Mr Alton will take up his new role at the end of August.

He was previously head of mergers and acquisitions at Equinor and held the same role at Scottish Gas owner Centrica for six years. In this role, he facilitated more than £9 billion worth of transactions and helped to build the group’s exploration and production business, The Press and Journal reports. 

Mr Alton is also a qualified accountant and spent 12 years in investment banking and management consulting with Merill Lynch, McKinsey, Morgan Stanley and HSBC.