Board of Directors and Group Management
Directors and senior management
The business of the Company is managed by its Board of directors (‘the Board’). Biographical details of the directors and senior management at 19 May 2009 are as follows:
Board of directors
Sir John Bond†
aged 67, became Chairman of Vodafone Group Plc in July 2006, having previously served as a non-executive director of the Board, and is Chairman of the Nominations and Governance Committee. Sir John is a non-executive director of A.P. Møller – Mærsk A/S and Shui On Land Limited (Hong Kong SAR). He retired from the position of Group Chairman of HSBC Holdings plc in May 2006, after 45 years of service. Other previous roles include Chairman of HSBC Bank plc and director of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation and HSBC North America Holdings Inc. Previous non-executive directorships include the London Stock Exchange plc, Orange plc, British Steel plc, the Court of the Bank of England and Ford Motor Company, USA.
- Sir John Bond
- Vittorio Colao
- Andy Halford
- John Buchanan
- Alan Jebson
- Nick Land
- Anne Lauvergeon
- Simon Murray CBE
- Luc Vandevelde
- Anthony Watson CBE
- Philip Yea
§ Audit Committee
† Nominations and Governance Committee
‡ Remuneration Committee
Appointed since 31 March 2009
1. Samuel Jonah, aged 59, joined the Board as a non-executive director on 1 April 2009. He is Executive Chairman of Jonah Capital (Pty) Limited, an investment holding company in South Africa and serves on the boards of various public and private companies, including The Standard Bank Group. He previously worked for Ashanti Goldfields Company Limited, becoming Chief Executive Officer in 1986, and was formerly President of AngloGold Ashanti Limited, a director of Lonmin Plc and a member of the Advisory Council of the President of the African Development Bank. He is an adviser to the Presidents of Ghana, South Africa and Nigeria. An Honorary Knighthood was conferred on him by Her Majesty the Queen in 2003 and in 2006 he was awarded Ghana’s highest national award, the Companion of the Order of the Star.
2. Michel Combes, aged 47, Chief Executive Officer, Europe Region, was appointed to the Board with effect from 1 June 2009. He joined the Company in October 2008. Michel began his career at France Telecom in 1986 in the External Networks Division, and then moved to the Industrial and International Affairs Division. After being technical advisor to the Minister of Transportation from 1991 to 1995, he served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of GlobeCast from 1995 to 1999. He was Executive Vice President of Nouvelles Frontieres Group from December 1999 until the end of 2001, when he moved to the position of Chief Executive Officer of Assystem-Brime, a company specialising in industrial engineering. He returned to France Telecom Group in 2003 as Senior Vice President of Group Finance and Chief Financial Officer. Until January 2006, Michel was Senior Executive Vice President, in charge of NExT Financial Balance & Value Creation and a member of the France Telecom Group Strategic Committee. From 2006 to 2008, he was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of TDF Group.
3. Steve Pusey, aged 47, Group Chief Technology Officer, joined Vodafone in September 2006 and was appointed to the Board with effect from 1 June 2009. He is responsible for all aspects of Vodafone’s networks, IT capability, research and development and supply chain management. Prior to joining Vodafone, he held the positions of Executive Vice President and President, Nortel EMEA, having joined Nortel in 1982, gaining a wealth of international experience across both the wireline and wireless industries and in business applications and solutions. Prior to Nortel, he spent several years with British Telecom.
Executive Committee
Chaired by Vittorio Colao, this committee focuses on the Group’s strategy, financial structure and planning, succession planning, organisational development and Group-wide policies. The Executive Committee membership comprises the executive directors, details of whom are shown here, and the senior managers who are listed below.
Senior management
Members of the Executive Committee who are not also executive directors are regarded as senior managers of the Company.
Warren Finegold, aged 52, Chief Executive Officer, Global Business Development, was appointed to this position and joined the Executive Committee in April 2006. He was previously a Managing Director of UBS Investment Bank and head of its technology team in Europe. He is responsible for business development, mergers and acquisitions and partner networks.
Matthew Kirk, aged 48, Group External Affairs Director, was appointed to his current position and joined the Executive Committee in March 2009. Matthew joined Vodafone in 2006 as Group Director of External Relationships. Prior to that, he was a member of the British Diplomatic Service for more than 20 years. He also led the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office programme of investment in IT and telecommunications for three years and before joining Vodafone served as British Ambassador to Finland.
Terry Kramer, aged 49, Group Strategy and Business Improvement Director, joined Vodafone in January 2005 as Chief of Staff and was appointed Group Human Resources Director in December 2006. Terry’s role was then expanded to include Vodafone Group Strategy and in September 2008, he was appointed to his current role. Prior to joining Vodafone, he was Chief Executive Officer of Q Comm International Inc., a publicly traded provider of transaction processing services for the telecommunications industry. He also worked for 12 years at PacTel/AirTouch Communications in a variety of roles including President AirTouch Paging, Vice President Human Resources-AirTouch Communications, Vice President Business Development-AirTouch Europe and Vice President & General Manager-AirTouch Cellular Southwest Market. Prior to that, he was an Associate with Booz Allen & Hamilton Inc, a management consulting firm. Terry is a trustee of The Vodafone Foundation.
Morten Lundal, aged 44, Chief Executive Officer, Africa and Central Europe Region, was appointed to his current position and joined the Executive Committee in November 2008. He joined Nordic mobile operator, Telenor, in 1997 and held several Chief Executive Officer positions, including for the Internet Division and Telenor Business Solutions. He was Executive Vice President for Corporate Strategy, after which he became the Chief Executive Officer of Telenor’s Malaysian subsidiary, DiGi Telecommunications.
Nick Read, aged 44, Chief Executive Officer, Asia Pacific and Middle East Region, was appointed to this position and joined the Executive Committee in November 2008. Nick joined Vodafone in 2002 and has held a variety of senior roles including Chief Financial Officer and Chief Commercial Officer of Vodafone Limited, the UK operating company, and was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Vodafone Limited in early 2006. Prior to joining Vodafone, Nick held senior global finance positions with United Business Media plc and Federal Express Worldwide.
Frank Rovekamp, aged 54, Group Chief Marketing Officer, was appointed to this position and joined the Executive Committee in May 2006. He joined Vodafone in 2002 as Marketing Director and a member of the Management Board of Vodafone Netherlands and later moved to Vodafone Germany as Chief Marketing Officer and a member of the Management Board. Before joining Vodafone, he held roles as President and Chief Executive Officer of Beyoo and Chief Marketing Officer with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. He is a trustee of The Vodafone Foundation.
Ronald Schellekens, aged 45, Group Human Resources Director, joined Vodafone and the Executive Committee in January 2009. Prior to joining Vodafone, Ronald was Executive Vice President Human Resources for Royal Dutch Shell plc’s global downstream business (refining, retail, commercial, lubricants, chemicals and Canadian Oil Sands) responsible for approximately 81,000 employees in 120 countries. Prior to working for Shell, he spent nine years working for PepsiCo in various international senior Human Resources roles, including assignments in Switzerland, Spain, South Africa, the UK and Poland. In his last role, he was responsible for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region for PepsiCo Foods International. Prior to PepsiCo he worked for nine years for AT&T Network Systems in Human Resources roles in the Netherlands and Poland.
Stephen Scott, aged 55, Group General Counsel and Company Secretary, was appointed to this position in 1991, prior to which he was employed in the Racal Group legal department, which he joined in 1980 from private law practice in London. He is a director of ShareGift (the Orr Mackintosh Foundation Limited) and is a director and trustee of LawWorks (the Solicitors Pro Bono Group).
Other Board and Executive Committee members
The following members also served on the Board or the Executive Committee during the 2009 financial year: Arun Sarin was Chief Executive until the conclusion of the AGM on 29 July 2008; Dr Michael Boskin was a member of the Board and Chairman of the Audit Committee until the conclusion of the AGM on 29 July 2008; Paul Donovan was Chief Executive Officer, EMAPA and a member of the Executive Committee until 1 January 2009; Simon Lewis was Group Corporate Affairs Director and a member of the Executive Committee until 1 March 2009; and Professor Jürgen Schrempp was a member of the Board, the Remuneration Committee and the Nominations and Governance Committee until the conclusion of the AGM on 29 July 2008.