Everyday Business with Aidan Donnelly

Davy

In this podcast, Aidan Donnelly is in discussion with numerous guests to get insights into their journey, their highs and lows, their management styles, and the lessons they have learned along the way. Most of Aidan’s time has been spent focusing on the financials of these companies but what is more fascinating to him is how companies operate, how the entrepreneurs started them, and the business people/managements who run them. But as with most things, a work/life balance is essential, so it won’t just be about the professional developments they have made through the years, but also the personal ones. Aidan Donnelly, Head of Equities at Davy, has been working in, analysing, and investing in companies for decades. He has 27 years’ investment management experience. He joined Davy in 2005 and has worked as an analyst/fund manager for a range of global equity funds and is now responsible for the direct equity offering at Davy. There will be a new episode released every two weeks, so please like, share and subscribe if you like what you hear! read less
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Episodes

41: Liam Quinlan, Group MD, Quinlan’s Kerry Fish
Dec 5 2024
41: Liam Quinlan, Group MD, Quinlan’s Kerry Fish
Quinlan’s Kerry Fish, based in Cahersiveen, have become famous for providing the very best Wild, Organic and Superior Smoked Salmon and fresh seafood to customers across the world. The operation was originally started by Danish company called Rainbow who were really ahead of their time with trawlers, fish meal plant, mink farm to use waste etc but went burst soon after and some local fishermen including Michael Quinlan bought the processing factory to secure an outlet for their fish. Although renamed Kerry Fish at the time, over the years it became known as Quinlan’s and in 1996 Michael and his eldest son, Liam, bought out the shareholders so it was most definitely Quinlan’s. At that time they were exporting a lot of Mackerel and Herring all over the world  to such places as Japan, Nigeria, Egypt and they also had their own fishing trawlers. While some of the catch made decent money in Spain and throughout Europe, some didn’t and these species were also favoured by the Irish public so in 1990 the team decided to open some wet fish shops – they have 6 in total now – so they could add value in that way and they were and still are very successful. Following on from that they decided to open Fish n chip/Seafood bars – they have 6 of these as well!! - and again these are a great success with access to their own catch making the supply chain very short. While they still export quite a lot of seafood such as Prawns, Monkfish and Sole all over Europe Smoked Salmon has been the product that has stood the test of time and with several Great Taste and Blas Na hEireann awards, they take immense pride in selling and delivering it all over the Globe. They have built up a super loyal customer base and as Christmas approaches they feel so lucky to have a handsome repeat customer base. The business has now been fully passed down to the second generation of Quinlan’s with brothers Liam, Ronan and Fintan, all at the helm. Given the amount of time this man spends travelling the globe, I am delighted to have sitting in front of me, Liam, Michael’s eldest son. His main objective in the business is to seek opportunities to continually grow and expand the company. He also ensures that every customer is supplied with the freshest of fish and responds to their comments and suggestions, as part of the company’s policy to ensure ongoing customer satisfaction. I think we are in for a mouthwatering discussion! This is the 41st episode with guest Liam Quinlan, Group MD, Quinlan’s Kerry Fish, in the Davy podcast series 'Everyday Business with Aidan Donnelly'.
39: Maria Mahon, Chair, Director, Business Owner
Nov 7 2024
39: Maria Mahon, Chair, Director, Business Owner
Maria Mahon has extensive business experience in leadership positions in the media, technology and service industries. Maria brings a unique blend of international entrepreneurial and leadership experience to the companies she works with at executive, board and advisory level. She has previously held the position of Marketing Director for Dublin’s leading music Radio Station, 98FM working with the programming and marketing teams to restore its No.1 position in the local market and also held the position of International Brand Manager of Tourism Ireland responsible for the roll out of the All Ireland Tourism brand globally. In 2006 Maria established a consulting practice to advise and mentor CEO’s on developing and implementing funding and growth strategies for their businesses. But she has ‘walked the walk’ too as the group CEO of Saongroup.com, growing the business from a single online recruitment startup in Ireland to an international group of market leading sites including sites in Ireland, UK, South America, South Africa, the Caribbean and China - through both organic growth and acquisition. Her board positions have included Vice Chair of Communicorp Media from 2019 - 2021 prior to its successful sale to Bauer Media, Vice Chair of Saon until it’s sale to Axel Springer in 2013, and vice chair of ChinaHR for a 2 year period before its sale. She recently finished as chair of the board and interim CEO of GoContractor - a leading SaaS business selling into the Construction and renewable energy sectors in Europe and the US, following its sale to a Safety Plus of the US. This is the 39th episode with guest Maria Mahon, Chair, Director, Business Owner in the Davy podcast series 'Everyday Business with Aidan Donnelly'.
38: Sandra Healy, CEO and Founder of inclusio
Oct 24 2024
38: Sandra Healy, CEO and Founder of inclusio
Sandra Healy is an Engineer, an Organisational Psychologist and NLP Master Practitioner. Sandra's career spanned 20 years in the global telecoms industry and five years at Dublin City University where she established the DCU Centre of Excellence for Diversity & Inclusion. In 2020, Sandra spun inclusio out of DCU. Over the past 18 years, Sandra has championed and driven diversity and inclusion practice across industry and is considered a leading expert. In 2014, she was involved in establishing the EU Diversity Charter for Ireland. In 2020 Sandra joined the Expert Advisory Group for Ireland’s Citizens Assembly on Gender Equality and is currently on the Leadership Advisory Council for Ireland's Police Force. In 2023 Sandra contributed expertise to the EU (AI) Artificial Intelligence Act and ISO certifications on equality. inclusio's gamified software is proven to capture the hard-to-get people data. It provides employers with the most comprehensive and reliable people and culture data on the market. The scientific data captured through inclusio empowers leaders with the insights they need to deliver meaningful culture change and achieve true employer excellence. Through concrete insights instead of guesswork, leaders can deliver on their cultural ambitions and respond to regulatory and mandatory reporting. The platform analytics and culture frameworks ensure growing companies can attract talent, remain competitive and be globally compliant. This is the 38th episode with guest Sandra Healy, CEO and Founder of inclusio in the Davy podcast series 'Everyday Business with Aidan Donnelly'. This podcast brings you insightful conversation between Aidan Donnelly and entrepreneurs and business owners/management with their own unique story to tell. If you like what you hear, please like, share and subscribe.
37: 37. Niall McConnell and Nik Healy, co-founders of Convergent.
Oct 10 2024
37: 37. Niall McConnell and Nik Healy, co-founders of Convergent.
Niall McConnell and Nik Healy, co-founders of Convergent. They have spent the entirety of their business life working with companies to dissolve information chaos in business which is a significant barrier to business growth. For businesses to perform optimally, information must be unbound and flowing seamlessly across various systems, departments, and users. Founded in 2014, Convergent is a document and information management consultancy that challenges short-term thinking to solve information, document control, and automation problems. Convergent’s unique approach to information management is to tailor solutions that meet the specific needs and requirements of businesses and process owners. Niall has spent almost 25 years working in tech and prior to Convergent Niall worked in Business Analyst, Project Management and Commercial roles in Fintech companies. He heads up the Convergent business operation and oversees the commercial, finance and marketing functions as well as supporting the Solutions and Technical Teams. Nik has previously held Management Consulting roles in Ireland and Canada. Nik leads the Solutions Team at Convergent and is widely regarded as one of Irelands leading document & information management experts. Nik also regularly speaks at Irish and international conferences. This is the 37th episode with guests Niall McConnell and Nik Healy, co-founders of Convergent in the Davy podcast series 'Everyday Business with Aidan Donnelly'. This podcast brings you insightful conversation between Aidan Donnelly and entrepreneurs and business owners/management with their own unique story to tell. If you like what you hear, please like, share and subscribe.
36: 36. Paul Henderson, CEO DMG Media Ireland
Sep 26 2024
36: 36. Paul Henderson, CEO DMG Media Ireland
DMG Media is part of one of the largest media companies in the world and continue to grow their position in Ireland. It is home to some of the best-known media brands in Ireland and the expanding portfolio of websites, newspapers and magazines is crafted every day by 140 staff delivering compelling content to over 3.6m adults in Ireland every month. Over the last 22 years they have been continuously growing both organically and through acquisition and are now one of the largest media content producers in Ireland. It has developed and built some of Ireland’s most popular consumer and business media brands including The Irish Daily Mail, The Irish Mail on Sunday, EVOKE, Rollercoaster.ie, Extra.ie, OneFabDay.com, MailOnLine, Geek Ireland, ExtraG.ie, and BusinessPlus.ie. They are consistently innovating to address the ever-changing digital landscape by investing in and developing content distribution, data measurement, audience targeting and commercial segmentation technologies – their motto is “Engaging Audiences Through Great Content”. With me today is Paul Henderson, who has been the CEO of DMG Media Ireland since 2008 driving consistent revenue and profit growth each year. His extensive career in Irish media began at The Irish Daily Star, where he advanced to Director of Sales. Subsequently, he was part of the TV3 (now Virgin Media) launch team as Group Sales Manager. He is a Chartered member of the Institute of Directors. He holds a BA in Marketing from the Marketing Institute of Ireland and a Graduate Diploma in Business Finance from the Irish Management Institute. This is the 36th episode with guest Paul Henderson, CEO DMG Media Ireland in the Davy podcast series 'Everyday Business with Aidan Donnelly'. This podcast brings you insightful conversation between Aidan Donnelly and entrepreneurs and business owners/management with their own unique story to tell. If you like what you hear, please like, share and subscribe.
35: 35. David Walsh, Chairman at Halo Care.
Sep 12 2024
35: 35. David Walsh, Chairman at Halo Care.
David Walsh is one of Ireland’s most renowned entrepreneurs. He co-founded Netwatch and as CEO grew it from a small start-up to a truly global organisation employing 560 staff and serving 250,000 customers across four continents, and a leader in proactive video monitoring. At Netwatch, he assembled a world class team and developed a unique culture that led to 68 quarters of continuous growth and impacted the lives of customers across the World. In 2019, he stepped down as chief executive of Netwatch having sold the majority of the company the year before to private equity firm Riverside, a deal that saw the company merge with businesses in Britain and the US to create the Netwatch Group. Rather than sitting on his laurels, he has since established another disruptive technology company called HaloCare with a vision to empower people to live independent and healthy lives at home for longer. It is a solution focused on care in the community for older people, those with long-term illnesses and those who wish to remain living independently in their own homes and need a little extra support. Through supportive technology that works seamlessly in the background, their clients have complete peace of mind when homecare or family carers cannot be there. This is the 35th episode with guest David Walsh, Chairman at Halo Care, in the Davy podcast series 'Everyday Business with Aidan Donnelly'. This podcast brings you insightful conversation between Aidan Donnelly and entrepreneurs and business owners/management with their own unique story to tell. If you like what you hear, please like, share and subscribe.
34: 34. Conor McCarthy, Executive Chairman at Emerald Airlines & Dublin Aerospace
Aug 29 2024
34: 34. Conor McCarthy, Executive Chairman at Emerald Airlines & Dublin Aerospace
Conor McCarthy is an airline industry veteran with over 43 years of experience, a serial entrepreneur and has helped set up several airlines and aerospace companies worldwide. He is the founder of PlaneConsult, an aviation consultancy company, which has, over the past 19 years, worked in many airlines including easyJet, Qantas, Alaska Airlines, Copa, and Thai AirAsia. He has held roles in Aer Lingus Commuter, Ryanair (where he was responsible for the famous 25 minute turnaround, among other things), and is a Co-founder, shareholder, and former director of AirAsia and its affiliates in Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, and India. In 2009 Conor established Dublin Aerospace, parent company to Dublin Aerospace and Exeter Aerospace. Dublin Aerospace is now one of the world’s leading providers of Aerospace MRO services. Dublin Aerospace developed a state-of-the-art Landing Gear facility in Ashbourne, and started up Exeter Aerospace in the UK. Based primarily in Dublin, Ireland, Conor is also the Founder and Executive Chairman of Emerald Airlines, Ireland’s newest regional airline, and the exclusive operator of the Aer Lingus Regional network. This is the 34th episode with guest Conor McCarthy, Executive Chairman at Emerald Airlines & Dublin Aerospace, in the Davy podcast series 'Everyday Business with Aidan Donnelly'. This podcast brings you insightful conversation between Aidan Donnelly and entrepreneurs and business owners/management with their own unique story to tell. If you like what you hear, please like, share and subscribe.
33: 33. Kim McKenzie Doyle, founder of The B!G Idea
Aug 15 2024
33: 33. Kim McKenzie Doyle, founder of The B!G Idea
Kim Mackenzie Doyle is an award winning product designer and has held significant roles in both the corporate and non-profit sectors, where she honed skills in leadership, strategic planning, product development and community engagement. With a passion for bridging the gap between industry and education, she is the founder of The B!G Idea, a pioneering non-profit organisation dedicated to empowering young people to tackle local and global challenges. The B!G Idea is a multi-award winning, free, creative thinking skills programme for transition year students which aims to fill a gap in our traditional education system that focusses on rote learning -  which doesn’t suit every student’s brain type or learning style. Businesses and employers need creative thinkers! Creative thinking is now a more sought-after skill than Big Data or technical literacy. It is a critical skill recognised by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and Forbes yet it’s not something we are taught in school. The B!G Idea has been instrumental in forging strong partnerships across borders, ensuring that young people across the island of Ireland receive the support and resources they need to thrive, and has garnered international recognition for its unique approach to education, focusing not just on academic success but also on real-world problem-solving and creativity. The team are dedicated to fostering a generation of socially conscious and empowered individuals, and this dedication is evident in every aspect of the programme. This is the 33rd episode with guest Kim MacKenzie-Doyle in the Davy podcast series 'Everyday Business with Aidan Donnelly'. This podcast brings you insightful conversation between Aidan Donnelly and entrepreneurs and business owners/management with their own unique story to tell. If you like what you hear, please like, share and subscribe.
32: 32. Alan Lewis, Managing Director at LHW Financial Planning Ltd.
Aug 1 2024
32: 32. Alan Lewis, Managing Director at LHW Financial Planning Ltd.
Alan Lewis, ex-rugby player, who when his rugby career was cut short at an early stage with injury, turned to refereeing with notable success, and has now refereed at international level, at the 2003 and 2007 Rugby World Cups. But he is even better known as the third most capped player in the history of Irish Cricket playing 121 times for his country between 1984 and 1997. He is one of only six players to have played more than 100 times for Ireland. Away from the sports field, although he got a college grade leaving cert, he had no appetite for university but did have a genuine interest in following his father’s footsteps into the insurance industry. He started with Hibernian insurance but within three years the sporting wanderlust took over and he headed off to Australia. An injury brought him home and eventually to LHW, a company co-founded by his father. He focused on the life side of the business and took over the company when father and other business partner retired, at a time when the industry was undergoing huge consolidation. Today, Alan is responsible for the strategic development of LHW. This is the 32nd episode with guest Alan Lewis in the Davy podcast series 'Everyday Business with Aidan Donnelly'. This podcast brings you insightful conversation between Aidan Donnelly and entrepreneurs and business owners/management with their own unique story to tell. If you like what you hear, please like, share and subscribe.
31: 31. Barry and Fergal Doyle co-owners of Arboretum Home & Garden Heaven
Jul 18 2024
31: 31. Barry and Fergal Doyle co-owners of Arboretum Home & Garden Heaven
Well summer is definitely upon us, so the timing of this chat couldn’t be better. On this episode we have brothers Barry and Fergal Doyle who are co-owners of Arboretum. Barry is CEO and Fergal is chief commercial officer. Arboretum Home & Garden Heaven is a second generation, family-owned garden and lifestyle retailer. The multi award-winning business, founded in rural County Carlow in 1977 by horticulturist Rachel Doyle, is today a €14m turnover enterprise employing 200 people in three locations; the flagship store in Leighlinbridge, Carlow; Arboretum Kilquade, County Wicklow and Arboretum Urban Green. In recent weeks, Arboretum Kilquade has fully reopened following a €4.5 million redevelopment, creating 25 new jobs. Urban Green, located above Chapter’s bookshop on Parnell Street in Dublin, opened in May 2023 and offers a unique garden, house plant and lifestyle retail experience for city centre dwellers. Each of the venues has a high-quality in-house restaurant. As CEO, Barry develops Arboretum’s business strategies to support business growth and a key focus for him is customer service, always seeking to enhance the customer experience, both online and in the physical stores. Barry trained as a horticulturalist at the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin in Dublin and has a deep love of gardening and growing. Fergal is Chief Commercial Operator and oversees all financial aspects of the business and focusses on developing commercial strategies to support the business’ goals. He believes in the importance of fostering long-lasting, meaningful relationships with customers through a passionate and committed team. Sustainability is also a key focus for Fergal both operationally and in the product range Arboretum offers to customers. This is the 31st episode with guests Barry Doyle and Fergal Doyle in the Davy podcast series 'Everyday Business with Aidan Donnelly'. This podcast brings you insightful conversation between Aidan Donnelly and entrepreneurs and business owners/management with their own unique story to tell. If you like what you hear, please like, share and subscribe.
30: 30. Next Step Event – Sell it, Scale it, IPO it!
Jul 4 2024
30: 30. Next Step Event – Sell it, Scale it, IPO it!
The 30th episode of ‘Everyday Business with Aidan Donnelly’ is a little different to the norm! We recently staged the first in our ‘Next Step’ series of events in the magnificent surroundings of the old trading floor of The Irish Stock Exchange (Euronext) Building in Dublin, to an audience of business owners and entrepreneurs. Every entrepreneur reaches a point in the evolution of their business when they are faced with the crucial decision of the ‘Next Step’ on its growth pathway and how that will be funded. For some, selling the business to a larger company makes the most sense, but for others, taking on external capital to scale up the business is more appropriate – in some cases, that external financing comes in the form of taking the company public on the stock market. There is no one right answer, so with this event, we hoped to provide insights into each route from business people who have done it before. We had an excellent panel comprised of Dermot Crowley, CEO of Dalata Hotel Group plc, the largest hotel operator in Ireland and with a presence in the UK and continental Europe; Leo Mac Canna, CEO and Founder of Ocuco Ltd, a thriving multinational software company with thousands of customers worldwide, who recently had Accel-KKR invested €60m in the company to help fuel its global expansion; and Mark Little, founder and successful seller of the Storyful and Kinzen media businesses. This podcast brings you insightful conversation between Aidan Donnelly and entrepreneurs and business owners/management with their own unique story to tell. If you like what you hear, please like, share and subscribe.
29: 29. Jody Fanagan, Director at Fanagans Funeral Directors
Jun 20 2024
29: 29. Jody Fanagan, Director at Fanagans Funeral Directors
Jody Fanagan joined the family business in 1987 as one of three in the 5th generation to run the company – the 6th generation is now also working there. He was made a director in 1994 and then became the Managing Director in 2013.  Fanagan’s is truly a family business established in 1819 and so has been providing excellence in funeral care to families in Dublin for two centuries, looking after 1 in every 4 funerals in the city. But is it not just one family business as the group now encompasses the Kirwans, Nichols and Carnegies funeral homes, which combined run 11 Funeral homes located throughout Dublin, employing almost 100 people. Their latest funeral home, located in Rathfarnham, opened in June 2018, is a 3000 sq. foot premises which incorporates a state-of-the-art operations and logistics centre. This represents a significant investment in the future success of the company. But the keen sports fan listening will also know that Jody is well known for another reason as his golfing cv is hugely impressive, boasting South and West of Ireland Championships, two appearances for the GB & Ireland team in matches against Europe, and of course a Walker Cup appearance in 1995 with three match wins including one against a certain Eldrick Woods aka Tiger! This golfing prowess has continued in later life with success in both the European and US Senior Amateur Opens, which will see him tee is up with the pros in the US Senior Open in 2024. This is the 29th episode with guest Jody Fanagan, Director at Fanagans Funeral Directors in the Davy podcast series 'Everyday Business with Aidan Donnelly'. This podcast brings you insightful conversation between Aidan Donnelly and entrepreneurs and business owners/management with their own unique story to tell. If you like what you hear, please like, share and subscribe.
27: 27. Brid O’Connell, CEO at Guaranteed Irish
May 23 2024
27: 27. Brid O’Connell, CEO at Guaranteed Irish
There cant be too many people listening to this that have never heard of the Guaranteed Irish mark. This year Guaranteed Irish celebrates 50 years supporting businesses in Ireland. Since it was first established in 1974 as a national symbol of trust and provenance for business in Ireland, Guaranteed Irish has welcomed over 2000 members. With that milestone, I am delighted to have the CEO of Guaranteed Irish, Brid O’Connell, here with me today. Brid had an unusual path to her current position as she initially studied Applied Chemistry, followed by Quality Management in UL. Not satisfied in her role as a Biochemist, she returned to college by night and studied for the next ten years in the areas of Marketing, Public Relations, Corporate Governance, and Leading and Managing Change. She worked for a time in the public sector (Limerick and Meath Local Authorities) before establishing her own business “Welcome Marketing”, a marketing and PR agency for Public sector clients. She was self-employed for over 15 years before in 2016 she appointed to the role of CEO of Guaranteed Irish Ltd and took up the reins of the organisation on 25th July of that year. This is the 27th episode with guest Brid O’Connell, CEO at Guaranteed Irish, in the Davy podcast series 'Everyday Business with Aidan Donnelly'. This podcast brings you insightful conversation between Aidan Donnelly and entrepreneurs and business owners/management with their own unique story to tell. If you like what you hear, please like, share and subscribe.
26: 26. Niall Norton, Advisor and Mentor
May 9 2024
26: 26. Niall Norton, Advisor and Mentor
Niall Norton began his career training as an accountant and once qualified, followed this up with a stint in Deloitte Corporate Finance before taking up the reigns as CFO with Irish operations of O2, where he was responsible for financial control functions, business process re-design, strategy planning and wholesale. In Feb 2004 he joined Openet as CFO, a company extremely proud of its Irish heritage with a unique ethos that is harnessed to drive success and become a global player in the telecoms industry. In September 2006 he became CEO of the company and under his stewardship, it grew from a small Irish software company to a global international operation with revenues of circa $120m and employed more than 800 people. He remained in this position until August 2020 when the company was bought by US listed Amdocs, which provides software and services to the telecoms and media sectors globally. After the takeover, Niall was Division President and General Manager for Amdocs Networks. In this role, Niall had responsibility for rebooting the commercial strategy related to Amdocs portfolio of software and services for the network market domain. Niall was recognized in 2017 as one of the 100 influential people in telecoms by Global Telecoms Business. Earlier this year Niall Norton established Clever Communications, (“C-Comms”), a consulting company providing advisory services to client companies planning or undergoing scaling challenges. This is the 26th episode with guest Niall Norton, Adviser and Mentor, in the Davy podcast series 'Everyday Business with Aidan Donnelly'. This podcast brings you insightful conversation between Aidan Donnelly and entrepreneurs and business owners/management with their own unique story to tell. If you like what you hear, please like, share and subscribe.
24: 24. Derek Murray, Owner & Master Club Fitter at ForeGolf
Apr 11 2024
24: 24. Derek Murray, Owner & Master Club Fitter at ForeGolf
Derek Murray is one of the World’s leading independent experts on golf club technology and the true art of custom fitting and club making – a passion ignited over 25 years ago, following a visit to the custom fitting tour trucks at the Czech Open. Throughout his career Derek has worked with a ‘who’s who’ list of professional golfers like the late, great Seve Ballesteros, Ian Woosnam, Michael Campbell, Sergio Garcia, Raphael Jacquelin, and countless other PGA and European Tour pros. Closer to home, he has helped Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke, Shane Lowry, Gary Murphy, and Seamus Power with their equipment decisions. Further afield, he designed and developed an exclusive, brand agnostic club fitting system and in-house club-fitting program focused on delivering not only a world class customer experience for the members of one of the world’s most exclusive golf clubs in Georgia, USA but also designed a best in class fitting kit to specifically suit the course and conditions of play all cross referenced with the demographic of player at the club. He is the founder of his family run business, ForeGolf, which is based at The Long Game Academy, Killeen Castle. This is the 24th episode with guest Derek Murray, Owner & Master Club Fitter at ForeGolf in the Davy podcast series 'Everyday Business with Aidan Donnelly'. This podcast brings you insightful conversation between Aidan Donnelly and entrepreneurs and business owners/management with their own unique story to tell. If you like what you hear, please like, share and subscribe.
23: 23. Harry Maharaj, Director at Kilkenny Architectural Salvage & Antiques
Mar 28 2024
23: 23. Harry Maharaj, Director at Kilkenny Architectural Salvage & Antiques
When Harry Maharaj completed his Mechanical Engineering degree he got a ‘lucky’ call – his words, not mine – from a recruiter who found my CV online and asked would he consider moving away from engineering and going for an institutional equity sales role in Davy. Eight years later, having built strong client relations in Europe and US, he quit the job, moved home to Kilkenny, and started in the family business, Kilkenny Architectural Salvage.   Founded by his father to harness a long standing passion of his in the world of salvage, the business has just celebrated its 25th birthday. The company started originally building up stock by attending auctions, dealing with other salvage yards and buying from everyday people who had items to sell. Since then it has evolved and while they still buy from those original sources, they now have an extensive network of people and businesses who they deal with. They work very closely with some of the top hotels, restaurants and bars around Ireland, and also import items from the UK, Europe and even further afield. Robin's three sons (Paul, Harry and Conor) all left their jobs in Dublin to move home to join the business in the last 5 years which has had a huge impact on the scale of the business in particular with bringing the business online through social media – they have 80k followers and have found it a great way to bring the world of salvage to the next generation. This is the 23rd episode with guest Harry Maharaj, Director at Kilkenny Architectural Salvage & Antiques, in the Davy podcast series 'Everyday Business with Aidan Donnelly'.   This podcast brings you insightful conversation between Aidan Donnelly and entrepreneurs and business owners/management with their own unique story to tell. If you like what you hear, please like, share and subscribe.
22: 22. Mark and Joseph Scott Lennon, Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel.
Mar 14 2024
22: 22. Mark and Joseph Scott Lennon, Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel.
There can’t be too many people, certainly in Dublin, who haven’t heard of Fitzpatrick’s Castle Hotel in Killiney. And while the building itself has a very long history dating all the way back to 1740, its current incarnation began in 1970 when Paddy and Eithne Fitzpatrick fulfilled a lifetime ambition by buying Killiney Castle and its grounds. They initially opened 1 room at a time, eventually reaching 13 rooms in the original castle, before embarking on a massive expansion plan over the 1975 to 1995 period that saw the property grow by 100 rooms, a fitness centre, and conference and meeting spaces. The group then expanded to open hotels in Bunratty, New York, and Chicago before splitting into separate ownership when Paddy died. The Fitzpatrick Castle hotel has been in the ownership of Paddy and Eithne’s daughter since 2005 and has been operating for over 50 years. Sitting in front of me are Mark and Joseph Scott Lennon – the current generation of operators. Mark has over 20 years of hospitality experience and took over running Fitzpatrick’s Castle in 2012. He has international experience working in Vancouver and New York and is heavily involved in the Irish Hotel Federation as a current member of the national council. Joseph has 14 years hospitality experience packed with international destinations like St Vincent, the Grenadines, New York, and Dubai. He has been hotel manager at Fitzpatrick Castle for the last two years.  This is the 22nd episode with guests Mark and Joseph Scott Lennon, Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel, in the Davy podcast series 'Everyday Business with Aidan Donnelly'. This podcast brings you insightful conversation between Aidan Donnelly and entrepreneurs and business owners/management with their own unique story to tell. If you like what you hear, please like, share and subscribe.