Dixons finance chief takes over at BT
BT has today announced the appointment of Ian Livingston as group finance director from high street electronics giant Dixons.
Livingston, a 37-year-old chartered accountant, will join BT in April and will also take on a position on the BT Group plc board. He will take over from current FD Philip Hampton who announced his decision to step down in November last year.
At the age of just 34, Ian Livingston was the youngest FD in the FTSE-100 when he took full control of the finance function at Dixons after a year working alongside corporate finance director Robert Shrager.
In the group’s most recent annual report, Livingston is listed as having a salary of £339,000 – above-average for a FTSE-100 FD – with bonuses and benefits taking his total package to £372,000.
He is 13 years younger than Philip Hampton, who resigned as FD from the telecoms giant last November after just a year in the job. Hampton earned £286,000 between November 2000 (the date he joined BT from energy utility BG) and year-end March 2001.
Confirming the appointment of Livingston, BT chief executive Ben Verwaayen said: ‘I am delighted that Ian is joining BT. His appointment completes the top team. He brings with him energy, drive and enthusiasm as well as experience of working in a customer-oriented, challenging, retail environment.’
Livingston described his position as ‘a very exciting opportunity to join one of the UK’s foremost companies’.
‘I look forward to working with the team at BT to realise its tremendous potential,’ he added.
