Finance pros pick up Saga and Kier board roles

TWO SEASONED finance professionals have taken on non-executive board roles at major UK companies.

CIMA-qualified Bridget McIntyre, who has served as RSA chief executive and FD of Aviva, joins Over-50s services provider Saga as a non-exec. She will sit across its audit, risk, remuneration and nomination committees and hold a non-exec role at Saga’s insurance underwriting subsidiary Acromas.

Saga chairman Andrew Goodsell said she brings a “wealth of industry experience” to the role, particularly as it develops its insurance offering.

GKN group FD Adam Walker joins construction business Kier as chair of its risk management and audit committees. Walker qualified as a chartered accountant with Touche Ross in 1992, serving as National Express Group group FD between 2003 and 2008.

He held the FD role at Informa for the next five years before joining GKN in 2014 – adding the chief executive, Land Systems, role to his portfolio at the group this year.

“Adam’s range of skills and experience, which have been developed in a number of organisations throughout his career, will complement those of the other members of the board,” said Kier chairman Phil White.

Richard Bailey, a chartered accountant and a partner in Rothschild, steps down from heading up the two committees at GKN after four years. “Richard has made a major contribution to Kier and the Board during the last five years,” added White.

“In particular, under his chairmanship, the risk management and audit committee has worked hard, during a period of significant growth by Kier, to ensure that Kier’s systems of internal control and risk management support the delivery of Vision 2020.”