Nelson heads BAA as Clasper quits
14.07.06
BAA retail director Stephen Nelson yesterday took over CEO after Mike Clasper confirmed he was quitting following its takeover by Spanish group Ferrovial. Nelson only joined BAA from Sainsburys only last September.
Luis Sánchez Salmerón, the managing director of Ferrovial Aeropuertos, becomes BAA's deputy chief executive. Marcus Agius, its chairman, who fought Ferrovial's initial bid with Clasper, will stay on.
Clasper is understood to have stepped down because he was unhappy at running what is now a subsidiary of a foreign enterprise. He had been chief executive at BAA since 2003, will continue as an adviser to BAA for the next 12 months and is 'walking away with a pay-off estimated at £3m' according to press reports.
Nelson, 43, was previously marketing director at Sainsburys, where he worked for a total of seven years. Agius said in a statement: 'We recruited Stephen Nelson to BAA last year because of his track record in demanding commercial situations and because of his qualities as a leader. We saw him then as a potential successor to Mike Clasper. Now that Mike has decided that this is the right time for him to leave BAA, Stephen is exactly the right person to build upon Mike's substantial achievements.'
