Investment consultancy Towers Watson has decided to skip forward to the next generation by appointing the youthful Chris Ford to the top job in Europe, replacing the departing Paul Trickett.

Not that Ford is inexperienced. In fact, he is something of a Towers Watson lifer, spending 20 years at the firm despite being just 42. If nothing else, his promotion is a triumph for the firm's graduate programme, which has been running since Roger Urwin founded the investment advisory business at around the same time.