Business News

New and notable appointments at Ardmac, Tully Rinckey, Tandem, Glen Dimplex and Wilko

By Business & Finance
21 November 2019

Business & Finance highlights new and notable appointments at Ardmac, Tully Rinckey, Tandem, Glen Dimplex and Wilko.

Alan Coakley, Chief Operations Officer
Ardmac 

Ardmac, the leading international construction specialist, has announced the appointment of Alan Coakley as Chief Operations Officer of Ardmac Group. Ardmac directly employs over 300 people across Ireland, the UK and Europe, and provides specialist construction services to the commercial fit out, biotech and data centre sectors.

Moving from his previous role as Managing Director of Ardmac, Alan will take up a new central position as Chief Operations Officer of the company in order to facilitate the continued growth of the business both domestically and internationally, and to oversee various business improvement initiatives.

Alan Coakley

A native of Dublin, Alan joined Ardmac in 2013 as Group Operations Director, where he progressed to Managing Director while leading the main contracting, microelectronic and pharmaceutical teams at Ardmac. With over 36 years’ experience in the construction industry, Alan began his career as a quantity surveyor, and progressed through project management and contracts management roles in Ireland and the UK. Alan holds chartered memberships of the CIOB, SCSI and RICS.

Ronan Quinn, CEO of Ardmac, commented on the appointment; “I am delighted that Alan has taken up this new important role of Chief Operations Officer at Ardmac. Alan has been instrumental in the growth of our business since he joined the company, and in this new role we will support him in his endeavours to achieve our vision to be contractor of choice for clients and the workplace of choice for great people.”

Ardmac also won the Customer Experience Award at the Lean Business Ireland Awards, which took place recently. The Lean Business Ireland Awards recognise and celebrate enterprise excellence achievements in Ireland, commending companies that demonstrate excellence in their strive towards a competitive operation.

Julie O’Mahony, Eoin O’Brien, Colm Burke, Associate Directors
Tandem 

Engineering consultancy firm Tandem Project Management has announced a significant expansion of its leadership team, with three new appointments. Following steady growth at the Cork-headquartered firm, Julie O’Mahony, Eoin O’Brien and Colm Burke have been appointed as Associate Directors.

Tandem provides project management, engineering design, construction and CQV (Commissioning, Qualification and Validation) services as well as talent solutions to its clients during the project implementation, start-up and operational phases. Established in 2010, Tandem has a team of 130 professionals working with clients across Ireland, the UK and Europe in the life science, industrial and commercial sectors.

Speaking on the announcement, Managing Director of Tandem, Tim Mulhall, said: “These appointments recognise the contribution each individual has made to the company. Their leadership will strengthen our ability to provide expert consultancy support to our clients in a collaborative and innovative way.”

Eoin O’Brien, Julie O’Mahony, Tandem Managing Director Tim Mulhall and Colm Burke.

Eoin O’Brien has been appointed as Associate Director of Operations, having joined Tandem in 2013 and previously held the roles of Project Manager, E&I Lead and Manager of Operations. Eoin has a background in electrical and instrumentation design and project management. In his new role, he is responsible for overseeing the operations in each of Tandem’s offices while continuing to manage projects for key clients.

Colm Burke has been appointed Associate Director of Built Environment, having previously held the roles of Project Manager, CSA Lead and Manager of Built Environment. Colm has a background in civil engineering, construction and project management. In his new role, he is responsible for managing the civil, structural engineering, architectural and construction departments for Tandem while continuing to manage projects for key clients.

Julie O’Mahony has been appointed Associate Director of Projects. Julie joined Tandem in 2017 from Gilead Sciences and has previously held the roles of Senior Project Manager and Manager of Projects. Julie has a background in process engineering and project management. In her new role, Julie is responsible for overseeing the Project Management, Project Controls, Process and CQV departments for Tandem while continuing to manage projects and provide operational readiness services for key clients.

Setanta Landers, Of Counsel
Tully Rinckey 

Tully Rinckey Ireland has announced that Setanta Landers has joined its Dublin office as Of Counsel, where he will focus his practice on Litigation, including matters related to planning law, tax law and technology law. Landers is an Irish Solicitor admitted in England and Wales, a Registered Trade Mark Attorney and an AITI Tax Consultant. 

Landers has particular expertise in planning law, advising on observations to local authorities, appeals to An Bord Pleanála, judicial reviews, planning injunctions and defending planning enforcement proceedings. He also provides advice in relation to tax appeals, revenue interventions and tax litigation, as well as general tax queries and qualified in tax in a Big 4 Firm before qualifying as a solicitor. He is also experienced in technology and intellectual property disputes.

Landers is a graduate of the National University of Ireland Galway (Bachelor of Corporate Law (Hons.)) and National University of Ireland Galway (Bachelor of Laws and Letters (Hons.)). He has contributed articles to the Irish Law Society Gazette, Accountancy Ireland and the Irish Tax Review, and he regularly makes presentations on a variety of legal topics. 

Chris Martin, Non-executive Director
Wilko 

Wilko has announced the appointment of Chris Martin as Non-Executive Director.

 Chris is currently chief executive of Musgrave Group. He joined the Musgrave Main Board in 2003. Under Chris’ direction, the business has focused strongly on partnering with entrepreneurial retailers and innovative food suppliers to develop the retail, wholesale, and foodservice business. Today, Musgrave operates 11 market leading brands across the island of Ireland and Spain.

Chris Martin

Prior to joining Musgrave, Chris had developed a strong and lengthy career in retail and leisure including CEO of Mothercare plc, Group Finance Director of Storehouse plc and various roles in ASDA and Pizza Hut.

Commenting on the appointment, family director and chair of WHSL, Lisa Wilkinson said; “We’re proud we’re a family owned group and the refreshingly different way this enables us to do business. Chris’ significant commercial expertise and first-hand experience at the helm of a highly successful sixth generation family business will help us to stay true to our roots while we continue on our transformational journey to become a product-led business.”

 Speaking about his new appointment, Chris Martin said; “I’m delighted to be joining wilko as a non-executive director and chair of the audit and risk committee. Wilko is a much-loved brand with strong family values and I’m looking forward to working with Lisa and the team to help ensure the business is well positioned to accomplish its mission to free up hard-working families to be the best they can be.”

This senior appointment comes as wilko announces further appointments to strengthen its leadership team. Chief Commercial Officer, Andrew Moore, is being appointed as Executive Managing Director of wilko retail limited and as Director and Chair of wilko worldwide limited, Lisa Wilkinson as Chair and Jerome Saint-Marc Director and Transformation Managing Director of both wilko brands limited and wilko digital limited.

Michael Maher, Shareholder Supervisory Board
Glen Dimplex 

Michael Maher, a  senior executive at Glen Dimplex since 2000 has been appointed to the business’s Shareholder Supervisory Board and the board of the Naughton Foundation. He takes up both roles from January 1st next, when he will step down from his executive role.

The Shareholder Supervisory Board oversees the Glen Dimplex group on behalf of its shareholders.  The Naughton Foundation is the private family foundation of the owners of Glen Dimplex, the Naughton family. The foundation supports worthwhile causes in education and the arts.

Michael Maher

Commenting on the appointment, the Chairman of the Glen Dimplex Supervisory Board Martin Naughton said, “We are very pleased to make these appointments.  Michael has been a central part of our business over the past two decades and the knowledge he has gained will be of enormous value to the oversight of the business and the foundation.”

Mr Maher joined Glen Dimplex as Group Finance Director in 2000 and became Chief Operating Officer in 2016. Prior to joining Glen Dimplex he was a partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC).