Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

FirstGroup unveils new CEO after long search

FirstGroup chief executive Graham Sutherland.
Graham Sutherland, who has held a number of leadership roles in the telecommunications sector, will take up the CEO role next month on 16 May.

Aberdeen transport company FirstGroup has revealed it has appointed Graham Sutherland as its new chief executive.

The firm said the announcement came after a “comprehensive search process” and almost a year since the previous chief executive announced his resignation.

Sutherland, who has held a number of leadership roles in the telecommunications sector, will take up the next month on 16 May.

Sutherland will become the company’s fourth CEO since Sir Moir Lockhead led a buyout of Grampian Transport, in 1989, to found the firm.

The group’s former chief executive Matthew Gregory announced  his departure last June after he came under the criticism of a company shareholder, the US hedge fund Coast Capital.

Coast and other investors were unhappy over the sale of the company’s two US businesses, First Student and First Transit, believing the £3.3 billion deal had left them short-changed.

The role has been managed on an interim basis since September by the group’s executive chairman David Martin.

Sutherland was chief executive of KCOM Group, a LSE-listed telecommunications company, from 2018 until its sale to a Macquarie-managed infrastructure fund a year later.

Prior to this, he held a number of senior executive roles within BT Group for over twelve years. These included a stint as chief executive of the telecom giant’s business and public sector division, where he led the integration of EE’s business unit, creating a division with £4.6bn in annual revenues and 13,000 employees.

Sutherland was also chief executive of BT Ireland where he was responsible for all consumer, business and network activities. He is a non-executive director of Savvi, one of Ireland’s largest credit unions.

Born and raised in Inverness, he and studied at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.

Martin hailed the incoming boss’s “strong track record” in the delivery of “critical services and in creating value for shareholders”

He added: “Graham joins at an exciting and important time for FirstGroup which is now a focused and resilient business with a strong platform from which to develop.

“I am confident that Graham is ideally suited to take the group forward and I look forward to working with him to maximise the widespread opportunities that exist for growth and sustainable value creation.”

Sutherland said: “It’s a privilege to have the opportunity to lead FirstGroup.

“I look forward to working with my new colleagues to drive the group forward and deliver the vital services that are key to achieving society’s sustainability and economic goals.

“With its prime positions in bus and rail, strong balance sheet and clear purpose, FirstGroup has many opportunities ahead and I look forward to helping shape its exciting future.”