Vodafone Group director to retire

Vodafone Group plc has announced that Sir Julian Horn-Smith is to retire from the board at the company's annual general meeting in July. Sir Julian, 57, has enjoyed a career spanning more than 22 years at Vodafone and has held a number of senior posts including chief operating officer and currently deputy group chief executive, which includes responsibility for global business development.

He was closely involved in all of Vodafone's major transactions, including Mannesmann and most recently the acquisition of businesses in the Czech Republic and Romania, the disposal of Vodafone's Swedish subsidiary and the purchase of a stake in India's Bharti Tele-Ventures.

Commenting on his retirement, chief executive Arun Sarin said: "Julian has enjoyed an outstanding career at Vodafone going back to the very earliest days of the creation of the UK network.

"He was one of the founding fathers of the business and his contribution to Vodafone has been immense. He has performed with distinction in all the roles he has held and he will be missed by all his colleagues."

"It has been a privilege to be part of Vodafone's creation and its development into one of Europe's most successful companies," Sir Julian said. "Although today's announcement has been long planned, I look forward to Vodafone's future success and after July will be cheering from the terraces."