Jan Du Plessis

The former chairman of telecoms giant BT and the Government’s preferred choice to chair the UK’s accounting watchdog has received a knighthood in the New Year Honours list.Jan du Plessis is honoured for services to telecoms and business, having overseen negotiations with regulators of BT’s full fibre broadband rollout.The South African-born businessman, who spent most of his career working in the UK, told the PA news agency: “Especially as an immigrant who first came to the country some 40 years ago, it is a tremendous honour to have my business career recognised in this way.“However, the improvements we have seen...

The chairman of BT has announced that he plans to quit the telecoms giant once a replacement has been found. Jan du Plessis, who hired BT’s current boss, Philip Jansen, from Worldpay, said that, after 17 years as a serial non-executive across numerous listed businesses, he wants to step back to focus on other interests.