The board said it "would like to record its appreciation of his commitment to British Energy but, with the blueprint for a solvent restructuring now agreed with the government, it has decided that someone with a different skill set should head the company."
Jeffrey is replaced by Adrian Montague, who is currently deputy chairman of Network Rail, the government-backed railway infrastructure group. He is also senior adviser to Société Générale, and non-executive chairman of Michael Page International and Partnerships for Health, as well as director of Gothenburg-based pulp and paper marketing company CellMark. From 1997 to 2001, he held senior positions concerned with the implementation of the government's strategy for involving the private sector in the delivery of public services, first as chief executive of the Treasury Taskforce, and then as deputy chairman of its successor body, Partnerships UK.
On his appointment at BE, Montague said: "British Energy's situation is well-known. The impact of falling prices in the generation market and the fixed nature of its current cost base means that a restructuring is urgently required. I believe that can best be achieved in the private sector and that British Energy can have a viable future as a privately financed company. In the short-term, that is what I am determined to achieve. In the long-term, British Energy needs to reclaim its rightful position as one of the UK's leading generators."
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