Chairman resigns from Rolls-Royce

Euan Baird, a former chief executive of Schlumberger, the world's largest oil services company, resigned as chairman of the aero engine maker Rolls-Royce yesterday, after spending six months convalescing from a stroke.

Euan Baird, a former chief executive of Schlumberger, the world's largest oil services company, resigned as chairman of the aero engine maker Rolls-Royce yesterday, after spending six months convalescing from a stroke.

The former Cabinet minister Lord Moore will continue as interim chairman until the company finds a permanent successor to Mr Baird, 66.

A Rolls spokeswoman said Lord Moore had ruled himself out as a candidate for the non-executive post, and will chair the nominations committee charged with finding a successor. That committee will include the other seven non-executive directors and the chief executive, Sir John Rose. The non-execs include Ian Strachan, a former chief executive of BTR (now Invensys); Peter Byrom, a former director of Rothschild; and Sir Robin Nicholson, a one-time executive director of Pilkington, the glass maker.

The company has appointed headhunters to draw up a shortlist of potential chairmen. The search will be made the more difficult by the Higgs rule stating that no one should chair more than one FTSE 100 index company without giving good reason.

Mr Baird, who was born in Aberdeen and attended Aberdeen and Cambridge universities, became a director of Rolls in November 2002 and chairman in February last year after the retirement of Sir Ralph Robins. He has been a trustee of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, a member of the French prime minister's Comité National de la Science and of Tony Blair's Council of Science and Technology.