Directorate Change - Non-Executive Director App...

FIRSTGROUP PLC
NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR APPOINTMENT

FirstGroup plc ('FirstGroup' or the 'Group') announces that Myrtle Dawes has been appointed to the Board as an Independent Non-Executive Director with effect from 1 April 2022.

Myrtle is an established leader with extensive experience in the energy sector both in the UK and internationally. A chartered Chemical Engineer, she has held a number of senior safety and engineering project management roles in the offshore oil and gas industry, including for BP and BHP Petroleum. Moving to Centrica in 2009, Myrtle performed a number of senior executive roles encompassing engineering, project management, technology and digital transformation including leading the team responsible for safety-critical, customer-facing residential assignments.

In 2019 Myrtle was appointed Solution Centre Director for the Net Zero Technology Centre, where she leads the development of technology for net zero in the energy sector. With significant UK and Scottish government funding, the Centre co-invests in R&D, develops policy and builds collaborations to commercialise nascent technology to support the energy transition.

In 2017 Myrtle received recognition for her contribution to business, having featured in Breaking the Glass Ceiling and being selected as one of 100 Women to Watch in the Cranfield FTSE Board Report 2017. In 2021 she was recognised by TE:100 as one of the Women of the Energy Transition.

Myrtle holds a Masters in Chemical Engineering and Chemical Technology from Imperial College. She is a non-executive board member of the Centre for Process Innovation, a member of the Board of Governors at the University of Lincoln and sits on the Technology Leadership Board. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chemical Engineers, the Energy Institute, the Forward Institute and Honorary Fellow of the Association for Project Management.

Myrtle will serve on FirstGroup's recently established Responsible Business Committee of the Board, which focuses on key safety, sustainability and corporate responsibility matters, including our transition to net zero.

Commenting, David Martin, Executive Chairman said:

"I am delighted to welcome Myrtle to the Board. Her background in managing complex, safety critical engineering projects as well as her wealth of knowledge and experience in both the energy transition and improving customer service through technology will be of significant value to the Group. Her appointment comes at an important time for FirstGroup as we progress the opportunities and responsibilities we have as a critical enabler of society’s sustainability goals. We will continue to oversee an orderly evolution of the Board to ensure it has the right balance of skills, experience and diversity for the Group’s future needs."

This announcement is made pursuant to Listing Rule 9.6.11R.

Contacts at FirstGroup: Faisal Tabbah, Head of Investor Relations Stuart Butchers, Group Head of Communications [e-mail] Tel: [phone]

Contacts at Brunswick PR: Andrew Porter / Simone Selzer Tel: [phone]

Notes

Legal Entity Identifier (LEI): 549300DEJZCPWA4HKM93. Classification as per DTR 6 Annex 1R: 3.1.

FirstGroup plc (LSE: FGP.L) is a leading private sector provider of public transport services. With £4.3 billion in revenue and around 30,000 employees, our UK divisions transported nearly 700,000 passengers a day in the 52 weeks to 27 March 2021. First Bus is the second largest regional bus operator in the UK, serving two-thirds of the UK’s 15 largest conurbations with a fleet of c.5,000 buses. First Rail is the UK’s largest rail operator, with many years of experience running long-distance, commuter, regional and sleeper rail services. We operate a fleet of c.3,750 rail vehicles through four management fee-based train operating companies (Avanti, GWR, SWR, TPE) and two open access routes (Hull Trains and Lumo, our new East Coast service which launched in October 2021). We create solutions that reduce complexity, making travel smoother and life easier. Our businesses are at the heart of our communities and the essential services we provide are critical to delivering wider economic, social and environmental goals. We are formally committed to operating a zero-emission First Bus fleet by 2035 and to cease purchasing further diesel buses after 2022; and First Rail will help support the UK Government’s goal to remove all diesel-only trains from service by 2040. FirstGroup was recently named as one of the world's cleanest 200 public companies for the third consecutive year by sustainable business media group Corporate Knights in partnership with US not-for-profit organisation, As You Sow. Visit our website at www.firstgroupplc.com and follow us @firstgroupplc on Twitter.