New job with pharmaceutical giant for former RBS chairman Sir Tom McKillop

FORMER banker Sir Tom McKillop has been handed a new £54,000-a-year job.

The former chairman of RBS, Sir Tom has returned to the pharmaceutical industry, which he served for many years and for which he earned his knighthood in 2002.

Sir Tom will sit alongside a Belgian prince and other European luminaries on the board of directors for pharmaceutical giant UCB, after taking up his role at an extraordinary general meeting on 6 November.

As chairman of RBS, Sir Tom watched over the lead-up to the biggest corporate loss in UK history, and even apologised to a House of Commons Treasury select committee for RBS's failure. He also admitted having no qualifications in banking.

The board of directors for UCB – including Prince Lorenz of Belgium – met just seven times in 2008, and Sir Tom will be paid 900 for each meeting he attends this year, on top of a base pay of 54,000.

A spokeswoman for the firm was reported as saying that Sir Tom was appointed for his "great experience in the pharmaceutical world".

Born in Ayrshire, Sir Tom studied at Glasgow University and the Centre de Mecanique Ondulatoire Applique (Paris).

In 1975, he joined ICI Pharmaceuticals Division and held a number of increasingly senior research and development positions until his appointment in 1989 as technical director and deputy chairman of the firm.

In 1994, he was appointed CEO of Zeneca Pharmaceuticals and later AstraZeneca when the firms merged in 1999. He retired in 2005, before joining RBS as chairman.