Reis e Sousa joined Petrofac in 2012 as group head of structured finance, and has held a number of senior finance positions at the firm.

Curd will take over from current CFO Julie Pomeroy in October, with Pomeroy remaining as a non-executive director for a 12-month period.

Female CFOs give “direct, concise and conservative presentations” and enjoy “stronger associations with future firm performance”.

Alan Giddens will take over as chair in October, when Sarah Sergeant will join the board to begin a handover period as CFO-designate.

Ashley was previously chief financial officer of William Hill and has held senior positions at National Express Group, including group CFO.

Sarin is currently CFO of US rare diseases specialist Alexion, which is in the process of being acquired by AstraZeneca in a $39bn deal.

Tim Johnson will join the global lingerie brand, with Wendy Arlin taking the role at the beauty product retailer.

The regulator has given its approval for the Virgin Media–O2 tie-up, which will create the UK’s largest mobile network operator.

The finance chief of US airline JetBlue will take over from eBay’s interim CFO Andy Cring at the end of June.

The acting CFO will take on the role on a permanent basis, with former finance chief Tim Harris stepping down for family reasons.