Greencore names Coveney as its chief financial officer

Greencore has appointed Patrick Coveney as its chief financial officer. Mr Coveney succeeds Patrick Kennedy, who was named as chief executive of Paddy Power in April.

Aged 34, Mr Coveney will join Greencore from management consultancy firm McKinsey, where he is a partner.

He has been with McKinsey since 1996, working on the consumer food, food service and retail markets. He has also led projects in the financial services sector. Mr Kennedy also worked with McKinsey before joining Greencore. Before joining McKinsey, Mr Coveney was a Rhodes scholar at New College, Oxford, where he gained a doctorate in management studies.

He also has a first-class B.Comm from University College Cork, where he was overall graduate of the year in 1992. He is a son of the late Fine Gael TD Hugh Coveney and the brother of current TD Simon Coveney.

Greencore chief executive David Dilger said Mr Coveney would bring with him "a great feel, interest and knowledge" of the food business. Mr Coveney will take up his new position and be appointed to the Greencore board from September 5th.

Greencore also announced yesterday that it had appointed Geoff Doherty, also aged 34, as group development director. Mr Doherty joined the food group in 2001 as group financial controller. He will join the company's board at the start of July.

Mr Doherty holds a B.Comm from University College Dublin and qualified as an accountant in 1995. Before joining Greencore, he was group financial controller at IWP. Shares in Greencore fell four cent to €3.48 yesterday.