designer who worked for Donna Karan.[4][5] The couple have four children and now live in Surrey.[5]

Career

He was European head of marketing at Procter & Gamble for their Pantene line of hair products.[4] In 2000, he joined the cable company Telewest, managing their television services. In 2004, he moved to BT to be the managing director of their consumer division. He launched BT Vision which provided on-demand TV and subsequently was responsible for their broadband offerings such as the optical fibre service, BT Infinity.[4] At BT, his management style was a mix of relaxed, stylish marketing with aggressive cost-cutting. He was known for his flamboyant appearance of romantic black hair and open shirt collars.[4] The previous chief executive, Ian Livingston, said of him, "...one button undone was fine, two was a bit racy, and three was Gavin."[4] This marketing-executive style was novel and successful in the conservative corporate culture of BT and, as a high-flyer, he joined the board of BT in 2008.[1][4]

BT

He was appointed chief executive of the BT Group in 2013 to replace Ian Livingston who was ennobled to join the government as Baron Livingston of Parkhead and Minister of State for Trade and Investment.[6]

In August 2013, he was ranked as number 26 in The Guardian's Media 100 2013 – a listing of "the most powerful people in television, radio, newspapers, magazines, digital media, media business, advertising, marketing and PR"; it was his first appearance in this list.[7] In December 2013, Computer Weekly ranked him as number 8 in its UKtech50 for 2013 — "the most influential people in UK IT".[8]

He was BT's representative on the Confederation of British Industry (CBI)'s Climate Change Board,[9] 2008-[2013], and joined the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)'s Executive Committee[10] effective 1 January 2015, after the company joined WBCSD in April 2014.[11]

Other interests

He is a fellow of the Marketing Society and a member of the exclusive Thirty Club for advertising professionals.[12] He was appointed President of the Advertising Association in 2011.[13] He is also a non-executive director of British Airways,[14] a trustee of the British Museum and is on the board of Cambridge Judge Business School.[15][16]

He has supported Liverpool football club since his early years in nearby Warrington.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Gibson, Owen (11 November 2013). "Gavin Patterson: the man behind BT Sport's Champions League raid". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  2. ↑ Chris Barry (20 June 2013), Altrincham-born Patterson to lead BT, The Business Desk
  3. ↑ Rupert Neate (16 January 2010), "BT's Gavin Patterson: Sky's football claims don't wash with me", Daily Telegraph
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Daniel Thomas (15 November 2013), "Gavin Patterson: Betting big against Murdoch", Financial Times
  5. 1 2 Simon Fluendy (21 January 2008), Sunday Interview: Gavin Patterson, BT, This is Money
  6. ↑ Ashton, James (20 June 2013), "BT chief Ian Livingston quits to join Coalition Government as Gavin Patterson is brought in", The Independent
  7. ↑ "Media Guardian 100 2013", The Guardian (no. 26), 1 September 2013 |chapter= ignored (help)
  8. ↑ "UKtech50 2013 – the most influential people in UK IT", Computer Weekly (no. 8), 4 December 2013 |chapter= ignored (help)
  9. ↑ Trustee Gavin Patterson
  10. ↑ WBCSD Executive Committee
  11. ↑ BT joins WBCSD news release
  12. ↑ "Executive Profile: Gavin E. Patterson". Bloomberg Businessweek.
  13. ↑ "Council". The Advertising Association.
  14. ↑ Gavin Echlin Patterson works at BRITISH AIRWAYS PLC since 01 February 2011 currently as a Director - http://www.cbetta.com/director/gavin-echlin-patterson-3
  15. ↑ "Trustee: Mr Gavin Patterson". The British Museum.
  16. ↑ Gavin Patterson to be appointed chief executive of BT Group, BT plc, 19 June 2013

External links

Business positions
Preceded by
Ian Livingston		 Chief Executive of BT Group
– 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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