John Weston (businessman)

Last updated

John Pix Weston CBE FREng [1] is a British businessman.

Weston was employed by BAE Systems and its predecessors from when he left university until he was ousted as CEO in 2002. [2] In 2004 the Financial Times described Weston as one of a "core group" who turned British Aerospace (a predecessor of BAE Systems) around, along with Evans, Richard Lapthorne and his successor Mike Turner. [3] Weston was one of the members of the British party who travelled to Bermuda to sign the Al Yamamah contract with Saudi Arabia. [4] By 2006 this had yielded over £40 billion to British Aerospace and BAE Systems. [5]

He joined the British Aircraft Corporation at Weybridge in January 1970, as an undergraduate apprentice. He worked as a dynamics and a sales engineer and spent seven years working in Munich for the international management company established to run the Tornado programme, then Europe's largest collaborative military programme, which brought together the skills of the German, Italian and British aerospace industries.

This was followed by a secondment to the Ministry of Defence, to work with the government in promoting the sale of military aircraft. On his return to British Aerospace he took responsibility for the company’s Saudi Arabian operations. In 1990 he became Managing Director of the Military Aircraft, which then employed 27,000 people, with annual sales of £3.5 billion. In 1992 he became Chairman of the British Aerospace Defence businesses which accounted for 75% of the parent company's operations. He was appointed CBE in the 1994 New Year Honours.

In 1998 he became Chief Executive of British Aerospace. During his tenure, British Aerospace was transformed into the new BAE Systems company. This took it from an organisation with sales of around £7.5 billion and 55,000 employees, located mainly in the UK, to an international group which handles sales of £12.5 billion, and 120,000 employees.

Leaving BAE, from 2002 until 2006, Weston was the non-executive chairman of Spirent PLC, a world leader in telecoms testing equipment, telephone network components, software and services. During this period the market capitalisation of the company increased 5 times. In May 2003 he also became Chairman of Acra Control, a Dublin based avionics company manufacturing digital data collection devices for flight test instrumentation systems. In January 2004 he also became non executive chairman of Inbis PLC, a UK based engineering design consultancy business focusing mainly on the aerospace and nuclear sectors. In April 2005 the business was sold to Assystem-Brime. In June 2004 he became non-executive chairman of the University for Industry (Learn-Direct), a UK government initiative to provide on-line learning. In its short history the UFI offers around 400,000 courses and has enrolled around 3 million learners.

In November 2005 he became Chairman of iSOFT PLC, a leading supplier of software applications to the British National Health Service, and to the international healthcare industry. He has led the turn-round of this business, restoring it to profitability and achieving a successful sale of the business. In April 2007 he became Chairman of Insensys Ltd, a manufacturer of optical strain gauging for the wind energy and aerospace sectors. In December 2006 he became chairman of MB Aerospace, a Glasgow based aerospace machining and design engineering business.

Weston is a vice-president of the Royal United Services Institute. He is a director of the German-British Forum and a member of the council of the Ditchley foundation. In addition to his CBE he is also a Commander of the Order of the Pole Star (Sweden), a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a freeman of the City of London.

He is a passionate skier, a keen photographer, mountain walker and tinkers with computers. He lives with his wife and two children in Surrey.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Aerospace</span> Aerospace and defence company

British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marconi Electronic Systems, the defence electronics and naval shipbuilding subsidiary of the General Electric Company plc, to form BAE Systems.

Marconi Electronic Systems (MES), or GEC-Marconi as it was until 1998, was the defence arm of General Electric Company (GEC). It was demerged from GEC and bought by British Aerospace (BAe) on 30 November 1999 to form BAE Systems. GEC then renamed itself Marconi plc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">General Dynamics</span> Defense manufacturing conglomerate

General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the United States by total sales. The company is a Fortune 100 company, and was ranked No. 94 in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aerospace manufacturer</span> Company involved in manufacturing aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, and/or spacecraft

An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, or spacecraft. Aerospace is a high technology industry.

The General Electric Company (GEC) was a major British industrial conglomerate involved in consumer and defence electronics, communications, and engineering. The company was founded in 1886, was Britain's largest private employer with over 250,000 employees in the 1980s, and at its peak in the 1990s, made profits of over £1 billion a year.

BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenues. As of 2017, it is the biggest manufacturer in Britain. Its largest operations are in the United Kingdom and United States, where its BAE Systems Inc. subsidiary is one of the six largest suppliers to the US Department of Defense. Other major markets include Australia, Canada, Japan, India, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, Oman and Sweden, where Saudi Arabia is regularly among its top three sources of revenue. The company was formed on 30 November 1999 by the £7.7 billion purchase of and merger with Marconi Electronic Systems (MES), the defence electronics and naval shipbuilding subsidiary of the General Electric Company plc (GEC), by British Aerospace, an aircraft, munitions and naval systems manufacturer.

George Simpson, Baron Simpson of Dunkeld is a British businessman and former Labour - and later unaffiliated - member of the House of Lords. In the late 1980s and early 1990s Simpson gained a reputation for turning around struggling companies. However, as CEO of Marconi plc he presided over one of the largest collapses in British corporate history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al-Yamamah arms deal</span> Name of a series of record arms sales by the United Kingdom to Saudi Arabia

Al Yamamah is the name of a series of record arms sales by the United Kingdom to Saudi Arabia, paid for by the delivery of up to 600,000 barrels (95,000 m3) of crude oil per day to the British government. The prime contractor has been BAE Systems and its predecessor British Aerospace. The first sales occurred in September 1985 and the most recent contract for 72 Eurofighter Typhoon multirole fighters was signed in August 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marconi Communications</span> Telecommunications technology company

Marconi Communications, the former telecommunications arm of Britain's General Electric Company plc (GEC), was founded in August 1998 through the amalgamation of GEC Plessey Telecommunications (GPT) with other GEC subsidiaries: Marconi SpA, GEC Hong Kong, and ATC South Africa.

Michael John Turner CBE is the former chief executive officer (CEO) of the aerospace and defence company BAE Systems, and current chairman of Babcock International and prior to the hostile takeover by Melrose was chairman of GKN plc.

BAE Systems Inc. is an American subsidiary of British defense, security, and aerospace company BAE Systems plc. The American subsidiary operates under a Special Security Agreement which allows it to work on some of the most sensitive United States defense programs despite its foreign ownership. It is incorporated in Delaware. It employs approximately 35,000 workers within U.S. borders and several thousand more in Israel, South Africa, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Major business lines of BAE Systems Inc. include electronic warfare, sensing and communications equipment; armored vehicles, artillery systems; naval guns and naval ship repair; and cybersecurity and intelligence services.

BAE Systems Platforms & Services is a wholly owned subsidiary of BAE Systems Inc. and is a large provider of tracked and wheeled armored combat vehicles, naval guns, naval ship repair and modernization, artillery and missile launching systems, advanced precision strike munitions and ordnance, and other technologies for U.S. and international customers.

Cobham Limited is a British aerospace manufacturing company based in Bournemouth, England.

Airbus UK is a wholly owned subsidiary of Airbus which produces wings for Airbus aircraft. When Airbus was incorporated as a joint-stock company in 2001, BAE Systems transferred its UK Airbus facilities in return for a 20% share of the new company. These facilities became Airbus UK. The company has two main sites responsible for the design and manufacture of the high-technology wings for all Airbus models as well as overall design and supply of the fuel system. For most Airbus models, the company is responsible for overall design and supply of landing gear. The company employs around 13,000 people at two sites: Filton, where the engineering and design activity takes place along with some manufacturing, and Broughton, where other major wing component manufacturing and all wing assembly takes place.

Sir Richard Harry Evans, is a British businessperson who is chairman of the Kazakh state holding company Samruk-Kazyna. He is formerly chairman of the British arms manufacturer BAE Systems.

BAE Systems Electronic Systems (ES) is one of three operating groups of BAE Systems Inc., the North American subsidiary of the British global defence contractor BAE Systems PLC.

Lear Siegler Incorporated (LSI) is a diverse American corporation established in 1962. Its products range from car seats and brakes to weapons control systems for military fighter planes. The company's more than $2 billion-a-year annual sales comes from three major areas: aerospace-technology, automotive parts, and industrial-commercial. The company, however, is basically anonymous, since its products are either unmarked or bear only the label "LSI". Lear Siegler went private in 1987. Unlike Lear, LSI does not produce executive jets that bear the "Lear" name.

Jim McDowell is a lawyer and defence sector businessman based in South Australia. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Nova Systems; a global engineering services and technology solutions company. Prior to joining Nova Systems in November 2020, McDowell was the Chief Executive of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet of the Government of South Australia. He is a former CEO of BAE Systems Australia and BAE Systems Saudi Arabia.

Today's Airbus SE is the product of international consolidation in the European aerospace industry tracing back to the formation of the Airbus Industrie GIE consortium in 1970. In 2000, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) NV was established. In addition to other subsidiaries pertaining to security and space activities, EADS owned 100% of the pre-existing Eurocopter SA, established in 1992, as well as 80% of Airbus Industrie GIE. In 2001, Airbus Industrie GIE was reorganised as Airbus SAS, a simplified joint-stock company. In 2006, EADS acquired the remaining 20% shares of Airbus Industrie GIE from BAE Systems. EADS NV was renamed Airbus Group NV and SE in 2014, and 2015, respectively. Due to the commercial aircraft division's prominence within Airbus SE with it representing the largest part of the corporation's activities, Airbus S.A.S was simply merged into the parent company in January 2017. Airbus SE itself therefore became the commercial aircraft division, while also being the parent company of the other two divisions Airbus Defence and Space and Airbus Helicopters. The company was given its present name in April 2017.

Robert Murray McKinlay CBE FREng FRAeS is a Scottish businessman, a former chief executive of British Aerospace.

References

  1. ↑ "List of Fellows". Archived from the original on 2016-06-08. Retrieved 2014-10-23.
  2. ↑ Watson, Ian (2002-04-07). "Weston is blown away in shoot out at Dukes Hotel". The Business. Sunday Business Group. p. 10.
  3. ↑ Spiegel, Peter (2004-07-17). "The largest aerospace companies gather next week for the Farnborough air show but the event will be without its long-time unofficial host, writes Peter Spiegel". Financial Times. The Financial Times. p. 11.
  4. ↑ Pallister, David (2006-12-15). "The arms deal they called the dove: how Britain grasped the biggest prize". The Guardian. Guardian Newspapers. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
  5. ↑ O’Connell, Dominic (2006-08-20). "BAE cashes in on £40bn Arab jet deal". The Sunday Times. London: News International. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.