BAE report gives ex-chief Weston a glowing review

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The mystery over John Weston's departure from BAE Systems deepened yesterday after the company published its annual report containing a beaming picture of its ex-chief executive and a fulsome tribute to him from the chairman Sir Dick Evans.

The report makes no reference to Mr Weston's sudden departure last week but instead contains a glowing account of the group's achievements last year under his stewardship.

These include the recovery in the Nimrod programme, the move into production of the Eurofighter Typhoon and the winning of the US Joint Strike Fighter contract – a programme potentially worth £14bn to BAE.

The report also highlights BAE's success in persuading the UK government to alter its procurement strategy in favour of the company – a campaign which supposedly contributed to Mr Weston's downfall by straining BAE's relations with its biggest customer, the Ministry of Defence.

Sir Dick says in his letter to shareholders that BAE "has delivered on its plans for 2001".

BAE is understood to have considered pulping the report, which was signed off in late February, and ordering a complete redraft but in the end it decided to press ahead with publication.

Company sources maintained yesterday that whilst Mr Weston had made a very good job of overseeing the integration of BAE and Marconi Electronic Systems and setting the company on its new course, someone with different "skill sets" was needed to take it forward.

They said the fight over procurement strategy with the MoD, which culminated in BAE being selected to build all 12 of the new Type 45 destroyers, had used up a lot of the company's "relationship capital" within the MoD. They also said that Mr Weston, while respected inside and outside BAE, had also been viewed as "difficult and unapproachable" and that the impetus to remove him had come from the non-executives, not Sir Dick.

Mr Weston was paid £639,000 last year and is estimated to be in line for a pay-off worth between £1m to £1.5m.

BAE meanwhile announced that Chris Geoghegan has been appointed chief operating officer in place of Mike Turner, who took over as chief executive last week.