City boss picked as new head of exams watchdog

A city businessman who has run some of Britain's biggest companies has agreed to take over as the interim chairman of the Government's troubled exams watchdog, it was announced yesterday.

Sir Anthony Greener, 62, deputy chairman of BT and former chairman of Diageo, the drinks company, will act as chairman of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) for the next six months.

He replaces Sir William Stubbs, sacked by Estelle Morris, the Secretary of State for Education, last month for his part in the A-levels debacle.

Sir Anthony's post will be part-time and unpaid, a spokesman for the Department for Education and Skills said. His appointment comes as the QCA struggles to re-establish the public's confidence in the exam system after this summer's A-level grading fiasco.

However, the temporary appointment suggests that a permanent candidate may prove difficult to find.

The job of the authority's chief executive had remained vacant for almost a year until Dr Ken Boston took over just as the exams row began to erupt last month.

Sir Anthonymanaged brands at Unilever and Dunhill before moving over to head Guinness just after its troubled takeover of the whisky maker Distillers. He transformed the company's fortunes before launching an ambitious merger plan with its rival Grand Metropolitan. He became chairman of the new company – Diageo – in 1997 before retiring in 2000.

Sir Anthonyis also chairman of the University for Industry, which operates learndirect, a Government adult learning programme.