Appointments

New and notable appointments at Aston Lark, Dentons and to the board of NTR plc.

By Business & Finance
09 January 2020
Pictured: Eavan Saunders, Managing Partner, Dentons Ireland.

This week sees new appointments announced at Aston Lark, Dentons and the board of NTR.


Robert Kennedy and Mark Nolan, CEO and CFO
Aston Lark  

Aston Lark, the UK Chartered insurance broker backed by Goldman Sachs, has announced the creation of two new Executive Board positions in Ireland, following the recent acquisition of Wright Insurance Brokers and the earlier acquisition of Robertson Low.

Robert Kennedy will join as Chief Executive Officer Ireland and Mark Nolan will join as Chief Financial Officer Ireland. They will both join in March 2020, subject to standard regulatory approval.

Robert Kennedy, CEO, Aston Lark Ireland.

Robert Kennedy joins Aston Lark from Aviva Ireland where he was Head of Sales and Distribution, leading the development of Aviva’s broker business for the last six years. Prior to Aviva he held senior positions at both Aon and RSA. 

Mark Nolan joins from AA Ireland where he was Financial Controller. Mark is a chartered accountant with a background in audit, specialising in insurance and banking whilst at Deloitte. From Deloitte he joined Quotedevil Ltd and Pembroke Insurances as Financial Controller and was a key member of the management team that saw QuoteDevil included in the Financial Times 1,000 fastest growing companies in Europe.

Commenting on the appointments, Peter Blanc, Group CEO Aston Lark said:

I look forward to welcoming Robert and Mark to the team to help drive our ambition for growth. They will both bring their extensive leadership experience to bear as we look to fulfil our potential in Ireland. This is an important stage in Aston Lark’s development plans to create the leading quality independent insurance broking business in Ireland.” 

Peter Blanc, Group CEO, Aston Lark.


Eavan Saunders and Peter O’Brien, Managing Partner and Chair
Dentons

Dentons, the world’s largest law firm, has announced its expansion into the Irish market, with Eavan Saunders and Peter O’Brien founding the office which will be fully operational from Q2.

Eavan Saunders will be Managing Partner of the new Dentons outpost in Dublin. Eavan was previously a senior partner at leading Irish law firm William Fry as well as at global law firm Ashurst, and she is one of Ireland’s most respected corporate lawyers. 

Eavan Saunders, Managing Partner, Dentons Ireland.

Peter O’Brien, who will become Chair, is a senior finance and capital markets partner at Matheson who acts for a range of domestic and international financial institutions and has over twenty years’ experience advising on all aspects of banking and finance-related transactions.

“Dentons can offer Irish companies with international ambitions the scale, quality and in depth sector specialisation that no other law firm in Dublin can match”, said Eavan Saunders. “It is one of the leading global law firms in the UK; a top ten international law firm on the European continent; has offices in 33 US cities including nine of the ten largest markets in the US; is the largest law firm in China and offers the widest international footprint across the ASEAN region and Australasia; is the only Pan-Latin American law firm; and has ambitions to be the leading Pan African law firm. As Dentons we can now offer the Irish business community access to the largest pool of legal talent in the world.”

 


Helen Kirkpatrick, Board member
NTR plc

NTR plc, the sustainable infrastructure investor and asset manager that acquires, constructs and manages renewable energy projects, has announced the appointment of Helen Kirkpatrick to its board with effect from 1st January 2020. Helen will also join the audit and remuneration committees of the organisation.

Helen is currently a director of Dale Farm Co-operative Ltd and Chairman of Nueda Limited and was previously a director of Kingspan Group plc and UTV Media plc.

Commenting on the appointment Tom Roche, Chairman of NTR plc said:

I am delighted to welcome Helen to the Board of NTR, which will benefit greatly from her extensive experience as a Non-Executive Director of numerous international businesses across various sectors.”