Keith Read, C.Eng. MIET, MCIPS
Director, Regulatory Compliance
British Telecom (BT)
London, UK

After an initial spell in manufacturing, Keith Read joined British Telecom (BT) in Operator and Directory Services where, ultimately, he was responsible for introducing a range of strategic, technological, operational and service changes which transformed the business, including Directory Enquiry charging, a highly sensitive customer issue at the time.

In 1991, he was appointed as a Board Member in the newly formed BT Payphones organisation where he was instrumental in turning a poorly performing and loss-making operation into a world-renowned and profitable business.

Keith subsequently moved to BT’s Procurement and Logistics organisation where he became General Manager, Governance responsible for all corporate governance and systems activities in an organisation with an annual spend of some £5.7B, the largest in the UK outside the military.

In 2000, Keith moved to BT Wholesale as Head of Business Planning and Process Management before taking up his current role as BT Group Compliance Director, in July 2003.

In 2005, the Compliance Register - a leading international compliance organisation - voted him Compliance Officer of the Year in the telecommunications sector. He also won the corporate compliance award for BT.

Keith founded the UK’s Telecoms Industry Regulatory Forum and the Regulated Industries Forum - which brings together a wide range of regulated industries, companies, industry bodies, regulators and academia.

As a direct consequence, BT has been invited to work with a number of governmental agencies on regulation, compliance and associated codes of practice.

Keith is frequently invited to speak on compliance at a wide range of events across the world and was featured both in the Times and in a major Daily Telegraph article - ‘Compliance and science’