BT APPOINTS JORIS VAN OERSTO LEAD GLOBAL SERVICES IN EUROPE AND KEY INDUSTRY VERTICAL GLOBALLY

BT today announced the appointment of Joris van Oers to lead a key industry vertical in its Global Services division. Joris re-joins BT after spending three years as executive vice president of the business division at KPN, the Dutch telecoms company. Before that, he was country manager for BT in the Benelux region.

Joris will lead a global vertical team focused on customers in the resources, manufacturing and logistics sectors. In addition, he will take on responsibility for the BT’s overall operations in Europe.

Joris joins Global Services’ two other industry sales leaders: Bernadette Wightman, managing director for banking & financial services and the Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) region; and Jennifer Artley, managing director for technology, life sciences & business services and the Americas. All three managing directors report to Global Services CEO Bas Burger. They are supported by a commercial unit led by Chet Patel which will help drive sales across all Global Services; he also heads transformation for Global Services.

Bas Burger said: “Joris’ appointment strengthens our leadership team and our sales capability. It reflects a sharpening of our focus on the sector-specific needs of our top multinational customers. He comes at an exciting time of transformation both within BT and in the industry and I look forward to working with him to drive ever deeper partnerships with our customers.”

Joris started his career at KPN after completing his university studies in Belgium and the Netherlands and worked his way up through the company in a wide range of sales and management positions. By the time he left, he was running the corporate solutions business and the international mobile unit. In 2009, he was appointed CEO of De Telefoongids Groep (Dutch yellow pages) and member of the Executive Committee of European Directories where he spearheaded a major transformation programme. As well as his activities in global telecoms, Joris is also active on the board of a Dutch charity fund and in the Rotary club. He is married with three children and lives in the Netherlands. His interests include golf, skiing, tennis and enjoying time with his family.