Halfords CFO Andrew Findlay poached by easyJet

The move will see Findlay step up from being the finance chief of a FTSE 250 constituent to one which resides in the FTSE 100.

Findlay’s departure comes shortly after current Halfords CEO Matt Davies announced he was leaving to become head of Tesco’s UK operations. His replacement has however been found in shape of Jill McDonald, head of McDonald’s UK and northern Europe business.

Commenting on the recruitment of Findlay, easyJet CEO Carolyn McCall said: “I and the easyJet team are delighted to welcome Andrew as CFO. He is a proven FTSE 250 CFO with great customer experience and a strong focus on cost.

“He is part of the leadership team at Halfords which has created a much more customer centric and profitable business. Andrew is a great fit for easyJet and I am sure he will add a lot of value to the airline.”

Prior to becoming CFO at Halfords in February 2011, Findlay served as director of finance, tax and treasury at Marks & Spencer as well as holding senior finance roles at the London Stock Exchange and Cable & Wireless.

The position Findlay is filling at easyJet was vacated by Chris Kennedy at the beginning of 2015, when he announced a move to ARM Holdings.

Read more about recent CFO job news:

• Google recruit “Wall Street’s most powerful woman” for next “big bets”
• Uber CFO quits, sparking IPO rumours
• GAME Digital set to lose CFO who brought business back to life

Findlay said: “This is an exciting time to be joining Europe’s leading airline. Carolyn has built a fantastic team and with them I look forward to contributing to easyJet’s continued success.

“I have greatly enjoyed my time with Halfords and I am exceptionally proud of the progress the business has made over the last few years.

“I am sad to be leaving, but the opportunity to join easyJet was too attractive to turn down. As a result, the time has come to let someone else take on the role of CFO in this fantastic business.”

The restrictions involving Kennedy’s departure mean that Findlay will not be able to take up his position until the end of October 2015. Halfords has revealed that a process to find his successor is underway.

By Hunter Ruthven

Share this story