Cogent, the international investment operations business of AMP, has appointed Ms Margaret Harwood-Jones to its European executive team as director of client services and marketing. Ms Harwood-Jones joins Cogent from HSBC Bank where she was deputy head of global investor services, responsible for its global custody and corporate trust business with assets under custody of US$1.2 trillion and a corporate and institutional client base of 700.
Mr Anthony Wolfe, previously director of client services and marketing, now joins Cogent's global executive team as director of strategic business development. Mr Wolfe will focus on developing alliances and partnerships and the entry of new markets, particularly in Europe.
The National Institute of Transport and Logistics has strengthened its team with two senior appointments.
Ms Leonora O'Donovan has been appointed director of business development, while Mr Philip McCormack has been hired as head of research for the institute.
Ms O'Donovan, who holds a diploma in European languages and business studies from DIT in Kevin Street, was previously operations field support manager for DHL at its global headquarters in Brussels, where she held responsibility for managing and upgrading operations across 16 countries. In her new role, she will be responsible for developing, implementing and co-ordinating all marketing and communication activities undertaken by the institute.
Mr McCormack has a background in cultural anthropology, having previously worked for the Department of Anthropology, NUI Maynooth; Bruce College, Dublin, the Combat Poverty Agency and the Katherine Howard Foundation. As head of research for the institute, he will be studying the systems and processes involved in supply chain management in Ireland from the viewpoint of an applied anthropologist.
A new chairman has been elected at the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation (ITIC), the umbrella body representing all major sectors of the tourist industry. Mr Tony Kelly, marketing director of Irish Ferries, succeeds Ms Eileen O'Mara Walsh, who served in that capacity for the past two years.
Mr Kelly, who has extensive experience in the tourism industry having joined the B&I line in the early 1970s, has been on the board of Irish Ferries for more than four years, with responsibility for the company's passenger and freight revenues throughout Britain, the Republic and Europe. He is a director of Tourism Ireland Ltd, the new all-Ireland international destination marketing company, a council member of Dublin Tourism and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Transport in Ireland.
Mrs Hilary McElwain, who represents the English-language schools' organisation MEI/RELSA on the ITIC has been elected deputy chairperson.
Mr Simon Gray, Mr Cathal Lane and Mr Niall Rooney have become partners in the firm of Tomkins & Co, European patent attorneys and community trade-mark attorneys. Each has been a member of the firm for a number of years and all have extensive experience in the area of intellectual property law on a national and international basis.
Merrion Capital has announced the appointment of Mr Cathal Friel as corporate finance director with responsibility for IT developments. Mr Friel, who holds an MBA from the University of Ulster, has more than 15 years managerial and investment experience, most of which has been in the technology sector. Prior to joining Merrion, he worked as deputy chief executive of Allfinanz and as an executive with Powerscourt Investments. He is currently a member of the national executive of the Irish Software Association.
cjbrennan@irish-times.ie
