An Post is lining up Fergal Leamy, the former head of Coillte and Glen Dimplex, to become its next chief executive in a move that would mark his return to the semi-State sector after seven years, according to sources.
An appointment would be subject to final vetting approval by the Central Bank, which regulates the State-owned postal service group for the provision of financial services, the sources added.
Leamy would succeed David McRedmond, who is leaving the company at the end of next month. An Post is understood to have assessed a number of internal and external candidates.
McRedmond, whose basic salary was €250,000, with his total remuneration amounting to €313,000 in 2024, according to An Post’s latest annual report, was granted a three-year extension in 2023 after his initial seven-year contract expired.
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“The confidential process to recruit a new CEO for An Post is under way and being led by chairperson Kieran Mulvey and a subcommittee of the An Post board. There is no further comment on the process at this time,” a spokeswoman for the company said.
Leamy started his career with international management consultancy McKinsey in 1999. He launched and led sandwich maker Greencore’s former chilled food manufacturing business in the US between 2007 and 2011, before joining British private equity firm Terra Firma Capital partners for four years.
He served as chief executive of State-owned forestry agency Coillte, which owns and manages about 440,000 hectares of land, roughly 7 per cent of the land area of the Republic, between 2015 and 2019, before joining Glen Dimplex.
At Glen Dimplex, Leamy oversaw a series of acquisitions by the family-owned business to build out its heating and ventilation division, which makes products such as electric heat pumps, hot water cylinders and electric heating panels.
Leamy left the electrical goods company last summer. Fergal Naughton, a son of the company’s founder, Martin Naughton, succeeded him as head of the group.
An Post’s sales rose more than 10 per cent to exceed €1 billion for the first time in 2025, driven by growth in its parcels business, according to its most recent annual accounts. This, and an increase in financial services revenues, more than offset the impact of a decline in traditional letter volumes.
The company has been in talks with Government officials for some time on increasing its current borrowing cap of €75 million – which has been in place since 1984 – to be able to provide commercial credit terms to companies that use its parcel delivery service and expand its processing capacity.
News of the planned An Post appointment comes a week after staff of the company voted to accept a two-year deal on pay worth 5 per cent. The group has about 10,200 full-time employees.
An Post’s chief people officer, Eleanor Nash, said in a letter to the Communications Workers Union confirming the pay offer that the company will expect co-operation from the organisation on future digitalisation, including the roll out of AI and robotics.
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She said a joint working group would be introduced to discuss proposed changes in a number of areas, including the establishment of a single national processing centre.
She said the company intended to reduce staff numbers in some administrative and other non-frontline roles as it prepares to relocate its headquarters and continue the evolution of its business model. This would involve the introduction of a voluntary severance programme later this year.
In February, the company announced it would recruit an additional 300 delivery staff due to the ongoing growth in its parcel business.
