Sir Christopher became Chairman of GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) on 1st January 2005 joining as Non-Executive Deputy Chairman on 1st June 2004. Sir Christopher is the former Chief Executive Officer of Vodafone Group Plc. Prior to his retirement from Vodafone in July 2003, he had been a member of its Board since August 1985 and its Chief Executive Officer since January 1997. He was also Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Mannesmann AG; a non-executive director of China Mobile (Hong Kong) Limited; and on the Board of Verizon Wireless. Sir Christopher joined Vodafone as Managing Director of Vodafone Limited in January 1985 when the mobile phone service was first launched, and held that position until December 1996.
Prior to joining Vodafone, Sir Christopher was Director of Network Services at ICL. In this role, he was Managing Director of Baric, a computer services company owned jointly by Barclays and ICL, and was responsible for ICL's computer bureau services worldwide.
Sir Christopher served as the National Chairman of the Young Conservatives from 1977 to 1979, and was Vice President of the Computer Services Association Council at the time he left ICL.
He is a non-executive director of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc; a non-executive director of Ferrari spa; a Senior Adviser at Bain & Co; and a member of the Advisory Board of Reform.
