Why should anyone in senior management posts in NATS have to have a background in ATC or even aviation? Whether we like it or not (I don't), NATS is a business now... fact.
Agree. You don't expect the CEO of Greggs to have a background in making sausage rolls. Or the Health Minister to be a doctor ?
Corporate management skills are different from ATC skills. Whether our management have them or not, that's another debate. But the CEO of Nats does not have to be an ATC expert.
There are plenty of well paid specialists to take care of the technical side of things.