Get to know:
Thea Tanner

We find out about her role and what she loves about her job.

As well as about her involvement in BT’s Women in Wholesale mentoring programme and why she’s so passionate about championing women in the industry.

What do you do at BT?

As the Commercial and Propositions Director, it’s my role to enable the sales team to be successful and come up with cool solutions to customer problems.

I currently have eight direct reports, and over 60 people work across my team. These people encompass a broad range of functions, including pricing, deal support for fixed, operator and MVNO customers, propositions, interconnect, roaming, planning, and trading.

My team invests a lot in trying to get the best possible results, so a big part of my job is encouraging them to do that, but also to be there for them when things don’t go according to plan.

My previous role was Head of Trading and Planning, where I was responsible for the plan of record and the source of truth on trading and setting targets.

What’s the best thing about your job?

I love the creative aspect of the role. I trained as a Chartered Accountant, which was very rules-based, so generating ideas with the team and seeing them hit targets and the market is very rewarding.

I also love the people side of my job. I’m passionate about investing quality time in people, which means listening carefully to people’s concerns and challenges. The result is a more engaged team that achieves better outcomes. This approach has enabled the cultural change in BT Wholesale, to take more risks, and have a growth mindset – we refuse to lose.

We’ve had several hugely proud moments this year because of this approach, evidenced by achieving a number of firsts in Wholesale, and some important business wins.

I champion young women and I get to work with some amazing female colleagues. Across the industry, we often find that women get to mid-management but are held back because they don’t believe in themselves. I’m determined to change that and so it’s essential that we’re setting more than just passive targets, and BT Wholesale are leading the way.

I’m proud to be involved with the Women in Wholesale mentoring programme too. It’s important that women feel comfortable voicing their ideas and it’s a great way to share techniques. It’s also been wonderful to see both junior and senior members of the team learn from one another.

What do you do outside of work?

I’ve been a school trustee for a long time, only recently resigning, as I look to inspire young people where I can. I was lucky to have parents who pushed me, and I want children to get the same opportunities. It’s also great to be able to use my experience from working at BT, particularly my ability to interpret information quickly and make judgments, to better education in my local area.

I love everything about travel too, from packing my bag to going to the airport and experiencing new places. I also continually have a renovation property to work on, in my most recent I built an Airbnb at the bottom of the garden which has been a hugely rewarding experience. Alongside seeing friends and family, playing golf, and walking the dog.

To find out more about our propositions, speak with your account manager or visit our website.