G4S to swap Dighton for Almanza as CFO

LONG-SERVING G4S chief financial officer Trevor Dighton is to step down from the role, which will be taken on by another senior finance executive – Ashley Almanza.

Dighton has spent 18 years at the group, joining Securicor – the predecessor to G4S – in the early 1990s. He became head of finance of the company’s security division in 1997 before taking the group finance director role in 2002. Earlier in his career, he studied CIMA at a Croydon electronics manufacturer before serving in practice with KPMG and then Deloitte Haskins & Sells.

Dighton will step down as CFO on 30 April 2013 and from the board at its AGM on 6 June. However, he will continue to work for the business to help in the handover process. Former BG Group CFO Almanza will take on the position

In a colourful interview with Financial Director in 2003, Dighton described how he helped fight fraud as an auditor in Zambia and Papua New Guinea. Last year, he spoke of the lessons learned from serving as an FD during the early 1990s recession: “You need to be able to think fast, to really apply a lot of common sense and have a good perspective about what’s important and what’s not important. You couldn’t really think, ‘Maybe the problems will go away and let’s stick to what we’ve been doing in the past.’ You did have to identify it quickly and do something about it quickly.”

Nick Buckles, chief executive of G4S, said: “Trevor signalled his intention to retire from the board at the age of 65 and I would like to thank him for having dedicated 18 years to the group, during which time he has been a key part of the senior management team and helped to create the world leader in secure solutions.

“We are delighted to announce the appointment of Ashley, a high-quality and respected executive with extensive international business experience. We look forward to him joining the board and the management team on 1 May.”

Almanza spent nearly 20 years at BG Group to 2012, during nine of which he was CFO. He is currently a non-executive of Schroders and a member of the adviser board of the Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation. He has also chaired the Hundred Group of Finance Directors.