New chairman designate appointed at telecoms firm, eir
The principal provider of fixed-line and mobile telecommunications services in Ireland, eir, have announced that Mr Carl Leaver has been appointed Chairman designate of the board of directors of eircom Holdings (Ireland) Limited and the relevant boards within eir’s corporate structure.
Mr Padraig McManus, who steps down after almost five years in the role, will continue to advise the company on strategy and regulatory matters.
Carl was Chief Executive Officer of Gala Coral Group from November 2010 to November 2016, where he saw the Group through a successful merger with Ladbrokes Plc. He is now Executive Deputy Chairman of the combined business, Ladbrokes Coral Group Plc.
Before joining Gala Coral, Carl was Director of International, Home and Direct for Marks & Spencer, where he restructured its operations internationally, doubling underlying profit over two years and positioning the business for significant further growth.
Prior to this, Carl was Chief Executive Officer of DeVere Group PLC and delivered a total shareholder return of over 150 per cent – more than three times the average growth of the FTSE All-Share. Previously, he worked for Whitbread as well as Nomura International, following two years at the Forte Group. He graduated in law from Nottingham University.
He has been the Non-Executive Chairman of Carluccio’s since September 2016.
Commenting on behalf of the board, Richard Moat, CEO, eir said: “Carl has a wealth of business experience across a range of consumer sectors and we look forward to his leadership of the board. I also look forward to Padraig continuing to play a key role in supporting eir.”
Chairman designate, Carl Leaver said eir was transformed during Padraig’s tenure.
"The company has invested €1.5 billion improving its 4G network to 95% population coverage and bringing high speed broadband to 1.6 million homes and businesses. I am looking forward to working with Richard and his senior management team on the roll-out of super-fast broadband to a further 300,000 premises, which represents an additional €200 million investment."
