Jun 04. Lieutenant General K O’Donoghue CBE has been nominated to succeed Air Chief Marshal Sir Malcolm Pledger KCB OBE AFC as CDL from 1 Jan 05. General O’Donoghue’s appointment is for four years. Comment: CDL is a four star appointment and it is assumed that General O’Donoghue will be promoted to full General to coincide with his new appointment. Between September 2004 and formally taking up the appointment of CDL, General O’Donoghue is to undertake “a wide programme of visits and secondments”. Sir Malcolm only assumed the appointment of CDL, as the second incumbent, on 2 Sep 02 and no reason has been given for his early retirement. A new four star post of CDL was established on 1 Apr 99, to bring together the three single-Service logistic chains under an integrated Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO). The DLO became fully effective on 1 Apr 00. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS Issue 04/24, 21 Jun 04)
22 Jun 04. Rolls-Royce is being forced to start its second search for a chairman in less than two years following the decision by Euan Baird to resign as chairman and a director of the group with immediate effect. The company said that Mr Baird, formerly chief executive of Schlumberger Sema, had decided to resign because of a long convalescence following a stroke suffered in December last year. Mr Baird had taken over the chairmanship of Rolls-Royce only in February last year from Sir Ralph Robins, the architect of the modern Rolls-Royce group. Sir Ralph served as chairman from 1992 to January 2003 and, from 1984, he was managing director and then chief executive. (Source: FT)