Abbey Logistics Group has continued its recent hiring spree, with the appointment of former XPO man David Thomas as chief financial officer (CFO).

Thomas was finance director for XPO’s UK supply chain business.

He will sit on the Abbey group board and will oversee the finance, corporate development, risk and commercial legal functions.

He will play his part in helping Abbey achieve its 2020 ambition of becoming the UK’s leading bulk liquid and powder transport company, the company said.

Steve Granite, chief executive at Abbey Logistics Group, said: "We are delighted to have found someone of David's calibre to join our team.

David ThomasAbbey Logistics Chief Financial Officer

David Thomas, chief financial officer, Abbey Logistics

“We have made substantial progress towards achieving our vision in recent years, adding new services and industry experts to our business, and working tirelessly to provide our customers with a best in class service in terms of compliance, service and cost.”

Abbey appointed Motor Transport Hall of Fame resident David Batty to lead its engineering department last month, and has also welcomed former Suttons MD Andrew Palmer to its management team.

In the summer Granite and Dave Coulson lead a management buyout at the firm. The deal provided an exit for the founding Lucy family and it was signaled at that time that a CFO would be joining the business.