Hans Roger Snook (born 26 May 1948) is a British businessman, best known for his time as the founder (with

Graham Howe Graham Howe (born 1950) is a curator, writer, photo-historian, artist, and founder and CEO of Curatorial, Inc., a museum services organization supporting nonprofit traveling exhibitions.ArticleDouble Exposure. December 1, 2007. Accessed August 2 ...

) and chief executive of British mobile phone company

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

Early life

He was born to a German mother and a British father, and grew up in

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The ...

, Canada, where he went to the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...

Career

He then began a career in hotel management, which led him to Calgary for six years. In 1983, he set off on a round-the-world trip, which was cut short when he arrived in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

and became chief executive of a wireless paging business (which subsequently became part of the Hutchison Whampoa Group). In 1992 Snook was despatched to the UK where he closed Hutchison's Rabbit CT2 phone network and directed efforts to developing the UK's fourth

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whi ...

network. On 28 April 1994, Orange was launched. Within five years the company had developed an enviable reputation as well as a growing international presence. In October 1999,

Mannesmann Mannesmann was a German industrial conglomerate. It was originally established as a manufacturer of steel pipes in 1890 under the name "Deutsch-Österreichische Mannesmannröhren-Werke AG". (Loosely translated: "German-Austrian Mannesmann pip ...

of Germany purchased Orange plc, in a failed attempt to challenge

Vodafone Vodafone Group plc () is a British multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates services in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania. , Vod ...

as the world's leading mobile phone company. This set off a chain of events which resulted in France Télécom taking ownership of Orange, and in 2001 Snook stepped down as a special advisor to Orange. His public involvement since then in the UK telecoms industry was as chairman of

Carphone Warehouse The Carphone Warehouse Limited was a mobile phone retailer based in London, United Kingdom. In August 2014 the company became a subsidiary of Currys plc (previously named "Dixons Carphone"), which was formed by the merger of its former parent Ca ...

between 2002 and 2005. On stepping down from this post he was appointed non-executive chairman of

Monstermob Monstermob ltd was a UK mobile content company selling ringtones, wallpapers, games and full length tracks. Operating between 2000 and 2007 it was owned by Monstermob Group plc, which owned similar companies across the globe. History The compa ...

Group plc, the ringtone company. From 2002, Snook was a director of The Diagnostic Clinic Ltd, providing health screening linked to alternative medicine, and its parent company The Integrated Health Consultancy Limited. Both companies entered liquidation in 2012 with aggregate debts of £8.6 million, of which £7.2m was owed to Snook.

Personal life

Hans is divorced from his first wife Etta Lai Yee Lau. He is now married to Helen Seward. They live in Marbella.

References

External links

''Guardian'' interview
Terry Macalister, 23 August 2003 {{DEFAULTSORT:Snook, Hans 1948 births Living people British technology company founders British telecommunications industry businesspeople History of mobile telecommunications in the United Kingdom Orange S.A.