Row over new Lloyds TSB boss

LLOYDS TSB defied City doubters today and named Helen Weir, a non-banker who has been accused of being too lightweight by some shareholders, as its new finance chief.

The controversial announcement was rushed out this afternoon to prevent it being a distraction from the annual results on Monday. Weir, 41, who quit as finance director of Kingfisher in November, replaces Philip Hampton, who was ousted in January after a boardroom dispute thought to be about the dividend.

Some institutional investors are concerned because Weir has no banking experience and say she is not City-savvy enough. There is also concern over whether she will have the authority to stand up to chief executive Eric Daniels, who is seen as increasingly autocratic.

But insiders regard the whispering campaign against her as ' sexism, pure and simple'. Said one senior Lloyds figure: 'None of this would have happened if she'd been a bloke.' A friend of Weir said: 'The idea she's some kind of patsy is laughable. Anyone who says that has clearly never met her. She's a very tough operator.'

While finance director at B&Q, she boosted operating profits from £50m to £250m and when finance chief of Kingfisher presided over a £2bn rights issue. But critics point to a foreign currency hedge she set up while at Kingfisher that went wrong and cost the company £120m.

The appointment ensures she will maintain her position as one of the highest-paid company directors in Britain, with base pay of £500,000 and scope for bonuses that would take her package to well over £1m.

Last year at Kingfisher she became the first female Footsie director to break through the £1m barrier after being paid £ 1.2m including an allowance of £334,000 for moving 11 miles nearer her office.

The bank is thought to have taken City soundings and is confident there is no chance that it will be forced into a Sainsbury's-style U-turn. The supermarkets group last month had to abort the planned appointment of Sir Ian Prosser as chairman.

Weir's appointment was masterminded by chairman Maarten van den Bergh who, as a Shell non-executive director, played a role in ousting chairman Sir Philip Watts. Others on the Lloyds nomination committee were economist DeAnne Julius and the Earl of Selbourne, Chancellor of Southampton University.

Van den Bergh said: 'Helen has extensive strategic and operational experience. She brings us both excellent technical financial skills and considerable operational experience.'