John Weston

JOHN WESTON, CBE, FRSA, is the Chief Executive of BAE SYSTEMS Plc. Mr
Weston was educated at the Kings School, Worcester and Trinity Hall,
Cambridge. He joined British Aircraft Corporation in January 1970 as an
undergraduate apprentice. Following his training period, he spent time
working as an engineer in Dynamics and Maths Services, and Sales
Engineering, before moving on to marketing and general management. He
spent seven years working in Munich on the Tornado programme and was
also seconded to the Ministry of Defence for two years between 1982 and
1984, working within the Defence Sales Organisation. He was Project
Director of the Al-Yamamah programme, which involved the supply of 132
aircraft, together with their weapons, support and associated
infrastructure, to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He became Managing
Director of the company’s Military Aircraft Division in 1990, and from
1992 was responsible for all British Aerospace’s Defence activities. He
joined the main Board of British Aerospace in 1993 and was also
responsible for Engineering and Information Technology. He was appointed
Chief Executive of British Aerospace on 1 May 1998 and has recently led
the company through its merger with Marconi Electronic Systems to become
BAE SYSTEMS. He is actively involved in the CBI, being on the steering
group of their ‘Fit for the Future’ campaign as well as being a member
of the President’s Committee. He is also on the Advisory Board of the
Royal College of Defence Studies and is a member of the SBAC Council. He
has recently been appointed on the UK Council for Science and Technology
and took up his post in June. Mr Weston was made a CBE in 1993. He is
married with a son and a daughter. His hobbies include skiing,
photography and mountain walking.