Sir Philip Hampton, chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland, is being lined up to join the board of Anglo American. An announcement could be made as early as tomorrow.

The appointment is the latest in a series of senior changes at the mining group since the arrival of Sir John Parker as chairman in July. Hampton is an experienced boardroom heavyweight. Before becoming chairman of RBS, he held the same post at J Sainsbury.

Anglo has made big strides to deliver more value to investors since it was on the receiving end of an unsolicited merger approach from rival Xstrata, which has since been withdrawn.

The shake-up is part of a plan by Parker and Cynthia Carroll, chief executive, to show the business has a future as an independent company. In addition, Anglo is offloading about £4 billion of assets. Tarmac, the aggregates business, will be sold, as will Scaw Metals, a maker of steel products.

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