Inchcape has appointed De Beers chief financial officer and former Rolls-Royce Holdings deputy CFO Sarah Kuijlaars as a non-executive director.

Kuijlaars will also become a member of the AM100 car retailer and automotive distribution PLC audit and nomination committees upon her appointment on January 21, a statement issued via the London Stock Exchange said.

Prior to being CFO at the global diamond jewellery specialist she was previously a non-executive director at Amsterdam-based engineering consultancy Aggreko, which is a FTSE 250 power provider.

“Prior to this, Sarah was deputy CFO at Rolls Royce Holdings PLC, and held a number of senior financial leadership roles during a 25-year career at Royal Dutch Shell plc”, the statement issued by Inchcape said.

Kuijlaars has a mathematics degree from Oxford University and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

Inchcape chairman, Nigel Stein, said: "I am delighted that Sarah is joining the Inchcape board.

“Sarah's extensive finance and international experience will both complement and strengthen the existing Board. We are looking forward to working with her.”

Back in November Inchcape revealed that its chief executive James Brearley would leave his post at the end of 2021 “to take up a new challenge”.

G group chief transformation officer, George Ashford, has now taken on the CEO role on an interim basis, it said.