JOHN PETTER, 45

Chief executive, BT Consumer

LIVES: Four- bedroom house in Battersea with wife Mary. No children.

EDUCATION: Studied modern history at Queen’s College, Oxford.

HOBBIES: Gardening, fishing and reading.

FAVOURITE BOOK: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.

MUSIC: A Thousand Acres Of Sycamore, Fionn Regan. GADGET: iPhone 5s. HOLIDAY: Argentina. CAREER: His first job was stacking shelves in Sainsbury’s. He joined BT in 2004 as Chief Operating Officer for BT Retail Consumer Division, before being appointed Managing Director of the unit in 2008. Previously he held roles as Marketing and Commercial Director at Virgin Media (formerly Telewest) and Brand Manager at Procter & Gamble. He was appointed chairman of the low-cost internet firm Plusnet in 2008.

WORKING DAY: Gets up at 5.30am, and drives his blue VW up! compact car to the BT office — he’s in the gym in the basement for 6am. He does an hour of intensive cardiovascular exercise, before having porridge at a nearby cafe. He is at his desk by 7.30am.

Once a month, he heads out to one of BT’s call centres and mans a phone line to speak directly to customers. He replies personally to letters and emails from customers.

‘I even replied to one on Christmas Day,’ he says. His day ends at 8pm.

DOWNTIME: Mr Petter says he doesn’t have much spare time, but when he leaves the office he likes to visit the cinema. He also fishes and loves gardening. ‘I like the satisfaction of seeing the results of your labours,’ he says.