Former British Energy FD joins Punch Taverns as non-exec

Stephen Billingham, the former finance director of British Energy Group, has joined the board of Punch Taverns as non-executive chairman. He will take up the position in September, following the proposed demerger of Spirit, replacing Peter Cawdron who will retire from the board after serving for over eight years.

Billingham served as FD of British Energy from 2004 to 2009, where he was credited for delivering the turnaround and strong performance of the business, its relisting in 2005, its move up to the FTSE 100 and the sale to EDF in 2009 for £12.5bn.

Previously, he was group FD of WS Atkins during its financial recovery, as well as group treasurer of BICC (now Balfour Beatty) and Severn Trent. Billingham is currently a government appointed non-executive director and chairman of the audit committee of URENCO. He is also chairman of fountains, the support services company.

Punch Taverns also announced that Chris Bell will become a non-executive director of Spirit, following the proposed demerger. He has been chairman of GAME Group since June 2011 and was CEO of Ladbrokes between 2006 and 2010.