Retail, Services and Leisure
Adrian Copeland Snr & Jnr: Louis Copeland & Sons
Established in the 1950s, Louis Copeland & Sons is renowned and regarded as Ireland's most exclusive and best-known menswear retailer. One of the country's most successful family businesses, it is now into its fifth generation of trading. Louis and Adrian Copeland are joint managing directors of the company, while the next generation, Louis and Adrian Copeland Jnr, are both directors. Beyond the Copeland family, the company employs 55 staff.
Angus Potterton: Savills
Angus Potterton is managing director of Savills Commercial (Ireland) Ltd. Prior to taking up this position in 2007, he was a driving force behind the initial development of the property- management department and was responsible for all functions within the department, including the management of many high- profile properties.
Anne Heraty: CPL Resources
Anne Heraty is CEO of recruitment firm CPL Resources, which she founded in 1989. The company was floated on the Developing Companies Market (DCM) of the Irish Stock Exchange and the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange in 1999.
Bernadette Gallagher: The Doyle Collection
Bernadette Gallagher is chairman of The Doyle Collection, previously known as Jurys Doyle Hotel Group Ltd. The group rebranded in December 2008, renaming most of its portfolio of hotels.
Bill Cullen: Bill Cullen Motor Group
Bill Cullen heads the Bill Cullen Motor Group and is president of the Irish Youth Foundation. He is a well known business figure in Ireland, with numerous appearances on the Late Late Show and, more recently, was the chosen business leader to host the Irish version of the popular TV show, The Apprentice.
Chris Martin: Musgrave Group
When Chris Martin announced the Musgrave Group financial results for 2008, one of the highlights was how its Irish retail brands outperformed the market. The company also announced significant investments in price reductions for its SuperValu and Centra brands. In 2009, this brought consumers reduced prices while also maintaining the company's support for Irish suppliers.
Christoph Mueller: Aer Lingus
Christoph Mueller joined Aer Lingus as its chief executive officer (CEO) in September 2009, replacing Dermot Mannion. He was most recently the aviation director at TUI Travel plc, a leading international leisure travel group operating a pan European airline, where he managed a total of seven separate airlines, a fleet of 160 short-haul and long-haul aircraft and a team of 11,000 employees.
Denis Brosnan: Horse Racing Ireland
Denis Brosnan is the chairman of Horse Racing Ireland (HRI), the commercial semi-State body that is responsible for the overall administration, development and promotion of Irish horse racing and the bookmaking industry. HRI seeks to develop and promote Ireland as a world centre of excellence for horse racing and breeding.
Denis Desmond: MCD
Denis Desmond, originally from Cork, started organising gigs when he was ents officer while studying engineering at Queen's University in Belfast. One has to wonder if, back then, he envisioned himself going on to organise the first concert at Slane Castle in 1981, featuring Thin Lizzy with support from an undiscovered U2. Or that he, along with Eamon McCann, would later set up MCD Productions Ltd, the largest music, comedy and theatre-promotions company in the Republic of Ireland.
Eamonn & Brian Fallon: Daft.ie
Brothers Eamonn and Brian Fallon co-founded Daft.ie, the highly successful Irish property website and one of Ireland's most recognised internet brands.
Eamonn Rothwell: ICG
Eamonn Rothwell is the chief executive of Irish Continental Group (ICG) a shipping, transport and leisure group principally engaged in the transport of passengers and freight on ferry routes between Ireland, the UK and continental Europe.
Geoffrey O'Byrne White: CityJet
Currently chief executive officer of CityJet, the Dublin-based subsidiary of Air France, Geoffrey O'Byrne White has over 30 years of experience in the aviation industry.
Guy Hollis: CB Richard Ellis
Guy Hollis was appointed managing director of the Irish operations of CB Richard Ellis Ireland (CBRE) in October 2007. Hollis's role sees him focus on the continued growth and development of the Irish business.
John Boyle: Boylesports
John Boyle is founder and managing director of Boylesports, Ireland's fastest growing and largest independent bookmaker. The chain of betting shops began operations in 1989, and in 2006, Boyle opened his 100th outlet in Ireland.
John Brennan: Jurys Inns Group
John Brennan is CEO of Jurys Inns Group, Ireland's largest hotel group, which operates seven hotels in Ireland, 22 in the United Kingdom and one in Prague.
John Fitzpatrick: Fitzpatrick Hotel Group
Hotel magnate John Fitzpatrick is CEO of the Fitzpatrick Hotel Group, North America. In this role, he oversees the running of two Fitzpatrick Hotels in New York. When he opened the Fitzpatrick Manhattan in 1991, he blazed a trail by being the first Irish hotelier to open and operate a hotel in New York City. The four-star, 16-storey boutique hotel was built in 1926 and is four blocks from both Bloomingdale's and Central Park.
John Lynch: CIE
Dr John Lynch is chairman of the semi-State body Córas Iompair Éireann (CIE), the Government-owned public transport group, which runs Iarnród Éireann, Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus and employs just over 12,000 staff.
John Magnier: Coolmore Stud
One of Ireland's most successful entrepreneurs, John Magnier is a leading thoroughbred horsebreeder and stud owner. With an extensive portfolio of successful business interests in a range of industries across the globe, Magnier is the owner and founder of the Coolmore Stud. The Co Tipperary-based stud is regarded internationally as a leading stallion and thoroughbred nursery. The success of Coolmore has since been replicated in America and Australia.
JP McManus: Entrepreneur
Born in Limerick, JP McManus has made his fortune mainly through investments in property and racehorses. His property empire, which he has built up with John Magnier and Aidan Brooks via Sloane Capital, has netted him a fortune over the years. When he began buying and selling foreign currencies from the 1990s (which he is still involved in) through his offices in Switzerland, successful foreign exchange trading expanded McManus's wealth further.
Leo Crawford: BWG Group
Leo Crawford is the chief executive of BWG Group, one of the leading food and drink wholesalers in the Irish market, with an annual turnover of €1.2 billion. The company manages a network of over 1,000 convenience stores in Ireland and the UK with the brand names such as Spar Express, Spar, Eurospar, Mace, Vivo and XL as well as a chain of 25 value centre cash-and-carry outlets and the BWG foodservice business.
Margaret Heffernan: Dunnes Stores
Competition in the supermarket and retail sector was fierce last year and price wars across all the major supermarkets reached fever pitch by the end of the year.
Mark Fitzgerald: Sherry Fitzgerald
Mark FitzGerald is the CEO of Sherry FitzGerald, the Irish estate-agency group that comprises different property advisory companies, including its commercial arm DTZ Sherry FitzGerald. The original company was set up in 1982 and has since grown to become Ireland's largest estate agency and auctioneering company.
Mary Ann O'Brien: Lily O'Brien's Chocolates
Mary Ann O'Brien is the founder and managing director of Lily O'Brien's Chocolates, a company she started in her kitchen in the early 1990s. Her trademark chocolates are hugely popular and the company has successfully carved out a substantial share of the market and grown to become one of Ireland's most recognised global brands.
Michael O'Leary: Ryanair
Michael O'Leary is chief executive of the low-cost airline Ryanair. Often accused of PR spin, he regularly makes the headlines and recently has been hailed as the
Padraig Ó Céidigh: Aer Arann
Padraig Ó Céidigh is the executive chairman of Aer Arann, an airline that was established in the 1970s to provide an island-hopping air service from Galway to the Aran Islands. He is a business graduate of NUIG and Harvard Business School.
Patrick Kennedy: Paddy Power
Patrick Kennedy joined Paddy Power in an executive capacity in September 2005 and became chief executive in January 2006. Since Kennedy took the helm, the group has consistently reported exceptional growth and record profits in both its traditional bookmaking business and its online businesses. On top of that, Kennedy is one of the youngest CEOs of a public company in Ireland.
Simon Burke: Superquinn
Superquinn, historically one of Ireland's most successful homegrown chains of supermarkets, was founded by Fergal Quinn in 1960. In August 2005, after Superquinn was purchased by Select Retail Holdings for €420 million, Simon Burke took over as executive chairman.
Tony Keohane: Tesco Ireland
In 2005, Tony Keohane was named CEO of Tesco Ireland which is currently the largest food retailer in the country.
Ulick McEvaddy: Omega Air
Ulick McEvaddy and his brother Des founded Omega Air Inc in 1982. The company was established initially to sell and lease aircrafts and today, it is the biggest supplier and trader of Boeing 707s in the world. McEvaddy is acknowledged as the world's leading expert on this particular aircraft.
Willie Walsh: British Airways
Willie Walsh is the CEO of British Airways (BA). He was appointed to the position in May 2005, after serving four years at the top spot of Aer Lingus.
