MacLaurin hits Vodafone's critics for six

Business Profile: Chairman vigorously defends the telecoms group and its embattled chief executive

Sitting in his elegant second floor offices just behind the Palace of Westminster, Lord MacLaurin of Knebworth is looking his usual healthy self. Now 65 he belies his years with a lean physique and a tan that seems to last all year round thanks, perhaps, to more time on the golf course than he admits to (he is a 12 handicapper).

Smooth and polished, he is enjoying a new phase of his life having married again in January following the death of his first wife three years ago. "I met her by chance on a barge trip down the Thames," he says of his new wife, Paula.

He has moved to a village near Bath, joined another golf club (he belongs to three) and become a member of Somerset cricket club. "If you're going to start a new life it's good to have a whole new environment," he says in an office surrounded by family photographs, a shelf full of Who's Who volumes and another shelf full of Wisdens. "Life is very good."

It is also busy. As chairman of Vodafone, the mobile phone group, Lord MacLaurin has been faced with stemming the tide of criticism over the lavish pay package of its chief executive, Sir Christopher Gent. "Some of it [the press coverage] has been quite scandalous," he says. "Almost libellous, I think."

He is also still chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, though he is due to stand down at the end of the year after the county cricket clubs failed to back his more radical plans for the game. "I'm sad about it, really. I've done two-thirds of the job and I would have liked to have done the other third."

But it is Vodafone that dominates his schedule. He spends three days a week on his chairmanship duties and the ongoing controversy of Sir Christopher's pay combined with a falling share price has made life a little awkward.

After years on top of the tree at Tesco where the group overhauled J Sainsbury to become the UK's leading grocer, Lord MacLaurin is more used to bouquets than brickbats. This, rare, criticism clearly bridles with him.

"Some of the press Vodafone has had recently has been grossly unfair. I think if you look at what we've achieved over the last six years, we have taken the business from a UK-based company with some interests abroad to the world leader in telecommunications. That has been done quite brilliantly by Chris.

"I was really sad that the press majored on the £13.5bn loss with our results saying it was the biggest loss in UK corporate history. It was an accounting principle [covering goodwill write-offs]. The trading of the company was very strong indeed.

"But some of the coverage of our results was an absolute disgrace. People were saying, 'Ooh, isn't it awful. They must be going bankrupt. What's going to happen to all the Vodafone people? What are they going to do with all the phones.' It was just appalling."

Lord MacLaurin's response at Vodafone's annual meeting six weeks ago was robust to the point of being deliberately aggressive. He accused the press of building people up only to knock them down and said comparisons with stricken companies such as Enron and WorldCom were "odious and damaging".

Wasn't he simply shooting the messenger? "You can sit there and take it and take it and take it. But as chairman I had an opportunity at the AGM to address my shareholders."

Sir Christopher's pay deal was voted through, giving him a possible £3.9m in shares on top of his £1.2m salary. But the juxtaposition of the bumper package with a sliding share price was bound to lead to problems.

It gave the impression of a remote, arrogant company with Sir Christopher as a remote, arrogant manager.

"I have no doubt at all that the press he has had personally has scarred him," Lord MacLaurin says of his chief executive. "If this sort of thing goes on he might think, 'Well I've had enough of it. I'm going to work in America.' He could go and work in America tomorrow and earn 10 times what he's earning here. But I don't think he's that way inclined because he's Vodafone through and through."

Lord MacLaurin adds that the constant carping could even force the whole company overseas. "Vodafone doesn't have to be based here. It could be based anywhere in the world and not have this hassle. But we don't want to do that. We're proud to be here and we're proud to be British. We don't want to run away and I would resist it to the nth degree. But there's no reason why we couldn't go elsewhere if we wanted to."

Asked whether he would concede that Vodafone has a remote relationship with the press, he says: "I think that's fair criticism. But this was a very small business six years ago that has exploded to a world force. Maybe on the corporate affairs side of things we have got a bit behind the ball game. If that's the case we shall have to look at it. I'm talking to Chris about it. There are some very good messages in Vodafone around the world. Maybe we are not quite shouting them from the rooftops enough."

The next few months promise to be challenging. Hutchison Whampoa is due to launch its third-generation mobile phone service here later this autumn, placing pressure on Vodafone. "I can't tell you our plans but we are very, very excited about them. We already have 5m [3G] customers in Japan and they cannot get enough of them."

Not that Lord MacLaurin is a techie who will be sending video clips of his best tee shots to friends and family. "I'm the dumb chairman. I ask people to bring things [new products] to me and I know that if I can work them, anyone can."

As he prepares to bow out of his role heading English cricket, this all-round sporting enthusiast says he will not add more corporate roles. "No, I think that's highly unlikely. I will give more time to Vodafone. It's another Tesco for me."

The other outstanding issue for Vodafone, obviously, is its outstanding £8bn offer for the 85 per cent of Cegetel, the French telecoms group, that it does not own. However, Lord MacLaurin would say little on the subject. "Obviously we would like to increase our position in France but it takes two to tango," he said.

He might use his spare time to write another book. "I've been approached to do another book, which would be a bit about cricket and a bit about Vodafone. But they take a long time. The other one [Tiger By The Tail] took me 18 months."

But if he can, he would like to spend a good few more years with Vodafone. "If Vodafone want me then I would very much like to stay through the management succession and then work with the new chief executive for a period of time. After that I could then find a successor for myself."

LORD MACLAURIN: LONG CORPORATE INNINGS

Title: Chairman, Vodafone.

Age: 65.

Pay: £480,000.

Career History: National service in RAF from 1956-58. After a working for a domestic appliance manufacturer, he joined Tesco in 1959 as a management trainee. Appointed to the board in 1970 and was chairman from 1985-97. Head of Vodafone since 2000. Non-executive director of Health Clinic. Chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board.

Interests: All sport, mainly cricket and golf. Supports Tottenham Hotspur. Other interest include opera and the theatre.

Biggest influences: "My two sports masters at Malvern. They taught me about people, their strengths and their weaknesses. That has stood me in good stead through my business life."