Nigel Rudd

Sir Nigel Rudd FCA DL (born 31 December 1946 in Derby, England), is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. In 1982, he founded Williams Holdings, a company which went on to become one of the largest industrial holding companies in the United Kingdom until its demerger in November 2000, creating Chubb plc and Kidde plc. He became the non-executive Chairman of Kidde plc until December 2003. He currently presides as chairman at BAA Aviation PLC.

Career

Rudd began his career as a troubleshooter for London & Northern, a holding company with subsidiaries in a range of industries. In 1982 he bought the Williams engineering company with business partner Brian McGowan. Rudd and McGowan went on to acquire and rebrand a portfolio of under-performing industrial companies throughout the Eighties.

Rudd has been in positions of prominence at several corporations, including serving as Chairman of BAA Limited, The Boots Company, Pilkington PLC and Pendragon PLC, and Deputy Chairman of Barclays PLC until January 2009. He also holds a number of other public appointments including Chairman of the CBI Boardroom Issues Group and a member of the Financial Reporting Council.