Vodafone Group and Liberty Global have announced that Stephen van Rooyen has been appointed CEO of Dutch telco VodafoneZiggo, effective from September 2024.

Van Rooyen was previously the CEO of Sky UK & Ireland and Chief Commercial Officer for the Sky Group. He brings a wealth of telecoms and media experience to VodafoneZiggo after more than 17 years at Sky in the UK and in several other countries in Europe including Germany, Italy, Austria, Ireland and Switzerland. Van Rooyen was a key part of several major product launches, including Sky Mobile, Sky Broadband, NOW TV as well as the evolution of Sky’s TV platforms, Sky Q, Sky Glass and Sky Stream. He was also instrumental in Sky’s content and programming, leading Sky Sports, Sky Cinema and all Sky channels.

Ritchy Drost, VodafoneZiggo’s Chief Financial Officer, will lead VodafoneZiggo as interim CEO until van Rooyen joins in September. Van Rooyen’s appointment follows the retirement of previous VodafoneZiggo CEO Jeroen Hoencamp.

Mike Fries, Liberty Global Chief Executive Officer, commented: “Stephen is an exceptionally talented executive with a strong track record of driving growth and innovation over the last two decades with Sky. He brings with him deep expertise in brand, products and innovation which is exactly what we need in the competitive Dutch market. I would like to thank Jeroen Hoencamp for his years of great service and friendship and wish him all the best on his next journey.”

Margherita Della Valle, Vodafone Group Chief Executive, said: “Having held senior commercial and leadership roles at Sky, Stephen brings considerable expertise of both the telecoms and media sectors in Europe. We wish him every success when he takes over in September. In the meantime, we are delighted that Ritchy will lead the company in an interim role and we wholeheartedly thank Jeroen, who has expertly steered VodafoneZiggo for success since he took the reins eight years ago.”

Van Rooyen added: “I am incredibly excited to join the VodafoneZiggo family. Having been based in London for many years, I look forward to a new experience, for both me and my family, living and working in The Netherlands.”

Van Rooyen will be posted in The Netherlands, at the Company’s Utrecht Central Office.