Shares in Vodafone were up on the FTSE 100 in morning trading after the telecoms giant said that its Chairman, Sir John Bond, will be stepping down in July.

Sir John will be replaced by Gerard Kleisterlee, who is currently the Chief Executive and Chairman of Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Mr Kleisterlee will leave Philips at the end of March and will begin as a non-executive director at Vodafone in April.

Vittorio Colao, Chief Executive of Vodafone, said, "On behalf of the Board and everyone at Vodafone I would like to pay tribute to Sir John for his huge contribution to the Company throughout his tenure as Chairman. We have been fortunate to have benefited from his leadership, experience and wise counsel in a time of evolution for Vodafone. I personally am very grateful to him for his constant support and personal advice since becoming CEO, during a phase of extraordinary economic and industry changes."

Sir John commented, "Today's announcement is the culmination of a succession planning process which the Board initiated in February 2010. I am delighted to announce that Gerard Kleisterlee, a highly successful international businessman whose track record at Philips speaks for itself, will be succeeding me as Chairman after my six years on the Board of Vodafone."

Gerard Kleisterlee added, "It is an honour and a privilege to be invited by the Board of Vodafone to become its Chairman. I am looking forward greatly to this new challenge, to contributing to this company's record of success, and to building on Sir John's outstanding achievements."

By 10:40 shares in Vodafone were up 0.54 per cent on the FTSE 100 to 177.95 pence per share.