Business Movers 

New roles: (top row, left to right) Deirdre O’Carroll, Professor Dan Kilper, Sarah Thompson; (bottom row) John Kelly, Gary Colton, Alastair McBain.

Here is a selection of people starting new roles with Irish Distillers, Connect, Arthur Cox, Belfast Distillery Company, IPG Mediabrands and PetroNeft.

Deirdre O’Carroll has been appointed as a blender at Jameson whiskey producer Irish Distillers, working with master blender Billy Leighton in Midleton Distillery, Co Cork. She will develop new and existing blends and manage stock, including cask profile and age profile. She holds a degree in Food Science and Technology from UCC and a diploma in Distilling from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling. She joined in 2012 as part of the first year of the Jameson Engineering Programme, and was appointed as a process technologist. She was part of the team developing new pot stills in the Garden Stillhouse and the new columns in the Midleton Distillery expansion project. As a bond supervisor, she helped oversee the 1.7 million casks maturing in Midleton.

Professor Dan Kilper has been appointed as director of Connect, the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Research Centre for Future Networks and Communications, hosted by Trinity College Dublin. Prof Kilper will also hold the position of Professor of Future Communication Networks in Trinity’s School of Engineering. He comes to Connect from the University of Arizona where he held a research professorship in the College of Optical Sciences, and a joint appointment in Electrical and Computer Engineering. He also holds an adjunct faculty position in the Data Science Institute at Columbia University, where he is a co-PI on the COSMOS advanced wireless testbed. He was lead PI on the founding project of SFI’s US-Ireland Research and Development Partnership and has led multiple international university-industry research centres.

Sarah Thompson has been appointed as a partner in the finance group of law firm Arthur Cox, effective from March 1. She joins Arthur Cox from Kirkland & Ellis in London, where she was a partner in its financial services regulatory team. Prior to this, Sarah also worked at Linklaters in its financial regulation group for several years. Sarah has considerable experience in advising a broad range of clients on financial regulation matters including compliance with regulatory requirements and procedures, engagement with regulatory bodies and managing financial regulation issues on cross border transactions. She said: “I am excited to join the Arthur Cox finance team and look forward to working with our clients to navigate the regulatory and compliance obligations impacting their businesses.” 

 John Kelly has been appointed as CEO of Belfast Distillery Company. He joins from Walsh Whiskey, where he was commercial director. From Belfast, John has worked in the drinks sector for over 30 years in sales, marketing and general manager roles in Ireland, Europe and Middle East, during a 22-year career with Diageo. Belfast Distillery Company launched McConnell’s Irish Whisky one year ago; sales in the USA are growing steadily. John will oversee the search for additional distribution partners in markets around the globe, while taking forward plans to develop a new whiskey distillery and visitor attraction in North Belfast. McConnell’s Irish Whisky is available throughout Ireland, UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Russia, Netherlands and Italy, with new countries and distribution partners lined up in other key markets.

Gary Colton has been promoted to audience director, EMEA, with IPG Mediabrands. Based in Dublin and supported by teams in Ireland and the UK, he will focus on Ireland while also working with key markets in the EMEA region. He will report to Eamon Fitzpatrick managing director, IPG Mediabrands Ireland, and Claire Spencer, Audiences & Insights, EMEA managing partner, UM London. He will deliver audience strategies to UM’s regional clients and crafting segmentations that can be clearly linked to tangible business benefits. He will drive audience insights innovation and he will promote best practice for audience expertise across the EMEA region. IPG Mediabrands EMEA clients include Spotify, Just Eat, AMEX and J&J.

Alastair McBain has been appoinetd as non-executive chairman of PetroNeft, the oil and gas exploration and production company. He replaces David Golder, who has retire after 15 years serving the board. Mr McBain brings 37 years' oil and gas experience, including 17 years at Royal Dutch Shell in senior commercial roles, with Vitol group, and as CEO of Arawak Energy. He brings vast experience in driving company growth and in achieving successful full listings on the London Stock Exchange. He has been chairman of GeoAlliance, Ukraine. He left Vitol in early 2020 to form Sarum Energy, which is currently completing the sale of a 40% interest to PetroNeft. He holds an MA in Oriental Studies from University of Oxford. He is a fluent Mandarin speaker.