Mike Turner, the outgoing chief executive of Clyde shipyard owner BAE Systems, is to succeed Gordon Campbell as chairman of Babcock International, it was confirmed yesterday.

Stephen Cheslik

Mike Turner, the outgoing chief executive of Clyde shipyard owner BAE Systems, is to succeed Gordon Campbell as chairman of Babcock International, it was confirmed yesterday.

Turner, who was previously a non-executive director with Babcock for nine years, will join the owner of Faslane naval base and Rosyth dockyard on June 1 and will take up the post on November 1.

Babcock and BAE Systems recently joined forces as part of the consortium to build two new aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy.

Campbell, who has served for eight years, said: "I have decided to stand down later this year, and we have been fortunate to persuade Mike Turner to succeed me as non-executive chairman.

"His wealth of experience and his knowledge of Babcock make him ideal for this role and I wish him well."

The announcement comes after a report published by the Fraser of Allander Institute in which the value of BAE Systems' shipyard business to the Scottish economy climbed to £392m in 2007, some £139m more than the previous year.