Sir John Parker
Chairman
(appointed October 2002) (Age 62)

Sir John Parker became Chairman of the Group following the Merger, having been Chairman of Lattice Group since its Demerger from BG Group in 2000. He had previously been a Non-executive Director of BG from 1997. Sir John’s career has encompassed the engineering, shipbuilding and defence industries. He is Chairman of RMC Group plc and a Non-executive Director of Carnival plc and Carnival Corporation, Inc. It has been announced that Sir John will be appointed as senior Non-executive Director designate of the Court of the Bank of England on 1 June 2004. Sir John is a former Chairman and Chief Executive of Harland & Wolff plc and Babcock International Group PLC and a former Non-executive Director of Brambles Industries plc, GKN plc and British Coal Corporation. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

James Ross
Deputy Chairman and Senior Independent Director
(appointed March 1999) (Age 65)

James Ross was appointed as Non-executive Director and Deputy Chairman of National Grid in March 1999, becoming Chairman in July 1999. Following the Merger, he became Deputy Chairman and Senior Independent Director. He was appointed as a Non-executive Director of Prudential plc on 6 May 2004 and is Chairman of the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education. He is also a Non-executive Director of McGraw Hill and of Datacard, both based in the US, and of Schneider Electric based in France. He was Chairman of Littlewoods plc from 1996 to April 2002 and was Chief Executive of Cable and Wireless plc from 1992 to 1995. Previously, he was a Managing Director of the British Petroleum Company plc and Chairman and CEO of BP America. At BP he had responsibility for its activities in North and South America and Africa as well as the company’s environmental policies.