By Priyanshi Mandhan

(Reuters) -IHG announced Tuesday that Deanna Oppenheimer, a veteran of the finance industry, will take over as Holiday Inn’s first female chairman when Patrick Cescau retires later in the year.

Cescau, aged 73, will step down at the end Aug. He has served nearly a decade as the chair. Oppenheimer will replace him in September.

Oppenheimer (63) is the current non-executive chair for British fund supermarket Hargreaves Lansdown (LON) is also on The Board of Thomson Reuters (NYSE:) The news and information firm that is the owner of Reuters News.

Oppenheimer joins a small group of women who are top executives in a company.

According to an EY report, the percentage of women non-executive directors at FTSE 100 boards reached an all-time high during the twelve months ending in July 2021.

IHG is now the largest hotelier in the world. However, the industry has been struggling to recover from the pandemic. Some companies are still uncertain due to Omicron coronavirus.

IHG also holds the Crowne Plaza and Regent chains.

Oppenheimer’s experiences include stints at Barclays (LON), were she was the senior executive for its UK- and Europe business, Tesco (OTC) and Premier Inn owners Whitbread (LON), in which she held the director position.

Cescau, a French citizen, has served as CEO at Unilever (NYSE):