THE head man for the new, part-privatised Defence Evaluation and Research Agency has been named.

Sir John Egan, the chairman of NewDERA, will work with existing DERA chief executive Sir John Chisholm to take most of the organisation into the private sector.

The bulk of nearly 2,000 staff at Malvern are expected to be transferred to NewDERA, which will be a government-owned limited company.

Sir John Egan is former chairman and chief executive of Jaguar, who oversaw its revitalisation. He is now chairman of Inchcape plc, and of Harrison Lovegrove Ltd, a merchant banking advisory business.

Graham Love, is the chief finance officer of the privatised company. Graham was previously finance director of DERA from 1992 to 1996 before becoming managing director of its support services division, which he took private in 1997 as COMAX.

IBM marketing director Brenda Jones is to join DERA as its marketing director in the new year.

NewDERA could be floated on the stock market as as early as summer 2001.