New and notable appointments at Eversheds Sutherland, Quilter Cheviot Europe (QCE), Wayflyer, Institute of Directors, eBay Ireland and Private Hospitals Association

Pictured: Deborah Archer, Banking and Finance Partner, Eversheds Sutherland

This week sees new and notable appointments at Eversheds Sutherland, Quilter Cheviot Europe (QCE), Wayflyer, Institute of Directors, eBay Ireland and Private Hospitals Association

Deborah Archer, Banking and Finance Partner,
Eversheds Sutherland

Global law firm Eversheds Sutherland has appointed Deborah Archer as Banking and Finance Partner in its Belfast office. Deborah brings over 20 years’ experience advising local and international financial institutions, industrial and provident societies, and corporate entities and individuals across various sectors, on all aspects of borrowing and lending. Deborah is dual qualified and can practice in Northern Ireland and England and Wales.  Deborah has previous experience in a number of local law firms including Tughans, Cleaver Fulton Rankin, and MKB Law, and comes to Eversheds Sutherland from PwC, where she was part of the NewLaw Belfast leadership team.

The senior appointment comes during a period of sustained growth and recent promotions for Eversheds Sutherland in Belfast and across the island of Ireland, with the appointment of a Banking and Finance Partner for the Belfast office evidencing the firm’s full-service strategy and dynamic recent growth to meet client demands. Based at Montgomery House in Belfast city centre, this latest appointment adds to the firm’s existing offer in Northern Ireland of sectors like employment and immigration, litigation and dispute resolution, and real estate and commercial property.

Speaking upon her appointment, Deborah Archer, Banking and Finance Partner, Eversheds Sutherland said:

“I am incredibly proud to be joining Eversheds Sutherland, as this is an exciting time to be heading up a new Banking and Finance division in Belfast. Northern Ireland is increasingly carving out a global reputation for financial services, fintech, international banking, and compliance and risk management. Coming out of the pandemic, there are serious opportunities to invest and expand in Northern Ireland.

“Eversheds Sutherland, as a firm, is well placed to assist local and international businesses with their growth, secure investment in Northern Ireland, and ultimately help drive economic development. Our message of being connected globally but committed locally is the driving force of the team and I am looking forward to tapping into the wider Eversheds Sutherland network to deliver for our clients and businesses throughout Northern Ireland.”

Alan Connell, Managing Partner, Eversheds Sutherland Ireland, added:

“I am delighted to welcome Deborah to Eversheds Sutherland and to be expanding our full-service practice offering in Northern Ireland. Deborah’s experience speaks for itself, and she will be a significant addition to our leadership team across the island of Ireland. The trading environment, particularly as we emerge from the pandemic, is increasingly volatile and as such, businesses need clear, strong advice they can trust. Experienced legal leaders like Deborah are vital to the world-class offering provided by the entire team here at Eversheds Sutherland, and this appointment highlights the expertise, skill, and value we provide to not only meet, but to stay ahead of our clients’ needs.”

William McDonald, Investment Manager,
Quilter Cheviot Europe (QCE)

Quilter Cheviot Europe (QCE), the Irish subsidiary of discretionary wealth manager Quilter Cheviot, has announced three significant hires to expand its team, with an investment manager and two financial planners joining the Dublin office.

William McDonald joins as an investment manager, having previously held senior roles with Appian Asset Management and Cannacord Genuity. He will report into Donnacha Fox, Chief Investment Officer at QCE.

Patrick Good and Tom O’Dea join QCE from Kennelly Tax Advisers (KTA) and PwC respectively to boost QCE’s financial planning proposition, following the hire of Andrew Fahy as Head of Financial Planning in early 2022.  Patrick and Tom will report into Andrew.

The three hires will help QCE to evolve its integrated investment management and financial planning offering to clients in Ireland and Europe, as well as reinforcing the support we provide to the external intermediary community.

QCE expects to continue expanding its team in Ireland to support its growth ambitions.

Brian Weber, Chief Executive at Quilter Cheviot Europe, said: “We are delighted to be reinforcing our investment management team with William’s appointment. He has a fantastic reputation in the market, and will have an important role in helping us to drive growth in 2022 and beyond.

“Clients are increasingly looking for a modern-day wealth management offering, which goes well beyond just investment management, and Patrick and Tom will be integral in helping us to evolve the services we can offer clients.

“We want to be able to offer a holistic service to our clients, which combines financial advice with investment management, while also fostering our existing intermediary relationships. All three of these hires help us to do this, and I look forward to them all contributing to the continuing success and growth of the business.”

Roisin Faizullah-Khan, Vice President of Talent Acquisition,
Wayflyer

Wayflyer, the revenue-based financing and growth platform for eCommerce merchants, today announces a series of hires across its offices in Europe and the U.S.

Several appointments have been made in the Talent team. Ciara Smyth joins as Chief Talent Officer. Ciara has a wealth of experience building high performing, diverse teams and cultures within high growth tech companies, having previously held a position as Chief People Officer at King, the mobile entertainment platform behind games including Candy Crush and Farm Heroes.

Roisin Faizullah-Khan joins as VP of Talent Acquisition. Roisin previously led international recruitment at Stripe, a leading global payments fintech. Ciara and Roisin will work closely with Aine Flanagan, Waflyer’s Head of People, and will have responsibility for helping the company meet its hiring objectives of over 400 new team members in 2022. The group will also keep a laser focus on enabling talent to thrive and write the best chapter of their career in Wayflyer’s unique culture. Other key appointments include:

• Will Mahon-Heap joins as Chief Business Officer. Will Spent four years at Revolut driving the fintech’s international and product growth. He also successfully founded equity crowdfunding platform, Equitise

• Deirdre MacCarthy, Chief Legal Officer, brings well over a decade of experience working with high growth technology companies, following time at the corporate technology practice at Maples Group, ByrneWallace and Arthur Cox. Deirdre has  worked with Wayflyer as external counsel since its inception
• Emer Mc Carthy joins as Head of Brand. Emer was formerly Head of Advertising and Brand at Paddy Power-Betfair
• Dan O’Brien is also promoted to Chief Revenue Officer and a new member of the Executive team. He joined Wayflyer in February 2020 from a previous position as Head of Strategic Partnerships at Vantage, a retail-sector focused AI technology provider.

The appointments follow significant expansion in 2021 which saw Wayflyer’s headcount increase by 525%, from 40 employees to 250. The amount of funding that Wayflyer provided to eCommerce companies grew by 900% in 2021.

Aidan Corbett, Wayflyer CEO and Co-Founder commented: “Our latest funding round means we can confidently meet our 2022 hiring targets, allowing us to scale quickly and reach even more eCommerce businesses around the world. At the same time, we are a business founded on a strong company ethos where diversity of thought, culture and experience is at the core of everything we do.

“These hires are a great example of how we are delivering against this ethos. I have no doubt the depth and breadth of talent and skills they collectively bring to the table will be invaluable as we grow. As we continue through the year, we have plans to make yet further additions to our wider team, along with several c-suite level appointments.”

Caroline Spillane, CEO,
Institute of Directors

The Institute of Directors (IoD) in Ireland has announced that Caroline Spillane has been appointed its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). An experienced private and public sector leader, Caroline Spillane will succeed Maura Quinn and assume responsibility for the CEO role in July 2022.

IoD President, Imelda Reynolds said:

“We are delighted to have a person of Caroline’s calibre join us as CEO.  Caroline is an accomplished leader who has wide expertise in strategic planning and delivery of results.  She is well positioned to further build the IoD and to bring the Institute forward for the benefit of our members and business leaders in Ireland.”

Throughout her career, Spillane has built a reputation as a results-oriented Chief Executive with significant experience in organisational transformation, regulation and in professional membership organisations. Spillane will join IoD Ireland from her position as Director General of Engineers Ireland, the all-island body of over 25,000 members mandated to promote excellence in engineering practice, where she has been Director General since 2015.  She was the first female and the first non-engineer to be Director General of Engineers Ireland since its establishment in 1835.

Prior to this, she was CEO of the Medical Council, the independent statutory regulator of over 20,000 medical practitioners. During her tenure she developed a strategy for medical regulation to better protect patients while supporting the professional development of doctors and contributing to the wider health service reform programme.

Spillane has served as a board member in the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), ESB Networks and Irish Manufacturing Research. She is also a member of the 30% Club, a campaign which is led by a group of business Chairpersons and CEOs taking action to increase gender diversity on boards and senior management teams.

Commenting on her appointment, Caroline Spillane said:

“It is an honour to be appointed CEO of IoD Ireland at this challenging time for businesses in Ireland.  The organisation is well placed for future growth and I look forward to working with the Council, members, colleagues in IoD Ireland and other partners.”

Caroline Spillane is a Chartered Director who holds a B.A. from University College Cork and an M.A. from Technological University Dublin. She is currently studying for a Doctorate in Business Administration in Waterford Institute of Technology.

She succeeds Maura Quinn who has been IoD CEO for 14 years and is stepping down to pursue other opportunities.

Siobhán Curtin, Site Lead,
eBay Ireland

Pictured: Siobhán Curtin, Site Lead, eBay Ireland

Siobhán Curtin has been appointed Site Lead at eBay Ireland. In her new role, Siobhán will head up teams at the European HQ in Blanchardstown as well as employees who work remotely across Ireland. With a strong focus on company culture and staff development, Siobhán will be responsible for the cross-functional teams and departments supporting local and global eBay programmes.

The Kildare native has worked with eBay for over 17 years. Siobhán joined eBay in 2004 as a customer services representative. During her time at eBay, she has worked across multiple functions in the business amassing experience in key leadership as well as customer-focused roles not only in Ireland, but globally and most recently, Siobhán was Director UK & Ireland Customer Operations.

In the past five years, Siobhán has been instrumental in positioning eBay as a leader in the virtual working space. In 2017, she was lead on the eBay@Home programme, which saw eBay recruit new employees across Ireland, offering them a permanent remote work contract that allowed them to work and live in their own communities. Ireland was the first eBay market in the world to offer this option to candidates, which was later rolled out in the US, UK and Germany.

Derek Allgood, Vice President at eBay said: “Siobhán has had a hugely positive impact on the eBay business as well as the teams she leads and works with both in Ireland and internationally. Her experience, integrity and motivational qualities are widely recognised across the business and make her the outstanding candidate for the position of Site Lead for eBay Ireland. Siobhán is passionate about encouraging eBay team members to reach their full potential and she takes a similar approach with our sellers, particularly the small Irish businesses that she wants to see flourish on our marketplace and reach as many buyers as possible. She’s a natural leader and this is a fantastic appointment for the eBay business.”

Siobhán Curtin said: “I’m thrilled to become the Site Leader for eBay Ireland. The culture at eBay is one built on community, hard work and pioneering spirit and it is something I will ensure continues to grow and thrive in my new role. As Site Lead, I look forward to empowering the eBay Ireland workforce and the wider eBay community to ensure they are set for success.”

Making an impact in the wider community is important to Siobhán and she has worked on several initiatives to support small Irish businesses to start exporting globally through ebay.ie. Inclusivity and equality are also core to Siobhán’s beliefs. As part of her role as Site Lead for eBay Ireland she will work closely with the company’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion team as well as the Ireland Changemakers team, which encourages social entrepreneurship in local communities across the country.

Siobhán, who currently lives in Navan, holds a BA in Human Resources Management from the National College of Ireland. She also holds a business diploma from Ballyfermot College of Further Education and a diploma in HR industrial relations from National College of Ireland.

Jim Daly, CEO,
Private Hospitals Association

The Private Hospitals Association (PHA) has announced the appointment of Mr Jim Daly as its new Chief Executive Officer.

Mr Daly will lead the PHA nationally, building on its successful track record in the delivery of excellent and  advanced healthcare nationally. Jim will represent the interests of the sector with a range of key stakeholders including government, the HSE, regulators, health insurers and the wider health sector.

As the CEO Jim is tasked with working with Private Hospitals Association members in progressing key strategic objectives including building on the emerging relationship between private hospitals and the wider health sector and developing a new Strategic Partnership between the Department of Health/HSE and Private Hospitals on a multi-annual basis to help tackle the national waiting lists problem.

Announcing the appointment, Chairperson of the Private Hospitals Association, Bill Maher, said “We are delighted to welcome Jim Daly on board as our CEO. Playing a critical role in healthcare delivery nationally as PHA does, means Jim will be a leading voice within the sector and helping shape the agenda going forward. Covid-19 has brought about new ways of working between public and private and we have shown how a joined-up approach can work in helping defeat the virus. We now need to apply that partnership approach and ‘can-do’ mindset to the pervasive problem of hospital waiting lists and take steps to halt their further growth. Our network of 18 private hospitals are key to the delivery of acute and mental health services around the country – we conduct 300,000 theatre procedures annually and offer over 750,000 bed nights to the Irish healthcare system. We have shown in the past that we have the capacity to make substantial in-roads into waiting lists when called upon and we can rise to the challenge once again. I look forward to Jim’s valuable contribution as we collectively seek to address the pressing health needs of our population.

Jim Daly said he was excited to have been appointed to the new role – “It is an honour to have been appointed Chief Executive of the Private Hospitals Association and an opportunity which I relish and look forward to. This is both an exciting yet challenging time in the Irish healthcare sector after emerging from one of the most seismic periods in our country’s history post Covid-19 pandemic. We are at an important transition point in the delivery of healthcare reform in this country, yet the experience of the past 2 years has seen unprecedented levels of collaboration with the state and private hospitals, with very constructive engagement occurring on all sides. This bodes well for the future and I very much look forward to playing my part in progressing that agenda of positivity over the months and years ahead.”          

Mr Daly served as Fine Gael TD for Cork South West between 2011 and 2020 and was latterly the Minister of State at the Department of Health between 2017 and 2020. He announced his retirement from national politics in January 2020. He  was previously  a member of Cork County Council prior to being elected to represent the Cork South-West constituency in 2011.