Stephen Hester appointed Director and Chair Designate at easyJet

Wednesday, August 25, 2021

Stephen Hester has been appointed as the Director and Chair Designate at easyJet. Hester will join the board as a non-executive director on September 1 succeeding John Barton as the chair in December.

Barton will stand down from the board having completed nearly nine years as chairman. Stephen Hester is a highly strategic and successful leader and comes with more than 35 years of wide-ranging experience at major businesses, bringing a strong track record of value creation and listed board experience.

He has served as chief executive of RSA Insurance Group from 2014 to May this year, as chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland Group, chief executive of British Land and chief operating officer of Abbey National, as well as holding a number of senior executive roles at Credit Suisse First Boston in London and New York.

He currently serves as a senior independent director of Centrica having previously held a senior non-executive position as deputy chairman of Northern Rock. Speaking on his appointment Hester said as a long-standing admirer of easyJet, and from his own experience as a customer, he is very excited to be joining the airline and looking forward to playing the part in driving its continued success.

He also talked about seeing many opportunities for the iconic brand in the coming years, all underpinned by its proven business model, unrivalled network and loyal customer base. He also mentioned that he is convinced that the company can be winners in the European airline industry of the future, serving customers well and driving attractive shareholder value. Stephen Hester shared he is excited to join the easyJet team.

Commenting on the appointment, Barton said he is delighted that Stephen has been appointed as the next chair of easyJet. He mentioned that Stephen’s significant and varied experience in leading major international businesses in regulated industries, coupled with his outstanding strategic thinking will serve the airline well as it leads the recovery in the post-pandemic era, complementing and adding to the skills of the existing Board and leadership team.

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