By Business & Finance 
Pictured: 11 new senior appointments at Arthur Cox. Standing (L-R): Niamh Fennelly, Orla O’Connor, Jack Logan, Lesley-Ann Perera, Geoff Moore, Kate Hogan, Gillian Beechinor, Shane O’Neill, Kylie Dollard. Seated (L-R): Peter Murphy, Maeve Crockett, Dáibhí O’Leary, Sinéad Crowley.
This week sees new and notable appointments at Arthur Cox LLP, Irish Residential Properties REIT plc, Novozymes Ireland, and EHS International
Various, New Partners, Of Counsel and Legal Director,
Arthur Cox LLP
Leading law firm Arthur Cox LLP has announced 11 new senior appointments across the firm in areas such as Corporate and M&A, Construction and Engineering, Banking and Finance, Employment, Real Estate and Litigation, Dispute Resolution and Investigations. The senior appointments comprise five Partners, five Of Counsel and a new Legal Director, further strengthening the firm’s commitment to providing first-class legal services to clients across various industries.
Commenting on the appointments, Geoff Moore, Managing Partner, Arthur Cox LLP, said: “I am delighted to announce these appointments in key areas across the firm. The diverse skills and deep industry knowledge of our new appointees align with our commitment to delivering exceptional legal advice, enhancing our ability to meet the evolving needs of our clients and reinforcing our position as a leading law firm in Ireland for both domestic and international businesses.”
Orla O’Connor, Chair, Arthur Cox LLP, also commented: “These strategic appointments reflect our commitment to growth and innovation in an increasingly dynamic legal landscape and highlight the depth of talent present throughout the firm. All our new appointees have demonstrated outstanding expertise and commitment to the firm and our clients. They also each contribute significantly to our commitment to continue to develop innovative solutions for our clients.”
The firm has 100 partners and 830 members of staff, with offices in Dublin, Belfast, London, New York and San Francisco.
Gillian Beechinor, Partner, Real Estate
Gillian advises clients on commercial real estate transactions across all asset classes, including office, retail, healthcare, logistics and PRS/BTR schemes. She is highly experienced in portfolio and single-asset acquisitions and disposals, forward fund and forward purchase structures and advising on the real estate aspects of property finance and corporate M&A transactions. Gillian regularly acts for commercial landlords and tenants on large scale agreements for leases.
Kylie Dollard, Partner, Corporate and M&A
Kylie advises Irish and multinational public and private companies on all aspects of corporate and commercial law across a range of industries and sectors. Kylie focuses on both public and private mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions, joint ventures and public corporate governance and securities advisory work for international and domestic publicly listed clients. Kylie also has particular experience in transactions and advisory work in the life sciences and pharmaceuticals sector.
Jack Logan, Partner, Litigation, Dispute Resolution and Investigations
Jack’s practice covers high-value and complex disputes across all industry sectors, including M&A, finance, private equity and tax. He acts for Irish and international companies, professional services firms, financial institutions, private equity funds, and high-net-worth individuals in Irish and multijurisdictional disputes and investigations. He has experience in a variety of different forums, including court proceedings in Ireland and England, international arbitration, and offshore litigation. Jack originally qualified and practised as a solicitor in the London office of a global law firm.
Peter Murphy, Partner, Banking and Finance
Peter provides advice on a broad range of finance and regulatory matters. He regularly advises banks, funds and other financial institutions on matters relating to securitisations, SRTs, general structured finance transactions, derivatives, collateralisation structures and regulatory capital driven transactions. Prior to joining Arthur Cox, Peter trained and qualified in London where he spent approximately five years post qualification working for a magic circle firm.
Shane O’Neill, Partner, Construction and Engineering
Shane specialises in construction, predominantly advising developers, institutional investors and owner occupiers on development projects. He advises on construction procurement models as well as drafting and negotiating principal construction contracts and ancillary documentation. Shane’s practice spans several sectors including residential, commercial, logistics and manufacturing. In addition, Shane has advised on the construction aspects of renewable energy projects (in relation to onshore wind, offshore wind and solar).
Maeve Crockett, Of Counsel, Construction and Engineering
Maeve advises on construction and infrastructure projects across a wide range of sectors including industrial manufacturing, pharmaceutical, energy, transport and telecoms. She has extensive experience advising developers, investors, funders and contractors on non-contentious issues, including contract drafting and negotiation, financing and project delivery. Maeve also advises on dispute avoidance and dispute resolution.
Sinéad Crowley, Of Counsel, Corporate and M&A
Sinéad specialises in advising a wide range of domestic and international clients on all aspects of corporate and commercial law across a range of industries and sectors. Her key areas of expertise include both public and private mergers and acquisitions, equity capital markets, corporate finance transactions, corporate restructuring, commercial contracts and general corporate governance and securities law advice for publicly listed and private companies.
Niamh Fennelly, Of Counsel, Employment
Niamh leads the knowledge function within the Employment Group and has significant experience advising clients across all areas of employment law. She is responsible for legal, regulatory and commercial awareness, horizon-scanning for clients, education (internal and client) via training and tailored legal and regulatory updates and the development of precedents. Niamh regularly presents at seminars on a range of employment law topics and authors industry briefings and alerts on key developments.
Kate Hogan, Of Counsel, Corporate and M&A
Kate advises international and domestic companies across all sectors on corporate law and governance. She has advised on some of the most high-profile and novel corporate transactions in recent years, and her areas of expertise include public and private M&A, equity capital market transactions, schemes of arrangement, joint ventures, and private equity investments. Kate also advises on corporate governance and securities law issues for international and domestic listed companies. Kate qualified with a major London law firm and completed a secondment with a leading New York law firm.
Lesley-Ann Perera, Of Counsel, Corporate and M&A
Lesley-Ann advises clients on a wide range of corporate transactions including public and private M&A, joint ventures, equity capital markets transactions and corporate reorganisations. She also advises clients on partnership law, corporate governance and general corporate law matters. Prior to joining the firm, Lesley-Ann trained and worked for a major law firm in London.
Dáibhí O’Leary, Legal Director, Company Compliance and Governance
Dáibhí has extensive experience in providing technical and practical advice and assistance to a wide range of companies, semi-state bodies and not-for-profit organisations on questions of corporate governance and company law. He previously qualified as a chartered accountant with the one of the “big four” accounting firms, and has contributed the chapter on “Financial Statements, Audit and Annual Returns” to Courtney, The Law of Companies, (4th ed; 2016).
Hugh Scott-Barrett, Chair Designate,
Irish Residential Properties REIT plc
The Board of Irish Residential Properties REIT plc (“I-RES”) has announced its decision to appoint Hugh Scott-Barrett to succeed Declan Moylan, as Chair of the I-RES Board, with effect from the publication of the Company’s 2023 results scheduled for 23 February 2024.
As previously announced by the Company, Declan Moylan will not seek re-election to the Board at the Company’s Annual General Meeting to be held on 2 May 2024.
Hugh Scott-Barrett’s appointment follows a rigorous succession process, led by Joan Garahy, Senior Independent Director, with a selection committee from the Board and conducted with the assistance of external advisers in line with the UK Corporate Governance Code. This process has been ongoing through the second half of 2023 and has considered external and internal candidates.
Hugh Scott-Barrett was appointed to the Board as an Independent Director in September 2022. The Board has taken into account Hugh’s extensive board and governance experience and his deep understanding of the international listed real estate sector.
Hugh Scott-Barrett is currently a non-executive Director and Senior Independent Director of Balanced Commercial Property Trust Limited, a FTSE250 UK REIT listed on the London Stock Exchange. Hugh has experience at board level for over 20 years across real estate, asset management, and banking. He was Non-Executive Chairman at the UK specialist property REIT Capital & Regional plc until May 2020 and previously served as Chief Executive of the company prior to this from 2008-2017. He was previously Chairman of GAM Holding AG and also a member of ABN AMRO’s managing board serving as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer and before that worked at SBC Warburg and Kleinwort Benson.
Hugh Scott-Barrett will assist Declan Moylan, in his capacity as Chair of the Nomination Committee, in bringing to a conclusion the Company’s ongoing succession process for the CEO.
Scott-Barrett, as Chair Designate, will oversee the I-RES Strategic Review (“Strategic Review”) announced on 8 January 2024. That review will comprise a comprehensive consideration of all strategic options available to the Company to maximise and unlock value for Shareholders. This will include, but not be limited to, new strategic initiatives, consolidation, combination, merger or other corporate action, a review of the Company’s status as a listed REIT, the sale of the entire issued share capital of the Company and selling the Company’s assets and returning capital to Shareholders.
Commenting on the appointment, Joan Garahy, Senior Independent Director, said: “I am pleased to confirm the decision to appoint Hugh Scott-Barrett to the role of Chair. The quality of the candidates has been high. Hugh will provide the right mix of board, real estate and business skills and experience and has a deep understanding of our commitment to serve all our shareholders.
“I would also like to place on record our sincere thanks to Declan Moylan for his leadership as Chair of the Board on behalf of all shareholders, other stakeholders and the Board over the past ten years. Declan has made a hugely important contribution to the growth of I-RES”.
Hugh Scott-Barrett, Chair Designate, said: “I look forward to working with the Board as Chair. I-RES is an outstanding business and plays a key role in the Irish housing market. I am committed to leading and delivering the Strategic Review to look at all options to maximise value for all shareholders.”’
Alison Winger, General Manager,
Novozymes Ireland
Dr Alison Winger has been appointed General Manager of Novozymes Ireland, the home of PrecisionBiotics.
In addition to this prestigious role, Dr. Winger will remain as Global Head of Product Development at Novozymes within the Human Health division, OneHealth; leading a global team of scientists who develop new, innovative products containing Novozymes proprietary enzymes, probiotics, prebiotics and vitamins. Within this role, Dr. Winger, who is based in Cork, heads up a division of Novozymes in Ireland, Denmark and in the US, as well as working closely with the commercial world for the creation of branded products.
Dr. Winger will take over the role as General Manager of Novozymes Ireland from leading gut health scientist Dr Barry Kiely, who recently retired after a stellar career with PrecisionBiotics. Commenting on her appointment, Dr. Winger said: “I am absolutely delighted to further my career with Novozymes Ireland by taking up this role, stepping into the shoes of the extraordinary Barry Kiely who has done so much for science in Cork and Ireland through his leadership at PrecisionBiotics. Novozymes Ireland is a fantastic place to work, the technology we use is genuinely amazing, and we are continuing to discover novel solutions. We are a company with science and innovation at our core. Everything we do starts with our unique One-in-a-Trillion mindset, to help people support their microbiome and take control of their One health. I’m very much looking forward to the exciting challenges that lie ahead in my new role as General Manager in 2024.”
Pictured: Dr. Alison Winger from PrecisionBiotics.
Picture by Clare Keogh.
Prior to moving to Ireland in 2014, Dr. Winger, originally from New Zealand, held a number of academic research positions around the world. Since coming here she’s worked in a number of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies: Monaghan Biosciences Ltd, LEO Pharma, and Deerland Probiotics and Enzymes, before joining Novozymes Ireland in 2021. Dr. Winger is author of a number of publications, including three enzyme patents and nine peer-reviewed papers in the fields of enzymes and probiotics.
PrecisionBiotics started out over 20 years ago, when scientists began researching thousands of bacterial cultures, together with experts from one of the world’s leading centres of microbiome research, the APC Microbiome Institute in UCC, Ireland. Since then, the teams have discovered hundreds of different bacterial cultures and they’ve put each one through rigorous scientific tests. Amongst these hundreds are a handful of special probiotic bacteria that stand out because of the precise and significant positive impact they make to human gut health. When these probiotics pass all trials and tests across Ireland, the UK and Europe, the PrecisionBiotics team creates high quality and convenient products containing these solutions for consumers and clinicians.
Paul O’Regan, Fire and Rescue Director,
EHS International
The single-source Irish environmental, health and safety (EHS) company, EHS International, founded by Chris Mee, has announced the appointment of Paul O’Regan as its Fire and Rescue Director.
Pictured: Paul O’Regan, Fire and Rescue Director, EHS International
With an illustrious career spanning over 32 years in the Cork City Fire Brigade, O’Regan brings unparalleled expertise to the team. In his new role, O’Regan will leverage his extensive experience in national and international training for fire and rescue services to enhance EHS International’s programmes and emergency response strategies. He will lead a team of over 30 instructors. His insights and leadership will be instrumental in solidifying EHS International’s position as a leader in health, safety, and emergency response solutions.
Welcoming O’Regan to the team, Chris Mee, Founder and CEO of EHS International, said: “Paul’s wealth of experience and dedication to excellence aligns seamlessly with our commitment to providing the highest standards in health and safety services. Paul’s leadership will undoubtedly elevate our capabilities in fire and rescue services, benefiting our clients across industries.”
Speaking on his new role, O’Regan added: “Joining EHS International, led by Chris Mee, is an exciting step in my career journey. I am eager to bring my decades of experience in the Cork City Fire Brigade to this new role. I look forward to contributing to the enhancement of our emergency response programmes and strategies, ensuring we deliver top-tier solutions to our clients.”
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