Friday 28th February, 2014

The outsourcing giant Serco has appointed current Aggreko boss Rupert Soames as chief executive, causing Aggreko shares to drop 3.7% this morning. He replaces Chris Hyman, who stepped down after 11 years at the company in October 2013.

Serco said that it intends to rebuild its damaged reputation after an investigation found that it, and their rival G4S, had charged for work that was not carried out - including charging for the tagging of dead prisoners, or those still in prison.

Soames will take up the post as of 1 June this year.

"It is has been an extremely difficult decision for me to leave Aggreko after 11 enjoyable and successful years," said Soames, who is also the brother of former Conservative Party government minister Nicholas Soames.

"I am hugely excited to be joining Serco as I have always admired the services it delivers and the passion and commitment of its people.

"I am aware that the company has experienced significant recent difficulties but the work that Serco does is important to the lives of millions of people and I believe that we can find a way through to a bright future. I am greatly looking forward to working with my new colleagues to deliver the quality of services that will impress our customers, shock our competitors and please our investors."

As well as the fraud probe, Serco has suffered from a government threat to suspend the company from bidding on public sector contracts.

Hyman's resignation followed that of UK Chief Executive Richard Morris at G4S.