Sally Bridgeland, the former chief executive of the BP Pension Trustees, is joining the UK team of Dutch governance and outsourcing advisers Avida International in October in the role of senior adviser.

The firm said Bridgeland, who left the £19bn (€24bn) UK corporate pension fund at the beginning of April, would “support Avida in shaping its services to expand its footprint in the UK pension fund market”.

Commenting on why she had decided to take on the role at Avida, Bridgeland said: “I’ve been impressed by the investment governance expertise Avida can bring to bear and look forward to working with them.”

She said the UK institutional investment market was set for big changes as it continued to mature.

“There is a lot we can learn from how the Dutch have tackled the associated challenges,” she added.

Bridgeland joined BP Pension Trustees in 2007 after working at Aon Hewitt and its predecessor Bacon & Woodrow for 20 years.

She has non-executive roles at EDHEC, FTSE and the Worshipful Company of Actuaries. 

After she left the BP scheme, she said that it had been time to move on, and that she was going to talk to people in the pensions industry to see what the options were.

Avida’s UK managing director Bart Heenk said the firm was delighted someone of Bridgeland’s calibre was joining the team.

He said she would bring a lot of pension governance experience with her, allowing Avida to take on more projects and helping pension funds improve their operational efficiency.