Speaking as a Nigel I see this as purely innocent. They offered him a large pay-rise, an opportunity to improve the mechanisms of the LHR operation from the top level and strangely he took it. The conspiracies that abound are an affront to his obvious abilities. Good luck to him. Perhaps now the directors will have someone erudite enough to pass on a pilots perspective at BAA's busiest airport.
I hope the individual concerned remembers us on the way up.