By Business & Finance 
Pictured: Moira Fitzgerald, Head of Sales, Nestle Ireland
This week sees new and notable appointments at Nestlé Ireland, MediaCom, Ergo and SSE plc
Moira Fitzgerald, Head of Slaes
Nestlé Ireland
Nestlé Ireland has appointed Moira FitzGerald as its new Head of Sales. Ms FitzGerald assumes responsibility for the commercial function for an extensive portfolio of products across its confectionery, beverages, food, nutrition and pet care categories. Moira will lead Nestlé’s commercial strategy in Ireland as it continues to expand its presence and deliver year on year category growth.
With almost 20 years’ experience within the food and drinks industry, Moira has a proven track record of driving business performance cross category. She has a passion for people development leading teams to achieve personal and career growth. Ms. Fitzgerald is joining Nestlé Ireland from her previous role as Sales Director with Mars Ireland, where she led the commercial strategy the across chocolate, gum petcare and food categories. Prior that she was Marketing Director at Mars and Wrigley Business Director.
Originally from Dundrum, Co. Tipperary and currently living in Greystones, Wicklow Moira holds a Master of Business Studies degree from Dublin Institute of Technology and is a graduate of Waterford Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Business Studies specialised in Marketing.
Eoin Corrigan, Head of Strategy
MediaCom
Pictured: Eoin Corrigan, Head of Strategy, MediaCom
MediaCom, a media planning and buying agency, has announced the appointment of Eoin Corrigan as its Head of Strategy, effective immediately. Eoin is the first person to serve in the newly-created role, having previously served as Business Director at MediaCom since 2017.
In his role, Eoin will work directly with clients to develop innovative media strategies, as well as guiding and maintaining the quality of strategic thinking within the agency. He will work with the wider MediaCom team to lead and manage the communications planning process, which will include creating, briefing and motivating multi-disciplined teams.
Eoin will also be responsible for ensuring that strategy and planning skills are embedded across the agency and inherent in the culture at MediaCom, as well as ensuring that strategy and planning inputs to new business pitches are innovative and insightful.
Ed Ling, Chief Growth and Operations Officer at MediaCom Ireland, said; “MediaCom is delighted to appoint Eoin Corrigan as out first ever Head of Strategy. In his new role, he will be integral to shaping our strategic approach in relation to a wide range of areas. Eoin will be responsible for leading the strategy for the MediaCom team as we continue to provide market-leading solutions to our clients.”
Eoin Corrigan, Head of Strategy at MediaCom Ireland, said; “I am extremely proud of the work we do at MediaCom to drive growth for our clients and taking up the position of Head of Strategy is a new exciting chapter in my MediaCom journey. As Head of Strategy, I will be working closely with the local planning teams and global strategy network, encouraging them to take a step back and see the bigger picture while helping to identify and maximise new areas of growth for brands to increase return on marketing investment”.
Eoin holds a Master of Science in Strategic Marketing from NUIG.
Paul McCann, CEO & John Purdy, Chairman
Ergo
Pictured left to right: John Purdy and Paul McCann, Ergo
Ergo, a Cloud and Managed Services company, has named Paul McCann as new CEO, taking over from John Purdy who has been appointed Chairman. Paul will join Ergo from Grant Thornton where he is Senior Partner in the firm’s Financial Services Advisory Department and where he served as Managing Partner from 2012 to 2017. During his tenure, he navigated the firm through an accelerated growth period, expanding the firm from 417 to 1144 people, and growing revenues from €41m to €115.7m.
John Purdy will become Ergo Chairman, switching roles with McCann who became Ergo Chair in 2015, having advised the board on acquisitions that helped the company expand its capabilities and more than double its growth in the last decade, achieving annual revenues in excess of €95m . With Ireland’s IT services sector going through a period of rapid consolidation, Ergo is refocusing on a growth-through-acquisition strategy that Paul McCann will now lead.
John Purdy, Ergo co-founder and current CEO, commented, “It became clear to me some time ago that Paul would be a natural to succeed me if he was available. He has a deep understanding of our business and values, combined with a growth mindset and focus on customers that has always been the engine of Ergo’s success.”
Paul McCann, incoming CEO, said, “The opportunity to become Ergo CEO dovetailed perfectly with my own aspirations to lead a company at the cutting edge of business-critical technologies. I have always had the utmost respect for Ergo as a highly skilled IT provider and as an employer of talented people who are synonymous with its success. I look forward to helping to write the next chapter in a great Irish success story.”
Until September, Paul will continue to provide strategic advice to Grant Thornton in respect to historic assignments and will remain in his role as interim CFO with Permanent TSB until September 2021, to ensure a smooth transition for his successor.
Earlier this year, Ergo announced plans to create 60 jobs as part of a multimillion euro investment in the business. The company currently employs more than 450 people and expects to surpass the €100 million milestone in fiscal 2021.
About John Purdy
John Purdy and Tim Sheehy launched Ergo as a two-man firm selling toner cartridges for printers in 1993. By 1998 John had pivoted the business into an IT Managed Services company, reflecting John’s focus on market innovation. The next two decades would see Ergo move into software development and become a pioneer in cloud services. Fast growth followed as John oversaw a series of acquisitions and launched two spin-off businesses – Fenergo and FlowForma. Fenergo recently achieved ‘unicorn’ status after surpassing a $1bn valuation. In 2014 John was named EY Industry Entrepreneur of the Year.
About Paul McCann
A qualified accountant, Paul McCann was admitted to the Grant Thornton Partnership in 2001. He was Head of Advisory for nine years and appointed Managing Partner from 2012 to 2017. Since 2018, he has been a senior Partner in the Firm’s Financial Services Advisory department, providing advisory services to banks, financial institutions and asset management companies on risk, regulatory, consulting and advisory engagements. In addition to internal directorships, he has held non-executive roles with Ergo and Abbey Group Limited. He always looks to create boardroom environments that value constructive debate and avoid ‘group think’.
David Manning, Director of Marketing, Energy Customer Solutions
SSE plc
SSE plc has announced the appointment of David Manning to Director of Marketing, Energy Customer Solutions. He brings to the role extensive experience, most recently, leading SSE Airtricity’s Home Energy business.
As Director of Marketing, for the Energy Customer Solutions division in SSE, David will be responsible for the further development and growth of SSE across Ireland and Great Britain, with the overall aim of becoming customer’s supplier of choice for green energy and related products and services. To achieve this, he will work across the SSE Group positioning our business as the shopfront for meeting customer’s green and low carbon needs.
Nikki Flanders, Managing Director Energy Customer Solutions SSE said: “I am delighted to announce David Manning’s appointment as Director of Marketing, for the Energy Customer Solutions division. Since joining the SSE Airtricity team in 2016, David has played an integral role in developing and growing our offering across the home energy sector. Through his experience and roles within the company, he is best positioned to help position the customer businesses in Ireland and GB as the shopfront for all our green and low carbon solutions.”
In his previous role as Director of Home Energy with SSE Airtricity, David played an integral role with responsibility for the supply of electricity, gas and related services to over half a million homes. Before joining SSE Airtricity, David was Director of Stakeholder Relations and Customer Services with Scotia Gas Networks, the UK’s second largest gas distribution network. In 2011, he was appointed Director of Corporate Affairs for SSE Ireland, and prior to that David worked with the Irish Business Employers Confederation (Ibec) as their Head of Energy Policy.
On his appointment as Director of Marketing, David Manning said: “I’m delighted to take up this new role working with our MD Nikki Flanders and the wider Energy Customer Solutions Executive team. As an SSE Business we are ideally placed to support customers on their journey to net-zero. Understanding customers’ energy needs and demands is central to that and I’m looking forward to working with our teams to ensure we continue to innovate and deliver solutions that work for our customers; and ultimately make SSE the green energy supplier of choice.
David holds a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Business Administration from University College Dublin, along with an MSc from Technological University Dublin.
