Hood is a non-executive director of BG Group and WPP, chairman of Urenco (from which he will retire later this year), Matakina, and Study Group Ltd; president and CEO of the Robertson Foundation; and chair of the Rhodes Trust and Teach For All.

For five years he served as vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford and, before that, as vice-chancellor of the University of Auckland after a career at Fletcher Challenge, New Zealand’s largest industrial conglomerate.

With a BEng and a PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Auckland, Hood was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to study at the University of Oxford where he read for an MPhil (management studies).

He was appointed a Knight Companion to the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2014.

BMT Group CEO Peter French said: “We are delighted that Sir John is joining BMT as chairman in the new financial year. The group will benefit significantly from his wealth of experience of international business and analytical rigour. I am sure that he will bring an original perspective to our business and help us to remain at the forefront of innovation and design in maritime engineering.

“I shall, of course, be sad to see the retirement from BMT of our current chairman, Dr Neil Cross. Neil has been with BMT for a total of 18 years and has for the last nine years been our chairman, in which time the board has implemented strategies that have seen us weather challenging times, and nearly double our turnover.”