Directorate Change

28 August 2015

FIRSTGROUP PLC
FIRSTGROUP APPOINTS MATTHEW GREGORY AS CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

FirstGroup plc ("FirstGroup" or "the Group"), 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."

Contacts at FirstGroup:
Faisal Tabbah, Head of Investor Relations
Stuart Butchers, Group Head of Media
Tel: [phone]

Contacts at Brunswick PR:
Andrew Porter, Tel: [phone]

Notes

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.

The key elements of Matthew's ongoing remuneration, which is consistent with the Directors' Remuneration Policy approved by shareholders in July 2015, are as follows:

• On appointment his annual base salary will be £425,000.
• He will receive a pension allowance of 20% of base salary.
• He will be eligible to participate in the Group’s Executive Annual Bonus Plan up to a maximum of 150% of base salary per annum and in the Group’s Long Term Incentive Plan up to a maximum of 175% of base salary per annum.

Matthew held a number of share incentives under various Essentra incentive plans. In line with the approved Directors’ Remuneration Policy, replacement awards form part of the recruitment remuneration. Details of the agreed compensation and replacement awards in FirstGroup shares will be provided following an assessment of the performance of Essentra, and hence the value foregone, no later than the next Directors’ Remuneration Report in 2016.

There are no additional matters that would require disclosure pursuant to Listing Rule 9.6.13R in respect of Matthew Gregory.

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.

Our vision is to provide solutions for an increasingly congested world... keeping people moving and communities prospering.

Visit our website at www.firstgroupplc.com