Suave banker chosen to avert nuclear meltdown

Adrian Montague, the new British Energy chairman, is getting used to rescuing failed privatisations from the scrapheap. He is already deputy chairman of Network Rail, the government-backed body that replaced Railtrack. Now he has the task of preventing the meltdown of Britain's nuclear industry.

In terms of background and style, Mr Montague could scarcely be more different from the ousted British Energy chairman, Robin Jeffrey, who was unceremoniously decommissioned yesterday. Whereas the Scottish-born Mr Jeffrey was a nuclear man to the core, Mr Montague is the model of the urbane, Home Counties lawyer turned corporate financier.

He began his career with the London law firm Linklaters & Paines until leaving in 1994 to join Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, the investment bank from which the Government picked Callum McCarthy, the energy regulator.

Since 1997 Mr Montague has been the businessman the Government has relied upon most heavily to make its private finance initiative work. He was chief executive of the Treasury Taskforce and deputy chairman of its successor body, Partnerships US. Crucially, he was also the man who negotiated the controversial public private partnership for London Underground.

At British Energy, his financing and deal-making skills will be tested to the limit. The company only has until mid-February to persuade its banks and bondholders to swallow the rescue deal announced yesterday otherwise it will be put into insolvency.

As for Mr Jeffrey, it looks like there are lean times ahead as well. Although he is contractually entitled to a £350,000 pay-off, the Government served notice that it would look very poorly at any "reward for failure" for nuclear's yesterday man.