Rudd began his career as a troubleshooter for London & Northern, a holding company with subsidiaries in a range of industries. In 1982 he bought the Williams engineering company with business partner Brian McGowan. Rudd and McGowan went on to acquire and rebrand a portfolio of under-performing industrial companies throughout the 1980s. Rudd has been in positions of prominence at several corporations, including serving as Chairman of
BAA Limited,
The Boots Company,
Pilkington PLC and
Pendragon PLC, and Deputy Chairman of
Barclays PLC until January 2009. Sir Nigel Rudd sits on the board of directors at the following companies BAA Aviation PLC (Chairman/non-executive director since 2014). and Pendragon PLC (Chairman/NE Director, 1989–2010). Rudd is one of the founders of the
New Entrepreneurs Foundation. == Personal life==