Directorate Change

Carphone Warehouse Group PLC
25 March 2002


Under strict embargo until 1.00pm 25 March 2002


                   The Carphone Warehouse Group PLC appoints

                     Hans Snook as Non-Executive Chairman.


The Board of The Carphone Warehouse Group PLC today announces that Hans Snook is
appointed non-executive Chairman of the company with effect from 1 May 2002. At
that time, Charles Dunstone, currently Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of
The Carphone Warehouse will relinquish the role of Chairman and will retain the
role of Chief Executive Officer.


Commenting, Charles Dunstone said:

'I am delighted to welcome Hans. We've known each other since before Orange was
launched. He has unique skills, experience and vision, all of which can help add
enormous value to The Carphone Warehouse as we move from being a retailer alone
to becoming a telecoms services business in the fast changing European mobile
marketplace.'

Hans Snook said:

'There are very few, if any, other companies I would have joined. Under Charles'
leadership, The Carphone Warehouse has become the leading independent mobile
retailer and is now fast evolving into a customer service business beyond the
point of sale as well as at the point of sale. I think the potential for The
Carphone Warehouse is tremendous and I fully endorse their move towards lifetime
value of customers through the telecoms services strategy. The company now finds
itself in an unique position in a new and very exciting time for the wireless
industry.'



For further information

The Carphone Warehouse Group PLC          07771 868 601

Charles Dunstone                          07947 000 021

Roger Taylor

Tristia Clarke


For analyst and institutional inquiries   07801 580 090

Roger Taylor

Hugh Roberts



Citigate Dewe Rogerson                    07973 611 888

Anthony Carlisle                          020 7638 9571




Notes to Editors

 1. Hans Snook

    Hans Snook was the founder Chief Executive of Orange. He articulated the
    vision of the 'wirefree future', which has driven the branding, strategy and
    operation of Orange. Under Hans' leadership Orange launched on 28 April 1994
    and had a profound impact on the mobile market both in the UK and globally.
    In March 1996, Orange listed on the London and Nasdaq exchanges, in June
    that year becoming the youngest ever company to enter the FTSE 100.

    Following the agreed acquisition of Orange by Mannesmann at the end of 1999,
    Mannesmann was acquired by Vodafone early in 2000 and, on 30 May 2000, the
    agreed acquisition of Orange by France Telecom was announced. Hans continued
    as Chief Executive of the enlarged Orange Group, leading it to flotation in
    February last year, at which point he became Special Advisor to the Group, a
    role from which he stepped down at the end of last year.

    Born in 1948, Hans grew up principally in Canada and began his career in
    hotel management in Vancouver. In 1983, he set off on a round the world
    trip, which was cut short when he arrived in Hong Kong and became Chief
    Executive of a wireless paging business, which subsequently became part of
    Hutchison Whampoa Group. Having managed a number of Hutchison Whampoa's
    mobile interests in the Pacific region Hans came to the UK at the end of
    1992, after which the planning for Orange began.

2.  The Carphone Warehouse Group PLC

Charles Dunstone set up the company in 1989 at the age of 25. He began his
career as a computer salesman for NEC, but was soon transferred to mobile
phones. It was during this time that he realised that the majority of mobile
phones were purchased by big businesses and organisations, so corporate clients
got good deals and were well looked after, but small businesses, the
self-employed and Joe Public, for whom mobile phones would be the most useful,
had to shop in small one off stores.

And that's where Charles identified a market for The Carphone Warehouse. By
offering impartial advice in a market where most distributors or service
providers were tied to one or a limited number of network operators, the
business became an instant success. In its first full year of operation the
company turnover was over £1.5 million and employee numbers grew from just 2 to
14.

Now twelve years old, the vision and core values first introduced by Dunstone
remain unchanged and CPW continues to be driven by a total dedication to
customer satisfaction and an extraordinary commitment to its people. The
strategy works and in an increasingly competitive market place, customers are
voting with their feet and CPW continues to increase its share of this
extraordinary market.

Against this backdrop, it is no surprise that The Carphone Warehouse has taken
its winning formula beyond the UK and Ireland, and established a successful
network in 12 countries in Europe, operating under the brand, The Phone House.

Today the company is Europe's largest independent retailer of mobile
communications with over 7000 employees and over 1000 stores across Europe. In
July 2000, the company floated on the London Stock Exchange, valuing it at
£1.7billion. Company turnover for the year ending March 2001 reached over
£1.1billion.


                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange