Marconi boss given timely vote of confidence

A voice from the past has come to the defence of beleaguered Marconi boss, Lord Simpson, as the crisis surrounding the UK telecoms equipment firm rumbled on yesterday.

Weinstock, who ran GEC (since renamed Marconi) for 33 years before passing the reigns on to Simpson in 1996, said he would support his successor's re-election in next week's vote. As a substantial shareholder, Lord Weinstock's vote at the annual general meeting will carry significant weight.

Simpson is under-fire following the company's shock profit warning which precipitated a £4bn drop in market capitalisation. In response to last week's events, Simpson then removed John Mayo from the company. Mayo was widely known to be in line for the top job at Marconi when Simpson retired.

Receive news direct to your PDA:
Catch up on silicon.com's news anytime, anyplace, anywhere...
http://www.silicon.com/goto-PDA-ed