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Saturday 4 July 2009

‘These clouds will have a silver lining’

Judi Bevan meets Sir John Parker, who chairs National Grid and the Court of the Bank of England — and takes an optimistic view of the deepening recession

Few people would have dared to walk out of lunch at the Savoy Grill leaving behind the irascible Lord King. Sir John Parker, the softly spoken Irish charmer who now chairs National Grid, did just that. When he took over as chief executive at the ailing engineering firm Babcock & Wilcox in 1993, he first had to deal with the late John King, then chairman, who believed he should still call the shots despite the decline of the company under his command.

‘We had a real dust-up and I left the lunch early,’ explains Parker. ‘I said, “Either you back me to do what I want to do, or you’ll have to find somebody else.”’ The tactic worked. King capitulated and Parker saved the company, to the delight of its shareholders. ‘He never tried it on again and he became a great friend and supporter,’ says Parker with a chuckle.

The story illustrates Parker’s two best-known qualities — a gentle, humorous manner combined with a steely resolve. He is admired for his skill at handling powerful personalities, which explains why his authoritative presence graces so many boardrooms, including the Court of the Bank of England (which he chairs), and why, despite a low public profile, he is one of the most influential businessmen in Britain today.

National Grid now operates from the old Enterprise Oil offices in the Strand where Parker’s office, formerly that of Sir Graham Hearne, overlooks Trafalgar Square from the fourth floor. Round and dapper, Parker sports a multicoloured silk tie and a navy pocket handkerchief with tiny pink spots to liven up his sombre suit. As an engineer who also understands financial markets, Parker is well suited to his role at the Grid — which owns all the pipes and wires that transport gas and electricity around the country. He is currently overseeing the spending of £3 billion a year until 2012 to upgrade the national infrastructure and ensure the lights do not go out, as some press reports have suggested they might. ‘There is a lot of hysterical talk at times,’ he says wearily. ‘You have one or two academics out there who don’t appreciate the full details of life.’

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