NEW CEO........................?

[Rooster]

More like the beginning of March if they have to serve notice in their current post or make arrangements for their replacement.

Just in time then for his first unpopular decision, raising season ticket prices

[Cap'n Grumpy]

I would be surprised if we see any confirmation of new CEO within the next week or so as terms will have to be agreed by both sides, contracts drawn up and signed and the new man/woman hand in their notice to whoever they work for etc etc. Lucky if there is someone new behind Mikes desk before the end of the year I would think.

More like the beginning of March if they have to serve notice in their current post or make arrangements for their replacement.

.... and in the meantime, until the new CEO takes up the reins, who will be sitting behind Mike's desk if/when necessary? ..........




......... MIKE!

[Glynncommando]

Who is this masked man? Henry, the mild mannered janitor?? Rosemary the telephonist?? Sarge??

Just to correct a popular misconception ... HKP's alterego was Penry.

Quite correct BR - my mishtake!
GC

[ulsterfan09]

There is speculation that Adrian Goodrich, the ex Ulster Captain will be appointed as the new CEO of the UB. If it is Adrian he worked for Gallaghers Cigarettes for many years in a variety of roles from personnel officer to Managing Director when in 2006 he was a member of the board that shared €4.7m when Gallagers were sold to Japan Tobacco.

'May 2006. GALLAHER (Ireland) directors, including managing director Adrian Goodrich, stand to pocket at least £4.7m if the Benson & Hedges cigarette company's parent is taken over by Japan Tobacco.
Last week it emerged that the €12bn Gallaher Group had received an approach from a rival cigarette giant, reported to be Japan Tobacco' Most recent filings show that Goodrich (53) owns 63,139 shares and 77,040 stock options in the Gallaher Group. Based on an expected offer price of £17.75 per share, his holding is now worth close to £1.25m plus other stock options. Directors of the Irish operation hold almost 265,000 shares and stock options in the group' (http://www.independent.ie)

Adrian has been the Chairman of Repak, a not for profit organisation set up by the Irish Government to look at recycling waste. This role was presented to Afrian in 2002 as Gallaghers were one of the largest contributors of waste in Ireland (Cig packets etc). He left Gallaghers at the end of 2006.

Adrian is from Ballymena and currently is still chairman of Repak (http://www.repak.ie). If Adrian is the new CEO we wish him well.

We await confirmation.........................

[mikerob]

Hmmm.... don't know anything about this guy but I agree the points made by DS/LS previously. UR is a small business, and personally I'd be looking for someone with a track record of success in a small business. A career in a large corporation is very different - you can get to the top by playing company politics and figuring out how to get minions to make you look good, and that isn't what UR needs.

It isn't clear what this guys primary responsibility was within Gallahers. If it was running their manufacturing plant in Ballymena, I'm really not sure I see a lot of relevance to running UR. If it also included the consumer side of their operation and flogging fags to punters... well maybe there would be more background in sales and marketing.

[Rooster]

Unless I am mistaken he was also MD of McInerney's a few years ago http://www.mcinerneyholdings.eu/ so not exactly inexperienced either.

[ColinM]

A swift google search throws up an article from thepost.ie end 2006

There’s never been a shortage of top sportsmen with downbeat tales of turning to drink after their days of glory on the pitch have ended. For former Ulster rugby captain Adrian Goodrich, though, turning to cigarettes was a far more successful choice. He was once in the fortunate - yet unfortunate - position of third-choice outhalf for Ireland behind rugby greats Ollie Campbell and Tony Ward in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

However, 26 years later, Goodrich can reflect on a career that took him to the position of managing director of cigarette giant Gallaher’s British and Irish operations, putting the Co Antrim man in charge of local manufacturing and sales of brands such as Silk Cut, Benson and Hedges, Mayfair and Hamlet cigars.

His empire covered almost 1,700 staff, with 1,400 of these employees working at a manufacturing site in Ballymena. Gallaher’s operations in the Republic delivered profits of €82 million last year, double the level when he took overall charge, despite the challenges posed by the now-legendary smoking ban and increasingly tight regulation of sales of cigarettes.

He has witnessed his brands’ market share grow from 38 per cent to 50 per cent.

‘‘So we must have been doing something that was strategically right,” he said.

An engineer by training, Goodrich joined Gallaher in 1980 and kicked off his career with three years in the production division before moving into management via a spell in the personnel department.

The first of the many big decisions he had to take was in 1988 when, as manager of Gallaher’s manufacturing facility in Belfast, he successfully argued for the unit’s closure.

He was to do the same thing when he took charge south of the border, closing a manufacturing plant in Tallaght in 2003 with the loss of 350 jobs.

‘‘I took a major decision that we could be more efficient by not having a factory here,” he said. ‘‘It was quite a difficult sell, but it made sense.”

Goodrich said that cigarette manufacturing was a volume game, and that it was only worthwhile to keep manufacturing in the Irish plants if they could ‘‘compete on the world stage’’ in terms of costs, efficiency and quality.

He was satisfied that Ballymena, which is the only one to survive, has done enough to meet these targets, thanks to vast improvements in its technology and capabilities.

‘‘Technology has been the most significant change in the industry during my time,” he said.

Production lines were once considered state-of-the-art if they were capable of generating 1,500 units a minute, but that number has since risen to a whopping 60,000.

Recent productivity improvements in Ballymena have resulted in the plant cutting unit costs by 25 per cent over the past two years, with a further 16 per cent planned to be stripped out by the end of next year.

Goodrich’s remit was also extended to include responsibility for a cigar manufacturing plant in Cardiff, which employs 220 staff.

Costs at the plant have fallen by 15 per cent during the past three years.

Goodrich said Ireland was highly regarded within the Gallaher group and a benchmark for its worldwide operations to follow. ‘‘Our group views us as a jewel in the crown in terms of where we’ve got to and where we’re going,” he said.

But what about the smoking ban?

‘‘The effect was hard to quantify,” he said.

Gallaher’s figures showed the company’s Irish sales took a considerable hit immediately after the ban was introduced, with some estimates putting the fall-off as high as 10 per cent.

But Goodrich said that the effect was largely short-term, and that sales had bounced back in line, with greater investment by publicans in smoking facilities for customers.

‘‘Everyone believed it wouldn’t happen and the publicans were shocked when it came in.

‘‘They’d arranged little or no facilities for consumers to have their pint with a cigarette, and a lot of them voted with their feet. Smoking did go down because the opportunity was not there to smoke.”

But, he said, publicans ‘‘woke up’’ before long and began to put smoking areas in place, with outdoor heaters - and, in some cases, TVs - that allowed customers to have a cigarette in relative comfort.

Goodrich, himself a non-smoker due to his earlier sporting career, said the new arrangements had brought benefits for publicans, as smokers and non-smokers appeared to be happy with the change.

‘‘It resulted in a total culture shift in Ireland and it’s worked out pretty well,” he said.

The decision by other countries, such as Britain, France and Italy, to follow Ireland’s example was unlikely to have the same effect on smoking patterns, he said. ‘‘I’d suspect the effect might not be as severe, due to better climates that make it easier for people to smoke outdoors,” he said.

Countries with similar climates to Ireland were also likely to learn from the Irish example by providing improved outdoor facilities in advance before restrictions were imposed by law, a move that would make it easier to prevent the initial fall-off in smoking that followed the introduction of the ban in Ireland.

As for a general decline in smoking levels in developed countries, as government health campaigns had their desired effect, Goodrich said it was up to manufacturers to cope with a slowdown in individual markets and target new markets if they wanted to increase sales.

‘‘You can only gain market share with the market that’s there,” he said.

Gallaher had reacted by looking outside existing markets and targeting new countries, such as Ukraine, Turkey and Romania.

It is also eyeing opportunities in Asia, where it has set up manufacturing plants.

Goodrich is proud of his involvement with Repak, the body set up to allow businesses to recycle packaging waste and help meet government recycling targets. Goodrich was one of the founders of Repak, which he chairs, in 1997 and said it was responsible for ‘‘a hell of a change in Ireland plc’’ and the way businesses approached their waste obligations.

The organisation, which has 2,000 members, has grown from two staff in 1997 to 35, and handled more than 650,000 tonnes of recyclable material last year.

More than €100 million has been contributed towards recycling initiatives since it was set up.

‘‘It’s proof that voluntary organisations can work if you’ve the right spirit of partnership built into them,” he said.

Although based in Dublin, Goodrich has retained links to his home in the North.

He sits on the boards of Crimestoppers, a confidential telephone hotline that allows people to report suspected criminals, and a business centre initiative in north Belfast that provides training and support to start-up ventures.

He is upbeat on the prospects for the North’s economy, saying it presents ‘‘a very good opportunity’’.

‘‘Every economy has its challenges, but I will be looking there from an investment viewpoint,” he said. He has plans to look in many more places, however, as he prepares for life after Gallaher.

Goodrich chose the implementation of his most recent restructuring initiative earlier this month as the right time to step down from his position.

‘‘There aren’t too many more challenges in that sphere for me.

“I’m 52 and need something to get my teeth into. There are other opportunities outside Gallaher.”

He plans to take time off before restarting as a business consultant and taking on some extra board responsibilities to add to his Repak role. ‘‘I’m far from retired,” he said.
‘‘Let’s see what happens.”

[mikerob]

I spoke to "a source *" who said that Goodrich was appointed Gallaher MD in his mid-30s and it was unprecedented at the time for someone of that age to get the job, and he ran the Ireland operation without blotting his copy book.

* in Spooks fashion, this was done on the Thames embankment after exchange of code words.

[the original kimble]

mikerob,

My business is small and successful.....

tok

[darkside lightside]

On the face of it, an impressive candidate, with resume to match the previous 2!! That being said, for all its said he was responsible for manufacturing and sales, in the context of Gallahers in Ireland, the focus is on the former rather than the latter - ultimately fags don't need a lot of selling.. however he seems to have had a clear view of what the business needed, and whipped it into pretty good shape operationally during his stint there..

My one concern is a nagging suspicion of his rugby-playing past, in terms of potential matiness with the selection committee etc - however if we assume that his credentials stack up against the other candidates, having someone with a knowledge and presumably appreciation of rugby isn't a bad thing.

[troupe86]

Ulster Rugby Appoints New Chief Executive
27 November 2009, 11:47 am
By Christine McNally
The Ulster Branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union has today announced the appointment of Mr. Shane Logan, as the new Chief Executive of Ulster Rugby...
The appointment has come at the end of a recruitment process that began in August, following the decision of Michael Reid to stand down as Chief Executive. Michael Reid continued as Chief Executive on an interim basis until the appointment of his successor, and will now hand over to Shane Logan, who takes up his position in the New Year.

A graduate of Bangor Grammar School and Manchester University where he studied Law, Shane Logan has gained a wealth of commercial experience over the last 17 years, in a wide range of industry sectors.

His first senior position was as General Manager of the world famous Harland and Wolff Shipbuilders, based in Belfast, which was followed by his appointment as the Head of Coca-Cola for Central Russia. He is currently Chief Executive of the Royal National Institute of the Blind.

Aged 46 and married with two children, Mr. Logan has a wide range of sporting interests and still runs competitively. He has a lifelong commitment to the game of Rugby, having coached in his hometown club of Bangor and played for clubs in three different continents.

Commenting on the appointment, Cecil Watson, President of the IRFU (Ulster Branch) said: “The recruitment process attracted a high level of quality applicants for the position and was extremely competitive. Ulster Rugby is delighted to have secured the appointment of someone with such a range and depth of experience, and Shane will bring many levels of expertise to the position.”

Commenting on his appointment Shane Logan said: “I am delighted to have been appointed as Chief Executive of Ulster Rugby. I look forward to helping all parts of the game achieve their full potential and to Ulster Rugby playing a leading role in both Irish and International Rugby.”

Mr. Logan is currently still working in his current position and will not be available for media interviews until he formally takes up his role as Chief Executive in the New Year.

[ColinM]

Interesting, never heard of him, wish him all the best.

Uboat09 can now close his ill fated 'in the know' account.

[browner]

Ex shipyard man, not in my time....will have to put the feelers out.

Anyway...good luck to Logie....he's gonna need it.

[the original kimble]

A Bangor man...

Must invite him round for the new year BBQ.

tok

[troupe86]

He was also Managing Director of BP in Ireland.