Telstra | January 20, 2011 | Press Release
Telstra Chief Executive Officer David Thodey today announced the appointment of two new executives to lead key company functions.
Brendon Riley has been appointed Chief Operations Officer, replacing Michael Rocca, who, following some consideration, has confirmed his intention to leave the company on 28 February 2011 after a successful 43 year career at Telstra.
Paul Fegan has been appointed Group Managing Director of a new business unit, Strategy & Corporate Services, which will bring together strategic and key corporate functions from 1 February 2011.
“These appointments are an investment in the next generation of company leaders. Brendon and Paul will lead functions that are fundamental to the company’s future success. Their appointments will add breadth, depth and diversity of experience to our leadership team,” Mr Thodey said.
Brendon Riley is one of IBM’s most senior executives and joins Telstra from the position of General Manager, Northeast Europe. He has lived and worked in Australia, Asia and Europe, led workforces comprising tens of thousands of employees, and managed networks and service delivery. Mr Riley is also a former CEO of IBM Global Services Australia; a joint venture between Telstra, IBM and Lend Lease, and at the time, the leading provider of IT services to the Australian market.
“Brendon has global experience leading large workforces, building effective teams, and managing networks and service delivery. He will bring extensive experience, demonstrated leadership qualities, and knowledge of the industry, including network-based applications and services, at a time of great opportunity for Telstra,” Mr Thodey said.
“I’m delighted to be joining Telstra. No other company matches Telstra’s network quality, reach and performance. With a strong focus on customer service and the deployment of new technologies and service offerings, Telstra can continue to transform and be a market leader,” Mr Riley said.
Mr Thodey thanked Michael Rocca for his substantial service to Telstra. Mr Rocca has agreed to remain at Telstra for a period, reporting to the CEO, to assist with the massive recovery process across the country as Telstra restores networks damaged by recent floods.
Paul Fegan, who was previously the Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director of St. George Bank Limited, has more than thirty years experience in the financial services sector. He has held senior executive roles in the United States, Asia, Europe and Australia. Paul will lead a new business unit that combines Telstra’s public policy, communications, corporate strategy, and mergers and acquisitions functions.
These functions were previously led by David Quilty, who has decided to leave the company, and Robert Nason, who will retain responsibility for Project New and continue to advise the company on its program of customer service improvements. Telstra’s commitment to Project New is unchanged and the company is pleased with progress to date.
“Paul is a highly regarded executive with a proven track record in delivering improved customer experience, building strong teams with a customer-centric focus and delivering solid returns for shareholders. He will draw on his domestic and global experience in corporate strategy, sales, operations, product development, customer experience, marketing and brand, having successfully led a number of large-scale customer-facing businesses and change management programmes,” Mr Thodey said.
“I am very excited to be joining Telstra at this time of transformational change. I look forward to working with David and the team to build upon the new foundations to improve customer experience and drive cultural change towards service excellence, while realising a stronger return for shareholders,” Mr Fegan said.
Mr Thodey thanked Mr Quilty for his substantial and effective contribution to the company through a period of change.
“Today’s appointments are part of a series of changes Telstra will continue to make as we adapt to new market opportunities, develop a group of talented leaders for the future, and build a sales- and marketing-led culture,” Mr Thodey concluded.
About Brendon Riley
Brendon Riley joins Telstra from IBM, where he was General Manager of Northeast Europe. Prior to this role, Brendon served as Chief Executive of IBM in the UK & Ireland, consistently delivering strong results and launching a significant transformation of the business.
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Previously, based in Vienna, he served as General Manager of IBM in Central and Eastern Europe, Russia/CIS, Middle East, Africa, Austria and Switzerland, where he was responsible for one of the corporation’s fastest-growing portfolios worldwide. He also served as a member of IBM’s Corporate Strategy Team.
Prior to this, Brendon was based in Sydney, where he was the Managing Director & Chief Executive of IBM Global Services Australia, an IBM, Telstra & Lend Lease joint venture company. IBM GSA was the leading provider of IT services to the Australian market.
Brendon moved to Sydney from Tokyo, where he was based for over five years focusing on the development of the IBM services business across the Asia Pacific (AP) region. His roles within IBM Global Services included Director of Marketing and Operations, and Vice President, Distribution Sector.
Brendon began his IBM career in Perth, Western Australia, as a sales representative. He held a number of senior management positions in Australia.
Born and raised in the South West of Western Australia, Brendon holds a Bachelor of Business in Information Processing from the Western Australian Institute of Technology (now Curtin University). He is married to Angelina and they have two teenage children.
Brendon will be based in Sydney.
About Paul Fegan
Paul Fegan has more than 30 years experience in financial services including retail, business and corporate banking, insurance, superannuation and wealth management having also led large-scale change management programmes.
Paul served as the Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director of St. George Bank Limited after previously holding senior executive roles with St. George, including Group Executive, Retail Banking & Wealth Management responsible for sales, operations, product, group marketing and brand.
Paul has also held a number of executive roles at National Australia Bank in the United States, Asia, United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia. Most notably Paul was Executive Director of both Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks in the United Kingdom as well as Chief Operating Officer of Yorkshire Bank.
Paul remains a non-executive director of AMP Limited and Chairman of the Bosch Institute for Medical Research.
Paul lives in Sydney and holds an MBA from the University of Melbourne.
Media contact: Andrew Maiden, mob: 0458 487 754