MARTIN Taylor, the Burnley-born high flyer who shocked the City when he quit as chief executive of Barclays last year, has been appointed chairman of WH Smith.

Mr Taylor, 47, will receive a salary of £150,000 for one and a half days work a week.

A spokesman for the company said: "We looked at a number of people but Martin Taylor came out on top. We have known him for some years and he can contribute a lot to the group going forward."

He said of Mr Taylor's salary: "That's the going rate."

Mr Taylor, whose parents live in Simonstone, went to Sunnybank school and was brought up in Rossendale Road, Burnley, before moving to Padiham.

He won a scholarship to Eton before studying oriental languages at Oxford.

His first job was as a financial journalist with Reuters, later moving on to the Financial Times.

He is also joining Goldman Sachs, the investment bank, as a special adviser.

Other posts include his non-executive directorship of Antigenics, a US biotech firm working on cancer cures.

He will also be working with Customs & Excise on ways to tackle the tobacco smuggling problem.

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