FIRSTGROUP PLC
FIRSTGROUP PLC is a public limited company registered in Scotland under company number SC157176, according to Companies House. Incorporated on 31 March 1995 – initially as FIRSTBUS PLC until it adopted its current name on 23 December 1997 – the company is currently recorded with an “Active” status, with its registered office at 395 King Street, Aberdeen, AB24 5RP.
Companies House classifies FIRSTGROUP PLC’s principal activity under UK Standard Industrial Classification codes 49100 (passenger rail transport, interurban) and 49319 (other urban, suburban or metropolitan passenger land transport). The company is the parent of a UK-focused public transport group operating under two main brands. First Bus runs one of the United Kingdom’s largest bus networks, serving more than 25% of the UK population through a fleet of around 5,800 vehicles and carrying over a million passengers a day. First Rail operates two Department for Transport-contracted train operating companies, Avanti West Coast and Great Western Railway, together with two open-access passenger routes, Hull Trains and Lumo. In February 2025 the group entered the London bus market by completing a £90 million acquisition of RATP Dev London’s bus operations, adding roughly 3,700 employees and around 12% of London’s bus market.
FIRSTGROUP PLC’s ordinary shares are admitted to trading on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange under the ticker FGP, and the company is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. For the 52 weeks ended 29 March 2025, the group reported statutory revenue of £5,066.3 million and Group adjusted revenue (which excludes low-risk Department for Transport train-operating-company revenue) of £1,370.0 million, with Group adjusted operating profit of £222.8 million and around 30,000 employees carrying nearly 2 million passengers a day. On 25 May 2025 the South Western Railway franchise transferred to public ownership under the Department for Transport, ending the group’s operation of that route, and FIRSTGROUP PLC has since committed up to £500 million, with an option for a further £460 million, to a new fleet of Hitachi trains for its remaining rail operations.
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Shareholders
5
Shareholders of FIRSTGROUP PLC
FIRSTGROUP PLC is a UK-listed public limited company, and Companies House confirms that since 27 March 2018 it has been exempt from the requirement to maintain a persons-with-significant-control register because its voting shares are admitted to trading on a UK regulated market. Major shareholdings are instead disclosed under the UK’s Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules (DTR5), which require investors to notify the company when their voting rights cross set percentage thresholds, generally 3% and above for UK issuers. Based on the most recent notifications identified, BlackRock, Inc. held approximately 5.71% of voting rights (comprising 4.92% held directly and 0.79% held through financial instruments), per a notification dated July 2025, and Dimensional Fund Advisors LP held 5.007% of voting rights (28,167,366 shares), crossing the notification threshold on 28 May 2026 and notifying the company on 29 May 2026. As at 31 July 2026, FIRSTGROUP PLC’s total voting rights stood at 547,683,347, a figure reduced over time by an ongoing share buyback programme. No other notified holding of 3% or more was identified as current at the information date below.
Data availability
Classification: Major shareholders only. As a UK-listed plc exempt from the persons-with-significant-control regime, FIRSTGROUP PLC discloses only shareholders whose voting rights cross the DTR5 notification thresholds; the substantial majority of its shareholder base, including most institutional holdings below those thresholds and all retail shareholders, is not individually disclosed. No individual ultimate beneficial owner meeting a defined control threshold has been identified from the available disclosures, consistent with a widely held, listed company with a dispersed institutional shareholder base.
Sources
- Companies House – Persons with Significant Control, company number SC157176 (retrieved 10 September 2026)
- FirstGroup plc – Holding(s) in Company, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP regulatory news announcement (29 May 2026)
- FirstGroup plc – Holding(s) in Company, BlackRock, Inc. regulatory news announcement (July 2025)
- FirstGroup plc – Total Voting Rights, regulatory news announcement (31 July 2026)
Registry feed — rows exactly as filed with Companies House, including entries the profile above does not cover.
| Shareholder | Type | Holding | Source Document |
|---|---|---|---|
| DFA International Small Cap Value Portfolio | 9.8% | Companies House | |
| Vanguard Tax Managed Fund-Vanguard Developed Markets Index Fund | 5.2% | Companies House | |
| iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF | 3.7% | Companies House | |
| iShares MSCI EAFE Small Cap ETF | 2.8% | Companies House | |
| Old Westbury Small & Mid Cap Strategies Fund | 2.2% | Companies House |
Officers
71
Directors and officers of FIRSTGROUP PLC
Companies House records eight active director appointments and one company secretary for FIRSTGROUP PLC, within a longer history of 72 officer appointments, including 63 resignations, dating back to 1995. The current board is chaired by Lena Cooper Wilson (appointed 1 February 2025) and led operationally by Chief Executive Graham Sutherland (appointed 16 May 2022) and Chief Financial Officer Ryan Dirk Mangold (appointed 31 May 2019), with Peter Lynas (appointed 30 June 2021) serving as Senior Independent Non-Executive Director. The remaining non-executive directors are Sally Joanne Cabrini (appointed 24 January 2020, Chair of the Remuneration Committee), Myrtle May Dawes (appointed 1 April 2022), Claire Louise Hawkings (appointed 21 January 2022, Chair of the Responsible Business Committee) and Jane Ann Lodge (appointed 30 June 2021, Chair of the Audit Committee). David John Mark Blizzard has served as General Counsel and Company Secretary since 1 April 2022. Nationality is officially disclosed for each director: Ryan Dirk Mangold is recorded as South African and British, with all other current directors recorded as British; the Secretary’s nationality is not disclosed. Countries of residence recorded include England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and, more broadly, the United Kingdom. This overview reflects Companies House officer data retrieved 10 September 2026.
Recent officer changes
- Lena Cooper Wilson was appointed Chair and Director effective 1 February 2025, per Companies House filing and the company’s official board announcement.
Data availability
Classification: Current only. Companies House publishes current director and secretary appointment dates and officially disclosed nationality for FIRSTGROUP PLC, but the full historical succession of officer appointments and resignations since incorporation in 1995 was not individually reviewed in this overview. Country of residence is recorded only at country level rather than a specific address, and occupation, as distinct from legal role, is not separately reported for these appointments. The correspondence address on file for current officers is the company’s registered office at 395 King Street, Aberdeen, a service address only and not a residential address.
Sources
- Companies House – Officers list, company number SC157176 (retrieved 10 September 2026)
- FirstGroup plc – Board of directors, official company website (retrieved 10 September 2026)
Registry feed — rows exactly as filed with Companies House, including entries the profile above does not cover.
Group Structure
Group structure of FIRSTGROUP PLC
FIRSTGROUP PLC is the ultimate parent company of the FirstGroup transport group; Companies House records no parent or controlling entity above it, consistent with its status as a UK-listed public company exempt from the persons-with-significant-control regime. According to the group’s registry-derived corporate-linkage data (last synchronised 8 September 2026), FIRSTGROUP PLC has 124 identified direct and indirect subsidiary entities, of which 100 are registered in the United Kingdom, 16 in the United States, 5 in Canada and 3 in Ireland, reflecting the group’s UK bus and rail operations together with residual entities linked to its former North American school-bus and transit businesses. Direct subsidiaries independently confirmed at Companies House include FIRSTBUS INVESTMENTS LIMITED (company number 02205797), a holding company for the group’s UK bus operating subsidiaries, and FIRST RAIL HOLDINGS LIMITED (company number 05154485), a holding company for the group’s rail operating subsidiaries; both share a group registered office at 8th Floor The Point, 37 North Wharf Road, London, W2 1AF. Indirect subsidiaries confirmed at Companies House include HULL TRAINS COMPANY LIMITED (company number 03715410), which trades as the Hull Trains open-access rail service, and FIRST MTR SOUTH WESTERN TRAINS LIMITED (company number 07900320), the former South Western Railway franchise operator. The group’s wider registry-derived records list a substantially larger number of additional operating, holding and pension-scheme subsidiaries across the UK, Ireland, the United States and Canada, which were not individually re-verified for this overview.
Verified corporate relationships
| Entity | Country | Registration number | Relationship | Ownership | Status | Information date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FIRSTBUS INVESTMENTS LIMITED | United Kingdom | 02205797 | Direct subsidiary (UK bus division holding company) | Ownership percentage not disclosed | Active | 10 September 2026 |
| FIRST RAIL HOLDINGS LIMITED | United Kingdom | 05154485 | Direct subsidiary (UK rail division holding company) | Ownership percentage not disclosed | Active | 10 September 2026 |
| HULL TRAINS COMPANY LIMITED | United Kingdom | 03715410 | Indirect subsidiary (open-access rail operator, held via First Rail Open Access Holdings Limited) | Ownership percentage not disclosed | Active | 10 September 2026 |
| FIRST MTR SOUTH WESTERN TRAINS LIMITED | United Kingdom | 07900320 | Indirect subsidiary (held via First Rail Holdings Limited); former South Western Railway franchise operator, franchise transferred to public (DfT) operation 25 May 2025 | Ownership percentage not disclosed | Active | 10 September 2026 |
Recent structural changes
- Completion in February 2025 of the £90 million acquisition of RATP Dev London’s bus operations, adding around 3,700 employees and entering the London bus market.
- Transfer of the South Western Railway passenger rail franchise, previously operated by First MTR South Western Trains Limited, to public ownership under the Department for Transport on 25 May 2025.
Data availability
Classification: Partial. Companies House confirms FIRSTGROUP PLC has no parent or PSC given its exempt listed status, and four operating and holding subsidiaries were independently confirmed at Companies House. The group’s registry-derived corporate-linkage records list well over a hundred further subsidiary, holding and pension-scheme entities across the UK, Ireland, the United States and Canada; these were not individually re-verified for this overview, and exact ownership percentages for individual subsidiaries were not disclosed in the sources reviewed.
Sources
- Companies House – Persons with Significant Control, company number SC157176 (retrieved 10 September 2026)
- Companies House – Company overview, company numbers 02205797, 05154485, 03715410 and 07900320 (retrieved 10 September 2026)
- FirstGroup plc – FY 2025 Results Press Release / RNS Final Results (10 June 2025)
Registry feed — rows exactly as filed with Companies House, including entries the profile above does not cover.
FIRSTGROUP PLC
United Kingdom
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Frequently Asked Questions
What does FIRSTGROUP PLC do?
FIRSTGROUP PLC (company number SC157176) is a public limited company registered in Scotland, incorporated on 31 March 1995 as FIRSTBUS PLC before adopting its current name in 1997, registered office at 395 King Street, Aberdeen AB24 5RP, classified by Companies House under SIC codes 49100 and 49319; it is the parent company of the UK's First Bus and First Rail public transport businesses.
Who owns FIRSTGROUP PLC?
FIRSTGROUP PLC is exempt from the UK persons-with-significant-control register as a listed plc; under DTR5 major shareholding notifications, BlackRock, Inc. held approximately 5.71% of voting rights (notified July 2025) and Dimensional Fund Advisors LP held 5.007% (28,167,366 shares, notified 29 May 2026), with no other current notified holding of 3% or more identified.
Who is FIRSTGROUP PLC's UBO (Ultimate Beneficial Owner)?
Every shareholder recorded for FIRSTGROUP PLC is itself a company rather than a natural person, so no Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO) is identified at this level; establishing one would require tracing the ownership of each shareholding company in turn.
What is FIRSTGROUP PLC's company registration number?
FIRSTGROUP PLC's registration number is SC157176, filed with Companies House in United Kingdom. Its current status on the register is active.
Is FIRSTGROUP PLC still an active company?
FIRSTGROUP PLC's status on Companies House is listed as active.
When was FIRSTGROUP PLC incorporated?
FIRSTGROUP PLC was incorporated on 31 March 1995, according to Companies House.
What is FIRSTGROUP PLC's registered address?
The registered address on file for FIRSTGROUP PLC is United Kingdom.
What legal structure is FIRSTGROUP PLC registered as?
FIRSTGROUP PLC is registered as a Public Limited Company in United Kingdom.
What is FIRSTGROUP PLC's revenue?
For the 52 weeks ended 29 March 2025, FIRSTGROUP PLC reported statutory revenue of £5,066.3 million and Group adjusted revenue of £1,370.0 million, with Group adjusted operating profit of £222.8 million, around 30,000 employees and nearly 2 million passengers a day.
Is FIRSTGROUP PLC listed on a stock exchange?
FIRSTGROUP PLC's ordinary shares are admitted to trading on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange under the ticker FGP, and the company is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
Who are the officers/directors of FIRSTGROUP PLC?
Companies House records eight directors and one company secretary as active officers of FIRSTGROUP PLC as at 10 September 2026, chaired by Lena Cooper Wilson, with Graham Sutherland as Chief Executive and Ryan Dirk Mangold as Chief Financial Officer.
Does FIRSTGROUP PLC have a parent company or subsidiaries?
FIRSTGROUP PLC is the ultimate parent of the FirstGroup transport group, exempt from the persons-with-significant-control register as a listed plc, with FIRSTBUS INVESTMENTS LIMITED and FIRST RAIL HOLDINGS LIMITED as confirmed UK direct subsidiaries; the group's registry-derived data lists 124 further subsidiary entities across the UK, Ireland, the United States and Canada, and its South Western Railway franchise transferred to public (DfT) ownership on 25 May 2025.
Can Zavia monitor changes to FIRSTGROUP PLC's ownership over time?
This profile reflects a point-in-time snapshot from Companies House. Zavia's monitoring API can track changes to FIRSTGROUP PLC's registered shareholders, officers, and group structure going forward, flagging updates as they're filed rather than requiring a manual recheck.
Can I access FIRSTGROUP PLC's data through an API?
Yes. Zavia's API connects directly to official government ownership registries across 195 countries and territories, including United Kingdom, so records like FIRSTGROUP PLC's registration, shareholder, UBO, and group-structure data can be queried programmatically instead of viewed one page at a time.
Where does this company information come from, and how current is it?
This record is sourced directly from Companies House and was last synced on 8 September 2026.