Michael John Turner CBE (born 5 August 1948) is the former chief executive officer (CEO) of the aerospace and defence company BAE Systems, and current chairman of Babcock International and prior to the hostile takeover by Melrose was chairman of GKN plc. Early life He attended Didsbury Technical High School (became Wilbraham High School in 1965) on School Lane in Didsbury. He gained a BA from Manchester Polytechnic in 1970, whilst working for Hawker Siddeley Aviation which he joined in 1966. Career Turner replaced the previous CEO at BAE Systems plc, John Weston, in March 2002 who was dismissed. Turner has previously been a Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the company, responsible for all of the company's business units. Both Turner and BAE's previous chairman, Sir Richard Evans, have had an abrasive relationship with senior Ministry of Defence officials. The relationship deteriorated over cost over-runs and delays to major procurement projects, for example BAE announced a shock profit warning in December 2002 related to two major projects, the and the Nimrod MRA4. BAE took a £750 million hit against these projects. On 15 October 2007 it was announced by BAE Systems that Turner would step down from his role in 2008. On 1 September 2008 Ian King the COO took over from Turner as CEO. Turner is a member of the Apprenticeship Ambassadors Network and was awarded the prestigious "Honorary Apprenticeship Award" in July 2009. Career timeline 1966 – Undergraduate Commercial Apprentice, Hawker Siddeley Aviation. 1970 – Contracts Officer, Hawker Siddeley Aviation. 1978 – Contracts Manager (Military), British Aerospace Aircraft Group Manchester Division. 1981 – Executive Director - Administration, British Aerospace 1982 – Divisional Administration Director, British Aerospace Early 1980s to 1984 – Advanced Turboprop (ATP) Project team leader, British Aerospace 1984 – Divisional Director and General Manager, Kingston, British Aerospace. Responsible for BAE's Kingston and Dunsfold Park facilities, which manufactured the Harrier and Hawk aircraft respectively. 1986 – Director and General Manager, Weybridge, Kingston and Dunsfold, part of BAe's Military Aircraft Division. 1987 – Director Marketing and Product Support, BAe Military Aircraft Division. 1988 – Executive Vice President Defence Marketing, British Aerospace 1992 – Chairman and Managing Director, British Aerospace Regional Aircraft and Chairman of Jetstream Aircraft. 1994 – Promoted to the British Aerospace board as of 1 January 1994 – Chairman of Commercial Aerospace, which included BAE's Airbus factories. 1995 – Vice-President of the Society of British Aerospace