Michael John Turner

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(born 5 August 1948) is the former chief executive officer (CEO) of the aerospace and defence company

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenues. ...

, and current chairman of

Babcock International Babcock International Group plc is a British aerospace, defence and nuclear engineering services company based in London, England. It specialises in managing complex assets and infrastructure. Although the company has civil contracts, its main b ...

and prior to the hostile takeover by Melrose was chairman of

GKN plc GKN Ltd is a British multinational automotive and aerospace components business headquartered in Redditch, England. It is a long-running business known for many decades as Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds. It can trace its origins back to 1759 an ...

Early life

He attended Didsbury Technical High School (became Wilbraham High School in 1965) on School Lane in

Didsbury Didsbury is a suburban area of Manchester, England, on the north bank of the River Mersey, south of Manchester city centre. The population at the 2011 census was 26,788. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, there are ...

. He gained a BA from

Manchester Polytechnic Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has over 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Educat ...

in 1970, whilst working for Hawker Siddeley Aviation which he joined in 1966.

Career

Turner replaced the previous CEO at BAE Systems plc, John Weston, in March 2002 who was dismissed. Turner has previously been a

Chief Operating Officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the "C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if t ...

(COO) of the company, responsible for all of the company's business units. Both Turner and BAE's previous chairman,

Sir Richard Evans Sir Richard Harry Evans (also known as Dick Evans), (born 1942, Blackpool)''Who's Who (UK), Who's Who'' is a British businessperson who is chairman of the Kazakh state holding company Samruk-Kazyna. He is formerly chairman of the British arms ...

, have had an abrasive relationship with senior

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

officials. The relationship deteriorated over cost over-runs and delays to major procurement projects, for example BAE announced a shock profit warning in December 2002 related to two major projects, the and the

Nimrod MRA4 The BAE Systems Nimrod MRA4 was a planned maritime patrol and attack aircraft intended to replace the Hawker Siddeley Nimrod MR2. The rebuilt aircraft would have extended the operating life of the Nimrod fleet by several decades and signific ...

. BAE took a £750 million hit against these projects. On 15 October 2007 it was announced by BAE Systems that Turner would step down from his role in 2008. On 1 September 2008 Ian King the COO took over from Turner as CEO. Turner is a member of the

Apprenticeship Ambassadors Network The Apprenticeship Ambassadors Network is an employer-led body sponsored by the Skills Funding Agency in England. Its remit is to encourage more employers to become involved in apprenticeships in England. The Network is the successor body to the A ...

and was awarded the prestigious "Honorary Apprenticeship Award" in July 2009.

Career timeline

*1966 – Undergraduate Commercial Apprentice,

Hawker Siddeley Aviation Hawker Siddeley was a group of British manufacturing companies engaged in aircraft production. Hawker Siddeley combined the legacies of several British aircraft manufacturers, emerging through a series of mergers and acquisitions as one of onl ...

. *1970 – Contracts Officer, Hawker Siddeley Aviation. *1978 – Contracts Manager (Military),

British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marconi ...

Aircraft Group Manchester Division. *1981 – Executive Director - Administration, British Aerospace *1982 – Divisional Administration Director, British Aerospace *Early 1980s to 1984 – Advanced Turboprop (ATP) Project team leader, British Aerospace *1984 – Divisional Director and General Manager, Kingston, British Aerospace. Responsible for BAE's Kingston and Dunsfold Park facilities, which manufactured the Harrier and

Hawk Hawks are bird of prey, birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. Th ...

aircraft respectively. *1986 – Director and General Manager, Weybridge, Kingston and Dunsfold, part of BAe's Military Aircraft Division. *1987 – Director Marketing and Product Support, BAe Military Aircraft Division. *1988 – Executive Vice President Defence Marketing, British Aerospace *1992 – Chairman and Managing Director, British Aerospace Regional Aircraft and Chairman of

Jetstream Aircraft Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow, meandering air currents in the atmospheres of some planets, including Earth. On Earth, the main jet streams are located near the altitude of the tropopause and are westerly winds (flowing west to east). ...

. *1994 – Promoted to the British Aerospace board as of 1 January *1994 – Chairman of Commercial Aerospace, which included BAE's

Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace manufacturer, aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft througho ...

factories. *1995 – Vice-President of the

Society of British Aerospace Companies The Society of British Aerospace Companies, formerly Society of British Aircraft Constructors, known as SBAC, was the UK's national trade association representing companies supplying civil air transport, aerospace defence, homeland security an ...

until 1996, then President from June 1996 until June 1997. *1996 – Non-Executive Director of

Babcock International Group Babcock International Group plc is a British aerospace, defence and nuclear engineering services company based in London, England. It specialises in managing complex assets and infrastructure. Although the company has civil contracts, its main b ...

. *1996 – Head of BAE's defence export businesses *1998 – Appointed to the Airbus Supervisory Board. Retained this seat with the formation of Airbus SAS in 2001 until BAE sold its 20% share in 2006. *1999 – With the formation of BAE Systems, became Chief Operating Officer. *2002 – Replaced John Weston as CEO. *2005 – Non-Executive Director of P&O. Stepped down in March 2006. *2006 – Executive Directorship at Lazard Ltd *2008 – Non-Executive Chairman of

. *2012 – Non-Executive Chairman of GKN Plc *2018- Non-Executive Barclays PLC

Recognition

He received a CBE for services to the Aerospace Industry in the Queen's 1999 Birthday Honours. 2014 NED FTSE 100 Chairman of the year

Personal life

In 1972, he married Rosalind Thomas and they have two sons.

References

External links

BAE SYSTEMS: Biography

*Cranfield Honorary doctorate *Manchester Metropolitan Honorary doctorate {{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Michael 1948 births Living people British chief executives BAE Systems people Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People from Didsbury Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University American chief operating officers