Former shadow chancellor Francis Maude yesterday became chairman of Incepta, the group behind a financial PR firm that worked on the privatisation of British Telecom.

The Conservative MP will replace David Wright, who steps down at the end of the month. Mr Maude is a leading figure in the progressive wing of his party and has a strong track record in the City.

As financial secretary to the Treasury in 1991 he oversaw the sale of £5.5bn worth of BT shares, the first since the original privatisation in 1984, with Dewe Rogerson handling the PR. Incepta bought Dewe Rogerson in 1998 and merged the business with Citigate.

Mr Maude was also managing director of investment bank Morgan Stanley between 1993 and 1997 and sat on the Asda supermarket board between 1992 and 1999.

He said: "The only privatisation I ran was the second tranche of BT shares when I was in the Treasury. I got to know them [Dewe Rogerson] a little bit then and when I was a banker our paths crossed a bit at that stage."

Mr Maude was first elected to parliament in 1983. He lost his seat in the 1992 election, returning to the commons in 1997 becoming shadow culture secretary, shadow chancellor and shadow foreign secretary under the then Tory leader William Hague.

Richard Nichols, chief executive of Incepta, owner of the Citigate Dewe Rogerson PR firm, said the MP's experience would benefit a company that generates 50% of its revenues from outside the UK.

"He has commercial experience of chairing businesses and running businesses. He brings a wealth of investment banking experience and he clearly brings an international perspective as the former shadow foreign secretary," he said.

Incepta added in a trading statement that it saw "stabilisation" in the corporate and marketing sectors but no sustained recovery.

Mr Nichols said any optimism was tempered by the fact that good times appeared imminent last year and in 2002, when there were brief flurries in corporate activity but hopes of a resurgence soon faded.

His caution was underlined by the experience of Incepta's financial PR business, which accounts for 50% of revenues. The group said turnover in the second half of the year to February 29 would be lower than the first half.