Vodafone has announced the appointment of Max Taylor as its new CEO.

Taylor, who currently holds the position of Chief Commercial Officer, will take over from Ahmed Essam in his new role on 2 April 2024.

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He joined the telecoms giant in 2019 from EE, where he spent almost a decade at the company rising the ranks to become Managing Director of Commercial and Marketing, a post he held for over three years.

He also spent around six years at Orange, holding several positions including Head of Proposition Development, Head of Convergence and Head of 3G Marketing.

In a statement, the telecoms giant said: “Max brings a wealth of experience to his new role.

“Under his leadership as Chief Commercial Officer, Vodafone UK has continued to grow its customer base, revenue, and margins, surpassing our competitors across various commercial metrics, with a strong focus on customer experience.”

Meanwhile, Essam will become Executive Chairman of Vodafone Germany and CEO of Vodafone’s European markets.

The news comes as Vodafone revealed it is to sell its Italian business to Swisscom for €8 billion, in a bid to simplify the UK-based telecoms group.

As part of the Italy deal, Vodafone will continue to provide certain services to Swisscom for up to five years.

Commenting on the announcement, Vodafone Group CEO, Margherita Della Valle, said: “Going forward, our businesses will be operating in growing telco markets – where we hold strong positions – enabling us to deliver predictable, stronger growth in Europe.

“This will be coupled with our acceleration in B2B, as we continue to take share in an expanding digital services market.