US Edition BNFL yesterday appointed former Jaguar finance director John Edwards as its new finance director, charged with taking the company to partial privatisation by 2002.
The move is the latest stage in the troubled nuclear services company's attempt to rebuild its image after a damning report by the nuclear regulator last February which found that staff had been falsifying fuel data. The Government delayed its planned privatisation of a 49pc stake in BNFL shortly after the regulator's report.
Mr Edwards joins the company next week, while his predecessor, Ross Chiese, one of BNFL's discredited managers, leaves at the end of July. The company declined to give details of his pay-off.
Hugh Collum, BNFL chairman, said: "The focus at BNFL over the next two years is to deliver a company that is ready for a public private partnership. John's appointment is an important step in this direction." He said that Mr Edwards had "first-hand experience of private sector disciplines".
Mr Edwards saw through Jaguar's demerger from British Leyland and its privatisation before becoming finance director at Northern Electric and building materials company Meyer International. Meyer was recently bought by Francis St Gobain.
One of the first challenges facing Mr Edwards will be preparing the company's accounts which are due out later this year and will contain the results of BNFL's review of its liabilities. The company has denied reports that it was "technically bankrupt" following a decision to set decommissioning dates for its Magnox nuclear power station.