Hanif Lalani, the chief executive of BT's struggling Global Services division, is to step down after just over one year in the job.

Mr Lalani has been with BT for 26 years, and was group finance director before he took over Global Services in October 2008, when he took over from Francois Barrault resigned with a 12-month pay-off after six months in the role. In the same month, BT issued a £80 million profit warning.

A statement from BT said that Mr Lalani wished “to pursue personal business interests".

He is to be replaced by Jeff Kelly, who is joining from the global IT services company EDS, where he ran its $10 billion American division.

BT said that Mr Lalani has played an important role at Global Services, “stabilising the division and then delivering improved financial results over sequential quarters”.

Ian Livingston, BT’s chief executive, added: "Hanif took over as chief executive of Global Services at a difficult time for the division. He and his team firstly stabilised and then started to turn around the business delivering significantly improved financial results and world class customer service. We are very grateful to Hanif for his hard work in achieving this."

BT’s Global Services arm — once the engine room of the company’s growth — has been beset by problems for some time. In May, the group said that its performance was unacceptable and that it would have to take charges of £1.3 billion after the completion of contract and financial reviews at the unit.

In November, the group reported that second quarter revenue from the division had fallen by 3 per cent to £2.02 billion, because of economic conditions, lower wholesale call volumes in continental Europe, mobile termination rate reductions, the continued decline in UK calls and lines and a decline in equipment sales.

The division, which provides networked IT services to companies, has been hit hard by the downturn as it becomes more cautious about how profitable its contracts will prove to be. The group has also taken a £280 million restructuring charge on the unit, with further restructuring charges of £420 million over the next two years.

The difficulties at Global Services were largely viewed as one of the major contributers to BT’s 45 per cent drop in profits for the first half of its financial year.

Contracts have since been renegotiated and parts of the enterprises division in France and Germany have been sold off. Now the group is concentrating on serving UK corporate customers and multinationals.

Mr Lalani will stay on with the group until March to assist with a smooth transition.

Mr Kelly said: “I am thrilled to be joining BT at such an exciting time. I know from experience that Global Services enjoys a terrific reputation for its customer service and client base.

“My job is to build on those foundations and create a business that delivers value to BT's shareholders as well as its customers. Globalisation is here to stay and BT can help companies make the most of the opportunity it presents.”

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