National Express owner promotes head of Spanish arm to top job

National Express owner Mobico has named the boss of its Spanish Alsa business as its new chief executive amid a rocky time for the coach and bus group.

Paco Iglesias will take on the job on April 1, with executive chairman Phil White reverting to non-executive chairman from October 1.

Mr Iglesias has been Mobico’s chief operating officer since February 2025, alongside his role as chief executive of the Alsa division, which he has held since 2016.

He will continue to lead Alsa in his new job as group chief executive.

Mr White, who had been chief executive of the then National Express Group between 1996 and 2006, returned to take the helm at the business last year after former boss Ignacio Garat left in April following a series of profit warnings.

The appointment follows tougher recent trading for the group, which last year revealed it was cutting back-office jobs across the business to slash costs as it alerted over profits.

It is targeting £100 million in annual cost savings by the end of the year, of which £75 million will be made in 2026 alone.

Annual results last month showed widened statutory pre-tax losses of £58.5 million, against losses of £46.2 million in 2024.

Mr White said: “Since my appointment as executive chair some 12 months ago, meaningful progress has been made to stabilise the business.”

He added: “Under Paco’s leadership, Alsa has delivered exceptional performance and he has been the driving force of Mobico’s growth for some time.

“He is the ideal candidate to lead the business in its next chapter of growth and to ensure the value inherent in the group’s portfolio is better reflected.”

Mr Iglesias first joined Alsa in 1991 and since takin the helm, it has grown significantly and diversified away from long-haul services into sectors such as regional and urban bus, as well as medical transport, while also expanding overseas into Portugal, Switzerland, Morocco and Saudi Arabia.

In his wider group role as group chief operating officer, he has also overseen the recent move to merge the UK coach arm into Alsa.

Mr Iglesias said: “We are making tangible progress in simplifying and strengthening Mobico.

“My priority as chief executive will be to build on that momentum.”