Greg Sparks has been appointed chairman of Dublin-based management consultancy Ampersand Consulting Network.

Ampersand was set up by former Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union and SIPTU senior trade union official Martin King in 1996.

Mr King currently serves as managing director and company secretary of Ampersand.

The group provides developmental services to large businesses, SMEs and not-for-profits.

The latest appointment will add to an already busy schedule for Mr Sparks, who is also director on the board of The Irish Times, Joe Duffy Motors, FGS Tax Consultants, Lanemount Holdings, ERC Esot Services, the Irish Maternal Fetal Foundation, JDM Automotive, JDM Specialist Cars, FGS Capital, Bulberry Properties, Hawridge Properties and the National Centre for Youth Mental Health.

Oldhausens
He was also a board member of meat producers Olhausens, which went into receivership in October 2012.

The group was unable to find a buyer when the company ran into financial difficulties, resulting in 160 redundancies at its plants in Blanchardstown, Coolock and Monaghan.

Mr Sparks is also a founding partner at RSM Farrell Grant Sparks, and has previously served as a director on a string of telecoms companies including the board of Irish Telecommunications Investments, Eircom, Meteor Mobile Communications, Digicel and Valentia Telecommunications.

He also worked as a director for Mirimar Holdings, Friends of the Coombe, 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games, Maynooth University Foundation and Vessel Compliance Services.

Wealth of experience
With all that experience, he should be a comfortable fit at Ampersand which, he said, was a company with a bright future and "ideally placed to work with businesses encountering challenges in these difficult times . . . The firm has a strong track record of completing tasks which range from addressing highly specific issues that arise to whole business re-engineering".