Newcastle-headquartered bus and rail giant Go-Ahead Group announced the appointment of Royal Mail executive Sarah Mussenden as group chief financial officer with effect from May 9, 2022.

Mussenden succeeds Elodie Brian, who stepped down last September after Go-Ahead was stripped of the London & South Eastern Railway (LSER) franchise.

“Gordon Boyd, Interim Group Chief Financial Officer, will remain in the role until the end of March 2022, as previously announced,” said Go-Ahead.

“Mark Ferriday, Group Financial Controller, will report to Christian Schreyer, Group CEO, between Gordon stepping down and Sarah starting her new role.

“Sarah, a qualified Chartered Accountant, has extensive experience across multiple sectors, including her present role as Interim Chief Financial Officer at Royal Mail UK. 

“Previous roles include Chief Financial Officer at Centrica Consumer Services (British Gas), Barts and The London NHS Trust and Financial Director at British Airways.

“Sarah is a Non-Executive Director and member of the Audit and Risk Committee at The Premier Miton Group plc.”

 Go-Ahead Group chair Clare Hollingsworth said: “I am delighted to welcome Sarah to Go-Ahead.

“Her senior commercial business leadership experience, together with her strong financial accounting and audit background, will be particularly valuable as the group will have completed its business review, led by Christian Schreyer, and moved to the next phase of the group’s development.  

“She also has worked extensively in transport and regulated businesses, where the customer proposition and the environmental agenda are central to long term sustainable growth.”  

Mussenden said: “I am so pleased to be joining the board of Go-Ahead.

“Throughout my career I have worked for businesses that have important purposes and add real value to society.

“Go-Ahead very much fits this description.

“It’s been a challenging couple of years for the group, but the underlying business is robust and has strong long-term prospects.

“I look forward to working with Christian and the board to enhance governance and financial control across the group, whilst also driving to maximise its inherent value.”