A common refrain in the City of London is that finance directors make the best boardroom chairs. They are seen to have smaller egos (at least compared with some table-thumping chief executives), an attention to detail, an understanding of risk management and an intense focus on the bottom line. 

But these days chief financial officers are also increasingly tapped for the chief executive role — from Margherita Della Valle at Vodafone to Murray Auchincloss at BP who both got the top job at a time of upheaval at their companies. As ever, when a crisis hits, call the numbers guy or gal. 

About a third of FTSE 100 CEOs have previously served as CFOs, data from executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles shows, up from 21 per cent in 2019. This compares with 19 per cent in markets tracked globally by the firm. About 15 per cent of current FTSE 100 CEOs were CFOs immediately prior to becoming CEO, versus the global average of 8 per cent. Marc Ronchetti at Halma and Chris O’Shea at Centrica are other more recent examples.