Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) chairman Sir Philip Hampton will join the board of GlaxoSmithKline in January and become the drug giant’s chairman in September at the latest.
News of his looming exit from RBS emerged late yesterday, but the timetable for him moving to Glaxo next year was only confirmed today.
He will take over from former Vodafone boss Sir Christopher Gent, who has been at the helm of the pharmaceutical company since the start of 2005.
Edinburgh-based RBS said Sir Philip would leave as soon as a suitable successor is found to replace him.
He joined the bank at the height of the financial crisis, taking the role of chairman in February 2009 to work alongside then chief executive Stephen Hester.
Sir Philip oversaw a clearout of the board, saying a leaner team would be better able to carry out the restructuring process for the group going forward.
Mr Hester quit the bank last year to become chief executive at RSA Insurance, paving the way for Ross McEwan to take over the helm at RBS.
Sir Philip’s planned departure comes with the UK Government still a long way from returning the bank, which is still 80%-owned by the taxpayer, to private hands.
“It has been a privilege to serve as chairman of RBS since 2009,” he said, adding: “I am looking forward to working with my colleagues in the months ahead as we work to implement the bank’s strategy and continue to improve the support we provide to our customers.”
Sir Philip has been finance director at Lloyds TSB, BT, British Gas and British Steel and is also a former chairman of UK Financial Investments, which manages the government’s shareholdings in banks.
His appointment by Glaxo comes after a troubled spell for the drug firm.
It was recently fined £297million for corruption in China. Its former country manager there got a suspended prison sentence.
Glaxo said Sir Philip may become its chairman sooner than September if he is free of other commitments.