FirstGroup snatches former telecoms boss for chief executive role
Former telecoms boss Graham Sutherland was appointed chief executive of FirstGroup, the transport colossus announced today.
The new boss will assume office from 16 May.
Sutherland – who was previously at the helm of LSE-listed telecommunications company KCOM from 2018 until its sale to an infrastructure fund – will succeed Matthew Gregory, who stepped down last year following pressures from activist shareholder Coast Capital Management.
“[Sutherland] has a strong track record in the delivery of critical services and in creating value for shareholders in rapidly evolving regulatory and technological environments,” said the group’s executive chairman David Martin.
“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.”
The company made recently the headlines when its subsidiary, Tram Operations Limited was prosecuted alongside Transport for London by the Office of Rail and Road over their involvement in the 2016 Croydon tram derailment, CityAM reported.
The railway regulator said its prosecution will allege both TfL and Tram Operations Limited (TOL) breached health and safety law, as they failed to ensure passengers’ safety aboard the network.