Giordano tipped as next chairman of Lucas Industries

RICHARD GIORDANO, the former head of BOC, is being tipped to take over as chairman of Lucas Industries from Sir Anthony Gill, who is likely to step down towards the end of this year, 12 months earlier than expected.

Mr Giordano has been appointed to the Lucas board as a non-executive director, together with Sir Alastair Morton, chief executive of Eurotunnel, and Paul Bosonnet, deputy chairman of BT and a former associate of Mr Giordano at BOC.

One of Mr Giordano's first tasks will be to take over as chairman of Lucas's nominations committee to head the search for a chief executive of the automotive and aerospace engineering group. Sir Anthony, 62, combines both roles but a new chief executive, who may be an external candidate, is expected to be named within the next two or three months.

Management succession at Lucas has been in disarray since Tony Edwards, appointed a year ago as group managing director and presumed heir to the chief executive, left the group last November, apparently having failed to gain the board's confidence.

Following this upset, Sir Anthony, originally due to step down in November, agreed to stay on until the end of 1994. The plan now is to find a new non-executive chairman before Lucas's annual meeting this November.

Mr Giordano, who in 1989 became the first US-born industrialist to receive an honorary knighthood for contributions to UK industry, was once Britain's highest-paid director. He is deputy chairman of Grand Metropolitan and a non-executive director of Reuters and RTZ. He retains a board seat at BOC.

Following the accession of the three new non-executives, Sir Colin Southgate, a non-executive at Lucas for six years, is retiring from the board along with Philippe Souviron, a director since 1991.