Corporate grandee returns to centre stage

Sir Ian Prosser has returned from the corporate wilderness after being named chairman of JKX Oil & Gas, an energy group with exploration operations in Ukraine, Russia and much of Eastern Europe. Sir Ian was once a FTSE 100 grandee, having served as chairman and chief executive of Bass and a director of BP, GlaxoSmithKline, Boots and Lloyds TSB. Towards the end of his spell at Bass and, after its demerger, at InterContinental Hotels Group, there were accusations that he destroyed shareholder value. J Sainsbury scrapped plans to appoint him as chairman after a shareholder backlash over his track record.