The head of product testing company Intertek will take over as chairman of FirstGroup in July, the Aberdeen-based transport giant said yesterday.
Incumbent John McFarlane, who only took on the role at the start of 2014, will retire from the board of FirstGroup that same month.
Last September it was announced that he had agreed to become chairman at Barclay’s from April 2015.
Munich-born Wolfhart Hauser, a student of medicine who has been chief executive of London-based Intertek for the last 10 years, will earn £280,000 a year at FirstGroup.
Intertek’s shares have trebled in value under the watch of Mr Hauser, who is also a non-executive director of Associated British Foods and publisher Reed Elsevier.
Senior independent director Drummond Hall said FirstGroup was delighted to have captured Mr Hauser, bringing the “rigorous” selection process to a close.
He said Mr Hauser “has a strong track record of driving profitable growth and value creation in a large international organisation, as well as significant board experience in major UK listed companies.”
Speaking about his appointment, Mr Hauser said: “I am pleased to be joining FirstGroup and I look forward to working with the executive team and the board to improve the Group’s returns, resilience and growth prospects to levels befitting its leading market positions in the UK and North America.”
In November the company posted pre-tax profits for the six months to the end of September 2014 of £33.3million, up nearly 70% year-on-year, bouncing back from the disappointing news that it had missed out on the £6billion ScotRail franchise.
FirstGroup has operated ScotRail for the last 10 years, but Transport Scotland last year overlooked its bid to run the franchise from April 2015 through 2025, opting for Dutch firm Abellio, instead.
FirstGroup provided UK passenger rail services for more than 330 million people last year.
It employs about 110,000 people in North America and the UK.
Mr McFarlane said: “With Wolfhart as Chairman, I will be leaving FirstGroup in capable hands. He has an exemplary track record of sustained value creation and is a highly seasoned non-executive director. I wish him and all at FirstGroup well for the future.”
Martin Brown, an analyst at Shore Capital, said investors would be pleased that the uncertainty over the role at FirstGroup has been removed, and described Mr Hauser’s performance at Intertek as impressive.