Mr Kevin Ross has been appointed chief executive at the mining firm Arcon. He replaces Mr Tony O'Reilly jnr, who is leaving the position to became deputy chief executive at Wedgwood, the ceramics subsidiary of Waterford Wedgwood. From Zimbabwe, Mr Ross (46) joins Arcon from TVX Hellas, a Greece-based goldmining company where he was chief operating officer.

Mr Tony O'Reilly jnr will stay on at Arcon as non-executive chairman. He replaces Mr Brendan Gilmore (54), who has retired.