FIRSTGROUP has appointed Intertek chief executive Wolfhart Hauser as its new chairman and will pay him £280,000 a year.
The German born executive will replace John McFarlane, who is joining Barclays to replace Sir David Walker, after the transport company's annual general meeting in July.
Prior to that Mr Hauser is to join the board on May 18 as a non-executive director and chairman designate.
Mr McFarlane's annual fee is £250,000 while predecessor Martin Gilbert picked up £191,000 for 2013, the last full year he served as chairman.
The train and bus operator reviewed its non-executive director fees during 2014 and decided to increase them to be closer to its peers.
In its annual report for 2014 it said: "Fee levels are reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that the group can attract individuals with the requisite experience, capability and commitment.
"Reviews take into account the structure and level of fees payable by listed companies of similar scale, complexity and geographical spread and increases for the Group's workforce.
"Fees may also be revised on an ongoing or temporary basis to take into account changes to the working of the board."
It is not yet known whether Mr Hauser may choose to take a portion of his fees in FirstGroup shares.
Mr Hauser has led testing and safety services business Intertek for the past decade building it into a company with operations in more than 100 countries and around 39,000 employees.
He is stepping down from Intertek on May 15 this year although he will remain as a non-executive director of Associated British Foods and Reed Elsevier.
He 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."
Mr McFarlane, who is originally from Dumfries, 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."
Mr McFarlane is also leaving his post as Aviva chairman to take up the £800,000 a year role with Barclays. He is already a non-executive director at the bank where he receives a fee of £250,000.
Drummond Hall, senior independent director at FirstGroup, thanked Mr McFarlane for his efforts on the board and said: "[Wolfhart] 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.
"We are very pleased to be able to attract an individual of Wolfhart's calibre and experience to help guide the Group's continued development."
Martin Brown, of Shore Capital, said: "During his 10 year tenure as [chief executive] of Intertek the shares have trebled in value, with dividend payments over that period adding to the significant shareholder value that has been created.
"On a personal note, we do not know Wolfhart, but his performance at Intertek has clearly been impressive and in our opinion investors will be pleased that the uncertainty over the [FirstGroup chairman] role has now been removed."
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