Creating a capital that everyone can be proud of

Passion, dedication, and almost boundless energy – these are just three of the qualities Vodafone Ireland chief and Corkwoman Anne O’Leary brings to her new role as president of Dublin Chamber. She also brings an absolute commitment to her adopted city.

“I understand the importance of capital cities,” she says. “The Vodafone Group is in 26 countries and I work with CEOs from the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal, and so on, all the time. This gives me an understanding of the importance for countries to have a successful and dynamic capital city. If we want to continue to attract FDI and business investment generally and grow our economy, we need to have a thriving, prosperous, sustainable, and welcoming capital city.”

O’Leary moved to Dublin from her native Cork 15 years ago and has been in Dublin Chamber for more than 10 of them. “I am very honoured to be elected president of the Chamber; it is a very significant role. The Chamber represents 1,300 businesses employing over 300,000 people and I want to ensure their voices are heard, both within the city and nationally.”

Giving expression to that voice means building on the work begun by her predecessor, Brendan Foster. “We carried out a major survey of more than 20,000 business and people last year to ask them what they wanted from their city,” she says. “Very interestingly, quality of life came out on top. People put that at the centre. They want a city that is a great place to grow up and a great place to grow old. Key themes that came up were housing, transport, childcare, sustainability, and security.”

Delivering that will be a challenge, to say the least. “We have returned to robust growth, but we do not have limitless resources. We have to look at what we need to do to support these ambitions and what we need the Government to do as well. We have to work together because high quality of life is crucial for Dublin’s international reputation.”

In this context, she says the Chamber is supportive of the Government’s National Planning Framework. “It is very good to see that the plan is in place, but implementation is the challenge. How, when, and who will deliver it? There are lots of different bodies involved and it will require very strong co-ordination and executive ownership.”

Elected mayor

In Dublin’s case, the obvious answer is a single elected mayor. “We have long advocated a single mayor for the whole of Dublin – a mayor with the executive powers required to implement plans and policy. The National Development Plan makes this more important than ever. We have the proposals, we now need to see implementation and the timeframe for that.”

But Dublin is not just for Dubliners, she points out. “We want to open the lines of communication to people outside of Dublin. We want to find out what they want from the capital city. We’re not sure if this has been done before. Most people in Ireland realise that the country needs a strong, vibrant capital city but it will be interesting to find out how their thoughts align with those of the people living in Dublin. We will be going out to ask people, including our peers in other Chambers of Commerce, during the next six months. I want to encourage people from inside and outside of Dublin to play their part in co-creating the future of our capital city and to start a national dialogue to better understand what role Dublin Chamber can play in appreciating the requirements of people outside the capital, and what our shared capital city can do for them.”

O’Leary has been doing her day job as chief executive of Vodafone Ireland for the past five years, having spent the previous five years heading up its enterprise business unit. Before that, she worked with BT and Esat. “I’ve been in telecoms for 20 years, starting in fixed line with Esat,” she says. “I joined Vodafone because I had just been involved in fixed line with BT. Vodafone appealed to me because they were in mobile and wanted to move into fixed. And they had such a broad reach, with more than 400 million customers in 26 countries. I could see the telecoms world converging and felt it was time for a change. It was a great opportunity to become part of a global company.”

Another facet which attracted her was Vodafone’s people policies. “Vodafone invests in its people,” she says. “They give everyone an opportunity to reach the top and there is a very strong focus on diversity and inclusion. It is a very empowering place to work. Everyone is equal and encouraged to bring their whole selves to work. We have a very diverse customer base, with 2.3 million customers in Ireland, and that needs to be reflected by a diverse culture in the company. Having different skills, cultural backgrounds, ethnicity leads to better thinking, better decisions and better results.”

Women’s network

When she joined Vodafone 10 years ago, she set up women’s network in the company. “That was quite pioneering at the time,” she recalls. “From my perspective, there wasn’t a lot of supports there for women when I joined the business world, so I wanted to support other women. Sixty-three per cent of our executive team are women and the management team has a 50 50 ratio.”

But diversity goes beyond gender and includes sexuality, cultural backgrounds, religious persuasion and more. “It even comes down to whether you are an extrovert or an introvert and what type of skills and capabilities you bring to the table. The greater the diversity the better, it helps with better decisions and performance.”

O’Leary believes diversity has played a direct role in the company’s success. “Vodafone was first to market in technologies like 3G, 4G, 5G and narrow band IoT,” she says. “The Vodafone group is very pioneering and our culture and people and diversity of thought have all contributed to that. The more diverse an employer becomes the better the results – we have better colleagues, better cross-functional working, better focus on doing what’s right, and we are better able to challenge traditional thinking and ways of working. It’s not about one or two big things, it’s a thousand small things. When you look at high-performing businesses across a range of KPIs, you will find that diversity and inclusion play a very important role.”

Dublin Chamber is also becoming a more diverse organisation. “Ten new council members were elected this year and I am pleased to say that we had five women and five men elected. We represent a very diverse business community and we need that to be reflected on our council and board. I am also pleased to say that three of the four speakers – Mary Rose Burke, Francesca McDonagh and I – at our AGM were women. But a lot of the tables were quite male-dominated, and I suggested to the people there that next year they look at including more women – quite a few people came up to me afterwards to say that they would do that. That was a very encouraging response.”

Along with diversity, O’Leary’s other abiding passion is technology. “We need to embrace the full potential of technology to enhance all our lives and to help our city run more efficiently and sustainably,” she says. “Vodafone is already working with Dublin City Council on the Docklands Smart District, which encourages innovation in the area by bringing together leading technology companies, research centres and agencies with a focus on deploying the latest smart city innovations and connectivity.”

She points to some examples of the use the technology is being put to. “The wireless technology being rolled out can be used in smart rubbish bins to alert a local authority when they are full; parking bays can be fitted with sensors, providing drivers with information – reducing traffic congestion; flood monitoring technology means urgent blockages can be identified sooner and addressed faster – the potential really is endless.”

She has a vision for Dublin to establish itself as a world-leading smart city. “We have an amazing concentration of technology and talent here in Dublin that other cities of the same size can only envy,” she says. “We should be capitalising more on this extraordinary base of skills and investment. Our capital city can establish itself as world leader in this space, integrating new technologies into public-service provision, and enhancing the quality of life for all of all of its citizens.”

Turning to the environment for business, O’Leary points out that Brexit will present challenges for Chamber members. “Our Tánaiste Minister Coveney, along with other members of Government, is working on that. I think we have to trust that Government and others can deliver a good outcome, but we still need to prepare. Some sectors are a bit stronger than others in this respect.”

While the outcome of the Brexit negotiations remains uncertain and beyond the direct control of the Irish government, there are aspects of the business environment it can influence for the better, however. The share-based remuneration scheme for SMEs is one example, according to O’Leary.

“We were very pleased with the announcement made in the last budget, but we would like it to be a bit more substantial,” she says. “The same goes for Entrepreneur’s Relief – this is £10 million in the UK but only €1 million here. We would like to see that brought up to the UK level. The ability to attract talent and investment is key to the success of SMEs and more incentives are needed in those areas. We are calling for a reduction in the rate of CGT to 20 per cent on investments in all unquoted companies. This will help Irish growth-oriented companies and start-ups get access to the investment they need and will encourage entrepreneurship and indigenous business.”?

FDI is important as well. “Things like housing, transport, and planning are all important to both FDI and indigenous business and we continue to call these out. Rent is still too high, even if you can find a place to stay. We will continue to encourage Government to do all it can to address these issues. There are also issues around competitiveness and the cost of doing business. Personal taxation has come up as an issue in our surveys but access to housing and accommodation is still key. In that context, we support the Government’ policies in relation to urbanisation and increased density. People don’t want long commutes. It’s all part of the sustainability agenda.”

Work-life balance

Work-life balance is important to O’Leary as well, both personally and for Vodafone employees. “We do a lot of work on mental, physical and emotional well-being at Vodafone,” she says. “There is a huge focus on our employees’ wellbeing. Even half an hour of yoga or mindfulness meditation a day can do enormous good and we have a wellness centre here in Vodafone to give employees the space to do that.”

Her own days start between 6am and 6.20am and she is at her desk by 8.30am, having taken some exercise. “I exercise every day – I run, swim or cycle. The triathlon season doesn’t start until summer, so I will just go out on the bike or go for a swim at this time of year. If I have a dinner or other event on in the evening I might be home by 9.30pm. Monday to Thursday can be very busy but I usually get time to catch up at weekends.”

Those weekends have seen a very pleasurable mix of work and pleasure of late, with the Vodafone-sponsored Ireland rugby team winning the Grand Slam. “Swimming was my sport as a child but of course I have become much more interested in rugby now. I really enjoy supporting the team and going to all the games. It’s great to spend time with friends and family at weekends and get some shopping in as well.”