Sainsbury's chairman to take over at RBS

Published on Friday 16 January 2009 09:00

SIR Philip Hampton is to be the new chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland, it was announced tonight.

The current Sainsbury's chairman replaces Sir Tom McKillop at the helm of the part-nationalised bank.

Sir Tom announced his retirement after ministers revealed plans for a 37 billion banking bail-out last year. He is due to step down at the company's AGM on April 29, when Sir Philip will take over chairmanship of RBS.

Former RBS chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin also stood down last year and was replaced by Stephen Hester.

Sir Philip is also chairman of UK Financial Investments Limited (UKFI), the company set up to manage the Government's 58 per cent stake in RBS and other banks subscribing to its recapitalisation fund.

He said: "Having been closely engaged in the issues facing banks at present from a UKFI perspective, I am pleased to be taking on this central role at one of the world's most important financial institutions.

"I look forward to working closely with RBS' new chief executive, Stephen Hester, and believe we will form a strong and effective partnership.

"Current times are indeed challenging but RBS has many strong, valuable and enduring business franchises in the UK and internationally. I am optimistic that we can restructure the group to allow these strengths to once again be what we are known and valued for."

Sir Philip was appointed Sainsbury's chairman in July 2004, earning a salary of 395,000 in 2007/8, according to the retailer's website.

Before joining the supermarket he held the position of group finance director at Lloyds TSB and BT.

In August RBS unveiled its first loss in 40 years as a public company after suffering writedowns of 5.9 billion as it reported statutory pre-tax losses of 692 million for the first half of 2008.

Investors snubbed its 15 billion share offer in November, leaving the Government to step in to buy up the unwanted shares and shore up the bank's ailing finances.