THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF DIRECTORS IN ...€¦ · ness strategy, to assessing risk...

IrishDirectorTHE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF DIRECTORS IN IRELAND ISSUE 25 • AUTUMN 2012 €7.50 (STG£6.70)

EYE ON THE ECONOMY MARKETINGEXPORTING MANAGEMENT STRATEGY INNOVATION

25 YEARSOF THE IFSC

contents

Editor: Grainne RotheryContributing editor: Sorcha CorcoranProduction editor: Karina CorbettArt director: Michelle Gregan

For all advertising and marketing queries,contact Sam Hobbs on +353 1 6251425or email [email protected]

Irish Director is published by Business and Leadership LtdTel: +353 1 6251400 Email: [email protected]: Top Floor, Block 43B,Yeats Way, Park West Business Park,Nangor Road, Dublin 12. © Business and Leadership Ltd 2012

ISSN: 1649-3621

Welcome to the autumn issue of Irish

Director. In this issue, Alastair Campbell,

who is probably best known as Tony

Blair’s press secretary and director of

communications between 1994 and 2003,

shares his views on leadership and some

of his strategies for success.

Marking 25 years of the IFSC in

Dublin, Constantin Gurgdiev profiles a

sector that he describes as the prime

platform for the Irish services exports

generation, comparable in importance only to the booming ICT

services sector.

And we have a special report on Ireland’s top 250 exporters,

who as a group have achieved substantial growth so far this

year. We talk to some of Ireland’s most significant export com-

panies – including Diageo and Google – and look at some of the

emerging trends and challenges.

We’re also introducing a couple of new regular features,

including an IoD member profile piece and ‘New Frontiers’, a

section that will focus each issue on a company that is develop-

ing markets, products or processes to extend its business. First

up is Carlow-based Netwatch, which is pursuing a strategy of

international expansion.

As ever, thanks to all the IoD members and other leaders

who shared their time, expertise and valuable insights with us.

We welcome all feedback and suggestions to

[email protected].

Letter from the Editor

Grainne RotheryEditor, Irish Director

www.businessandleadership.com

4 Irish Director Autumn 2012

42

34

52

contents

UP FRONTNEWS FROM THE IOD 6A word from the Institute’s CEOMaura Quinn

THE ISSUES 10The latest news on the big issues

EYE ON THE ECONOMY 14How can new models of the Irisheconomy influence decisions in apositive way?

VIEW FROM ABOVE 18Irish management leaders offerwords of wisdom

DIRECTOR PROFILE 22Alastair Campbell, author,speaker and broadcaster, onleadership and success

ONE TO WATCH 26Award-winning Equilume hasdeveloped a pioneering productthat could revolutionise the horsebreeding industry

FINANCIAL SERVICES 30Constantin Gurgdiev looks backat 25 years of the IFSC

NEW FRONTIERS 34Security systems companyNetwatch is pursuing an ambitiousstrategy of international expansion

STRATEGY 38Applying metrics to corporateresponsibility

INNOVATION 42Making external input part ofthe innovation process

MARKETING 46Reputation is a vital issue fororganisations, but many are failingto manage it in a structured way

IOD MEMBER PROFILE 50Christine Moran, executivedirector and head of recoveryat KBC Bank Ireland

WEALTH MANAGEMENT 52Why cash is no longer king

KNOWLEDGE CENTRE 56A look at just some of the latestreports from our partners in theBusiness & Leadership ReportCentre

SPECIAL REPORT 57TOP 250 EXPORTERSEmerging trends and opportunities

SENIOR APPOINTMENTS 76Who’s moving where in Irishsenior management

WHAT’S ON 80Our selection of must-seesover the coming months

WEBSITEwww.businessandleadership.comfor further information

SUBSCRIPTIONSFor subscriptions, please [email protected]+353 1 6251422

Autumn 2012 Irish Director 5

IrishDirectorTHE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF DIRECTORS IN IRELAND

57

80

50


view from the institute

Maura QuinnCEO, Institute of Directors in Ireland

The financialcrisis has

focused many

directors on the

importance of

undergoing independent external

evaluation of their board to ensure it

is performing at an optimum level.

The concept of evaluating a board’s

performance is one that has long been

in place among listed companies, with

a recommendation within the UK

Corporate Governance Code for an

annual board evaluation, which has

also been adopted by the Central

Bank of Ireland as a statutory

requirement for institutions regulat-

ed under its Corporate Governance

Code. In addition both codes call for

an external evaluation of the board

every three years.

Undergoing a board performance

evaluation enables a company to also

provide assurances to stakeholders

and to potential investors that it is

committed to the highest standards

of governance and probity as well as

effectiveness.

Internal or external evaluationAn internal evaluation, generally con-

ducted by the chairperson, is likely to

be relatively low-cost and cause little

disruption to the board’s scheduled

activities. However, the downside is

that the process may be too subjective

and can been seen as a box ticking

exercise. In addition, the board itself

may not have the specialist expertise

to conduct an effective evaluation and

such an approach may not provide

much reassurance to shareholders

given that an evaluation conducted

internally lacks independence.

Opting for an external experienced

assessor to conduct such evaluations

increases transparency and inde-

pendence and allows an appropriately

skilled external assessor to bring

specialist know-how to the process.

An independent evaluator is likely

to be far less constrained and far

more open and objective when report-

ing findings and identifying issues

that may need to be addressed. The

involvement of an independent exter-

nal assessor also provides greater

assurances to stakeholders.

What to look forUndertaking an external evaluation

enables directors to understand how

well the board is operating when

compared to best practice standards.

The evaluation should concentrate on

everything from assessing the board’s

performance in relation to the busi-

ness strategy, to assessing risk man-

agement, internal controls and stake-

holder management, to analysing the

composition and practice of the board

and even evaluating the performance

of committees and individual directors.

As leading contributors to the

debate on corporate governance, the

Institute of Directors in Ireland (IoD)

has detailed knowledge of what

makes an effective board and pro-

vides all of the above as part of its

board performance evaluation service

which offers boards a range of evalu-

ation options to choose from and is

carried out using exclusively designed

online technology. The IoD has a

panel of evaluators who are all expe-

rienced directors themselves and who

are all chartered directors, thus com-

bining both a wide range of practical

hands-on experience as directors

with the highest level of knowledge

and expertise of best practice.

Undertaking a performance evalu-

ation allows a board to identify its

strengths and weaknesses and is a

powerful investment in the future of

any organisation. Once a board knows

where its strengths and weaknesses

lie, only then can it begin to tackle

any difficulties and build on

opportunities.

UPCOMING IOD INIRELAND EVENTS8 Oct WORKSHOP FOR DIRECTORS OF

SMESVenue: IMI, Sandyford, Dublin 16

9 Oct WORKSHOP FOR EXPERIENCEDDIRECTORS

Venue: IMI, Sandyford, Dublin 16

10 Oct WORKSHOP ON ESSENTIAL DOSAND DON'TS FOR COMPANYDIRECTORS


18 Oct EVENING BRIEFING PRESENTED BYEDELMAN – SOCIAL MEDIAOVERVIEW

Venue: The Fitzwilliam Hotel, St Stephen’sGreen, Dublin 2

5 Nov WORKSHOP ON CORPORATEGOVERNANCE FOR DIRECTORS ONSTATE BOARDS


6 Nov WORKSHOP ON FINANCE FORNON-FINANCIAL DIRECTORS


Details and booking forms available [email protected] or call 01 411 0010.

>NOT YET AMEMBER?

To learn about your role and responsibilities as adirector and to develop your professional skills,knowledge and expertise, why not joinmore than1,600 fellow directors who are alreadymembers ofthe IoD in Ireland.

You can also avail of our excellentmembershipbenefits including access to the Stephen’s GreenHibernian Club, selected airport lounges in Dublin,Cork and the UK, as well as bespoke director’spersonal indemnity insurance through GlennonInsurance and access to the IoD’s BoardroomCentre.

Call us today on 01 411 00 10 or visitwww.iodireland.ie

Howwell is your boardperforming?

Bank of Ireland Private Banking Limited is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. Bank of Ireland Private Banking Limited is a member of Bank of Ireland Group. RC055-12

C a l l + 3 5 3 1 6 3 7 8 6 0 0www.pr ivatebanking. ie

The d ig i ta l wor ld o f today has changed photography to ta l l y. And yet the

bas ic pr inc ip les o f what makes a great photograph remain the same.

At Bank o f I re land Pr iva te Bank ing much has changed too but our t r ied and

t rus ted pr inc ip les have endured. And we’d l i ke to ta lk to you about how we

can use those t r ied and t rus ted pr inc ip les to bu i ld a f inanc ia l fu tu re fo r you

wi th greater poss ib i l i t i es . Our team br ings a t ru ly g loba l perspect ive

to pr iva te c l ien t wea l th management .

The oppor tun i t ies ex is t . We have the exper t i se and v is ion to

exp lo i t them on your beha l f .

Manag ing wea l th has never been so cha l leng ing . But we be l ieve in focus

and manag ing exposure fo r you and your fami ly. In a fas t chang ing wor ld ,

i t ’s good to have a few bas ic be l ie fs to gu ide you a long the way.

Maybe now is the t ime to le t us share ours w i th you.

Think about your financial future. Then, see the bigger picture.

W E A L T H M A N A G E M E N T A N D A D V I C EPrivate Banking

BUSINESS & LEADERSHIP NEWSAll the major Irish and international business, economy and leadership newsthroughout the day, including regular updates in our Exporting and SmallBusiness sections

FEATURESNew content, updated regularly, including exclusive interviews

VIDEONew and exclusive videos, covering business, economy, marketing, sustainabilityand technology

WEEKLY EZINESHere you can subscribe free to our weekly business ezines:• The Business Week – the weekly round-up of the big business stories, videos,

interviews and senior appointments• Marketing Monday – all the latest marketing and new media stories every week

EVENTSOur comprehensive listing of upcoming business-related events, at home andabroad

SENIOR APPOINTMENTSKeep an eye on all the latest board and management appointments

ALSO ON BUSINESSANDLEADERSHIP.COMAccess insights and intelligence from the thought leaders on business,sustainability, the economy, marketing and technology

Go to www.businessandleadership.com for related stories,news, features, reports, event listings, video reports andarchived material

Leadership online


HOME BUSINESS EXPORTING LEADERSHIP SMALL BUSINESS MARKETING APPOINTMENTS REPORTS EVENTS VIDEO MAGAZINES

Expanding Abroad?

Irish businesses in every sectorare looking at overseas markets. The opportunities are obvious – the pitfalls sometimes hidden.

Find out what youreally need to know.

Get your copy of ourdefinitive guide –

Expanding into BRICS available to download

at kpmg.ie

© 2012 KPMG, an Irish partnership and a member firm of the KPMG network of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. The KPMG name, logo and “cutting through complexity” are registered trademarks of KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved.


the issues

Addressing more than 600 people

at the Institute of Directors’

autumn lunch in the Burlington

Hotel on 14 September, President of

Ireland Michael D Higgins spoke of

the need for corporate governance

to transcend technical compliance.

He said corporate governance can

in many ways be regarded as a

moral compass to guide a compa-

ny’s actions. “It is a fundamental

part of the ethical infrastructure

that is required if good business

practices are to be sustained,” he

noted.

“As you know, many laws and

codes of conduct are already in

place and more are expected.

However, vigilance and commit-

ment will be required to ensure

that corporate governance is

regarded as more than an idealistic

aspiration or, worse, just another

piece of red tape to be complied

with.”

The President also spoke of the

importance of ethics to Ireland’s

recovery and renewal. “Having

experienced the failure of recent

years and endured the pain of its

consequences, returning to the sta-

tus quo ante is not a viable option –

neither morally nor in terms of its

practical workability. We need

together to imagine and devise an

economy that operates on ethical

principles, is inherently integrated

into a just society and allows all our

citizens to fairly participate in its

prosperity.”

In brief

European Commissionsuggests Governmentconsider all Budgetoptions

THE European Commission has urged

the Government to consider all options

for the forthcoming Budget.

It has suggested that Finance

Minister Michael Noonan should think

about targeting welfare payments and

broadening the tax base to protect the

poor.

Following the release of another €1bn

of funds for Ireland, the Commission

also warned of the significant challenges

facing the economy.

“These include the still large fiscal

deficit, the country's high and increas-

ingly long-term unemployment rate and

the high private sector debt overhang,”

it said it its report for the troika.

The banks’ failure to make profits

continues to endanger Ireland, it added.

The International Monetary Fund

and the Fiscal Advisory Council have

already urged the Government to recon-

sider promises not to increase income

tax or cut welfare in Budget 2013.

Trinity only Irish universityto make top 100IRELAND has just one representative

in this year’s QS World University

Rankings, with Trinity College Dublin

placed in 67th position. It’s a drop of two

places in the last year for Trinity, which

had a high in the rankings of equal 43rd

in 2009.

University College Dublin (UCD) is

ranked number 131 in the world in 2012,

up three positions from last year. In

2009, UCD was 89th in the rankings.

University College Cork fell nine

places in this year’s ranking to 190.

There was better news for NUI Galway,

which climbed 11 places from 298 last

year to 287 this year. DCU rose by two

places to 324. Queen’s University

Belfast, meanwhile, jumped from 193 to

166 in the last year.

President Michael DHiggins speaks ofrole of corporategovernance

President Michael D Higgins

My business needs Three.

My business needs efficiency.

ubyM ssenisu s

ubyM

ubyMsdeen

ssenisueerre

ssenisueicfifesse

s.yy.cne

eerre .e

the issues


Ireland has come 10th in a new

global index of the state of the web

in 61 countries around the world.

The study, which was launched

by Tim Berners-Lee (pictured

above) on behalf of the Web

Foundation, placed Sweden in first

place for putting the web to work,

followed by the US and the UK.

The top 10 is rounded out by

Canada, Finland, Switzerland, New

Zealand, Australia, Norway and

Ireland, respectively. Nepal is

placed bottom of the list, followed

by Cameroon, Mali, Bangladesh,

Namibia, Ethiopia, Benin, Burkino

Faso, Zimbabwe and Yemen.

According to the study, Ireland

outpaces all other countries in the

index in terms of the web’s effects

on its economy. It notes that

between 2007 and 2010, ICT serv-

ice exports accounted for 14.8pc of

GDP – exponentially ahead of any

other nation.

Ireland is ranked sixth for over-

all impact, 10th for the web and

11th for readiness.

However, the study states that

there is considerable room for

improvement in other areas. For

example, the political impact of the

web (21) in Ireland is substantially

lower than any of the countries in

the top 10, ranking below nations

including Chile, Colombia and

Egypt. According to the Web

Foundation, there is significant

scope for the Government to

increase the extent to which it

uses the web to engage and inter-

act with citizens.

Elsewhere, the study finds that

the web remains a largely

untapped resource in much of the

world, with only one in three peo-

ple using it globally and fewer than

one in six in Africa.

The index reveals that high

broadband prices and trends

toward censorship are major barri-

ers to making the web useful to all.

Almost 30pc of countries covered

by the index face moderate to

severe government restrictions on

access to websites, while about half

of them show increasing threats to

press freedom.

“The web is a global conversa-

tion,” said Berners-Lee. “Growing

suppression of free speech, both

online and offline, is possibly the

single biggest challenge to the

future of the web.”

In brief

Ireland climbs two placesin WEF competitivenessreportDESPITE concerns about the macro-

economic environment, Ireland has

jumped two positions to 27th place in

The Global Competitiveness Report

2012–2013, released recently by the

World Economic Forum (WEF). This

follows a slide in competitiveness for

Ireland from 22nd to 29th in recent

years.

According to this year's report,

Ireland continues to benefit from a

number of strengths, “including its

excellent health and primary educa-

tion (12th) and strong higher educa-

tion and training (20th), along with its

well-functioning goods and labour

markets, ranked ninth and 16th,

respectively”.

It says these attributes have fostered

a sophisticated and innovative busi-

ness culture, resulting in a ranking of

18th for business sophistication and

21st for innovation.

“Yet the country’s macroeconomic

environment continues to raise signif-

icant concern (131st), although mat-

ters seem to be moving in the right

direction following the Government’s

massive bailout of the banking sector.

Of related and continuing concern is

also Ireland’s financial market (108th),

although this seems to be tentatively

recovering since the trauma faced in

recent years.”

Elsewhere, Switzerland tops the

overall rankings for the fourth consec-

utive year, while Singapore remains in

second position and Finland overtakes

Sweden (fourth) for third position.

These and other northern and west-

ern European countries dominate the

top 10 with the Netherlands (fifth),

Germany (sixth) and UK (eighth).

The US (seventh), Hong Kong (ninth)

and Japan (10th) complete the ranking

of the top 10 most competitive

economies.

Ireland ranked 10th inTim Berners-Lee web index


eye on the economy

MODEL

MAKINGWith the current financial crisis sounprecented, how can new models of theIrish economy influence decisions in apositive way? Brendan Keenan reports


eye on the economy

It sounds like quite a job. The Central Bank and the

Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) are

looking for someone to head a team of researchers who

will develop “a suite ofmodernmacroeconomic/econometric

models of the Irish economy as a basis for informing

macroeconomic, monetary, financial sector and fiscal

policy decisions”.

Reading that sent a bit of a shiver down my spine –

and not because I’m thinking of applying. Rather

because it seemed to confirm the view espoused by

many commentators, at home and abroad, that existing

forecasting models may not work in the current

unprecedented circumstances.

The problem is that they are unprecedented. A model

of the economy is meant to be exactly that – a mathe-

matical description of how it works. It is constructed on

the basis of how the economy responded to different

conditions in the past. But if present conditions have no

real past parallels, can the model predict the effects

they will have?

The Central Bank/ESRI statement seemed to con-

firm this view – saying the project “is of critical impor-

tance to both organisations”, particularly in light of the

current challenges facing the economy. It may also

make sense if they both work off the same model.

The Irish economic crash was so profound – with a

10pc fall in real output, a bigger one in real national

income and an even bigger one in money income – that

perhaps no model could be expected to cope. But there

have been signs that forecasting is not up to the job in

other bigger economies, where the crash was not of

quite such apocalyptic proportions.

The US has both the biggest economy and the most

elaborate statistics and econometric models. Yet the

recovery has been both slower and different in charac-

ter than conventional forecasts would have said. This

has left US policy-makers in a quandary.

The August statement from the Federal Reserve

clearly implied doubts about the wisdom of another

round of money creation through quantitative easing

(QE). The US economy is growing; but, at 1.5pc, is well

below what is thought to be its natural rate of growth.

That natural or ‘trend’ figure is itself open to more

doubt than ever, given the length of the slowdown and

the possible changes in the responses of consumers and

investors as compared with the pre-crash world.

In such circumstances, would more QE do any good,

the Fed’s Open Market Committee seemed to be won-

dering. Given the hundreds of billions of dollars already

created and injected into the system, it would certainly

increase the risk of inflationary problems down the line.

Perhaps it is time to let things take their own course for

a while.

Overall, the US balance sheet recession may be worse

than that of the eurozone (although that is by no means

certain) but, because of the euro crisis, European con-

ditions have altered even more than those in the US.

There is no art to find that complexion in the existing

models.

German weakeningThe clear weakening of the German economy is a case

in point. One can see the causes on the export side, as

demand for German goods slows in the rest of the euro-

zone and in China.

But how much of the cooling in the domestic economy

is due to worries about the cost to Germany of meas-

ures to stabilise the euro? How does one quantify such

worries in a forecast?

In the less favoured parts of the eurozone, the

‘A whole range ofindicators, from

the Live Registerto credit card

spending, suggestthat the period of

contraction hascome to an end’

Brendan Keenan

eye on the economy


severity and length of austerity programmes, and the

concomitant recessions, play havoc with trying to find

answers to the question everyone asks – when are things

going to get better?

Even to attempt an answer requires a definition of

terms. Is ‘getting better’ the same as ‘not getting worse’?

If so, the signs of stabilisation in the economy could mean

the answer is that things are already getting better.

This is probably not what the questioners mean. They

are looking for forecasts of growth. Even so, the evidence

that the Irish economy is now bumping along, rather

than continuing to shrink, is important – not least

because it may give some inkling as to the course of

events, even with the doubts over existing models.

The evidence of bottoming out has become pretty

strong. A whole range of indicators, from the Live

Register to credit card spending, suggest that the peri-

od of contraction has come to an end. The timing may be

of more significance than the actual numbers.

It is just about four years from what one might date as

the start of the crash. This would seem to be in line with

historical experience that balance sheet recessions tend

to last 10 years or more, from peak to peak.

I was intrigued by an analysis in the last review from

Britain’s National Institute of Economic and Social

Research called ‘Fiscal Consolidation During a

Depression’. That is just what one would like to know

more about.

The UK economy is very different from Ireland’s. As

well as that, the Irish collapse in national income is far

steeper, and the debt burden much higher (although the

deficits are now much in the same league). So one could

not possibly extrapolate this research to the Irish case.

The authors of the report also note how sensitive the

results are to any change in assumptions about liquidity

constraints and wage behaviour. Nevertheless, they are,

as I say, intriguing.

On their assumptions, budget correction while the

economy is below par – which has been British govern-

ment policy – depresses output and raises unemploy-

ment for six years. Things pick up after that, but it takes

10 years before activity is back to where it would have

been had none of this happened.

Four years on, and allowing for all the uncertainties,

we can perhaps at least work on the assumption that

this is the timescale on which Ireland we must operate.

It is unconscionably long, and can be expected to be

longer here than in Britain, but it leaves the thought

that the answer to that question – when will things actu-

ally turn around – is that it may not be that much longer.

Nudge theoriesLars Frissell, the new chief economist at the Central

Bank, draws on his experience of the Scandinavian crash

to point out that it does not have to be a dramatic turn

to produce dramatic changes in feelings.

Frissell may be a fan of the fashionable ‘nudge’ theo-

ries, which look at how small changes can have big

effects. His business lecture to the Institute of Certified

Accountants suggested that “one more nudge” might tip

Ireland from the vicious cycle of declines to one of

increased confidence and investment, which starts the

“virtuous circle” of growth in the economy.

Nudges can work in both directions, of course, but

require that tipping point to have major effects. The

December Budget will undoubtedly be a nudge in the

wrong direction, but its contents are widely anticipated.

It will damage spending power and domestic demand,

but the lack of surprise may ensure its multiplier effect

beyond the actual nudge is limited.

A positive nudge, it would seem, can come only from

Europe. Even the prospect of being hanged at any time

– probably without warning – has not persuaded the

leaders of the eurozone to hang together. But they are

nudging towards it. A decisive move might provide

remarkable results to feed into those new models.

‘The December Budget willundoubtedly be a nudge in thewrong direction, but its contents arewidely anticipated’

Business in Ireland has undergone a major transformation

over the past four years. We have seen a severe down-

turn become a series of lengthy uncertainties for corpo-

rations in plotting their path forward. These uncertain-

ties are often out of the control of these businesses –

external factors such as global economic difficulty,

European financial crisis, equity market fluctuations,

currency fluctuations and fluctuations in commodity

prices.

However, there are positives to be taken from all of

this and here is what I will hypothesise: Ireland has

become a breeding ground for world-class corporate

leaders. This is the class of 2012 and these CEOs are

graduating.

As Ireland begins to stave off its recession and return

to moderate growth, despite export markets being effect-

ed upon dramatically, we are churning out many top

CEOs of the future.

While the skill set of CEOs varies widely depending on

the type of business they are in, there are two qualities

that truly separate the top CEOs from the rest: leader-

ship and strategic vision.

In today’s Ireland, managing uncertainty is a daily part

of any CEO’s workload. The role of the CEO is to take

analysed risks that will steer the corporation through

these uncertain times. The ability to identify threats and

react in an appropriate manner is often what separates

the top CEOs from the rest and makes the difference

between sustained profitability and corporate deficit.

The best CEOs are cognisant of the past, extremely

focused on the present and constantly aware of how the

future may unfold for his/her corporation.

All great CEOs are great leaders. They have the ability

to empower people so the decisions they make and the

actions taken are in line with the overall values and

strategy of the organisation. While these high calibre

people are proven in their analytical and decision-mak-

ing abilities, they understand the importance of setting

an example and inspiring the workforce to follow. Such

skills help ensure maximum output from all elements of

the corporation as the autonomy flows down from the

executive team, to directors, to managers and so on.

Corporations today must be prepared to cast their

nets far and wide when plotting their succession plan-

ning and ultimately sourcing a new CEO. When assess-

ing these contenders’ suitability, the same principles

apply: effective leadership and strategic vision.

John Harty is a director at executive search firm Harty International.


view from above in associationwith

IN

‘Ireland has become a breeding ground forworld-class corporate leaders. This is the classof 2012 and these CEOs are graduating’

from some of Ireland’s business leaders

JOHN HARTYon the qualities essential to today’s CEO


view from abovein associationwith

As the economy continues to remain soft in most

developed economies, the owners of small businesses lose

all discipline and focus they had when they created their

successful companies. Instead of being more disciplined

they tend to go after every potential opportunity. This is

a major problem because they dilute their already limited

resources and time by trying to do too much or be all

things to all people.

There are a number of underlying approaches or

behaviours that could help the business. Successful busi-

ness owners understand that the organisation they man-

age takes on the values and attitude of themselves or the

senior team in the organisation, and they strive to ensure

that their behaviours reflect this.

Be selfish. This means asking yourself how do you pro-

tect your time, energy, resources and money so you are

only spending them on those things that will take you

closer to your goals. This kind of selfishness allows a

small business owner to ensure their precious and dis-

tinctive resources are only being spent on activities that

benefit their company. They must stay focused on their

strengths and therefore the types of customers they

want and need to attract.

Be ruthlessly focused. If you are clear on the areas you

will be selfish about, you generate a clear focus, a sense of

purpose. There are two questions you must always ask

yourself: Is what I am doing taking me closer to my goal?

If not, why am I wasting my time?

Be disciplined. This means you will not abandon your

approach or objectives. Discipline has taught you that

business life is not smooth and there will be periods of

difficulty. Experience has taught you that by being disci-

plined, you can get through the tough spots.

Be persistent. If you are selfish, disciplined and focused,

your persistence allows you to see any unplanned obsta-

cles not as problems, but as opportunities. But not every-

one is aligned to your way of thinking. They see obstacles

and stop. You, as a business owner, should see obstacles

and opportunities. You need to keep your eyes clearly

fixed on your objectives and to try different things to

overcome these obstacles.

Take ownership. You cannot blame the market or the

economy or the Government or the EU or the IMF for

your problems. You must take ownership or you cannot

take action to address the problem. Taking ownership is

about change – making the change necessary to move

forward, changing behaviours that are not working and

dealing with the world as it is and not as you want it to

be. You own the outcome because you are clear about

where you want to go and you take ownership for it.

With this, you know that if you are not getting your desired

results, you can take action and change the outcome.

Success is dependent on the team’s effectiveness. All

successful people understand that their success comes

with, and through, other people. Successful people recog-

nise these individuals and appreciate them for their con-

tribution to the results. Understand who your best cus-

tomers are and treat them like gold dust. Determine who

will help you (employees, referrals, partners, business

associates, your board etc), why they will help you and

how you can help them.

Not all ideas are created equal. Most people have an

abundance of ideas and this is the problem. Ideas are

easy while translating to a business goal is the challenge.

Once they get selfish by focusing on one specific goal,

they can generate ideas that allow them to implement

their intelligent self-interest. Getting selfish is very

important here. It is also important to understand that

ideas typically come from others. Many people have a

great idea. They believe their idea will lead them to suc-

cess but they have no idea how to move forward. Or, they

have so many ideas that they cannot make up their

mind. Successful people know they need others to help

them implement their ideas.

Define success as taking action. Success, in the original

sense of the word, simply means to take action. When in

doubt, do something – anything. Successful people under-

stand that they can always correct something that is not

working. They also understand they cannot correct an

action that is not taken. They are not success. Success,

simply defined, is taking action. When you take action

you can achieve the outcomes of success.

Seamus McGardle is managing director of SRI Executive Searchand an IoD member.

SEAMUS MCGARDLEon the road to business recovery

view from above in associationwith

funds europe

awards2011

European Advisor

Over the past decade there has been a greater focus on

the boardroom and increased pressure on board members.

Crisis management, reputational risk and an increase in

boardroom-shareholder engagement have made the role

more demanding. These changes, alongside increased

scrutiny from shareholders, regulators and other stake-

holders, have made the job of the board also more chal-

lenging than ever.

While many non-executive directors (NEDs) feel chal-

lenged by the complexity of the business and the demands

associated with the increased involvement, influence and

responsibility the role now brings, there is a downside. In

particular, a recent PwC survey showed that the time

commitment for NEDs has risen on average from 20 to 24

days per annum. This, however, has not been matched by

a corresponding increase in fees; with those surveyed sug-

gesting a 25pc increase would be appropriate. With less

time and increasing reputational risk, NEDs are being

more selective about roles they take on.

The composition and selection of board members is also

in a state of flux. Attention has shifted from purely focus-

ing on the independence of NEDs to ensuring that the

board has the appropriate range of experience, knowledge

and skills. Best practice now places greater emphasis on

appointing directors against objective criteria, taking into

account the benefits of diversity when considering the

composition and selection of new members of the board.

Boards need the right combination of skills and

experience – and to be alert to the fact that the right

combination changes over time.

Given the heightened levels of trans-

parency and scrutiny, NEDs now face an

ever-evolving landscape, which will

require them to focus on understand-

ing the scope of their responsibilities

and engaging in a considered process

to discharge those responsibilities

thoughtfully and thoroughly.

Gerard McDonagh is director, humanresource services, PwC.

GERARD MCDONAGHon the changing landscape fornon-executive directors

‘Boards need the rightcombination of skills andexperience’

Overlooking Lisloughrey Quay and Lough Corrib, the stunning hotel dating from 1865 cleverly

maintains the traditional charm of a country house whilst embracing the comfort, luxury and

contemporary style of a four-star hotel.

The winner and their guest will enjoy two nights’ accommodation in one of the hotel’s individually

designed and beautifully furnished suites, with a bottle of bubbly on arrival, breakfast each morning

and dinner on the evening of your choice in Wilde’s Restaurant, whose head chef Jonathan Keane

was recently nominated for Food &Winemagazine’s Best Chef in Connacht award.

With fabulous food, scenic walks, boat trips on the lake, horse riding and a hot-tub for relaxing in,

there will be plenty to fill your time. Or you can simply while away some quiet hours sitting next to

the open fires and enjoying the stunning views surrounding you.

Lisloughrey Lodge in Mayo also offers a sophisticated venue for hi-tech business events, off-site

planning, corporate meetings, gala banquets and private receptions. The beautifully designed and

flexible meeting spaces can adapt perfectly to your requirements, from small private meetings to

larger conferences and events.

See the unique venue for yourself at www.lisloughreylodge.com.

To enter this competition, send the answer to the following question, with your name, address

and phone number to [email protected] by 31 October 2012:

What county in Ireland is Lisloughrey Lodge located?

*The prize is subject to availability and non-transferable

Irish Directormagazine is treating one of our valued readers to a wonderfully luxurious break in oneof Ireland’s most historic, and beautifully situated retreats – Lisloughrey Lodge, Cong, County Mayo*

WIN a luxury weekend break for twoat Lisloughrey Lodge, County Mayo

Lisloughrey Lodge, Cong, CountyMayo. T: 094 954 5400 W: www.lisloughreylodge.com


director profile

Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair’s former director of communicationsand strategy, shares his views on leadership and 10-point plan forsuccess with Grainne Rothery

As press secretary and director of communications and

strategy between 1994 and 2003, Alastair Campbell was

Tony Blair’s right-hand man and widely considered to be

the second most powerful person in Britain for much of

this time. He’s credited with being one of the main strate-

gists behind the plan that brought ‘New Labour’ to power

in 1997 and kept the party in government for three terms.

He’s also been a highly controversial figure over the

years. The former journalist had a combative – some-

times described as bullying – relationship with the media

during his time as Blair’s spokesman. He resigned from

his role in August 2003 during the Hutton Inquiry into

the death of Ministry of Defence employee David Kelly,

who had been named as a source in reports that the

British government had “sexed up” a dossier on Saddam

Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction to strengthen the

case for war against Iraq. Campbell said at the time that

his resignation was not related to the Hutton Inquiry and

that he wanted to get a life back for himself and his family.

Responding to his departure, Blair said the picture

painted of Campbell by parts of the media had always

been a caricature. “The Alastair Campbell I know is an

immensely able, fearless, loyal servant of the cause he

believes in, who was dedicated not only to that cause, but

to his country. He is a strong character who can make

enemies, but those who know him best, like him best.”

Blair said Campbell’s contribution to modernising the

Labour Party and its electoral success had been enormous.

These days Campbell, who is a Cambridge graduate of

modern languages, is a writer – The Burden of Power, his

eighth book and the fourth volume of his diaries, was pub-

lished during the summer – as well as being a regular

speaker, consultant, journalist and charity fundraiser. In

May, he took up a part-time role as a strategic consultant

at PR firm Portland, his first in-house communications

job since 2003.

He is currently chairman of fundraising for Leukaemia

& Lymphoma Research and also works to raise awareness

of mental health issues. He has written about his own

experience of depression, including what he has described

as a “pretty heavy nervous breakdown in 1986”.

He describes himself as passionate about sport and has

written about various sports for a number of publications,

including The Irish Times. He was also communications

advisor to the British and Irish Lions tour of New

Zealand in 2005.

The 10-point planIt was in his role as a speaker that he visited Dublin

recently to address an An Post breakfast briefing, during

which he outlined his 10-point plan for success. Campbell

has been carrying around a card in his pocket with this

plan, or a variation of it, since the mid-1990s. “They change

a bit, but eight out 10 of these points have stayed the same,”

he says.

The first of these he describes as OST – objective, strat-

egy and tactics. To illustrate the point, he recalls Bill

Clinton talking to Blair on the phone about Russia and the

Northern Ireland peace process on the day the Starr

Report was published. Campbell says he was hugely

impressed by Clinton’s ability to focus at such a difficult

time and asked him about this a few years later in a TV

MASTERin communications


director profile

I’m happy I did itbut I wasn’t happy a lot of the time’

director profile


interview. “And he said, ‘I had a very, very clear objective:

surviving. The strategy was to get up every day, focus on

those things that only I can do because I was the president,

and my tactics were to make sure that the American peo-

ple knew what I was doing’.

“Set the objective, then do the strategy and only then go

tactical,” says Campbell. “I think that’s the most important

thing for any organisation. When I was a journalist it was

different because you’re covering different things every

day and that’s what news in a sense is about. Politics and

business are much more about how you set the medium to

long-term objectives, then you define the strategy and only

then do you go tactical.”

Campbell’s next point on the list is BB – be bold. “Eleven

days after the first election in 1997, Tony Blair arrived

down to his office and said, ‘I’ve worked out how to do

Northern Ireland’, and we laughed. The truth is he had.

He’d worked out objective – peace, some kind of settle-

ment; and strategy – we were going to start talks with

Sinn Féin and with terrorist groupings without any pre-

conditions.

“One of the reasons we won three elections was because

of the boldness of New Labour and because of the boldness

of Bank of England independence, which governments had

talked about for decades, and we did on the first day of

government. It was the single most important decision for

signalling to the public that we had changed. We under-

stood that economic credibility was the most important

thing that we had to try to build.”

Next up on his list is BA – be authentic. “A lot of what

we did became known as spin. But I think what we were

trying to do was strategic communications in this

maelstrom of media change. I saw my job as trying to deliver

a message over time.

“What I think is extraordinary about the new world of

communications is that there’s been a breakdown in trust

of a lot of big institutions: politics – people don’t trust

politicians in the way that they used to and people don’t

trust the media in the way they used to. So who do people

trust? The answer is people still trust each other. They

trust family and they trust friends and colleagues. So I

think if you’re trying to deliver a message, that message is

only going to work if there is a sense that there is a vaguely

authentic relationship between sender and recipient.”

His fourth point is YSTA – you set the agenda. Campbell

claims that the ratio of positive to negative stories in

British newspapers changed from 3:1 in 1974 to 1:18 in

2003. The media has a pervasive culture of negativity, he

says. “You deal with this by seizing control of the agenda

yourself.”

His fifth piece of advice is TLTP – the best team lead-

ers are the best team players. “Team work is fundamental

to everything we do and the best team leaders are the best

team players. I’m not interested in sport just because I like

the spectacle. I didn’t go on the Lions tour just because I

wanted to hang around with a load of rugby players. It’s

amazing what you can learn from watching really effective

sporting organisations and how you apply that to business

and to other walks of life.”

Campbell runs through his final five points quickly: SCC

– stay calm in a crisis; LBL – listen but lead; and GGOOB

– get good out of bad: “In other words, every setback is an

opportunity”.

Number nine is HAP – get your head above the parapet

and communicate in times of crisis. “The banks have been

so bad at explaining, ‘Yes we were part of the problem, but

we’re a very big part of the solution and here’s how we’re

going to do it’. It’s not very difficult, but none of them in

my view are doing it.”

His final point is VTV – visualise the victory. “When

you’re engaged in a campaign think about how it feels at

the end. If you don’t, you won’t have sense of where it’s

going to go.”

Leadership skillsUnsurprisingly, Campbell describes the ability to communicate

as a vital attribute for leadership in the modern age. “Tony

Haywood of BP is probably a very good chief executive in

lots of ways, but when the crisis struck at Deepwater, it

became apparent that communication wasn’t his thing

and every time he spoke he seemed to make it worse.

“You’ve also got to be able to build a team and that’s

about judgement of people and the ability to make people

work together when they might not want to. It’s having a

vision, knowing the difference between strategy and tac-

tics, being able to build a team, being able to explain what

you’re doing in an inspiring way, and it’s being able to take

decisions and stick to them.”

Far left: Alastair Campbell with chef Domini Kemp

Left: Amie Peters, head of direct mail, An Post

director profile

He lists Rupert Murdoch, Willie Walsh and Richard

Branson among the business leaders he admires. “If you’re

talking about an example of charismatic, authoritative

leadership, you’d have to say Rupert Murdoch has that.

One of the reasons they haven’t dealt with this crisis very

well is because people never challenged him and they didn’t

want to take him bad news. He’d be an example of some-

one who had real leadership skills and qualities but actu-

ally they’ve been his downfall.

“I’m a bit of an admirer of Willie Walsh’s style of leader-

ship, but lots of people would say he’s too abrasive. In cri-

sis management, the launch of Terminal 5 was a disaster,

but I thought he handled that really, really well.

“In terms of communication and charisma, Richard

Branson is someone who has built his organisation steadily,

innovatively, always developing, and he’s very much part of

the brand.”

At the other end of the scale, the bankers get another

mention. “These guys are very clever, on multimillion

pound salaries and they can’t explain their way out of a

paper bag. It just amazes me. How does that happen? You

know when you see businesses that are suddenly in the

public eye, and you see them explaining and you wonder

how did that guy get where he is? But the truth is, he’s

probably very good at what he does in his day job. But they

think communication is somehow different. It should be

part of what they do.”

Achievements and failuresSo what does he believe has been his biggest achievement

to date? “If you look at what people say about me, they

always talk about spin, which I think is overblown,” he

replies. “But I think I did bring an understanding of the

modern media and modern communication and help the

Labour Party win three elections and help Tony Blair be a

really good prime minister. But I don’t think I should over-

state that. Ultimately, being the prime minister, that’s the

person who really matters.

“But there are two areas where I think the communica-

tions were central to the achievement: Northern Ireland is

one of them and Kosovo is the other one. I’m not saying

they’re my achievements, because they’re not. It’s about

Tony Blair, it’s about Bertie Ahern, Bill Clinton, John

Major and Albert Reynolds before, it’s about all the civil

servants and soldiers, it’s about all those people.

“It really saddens me that Bertie’s got this very negative

reputation in Ireland now because I thought he was great.

I remember when my first book came out, he gave a little

speech at the launch and said there were times when it

was the media operation that kept the show on the road

because we just had to find the narrative to give the lead-

ers the space and the time to do the difficult things they

needed to do.”

And his biggest failure? “I think it has to be in this area

of how the whole spin thing got out of control,” says

Campbell. I think there must have been things that we

could have done differently.

“Apart from that, on the big picture, what were we try-

ing to do? We were trying to get elected. We were trying

to stay in power for longer than one term and

communications was a part of that. I think most of the

time we did a pretty good job.”

Campbell recently took part in a radio programme

where he was asked to pick his Road to Damascus

moment, when he felt his life changed forever. “The

moment I picked was when I was told John Smith was

dead. One, because I can remember it so vividly. Two,

because I had this insight almost immediately: Tony Blair’s

the next leader of the Labour Party and I’ll work for him.

We’d never talked about it but I had this feeling really

strongly.”

When he was subsequently invited to be Blair’s press

secretary, he spent a month thinking about it, while his

partner Fiona Millar and their friends Neil and Glenys

Kinnock tried to persuade him not to take the job. His

decision to accept was influenced by two scenarios that

kept coming into his head, he says. “In one of them, John

Major is walking into Downing Street after the election

and I’m in the press pen wondering if I could have made a

difference. In the second, Tony Blair is walking in and I’m

thinking I could have been part of that.

“When I look back, I’m happy I did it but I wasn’t happy

a lot of the time,” Campbell concludes.

“To me happiness is not about how you feel in the

moment; it’s about what your life is like over time. I can

look back at that time and say it’s the best and most

important thing I did in my whole life and I’m really glad

I did it.”

‘I think I did bring an understandingof the modern media and modern

communication and help the Labour Partywin three elections and help Tony Blair

be a really good prime minister’



one to watch

‘I had already done market researchtapping the brains of farm managersand it looked like this product would beuseful for them’

in associationwith

Equine

It’s less than two years since Dr Barbara Murphy, now

head of equine science at University College Dublin

(UCD), began to develop her novel light therapy solu-

tion, the Equilume light mask, designed to help max-

imise the reproductive efficiency of thoroughbred mares.

Since then, she’s managed to build a prototype, success-

fully test the mask, secure substantial grant funding and

win Enterprise Ireland’s prestigious 2012 One to Watch

award.

Murphy is now working with that agency to build a

UCD spin-out company around the technology, which

will be called Equilume Ltd.

Her invention is used to advance the breeding season

in thoroughbred mares so their foals are born as close as

possible to their universal birthday of 1 January. This is

commercially important to breeders as foals born earli-

er in the year usually command higher prices when they

are sold on due to a size and age advantage over animals

born later.

Mares, however, become reproductively active when

they are exposed to increased levels of light, ie during

the summer months, and with a gestation period of 11

months, will naturally foal between April and October.

The hormone melatonin is produced in the dark and

inhibits the animal’s reproductive activity during the

winter.

Light limits melatonin levels and keeping mares

indoors under artificial lights until 11pm has long been

used to encourage them to breed earlier.

Murphy’s technology will allow breeders to keep their

mares outside in their natural environment while a spe-

cial light in the mask adjusts their cycle. In addition to

the horses being in a healthier environment, it is

estimated that the breeders can save around €1,400 a

season per animal on the costs associated with indoor

maintenance, including labour, bedding and artificial

light.

There’s a huge potential market: in Ireland alone,

10,000 foals are born every year in the thoroughbred

industry, which is worth €1bn to the Irish economy.

Other uses of the mask include reducing extended ges-

tation lengths in mares due to foal early in the year,

treating ‘horse jet lag’ and enabling competition horses

to shed their winter coats earlier in time for the start of

the show circuit.

Origins of the inventionMurphy traces the seeds of the idea for her invention

back to her PhD studies at the University of Kentucky.

She joined a reproduction laboratory where her supervi-

sor was looking at mare seasonality and she started

focusing on daily rhythms in horses and melatonin.

She was initially interested in the effect of melatonin

on jet lag in horses. “If we can regulate melatonin we can

keep the animal in synch with the environment,” she

explains. “That’s when it came to me – wouldn’t it be

cool to have lights on horses that were on a timer that

we could control.”

When she finished her PhD, she moved to UCD and

began applying for grants to enable her to test her idea

of preventing jet lag in racehorses but was not success-

ful in securing funding.

“Then I thought, well what else can we use light therapy

for? Could a device such as this have more practical


one to watch

Developing a novel product for the multi-billion euro thoroughbredhorse industry – and having the business plan to back it up – hasresulted in Dr Barbara Murphy winning Enterprise Ireland’s 2012One to Watch award

in associationwith

one to watch


relevance in other aspects of the industry? Because I

had worked in the thoroughbred industry in Kentucky

and in Ireland, I was very aware of the use of light ther-

apy to advance seasonality in the mare.”

While she says she didn’t consider it to be a particu-

larly great idea, she decided to give it a go anyway. “I

joined the Campus Company Development Programme

[CCDP] at NovaUCD to see if it could be translated into

a commercial application.”

While on the programme, she focused on testing out

her theory and developing a business plan, which earned

her a runner up spot last November in the NovaUCD

2011 Start-Up Awards.

Testing, testingShe explains that research into light therapy in the

1980s discovered that a mare’s cycle could be altered by

putting it in a stall with enough light to read a newspa-

per. “It worked and they didn’t do any more testing. I

wanted to know what is the minimum light intensity

required and whether you’d give light to one or two eyes.”

She began testing in April 2011 at UCD’s Lyons

Research Farm in Co Kildare. Early on, she discovered

she could inhibit melatonin by very low level light to one

eye. “That got me thinking that this could really work,

because leaving mares outside with lights on both eyes

probably wouldn’t be safe.”

She applied for a commercial case feasibility grant

from Enterprise Ireland and used the €15,000 to make

prototypes. “I had already done market research tapping

the brains of farm managers and it looked like this prod-

uct would be useful for them.”

She enlisted the help of the electrical engineering

department in UCD and made 80 light masks, each with

one LED blue light to one eye and operated on a timer.

“I needed to test them on non-pregnant mares but I

also had a theory that they could be good for pregnant

mares,” she says. Kentucky horse racing stable Castleton

Lyons, which is now managed by Shane Ryan, agreed to

let her test the masks on a group of mares that weren’t

scheduled to breed the next year.

The research found no difference between the repro-

ductive activity of a group of mares wearing the light

masks and a group that was kept inside under lights. “So

it had succeeded in advancing the breeding season,” says

Murphy. “That was really exciting.”

In Ireland Murphy has been working Dermot

Cantillon, owner/manager of three stud farms, including

Tinakill House in Co Laois, and highly respected in the

industry. Cantillon provided her with eight mares to test

out her theory that light therapy would also reduce the

gestation length for pregnant animals. Mares have an

average 11-month pregnancy and to avoid having a later

foaling date the following year, farm managers have a

one-month window to get them back in foal. According

to Murphy, 20pc of all thoroughbred mares that foaled

in 2010 went nearly to a year or longer.

“That’s major economic frustration for the breeder as

the foals are being born a month later each year until

the breeder decides to rest the mare for a year. If you’ve

a means to keep that window tighter you’re going to

have more live foals over the lifetime of the mare.”

In the test on Cantillon’s mares, an average of 12 days

was knocked off their usual gestation length.

Cantillon himself believes the Equilume light mask

has enormous potential for many breeds and categories

of horses. “I have been excited since being introduced to

the concept and having used the masks during this

year’s breeding season, I am very confident that they

will be a major worldwide commercial success.”

“Dermot has been great because he’s very important

in the industry and people listen to him,” says Murphy.

Enterprise Ireland grantMurphy recently received a commercialisation grant

from Enterprise Ireland for €220,000 to carry out final

testing and to make the prototype so the product can be

tested on a larger scale in the coming season. “The plan

is that I’ll perfect the business plan and get people on

board so it’s investor ready by June next year, when we

hope to launch. Hopefully we should have our first sales

by next autumn.”

Far left: Minister for Innovation Sean SherlockTD with Dr Keith O'Neill, director of life sciencesand food research commercialisation, EnterpriseIreland

Left: Dr Barbara Murphy

in associationwith

‘Because I had worked in the thoroughbredindustry in Kentucky and in Ireland,I was very aware of the use of lighttherapy to advance seasonality in the mare’

The intention is for the product to be maintenance

free. “Once you activate the lighting, every day it’ll come

on at 4.30pm, just before dusk, and it’ll stay on until

11pm every night. When you activate it on 1 December,

it’ll keep going until the end of the season. It will be

lithium battery operated for the moment. A light sensor

will detect when light levels drops and it will come on

automatically. As the season progresses, it’ll be on for a

shorter time as the days get longer. So it will conserve

energy that way.

“The idea business-wise – and I have to finesse this a

lot more – is that it will be a service contract agreement,

so it will be an annual fee for use, with replacement or

upgrade each year. The battery will only last for one sea-

son and will be only replaceable with us. It’s important

that we stay in close contact initially with our clients in

the thoroughbred industry so we can provide feedback

and monitor the breeding efficiency in the initial years.”

She anticipates that the annual fee will be up to €400.

Winning the Enterprise Ireland award was a big sur-

prise, she says. “I didn’t even know I had been nominated.

It’s received a lot of publicity, which is really good. I’m

getting emails from all over the world enquiring about it

for different applications.”

When she won the prize, she was congratulated by

Minister for Innovation Sean Sherlock, who said her

story is “an inspiring example of how great ideas can be

converted into valuable products with the potential to

revolutionise an entire industry”.

Dr Keith O’Neill, director of life sciences and food

research commercialisation at Enterprise Ireland, noted

that she had used the funding provided by the agency to

demonstrate that her invention works, and to cultivate

contacts in the industry who can help her trial the tech-

nology. “Enterprise Ireland is continuing to work with

Dr Murphy to build a spin-out company to access an ini-

tial total addressable market estimated to be in excess of

€60m,” he said.

Apart from spinning out the company, Murphy’s plan

for the future is to continue carrying out research to

increase the functionality of the mask. She wants man-

ufacturing of the mask to remain in Ireland and hopes

to employ 10 people within six years.

“And I’m actively seeking a potential CEO right now. I

will remain in my position as head of equine science at

UCD and continue to teach the programme here. But I

would like to have the scientific officer/technical officer

position.

“And I’m going to go back to my jet lag theory. I have

a grant application into Science Foundation Ireland and

I’m really hoping that they fund it this time. Now we

have the tool to actually test.”

one to watchin associationwith

Private Banking

C a l l + 3 5 3 1 6 3 7 8 6 0 0www.pr ivatebanking. ie

Bank of Ireland Private Banking Limited is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. Bank of Ireland Private Banking Limited is a member of Bank of Ireland Group. RC055-12.

Think about your financial future. Then, see the bigger picture.

W E A L T H M A N A G E M E N T A N D A D V I C E


financial services

As one of the prime platforms for generatingservices exports in Ireland, Constantin Gurgdievlooks back at 25 years of the IFSC

milestone


Since the beginning of the Great Recession, the only

consistent official economic policy aiming to achieve a

recovery in Ireland has focused on promoting exports-

oriented manufacturing and services.

In the last four years, Ireland has delivered a reversal of

the current account deficit to a modest surplus in the

years since the onset of the crisis. This net positive is

underpinned by three core drivers: a rapid and deep con-

traction in imports; a substantial growth in core MNC-

dominated sectors, excluding pharmaceuticals and organ-

ic chemicals; and a robust growth in services exports,

heavily concentrated in ICT and international financial

services.

Amidst the ongoing euro area financial and debt crises

heavily weighing on fiscal and banking balance sheets in

Ireland, Cyprus, Spain, Italy, Austria, Belgium, the

Netherlands and even Germany, this year’s 25th anniver-

sary of the IFSC should be marked as a recognition of a

real success story. This success is reflected not only in the

contrasting fortunes of the domestic financial services,

but also in the fact that IFSC-style structures are cur-

rently being replicated in such diverse undertakings as

green finance, data analytics and remote health services.

Economic contributorPut simply, the IFSC is the prime platform for the Irish

services exports generation, comparable in its importance

only to the booming ICT services sector.

In 2011, the latest year for which data is available, the

IFSC attracted twice the amount of Ucits funds as the

rest of the euro area combined. In Q4 2011, as the rest of

the Irish economy was teetering on the brink of a double-

dip recession, inflow of funds into the IFSC was running

at five times the level of the rest of the EA17 put togeth-

er. Overall, some €62bn in Ucits funds were domiciled in

Ireland in 2011 – almost €50bn more than the world’s sec-

ond most attractive destination, the UK.

Last year, the IFSC services credit account rose to

€21.2bn from €20.4bn in 2010, and is now up nine-fold

compared to the levels attained in 1998, outstripping

cumulative increases in all other services sectors in

Ireland. In comparison, since 1998, the merchandise cred-

it account rose only 96pc.

The IFSC remains a large net positive contributor to

the Irish external balances: in 2010 and 2011, the cumu-

lated IFSC external trade surplus (difference between

exports and imports of services and current transfers

income) stood at €8.5bn. At the same time, our overall

external surplus in 2010–2011 was less than €890m.

Between 1998 and 2011 our current account surplus fell

165pc, while the IFSC surplus rose by 208pc.

The importance of the IFSC over the years in driving

our trade and income is hard to overestimate. Between

1998 and 2011, the IFSC delivered a cumulative surplus of

€55.9bn to the Irish economy, against a cumulative cur-

rent account deficit for all sectors combined of €37.9bn

(see charts 1 and 2).

In addition, the IFSC acts as a major conduit for invest-

ment into Ireland. On the direct investment side of the

capital accounts, the IFSC experienced rather volatile

changes in recent years. Going into the crisis period, IFSC

companies’ direct investment in Ireland stood at €5.1bn in

2007, less than a quarter of the total investment in

Ireland of €22.4bn. In 2010, IFSC-driven investment

accelerated to virtually match overall investment in

Ireland and in 2011 IFSC direct investment in Ireland

reached €16.1bn, well ahead of all other direct investment,

which amounted to €9.43bn.

Domiciling locationAnalysis of the current IFSC-based activities clearly

shows both the continued strengths of the centre as a

domiciling location for major banking and finance opera-

tions, and the changes in the sector since the onset of the

global financial crisis.

In the banking sub-sector, Deutsche Bank AG current-

ly plays a dominant role in the IFSC with sales of €26.4bn

in 2010 and declared profit before tax (PBT) of €326m.

Second and third leading banking institutions are Depfa

Bank PLC (sales of €4.18bn and before tax loss of €680m

due to ongoing restructuring operations in 2010) and

Bankinter SA (sales of €3.036bn and profit of €346m in

2010).

This is the sector that is currently under sustained

global regulatory and operational pressures, which can

serve as an opportunity for the IFSC. In particular,

shrinking global margins and continued pressure on

funding models offer an opportunity for Ireland to devel-

op ICT-intensive analytics and other back-office opera-

tions, and to attract new functions and institutions to

domicile in Dublin.

The core threat to this is the possibility of

financial services

CHART 1: Current accounts: merchandise, services ex-IFSC, IFSC,credit, € millions. Source: CSO, 2012 and author’s own calculations


financial services

over-extending the regulatory and supervisory tightening

that is required for the functioning of the domestic bank-

ing system to the IFSC facilities. Another threat is the

emergence of severe shortages of qualified personnel and

rising cost of attracting key personnel into IFSC.

The latter pressures have been ameliorated, to some

extent, by Budget 2012 provisions for tax relief to key for-

eign personnel. However, more is required for Ireland to

capture emerging opportunities in the area. In particular,

there is an acute need to revise excessively bureaucratic

and restrictive practices in granting work permits to

younger, highly skilled graduates in the areas where

Ireland lacks competencies. There is also a need to rebal-

ance the existing personal income taxation system to

reduce disincentives to human capital-endowed employ-

ees from locating to Ireland.

In the reinsurance sub-sector, the dominant IFSC play-

er is Scor International Reinsurance Ireland, with sales of

€1.77bn in 2010 and PBT of €340.06m. It is ranked fourth

overall within the IFSC. Canada Life International Re,

ranked fifth in the overall IFSC rankings, is the second

largest reinsurance provider with sales of €1.63bn and

PBT of €199.21m in 2010. The third largest reinsurance

company is Hannover Life Reassurance (IRL) with sales

of €479.5m and PBT of €8.01m in 2008.

Insurance sector representation in the IFSC is led by

De Lage Landen Ireland with sales of €914.64m in 2010

and PBT of €95.25m, followed by Eureko Captive

Management Services with sales of €849.93m and PBT of

€130,000 in 2010. Cattolica Life Ltd is the third largest

insurance undertaking present in the IFSC with sales of

€135.96m and PBT of €4.13m in 2010, and is ranked as the

22nd company in the overall IFSC rankings.

The insurance and reinsurance sub-sectors remain

strong players in the IFSC and preserving their position,

as well as allowing for future growth, should be a priority

to the policy-makers. As with the banking sector, the

growing importance of data analytics in cost manage-

ment, risk analytics and pricing, and new product devel-

opment means that the insurance and reinsurance sub-

sectors of the IFSC can benefit from enhanced incentives

to domicile into Ireland these emerging core functions.

Monte Paschi Ireland Ltd is the largest treasury

operation present in the IFSC with sales of €462.2m in

2010 and PBT of €98.55m, is 11th in the overall IFSC

rankings by sales. Securitas Treasury, Ireland (sales of

€87.03m and PBT of €80.24m) and Porsche International

Financing plc (sales of €57.4m and profit of €50m in 2010)

are the second and third largest treasury operations,

respectively.

The fund management segment of the IFSC is led by

Citibank Europe PLC with sales of €21.32bn in 2010 and

PBT of €556.79m and a ranking of sixth overall amongst

IFSC companies. Baring International Fund Managers is

ranked No 2 in the segment, with sales of €163.49m and

PBT of €2.69m in 2010, while Prime Edge Capital PLC is

third with sales of €86.95m in 2010.

Currently, the IFSC is the top ranked destination

worldwide for servicing of specialist Ucits and hedge funds

with some 40pc of global hedge funds serviced out of

Ireland, and the second largest general Ucits servicing

location after Luxembourg. Activities in the funds sector

are growing across all core sectors, including equity, fixed

income and money markets.

‘The importance of the IFSCover the years in driving ourtrade and income is hard tooverestimate’

CHART 2: Current accounts: net surpluses/deficits, IFSC v totals,€ millions. Source: author’s own calculations based on CSO, 2012


financial services

According to Lipper’s Ireland Fund Encyclopaedia, by

mid-2011 the number of funds serviced in the IFSC rose

to 6,412, from 6,116 the previous year. At the end of May

2012, the IFSC-based funds sector has reached a mile-

stone with funds under servicing rising to over €2trn,

based on data from the Irish Funds Industry Association.

The demand for IFSC funds domiciling is rising on the

foot of the global trends of on-shoring and parallel listing

of funds.

Strengths and threatsThe IFSC’s success in these areas is based on a number of

factors. Perhaps surprisingly, given the current state of

the domestic financial services, the Irish regulatory model

remained robust with regard to the IFSC operations. In

addition, the presence of a common law legal system and

the clustering effect of having industries operating from

the IFSC base for 25 years all contribute positively to the

centre’s strength.

Another core strength of the IFSC is continued support

from the regulatory and policy co-ordination that is

established under the informal structure of the IFSC

Clearing House Group (CHG), under the co-ordination of

the Department of the Taoiseach.

This, and other trends, can support the Government

2011 Strategy for the International Financial Services

Industry, which aims to increase IFSC employment levels

by 10,000 by 2016.

As the IFSC marks its 25th anniversary, global financial

services are undergoing dramatic regulatory and supervi-

sory changes. Increased emphasis on transparency,

accountability and proper financial and risk-prudential

governance and systems, as well as data reporting, stress-

testing and monitoring, and a number of other more sub-

sectoral level reforms are welcome and will undoubtedly

strengthen the sector. They will also present new oppor-

tunities for growing the IFSC-based activities and inward

investment into Ireland.

However, some core threats to the IFSC’s competitive-

ness are currently emerging. These include the well-

intentioned, but mal-informed desire to extend the social

economy model to the specialist sector, such as

international finance, by introducing elements of the

social partnership into the model of sectoral governance

and oversight.

In the US, the upcoming implementation of the Foreign

Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) represents a huge

challenge for many international operators. Addressing

this will require more than a simple compliance with the

US codes, but a proactive approach in strengthening

Ireland’s IFSC as a tax-compliant and low-cost reporting

centre.

The continued euro area debt crisis, of which Ireland

was one of the first victims, is likely to present new chal-

lenges to the IFSC’s excessive focus on the European mar-

kets. It is imperative for the IFSC and Irish exporters

overall to aggressively expand their footholds in new and

often non-traditional geographies of Asia-Pacific and

Latin America in order to reflect the ongoing re-orienta-

tion of trade and capital flows away from the traditional

north-south-north ones towards rapid expansion of activ-

ities within the middle income and emerging economies.

Already present and continued restrictions on some

trading and investment activities – most notably relating

to shorting of securities that act to reduce efficiency of

price discovery and liquidity in the markets – are likely to

hinder further development of advanced, product-related

trading and analytics activities in IFSC.

The proposals to introduce a harmonised and transac-

tionally restrictive financial services transaction tax

across the euro area member states represent a major

threat to both the volumes of current activity in the IFSC

and to future investment in the area of professional serv-

ices exports in Ireland.

Continued outward migration of back-office operations

from the IFSC to lower cost locations in India, China and

elsewhere in Asia is currently impacting adversely on

funds accounting and auditing functions.

Finally, emerging shortages of key talent and the rising

cost of sourcing such talent into Ireland represent per-

haps the greatest immediate threat to the IFSC growth

and development in years to come.

Dr Constantin Gurdgiev is adjunct professor of

finance at Trinity College Dublin.


new frontiers

Security systems company Netwatch is pursuinga strategy of international expansion and acontinued focus on R&D to achieve ambitiousgrowth targets, writes Sorcha Corcoran

SafetyThe presence of former Boston police commissioner Kathleen O’Toole on itsboard along with An Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD speaking at the opening of itsBoston office last February have added “incredible layers of credibility” forNetwatch in the US market, according to co-founder David Walsh.

The first female police commissioner of Boston, O’Toole moved to Ireland in2006 and recently completed a six-year term as chief inspector of An GardaSíochána Inspectorate.

“In that role Kathleen had been looking at ideas to modernise the force andmake it more efficient,” says Walsh. “A mutual friend put us in touch with herand she came down to look at our operation in Carlow. She loved the culture andthe accountability of what we do and found our investment in research and devel-opment unique for a services provider.

“Kathleen has experience of different police forces and security councils aroundthe world and has worked as a consultant to the Qatar government. The fact thatshe has joined our board has really raised our profile in the US and her experi-ence is invaluable.”

When Walsh founded Netwatch with Niall Kelly in 2003, their vision includedtargeting the US market one day and this became reality two years ago.

“The hardest part about entering the US market is the first flight. Once we goton the ground we made progress. Winning business is very similar to our experi-ence in Ireland. It involved knocking on doors, contacting clients in the motorindustry, factories, farming – essentially starting from scratch,” explains Walsh.

“We opened our Boston office last February employing 12 people. The Taoiseachcame to speak at the launch simply because we wrote to him. It meant that allthe top business people in Boston came, as well as the mayor and chief of police.We now have over 45 clients in the US and I expect this to be 70 live clients bythe end of the year.”

net


new frontiers

‘The hardest part aboutentering the US marketis the first flight. Oncewe got on the ground

we made progress’

new frontiers

Introducing a Business Deposit Account that really makes sense.

3%Gross/AER (variable)Account

For Business Deposits you should be with KBC Bank Ireland.

In the beginningNetwatch was the first company in Ireland to combinespecialist video transmission technologies with satellitecommunications to provide protection solutions forclients. The catalyst for establishing the company arosefrom a personal experience. When a mutual friend ofKelly and Walsh responded to an alarm call at his busi-ness, he was attacked by intruders who hadn’t left thepremises and, says Walsh, was lucky to escape with hislife.

According to Walsh, the incident highlighted theshortcomings of traditional security systems and in 2002the two decided to research the possibility of devising aproactive security system, using new video transmissiontechnology.

Ten years later Netwatch has reached an annualturnover of €11m and is employing a total of 122 people,mostly based at its Carlow hub. Walsh wants to doublethe company’s size over the next three years, pursuing astrategy of international expansion and a continuedfocus on R&D.

“From the beginning we aimed to be ‘rule makersrather than rule takers’. We leapfrogged the traditionaluse of PR and marketing and targeted our offering toCEOs, rather than installers.

“Netwatch is a high value proposition with the coreprinciple of accountability. We have found that CEOs inthe US market love that we offer a one-stop shop serv-ice so they can trust the entire supply chain. They alsolike the managed services aspect of the offering, whicheliminates high up-front costs.

“When taking on a new customer, regardless of the

market they’re in, we carry out a detailed riskassessment, design and specify a system for them, andinstall, maintain and monitor it. This is a unique busi-ness model in the US. As in other markets, we work withclients with multiple sites and then roll the solution outto all of them. The system is managed remotely fromCarlow with engineering and sales support on theground.”

While entering the US market was more of a strate-gic decision for Netwatch, involving a €2m investment,the company previously expanded in other markets as aresult of customer requests or approaches from individuals.

“At first we tended to be asked to go international bycustomers in Ireland who had depots in the UK or wereexpanding there. The business got so big in the UK thatin 2006 we created a meaningful presence there andopened an office in Oxford. We now have 500 customersin the UK,” says Walsh.

“Elsewhere, we have done some work in holiday homesin France and Spain. A barrister in Johannesburg wasbroken into and approached an Israeli operator, whichput him in touch with us, and that led to a contract inSouth Africa. And we opened an office this year inJordan to monitor sites in the oil and gas industry inSaudi Arabia.

“The technology is moving so fast that we could havea situation before long where an audio warning comesout on site in foreign languages, but still all managedfrom our hub in Carlow.”

R&D commitmentNetwatch has invested around €500,000 in its R&D

new frontiers

capability since it was established, including thedevelopment of a new surveillance technology this year,which can distinguish whether an alarm has been trig-gered by human activity.

The company partnered with a team of researchersfrom Clarity: Centre for Sensor Web Technologies atDublin City University to develop the new alarm reduc-tion system, which uses applied imaging technologies todecipher the alarm images received at the Netwatchcommunications hub.

The real-time technology, developed under theEnterprise Ireland Innovation Partnership programme,analyses images for human characteristics such asshape, size and movement, ensuring that when an alarmis triggered, intervention specialists can be sure it is anintruder and not a wild cat or urban fox.

“In the early days, we took products off the shelf, butwe realised seven or eight years ago that this wasn’t goodenough and we should develop our own system,” saysWalsh.

“We had to be unique because the market wouldn’tcontinue to pay sufficiently for the service we were pro-viding as it was. We look back now and wonder how wegot away with using products off the shelf as the tech-nology is so advanced now.”

Netwatch set up a dedicated R&D division, whichEnterprise Ireland has been particularly helpful in sup-porting, he continues. It employs eight people and NiallDorr was appointed as innovation manager 16 monthsago. Walsh is convinced that Netwatch’s people are itsunique selling point in the current market.

“A lot of huge guns have moved into our space since we

started out. They would have the resources to developtechnology like we did but they wouldn’t have the rightpeople. If one of our competitors got hold of our strate-gic document they couldn’t implement it because theydon’t have the people we have,” he says.

“We started to look at our culture a few years ago,thinking about how we wanted to do business here andwhat we wanted to stand for. We came to the conclusionthis meant developing a customer service culture withinthe organisation. Further analysis showed that in orderto create this, the employee experience needed to matchthe customer experience.”

Two years ago, the management team carried out ananonymous survey to establish how appreciated staffmembers felt and then held workshops where employeeshad input into company strategy.

“We asked people to come up with two things wealways do and two things we never do at Netwatch,”explains Walsh.

“The consensus was that the two things we always doare put the customer first and always work as a team.And the two things we never do are disrespect anotherperson or hide. This is our culture, and part of it is toregularly recognise and reward individuals that gobeyond the call of duty within that framework.”

“During the workshops it was refreshing to see howmuch employees knew about our company strategy andhow their creativity and knowledge feeds into it. If youlook at all great companies, they have a good productand strategy, but it’s the culture that makes it happen.Someone once said if you don’t stand for something,you’ll fall for anything.”

‘From the beginning we aimed to be “rulemakers rather than rule takers”’


strategy in associationwith

MARK OF

Issues such as corporate social responsibility and sustainabilityare increasingly relevant in business. But how is performancein these areas measured? Grainne Rothery spoke to Businessin the Community’s Tina Roche

RESPON

strategyin associationwith


‘Sustainability and non-financial reporting arebecoming increasingly important in today’smarketplace as a means of driving value’

Reflecting increasing interest from stakeholders in cor-

porate environmental, social and ethical performance,

organisations have become ever more focused in recent

years on the non-financial aspects of their businesses, but

many are struggling to measure their activities and

results in these areas.

In a study carried out by Business in the Community

Ireland (BITCI) and Ipsos MRBI in 2010, nearly two-

thirds of Irish CEOs surveyed said they believe corporate

responsibility gives them a competitive advantage.

However, 60pc admitted they did not have any specific

metrics in place to measure their corporate responsibility

activities.

A more recent Deloitte survey (Deloitte Q2 2012 CFO

Survey – September 2012), meanwhile, confirms the

increasing value attached to corporate responsibility,

with nine out of 10 CFOs who took part indicating that

they believe there is a direct link between sustainability

programmes and business performance. In the research,

which again was carried out in association with BITCI,

Irish CFOs identified sustainability as having the

strongest impact on long-term value creation, compli-

ance, risk management and building trust. This was fol-

lowed by cost control, revenue generation and investor

relations.

“Sustainability and non-financial reporting are becom-

ing increasingly important in today’s marketplace as a

means of driving value,” said Ciaran O’Brien, partner,

Deloitte, who noted that the EU is currently progressing

legislation that will require non-financial reporting by

CFOs.

“Whereas traditionally many companies believed that

sustainability issues fell within the remit of various func-

tions including HR, marketing or investor relations, Irish

CFOs are now aware of the benefits of driving these pro-

grammes. Increasingly, stakeholders such as investors,

customers and employees are expecting organisations to

meet standards of social, environmental and economic

performance, the so-called triple bottom line.”

The survey showed that just 28pc of CFOs report on

non-financial measures such as social and environmental

impacts as part of their reporting cycle. Of those who

indicated their company does report on non-financial

measures, 31pc said it was integrated throughout compa-

ny reporting. A further 31pc said they produced separate

sustainability and CSR reports.

“This research shows categorically that CFOs believe

that there is a direct link between sustainability and

business performance, yet less than 30pc of companies

report on it in their annual reports,” says Tina Roche,

CEO of BITC. “This may be due to lack of measurement

or the lack of understanding in the power of openness

and transparency. This has to change if we are to restore

trust in business, drive competitiveness and make Ireland

a great place to do business.”

Measuring successOne factor that may contribute to such a change over the

coming years is a new independently audited corporate

responsibility standard developed by BITCI. The stan-

dard is designed to enable companies to benchmark their

sustainable policies against other organisations.

When BITCI started 12 years ago, one of its objectives

was to determine what constitutes best in class business

for companies that are trying to be responsible, says

Roche. “Three years ago, some of the companies we’ve

been working with for the last 10 years started to ask

about a framework around this. So we worked for two

years with companies and standards experts.”

The culmination of this effort was the launch in March

2011 of the Business Working Responsibly Mark, which is

independently audited by the National Standards

SIBILITY

strategy

Authority of Ireland (NSAI) and certifies excellence in

responsible and sustainable business practices across

company operations.

To achieve the standard, companies must complete an

online questionnaire with over 290 questions analysing

over 26 different indicators. This is then assessed by a

BITCI expert who will decide if the company reaches the

standard to apply for third-party verification. Companies

that don't reach the qualifying standard are given a com-

prehensive feedback report to help them plan a frame-

work around their sustainable and responsible business

strategy.

The certification lasts for two years, after which com-

panies need to reapply to retain the standing.

“The standard covers all aspects of workplace practices,

marketplace, environment and community, and your

measurement reporting,” says Roche. “So you’ll have

looked at all those disparate parts of the organisation that

are fundamental to your business and yet aren’t reported

on in your financial statements.

“Sustainability, customer relations, supply chain man-

agement, workplace, community and environment are

some of the areas assessed by the certification,” she says.

“Having the mark will allow companies to benchmark

their responsible practices against others and finally gives

a concrete definition to what excellence is in responsible

and sustainable business.”

So far, four companies have attained the mark.

Microsoft Ireland was the first company to be certified,

having completed the process in early August last year,

and was followed by ESB, CRH and Intel respectively.

According to Roche, another 20 or so are currently going

through the process.

Paul Rellis, managing director of Microsoft Ireland, has

described the certification as the premier mark for the

company to benchmark itself against its peers. “The mark

means a lot to our company and to our people as it means

we are in the right league,” he said after achieving certi-

fication last year. “Microsoft fully supports the initiative

and believes in its goal to help companies in Ireland be

recognised at a global level for the work they are doing.”

“The Business Working Responsibly Mark allows us to

put in place a measurement system whereby we can

manage the process of corporate responsibility, improve

the process as we go along and engage the entire work-

force,” said Brendan Cannon, corporate affairs manager,

Intel Ireland.

At the moment, application for the mark is open to all

large companies – 250 employees or more – in Ireland,

regardless of whether or not they are members of BITCI.

There is an €8,000 fee for non-BITCI member companies

to undergo evaluation. Standard members of BITCI pay a

fee of €4,000 for evaluation, while that part of the process

is free of charge for lead members. All companies that opt

to go forward for audit verification must pay a €1,100 fee

to NSAI.

There are plans to broaden the remit of the mark.

“We’re starting with major companies and then we’re

bringing out a mark for SMEs and we’ll probably look at

that next year,” Roche explains. “We want to be sure that

we have all of the bases covered and we’d like to have gone

through one full year and then start looking at making it

accessible for SMEs as well.”

Changed perceptionAccording to Roche, corporate responsibility has devel-

oped over the last decade or so from a company’s com-

munity investment and charity work to encompass all the

non-financial aspects of a company.

“It’s quite complex because you’re dealing with every-

thing from resource depletion, talent management and

supply chain to customer service and really trying to get

the best teams you can. I think people have been strug-

gling to look at the intrinsic values that are there and to

report that.”

She believes organisations need to focus more on strat-

egy, forecasts and plans in their annual reports.

“Everything is backward looking at the moment, where

really what’s important is how you are going forward.”

Everything contained in a company’s strategic plan

needs to be measured, she notes. “If it’s in your strategic

plan to have a talented, diverse workforce, you have to be

able to measure that and to put data sets around that. If,

for example, you employ 2,000 people, you need to record

the gender balance, the age profile, the languages they

speak and their educational background. If your company

is pushing knowledge and involved in innovation, people

will want that information. After that, what are the

in associationwith


‘If you want to be a sustainablecompany you have to be able tomeasure the whole chain, from cradleto grave, of your products’

in associationwith

KPMG Autumn Seminar Series 2012 A constantly evolving business environment means it has never been more important to keep informed on industry

issues affecting both you and your business.

Register for the KPMG Autumn Seminar Series 2012 at:

www.kpmg.ie/seminars2012

© 2012 KPMG, an Irish partnership and a member firm of the KPMG network of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. The KPMG name, logo and “cutting through complexity” are registered trademarks of KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved.

workplace practices that will attract and retain that

staff? Talent management is probably one of the biggest

issues in Ireland today.”

And it’s vital, she says, that companies are measuring

and articulating their requirements for the future. “It’s

important for the Government, for planning, for invest-

ment, for recruiters and for people at school. If Microsoft

was to specify what they’re going to need over the next

five years, that would be so helpful for nearly everyone

interested in having a career and for the Government

and for trainers and the education system. That’s

thought through, visible and it’s transparent and it’s

future planning and future proofing.”

Roche also stresses the importance of being able to

pass on information and achievements in areas like waste

management to stakeholders.

“Every company that starts to manage waste immedi-

ately gets savings to the bottom line. If you want to be a

sustainable company you have to be able to measure the

whole chain, from cradle to grave, of your products and

see where you can reduce on what you’re producing, use

fewer resources and put zero to landfill. If you’re doing

that and it’s a big part of your work, why wouldn’t you be

reporting it? To do this, you have to measure it.

“Trust is what this is all about. It’s about trying to build

trust and a relationship with people and it’s open and

meaningful dialogue.”

strategy

BUILDINGPERFORMANCEANDGROWTHTHROUGHRESPONSIBLE LEADERSHIP

CRH Irelandwas one of the first four companies to be accreditedwith the BusinessWorking Responsibly Mark in 2011.Internationally, the buildingmaterials company has received anumber of awards relating to its corporate responsibility.Earlier this year, for example, it was one of just two Irish-

heaquartered companies (Accenture was the other one) tomakeit onto Ethisphere’sWorld’s Most Ethical Companies 2012 rank-ing. In its September 2011 review, CRHwas included in the DowJonesWorld and STOXX indices. The rating was carried out onbehalf of DJSI by Sustainability Asset Management (SAM), basedon completion of a detailed questionnaire by CRH on gover-nance, environmental and social performance. The company hasalso been included in the FTSE4GoodIndex on several occasions.“As a company that takes pride in our sustainable and

responsible practices, wewere keen to be one of the first com-panies to be certified with the BusinessWorking ResponsiblyMark,” says group environmental officer Naomi Cooper.“Working through the questionnaire gave us an opportunity to

break down all the elements of our sustainability programmeand establish key areas that could help the development of sus-tainability on other sites. It also provided an in-depth analysis ofour current sustainability strategy and highlighted changes orimprovements that we couldmake in this area.“It provided endorsement of our commitment to sustainability

and provided ameans for us to assess howwewere doing incomparisonwith other companies. It makes a significant differ-ence to be finally able tomeasure the effectiveness of our sus-tainability strategy and to also get accredited for the workwehave done to date.”

innovation

FROM THEOUTSIDE IN

Bringing external input into the innovationprocess is crucial for any business that wants tostay on top of its game, according to author and

strategic advisor Stefan Lindegaard.Grainne Rothery reports


Whether it’s labelled open innovation, crowd-sourcing or

co-creation, bringing some kind of external input into the

innovation process is vital for organisations that aspire to

be in leadership positions in their sectors. So says

Copenhagen-based author and strategic advisor Stefan

Lindegaard, an expert in open innovation, intrapreneur-

ship and identifying and developing those who drive inno-

vation.

According to Lindegaard, companies are learning that

they must embrace this paradigm shift in the innovation

process to keep up with the competition. Those that are

lagging behind, he says, will find themselves in big trouble

in the coming years.

Lindegaard favours the term ‘external input’ over open

innovation. “I work with companies to make them under-

stand it’s more about the mindset they need to embrace.

It’s okay to use open innovation as a term but the real one

would actually be more something like external input. How

do you bring external input to your innovation process?

“Some of the main elements would be crowd-sourcing

and then open innovation, where you have more defined

partnerships between companies, or between companies

and academics and entrepreneurs in which you work

together on the innovation process. People tend to put this

in the same category and that can lead to some confusion.”

He says that open innovation, or external input, is no

longer really about the ‘why’. “Executives, open innovation

leaders and employers kind of get it that they need to open

up their innovation efforts. Now it’s much more about the

‘how’.

“Something you learn is that it’s easy enough to set up a

portal where you source external input, whether it’s crowd-

sourcing or more idea partners; the real work happens

behind the scenes. That means that you are consistently

ready to not only get external input into the organisation,

but more importantly, make that input work as part of the

innovation process, and go from ideas and projects to cre-

ate real products and services.”

The real challenge, he says, is to implement this through-

out the whole organisation and to not just have a few peo-

ple in the innovation department having total responsibili-

ty for driving innovation through external input. “How do

you get this throughout the entire company? That’s a real

challenge and it requires a mindset change that starts from

the top and needs support all the way down.”

Importance of communicationCertain things can be learned from change management in

this regard, he says. “Communication is extremely impor-

tant. And communication in terms of corporate innovation

capability is something that’s been overlooked. It used to be

that communication when it came to innovation was all

about the products and services, but now it’s also very

much about the capabilities.

“This communication is both internal and external. So

companies need to build excellent communication strate-

gies on what the goals are with the innovation efforts and

how they’re going to approach these goals and what their

expected outcomes are.”

Lindegaard also stresses the value of starting the process

with projects that will allow the organisation to learn

through experimentation and sometimes even failure. It’s

vital to pick these projects carefully, he says. “Go in and

find some fairly small projects that allow you to get some

quick wins, but also allow you to learn and experiment

without risking losses that are too big.”

These losses are not only financial, he says. “You can

really be set back if you set up a high-profile project from

innovation

‘All of the successful projects out thereare very dependent on one or two key

people making this happen’


innovation


the beginning and it fails, because then you’re going to have

lots of people internally saying, ‘Well I told you this is not

going to work in our company or in our industry’.

“So you need to tread a little bit carefully and make sure

the project you start off with can give you some good learn-

ings and some successes.What you do not want in the early

phases is that you give good ammunition to the sceptics –

and there are lots of sceptics within a corporation as to

whether you should open up or not.

“They might get it that they need to open up the innova-

tion process in theory, but doing so in practice which means

different ways of working and bringing other people in to

areas that normally you kept very secret, it’s going to take

some time for employees to understand this.”

As a sector, the fast moving consumer goods industry has

been doing this quite well for as long as 12 years, says

Lindegaard. “Procter & Gamble started out quite strong

with the Connect + Develop programme, but that’s actual-

ly falling a bit behind. Another company that’s doing quite

well and has also won some prizes within the industry is

General Mills. They have a very good dedicated team that’s

been working on this for five to seven years now. You also

have Psion, which I like.”

An element that is common to all of these initiatives is

that they are headed up by very competent people, he says.

“All of the successful projects out there are very dependent

on one or two key people making this happen.

“One of the key elements is communication in a broad

sense. They know how to work with internal stakeholders.

Innovation today doesn’t really happen just at the innova-

tion unit. It has to happen at the business unit level. So, if

you want to bring open innovation external inputs into a

company, you need to have a good relationship with the

business units that are about to get this input and create

new products and services based on this.

“These people are very good at going in to build consen-

sus around an idea and helping to change the mindset.

They’ve spent lots of time managing internal stakeholders

and they realise that managing the internal elements is

more important than reaching out to external partners. It

doesn’t really matter when you reach out to lots of exter-

nal partners if your own people are not ready for it when

you bring their contribution into the company. These lead-

ers understand this and they spend lots of time on building

this internal understanding of how this works, how it’s

going to happen and play out.

“They need to be fairly visionary because they are about

to do change management, both within the company but

also around the ecosystem of partners. Even though they’re

visionary, they’re also people who can get things done and

they can get things done through other people. You need

strong leadership skills here; you need someone who can be

followed by others. You need someone who’s willing to

experiment and is not prepared to sustain the status quo.”

Dealing with failureLindegaard says there are two approaches organisations

can take to perceived failure around implementing open

innovation. The first of these is to give up after a year when

it doesn’t bring results. “Doing this is one of the biggest

mistakes you can make. It takes two to four years at least

when it’s done successfully to go in and start having this

open innovation mindset and having some internal

processes that begin to work and produce results.

“If you start this and you have some early obstacles and

roadblocks and you say ‘Well then we just conclude, this is

not something for us’, that means you’re stopping the

progress you need.

“You need to take the other approach which is, ‘This

doesn’t really work but this is very much about organisa-

tional innovation. We need to change some of the ways

we’re organised around this. We need to change how our

organisation views innovation in general. How can we

change things, how can we experiment with the set up we

have in order to make open innovation work?’.

“Companies that take the option of quitting altogether

will start seeing that some of their competitors are sud-

denly cranking out better products and services faster and

that they are starting to do this on a continuing basis.

They’ve opened up their innovation efforts and now they

have much more opportunity to innovate faster together

with their partners, together with their ecosystems.

“And now these companies start scratching their heads,

saying we actually we tried this two or three years ago and

it didn’t work. Maybe we can try again. But at this time,

they’re already two to four years behind their competitors.

“If you make the mistake of quitting altogether when you

have some early failures, you are very much in a position

where you will not get that important innovation leader-

ship position. The term we use in the open innovation com-

munity is about becoming the preferred partner of choice

within a given innovation ecosystem. And you lose that if

you decide to shut down your efforts early because of some

early mistakes or failure.”

‘Innovation today doesn’t really happenjust at the innovation unit. It has tohappen at the business unit level’

advertorial

TWO recent New Intelligent Enterprise studies by

IBM and the MIT Sloan Management Review

revealed that the number of organisations using

analytics to create a competitive advantage has

surged 57pc in just one year, to the point where

nearly six out of 10 organisations are now differen-

tiating themselves through analytics. It also high-

lighted that those organisations that are slow to

embrace analytics are falling behind their more

determined peers.

Analytics can help you turn the mountain of

information, both in your organisation, and about

your organisation, into real insight.

Software tools exist today that can help you

understand and improve customer satisfaction,

retain your most profitable customers and reveal

new opportunities.

They can also bring a level of continuous opera-

tional efficiency to your organisation by automat-

ing financial processes, identifying and minimising

risk, detecting and preventing fraud and improving

compliance management.

All of which will help you grow and outperform

your competition.

It’s never been easier to replace gut feel and intu-

ition with real-time facts to get a clear picture of

where you are today, and where you might find

yourself tomorrow.

For more visit http://ibm.co/Lx5CqQ or contactMichael Baker at [email protected].

It has long been said that corporate boards exist to ask the questions executives mayhave overlooked. For board members, the opportunity to pose hard questions to theleaders of the business – and expect precise answers in return – will grow as organisationsincreasingly become data-driven, writes IBM’s Mike Baker

Analytics in the boardroom- from ‘gut feel’ to certainty

marketing


in associationwith

Why reputation

If the 1990s were the ‘golden age of innovation’, and the

2000s was the ‘risk decade’, then the 2010s are all about

the reputation economy, where corporations are under

ever increasing scrutiny. Nowadays, people care more

about what a company stands for and how it conducts its

business than what it sells.

The results of the recently published Ireland RepTrak

2012 study, which measures 100 of the largest and most

visible organisations in Ireland and is based on responses

from 3,720 members of the general public, reveal that the

rules of engagement have changed and that stakeholders

watch everything that companies do, from the way they

treat their staff, to their ethical behaviour and support for

good causes, vision for the future and growth prospects.

Stakeholders are savvy and expect companies to deliver

on wider issues. The ‘corporate’ dimensions are where the

greatest gains are to be made in improving positive sup-

port: governance, citizenship, workplace, leadership and

performance. However, many Irish firms tend to score

lowest on these dimensions, in particular in citizenship

and in leadership.

For the third year in a row, Google was named the most

reputable organisation in Ireland. Employing over 2,000

people at its EMEA headquarters in Dublin, Google has

been operating in Ireland since 2005 and enjoys a reputa-

tion as one of Ireland’s premier employers, a key driver in

building a strong corporate reputation.

This reputation doesn’t just happen by accident. Year

after year, Google outperforms other firms across each of

the seven dimensions of reputation. On receiving the

award for the most reputable organisation, John Herlihy,

who heads up the company in Ireland, said: “We work hard

to maintain our good reputation and each and every

Google Ireland employee has played a part in this achieve-

ment. Google strives to be a company that is innovative,

trustworthy and has a positive impact on our community.”

In a year that over three-quarters of the firms meas-

ured and just about all industry sectors surveyed in the

study saw their reputation scores fall, Kerry Group’s rep-

utation increased by nearly 10 percentage points, putting

it in second place in Ireland.

In addition, and unsurprisingly considering the vital

part it is playing in Ireland’s robust exports, the food

manufacturing industry’s reputation rose and is now seen

as the most trusted, respected and admired sector in

Ireland.

Again unsurprisingly, the financial services/banking

sector in Ireland was once more placed at the bottom of

the industry scoreboard. This may not sound like partic-

ularly bad or startling news, but when you look at the

global and UK banking industry scores, Ireland’s banking

sector is 13 points lower, a clear warning that much work

needs to be done at industry level in Ireland towards

regaining public trust and confidence.

Role of leadershipOne of the key dimensions of reputation is leadership. The

Global RepTrak 2012 study, which was published in June,

highlighted the power of leadership at organisations such

as Apple, Microsoft, Google, BMW and Walt Disney.

Steve Jobs’ legacy continued as Apple took the top posi-

tion for leadership both globally and in Ireland, while Bill

Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, took second place in both

studies.

When making a judgement on the reputation of an

organisation, stakeholders looking in, and at, an organisa-

tion will take a view as to whether that entity has an

appealing leader, appears to be well organised, has an

excellent team of managers in place and has a clear vision

for the organisation’s future.

rulesReputation is an increasingly important issue fororganisations, but many companies fail to manage itin a structured way, writes Niamh Boyle


marketing

‘Heads of state act as ambassadorswith the power to build or destroy theircountries’ reputations’

in associationwith

Interestingly in Ireland, while

Hewlett-Packard was placed in

the top 15 corporate reputa-

tions, the managing director

of the company’s Irish oper-

ation, Martin Murphy, was

placed among the top 10

leaders, and recognised

for the leadership role he

has taken in strongly

advocating for Ireland’s

competitiveness. Conversely,

Michael O’Leary’s abrasive

and straight-talking manage-

ment style also placed him in

the top 10 leaders in Ireland,

despite the low reputational scores

Ryanair received in the study. People

are clear on O’Leary’s vision for the

organisation and with this clarity comes

respect.

The same is as true for nations as it is for com-

panies. Heads of state act as ambassadors with the power

to build or destroy their countries’ reputations. We can

contrast Brian Cowen’s infamous Morning Ireland inter-

view and the global concern this caused for the country,

with the unswerving role of the German chancellor

Angela Merkel, who is described as one of the world’s

most powerful leaders. Once a leader’s reputation is tar-

nished, it can bring down companies and governments, if

not countries. In Ireland, Enda Kenny’s new leadership

style has helped to boost the country’s reputation from

17th place to 15th place in the latest global Country

RepTrak 2012 study.

Link between reputation and supportThe Irish study indicates a very powerful link between

reputation and supportive behaviours among the general

public for an organisation. The 10 least reputable firms in

the study are 12 times more likely to receive a negative

response than the 10 most reputable. Those with a top 10

reputation are four times more likely to be recommended

than those at the bottom.

O2’s 24-hour blackout in the UK in July, while

embarrassing, demonstrates how a

solid reputation can provide a

cushion of support during times

of crisis. The company’s social

media strategy limited its repu-

tational damage. However,

the recent Ulster Bank cri-

sis, in an industry that had

already lost this important

cushion of support, did far

more long-lasting damage

to its reputation.

Managing reputationAt a time when the public has

lost faith in so many institu-

tions – the Government, the

church, media and major corpora-

tions – organisations must learn to

navigate their way around the challeng-

ing new world order of the reputation econ-

omy.

A recent global survey of 350 global corporate reputa-

tion officers (CROs) by the Reputation Institute suggests

that although most company executives now agree that

reputation is crucial to business success, only a minority

have actually learned how to manage their organisation’s

reputation in a structured way.

While most respondents agreed that we live in a repu-

tation economy, defined as a market in which the overall

standing of the company matters more than the quality of

its product or service, few companies are ready to meet

that challenge. In a world where eBay traders monitor

their reputation anxiously, knowing that their next sale

depends upon it, many of the world’s largest enterprises

are not nearly as self aware. In fact, only 31pc of respon-

dents even monitor reputation as a key performance indi-

cator.

Reputation management skills are largely undeveloped.

When asked to place themselves somewhere on the

Reputation Institute’s five-stage reputation management

journey, 70pc of CROs report themselves to be in the first

three stages with 30pc placing their company in phases

four or five.

marketing in associationwith

‘Our experience shows that the vastmajority of organisations are, in fact,at an early stage in the way theyapproach managing their reputation’

However, our experience shows that the vast majority of

organisations are, in fact, at an early stage in the way they

approach managing their reputation. We estimate that

fewer than 15pc are in phases four or five, and 85pc are in

phases one to three.

At most companies, few formal reputation management

processes exist. For early phase companies, CROs say

their three biggest structural challenges are:

■ The company lacks a structured process for incorpo-

rating reputation thinking into business planning.

■ Actions are not aligned across departments, with

different stakeholder owners doing their own thing.

■ There’s a failure to leverage existing knowledge in a

way that would be relevant to each stakeholder.

Companies with solid reputation strategies communi-

cate more intensively with stakeholders than early phase

companies, prioritising their company website (92.6pc),

annual report (81.5pc), stakeholder events (74.1pc),

CSR/sustainability reports (66.7pc), conference sponsor-

ships/speaking opportunities (59.3pc) and social media

tools (55.6pc) in particular.

CRO status and confidence rises as their company’s

sophistication in reputation management improves. In

early phase companies, CROs often struggle to gain the

stature they need to serve as a true guardian of their

firm’s reputation. Among the more mature companies,

over 80pc say they are “fully trusted by the CEO”. Their

CEO is more likely to ask their opinion when strategic

decisions are made and these recommendations tend to be

implemented by the CEO more often.

Companies must take an organised approach to succeed

in the reputation economy by breaking down functional

silos and creating ‘reputation councils’ to help the CEO

define and implement strategy; and embedding stake-

holder expectations into action planning – taking a sys-

tematic and common approach to understanding the

expectations of all stakeholders.

Niamh Boyle is managing director of Corporate

Reputations, the Irish associate of the Reputation

Institute. The Ireland RepTrak 2012 study was

undertaken by Corporate Reputations and the

Reputation Institute.

TheReputation Journey

LEVEL1Reputationmanagementis a newdiscipline

LEVEL2Reputationis becoming

anenterprise-wide priority

LEVEL3Reputationis linked tobusinessimpact

LEVEL4Reputation isa key business

driverintegratedacross all

shareholders

LEVEL5Reputationis integratedin strategy,operationand valuecreation

commercial profile

UNDERSTANDING the obligations and putting in

place a safe management system is vital for all directors

and companies, whether it’s from a moral, legal or

financial perspective.

“As a director you’re personally liable under section

80 of the Health and Safety at Work Act,” explains

Siobhan Kinsella, operations manager of Nifast, which

has collaborated with Effective Software, O’Leary

Insurances and QBE to develop the RiskSafetyNet

insurance and risk management solution.

While it is not possible to insure against

fines/penalties imposed as a result of a breach of health

and safety legislation, insurance cover can be secured

for defence costs attaching to such actions. The core

method of protecting company owners/directors and

senior personnel is by way of ensuring that there is a

comprehensive safety management system in place,

says Kinsella, adding that a number of directors in

Ireland have already received suspended sentences

because of health and safety violations.

“The RiskSafetyNet system uses Effective Software

and a cloud-based system and provides real-time trans-

parency that everything is up to date from a health and

safety point of view,” says Kinsella.

“Nifast does the sanity check on it to make sure it’s

not just ‘garbage in, garbage out’, that it is actually a safe

system of work, so you have confidence as a director.

And with it in place, you know you’re fulfilling your

legal obligations and your moral obligations to your

workforce.

“Any organisation that can clearly demonstrate a

comprehensive safety management system, a positive

attitude and a positive safety culture should be reward-

ed from an insurance premium perspective and such

organisations are perfectly positioned to secure the

interest from the insurance market,” says Kinsella.

Under the RiskSafetyNet system, QBE is offering

preferential commercial insurance rates once it is satis-

fied that Nifast has carried out a Gap analysis on the

company’s safety management system, that there is a

programme in place to rectify any problems and the

Effective Software system is in place.

“With RiskSafetyNet product, the big advantage for

directors is knowing that they’re protected and compli-

ant, and of course the financial savings. But we’re also

rolling in directors’ and executive officers’ liability

insurance to protect the exposure of the individual

directors with respect to their personal exposure. It’s a

very comprehensive package to protect the risk that

directors are exposed to and it offers much more finan-

cial benefit and peace of mind than it will ever cost.”

According to Kinsella, companies and directors will

see the financial benefit almost from the word go. “It’s

not like a clawback scenario. The Nifast Gap analysis is

€500 per day and we can do most of the work in a day.

“And the Effective Software is extremely affordable.

You only pay for administrative licence and you can

have as many people as you wish in your organisation

logging onto to report accidents or incidents at no extra

cost. So, even if you’re a very large company, you might

only be looking at €1,500 for the software system and

that will provide you with dashboard style transparency

of your entire safety system, covering your training,

your contractors, your plant and your cars – you can put

absolutely everything onto it.”

The alternatives are potentially devastating, says

Kinsella. “Under Section 80 of the Safety, Health and

Welfare at Work Act 2005, anyone with budgetary con-

trol or decision-making capability is personally respon-

sible for the health and safety of the workforce.

Ignorance is not a defence. And you’ll find that in con-

struction companies or waste management companies

that suspended sentences have been handed down.

We’re just short of custodial sentences in Ireland.

“And any research in an international context will

also suggest that a safe system of work will also deliver

more efficient work practices. It gives a better employee

culture, greater active engagement, more participation

and employees feeling more valued in the working envi-

ronment. So it’s win-win on multiple fronts.”

Under Irish and EU legislation, company directors are personally responsiblefor the actions and decisions they take on behalf of their businesses andemployees from a health and safety point of view, and their own private assetsare at risk if those choices are tested in the courts

Safety net for directors


IoD member profile

Christine Moran is anexecutive director and headof recovery at KBC BankIreland and has been amember of the IoD sinceFebruary 2012

Bankingon change


IoD member profile

‘Always look to get involved in newand different projects or change yourrole within an organisation. This willchallenge you, but also broaden yourperspective’

Tell us about your roleIt involves responsibility for the direction andmanagement of the retail and commercial portfoliosfacing financial stress at the present time. On theretail side, this currently involves implementing ourlong-term mortgage arrears resolution strategy forour home loan portfolio, working with customers ona case-by-case basis. We are applying a similarapproach to our commercial portfolio, although theresolutions are different given the commercialnature of the original investment.

What about your career background?I studied commerce in University College Dublinand then completed the diploma in professionalaccounting. I went on to train withPricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), where I wasfortunate enough to be sent on secondments toBelgium and New York. I think accountancy is anexcellent training as it allows you to diversify into somany fields and gives you a job passport to travel. Ijoined KBC when it was Irish Intercontinental Bank(IIB) and was appointed an executive director in2008.

How have the challenges of your rolechanged over the past five years?I was previously responsible for treasury anddeveloping our corporate portfolio, particularlyworking with Irish corporates operating in Europe.Since the current economic crisis commenced, myresponsibilities have been redirected towardsmanaging the bank’s wholesale funding and loanportfolios.

What has been your biggest lesson inbusiness?I have learned many lessons: firstly, the importanceof networking. It is vital to have contact points inother organisations, whether for business referralsor for sharing information and ideas. Secondly,always look to get involved in new and differentprojects or change your role within an organisation.This will challenge you, but also broaden yourperspective, which is critical in terms of your role as

a director. Thirdly, recognise the importance ofbuilding a team, which can be made up of peoplewith different skills, backgrounds and personalities.This can take a lot of time and effort but is neces-sary and rewarding. And finally, work at somethingyou enjoy.

What has been your biggest career orbusiness success?I have worked with some of Ireland’s leading projectssuch as the public-private partnerships and majorfinancings for some of the country’s leading corpo-rates. At the other end of the spectrum, I haveworked with some amazing indigenous entrepre-neurs who have built some fantastic local enterpris-es and have proved so resourceful in the currentmarket circumstances.

Can you define your leadership style?I think my leadership style has changed over time.In the past, I was very task-focused, whereas now Itake a much more strategic approach. I think thereare fundamentals that always apply such as hardwork and integrity, but ultimately it comes down tohaving good people around you and working as ateam.

What are the challenges for directors inIreland at this time?The global markets continue to be uncertain and asa small open economy we are vulnerable to suchexternal markets and factors. That adds to the chal-lenges of managing or overseeing a company at thepresent time. The risk and compliance requirementshave increased significantly and will likely continueto do so, which is welcome, but that does require adirector to continuously up-skill.

Who or what are your biggest influences?I learned a huge amount in PwC and got fantastictraining that has stood to me over time. I learned alot from the management teams in the companies Iworked with in terms of focus, discipline anddynamism. And my husband Paul has his own busi-ness so he understands the challenges I face and isvery supportive.

wealth management


TIMEto be earlyConservative Irish investors with a focus oncash-based products will need to rethink theiroptions going forward, writes Declan Maher


wealth management

‘For the last five years, Irish investorshave benefited from higher thannormal deposit rates on the high streetand from many specialist providers’

Right now Irish people are understandably conservative

when it comes to investing their money, with a strong

preference among many for cash-based products with low

or no risk to capital.

However, some of the current conditions in the mar-

ketplace would indicate that many investors are going to

have to reconsider their options sooner rather than later,

as cash may no longer deliver the returns it has in recent

years.

Those who are successful in life and business are often

described as ‘early adopters’ – that is, taking a new idea

and implementing it early in a cycle. However, being an

early adopter is never an easy approach to take: it

requires commitment, foresight and often judgement in

terms of the timing of making a change.

For the last five years, Irish investors have benefited

from higher than normal deposit rates on the high street

and from many specialist providers. This ‘dash to cash’

has been very understandable in often uncertain times.

Irish investors have been looking for certainty with their

capital. As institutions have sought depositors often at

inflated prices, the Irish investor has been able to gain

higher returns for little or no risk.

You may say to me it’s a ‘win win’ for the investor. I

would say maybe it’s a short-term win, but perhaps those

investors are storing up a longer term predicament, as it

now seems unlikely that such returns will continue. A

glance at the ultra low interest rate policies of the

European Central Bank (ECB) and the Fed (and the

Bank of Japan before that), all 0–1pc, point to the trajec-

tory that high street deposit rates will head towards.

Falling ratesThe evidence is becoming clear. Deposit offers that were

typically paying 4pc to 5pc 12 months ago are now paying

2pc to 3pc. Why might this be happening? Think of it this

way – a bank’s profitability depends on the difference

between its cost of raw materials (mostly deposit rates)

and its income (mostly lending rates). With greater con-

fidence in the Irish economy, as evidenced by Irish bond

yields, and ECB actions helping to lower the cost of raw

materials for banks, the catalysts for a more normal envi-

ronment are beginning to emerge, and that in turn will

mean lower deposit rates.

Ironically, for those who felt Ireland was too much of a

risk in recent years, I’m now having conversations with

many whose concern is the negative real returns they are

seeing on ‘low risk’ overseas holdings.

So when it comes to your wider portfolio, it may be the

time to be an ‘early adopter’ and consider your alterna-

tives. This may not be to take your money out of your

deposit accounts, but to consider constructing a more

diversified portfolio of cash products to help manage this

dimension of your longer term financial ambitions.

Equally it may be time to begin to reconsider the longer

term dimensions of your portfolio.

The alternatives for cash management are numerous,

but broadly fit into the following categories.

1. Cash deposits: Yes, I’m starting with cash deposits.

Every portfolio should probably start with a deposit.

Simply put, cash deposits should be seen as the liquid-

ity in your portfolio allowing you to access cash when

and where you need it. No one knows when they will

need access to their cash. Today, the early adopter is

looking at how much of their portfolio is in cash.

2. Structured deposits: These are typically market-

based investments that provide investors with the

potential for higher returns than cash deposits. At

their most simple they provide either full, partial or

conditional capital protection with returns linked to a

variety of different assets.

These products have been particularly popular among

private clients in recent years as a way of enhancing

the return on conventional (cash) deposits. There is a

significant variation in the quality of structured

deposits on offer in the market and the best designed

continue to offer compelling value for money.

However, in common with their conventional cash

deposit cousins, return potential is falling and this

trend may continue for some time.

3. Low risk investment funds: Increasingly, low risk

funds that focus on cash and bonds, with sometimes

modest weightings to the stock market, are being con-

sidered as part of portfolios. Such funds will tend to

offer marginally better return prospects for the longer


wealth management

term investor faced with the potential for falling

interest rates in conventional deposits. However they

come with risks that need careful evaluation and

understanding.

Assessing cash-based productsFrom conversations with private clients, the first sign of

a fall in high street interest rates is creating a dilemma,

perhaps for the first time in a number of years. With high

interest rates, caution looked well rewarded. With more

and more deposit interest rates beginning with a two as

opposed to a four or even five, it has certainly prompted

a rethink among many clients.

The early adopters I spoke about earlier on are already

onto this, but the mood is one of change in how portfolios

will be constructed as the falling interest rate trend gath-

ers pace. In considering a strategy for managing your

cash, investors might consider the following areas:

a. Liquidity: For many Irish investors access to funds

can be a key consideration. The experience of Irish

investors with illiquid assets has been a very painful

one in recent years and the lesson that liquidity has an

intrinsic value has been learned at great expense.

Ideally, investors should have enough liquidity that

they can deal with planned and unforeseen events

while maintaining lifestyle.

b. Time frame: Many investors in recent times have had

an understandably short horizon. Perhaps this is a

new reality, but longer time frames need to be recon-

sidered as part of everyone’s financial ambitions and

goals. Some clients we speak with like to construct

portfolios with pools of wealth that deliver on their

objectives over short, medium and longer time frames

based on their liquidity requirements.

c. Returns: As with any investment, making a return is

a key consideration. As cash rates fall, it may now be

appropriate for investors to consider market-based

investments as part of portfolios. We are seeing a

number of ‘early adopters’ adding more risk to their

portfolios as they look for strong returns.

d. Guarantees and capital protection: Protecting cash

has become a consideration in recent times. With cash

deposits, protection comes through sovereign guaran-

tees on the variety of providers in the marketplace.

The Irish Government currently guarantees deposits

over €100,000 through the ELG (Eligible Liabilities

Guarantee) in addition to the Irish Deposit Guarantee

Scheme for those under €100,000.

We are now also seeing a number of institutions begin-

ning to offer non-ELG deposit products, often with a

premium price. As mentioned earlier, investors in

structured deposits products, capital protection comes

in varieties of full, partial or conditional protection

depending on the product being invested in.

e. Attitude to risk: Finally, the Irish are understandably

conservative investors at the moment. The ‘early

adopters’ are looking at the performance of invest-

ment markets recently and see that there is value

there. There is opportunity and markets will rally over

the longer term. However, often emotions outweigh

the rational thought and analysis of investing. People

can make mistakes such as investing too early or often

too late.

To better manage your cash it’s wise to get a good advi-

sor who has the expertise to guide you and give you access

to a complete range of options and solutions. Also, consid-

er the returns. At present we are seeing a decline in cash

deposit interest rates. What impact will that have on you

and your return expectations? Finally, consider a number

of time frames in the construction of your portfolio to

match your ambitions and financial objectives.

Declan Maher is associate director of business

development at Bank of Ireland Private Banking

Limited.

‘When it comes to yourwider portfolio, it may bethe time to be an “earlyadopter” and consider youralternatives’

RESEARCH & REPORTS

Leading across borders Inclusive thinking in an interconnected world (Ernst & Young)The new C-suite leadership agenda: three things for leaders to do now. If Google were a person,

what kind of person would it be? Business psychologist Douglas LaBier has an interesting take on

that question. Google displays “the model of a psychologically healthy adult in today’s world”,

LaBier wrote in an article in The Washington Post. “Its corporate culture and management prac-

tices depend upon qualities like transparency, flexibility and collaboration with diverse people; non-

defensiveness, informality, a creative mindset and nimbleness, all aimed at aggressively competing

for clear goal within a constantly evolving environment.”

Taxes and Incentives for Renewable Energy (KPMG)This report describes the 2012 taxes and incentives provided by 23 countries around the world

to promote renewable energy from wind, solar, biomass, geothermal and hydropower. Content

includes an introduction on global trends in renewables, a summary of renewable energy pro-

duction in the top five countries and a brief outline of renewable energy promotion policies in

the 23 countries.

Millennials at work Reshaping the workplace (PwC)The millennial generation, born between 1980 and 2000 now entering employment in vast

numbers, will shape the world of work for years to come. Attracting the best of these millennial

workers is critical to the future of your business. Their career aspirations, attitudes about work

and knowledge of new technologies will define the culture of the 21st century workplace.

Millennials matter because they are not only different from those that have gone before, they

are also more numerous than any since the soon-to-retire baby boomer generation – millennials

already form 25pc of the workforce in the US and account for over half the population in India.

Predictive Threat and Risk Management: Meeting the Challenges of a Smarter Planet (IBM)A smarter planet creates new possibilities, as well as new complexities and risks. Thanks to

recent technological advancements, including mobile devices, cloud computing and social media,

we have created an interconnected, instrumented and intelligent world in which there is virtually

infinite access to information. While this has opened the door to new and exciting possibilities, it

also provides an opening for new threats and vulnerabilities. From external factors such as

national security and the economy – to internal factors such as insider fraud, financial risk and

information management – organisations face a multitude of threats every day. These threats

are increasing in number and severity, and can cost organisations millions, even billions, in

losses.

Reinventing a business at risk (Accenture)Plummeting profitability, tightening regulation, increasingly informed and demanding

consumers, and new and nimble competitors – a perfect storm is hammering France’s big insur-

ers. France’s big insurers are not alone. Throughout Europe, relevance in this industry will

require radical restructuring. If the situation in France is any indication, the party’s over for the

European insurance industry. Recent Accenture research in Europe’s second-biggest insurance

market shows that after 10 years of double-digit returns on equity and annual growth rates

three times higher than GDP, a combination of powerful regulatory, demographic and competitive

forces will make the next decade considerably tougher for France’s big insurers.

We take a look at just some of the latest reports from our partnerson the Business & Leadership Report Centre

To download these and other reports please go to the Report Centre at

www.businessandleadership.com/reports


knowledge centre

SPONSORED BYIN ASSOCIATION WITH

TOP 250EXPORTERS

IrishDirectorReport

58 Irish Director Report Top 250 Exporters Autumn 2012

FOREWORD

60 OVERVIEWNewly elected president of theIrish Exporters AssociationColin Lawlor shares hisinsights into the Top 250 list

62 FDILatest data from IDA Irelandreflects the strength of multi-nationals in the Top 250 list

63 ACHIEVEMENTSEnterprise Ireland clientcompanies are growing in allsectors and markets

64 ICTDirector SMB sales at GoogleDavid Geraghty on why Irelandappeals to technologycompanies

66 FDI ANDENTREPRENEURSHIPHow to make Ireland ahotspot for entrepreneurshipand exporting, according toHP Ireland MD Martin Murphy

68 LIFE SCIENCESMultinationals are makingmajor investments in Irelandas the sector goes through aglobal transition

70 FOOD AND DRINKHow Bord Bia expects its newOrigin Green programme todrive exports and Diageo’sinvestment in St James’s Gate

Editor: Sorcha Corcoran. Production editor: Karina Corbett. Art director: Michelle Gregan.For all advertising and marketing queries, contact Sam Hobbs on +353 1 6251425 or [email protected]

Irish Director is published by Business and Leadership Ltd. Tel: +353 1 6251400.Email: [email protected]. Address: Top Floor, Block 43B,Yeats Way, ParkWest Business Park, Nangor Road, Dublin 12. © Business and Leadership Ltd 2012

This special report coverstrends emerging from the IrishExporters Association’s Top 250Exporters report published inJuly.

The listing demonstrates the strength ofIrish exports overall and provides faith inIreland’s export-led economic recovery.

The continued success in attracting to

Ireland the ‘born on the Internet’ companies

is clearly evident in the Top 250 report, with

Google expanding its sales by over 50pc and

Facebook entering the Top 250 for the first

time with export sales of €229m.

PayPal Services Europe also features for the

first time with exports of €92m. The internet

companies are one of the drivers of the fast

growing services export sector, which last

year accounted for €79bn in exports and 46pc

of total Irish exports.

The Top 250 publication also brings into

focus the continued shift from dependence on

the domestic market to international markets

by indigenous Irish companies, with the top

five indigenous companies — Smurfit, Kerry

Group, Glanbia, Glen Dimplex and Irish Dairy

Board — showing international sales of

€17.3bn, but with less than 50pc of the sales

being directly generated in Ireland.

The Top 250 Exporters was based on the

most recent available turnover figures provid-

ed by Stubbs Gazette for the IEA.

JohnWhelan,Chief executive,Irish Exporters Association

Over the next 15 years, it is forecast that exports from Brazil to China will increase by approximately 125%.* And this kind of direct trade between emerging economies is growing much faster than the global average.

HSBCTrade and Supply Chain teams are on the ground in the major and emerging trading economies speaking the languages, knowing the people and getting business done.

We can help you see both the impact and the opportunities brought about by shifting trade patterns.

For more information visit www.hsbc.ie or speak to HSBC Corporate directly at 01-635 6000.

*Varies by sector. Source: Delta Economics 2011.

In the future, new trade corridors will be the norm not the novelty.

Issued by HSBC Bank plc. AC22830

HSBC Bank plc, trading as HSBC Corporate & HSBC Corporate Banking Ireland, is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority in the UK and is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland for conduct of business rules. HSBC Bank plc is registered in England No. 14259. Registered Offi ce: 8 Canada Square,London, E14 5HQ, United Kingdom.The Irish branch is registered in Ireland. Registered Offi ce: 1 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2. Registration number 904230.


OVERVIEW

The Top 250 Exporters list this year is a strongindication of how Ireland’s economic future can bebright, the Irish Exporters Association’s new presidentColin Lawlor tells Sorcha Corcoran

Outwards and

COMPANY NAME €M SALES €M EXPORTS LOCATION CONTACT WEBPAGE LINE OF BUSINESS

1. GOOGLE IRELAND LTD 10098.00 10098.00 Dublin 01 4361000 www.google.ie Search engine

2. MICROSOFT LTD 10025.00 10025.00 Dublin 01 2953826 www.microsoft.com Software manufac-turers and designers

3. JOHNSON & JOHNSON 9800.00 9800.00 Cork 021 4978500 www.janssen.com Pharmaceuticalpreparations

4. DELL PRODUCTS 8738.46 8738.46 Limerick 061 486036 www.dell.ie PC manufacturers

5. PFIZER GLOBAL SUPPLY 6826.50 6826.50 Cork 021 4510200 www.pfizer.com Pharmaceuticalpreparations

6. SMURFIT PACKAGING CORPORATION LTD 6057.00 6057.00 Dublin 01 2027000 www.smurfit.com Packaging and paper

7. STRYKER 5490.00 5490.00 Limerick 061 498500 www.stryker.com Medical equipmentmanufacturers

8. INTEL IRELAND LTD 5107.00 5107.00 Leixlip 01 6067000 www.intel.ie Microchipmanufacturers

9. KERRY GROUP PLC 5302.20 5000.00 Tralee 066 7182000 www.kerrygroup.com Food ingredients

10. ORACLE EMEA LTD 4325.00 4325.00 Dublin 01 8031000 www.oracle.com Pre-packagedsoftware

upwards

‘For Irish companies, to trade in new marketsthey need to look at setting up subsidiariesand operations to help them to do that’

Autumn 2012 Irish Director Report Top 250 Exporters 61

OVERVIEW

THE LEVEL OF growth being achieved by some of the companies inthe Top 250 Exporters list this year is phenomenal and the trendsemerging from the report are extremely encouraging, according tonewly elected president of the Irish Exporters Association (IEA) ColinLawlor, commercial director for ResMed Sensor Technologies.

Formerly known as BiancaMed and a recent winner of theInnovation of the Year award, ResMed is the company behind theworld’s first wire-free sensor for measuring sleep and breathing in thehome.

“Looking at the Top 250 list, the development in the services sectoroverall is very positive – at €79bn in 2011, it accounts for 46pc of totalexports. Within that there is huge growth in a number of sectors, suchas financial services, but what is particularly encouraging is the ‘bornon the internet’ category, with companies such as Google and PayPalcoming into the numbers in a significant way,” says Lawlor.

“We should also be encouraged by the strong progress being madeby the top five indigenous exporters – Smurfit, Kerry Group, Glanbia,Glen Dimplex and the Irish Dairy Board – whose exports amount to atotal of €17.3bn. Less than half of their business is now in Ireland, mak-ing them all truly international exporters.”

The emerging trend of outward direct investment evident among theTop 250 Exporters is very important, according to Lawlor.

“For Irish companies, to trade in new markets they need to look atsetting up subsidiaries and operations to help them to do that. Totaloutward investment amounted to €261bn in 2011 versus foreign directinvestment of €185bn, which shows that Irish companies are movingforward in this way,” he notes.

“The report shows strong progress in all key sectors in Ireland. Irishcompanies continue to progress in the agri-food sector and the ICTsector is showing strength even though it was hit for a period of timebecause of a decline in computer hardware manufacturing. Sales wereback up last year and software continues to drive that growth.

“While issues around some drugs going off patent recently have hadsome impact on the life sciences sector, it is still showing strong

progress with new investments being made by the likes of Allergan,Mylan and Cook Medical. The sector continues to rejuvenate itself.”

One of Lawlor’s priorities in his new role as IEA president is to focuson driving a realignment of exports into the higher growth marketssuch as India, China, Brazil and Russia.

“We continue to be over-dependent on the traditional trading mar-kets of the US and Europe and need to continue to focus our export-ing efforts on higher growth markets,” he says.

“Overall last year, key Asian markets only accounted for 4pc of Irishexports and we know that by 2030 these markets will represent about50pc of world trade – 90pc of the growth over the next number ofyears will come from high growth markets so we have to push muchharder to drive the Irish presence in these countries.”

Lawlor was on a private sector-led business mission to India inSeptember where 40 Irish companies got to meet 70 Indian compa-nies as well as state bodies. “The aim of the mission was to highlightthe opportunity that exists for Ireland. India’s total exports to the EUamounted to €39bn in 2011 and the EU is its No 1 trading partner.Ireland’s exports to the EU are €95bn.

“The message we want to get across to India is ‘We know how toopen European markets for you and should be the location of choicefor you’. The reality is that EU exports to India were €40bn last year,while our trade to the market was only €765m – to put it into perspec-tive we do more trade with the Czech Republic.

“We have a huge amount to bring to the table in markets such asIndia and China, but they don’t know enough about us and there aren’tenough companies pushing ahead there. This will continue to be atheme for the next couple of years. Don’t be fooled either by the short-term reduction in growth levels, which are tailing off in China and Indialately. In the long-term they will still outpace growth in the developedworld.”

He points out that the Government-led trade mission to India in2011 was the first one in five years and believes Ireland needs moreresources on the ground.

Colin Lawlor, president, IrishExporters Association

‘IDA remains optimistic that Ireland cancontinue to win significant FDI, building onour strong track record’


FDI

OVER 5,000 JOBS were announced by IDA client companies in thefirst six months of this year, continuing the strong flow of foreign directinvestment (FDI) recorded in 2011.

The jobs are in a range of sectors including IT, life sciences, digitalmedia and international financial services. PayPal, Apple and Mylanwere among the largest projects announced.

There has been a notable increase in capital intensive projects inrecent times, especially in the pharmaceutical and ICT areas. A num-ber of recent investments have commenced or will shortly commence,leading to the construction of over 1,500,000 sq ft of new buildings,giving a much needed boost to the construction industry.

Despite the global challenge of patent expiry in the pharmaceuticalsector, Ireland continues to perform strongly in the sector, targetingboth the pharmaceutical and the bio-pharmaceutical segments in par-ticular. Recent announcements have included Eli Lilly, Amgen, Allerganand Abbott.

Improvements in competitiveness in areas such as office rents, con-struction costs, unit labour costs and business services in recent yearshave helped boost Ireland’s FDI performance.

Ireland continues to rank strongly in the availability of skilled staffwith the 2012 IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook placing Ireland

No 1 in the world for skilled labour.IDA’s 2011 annual report shows there are now almost 146,000 peo-

ple working directly in over 1,000 IDA client companies. Last year sawthe creation of over 13,000 new jobs with the best net jobs increasesince 2002 of over 6,000.

Many multinationals are continuing to recruit in a range of areasincluding IT, languages and sales and marketing.

Commenting on the outlook for the second half of the year andbeyond, IDA CEO Barry O’Leary says: “There are challenging head-winds facing IDA and Ireland with little growth in European demand,moderate growth in the US and a slowdown in the economies of Chinaand India. Due to a lack of domestic demand and budget deficits manycountries are ramping up their attempts to attract inward investment.

“However, IDA remains optimistic that Ireland can continue to winsignificant FDI, building on our strong track record.

“IDA targets a number of sectors that will continue to grow even ina globally challenging environment. These include IT, digital media andlife sciences. Even in areas of low or no growth, opportunities will arisein sectors such as the consolidation of technology and operationshubs in global financial institutions and consolidation of operations ina number of other sectors.”

Foreign direct investment is playing an important part in Ireland’srecovery, and all the signs point to this trend continuing

Barry O’Leary, CEO, IDA

Investingin our future

‘One of the most interesting things aboutEnterprise Ireland client company exports isthat traditional sectors, which have comethrough a tough time in terms ofcompetitiveness issues, are doing well again’


ACHIEVEMENTS

Julie Sinnamon, executivedirector of global businessdevelopment, EnterpriseIreland

EXPORTS BY ENTERPRISE Ireland client companies showed growthin all sectors and markets in 2011, and there is a higher level of con-fidence among Irish companies about entering new markets, accord-ing to Julie Sinnamon, executive director of global business develop-ment at Enterprise Ireland.

The agency’s annual report published in June shows that exportsreported by Enterprise Ireland client companies, at €15.2bn for 2011,exceed the pre-recession record levels of 2008.

The report also shows employment levels in client companies sta-bilised in 2011 with full-time employment reaching 141,228 – a simi-lar number to 2010.

The positive trend is set to continue as an Enterprise Ireland clientsurvey released this month shows that almost 90pc of respondentsbelieve they will increase their exports in 2012 and over 75pc say theywill increase their employment over 2012.

“Emerging markets are growing faster than others at the moment.Brazil, for example, recorded 60pc growth for client companies,although this is from a low base. We are definitely seeing a higher levelof confidence in these markets than a year ago,” says Sinnamon.

“Irish companies realise that they are not for a quick buck, that theyneed to be committed and if they have the right innovative productsthe potential is there.

“One of the most interesting things about Enterprise Ireland clientcompany exports is that traditional sectors, which have come througha tough time in terms of competitiveness issues, are doing well again.

“The engineering sector achieved 30pc growth in export sales,higher than in the domestic market. Food had another good year in2011, with growth of over 10pc and this is continuing into this year.”

Sinnamon was speaking during International Markets Week(September 17–21), which is billed as Enterprise Ireland’s “singlelargest client event and a significant part of Enterprise Ireland’s strat-egy to drive Irish exports to support business growth and jobs inIreland”.

“Held each year in the RDS, the week involves bringing backEnterprise Ireland staff from our 31 overseas offices. It is a greatopportunity for companies to efficiently gain insights without havingto fly to markets such as Brazil, China, India and the Gulf,” Sinnamonexplains.

“Companies can hold individual meetings with staff members or wecan arrange a meeting with a number of representatives so they cancompare and contrast the relative attractiveness of markets. It is likea speed dating event, where the bell goes every 15 minutes.”

This year over 600 Irish companies are having over 2,000 separatemeetings. “There is a great buzz from the companies at the event andthe feedback from meetings is very positive so far. We are noticing amuch higher level of confidence in exporting compared to last year.”

Enterprise Ireland says that so far this year it has arranged for over560 international buyers to travel to Ireland to meet Irish companiesand assisted Irish companies in winning over 510 new customersacross 46 countries.

Despite the downturn, Enterprise Ireland client companies are reportingexports in excess of pre-recession level, says Julie Sinnamon, executivedirector of global business development at the organisation

Globally winning


ICT

THE SUCCESS OF Ireland as an information and communicationstechnology (ICT) exporter is its ability to recognise how the industry isdeveloping and to attract global players at each stage of the industry’sdevelopment here, according to David Geraghty, director SMB sales,Google.

“Ireland is fast developing a reputation as the internet capital ofEurope. If you look at the companies that have followed Google’s leadin establishing operations in Ireland it is clear to see why,” he says.

“Facebook, Zynga, Gilt, LinkedIn, eBay and PayPal all have opera-tions in Dublin, while Apple and Amazon are based in Cork. This is agreat reputation to have and is one which Ireland can continue to cap-italise on. The cluster of these global companies located in Ireland willalso help the indigenous digital economy to grow.”

According to the Irish Exporters Association annual report, the ICTsector is one of the most vibrant in terms of exports and now accountsfor 8.5pc of manufacturing exports.

In the 1980s a lot of hardware manufacturers located here and theywere followed by software manufacturers, notes Geraghty.

“In the late 1990s into 2000, internet-based companies were target-ed by IDA Ireland and the Government to invest here. Having a strongbase of global companies gives Ireland an edge when new technolo-gies emerge. We have seen this most recently with cloud computing.”

Since Google’s establishment here it has grown the number of mar-kets it supports from Ireland and now helps businesses in more than45 countries across the globe to grow their business online.

“Google established its European Middle East and Africa (EMEA)

headquarters in Ireland in 2003 with 100 staff and we now employ over2,000 people here in sales, engineering, legal, finance and humanresources,” says Geraghty.

“We operate the largest in-country sales operation, supporting cus-tomers in over 45 countries across the globe. We help businesses –small and large – to take advantage of the internet and grow their busi-nesses using Google products such as AdWords and AdSense.

“Consumers are moving online in their millions and businesses mustfollow their customers if they are to succeed and grow. Many busi-nesses are seeing the direct benefit of an online presence – their prod-ucts are on sale 24/7 to customers far beyond their physical location.”

Ireland has been a successful location for Google, according toGeraghty. “Many of our employees are young and international as weneed native language speakers in our sales operation. Dublin is a pop-ular and vibrant city, which enables us to attract the skilled employeeswe need to work with us.”

Google’s export turnover from Ireland increased by 55pc from€6.5bn in last year’s Top 250 listing to €10.1bn in the current year.

“Google continues to invest in Ireland and as our chairman EricSchmidt said previously, as Google grows, Ireland will also benefit.Last year we completed the acquisition of our two EMEA headquarterbuildings on Barrow Street and acquired Google Docks, the tallestcommercial building in Dublin, also on Barrow Street.

“Other investment included €75m in our new data centre, which isnearing completion. All of these investments support our businesshere and will support any new growth opportunities which emerge.”

A new breed of ‘born on the internetcompanies’ are growing from Irelandand Google is the No 1 exporter fromhere in the Top 250 list. Director SMBsales at Google David Geraghty talksto Sorcha Corcoran

Google’sFollowing

lead

David Geraghty,director SMB sales,

Google

‘Google continues to invest in Ireland and as our chairmanEric Schmidt said previously, as Google grows, Irelandwill also benefit’

A DECADE OF EVOLUTION


ICT

In the Top 250 Exporters report published in July, chiefexecutive of the Irish Exporters Association John Whelannoted how the ICT sector in Ireland had changed dramati-cally in the past 10 years.

“Ten years ago ICT exports from Ireland were made upmainly of hardware products from Dell, IBM and Apple,and a much lower level of export sales of software prod-ucts,” he said.

In 2002, the Central Statistics Office statistics showedexports of hardware totalled €30.2bn and softwareexports €10bn.

However, in the decade computer hardware manufac-turing has been reduced very substantially, with compa-nies such as Dell, IBM and Apple changing over their Irishoperations to software production centres.

At the same time, we also have the rapid growth ofinternet companies globally and the significant success ofIDA Ireland in attracting these companies to Ireland.

In 2011 ICT exports from Ireland were again at€40. 2bn, but this time made up of €8bn hardware exportsand €30.2 billion software export sales.

“It is striking to see that our largest exporter is nowGoogle, with exports from Ireland of €10.1bn, just beatingthe exceptional Microsoft export performance,” saidWhelan.

“But there is now a new breed of fast-growing ICTcompanies such as Facebook, EA Games, LinkedIn, GiltGroupe, Big Fish Games, Quest Software, Marketo andZeniMax operating from Ireland, all adding to the sector’sexport growth.”

These companies, alongside investments from existingcompanies based in Ireland such as Dell, EMC, HP andMicrosoft in the cloud computing area, have secured thelong-term stability of the sector, Whelan believes.

“It is a very positive indication of the attractiveness ofIreland for the sector when we learn that Facebook CEOSheryl Sandberg’s experience of Dublin, while growingGoogle’s global footprint, encouraged her to opt for thecity again when she was expanding Facebook,” he added.

Source: StubbsGazette and based on latest Companies Office returns of annual accounts

COMPANY NAME €M SALES €M EXPORTS YEAR END

1. GOOGLE IRELAND LTD 10,098 10,098 31/12/2010

2. MICROSOFT LTD 10,025 10,025 30/06/2011

3. DELL PRODUCTS 8,738 8,738 29/01/2011

4. INTEL IRELAND LTD 5,107 5,107 31/12/2011

5. ORACLE EMEA LTD 4,325 4,325 31/05/2011

6. KINGSTON TECHNOLOGY INTL LTD 3,291 3,291 31/12/2010

7. SANDISK INTERNATIONAL LTD 2,517 2,517 02/01/2011

8. IBM IRELAND LTD 2,512 2,512 31/12/2011

9. APPLE COMPUTER LTD 1,900 1,900 30/09/2011

10. ANALOG DEVICES 1,795 1,795 31/10/2011

11. ADOBE SYSTEMS SOFTWARE IRELAND 1,536 1,536 31/11/2010

12. LUCENT TECHNOLOGIES INTL SALES LTD 1,500 1,500 31/12/2011

13. SYMANTEC LTD 1,436 1,436 01/04/2011

14. VMWARE INTERNATIONAL LTD 1,052 1,052 31/12/2010

15. AVAYA INTERNATIONAL SALES LTD 806 806 31/12/2010


FDI AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

AFTER THE FARMLEIGH II conference last year HP Ireland managingdirector Martin Murphy initiated a piece of internal analysis thatbenchmarked the Republic of Ireland against five potential competi-tor investment destinations – Northern Ireland, Poland, Singapore,Texas and Costa Rica.

Looking at Ireland across the four criteria of labour quality, labourcost, infrastructure and stability, he says that the results were “infor-mative if not surprising”.

Murphy presented his findings in a speech he made recently at aDublin Chamber of Commerce event under the title ‘Winning invest-ment – making Ireland a global hotspot for exporting and entrepre-neurship’.

Starting with labour quality, Murphy says Ireland scored well in theanalysis with a top 25pc rating on most categories, including thequality of the educational system, quality of management schools,quality of science and maths, and our capacity for innovation.

“I make no apology for continually seeking to have our educationalsystem reformed in areas like maths and languages because thesefeatures feed into the way in which Ireland is ranked.”

When it comes to labour costs, HP found Ireland had seen a sig-nificant reduction in the cost of new hires in recent years. “This is avery positive development. It is imperative that wage competitiveness

improves but there is need for further improvements. Ireland is by nomeans the lowest cost location, but certainly is in the mid quartile,”notes Murphy.

Regarding infrastructure, Murphy says an effective and efficienttransportation system is important to HP so employees in the greaterDublin area can commute to and from work easily.

He adds that the National Broadband Plan announced recently,promising to facilitate the provision of high-speed broadband toevery home and business in Ireland, is essential.

“To be a leader, our infrastructure must outpace internationaldevelopments. We have engineers in Ireland collaborating onresearch and development [R&D] with colleagues in the US. It’sessential that broadband infrastructure is to the highest possiblestandard as it means we can develop solutions in a virtual environ-ment. The quality of broadband is relevant to any company conduct-ing R&D here.”

Taking a broader view, Murphy sees the discussion around R&Dand the package of offerings will possibly be as important as corpo-ration tax into the future in terms of attracting foreign direct invest-ment (FDI).

“Ireland scores well across the headings of corporation tax rates,R&D supports, labour relations, security and risk management. The

A combination of foreign direct investment and indigenousenterprise is the key to driving Ireland’s economy, accordingto HP Ireland chief executive Martin Murphy

Entrepreneurialrenaissance

‘Ireland is as good as, if not better than, thecompetition as an investment location’


FDI AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

fact that Ireland ratified the fiscal treaty with Europe also sends apositive message back to the corporate world,” he says.

“In summing up the outcome we found that Ireland’s overall pack-age compares well – but the reality check here is that competition forFDI is very, very finely balanced, and should never be taken for grant-ed.

“Ireland is as good as, if not better than, the competition as aninvestment location. The product needs to be constantly looked atand improved – anything that sets any of these dials back must berobustly resisted and anything that gives Ireland the extra edgeshould be strongly supported.”

While Ireland has created what Murphy describes as “a fantasticFDI environment”, we are missing an opportunity to leverage that interms of start-ups and spin-offs flowing from this. “FDI is a tremen-dous platform from which to drive indigenous growth. The combina-tion of FDI and indigenous enterprise is the Holy Grail and the key tojob creation and future prosperity. I am in no doubt that Ireland needsan ‘entrepreneurial renaissance’ to drive our economy going for-ward.”

Young companies, he believes, have a strong capacity to drivenew jobs. In Ireland less than 6pc of new jobs are created by com-panies less than five years old, whereas in the US, companies rang-ing from one to five years old account for more than 60pc of newjobs created in the economy.

“There is real potential to close this gap that we’re simply not cap-italising on. Part of this Government’s strategy is that ‘by 2016Ireland will be the best small country to do business in’. I’m suggest-ing we stretch that so that by 2016 Ireland will be the best smallcountry in which to build a business,” argues Murphy.

Another Government ambition is to leverage new technologytrends in the sector HP is operating in, such as cloud computing.

“We have got to develop and drive that. Cloud computing is awave. What’s critical is that we’re not just saying we want to build acloud capital, but rather that we really understand what that means.The cloud is a platform, like the internet, around which business willform and innovate. We should be spawning myriad small businessesfrom this platform.

“With the traditional business model, companies tend to establishin geographical areas close to target customers. The cloud offers ahuge opportunity to Ireland, as it means companies don’t have to beclose to customers.

“It allows them to export their product or service from an Irishbase. This means we can build companies here that service globalcustomers. The challenge is to understand customer behaviour andknow more about customers we’ve never met. There is a huge mar-ket for data analytics and Irish companies could leverage the cloudto take advantage of that.”

Against this backdrop, Murphy has some ideas on how we couldreally activate the entrepreneurial ethos around the FDI platform.

Although Ireland has improved competitiveness by a factor of10–15pc in recent years, it needs to achieve the same again in thenext two years, he says. “We simply have to hold the line on com-petitiveness – the cost of doing business has to come down.”

Innovation is a common denominator in the OECD top 10economies and, in Murphy’s mind, a leading indicator for an econo-my on a successful path.

“Ireland simply has to learn to commercialise innovation outcomesand translate them into jobs. In the Government’s Jobs Strategy Iwould set a target of a single start-up/spin-off for every three FDIplayers in Ireland annually,” he says.

“Industry partnerships are key to drive innovation at all levels ofeducation. I think we should also recast transition year into an ‘entre-preneurship/enterprise’ year and immerse pupils at this level with theentrepreneurship ethos.”

This year, HP and NUI Galway launched the first master’s of sci-ence degree in cloud research in Ireland. Murphy says those thatcomplete this course will be “industry ready”, regardless of whetherthey come to work in HP or set up on their own.

When it comes to venture and innovation funding, Murphy saysIreland has made good progress in seed capital options, but there isa huge gap in terms of larger investments.

“Enterprise Ireland has been the dominant ‘investor’ in the marketfor too long. The game changer here will be to move venture andinnovation funding into the private sector.”

Martin Murphy, managingdirector, HP Ireland


LIFE SCIENCES

Patent expiration is causing a realignment of thepharmaceutical sector worldwide, but the lifesciences sector continues to perform well in Ireland

ordinaryA life less


1. JOHNSON & JOHNSON 9,800 9,800 31/12/2011

2. PFIZER GLOBAL SUPPLY 6,826.5 6,826.5 31/11/2011

3. STRYKER 5,490 5,490 31/12/2010

4. BOSTON SCIENTIFIC IRELAND LTD 3,945 3,945 31/12/2010

5. FOREST LABORATORIES IRELAND LTD 2,400 2,400 31/03/2011

6. GILEAD SCIENCES 2,067 2,067 31/12/2010

7. ASTELLAS IRELAND CO LTD 1,997 1,997 31/03/2011

8. SWORDS LABORATORIES 1,801 1,801 31/12/2011

9. BENEX LTD 1,059 1,059 30/09/2010

10. GENZYME IRELAND LTD 980 980 31/12/2010Source: StubbsGazette and based on latest annual returns to Companies Office

‘Ireland is important in terms of themanufacture of active pharmaceuticalingredients, but also finished products’


LIFE SCIENCES

WHILE THE PHARMACEUTICAL sector in Ireland is going through aperiod of readjustment as patents expire on blockbuster drugs, multina-tionals are continuing to invest in their operations here and the life sci-ences sector overall is still performing strongly.

Dr Niall Stobie, head of the life sciences division at the Irish ExportersAssociation (IEA), notes there have been significant investmentannouncements this year from Allergan, Mylan, Amgen, Cook Medical,Abbott, Eli Lilly and Merit Medical.

“Ireland is important in terms of the manufacture of active pharma-ceutical ingredients, but also finished products. Both from a leading-edge and generic point of view there is still investment coming in, whichshows the faith multinationals have in the Irish economy.

“Mylan, for example, is Ireland’s largest generics pharmaceuticalman-ufacturer and is adding more than 500 new positions to its operations inDublin and Galway as part of an annual investment of up to €76m overthe next five years.”

In 2011 pharmaceutical exports were €56.7bn and medical devicesaccounted for over €10bn in exports, according to the IEA.

“The sector has reached a plateau as it goes through a period ofadjustment and we have not seen significant growth in 2012. Our fore-cast for the full year is €55bn for pharmaceutical exports,” says Stobie.

The IEA’s half-year review stated that many of the major Irish-basedexporters of pharmaceuticals and active chemical ingredients for the lifesciences industry are facing sustained price pressure, as patent pro-tected markets are now open to generic manufacturers who are nowfree to compete without the overhead burdens of the original producers.

This will have a major impact on total Irish exports values in the cur-rent year as the sector represents over 50pc of manufacturing exportsales from Ireland.

However, as patent protection is by market, the impact will varyaccording to the export country destination. Hence, in the half-year 2012figures, exports to the US were mostly impacted as the early patent reg-istrations were made there and hence the patent protection has come toan end earliest there.

The pharmaceutical exports to the US fell by 30pc in the first half of2012, but exports to the EU continued their long-term trend growth of6pc.

“The industry has been calling formore streamlined approval processes,particularly within the EU, to enable a lower cost in the development and

market launching of new medicines onto the market. This would tend tolevel the playing field between companies that develop the new drugsand those that copy existing products, removing the cliff patent that iscurrently impacting the industry,” the IEA notes in its review.

Nevertheless, all of the top 15 companies in the life sciences sector inIreland have moved up the Top 250 Exporters rankings and a lot in thelist have had a range of new drugs coming out.

“Pfizer Global Supply is waiting on Federal Drugs Administration[FDA] approval on a selection of new drugs, such as tofacitinib for thetreatment of arthritis, which could generate significant revenue movingforward and Gillead’s new HIV prevention drug got approval this year,”says Stobie.

Now with five sites in Ireland, MSD has repurposed its site in theBallydine, Co Tipperary facility in the past five years to adapt to changesthe industry is facing.

“We have moved away from conventional manufacturing and nowoperate in the research and manufacturing space, focusing on a newcandidate products pipeline, which will be launched from this site,”explains Ballydine’s general manager David O’Connell.

“We have about 10 new candidate products under development withproducts ranging from treatment for HIV, Hepatitis C, diabetes, urinaryincontinence and insomnia to osteoporosis.

“Our target is to be best in class in all of our franchises, providing sig-nificant patient impact for the world population. Considering that Merckworldwide has 20 candidate products in the late stage pipeline globally,we have a significant chunk here in Ballydine.

“We are finalising the development of a breakthrough in insomniatreatment, which we submitted for FDA approval last month.”

Now employing 450 people, the Ballydine site is MSD’s largest singleinvestment outside the US, representing a gross book value investmentof €800m since it was established in 1976.

“From an investment point of view in Ireland, MSD is largely focusedon Ballydine, Brinny and Carlow in recent years,” says O’Connell.

“An Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD announced a €100m investment in theR&D facility in Ballydine last September. Involving an investment of€220m, the Carlow site is brand new and still finalising its start-up phase,with production expected next year. It will focus on the formulation andfilling of our sterile products. At Brinny €28.6m is currently being invested inthe upgrading of technology and production facilities on the site.”

Dr Niall Stobie, head of the lifesciences division, IEA


FOOD AND DRINK

SOME 57 COMPANIES, accounting for over 50pc of total food anddrink exports from Ireland, have already signed up to the Bord BiaOrigin Green initiative launched in June, according to Bord Bia chiefexecutive Aidan Cotter.

Origin Green is a new programme designed to capture what Irishfood and drink stands for and what sets us apart in the internationalmarketplace, with a particular focus on sustainability.

“Ireland enjoys a strong and enduring international reputation as asource of natural, high quality food, drink and ingredients,” says Cotter.

“With the launch of Origin Green, the industry can now effectivelybegin to add proof and commitment to its sustainability claims, andprovide the evidence that retailers and foodservice providers aroundthe world are looking for.”

At the heart of Origin Green is a sustainability charter that will com-mit participants to engage directly with the challenges of sustainabili-ty: reducing energy inputs, minimising their overall carbon footprintand lessening their impact on the environment.

Companies sign up to developing and implementing an action plan.This will set out clear targets in the key action areas identified by thecompany, which will then be required to commit to deliver a progressreport on an annual basis.

“We are asking all food and drink manufacturers to create a three tofive-year sustainability plan covering key areas such as emissions,

energy, waste management, water, animal welfare and communityinvolvement,” Cotter explains.

“The plans will be verified by an independent third party andretained and monitored by Bord Bia on an annual basis. The pro-gramme is designed to make Ireland a world leader in sustainability.

“Our goal is that by 2014, 75pc of food and drink exports will besourced from the Origin Green programme, reaching 100pc in 2016,”says Cotter.

At farm level the programme involves broadening out quality assur-ance schemes to include environmental measures. “Having started in2011, at the end of this year we will have calculated the carbon foot-print of 30,000 beef farms and we will be in a position to roll out a sim-ilar programme for 18,000 dairy enterprises at the beginning of nextyear,” continues Cotter.

“We are also planning to roll out the programme across other typesof farm enterprises and will be adding in measures around biodiversi-ty and water.”

Cotter expects Origin Green to support and drive the continuingstrong performance of Irish food and drink exports, as evidenced inthe Top 250 Exporters list published in July.

“There is a strong presence of food and drink companies in the Top250 list and the sector is very resilient, notwithstanding the challengesin the economic environment,” he says.

rootsBack to our

Sorcha Corcoran speaks to Bord Bia’s chief executive Aidan Cotter abouta new initiative that aims to make Ireland a world leader in sustainability

‘There is an underlying strong growth in demandfor food around the world, which is supportingthe growth of Irish food and drink exports’


FOOD AND DRINK

“There is an underlying strong growth in demand forfood around the world, which is supporting the growth ofIrish food and drink exports. Commodity price increaseseased off in the second half of 2011 and much of thisyear, although they still remain at relatively high levels,particularly in areas such as grain, corn and soyabeans.”

Last year Irish food and drink exports grew by 12pcoverall to reach revenues of €8.64bn. Breaking thisdown, they climbed 16pc to continental Europe; 20pc tointernational markets outside Europe and 33pc to Asia.

“Irish food and drink exports to China went up by50pc last year. There was a clear trend of companiesreaching out into the global marketplace, while the UK,which is still by far our single largest market, showed anincrease of 6pc,” notes Cotter.

“The Irish food industry has always had a strong international orien-tation with significant export reach, selling into more than 170 coun-tries around the world. The indigenous companies in the Top 250Exporters list are in excellent condition.”

New product developmentA Bord Bia survey at the end of 2011 revealed that Irish food and drinkcompanies are growing business through new product development,securing new markets/consumers and extending their customer mar-ket base.

One of the companies in the Top 250, Glanbia, is a case in point.Most of its exports are of bulk dairy ingredients, but its consumer prod-ucts division is currently embarking on an exporting programme.

“We are launching new products in October in the UK and Europethat tick the health and wellness box. One of these is a world-first oat-based drink. It has the same nutritional profile as porridge. We havepresented the concept to consumers and the reaction has been posi-tive,” says Joe Collum, international business development director forGlanbia consumer products.

“Our product innovations are all about the very indulgent or veryhealthy areas of dairy and food. We avoid the middle ground. Welaunched WeightWatchers butter and spread into the UK last year and

are following up with other healthy dairy products. The oat-based drinkis part of the next wave.”

Collum is on the steering committee for a new initiative led by theIrish Exporters Association, ‘Food Chains for Competitive Advantage’,which is using funding from Europe to help drive innovation within theIrish SME food sector.

Supported by Bord Bia, the programme provides a complete pack-age of assistance through delivery of tailored one-to-one mentoringand workshops, which will lead to the development of new products ina range of Irish and Welsh SMEs.

“It looks at how to unlock the barriers faced by Irish food SMEs andsupport the SME fraternity to grow. One of these is lack of leadership.The CEO has to take innovation seriously, not treat it as something tobe looked at on a Friday afternoon. It needs to wash through the wholeorganisation,” says Collum.

“It’s important to remember that most innovation fails – 90pc of newproducts fail – so the odds are stacked against you. Some SMEs arecoming up with one product innovation a year and expecting that towin. You need several work streams to help you to succeed better thanyour competitors.”

The Food Chains for Competitive Advantage initiative is being show-cased at the SHOP trade fair from 25–27 September at the RDS inDublin.

Aidan Cotter, chief executive, Bord Bia


1. KERRY GROUP PLC 5302,2 5000 31/12/2011

2. GLANBIA PLC 2671 2400 03/01/2011

3. THE IRISH DAIRY BOARD CO-OPERATIVE LTD 1978 1978 31/12/2011

4. KELLOGG EUROPEAN GROUP 1402 1402 01/01/2011

5. ARYTZA 1257 1000 31/07/2011

6. QUEALLY GROUP 1000 1000 31/12/2011

7. IRISH FOOD PROCESSORS LTD 950 950 31/03/2011

8. ATLANTIC INDUSTRIES 800 800 31/12/2011

9. PEPSI-COLA MANUFACTURING (IRELAND) 800 800 31/12/2011

10. DIAGEO 1580 770 31/12/2011Source: StubbsGazette and based on latest annual returns to Companies Office


FOOD AND DRINK

IF YOU WERE to take all of the Guinness being exported from StJames’s Gate in Dublin in 2011 in terms of containers, and piled themone on top of the other, it would be four times the height of MountEverest.

This is according to Paul Armstrong, supply chain director at DiageoEurope Beer Supply, who says that Diageo’s global drinks brands,which include Guinness, Baileys and Bushmills, generate a total ofover €1bn in exports from Ireland.

The main export markets are the US, followed by Europe, with sig-nificant growth coming from Africa and Asia Pacific.

“Around 90pc of what Diageo produces in Ireland is exported and70pc of the Guinness brewed at St James’s Gate goes abroad. Diageois a big contributor to Ireland’s export-led recovery, employing 1,500people directly. And if you take all of the products and services we buy,

an additional 19,000 jobs are supported indirectly.”Diageo also supports the rural economy, notes Armstrong, as it is

the single biggest purchaser of barley in Ireland, using 13pc of what isgrown here, mostly in the in the brewing of Guinness, but also in thedistilling of whiskey.

It uses the cream from 275 million litres of milk from Irish cows in themaking of Baileys. “In total, Diageo spends €270m a year in the ruraleconomy, which supports around 6,000 farming families,” notesArmstrong.

The domestic market remains fundamentally important to Diageo asa necessary foundation to export from.

“If you don’t have a strong domestic market, you don’t have a strongplatform from which to grow. Ireland is a big, but challenging, marketfor Diageo, having declined in total by 5pc last year in terms of rev-enue. But Guinness continues to be the best selling beer in Ireland,maintaining a strong value share of 32pc of the on-trade market.”

Diageo demonstrated its commitment to the Irish base in January,with the announcement that it is investing €153m in the constructionof a new brewing centre of excellence at St James’s Gate.

“This is about sustaining the business into the future and securing amore competitive position; competing with the big brewers around theworld,” says Armstrong.

This new brewery will have the capacity to produce one billion pintsa year – up to 300,000 pints of Guinness and 200,000 pints of otherbrands such as Carlsberg every two hours.

Arthur’swayFrom the agri-sector to the export and tourism markets, Diageo plays a hugerole across the entire Irish economy. Sorcha Corcoran reports

‘Around 90pc of what Diageo produces inIreland is exported and 70pc of the Guinnessbrewed at St James’s Gate goes abroad’


FOOD AND DRINK

“With this development, Diageo is combining over 250 years ofbrewing expertise with the latest technologies in order to continue toproduce the finest beers and export them all around the world. Whenfinished, it will be one of the most energy efficient breweries in theworld and will make St James’s Gate the fourth largest brewery inEurope,” Armstrong explains.

Sustainable focusDiageo is already outstanding in terms of sustainability, having beenrecognised by the Carbon Disclosure Project as the best performingbeverage company in the world for climate change disclosure inSeptember.

It published its 2012 Sustainability & Responsibility report on 5September, which showed that it had reduced carbon emissions fromits operations by 9.4pc and improved water efficiency by 7.2pc.“We’ve reduced carbon and improved our water use despite increas-ing production,” says Armstrong.

The report also showed that Diageo has supported 200 projectssince 2006 that provide access to safe drinking water for people inAfrica, with a goal of reaching eight million people by 2015, and since2009 €7.4m has been invested globally in social entrepreneurs throughthe Arthur Guinness Fund and the Champions for Change programmein Asia.

Along with corporate social responsibility, innovation is a constantfocus at Diageo and the global beer technical centre in Dublin sup-ports beer innovation around the world.

“Diageo has a strong pipeline in terms of innovations, having recentlylaunched Guinness Black Lager in Ireland, which has already reached

sales of 1.3 million cases a year in the US after one year. We expectthis to be a brand that will be sold around the world.

“We know that a lot of consumers want to be associated with theGuinness brand and are very open to trying out new beers with uniquetastes. Guinness Black Lager allows them to drink a product from abottle that looks like Guinness but tastes like lager.”

Diageo has also launched Smithwick’s Pale Ale, aimed at con-sumers who like distinctive beers and Guinness Generous Ale inAmerica, which focuses on Diageo’s philanthropic history.

The Guinness name continues to be vitally important to Irishtourism, which goes hand in hand with Ireland’s exporting perform-ance.

Recording a 10pc increase in visitors last year to more than onemillion, the Guinness Storehouse is now Ireland’s No 1 tourist attrac-tion, taking over from Dublin Zoo.

It is ranked the fourth largest branded visitor centre in the worldafter Hersheypark in Pennsylvania; Autostadt, the Audi/VolkswagenCentre in Wolfsburg, Germany; and the Coca-Cola Centre in Atlanta,Georgia.

Around 92pc of all visitors to the Guinness Storehouse are fromoverseas. Visitors from the US, Germany, the UK, Ireland and Italywere ranked as the top five visiting nations there last year withGermany (up 17pc), the US (up 14pc), Ireland (up 14pc) and Italy (up5pc) showing significant increases compared to 2010.

“Diageo is investing €10m in the Guinness Storehouse to reinvigo-rate it and expand facilities. It is a strong symbol of Diageo’s continu-ing commitment to Ireland and export-led economic growth,”concludes Armstrong.

Paul Armstrong, supplychain director, Diageo

patron news


InterIM Executives,the interim manage-

ment wing of MERC

Partners, has experi-

enced a significant

increase in demand lat-

terly for high calibre

interim restructuring,

transformation and

turnaround executives.

According to John

Kelly, general manager

of InterIM Executives,

appointing an independ-

ent executive to lead

and execute a restruc-

turing or turnaround

process brings a number

of critical benefits to the

client company.

“Our interim man-

agers are individuals who

have a track record of leading businesses through cri-

sis situations, have no agenda other than maximising

the return to the owners and returning the business

to a sustainable footing. In addition to business trans-

formation skills, interims bring specific industry

knowledge which may not be available within an in-

house bank recovery team or advisory practice,” he

said.

The speed of the solution – interims are on the ground

at short notice – and the capacity of the interim to iden-

tify key actions necessary within the first few days of

engagement and take effective action are critical for

companies in crisis situations, he added.

An interim solution can make an impact at any

stage of the restructuring and recovery cycle; directly

for a business well in advance of any possible bank

involvement and at either pre or post receiver

appointment stage.

However, according to Kelly, “in many instances

there is a particularly compelling case for banks to

suggest to a client company that they consider

appointing an independent interim rather than the

bank directly placing an interim executive in the com-

pany, as it eliminates any ‘shadow directorship’ expo-

sure that the bank may have in the case of a direct

appointment”.

Increase in demandfor independent turn-around executives

The Little Museum of Dublin, in association with

Matheson Ormsby Prentice (MOP), has launched a

new children’s education programme to promote a

greater awareness of Dublin’s rich heritage.

Entitled ‘I Love Dublin’, the programme will give

school children the opportunity to learn about the

past and present of their city, and encourage them

to consider the capital anew.

MOP’s association with the ‘I Love Dublin’ initia-

tive is part of the MOP Giving Programme, which

sees the firm work with a number of carefully cho-

sen organisations, each of which is focused on help-

ing Irish children to fulfill their potential. These

range from charities that aim to provide physical

and mental safety for children to organisations that

help high academic achievers to reach their full

potential.

“We are delighted to work with the Little

Museum of Dublin to promote education, and to be

part of this new initiative to engage children with

their city’s history,” said Turlough Galvin, partner at

MOP.

The announcement of the new partnership with

the Little Museum of Dublin follows the success of

previous MOP Giving initiatives during the summer.

In July, as part of the Dublin City of Science 2012

Festival, children from across Ireland attended a

series of events in the firm’s Dublin office, including

a landmark presentation from head of NASA

Charles Bolden.

Matheson OrmsbyPrentice supports‘I Love Dublin’ children’seducation programme

John Kelly, general manager,InterIM Executives

Pictured at the launch of the ‘I Love Dublin’ programme areRuairi Quinn TD, Minister for Education and Skills withchildren from St Enda’s of Whitefriar Street, Dublin

KPMG has moved up to the top spot in this year’s

rankings of ‘The World’s Best Outsourcing Advisors’ by

the International Association of Outsourcing

Professionals (IAOP), a standards-setting and profes-

sional advocacy organisation. Last year the firm

ranked second on the IAOP list, which comprises 20

advisory firms.

“KPMG is delighted to be acknowledged for the work

we do for our clients – by the outsourcing industry’s

leading professional organisation,” said Paul Toner,

partner, KPMG in Ireland. “It is very gratifying when

an independent organisation confirms that we are

delivering value to both our clients and the profession

in this rapidly changing and complex environment.”

To make the list, companies that provide consulting

and legal advice to outsourcing buyers and sellers sub-

mitted applications covering various criteria, including

customer satisfaction, size of revenues and global pres-

ence. The rankings were awarded by an independent

judging panel organised by the IAOP.

“This is a significant accomplishment and is a result

of the strategic investments KPMG has been making to

further strengthen our global capabilities in the shared

services and outsourcing areas,” added Toner. “We are

honoured to be recognised for working with the world’s

leading organisations to create and protect the sus-

tainable value of their business.”

“In today’s economy, it is more important than ever

for outsourcing end users to be able to easily identify

and select the right company for their outsourcing

needs,” said IAOP chairman Michael Corbett. “‘The

Global Outsourcing 100’ and ‘The World’s Best

Outsourcing Advisors’ lists are essential for companies

that are looking for proven leaders and rising stars in

the outsourcing industry.”

KPMG ranks No 1 on‘TheWorld's BestOutsourcing AdvisorsList’

patron news

Bank of Ireland PrivateBanking adds leadingfundmanager GMO toits investment platform

Bank of Ireland Private

Banking recently added

Grantham Mayo Van

Otherloo (GMO) to its

Private Banking

Investment Selection

(PBIS) investment plat-

form. PBIS is a multi-

manager and multi-

asset investment fund

that has holdings across

Europe, North America

and the Asia-Pacific

region.

GMO is an independ-

ent asset management

group headquartered in

Boston managing

US$106bn for a wide

range of both institu-

tional and private

clients. Its strategist and

co-founder, Jeremy

Grantham, is one of the most followed and highly

regarded market strategists in the United States.

Commenting on the appointment, Brian O’Rourke,

head of multi manager and alternatives at Bank of

Ireland Private Banking, said: “We are delighted to

add GMO to our investment platform. GMO’s invest-

ment approach is very focused on identifying long-

term value in asset classes which often leads them to

be going against the pack. We have invested in the

GMO Real Return strategy which was launched last

year. This fund adopts an absolute return style aim-

ing to generate strong real returns over a market

cycle with a target of growing 5pc above the inflation

in the G7 countries. The strategy invests across sev-

eral different markets including equities, bonds,

cash, and currencies.”

The addition of GMO will complement the PBIS

platform with other leading investment managers

that have capability in niche markets such as

PIMCO, Schroders, Martin Currie and Abbey

Capital.

Brian O’Rourke, head of multimanager and alternatives,Bank of Ireland PrivateBanking



senior appointments

1. Leslie Buckley,chairman, INM

Leslie Buckley has beenappointed chairman of theboard of Independent News &Media (INM). Buckley helpedmanage the start up of EsatTelecom Group and EsatDigifone with Denis O’Brien.He was chief operations officerof Esat Telecom in 1996 and1997. He established his ownconsultancy business in 1990and has since been retained onkey public and private sectorprojects, including the recon-struction of Waterford Crystal,the reconstruction and sale ofIrish Steel, the restructuring ofAer Lingus Group and consult-ing work with Irish Rail. He iscurrently executive chairmanof Saon Group; vice-chairmanof Digicel; chairman ofNetwork Recovery; and chair-man of the Cork ScienceInnovation & Technology Park(CSITP) Advisory Group. He ison the board of Aer Lingus anda director of Siteserv. InJanuary 2009 Buckley estab-lished Haiti house buildingcharity, Haven.

2. Ian Drennan, director ofcorporate enforcement,ODCE

Ian Drennan has been appoint-ed director of corporateenforcement by Minister forJobs, Enterprise andInnovation, Richard Bruton.Drennan replaces Paul Applebywho has been director since theOffice of the Director ofCorporate Enforcement(ODCE) was established in2001. Drennan has been chiefexecutive officer of the IrishAuditing & AccountingSupervisory Authority for thepast eight years. He qualifiedas an accountant in 1992 andthen joined the Comptroller andAuditor General's office, wherehe spent seven years. He thenmoved to the Department ofFinance where he was an audi-tor of European StructuralFunds. In 2001, he wasappointed to the ODCE to headits compliance function.

3. Richard Huntingford,chairman, UTV Media

UTV Media has appointedRichard Huntingford as chair-man. Previously chief executiveof Chrysalis and executivechairman of Virgin Radio,Huntingford has also been anon-executive director at KPMGfor 12 years. He is currentlychairman at Boomerang Plusand Creston and chairman of

Prince’s Trust Trading Limited.

4. Jane Lodge, non-executive director, DCC

DCC has appointed Jane Lodgeas a non-executive director andmember of its audit committee.Lodge is a non-executive boardmember of Devro and ofCostain Group. Until 2011, shewas a senior audit partner withDeloitte, where she spent over25 years advising global manu-facturing companies. She wasalso the Deloitte partner incharge of the firm’s UK manu-facturing industry sector. Sheserved a term on the board ofpartners of Deloitte UK andalso co-chaired a global teamof partners to review the strategyof the global Deloitte firm.

5. Michael Gladney, collec-tor general, Office of theRevenue Commissioners

The Office of the RevenueCommissioners has appointedMichael Gladney as its new col-lector general. Gladney previ-ously headed up Revenue'sLimerick Tax District & SouthWest Region's large enterpriseaudit unit. He has spent over 18years in the Office of theRevenue Commissioners. Hepreviously worked in theValuation Office.

6. Tom Foley, non-executive director, AIB

Tom Foley has been appointeda non-executive director at AIB.Foley is a former chief execu-tive of KBC Mortgage Bank inIreland and held a variety ofsenior management and boardpositions with KBC Bank in

Ireland, including in corporatefinance, treasury, businessbanking, private/retail banking,as well as in KBC’s UK division.He recently worked on assign-ment with the Department ofFinance and was also amember of the NybergCommission of Investigationinto the Banking Sector during2010 and 2011, and a memberof the Department of Finance(Cooney) Expert Group onMortgage Arrears and PersonalDebt during 2010. He is a non-executive director of BPVFinance (International) andIntesa SanPaolo Life.

7. James Hatchley, co-CEO,Avoca Capital Holdings

Avoca Capital Holdings hasappointed James Hatchley asco-chief executive officer.Hatchley joins from Freeman &Co, a financial services-focusedM&A advisory and strategicconsulting firm, where he wasmanaging director and COO ofFreeman & Co Europe. A quali-fied chartered accountant, hebegan his banking career atSchroders in 1991. He joinedGreenhill & Co in 2000 andestablished Freeman & Co’sEuropean business in 2006. Hehas worked closely with Avoca

CHANGING PLACES

in associationwith


senior appointmentsin associationwith

on a range of strategic projectsover the last four years.

8. Herb Hribar, group chiefexecutive officer, Eircom

Eircom has appointed HerbHribar as group chief executiveofficer. Hribar has extensiveexperience in the telecoms andTV industries in Europe andthe US. He moves to Eircomfrom CENX, where he has beenCEO since February 2011. Hehas also been president ofAmeritech Wireless in the US,managing director of KabelDeutschland and COO ofCablecom in Switzerland. Hewas previously managingdirector wholesale/networks atEircom from 2002 to 2004.

9. Richard Moat, groupchief financial officer,Eircom

Richard Moat has beenappointed group chief financialofficer at Eircom. Moat hasmore than 20 years of interna-tional mobile experience,including leading T-Mobile UKas its managing director, beforebecoming deputy chief execu-tive and chief financial officer ofEverything Everywhere.

10. Dr Sharon Sheehan,master designate, CoombeWomen & InfantsUniversity Hospital

Dr Sharon Sheehan has beenelected as master designate

for the Coombe Women &Infants University Hospital(CWIUH) for the period2013–2019. Sheehan, who isthe first woman to be electedto the post, graduated in medi-cine from University CollegeDublin in 1998. Followinginternship she went intoobstetrics and gynaecologytraining and has worked at allthree Dublin maternity hospi-tals. While working at theCWIUH as a research fellow,she conducted a multicentrerandomised controlled trialevaluating blood loss atCaesarean section. Sheehanwas awarded a PhD fromTrinity College Dublin in 2011for this research. After com-pleting her specialty training inIreland, she worked in Bristolas a senior clinical fellow. Shereturned to Ireland at thebeginning of this year and isconsultant obstetrician andgynaecologist and senior lec-turer at the National MaternityHospital, Holles Street andRoyal College of Surgeons inIreland. She recently submit-ted her thesis for a master's inhealthcare management fromthe Institute of Leadership,RCSI. She will take up her newpost on 1 January 2013.

11. JD Buckley, managingdirector, Sky, Republic ofIreland

JD Buckley has been appointedmanaging director of Sky inthe Republic of Ireland. Hejoins Sky from his own busi-ness consultancy where he'sbeen working for the past fouryears. During this time he tookon the interim role as chiefoperating officer at Prontaprintand Kall Kwik. Buckley alsospent five years working forIrish-owned Digicel. He wasCEO of the company’s CaymanIslands business before takingresponsibility for the NorthCaribbean region.

12. Daniel Murray, partner,Deloitte

Daniel Murray has beenappointed partner in Deloitte’sconsumer business and tech-nology practices. Murrayjoined Deloitte in 1999 and wasappointed a director in 2008.Murray has a business degreefrom Trinity College Dublin anda master’s degree in account-ing from University CollegeDublin. He is also a member ofChartered Accountants Ireland.

13. John Warburton, CEO,DoneDeal

DoneDeal has appointed JohnWarburton as chief executiveofficer. Warburton, who hasover 20 years of experience ininformation technology, busi-ness processes and projectmanagement, has beenDoneDeal’s chief operatingofficer for the past two years.Before joining DoneDeal, heheld senior positions in a num-ber of large companies,including spending 10 years inthe USA working with LittonPRC. He has a number of busi-ness and IT qualifications frominstitutions in the UK, USA andIreland. He is a founding mem-ber of the south-east branch ofthe Irish Internet Associationand previously sat on the boardof the Wexford Chamber ofCommerce.

14. Johnny McElhinney,chairman, CharteredAccountants LeinsterSociety

Johnny McElhinney has beenappointed as chairman of theChartered AccountantsLeinster Society for2012–2013. McElhinney is apartner with Dublin-basedaccountancy firm, JohnMcElhinney & Company. Hewas recently awarded theChartered Accountants Irelanddiploma in forensic accounting,passing with distinction. Hehas served as a committeemember of the LeinsterSociety for the past four years,and has been a member of theEducation, Training and LifeLong Learning committee ofChartered Accountants Irelandsince 2009. He was also chair-man of the YoungProfessionals Committee ofthe Institute of CharteredAccountants in Ireland for2008–2009 and has served onthe Members ServicesCommittee. An associate of theInstitute of CharteredAccountants In Ireland, he is afellow of the Institute ofAccounting Technicians inIreland and a member of theInstitute of Bankers in Ireland.

15. Fiona Sweeney, CEO,Prescient InvestmentManagers (Ireland)

Fiona Sweeney has beenappointed chief executive


senior appointments

officer of Prescient InvestmentManagers (Ireland) Limitedand a director of the company.Sweeney joined AIBInvestment Managers inSeptember 2000 as head ofpensions and was appointedhead of customer businessIreland (CBI) in January 2010.She joined AIBIM from FriendsFirst Asset Management,where she was director of newbusiness development, andprior to that worked with Bankof Ireland Asset Management.She holds a master's degree ineconomics from UniversityCollege Dublin and is amember of CFA Institute.Prescient Ireland recentlycompleted the acquisition ofAIBIM, which was subsequent-ly renamed PrescientInvestment Managers (Ireland)Limited.

16. Conor O’Brien, strate-gic human resource direc-tor, PFH Technology Group

Conor O'Brien has joined PFHTechnology Group as strategichuman resource director.O'Brien has 22 years of experi-ence in international humanresources management andjoins PFH from Kerry Groupwhere he served as vice-presi-dent of human resources forthe EMEA region. Before KerryGroup, he worked with SeagateTechnology, EuroplanRecruitment, KentzEngineering and Concurrent

Computer Corporation (PerkinElmer). He is a chartered fellowof the Institute of Personneland Development (CIPD) andholds an MBA from the OpenUniversity Business School.

17. Jane Lorigan,managing director,Saongroup.com Europe

Saongroup.com has appointedJane Lorigan as managingdirector of Saongroup.comEurope. Lorigan has beenmanaging director ofSaongroup.com Ireland since2006. Lorigan joinedSaongroup.com as marketingdirector of IrishJobs.ie in 2005and was responsible for devel-oping the brand as the companyexpanded internationally andtransitioned intoSaongroup.com. She is a grad-uate of University CollegeDublin, Chartered Institute ofMarketing and IrishManagement Institute.

18. Tim Higgins, chiefexecutive, Tote Ireland

Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) hasappointed Tim Higgins as chiefexecutive of its pool-bettingsubsidiary Tote Ireland.Higgins joins the Tote fromMicrosoft Ireland where hemost recently held the post ofIT director for European opera-tions and development. He hasheld a number of seniormanagement positions with

Microsoft over the past 15years, including internationalassignments in Asia and NorthAmerica. A chartered account-ant, he has a track record instrategic planning, operationsand team leadership.

19. Terry O’Niadh, non-executive director, VHIHealthcare

Terry O’Niadh has beenappointed to the board of VHIHealthcare by Minister forHealth, Dr James Reilly TD fora period of three years to 18July 2015. O’Niadh is currentlythe chair of the Monitoring &Evaluation (Quality Assurance)Committee, Local AuthorityServices, National TrainingGroup and a part-time tutorwith the Institute of PublicAdministration. He spent 10years as North Tipperary coun-ty manager, six years as assis-tant county manager, KildareCounty Council and eight yearsas county secretary, WicklowCounty Council. He holds amaster’s in public affairs andpolitical communications fromthe Dublin Institute ofTechnology, was a participantin a leadership programmefrom Harvard University,Kennedy School of Business,and has a bachelor of artsdegree in public management.

20. Joe Skulski, CEO,Compliance and Risks

Compliance and Risks hasappointed Joe Skulski as CEO.Prior to Compliance and Risks,Skulski was a business con-sultant at Element56. He alsoworked for 13 years in a vari-ety of management roles atconformity assessment andcertification services company,Bureau Veritas. He hasdegrees in materials scienceand industrial technology aswell as a master’s in businessadministration.

21. Philip Brady, director-head, Canon Ireland

Philip Brady has been appoint-ed director-head of CanonIreland. Brady has worked forCanon Ireland since 2003,when he joined to head upfinance and administration forCanon Business Solutions. In2005, he was appointed headof the CIG (consumer imaginggroup) team. Brady has previ-ously held management posi-tions at Dell, Xerox and AirProducts.

22. Maurizio Brusadelli,president, Kraft Foods UK& Ireland

Maurizio Brusadelli has beenappointed as president of KraftFoods UK & Ireland. Brusadellihas been with Kraft, whichowns Cadbury, for 19 years ina number of roles. He wasappointed president, gum andcandy, Kraft Foods Europe at

in associationwith

the end of 2010 to lead theEuropean gum and candy busi-ness. Previously he spent twoyears in Madrid as generalmanager, Kraft Foods Iberia.He also spent four years ascategory director, PhiladelphiaEurope. He began his careerwith Kraft Foods Italy in 1993as an assistant in the Milan-based marketing department.Born in Italy, Brusadelli has adegree in business and eco-nomics from BocconiUniversity, Milan.

23. Suhela Gremmel,managing director, Adtech,UK and Ireland

Adtech has appointed SuhelaGremmel as managing directorof its UK and Ireland operations.Gremmel began her career in2001 in international customerservice at Adtech's companyheadquarters in Dreieich. In2005, she transferred to the UKoffice in London to take on themanagement of global customer

service. In 2007 she moved tothe company’s CRM depart-ment. Since 2009, she hasheaded up the global CRM teamfrom Dreieich. In recent monthsshe also played an importantrole in opening up new marketsin India and Israel. In addition,she has represented Adtech onvarious working groups andexpert committees of theGerman industry organisationBVDW and the whole onlinemarketing sector.

24. Doug Keatinge, clientdirector, Fleishman-Hillard

Doug Keatinge has joinedFleishman-Hillard as a clientdirector on the corporate team.He was previously head ofinvestor relations and corporatedevelopment for Digicel Group.He is a former business jour-nalist for RTÉ and BloombergNews and has worked as astrategy consultant for LEKConsulting in London. He was

also an economic consultant forthe United Nations in EastTimor, and worked inmedia rela-tions for Oxfam in Indonesia andEast Africa. He holds an MBAfrom Insead, an MA in journalismfrom Dublin City University and aBA in politics and economicsfrom Oxford University.

25. Fin O’Driscoll,managing director, ExperianIreland

Fin O’Driscoll has been appoint-ed managing director ofExperian Ireland. O’Driscolljoined the company in May asdirector of sales and marketing.Before that, he was interimgeneral manager of the Irish-based subsidiary of HoughtonMifflin Harcourt. Other previousroles include CEO of DelphiTechnologies and general man-ager of retail software providerTorex. He has a degree in civilengineering from UCD, an MScin structural engineering fromImperial College, London andan MBA from Insead.

26. Pat Farrell, alternatenon-executive director,Irish Takeover Panel

Pat Farrell has been appointedas alternate non-executivedirector of the Irish TakeoverPanel and as a non-executivedirector of IFSC Ireland. Farrellhas been chief executive of

banking and financial servicesrepresentative body IBF sinceJanuary 2004. He is a memberof the Department of AnTaoiseach’s Clearing HouseGroup and a member of theexecutive committee of theEuropean Banking Federation.

27. Allan Shouten, executivedirector, PM Group

PM Group has appointed AllanSchouten as an executive direc-tor. Shouten, who joined PMGroup in 1998, is the managingdirector of the company’s Asiaoperations, based in Singapore.He has worked on a variety ofcomplex food, pharmaceuticaland chemical projects inIreland, the US, Singapore, theUK, the Netherlands, China andIndia for clients includingGenzyme, GlaxoSmithKline, DrReddys, Wyeth and ScheringPlough. He is a charteredchemical engineer.

28. Aidan Brogan, CEO,Datalex

Aidan Brogan has beenappointed CEO of Datalex afterbeing named interim CEO inJune. He joined Datalex in1994 and, before becominginterim CEO, was the seniorvice-president of sales. He waspreviously the regional manag-er for WestinghouseCorporation in Dubai.

senior appointmentsin associationwith


what’s on

VISUAL ARTSSidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly seriesThe Irish Museum of Modern Art

presents the famous Ned Kelly series

of paintings by celebrated Australian

artist Sidney Nolan from 2

November 2012 to 27 January 2013.

www.imma.ie

Richard Hamilton: The Late WorksThis highly personal exhibition by

one of Britain’s most influential

artists traces an intriguing path

leading to his unfinished and unseen

final work Balzac (a) + (b) + (c). The

exhibition takes place in the National

Gallery in London and runs from 10

October to 13 January.

www.nationalgallery.org.uk

MUSICMilos KaradaglicAs part of the Great Artists Series

in The International Concert Series

2012/2013, Montenegro-born classical

guitarist Milos Karadaglic takes to

the stage in the National Concert

Hall on 10 October. www.nch.ie

Alison BalsomTrumpeter Alison Balsom, who was

recently named ‘Female Artist of the

Year’ for the second time at the

Classic BRITs, will perform with the

Kammerorchester Basel on 8

November at the National Concert

Hall as part of its Great Artists

Series in The International Concert

Series 2012/2013. www.nch.ie

Katherine JenkinsWelsh mezzo-soprano Katherine

Jenkins appears at Dublin’s The O2

with an orchestra and a choir on 15

December before performing at the

Odyssey Arena in Belfast on 16

December. www.theo2.ie

André RieuDutch superstar violinist, conductor

and composer, André Rieu returns to

Ireland to play The O2 on 8 and 9

December. The maestro will conduct

his 60-piece Johann Strauss

Orchestra and play the violin, while

encouraging his audience to get out

of their seats and waltz in the aisles.

www.theo2.ie

THEATREDublin Theatre FestivalThis year’s Dublin Theatre Festival

continues until 14 October at a range

of venues around the capital. The

theme of the festival is ‘Your City,

Your Stories’. The programme

includes 12 world premieres, 500

performances across 32 productions

in 19 venues.

www.dublintheatrefestival.com

OPERAWexford Opera FestivalThe rarely performed Italian opera,

L’Arlesiana by Francesco Cilèa will

open the 61st Wexford Festival

Opera on Wednesday, 24 October.

The festival runs until 4 November

and will also include performances of

Le Roi Malgré Lui by Emmanuel

Chabrier, sung in French, and A

Village Romeo and Juliet by Frederick

Delius, sung in English.

www.wexfordopera.com

FESTIVALSBelfast Festival at Queen’sThe 50th Ulster Bank Belfast

Festival at Queen’s will include

artists, authors and performers from

across the world participating in 130

events between 19 October and 4

November right across the city. Van

Morrison, Ladysmith Black

Mambazo, Ian Rankin, Ray Davies,

President Michael D Higgins, Lesley

Garret and Camilla Tilling are just

some of the diverse artists who will

be participating.

www.belfastfestival.com

DANCEThe NutcrackerBallet Ireland will present The

Nutcracker in 22 venues across

Ireland and the UK this autumn. Co

Down native Melissa Hamilton,

soloist with the Royal Ballet, will

dance the role of the Sugar Plum

Fairy on the opening night in Dublin

and will be joined by fellow Royal

Ballet star, Polish dancer Dawid

Trzensimiech. The run starts in

Letterkenny on 26 October and runs

until 22 December in Navan, and will

include a stint in the Gaiety Theatre

Dublin from 20 to 24 November.

www.balletireland.ie

HIGHLIGHTSAUTUMN2012An overview of just some of the cultural events happening over the next couple of months

Sidney

Nolan,ConstableFitzpatrickandKateKelly,1946,

90.7x121.2cm

,enamelon

composition

board,National

Gallery

ofAustralia,G

ifto

fSun

dayReed1977

FullMember:A personmust be a director of a corporation for aminimum of three years or a partner, senior executive or officer of anentity, with three years’ experience as amember of the body that isresponsible for the strategic business direction of that entity. Thecompanymust be solvent and in existence for at least three yearsand have aminimum annual turnover or budget of€300,000.

AssociateMember:A personmust be a director, partner, seniorexecutive or officer of an entity or a sole trader for aminimum periodof one year or who reports to amember of the body that is responsi-ble for the strategic business direction of that entity and is interestedin the promotion and advancement of good corporate governance.

Application form formembership

✃

Please return your completed form by fax to 01 4110090 or post to:Institute of Directors in Ireland, Europa House, Harcourt Street, Dublin 2

1. PERSONAL DETAILS OF THE APPLICANT(Please attach your business card if possible)

Name __________________________________________________

Job Title ________________________________________________

Business Name____________________________________________

Business Address ________________________________________

________________________________________________________

Business Phone __________________________________________

Number of years served as a Director __________________________

_________________________________________________________

Job Title ________________________________________________

Fax ____________________________________________________

Email __________________________________________________

Mobile __________________________________________________

Qualifications______________________________________________

Home Address ____________________________________________

________________________________________________________

Company Type (ie plc, Ltd) __________________________________

Company Sector __________________________________________

2. COST OF IOD IRELAND MEMBERSHIP:❑ Registration fee (payable in the first year only) €200 Annual subscription €295 Total Cost of NewMembership €495

3. PAYMENT DETAILSPayment is accepted by chequemade out to: The Institute of Directors in Ireland, or by credit/debit card (see below)

Cardholder’s Name: ______________________________________ Amount: €______________

I am paying by ❑ Visa ❑ MasterCard ❑ Laser (We cannot accept American Express)

Card no:❑❑❑❑ ❑❑❑❑ ❑❑❑❑ ❑❑❑❑ ❑❑❑Expiry date:❑❑/❑❑Signature: ____________________________________________________________

All information provided is treated with the strictest confidence. If you have any queries, please phone us on 01 4110010.

There are two categories of membership of the IoD – Full and Associate. Both can avail of all membership benefits and attend all IoD events.

Please indicate the category you are applying for: Full ❑ Associate ❑

I hereby apply for membership of the Institute of Directors in Ireland and agree to be bound by its Memorandum and Articles of Association.I also confirm that:

• I do not have any unspent criminal convictions (other than for traffic offences).• I have not been restricted from acting as a company director, under s150 of the Companies Act 1990, or disqualified from actingas a company director under s160 Companies Act 1990, as amended or equivalent legislation in other jurisdictions.

• I have read and understood the code of conduct expected as a member of the Institute of Directors in Ireland. The code can be viewed atwww.iodireland.ie/about-iod or emailed to you on request.

www.iodireland.ie

We connected every business in Weavers Court directlyto the USA.

10 Gigabit internet speeds for every tenant - a world’s first.

Competitive advantagein a connected world.

tibusconnect.com/connect

THE FIRST RULE OF SUCCESSSURROUND YOURSELF WITH THE BEST

driven by excellence

DUBLIN LONDON NEW YORK PALO ALTO

The success of any law firm can be measured by the quality of its people and

its clients. We have the best of both.

With a primary focus on serving the Irish legal needs of international

companies and financial institutions doing business in and through Ireland,

Matheson Ormsby Prentice represents 27 of the world’s 50 largest banks and

more than half of the Fortune 100 companies.

We are pleased to introduce our new partners. Pictured from left to right

are: Liam Collins (Asset Management and Investment Funds), Liam Quirke

(Managing Partner) and Darren Maher (Financial Institutions - Corporate

Insurance).

Matheson Ormsby Prentice. Lawyers of choice for international companies and financial institutions doing business in and through Ireland. Contact Liam Collins at [email protected],

Darren Maher at [email protected],

or your usual contact at Matheson Ormsby Prentice.

www.mop.ie

funds europe

awards2011

European Advisor

Date post:	06-Jul-2020
Category:	Documents
Upload:	others
View:	0 times
Download:	0 times

THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF DIRECTORS IN ...€¦ · ness strategy, to assessing risk...

Documents