If timing is everything, then Allison Kirkby may have judged it perfectly.<\/p>\n
Since becoming BT\u2019s first female chief executive more than two years ago<\/a> the company\u2019s share price has climbed 80%, an investor-pleasing turnaround that has seen Kirkby well-rewarded with a pay and bonus package of \u00a35.6m last year<\/a>, the largest for a boss of the telecoms company in well over a decade. However, there are questions over how much credit Kirkby can take for the apparent revival of the business.<\/p>\n Last week, the 58-year-old Glaswegian, who joined BT\u2019s board in 2019 while chief executive of Swedish telecoms company Telia, received plaudits for finally engineering a solution to deal with the group\u2019s struggling international division<\/a>.<\/p>\n The division has been a drag on BT for years and an exit \u2013 to focus on making the company a \u201cnational champion\u201d \u2013 has been tortuously trickling along since a scandal at BT Italia wiped more than \u00a38bn off its market value a decade ago<\/a> and ultimately cost the former chief executive Gavin Patterson his job.<\/p>\n And as years of huge investment in addressing the UK\u2019s status as a global internet laggard<\/a> taper off, full-fibre broadband now covers more than two-thirds of the UK and BT could be churning out \u00a33bn in annual free cashflow by the end of the decade.<\/p>\n The need for fewer engineers and the rollout of AI will see BT\u2019s workforce shrink by about 40% to about 75,000 by the end of the decade, with Kirkby last month raising the company\u2019s savings target from \u00a33bn to \u00a33.7bn.<\/p>\n However, there are those who believe that the foundations for much of the benefit that Kirkby is now reaping were laid by her predecessor, Philip Jansen.<\/p>\n Jansen\u2019s tenure has been characterised as that of a wartime general<\/a>, from instigating only the third dividend cut in BT\u2019s history<\/a> to pay for the national infrastructure upgrade, while also facing a pandemic<\/a> and the company\u2019s first national strike in 35 years, to huge staff and cost cuts<\/a> and off-loading the costly BT Sport pay-TV business.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI think she inherited a good hand with a lot of good fundamentals in place; some might say she has been a lucky general, but she has also been a driving force,\u201d says one former senior executive. \u201cShe is no-nonsense, a clever operator, and subsequent decisions have been smart. And she is still facing plenty of challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n Sunil Bharti Mittal, the Indian telecoms billionaire who is BT\u2019s largest shareholder<\/a>, and another senior executive from his company have taken seats on BT\u2019s board.<\/p>\n While Kirkby does not need to worry about a potential takeover attempt \u2013 the government has said it would block any increase on his current 24.5% holding to maintain control over \u201cnational sovereign infrastructure\u201d \u2013 there is added pressure to grow in a competitive market.<\/p>\n BT is facing competition from a resurgent Vodafone, which overtook EE as the UK\u2019s biggest mobile operator after a mega-merger to create VodafoneThree<\/a> and which has seen its market value surge a quarter over the last year. Shares in BT, which reported a 3% decline in total revenues last year, have fallen more than 3% over the same period.<\/p>\n A U-turn on a decision to retire the venerable BT as its flagship consumer brand<\/a> in favour of EE has also proved confusing. The relaunch of the brand, which included sponsorship of Euro 2028 and the return of BT Mobile, was held in May at Wembley, where EE has been the stadium sponsor and lead partner since 2014.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is going to be confusing because it is flip-flopping,\u201d says Polly Hopkins, UK managing director of branding agency Elmwood London. \u201cBut the rationale behind it is sensible. As a brand BT is emotionally hard-wired into our culture; EE has only delivered in the mobile space really, and what they are trying to do is be seen as the nation\u2019s brand for all connectivity. It makes sense.\u201d<\/p>\n BT\u2019s fightback is bearing fruit with subscriber numbers across its consumer operations \u2013 EE, broadband, mobile and television \u2013 showing growth for the first time in eight years.<\/p>\n It has been haemorrhaging customers at its infrastructure arm, Openreach, losing 825,000 broadband customers last year in the fight against heavily discounting \u201calt-net\u201d rivals.<\/p>\n The company is forecasting it will lose another 800,000 this year, which will take the total over a five-year period to 3.2m, almost 16% of its current 21 million user broadband base.<\/p>\n However, losses have now peaked and are expected to fall to 288,000 annually by 2030.<\/p>\n