After a period in finance, Vallance became Chief of Operations in 1985, and Chief Executive from 1986 to 1995, as chairman from 1987 until, with many investors calling for his resignation,[1] he resigned as chairman in 2001, and finally served as president emeritus from 2001 to 2002.

In 1999 he made a speech to the Telecoms Managers Association, which led to him being called the lollipop man:[2] Iain Vallance: When it comes to the mass deployment of new technology across our network, BT has the unenviable task of the lollipop man.

His job is to restrain the over-exuberant children from dashing across the road at will, and to ensure that the crossing is made safely and in an orderly fashion.In 1995 Vallance was a member of the Greenbury committee which produced a report, known as the Greenbury Report, into executive remuneration.

The report was formally commissioned at the behest of the CBI, although in his memoirs[3] Michael Heseltine claims that he personally instigated the formation of the committee.

Vallance's appointment to the committee came despite previous high-profile controversy over his own pay at BT.