Jon Moulton takes on chairman role for Aurigny Group

One of the UK's most high-profile business figures, Jon Moulton, has been appointed to take over from Paul Fairclough as chairman of the Aurigny Group.

Mr Moulton is a Chartered Accountant, a Corporate Financier and a Fellow of the Institute for Turnaround Professionals. Former managing partner of Alchemy, Mr Moulton also previously worked with Citicorp Venture Capital in New York and London, Permira and Apax. He is a trustee of the UK Stem Cell Foundation and a very active angel investor. He is non-executive Chairman of FinnCap, the stockbroker and a member of the Advisory Board for the £2.4bn UK Regional Growth Fund.

Mr Moulton commented: ‘I am very much looking forward to the new challenges that come with the position of chairman of the Aurigny Group and to working with my new colleagues on the Board, with a view to maintaining the Group's excellent local reputation and developing opportunities to improve its offerings and financial performance.'

The Group senior non-executive director, Tony Creasey, welcomed Mr Moulton: ‘The Board has unanimously agreed the appointment and looks forward to welcoming Jon to the role. We believe that Aurigny has been very fortunate to secure Mr Moulton's agreement to take up this important position. One of the key tasks will be to build on the recent improvement that the Group has experienced over the past year in terms of increased sales and market share.'

Aurigny managing director, Malcolm Hart, said: ‘Over the years we have been fortunate to attract leading businessmen to our Board from within the island and UK. Jon's appointment will add to the high level of expertise we enjoy as a business and we look forward to what he will bring to the table.'

Mr Fairclough, retired at the end 2011 after serving in that capacity for the past six years.

Among Mr Fairclough's significant achievements as chairman was the purchase by the Group of two new ATR 72 aircraft in 2009, the acquisition of two more pairs of slots at London's Gatwick Airport taking the total to six, and more recently a complete review of the Group's strategy, financing and cost base.