Hello I'm Kirstie Young and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Discs archive

for rights reasons we've had to shorten the music.

The program was originally broadcast in the year 2000 and the presenter was Sue Lawley. My cast away this week is a company man. He's worked for only three, each time tackling complex

managerial problems with loyalty, relish and determination. He was born in Hertfordshire,

went to Hitchin Grammar School and after university found himself working in America, where the way of life appealed to him. He still calls it home.

Four years ago, he took on his latest job, Chief Executive of BT. There, despite working a

13 hour day, six or seven days a week, he hasn't avoided criticism. Some say BT has

allowed its competitors to make the pace, hasn't taken advantage of the opportunities

opened up by the new and rapidly developing technology, but the companies are in the process

of a major restructuring and its boss is as unwavering as ever. I am ruthlessly persistent, he said,

I never give up. He is the Chief Executive of British Telecommunications PLC, Sir Peter Bonfield.

It is of the three jobs you've held in your working life Peter the most exposed isn't it?

Do you relish that or do you resent it?

Well it's certainly the most exposed and obviously the largest. I think when I took on the position somebody said

it's like managing in a goldfish bowl and I think that is true but I think you just have to

get on with it. How does it rate alongside the other two? The first was at Texas Instruments

of course and the second as head of

ICL it's certainly the biggest is it the toughest as well yeah I think at

the moment it's it's the toughest because the industry is going through major

structural changes and of course BT itself is a very very large

company we often forget the sheer size of it the number of people that we have

137,000 and we're spread over a lot of countries now internationally as well so it's a

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