Bord Bia today confirmed a number of senior appointments, made as part of the most significant recruitment drive by the organisation in over a decade, in a bid to 'bolster Brexit planning support' for Irish food and drinks companies.
'Mainly based in Dublin, but also in Asia and US, the appointments are part of Bord Bia’s focus on identifying and building new markets for companies operating in the vital food and drink sector,' said The Irish Food Board in a statement.
New Appointments
Karen Coyle takes on the newly created role of global relationship manager, based in Dublin.
The move will see her return to Dublin having headed up Bord Bia’s activities in North America for the past ten years. The focus of this new position will be to develop and strengthen relationships with global retail, foodservice and manufacturing companies and partners, by demonstrating the capability of the sector to meet their needs.
Ailish Forde has been appointed the director of markets.
In her new role, Forde will implement Bord Bia’s new Plan to Grow framework across all overseas markets. Previously, Forde led the food and beverage division as food and beverage strategy and planning director.
Eileen Bentley has been appointed senior marketing strategy manager with Bord Bia, based in their Dublin office.
Bentley originally joined Bord Bia’s London office as a graduate on IBEC’s Export Orientation Programme (EOP), initially focused on the specialty food sector before working on the UK foodservice programme. Subsequently, she spent time working with Sainsbury’s in London and Nespresso in Switzerland before returning to Ireland and to Bord Bia, where she has remained for the past ten years.
Ciarán Gallagher taking on the expanded role as manager of Korea and South East Asia, based in Singapore.
Gallagher is responsible for Bord Bia activities in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Japan, and South Korea. Ciarán has been based in Asia for his entire career, starting with Glanbia Nutritionals in Shanghai as an Asia Pacific Business Analyst before becoming a commercial strategy, analytics and processes (CSAP) manager Asia Pacific. He is also a former chairperson of the Irish Chamber of Commerce China (2015-16).
Shane Hamill appointed overseas trade manager, based in Dublin office.
Shane’s role will be to manage Bord Bia's response to Brexit through a series of data-led projects and strategic communications. Shane has a wealth of experience in food sustainability, having worked with the United Nations in their Division for Sustainable Development and the European Commission in Brussels. At Landmark Public Affairs in Brussels, he advised leading multinational food and beverage companies and trade associations on EU policy, regulation and environmental issues. In 2016, Shane joined Bord Bia’s London office, moving to Dublin in early 2018.
Henry Horkan appointed as manager for North America.
In his new role, Horkan will be responsible for growing the North American market, identified as a priority market for seafood, dairy, beverages and prepared consumer foods in Bord Bia’s recent Prioritising Markets Report. Horkan was previously based in Bord Bia’s London office for over 10 years working across several sectors and managing Bord Bia’s initial market response to Brexit. He joined Bord Bia as a Global Graduate based in Prague, working with Irish food and drink clients and assisting them to build their business across Eastern Europe.
Perfectly Positioned
"Food and drink exports are worth over €12 billion annually to Ireland, and the sector is facing a period of unprecedented change," Tara McCarthy, CEO Bord Bia explained.
"Now more than ever it is important that the sector identifies and grows in new markets."
McCarthy highlighted that each appointment was made as a result of a highly competitive process and these professionals add considerably to the strength and depth of expertise at senior levels in Bord Bia, leaving us perfectly positioned to guide and advise companies through the changes ahead.”
© 2018 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Donna Ahern. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
