BAT boss to shadow Marshall

MARTIN Broughton, head of British American Tobacco, has been earmarked to succeed Lord Marshall as the new chairman of British Airways. The struggling airline will shortly create a new role of deputy chairman and put Broughton into the post to work alongside Lord Marshall.

The move is aimed at ending speculation about who will succeed Marshall, 68.

Last week, leading shareholders voiced their concerns about reports that he would seek re-election for a three-year term at BA's annual meeting in July. In an attempt to draw a line under the affair, BA took the unusual step of announcing that Marshall would be seeking a mandate for only two years.

Broughton, a 54-year-old non-smoking former grammar school boy, is expected to take over as non-executive chairman in 2003, when Lord Marshall reaches his 70th birthday. Over the next two years Broughton, who is the senior non-executive director at BA, will work closely with Marshall.

News of moves to groom Broughton will be a blow to another BA board member, British Nuclear Fuels chairman Hugh Collum, who had also been touted as possible successor to Marshall.

Rod Eddington, BA's chief executive, said: 'Succession planning is very important to us and to the shareholders. We have a succession plan.' He said he 'worked very well' with Lord Marshall and looked forward to working with him in the future.

Meanwhile, talk of a massively discounted rights issue to tackle BA's £6.5bn debt refuses to go away. BA, which last week unveiled more job cuts, needs to raise at least £1bn, analysts say. They are also worried that its £11bn pension fund is five times the size of the company's stock market capitalisation, making its profits vulnerable to a fall in the stock market.