Vodafone Group plc
VOD:LN
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Overview
Company Profile
On New Year’s Day in 1985, Vodafone made the first mobile phone call ever in the UK… Today, the Group is a leading technology communications company with one of the most valuable brands on the planet, leading scale and a Gigabit-capable infrastructure.
Classification
Financials
News & Media
Corporate
Board of Directors
Vittario Colao
CEO
Board director since 9 October 2006 and appointed Chief Executive on 29 July 2008. Vittorio Colao was appointed Chief Executive of Vodafone Group Plc after the AGM on 29 July 2008. He joined the Board in October 2006 as Chief Executive, Europe and Deputy Chief Executive. The early part of his career was spent in the Milan office of McKinsey & Company working on media, telecommunications and industrial goods, with additional responsibility for recruitment. In 1996 he joined Omnitel Pronto Italia, which subsequently became Vodafone Italy, and he was appointed Chief Executive in 1999. He was then appointed regional Chief Executive Officer, Southern Europe for Vodafone Group Plc in 2001, became a member of the Board in 2002 and was appointed to the role of Regional Chief Executive Officer for Southern Europe, Middle East and Africa for Vodafone in 2003. In 2004 he left Vodafone to join RCS MediaGroup, the leading Italian publishing company, where he was Chief Executive until he rejoined Vodafone as CEO, Europe. He sits on the International Advisory Board of Bocconi University, Italy and is a Member of the Steering Committee of the European Round Table of Industrialists
Nick Read
CFO
Nick Read, Chief Financial Officer, was appointed Group Chief Financial Officer and a member of the Vodafone Group PLC Board on 1 April 2014. Since joining Vodafone in 2001, Nick has held a variety of senior roles including CFO, CCO and CEO of Vodafone Limited, the UK operating company. In his role immediately prior to Group CFO, he was the Regional CEO for Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific for five years and was a Board member of the listed companies of Vodacom, Safaricom, and Vodafone Qatar, our subsidiaries in India and Egypt, and our joint ventures, VHA in Australia and Indus Towers in India. Prior to joining Vodafone, he held senior global finance positions with United Business Media Plc and Federal Express Worldwide. Nick is a Fellow Chartered Management Accountant and a Chartered Global Management Accountant, with a BA (Hons) in Accounting and Finance.
Gerard Kleisterlee
Chairman
Board committees: Nominations and Governance Committee Gerard Kleisterlee became Chairman of Vodafone Group Plc on 26 July 2011 at the conclusion of the AGM, having previously served as a non-executive member of the Board. He retired as President/Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Management and the Group Management Committee of Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (‘Philips’) on 31 March 2011 after a career with Philips spanning three decades. He has been a non-executive director of the Supervisory Board and member of the Audit Committee of Royal Dutch Shell since November 2010, and was previously a member of the Board of Directors of Dell Inc., resigning in October 2013 and also previously a member of the Daimler AG Supervisory Board, resigning on 9 April 2014.
Sir Crispin Davis
Non-Executive Director
Board director since 28 July 2014. Board committees: Audit and Risk Committee Sir Crispin Davis joined the Board in July 2014. Sir Crispin was the Chief Executive of Reed Elsevier plc from 1999 to 2009. He was previously Chief Executive of Aegis Group plc and the Group Managing Director of Guinness Group plc (now Diageo plc). Sir Crispin began his executive career with Procter & Gamble, where he held a variety of senior management roles including as President of the Company’s North American Food Business. In his non-executive career, Sir Crispin was the Chairman of StarBev Consumer Industries B.V. from 2009 to 2012 and was a Non-Executive Director on the Board of GlaxoSmithKline plc from 2003 to 2013, where he chaired the Remuneration Committee. Currently an advisor to CVC Capital Partners, Sir Crispin was knighted in 2004 for services to publishing and information. He is an Oxford University Trustee and Member of the University Board.
Dr Mathias Döpfner
Non-Executive Director
Board director since 1 April 2015 Dr Mathias Döpfner joined the board in April 2015. He is Chairman and CEO of the German media group Axel Springer SE in Berlin. Dr Döpfner has been with Axel Springer SE since 1998, initially as editor-in-chief of Die Welt and since 2000 as a member of the Management Board. Among various positions he has held in media companies, he was the editor-in-chief of the newspapersWochenpost and Hamburger Morgenpost and the Brussels-based correspondent for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. He studied Musicology, German and Theatrical Arts in Frankfurt and Boston. Dr Döpfner is a member of the Board of Directors of Time Warner and Warner Music Group and holds honorary offices at, among others, the American Academy, the American Jewish Committee and the European Publishers Council (EPC). He was visiting professor in media at the University of Cambridge and became a member of St John’s College in 2010.
Dame Clara Furse
Non-Executive Director
Board director since 1 September 2014. Board committees: Audit & Risk Committee. Dame Clara Furse joined the Board in September 2014. Dame Clara was the Chief Executive of the London Stock Exchange Group plc from 2001 to 2009. She also joined the Bank of England\'s Financial Policy Committee (FPC) in April 2013. She was previously Group Chief Executive of Credit Lyonnais Rouse Ltd and Managing Director, Global Futures and Options at UBS AG. Dame Clara is a non-executive director on the board of Nomura Holdings Inc and Amadeus Holdings IT SA. Her previous non-executive career includes board appointments at Legal & General Group plc (2009 to 2013), Euroclear plc (2002 to 2009), Fortis (2006 to 2008) and LIFFE Holdings plc (1991 to 1999). Dame Clara was appointed to the Financial Policy Committee of the Bank of England in 2013. A graduate of the London School of Economics, she was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2008.
Val Gooding
Non-executive director
Val Gooding joined the Board in February 2014. She is non-executive Chairman of Premier Farnell plc and is a non-executive director of TUI AG. Val is also a Trustee of Historic Royal Palaces, English National Ballet and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. In 1996, Val became Managing Director of British United Provident Association (Bupa), and was appointed to the position of CEO in 1998, a role she held for ten years before stepping down in 2008. Prior to joining Bupa, Val spent 23 years working with British Airways Plc, where she held a number of positions, including Head of Cabin Services, Head of Marketing, Director of Business Units and Director for Asia Pacific. Val has been a non-executive director of Standard Chartered Bank plc, the BBC, J. Sainsbury plc, Compass Group plc, BAA plc, CWC Communications plc, the Lawn Tennis Association and a member of the Council of Warwick University, Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Warwick Business School, and a Board member of both the Confederation of British Industry and Association of British Insurers. on 30 April 2014 she resigned her position as lead non-executive director at the Home Office. She was also President of the International Federation of Health Plans and a Trustee and deputy Chairman at the British Museum. Val was awarded a CBE in 2002 for services to business and has honorary doctorates from Warwick, Cranfield, Bournemouth and Middlesex Universities.
Renée J. James
Non-executive director
Non-executive director. Board director since 1 January 2011 Board committees: Remuneration Committee Renée J. James is President of Intel Corporation and is part of the company\'s Executive Office. Renée has broad knowledge of the computing industry, spanning hardware, manufacturing, security, software and services, which she developed through product R&D leadership positions at Intel and as chairman of Intel\'s software subsidiaries. Renée has also been an overall leader in the development and implementation of the corporate strategy. During her 25 plus year career at Intel, Renée has spearheaded the company\'s strategic expansion into providing proprietary and open source software and services for applications in enterprise, security and cloud-based computing. In her most recent role as executive vice president and general manager of the Software and Services Group, she was responsible for Intel\'s global software and services strategy, revenue, profit, and product R&D. In this role, Renée led Intel\'s strategic relationships with the world\'s leading device and enterprise operating systems companies. Previously, she was the director and COO of Intel Online Services, Intel\'s datacenter services business. Early in her career Renée also served as chief of staff for former Intel CEO Andy Grove. Renée is Vice Chair of the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee. She also serves as a non-executive director on the Vodafone Group Plc Board of Directors and is a member of the Remuneration Committee. She served 7 years as independent director on the VMware Inc. Board of Directors and was a member of the Audit Committee. She is also a member of the C200. Most recently Renée was nominated to Fortune\'s Most Powerful Women in Business list, ranking 21st and was named on Forbes 100 list at number 37. She holds a bachelor\'s degree and an MBA from the University of Oregon.
Samuel Jonah
Non-executive director
Samuel Jonah was appointed to the Board 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 Range Resources Limited. He is also Chairman of Metropolitan Insurance Company Limited. Sam is an adviser to the Presidents of Nigeria and Togo and previously served as advisor to the Presidents of South Africa and Ghana. Sam was a non-executive director of the Standard Bank of South Africa from 2006-2012. He previously worked for Ashanti Goldfields Company Limited, becoming Chief Executive Officer in 1986, and was formerly Executive 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. 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.
Nick Land
Non-Executive Director
Nick Land joined the Board in 2006 and is Chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee. Solely for the purposes of relevant legislation, he is the Board\'s appointed financial expert on the Audit and Risk Committee. In June 2006 he retired as Chairman of Ernst & Young LLP after a distinguished career spanning 36 years with the firm. He became an audit partner in 1978 and held a number of management appointments before becoming Managing Partner in 1992. He was appointed Chairman and joined the Global Executive Board of Ernst & Young Global LLP in 1995. He is a non-executive director of BBA Aviation plc and the Ashmore Group plc, and was appointed as a non-executive director of the Financial Reporting Council on 1 April 2011. He is an advisor to Silicon Valley Bank, London, the board of Dentons UKMEA LLP, and a member of the Advisory Board of Alsbridge plc. He is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Farnham Castle, and is a member of the Finance and Audit Committees of the National Gallery. He is also Chairman of the Board of Trustees of The Vodafone Foundation.
Philip Yea
Non-executive director
Board director since September 2005 Board committees: Audit & Risk Committee; and Nominations and Governance Committee Philip Yea became a member of the Board in September 2005. He has held a number of roles in the private equity industry, most notably at 3i Group plc where he was Chief Executive from 2004 until January 2009, and prior to 3i at Investcorp, where his main focus was on the turnaround and performance of portfolio investments. He is a former Finance Director of Diageo plc, the global drinks group, where as Finance Director of Guinness PLC he was closely involved in the creation of Diageo through Guinness\'s merger with GrandMet in 1997. Philip is an Independent Non-Executive Director of Rocket Internet AG, holds an advisory role to Bridges Ventures, is Chairman of the trustees of the British Heart Foundation and an independent director and trustee on the Board of the Francis Crick Institute. He is a non-executive director of Aberdeen Asian Smaller Companies Investment Trust PLC and bwin.party digital entertainment plc and has previously held non-executive roles at HBOS. Manchester United and The Rose Partnership, Executive Search.