Lord Turner of Ecchinswell, the former Director-General of the CBI, was confirmed yesterday as chairman of the Financial Services Authority (FSA). He will take over as the regulator is under scrutiny after the collapse of Northern Rock and the turmoil in the financial markets.

However, he is a trusted adviser to Gordon Brown and the Government, having undertaken high-profile roles since leaving the CBI nine years ago. During his time at the CBI Lord Turner never quite matched his soubriquet of “Red Adair”, after the oilfield firefighter. He was so called, somewhat tongue in cheek, for his readiness to engage the employers’ organisation with new Labour while the party was establishing its business-friendly credentials. The CBI has been outwardly politically neutral, but in practice, in the mid1990s, its members largely regarded the Conservatives as the natural party of business.

Becoming Director-General of the CBI in 1995 put Adair Turner, aged 39 at the time, in the public eye. He was not as forthright as some of the presidents of the organisation, particularly the outspoken Sir Clive Thompson. However, Lord Turner consolidated a reputation for intellectual rigour, gained from his previous career at McKinsey, the management consultancy, with a desire to give capitalism a human face. It was these attributes that led him to be embraced by the Labour Government as one of their favourite advisers, commission chairmen and review conductors when he left the CBI after a four-year term.

He will take the helm of the FSA for a five-year term in September, when Sir Callum McCarthy steps down.

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