It’s turmoil at the top in great Footsie farewell

Britain’s blue-chip companies are going through one of the biggest changes in top management ever, as seven longtime Footsie executives have left or announced their departure since the start of the year.

The changing of the guard comes at a very sensitive time, with the global economy on the cutting edge and the FTSE 100 index losing ground against Wall Street.

Retiring members include Nigel Wilson, the head of Legal & General, and Ivan Menezes, CEO of Diageo, the maker of Guinness and Baileys.

It heralds uproar at some of Britain’s best-known firms, as leaders such as Wilson, who have left a clear mark on their business, must make way for new faces.

Water group United Utilities and manufacturer of safety equipment Halma both said goodbye to old bosses on Friday.

Steve Mogford, 66, at United Utilities has handed over the role to Louise Beardmore, formerly the company’s customer service and people director. She takes over at a delicate moment when water companies come under scrutiny.

Shareholders may miss Mogford, who has overseen returns of 213 percent since his start 12 years ago.

The departure of Andrew Williams, boss of health and safety equipment group Halma, is likely to be sharply felt. At 55, he is the youngest boss on the leave list, but has the longest run as CEO, with 18 years in the hotseat.

In that time, shareholders have earned returns of 1,896 percent — big boots to fill for his successor, chief financial officer Marc Ronchetti.

Menezes, 63, retired from Diageo last week and investors will be toasting a successful tenure. He will pass the baton to Debra Crew, the president of Diageo in North America and former CEO of RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company.

Four out of seven bosses have been running their companies for a decade or more, including Menezes. Legal & General’s Wilson spent 11 years leading Britain’s largest asset manager, during which he made it his mission to promote ‘inclusive capitalism’ by investing in UK infrastructure, including transport, housing and universities.

No successor has yet been appointed and the 66-year-old has said he would like to stay until one is found.

Two relative unknowns have taken over the reins at Shell and Rolls-Royce, both of which saw CEOs leave at the start of the year. Shell veteran boss Ben Van Beurden, 64, who raised more than £86 million during his nine-year tenure, handed it over to Wael Sawan, who had overseen the company’s green transformation before landing the top job.

Sawan will have to drive the group to become a green powerhouse – something many in the industry said Van Beurden hadn’t succeeded in quickly enough.

At Rolls-Royce, 61-year-old Warren East failed to lead the company to victory. He is the only one of the outgoing CEOs to have led a dramatic decline in stock value, with total returns to investors falling by nearly two-thirds since he began in 2015.

But he did save the flagship manufacturing group from potential bankruptcy during the pandemic as planes were grounded and revenues from aircraft engine maintenance contracts dried up.

Rolls has recruited Tufan Erginbilgic, the head of BP’s service station operations, who has begun a massive overhaul of the group after criticizing the previous regime. He has already poached several BP executives to set the record straight.

Unilever boss Alan Jope, 59, will step down at the end of 2023 after 37 years with the consumer goods giant.

His four years at the helm have been marked by controversy, most notably over a failed £50bn bid in 2022 to buy GlaxoSmithKline’s healthcare arm, and for “awakened” virtue signaling. He will be replaced by Hein Schumacher, head of a Dutch dairy cooperative, an appointment supported by activist investor Nelson Peltz. Investors will hope that Schumacher and the other new bosses can restore Britain’s productivity.