London Evening Standard: Brown shows bosses the way

Alex Brummer, Daily Mail

14 May 2004

E used to think of the public sector as sluggish and cautious and private corporations as fleet of foot. But as far as senior jobs are concerned there is a role reversal.

Gordon Brown has snatched David Varney, one of the country’s more impressive industrialists, from under the noses of Marks & Spencer, Shell and several other companies that might well have seen him as a future chairman.

The speed with which Varney has been through the rigorous approval process for public appointments is impressive. Brown only unveiled his plans to merge Customs & Excise and the Inland Revenue in his March Budget and a couple of months later the new man is parachuted into the job, without any of those mysterious leaks that accompany company board appointments.
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The Independent: Varney takes big pay cut for challenge of top Revenue job

By Philip Thornton, Economics Correspondent

14 May 2004

David Varney, the chairman of mmO2, is taking a substantial pay cut to head the merged Inland Revenue and Customs & Excise departments.

Mr Varney, who was seen as a candidate for the top job at Marks & Spencer, will implement the Government’s plan to merge the two bodies and to cut 14,000 jobs across the tax-collection services.

He will be paid between £130,000 and £150,000 ­ at the bottom end of the pay scale for a Whitehall permanent secretary ­ when he takes over as executive chairman on 1 September.
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Daily Telegraph: City doyen takes Revenue hot seat

City doyen takes Revenue hot seat
By Tessa Thorniley (Filed: 14/05/2004)

David Varney sits on many government task forces

The Government yesterday appointed City heavyweight David Varney as the first executive chairman of the newly merged Customs & Excise and Inland Revenue.

Gordon Brown described the outgoing chairman of mobile telephone operator mmO2 as an “outstanding business leader with a first-rate, proven record across the private sector”. read more

Financial Times: Chemistry graduate charged with devising right formula

By Matthew Jones and Robert Budden

May 14, 2004

David Varney has come a long way since, armed with a Surrey University chemistry degree, he enlisted in the ranks of Royal Dutch/Shell as a personnel assistant more than 35 years ago.

After working his way to the top of several big-hitting companies, gaining a reputation as one of the City’s most respected corporate figures, he is now set to become one of Britain’s highest-profile public servants, responsible for the biggest shake-up in Whitehall for more than 200 years.
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Financial Times: MMO2 chief to head merged Revenue

By Christopher Adams Political Correspondent

May 14, 2004 

David Varney, chairman of MMO2, the mobile phone operator, became Whitehall’s biggest private sector catch yesterday when he was named as Gordon Brown’s choice to run the merged Revenue and Customs department.

*Mr Varney, 58, previously chief executive of BG and a former director of Shell, will take an 80 per cent pay cut when he leaves his lucrative FTSE 100 job. He begins his new role in September.
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