Business Movers

People in new roles with businesses and organisations including Eversheds Sutherland, Kubota, IERC, Logicalis Ireland, Quintas and the Harris Group.

New roles: (top row, left to right) Alan Connell, Henry Bredin, Dr Pádraig Lyons; (bottom row) Frank Rubotham, Mark Ryan, Karl Haughton.

Here is a selection of people starting new roles with Eversheds Sutherland, Kubota, IERC, Logicalis Ireland, Quintas and the Harris Group.

Alan Connell has been elected as managing partner for Ireland with law firm Eversheds Sutherland for a four-year term. He also heads up the firm’s tax group. He joined the firm in 2017 as a partner and head of the tax practice. He has also been head of the firm’s commercial department. He sits on the firm’s executive committee and is a member of the board of Eversheds Sutherland (Europe) Ltd. He is a leading international tax lawyer, with extensive experience in corporate tax law and has advised on some of the largest inward investment and restructuring projects in Ireland. He primarily advises international financial institutions and corporations, doing business in and from Ireland and is standing tax counsel to numerous international organisations in respect of their Irish operations. He was previously a tax partner with Matheson and a tax associate with Mayer Brown LLP in its London office.

Henry Bredin has been appointed to the new role of general manager with agri-business Kubota (UK) Ltd and heads up its recently formed Tractor Business Unit (TBU). He brings significant experience in from prior commercial roles with Greenvale, Stewarts, John Deere, and CNH Industrial. He holds a degree in Agricultural Engineering from Harper Adams University, a diploma in Professional Consulting, and an MBA, both from the University of East Anglia. The new GM role is part of Kubota's expansion plans and allows managing director David Hart to focus on his secondary role as vice-president of business transformation within the broader European market sectors. Kubota, which has an Irish base in Loughrea, Co Galway, specialises in agricultural, turf, and construction equipment, and industrial engines.

Dr Pádraig Lyons has been appointed as head of group with the International Energy Research Centre (IERC), based at Tyndall Institute in Cork. He brings 15 years' experience in roles in industry, consultancy, research, and academia. He has held senior roles with ESB Networks, notably in future networks development. He was a lecturer in Power Systems at the School of Engineering and Newcastle University, UK. He was a senior smart grids researcher at Newcastle and Durham Universities. He holds a BE degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering and an MEng.Sc degree in Electrical Engineering from University College Cork. He holds a PhD from Durham University, UK. Dr Lyons is a chartered engineer and is also a research visitor at Newcastle University, UK.

Frank Rubotham has been appointed as head of Cisco Alliance and Propositions with IT solutions and managed services provider Logicalis Ireland. He will manage the strategic alliance between Cisco and Logicalis in Ireland, and lead new propositions for cloud, collaboration, security and software-based networking. He brings 30 years of experience in ICT in Ireland and UK. He joins from eir Business, where he had a senior role in outsourcing and managed service contracts. Prior to that, he managed eir’s client relationships in the public and private sectors, having moved from the aviation division of the business. Earlier in his career, Frank worked for BT in the UK. Logicalis helps accelerate the digital transformation of its 10,000 customers across 27 countries around the world.

Mark Ryan has been appointed as partner with accountancy firm Quintas in Cork. has been with the firm for almost 20 years and over this period he has gained a wide range of experience having worked in various roles across the practice. Mark will be responsible for banking and insolvency services within Quintas, leading a team covering personal insolvency arrangements, bankruptcy, liquidations, SME examinerships, vulture fund settlements, banking applications and restructures. He qualified as an accountant in 1999 and he is a member of CPA. Originally from Portumna in East Galway, he moved to Cork in 2001. He previously worked in an accountancy practice in Galway city. He was one of the first Personal Insolvency Practitioners to be licenced by the Insolvency Service of Ireland in 2013.

Karl Haughton has been promoted to fleet sales manager and interim dealer development manager for Ireland with Harris MAXUS, part of the Harris Group. He brings six years’ motor trade experience. He joined the firm's dealership at Naas Road, Dublin, in 2019, as sales manager for Harris Bus and Coach operations. He will now manage the MAXUS brand, formerly known as LDV. He began his career as a junior sales representative for Finlay Motor Group in Naas, rapidly progressing to Volvo brand manager, a role he held for four years. He is the fourth generation in his family to work in the motor trade. Founded by the late and great Pino Harris in 1961, The Harris Group is an importer and distributor of commercial vehicles.