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 chairman quits for new role at Barclays

John McFarlane (left) with Tim O'Toole
John McFarlane (left) with Tim O'Toole

FirstGroup chairman John McFarlane is to quit the Aberdeen-based transport company next summer after being chosen to lead the board of banking giant Barclays.

Mr McFarlane is also stepping down as chairman of insurance group Aviva.

He will become Barclays’ chairman in April, it was announced yesterday.

Mr McFarlane has been chairman of FirstGroup only since the start of this year, when he took over the post from Aberdeen Asset Management chief executive Martin Gilbert.

FirstGroup said it had already started the process of identifying another “strong”individual to fill the position.

Senior independent director Drummond Hall added: “It is unfortunate that John will be unable to see his tenure through at FirstGroup, but we all understand the importance of the role at Barclays he has been asked to take on”.

Mr McFarlane said: “It is with regret that I must take the difficult step of leaving FirstGroup so early.

“I am, though, satisfied with the progress we have made in appointing a strong board of directors, in achieving stability, in testing the business plan with the team, and in endorsing the way ahead.

“We will continue to build on this progress as we go forward.

“I am confident that we will appoint a highly qualified successor and I will work towards ensuring a seamless transition.”

His appointment by FirstGroup came after a turbulent spell for the firm, including its growth plans getting derailed by the botched bidding process for the west coast intercity train franchise.

In July, he pledged to review the group’s pay policies after a shareholders’ revolt against its bosses’ remuneration deals.

The board enraged shareholders and employees after it emerged Mr O’Toole saw his total wage packet nearly double to £2million as annual profits at the firm soared.

Announcing Mr McFarlane’s new role at one of the world’s largest banks, where he replaces Sir David Walker, Barclays said: “The Barclays board set very challenging requirements for its new chairman. In John McFarlane we have identified someone who met all of our criteria.

“John is an enormously experienced and respected banker, with global experience of both retail and investment banking.

“He will bring great leadership, integrity and knowledge to the role.”

The bank will pay its new chairman an annual fee of £800,000 for a role which is expected to have a time commitment equivalent to 80% of a full-time position.

Mr McFarlane was chief executive of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group between 1997 and 2007 and a director of Royal Bank of Scotland between 2008 and 2012.

He has overseen the recovery of Aviva since a shareholder rebellion on pay and performance ousted its chief executive in 2012.

Aviva yesterday unveiled current board member Sir Adrian Montague as its new chairman.

ends