Allison Kirkby, the new CEO of Danish telco TDC, has found the time to become a non-executive director of BT too.

Kirkby was thought to be one of the front-runners for the BT CEO job, following Gavin Patterson’s decision to spend more time with his yachts. But she took herself out of the running when her employer at the time of the executive search, Tele2, merged with Com Hem, and Kirkby took that opportunity to start a new gig at TDC.

In the end BT went for former Worldpay boss Philip Jansen, who has plenty of experience at the top table, but not necessarily of an operator group. With that in mind it makes sense to get in some extra expertise in that area and it’s presumably safe to assume that TDC and BT have no competitive overlap.

“Allison brings to the BT Board valuable and recent experience in the international telecommunications sector,” said BT Chairman Jan du Plessis. “This, combined with her strong experience in driving performance, improving customer service and delivering shareholder value, makes her an excellent addition to the Board. We are delighted to welcome Allison to BT.”

“I’m extremely proud to be joining the BT Board,” said Kirkby. “This is an exciting time for the sector and BT is at the forefront of driving change in the industry for the benefit of its customers both domestically and internationally.” She joins an all-star cast on the BT board, which includes DT boss Timotheus Höttges, long-time ARM senior exec Mike Inglis and former Telefónica Europe boss Matthew Key.