Daa airports chief Dalton Philips to leave for top job at foods firm Greencore

Mr Philips has been running the operations of Dublin and Cork airports as well as the international retailing outlets of Aer Rianta for five years

DAA chief executive Dalton Philips was also chief executive at Brown Thomas and had previously held the top job at British supermarket Morrisons.

Daa chief executive Dalton Philips is leaving the operator of Dublin and Cork airports to head up Greencore. He will take over from Patrick Coveney who left the top job at the foods firm in March.        

Greencore is one of Britain's largest convenience foods and sandwich makers and supplies many large UK retailers. It will be seeking to tap the expertise of Mr Philips in retailing. It was one of the food firms that was badly hit by the disruption caused by the Covid pandemic over the past two years.           

Mr Philips who previously held the top job at Morrisons, one of Britain's largest supermarkets, was also chief executive at Brown Thomas, the department stores chain, and was also previously chief operating officer at Canadian grocery firm Loblaw. 

His current job at the Daa includes running the Aer Rianta international retail outlets.         

"In addition to his outstanding knowledge of the grocery sector, he has a strong track record of leading dynamic consumer-related businesses," said chairman, Gary Kennedy, who will continue to run Greencore until September. 

"We see him as the ideal candidate to lead Greencore into the next phase of its journey as it continues to emerge strongly from the challenges of trading through the pandemic," Mr Kennedy said. 

Greencore had under Mr Coveney expanded its operations in sandwiches and salads and other food products in Britain to large retailers. The food firm became one of the largest sandwich makers in Britain.

It subsequently entered the US by acquiring food manufacturing plants. However, the US expansion was short-lived and the company was forced to do a u-turn and exit the US in 2018. 

Mr Coveney left after 14 years at Greencore to run a foods firm, the SSP Group, which has hundreds of outlets at airports and railway stations and is best known as the owner of the Upper Crust chain of sandwich shops. 

Greencore shares which trade in London rose slightly on Friday. They have however fallen to 110 pence from 130 pence since the start of the year, as investors worry about the potential for soaring inflation to cut into consumer spending.                     

The Daa said Mr Philips will leave in September after five years of running the airports operator which includes the operations of Dublin and Cork airports as well as the international retailing outlets of Aer Rianta. It has started the process to find a new CEO. 

"I am extremely sorry that a CEO of Dalton’s calibre and experience will leave us at the end of the summer. Daa had achieved significant growth under Dalton’s tenure, resulting in record passenger numbers and a strong financial performance before the onset of the recent global pandemic. 

"Dalton and his leadership team navigated daa through the most challenging period in the history of aviation, keeping our staff and passengers safe, reducing our cost base and successfully raising €1.15bn in additional liquidity,” said Daa chairman Basil Geoghegan.