Mitie Group plc has announced the appointment of Penny James as a new non-executive director. James also takes her place on the audit and nomination committees, and will later chair the audit committee when Mary Reilly steps down next year.

James was chief executive officer (previously chief financial officer) of Direct Line Insurance Group plc. Prior to this, she held a number of roles including group chief risk officer and director of group finance at Prudential plc, group CFO at Omega Insurance Holdings Limited, and CFO of UK General Insurance at Zurich Financial Services.

James is currently serving as a co-chair of the FTSE Women Leaders Review, non-executive interim chair for Hargreaves Lansdown and non-executive director of QBE Insurance Group Limited.

Derek Mapp, chair, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Penny to our board. The majority of our existing board has been in place now for over 6 years and, as we look to bring in new talent to manage the succession planning that will inevitably take place over the next three years, Penny will bring exceptional commercial, strategic and financial skills and board-level experience. We recognise the importance of both gender and diversity representation on our board, as reflecting the diversity of Mitie’s 65,000 colleagues.”