Sir Nigel Rudd is to become the new chairman of Invensys, the automation and controls specialist, giving the 62-year old industrialist his third boardroom position within the FTSE 100.

Sir Nigel, who is deputy chairman of Barclays and a non-executive at BAE Systems, will become deputy chairman of Invensys on January 1, before taking over as chairman at the company’s annual meeting in July.

He takes over from Martin Jay, who has headed Invensys’s board for the past five years. Mr Jay said Sir Nigel’s “extensive industrial knowledge together with his considerable record of being chairman of major public companies” made him ideally suited to chair Invensys.

Sir Nigel made his name building and then dismantling Williams Holdings, the industrial conglomerate, and has a reputation for instigating corporate activity at the companies where he serves. In recent years, he has sold two companies that he chaired — Boots and Pilkington — and overseen the merger of Pendragon with rival Reg Vardy.

However, more recently he has become embroiled in the controversy over Barclays’s private fundraising on terms dearer than those previously offered by the British Government. Elsewhere, debt-laded Pendragon is struggling to survive.

Last month, Invensys lowered its full-year profit forecasts, stating that strong growth in its rail signalling operation would not wholly offset shortfalls in its process and controls business.

Sir Nigel also chairs BAA, the airports operator, and sits on the board of Sappi, the paper maker.

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