Former BT chief Philip Jansen to chair troubled promoting large WPP

Former BT chief exec and City grandee will succeed Roberto Quarta at WPP

WPP has named Philip Jansen as its chairman as the advertising giant tries to win back shareholder confidence.

The former BT chief executive and City grandee will succeed Roberto Quarta, who has been chairman of the advertising giant since replacing Philip Lader in 2015.

Jansen, 57, will join the board in September and formally take over in January 2025, receiving a salary of £575,000 a year.

But it comes at a testing time for WPP, which has issued a series of profit warnings blaming a downturn in spending in the US and China. WPP revenues sank in the first quarter of this year as technology clients cut ad budgets.

Chief executive Mark Read has said the company, which owns the Ogilvy and Group M agencies, will focus on developing artificial intelligence technology to get the company back on track. 

WPP shares are flat so far this year but are down by over a fifth in the past five years. They rose 1.2 per cent yesterday.

Paolo Pescatore, analyst at PP Foresight, said Jansen was a ‘good hire’ for the advertising group.

‘Let’s not forget he steered BT during a challenging period and led a major transformational program. 

This will put WPP in good stead to have a razor-sharp focus on efficiencies and revenue growth,’ he said.

During his four-and-half year tenure at BT, Jansen had a turbulent time in BT’s boardroom.

It was reported that he clashed with former chairman Jan du Plessis, though the company denied this.