Vodafone has appointed Max Taylor as its upcoming CEO.
Presently serving as Chief Commercial Officer, Taylor is set to succeed Ahmed Essam in the role starting 2 April 2024.
Since joining the telecommunications leader in 2019 after a nearly ten-year tenure at EE, Taylor advanced to the role of Managing Director of Commercial and Marketing, a position he maintained for over three years.
Before EE, he dedicated about six years at Orange in various capacities, including Head of Proposition Development, Head of Convergence, and Head of 3G Marketing.
The company expressed, “Max brings a wealth of experience to his new role. As Chief Commercial Officer, he has led Vodafone UK to outperform competitors in growing its customer base, revenue, and margins, particularly emphasizing customer experience.”
In his new capacity, Essam will assume the role of Executive Chairman of Vodafone Germany and CEO of Vodafone’s European markets.
This announcement coincides with Vodafone’s decision to offload its Italian operations to Swisscom for €8 billion, aiming to streamline the UK-centered telecom group.
Vodafone plans to maintain certain service provisions to Swisscom for up to five years as part of the deal with Italy.
Vodafone Group CEO, Margherita Della Valle, remarked on the move, “Looking ahead, our entities will operate in burgeoning telecom markets where we have established strong footholds, which allows us to anticipate more predictable and robust growth in Europe. This strategy aligns with our accelerated focus on the B2B sector, as we continue to capture a larger share of the growing digital services market.”
