BT Group announced the appointment of Adam Crozier (pictured) as its new chairman, confirming an earlier newspaper report tipping the move, with the former TV boss set to take over from Jan du Plessis from 1 December.

In a statement, BT detailed plans for Crozier to join its board as an independent non-executive director and chairman designate from the start of November, before taking on the role a month later.

Du Plessis’ departure was announced in March and he will retire from the BT board after being succeeded by Crozier.

The Sunday Times tipped Crozier to be in the hotseat for the role earlier this month.

Experience
On taking on chairmanship of BT, Crozier will step down from the same role at fashion retailer Asos and relinquish a position as non-executive director of Sony.

It appears he will retain positions as chairman of restaurant business Whitbread  and research company Kantar.

BT explained Crozier’s experience as a chairman with significant operational and transformation experience in public and private businesses across a range of industries made him “an excellent candidate”.

Earlier in his career and for more than 20 years he was a CEO across four different sectors, most recently TV broadcaster ITV, in addition to postal group Royal Mail.

Crozier stated it was an honour to replace du Plessis. “BT is a hugely important company, with a critical role to play in building the digital networks and services to support the UK’s future.”