P&O has appointed Sir John Parker to succeed Lord Sterling as chairman. Lord Sterling will stand down after P&O’s AGM in May 2005 after heading up the company for more than 20 years. Parker will join the board as deputy chairman in February 2005. Parker is chairman of National Grid Transco, and is also currently chairman of RMC Group, although he will stand down from this position in January 2005 following the agreed acquisition of RMC by the Mexican company Cemex. He is also senior non-executive director designate of the Court of the Bank of England and a non-executive director of Carnival plc. His career includes such appointments as managing director of Austin & Pickersgill, deputy chief executive of the British Shipbuilders Corporation, chairman & chief executive of Harland & Wolff, and chairman & chief executive of Babcock International. He was chairman of the Lattice Group on its demerger from BG Group in 2000, and remained chairman when it merged with National Grid in 2002.
