FirstGroup announces Matthew Gregory to the Board of Directors as upcoming CFO

– UK, Aberdeen – FirstGroup plc the leading transport operator in the UK and North America, announces that Matthew Gregory will be appointed to the Board as Chief Financial Officer with effect from 1 December 2015.

Matthew joins from FTSE 250 constituent Essentra plc, a leading global provider of essential components and solutions. He joined Essentra in 2003 and was appointed Group Finance Director in 2012. Prior to that he performed a number of senior roles including Corporate Development Director with responsibility for group strategy, planning and business development, and Finance Director in a number of its businesses. Matthew has been a key part of the management team that has delivered substantial increases in revenue, profit and shareholder value.

Commenting, FirstGroup Chief Executive Tim O’Toole said: “I am delighted to welcome Matthew to FirstGroup as Chief Financial Officer; he is highly experienced and has a strong track record of value creation. We look forward to benefiting from his financial, strategic and organisational expertise and international experience. I am confident Matthew will make a significant contribution to the team as we continue to convert the Group’s considerable potential into sustainable value creation.”

Commenting, Matthew Gregory said: “This is a very exciting time to be joining FirstGroup. Its market leading businesses have significant opportunities and I look forward to working with Tim and the team to build on the solid foundations already in place and deliver sustainable growth with good financial returns.”

Matthew Gregory has been Group Finance Director since 2012 for Essentra plc, a leading global provider of essential components and solutions and a FTSE 250 constituent. He joined the company in 2003 (when it was a division of Bunzl plc) as Finance Director of the Moss Plastic Parts business and, following it becoming Filtrona plc, became Finance Director of the Protection & Finishing Products division in 2006. Between 2010 and 2012, Matthew was Corporate Development Director for the company where he played a key role in the development of its ‘Vision 2015’ strategy and in building its mergers and acquisitions capability. Prior to joining Essentra, Matthew worked for The Rank Group plc in a number of senior finance roles. Matthew’s career began at Ernst & Young in 1989, where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant.

About FirstGroup plc

FirstGroup plc (LSE: FGP.L) is the leading transport operator in the UK and North America. With approximately £6 billion in revenues and around 110,000 employees, we transported around 2.4 billion passengers last year. Each of our five divisions is a leader in its field: In North America, First Student is the largest provider of student transportation with a fleet of around 49,000 yellow school buses, First Transit is one of the largest providers of outsourced transit management and contracting services, while Greyhound is the only nationwide operator of scheduled intercity coach services. In the UK, FirstGroup is one of Britain’s largest bus operators running a fleet of some 6,300 buses, and we are one of the country’s most experienced passenger rail operators, carrying around 280 million passengers last year.

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