By Scott Wright

JAMES Donaldson and Sons, the Fife-based timber firm, has brought in former Aviva big hitter Arelene Cairns as its new chief financial officer.

Ms Cairns, who started in post yesterday, was chief finance operations officer at the insurance giant, where she also led its global finance transformation.

Prior to joining Aviva Ms Cairns was chief financial officer at Alliance Trust Savings, and previously worked for Westpac Institutional Bank, Allied Irish Bank, RSA and Zurich Financial Services.

Andrew Donaldson, chief executive of James Donaldson, said: “I couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome Arlene to the group.”