New and notable appointments at BDO, Open Orphan plc, Grant Thornton Ireland, and Bricknode

Pictured: Stephen Tennant, Head of Financial Services Advisory, Grant Thornton, and Nuala Crimmins, Partner and Head of Insurance, Grant Thornton

This week sees new and notable appointments at BDO, Open Orphan plc, Grant Thornton Ireland, and Bricknode.

Philip Nolan, VAT Partner,
BDO

Pictured: Philip Nolan, VAT Partner, BDO

BDO in Ireland has announced the appointment of Philip Nolan as VAT Partner. Philip joins BDO from ByrneWallace where he served as Head of VAT & Tax Principal, and as VAT Director with KPMG for 15 years prior to this.

Philip has 20 years’ experience advising both domestic and international clients on VAT, RCT and indirect tax issues across a range of industries, including financial services, medical and healthcare, real estate, software and technology and indigenous Irish business. Philip’s extensive experience advising on VAT treatment of transactions, changes in VAT legislation, revenue audits and the VAT treatment of outsourced services will support BDO’s clients navigate out of the COVID crisis.

Philip is a Chartered Accountant and a Chartered Tax Advisor. He has a BA in Accounting and Finance and an MBS in Accounting from DCU. Philip is also a regular speaker and writer on VAT and Indirect Tax issues for the Irish Tax Institute and various other bodies.

Commenting on the appointment of Philip Nolan as VAT Partner, Managing Partner of BDO in Ireland, Michael Costello, said, “We are delighted to announce the appointment of Philip Nolan as VAT Partner at BDO in Ireland. BDO has a highly skilled VAT team advising clients across a range of industry sectors, Philip’s extensive experience in VAT services will be a great addition to the BDO team.”

Yamin ‘Mo’ Khan, Independent Non-Executive Director,
Open Orphan plc

Pictured: Yamin ‘Mo’ Khan, Independent Non-Executive Director, Open Orphan plc

Open Orphan plc, a rapidly growing specialist contract research organisation (CRO), specialising in vaccine and antiviral testing using human challenge clinical trials, announces the appointment of Yamin ‘Mo’ Khan as an Independent Non-Executive Director to the Board of Open Orphan with immediate effect. Mo will also Chair both the Audit and Risk and Nomination Committees.

Mo is a business leader and customer-focused CRO executive with over 25 years of global clinical research experience across clinical operations, project management, business development and executive management functions. He previously worked at Pharm-Olam International, a global CRO, from 2000-2019 across a variety of senior positions including Executive Vice President of Clinical Development and Global Director of Clinical Operations. Mo was a key leader in driving the expansion and growth of the company from a small niche European CRO to a global player with offices across all continents. Laterally, he led global business development at Pharm-Olam resulting in significant growth and a successful sale in 2017, delivering substantial returns to its shareholders. Prior to this he worked at Innovex and Quintiles CRO (IQVIA).

As part of Mo joining the Board, Michael Meade is stepping down from the Board with immediate effect. Michael joined the Board of Open Orphan as part of the acquisition of hVIVO and helped to steer the Company to the stronger and more successful position that it occupies today.

Cathal Friel, Executive Chairman, Open Orphan, said, “We are delighted to announce the appointment of Mo Khan to the Board of Open Orphan. Mo has extensive CRO knowledge and experience in a fast growth business and will be an invaluable addition to the Company as we capitalise on our position as a leading European CRO and world leader in testing vaccines and therapeutics for infectious and respiratory diseases, as this market exponentially grows to an expected $250bn by 2025.

We would also like to thank Michael Meade for all of his help and assistance in the 22 months since we acquired hVIVO, Michael’s knowledge of the City and his financial acumen has been invaluable to us.”

Mo Khan, Incoming Non-Executive Director, Open Orphan, said, “I am delighted to join the Board of Open Orphan. I have been very impressed by the outstanding progress that Cathal Friel, the Board and the team have made in such a short period of time. These are exciting times for Open Orphan and its subsidiaries in the light of their current full-service, high quality offerings in conjunction with the increased interest in challenge studies. I look forward to working with them in the next stage of the evolution of Open Orphan.”

Nuala Cimmins, Partner and Head of Insurance,
Grant Thornton Ireland

Pictured: Stephen Tennant, Head of Financial Services Advisory, Grant Thornton, and Nuala Crimmins, Partner and Head of Insurance, Grant Thornton

Grant Thornton Ireland continues its commitment to servicing client’s needs by welcoming Nuala Crimmins as a new Partner and Head of Insurance at the firm. The addition of Nuala in this role reflects the growth experienced by Grant Thornton Ireland over the past twelve months, and the firm’s desire to meet the growing needs of our Insurance sector clients. 

Nuala joins Grant Thornton Ireland with almost 20 years of experience in the insurance industry and previously worked with Irish and international companies as well as the Central Bank of Ireland, where she held the role of Head of Insurance Supervision. Nuala’s breadth of experience in the sector will allow her to seamlessly transition into the role as Head of Insurance at a time of ambitious growth planning within the firm. 

Welcoming Nuala to the firm, Michael McAteer, Managing Partner at Grant Thornton said, “I am delighted to welcome Nuala to Grant Thornton as our newest partner. She is taking up the role of Head of Insurance at such an important time for businesses navigating through an increasingly complex regulatory environment. Nuala’s appointment to this role demonstrates our commitment to strengthening our team and supporting our clients’.

Commenting on her appointment, Nuala said, “I am happy to be joining the Grant Thornton team. Their growth in recent years is exciting, as is their commitment to high quality personalised client service. We have ambitious plans to grow the Insurance team.”

Grant Thornton Ireland’s Insurance services team delivers practical and pragmatic issues solutions across a full range of disciplines from IT, through audit and actuarial, to tax. Clients benefit from the combined expertise of a cross-departmental team on a variety of insurance-related issues.