78 Vodafone Group Plc Annual Report 2026
Strategic report
Governance
Financials
Other information
Our Board continued
Read full biographies vodafone.com/board
Stephen A. Carter CBE N T Independent Non-Executive Director
Michel Demaré A R Independent Non-Executive Director
Simon Dingemans A R Independent Non-Executive Director
Hatem Dowidar N Non-Independent Non-Executive Director
Committee key A Audit and Risk Committee E ESG Committee N Nominations and Governance Committee R Remuneration Committee – Track record of value creation, with specific experience in the telecoms and media sectors. – Experience in public policy, government affairs and regulatory engagement, which is invaluable in relation to the highly regulated environment within which the Company operates. External appointments – Informa Plc, group chief executive. – Informa TechTarget Inc, non-executive director 1 . – BolognaFiere Group, director and member of the governance, nomination and compensation committees 1 . Note: 1. Please note these external appointments are part of the Informa Group. Tenure: 3 years Career and experience Since becoming Group CEO of Informa Plc in 2013, Stephen has led Informa plc through a transformation into an international leader in B2B events, digital services and academic markets. Prior to Informa, Stephen was President and Managing Director at Alcatel-Lucent, and also served a term as the founding CEO of Ofcom. After Ofcom, Stephen served as Chief of Strategy to the UK’s Prime Minister, and then as a Minister of State for Communications, Technology & Broadcasting. Skills and attributes which support strategy and long-term success
Tenure: 8 years Career and experience
Tenure: 1 year Career and experience
Tenure: 2 years Career and experience Hatem brings over 35 years of experience in multinational companies and more than 26 years of these within the telecommunications industry across various leadership roles. Hatem joined e& Group in September 2015, initially as Group Chief Operating Officer before being appointed Group Chief Executive Officer in 2020, a position he held until March 2026. Prior to joining e& Group, Hatem held various leadership roles at Vodafone including Group Chief of Staff, Group Core Services Director, CEO of Vodafone Egypt and CEO of Partner Markets. Skills and attributes which support strategy and long-term success – Highly skilled strategist and visionary, with experience leading several high-impact strategic programmes. – Extensive corporate governance experience through representation as chair and board member on several corporate boards within and outside the telecommunications industry. External appointments – Etihad Etisalat Company (Mobily), non-executive director. – BlackRock Frontiers Investment Trust Plc, non-executive director.
Michel began his career at Continental Bank SA, Belgium, before spending 18 years with The Dow Chemical Company in several finance and strategy roles in Benelux, France, the US and Switzerland. He was Chief Financial Officer Europe for Baxter International from 2002 to 2005, and Chief Financial Officer at ABB Group from 2005 to 2013. He also served as Interim CEO of ABB during 2008. He was independent vice-chairman at UBS Group from 2009 to 2019, vice-chairman/chairman of Syngenta AG from 2013 to 2017 and Chairman of IMD Business School from 2020 to 2025. Skills and attributes which support strategy and long-term success – Proven multinational business leader with substantial international finance, strategy and M&A experience. – Highly skilled in governance and corporate stewardship, which Michel brings both to the Board and to each of the Committees of the Company on which he sits. External appointments – AstraZeneca Plc, non-executive chair, chair of the nomination and governance committee and member of the remuneration committee.
From 2011 to 2019, Simon was Group Chief Financial Officer of GlaxoSmithKline plc (‘GSK’). Prior to GSK, Simon worked in investment banking for over 25 years at SG Warburg and then Goldman Sachs, where he was a partner for a decade advising a broad range of leading UK and European companies across a number of sectors. Simon previously served as Chairman of the Financial Reporting Council. Skills and attributes which support strategy and long-term success – Proven history of delivering extensive transformation and restructuring efforts to improve organisational performance. – Extensive financial, operational and strategic experience, which is a valuable addition to the Board to drive the execution of the Company’s strategy to achieve our commercial priorities and deliver long-term value to our shareholders. External appointments – WPP Plc, non-executive director and member of the audit committee. – Avantor Inc, director.
T Technology Committee Committee Chair Member
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