Business & Finance Awards

CEO 100 2018 listing announced – Part 1

By Business & Finance

25 October 2018

Business & Finance release the annual CEO 100 list recognising the top CEOs operating in Ireland.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

To download the complete CEO 100 Index 2018 please click here.

Adrian Serle, Group CEO

Communicorp Group

With Communicorp since January 2017, Adrian has spent over 20 years in media, predominantly UK radio. From 2000, he spent nine years with Emap where he operated local and national radio stations leading teams across TV, radio, magazines, digital and sales. In 2009 he joined Orion Media where he assumed roles as the Group Commercial Director and Group CEO.

Aisling Keegan, Vice President & General Manager Ireland & NI

Dell EMC

After beginning her career in New York, Aisling returned to Ireland 18 years ago to join technology giant Dell. In 2016, a year before Dell Technologies was formed in 2017, she was appointed chief integration officer for the UK and Ireland market, and more recently appointed vice president and general manager of the Dell EMC commercial business in Ireland.

Alan Duffy, CEO

HSBC

As well as being HSBC Ireland’s CEO, Alan is also in charge of the company’s corporate banking and security services businesses in Ireland. He joined HSBC Ireland in 2006 and his experience of 25 years spans the US, Canadian, European and Nordic markets. He holds an MBA from the Smurfit Graduate School of Business.

Alan Walshe, General Manager

Shire

Alan Walshe heads up bio-pharmaceutical company Shire, which has been present in Ireland since 1994. After studying life sciences at university, he moved into commercial roles In the pharmaceutical industry and lead the foundation of a biopharma start-up before joining Shire.

Albert Manifold, CEO

CRH

Since January 2014, Albert Manifold has been the Chief Executive of CRH Group. He joined the firm in 1988 as Finance Director for the Europe Materials division where he developed the company considerably in Eastern Europe. In 2004 he became Group Development Director and in 2007 was appointed Managing Director, CRH Europe Materials. A background in private equity has stood to him as he led CRH on the acquisitions trail. Ireland’s largest publicly-quoted company had sales in 2017 of €27.6 billion – equal to almost 10 per cent of Ireland’s gross domestic product (GDP).

Alexander Matuschka Greiffenclau, CEO

Digicel

In early 2018 Alexander took over the top role at Digicel, Denis O’Brien’s Caribbean mobile phone company, and he continues former CEO Colm Delves’ group restructuring programme, Digicel 2030. The German businessman joined Digicel from his role as chief performance officer at Dutch-based telco Veon (previously known as Vimpelcom). He was also previously a senior executive at Nokia.

Anne Heraty, CEO

CPL Resources

Anne established CPL plc. in 1989 and became the first Irish woman to run a plc. With this experience she has led CPL to become the top employment-services company in Ireland. She started her career as a telesales worker at Xerox, and then moved to Grafton Recruitment before setting up her own company.

Anne O’Leary, CEO

Vodafone Ireland

Anne is responsible for Vodafone’s operations in Ireland and the 2,000-strong workforce. Her experience across some of the world’s biggest telecoms companies solidifies her place on this list. These include Regional Director of Esat Telecoms, Managing Director of BT and Business and Enterprise Director of Vodafone, before becoming CEO.

Barry Napier, CEO and Executive Chairman

Cubic Telecom

Since acquiring Cubic Telecom in 2008, Napier has expanded the team 10-fold, and closed agreements with more than 60 mobile operators including AT&T, China Mobile, Digicel, Orange, Telstra and Vodafone. Prior to joining Cubic, Napier led deals with Apple, Samsung, Nokia and Telefonica as chief executive of Brightpoint growing annual turnover from $35 million to $200 million within six years.

Bernard Byrne, CEO

AIB

Bernard Byrne is a chartered accountant who joined AIB in 2010 as Group Chief Financial Officer after working with the ESB where he was the Commercial Director for International Investments. In 2015 he held the position of Director of Retail and Business Banking at AIB before being announced as CEO later that year.

Bob Etchingham, CEO

Applegreen

Bob Etchingham founded the Applegreen Group in 1992 after working for Esso in the Republic of Ireland and the UK for over 10 years; he has over 30 years’ experience in the retail fuel market and holds a Master’s Degree in Economics from University College Dublin.

Brendan McAtamney, CEO

UDG Healthcare

Brendan McAtamney stepped into the role of chief executive of healthcare services provider UDG at the company’s AGM in February 2016, taking over the role from previous CEO Liam Fitzgerald. Brendan had joined the London-listed company as COO in 2013, from another global healthcare company, Abbott.

Brian Conlon, CEO

First Derivatives

Brian Conlon, founder of First Derivatives, spent the end of the 1980s at the US derivatives trading desk at Morgan Stanley in London. He then moved on to become a financial engineer for Sunguard, travelling regularly between Silicon Valley and European hubs.

He eventually set up his company from home in 1996 and grew into an international concern with staff embedded in major banks in all the global financial centres from Hong Kong to San Francisco. First Derivatives now employs over 2,000 employees worldwide and is one of the biggest graduate recruiters in Ireland.

Bruce Thompson, CEO of European (non-U.K) Banking

Bank of America Ireland

A former group chief financial officer and head of risk for the Bank of America group, Bruce Thompson was chosen to lead its post-Brexit hub in Ireland. He is a member of Bank of America’s executive management and Global Banking and Markets leadership teams. He also serves on the Global Banking and Risk Council, which reviews the bank’s most significant capital commitment transactions.

Carin Bryans, Managing Director and Head of Ireland

JP Morgan

Managing Director and Head of Ireland, Carin is responsible for J.P. Morgan’s Investor Services business in Ireland. Carin has been with J.P. Morgan for 20 years and has held a number of positions including head of operations and head of client services. Between 2010 and 2011, Carin was Chairman of the Irish Funds Industry Association and is also a founding member of Women in Banking and Finance in Ireland.

Carolan Lennon, CEO

Eir

The telecoms provider appointed its first female chief executive in April this year, after a shake-up under its new ownership. Carolan previously served as managing director of Eir’s networks and wholesale division, Open Eir. Prior to joining Eir in 2010, Carolan held a number of senior roles in the telecoms and technology sectors, including consumer director and marketing director at Vodafone Ireland. She is currently a non-executive director of AIB Group.

Caroline Keeling, CEO and Managing Director

Keelings

CEO and managing director of family-owned agri-food business Keelings, Caroline started her career with Green Isle Foods in 1992, before returning to join Keelings as Technical Manager in 1994 and then Technical Director in 1998. In 2002, she became the Managing Director of Keelings Multiples and in 2005 took over as Group Managing Director. She became CEO in 2013.

Cathriona Hallahan, Managing Director, Ireland

Microsoft

As Managing Director of Microsoft in Ireland, Cathriona drives the major tech company’s operations in the Emerald Isle. She also represents the company in all its strategies corporate affairs and communications. She joined Microsoft in 1986 and for over 30 year has held a variety of roles including senior positions in finance and operations.

Cecilia Ronan, Chief Country Officer

Citi

Appointed to the role of chief country officer in March 2018, Cecilia Ronan leads the US banking giant’s 2,500 employees in Ireland, at one of the largest employers in the IFSC. She is the second-highest-ranking executive at Citibank Europe, which is headquartered in Dublin and responsible for the group’s banking activities across 22 countries. She began her career in HR at Microsoft Ireland in 1997, before joining Citi three years later and moving through roles in operations and technology divisions.

Chris Kirke, President

Moy Farms

In 2018, Chris acceded to Moy Park’s senior management team as President. He carries with him a track record of over 26 years in food production both in the UK and US. Previously, Chris served as the CEO of Greencore Group’s USA division. Prior to that, he held the position of Managing Director of the group’s food to go section in the UK where he helped drive revenue growth and built long term relationships with retail partners.

Chris Martin, CEO

Musgrave Group

Chris Martin has led Musgrave group since 2005 having joined the company as Group Finance Director two years prior. Under the direction of Chris, Musgrave Group has devoted resources to partnering with entrepreneurial retailers in an effort to grow and develop retail and wholesale brands. Before his time at Musgrave, Chris pursued an impressive retail career which included serving as CEO at Mothercare plc, Storehouse plc’s Finance Director, and roles at ASDA and Pizza Hut.

Christian Kinnear, VP & Managing Director EMEA

Hubspot

Vice President & Managing Director Hubspot EMEA, Christian joined HubSpot Dublin in October 2015 as Director of Sales, where he was responsible for coordinating the company’s sales strategy across key regions. Quickly proving his ability to be a great cross-functional leader, Christian served as HubSpot’s EMEA Managing Director for the past three years, before his latest promotion.

Clive Bellows, Country Head Ireland

Northern Trust

Clive Bellows joined Northern Trust in May 2011. As Country Head Ireland, Clive has overall responsibility for leading the company’s Irish operations in Dublin and Limerick. Prior to joining Northern Trust Clive was Managing Director at JP Morgan and responsible for EMEA asset management and hedge funds. During his 30 year career, Clive has also worked at Chase Manhattan Bank, Deutsche Bank and Barclays International. He also spent six years at Northern Trust London, between 1997 and 2003, as Head of Relationship Management for Global Fund Services and Investment Manager Liaison Group.

Conor McQuaid, CEO and Chairman

Irish Distillers

Conor McQuaid was announced as CEO and Chairman of Irish Distillers effective from July 2018, during a reshuffling and milestone period of growth for the company in the first half of the year.

McQuaid previously served as EVP global business development at the Pernod Ricard. He joined Irish Distillers as regional manager for Southern Europe in 1998, and has worked across the Pernod Ricard conglomerate for almost 20 years.

Dalton Philips, CEO

DAA

Dalton Philips has a wide variety of top-level experience in business including being a former CEO of Brown Thomas and Morrisons Supermarkets. He has worked across retail, innovation, consultancy and transport. He assumed the role of CEO at the Dublin Airport Authority in August 2017 and is leading ambitious plans for the expansion of Dublin Airport, and developing it as a transfer hub.

Danny McCoy, CEO

Ibec

Danny has been CEO of Ibec since 2009. Prior to this he was a senior economist at both the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) and the Central Bank of Ireland. He has also lectured at Dublin City University, University College London, Oxford and Trinity College Dublin, and has been a consultant for the European Central Commission and the OECD.