(Telecompaper) BT CEO Ian Livingston is stepping down to become the UK government's Minister of State for Trade and Investment. BT announced that Gavin Patterson, currently CEO of BT Retail, will succeed Livingston as group CEO from September. Livingston has served as CEO for five years, having replaced Ben Verwaayen in June 2008. He will join the House of Lords prior to taking up his government post in December. Patterson has been at BT since 2004, when he joined as managing director of its consumer division. He previously spent four years at Telewest (which later merged with NTL to become Virgin Media), including as managing director of its consumer division. Before entering the communications sector, he spent nine years at Procter and Gamble, rising to become European marketing director.