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Eamon Foley: Has led ARI with distinction for many years |
IRELAND/INTERNATIONAL. Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) has named Jack MacGowan as CEO of Aer Rianta International (ARI), its wholly owned airport retail and investment company. Eamon Foley, the highly respected Director General of ARI, is to retire in November.
In other major news, the move coincides with a shift in management of DAA’s Irish airport retail business. Under MacGowan’s leadership, ARI will now manage retailing at Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports, as well as overseas. The existing DAA Retail management will fit into the ARI structure.
MacGowan, who takes up his new role in August, has been Chief Commercial Officer at DAA for the past six years with responsibility for the management and development of the group’s Ireland-based retail and commercial operations.
Foley, who has led ARI with distinction since being named Director General in 2000, will continue to represent ARI on a number of regional joint venture boards and will support the company in an external advisory capacity with specific reference to new business development, DAA said today.
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New role heading retail in Ireland and overseas: Jack MacGowan |
Speaking to The Moodie Report this afternoon, Foley said: “I’ve had a wonderful time in my career at ARI and it has been a great company to work for. I leave on excellent terms with the Chief Executive of DAA, Declan Collier, and with the Board. Now I’m looking forward to the next phase of my life.
“I’ve had ten years leading the company and I think that is a long enough period for any individual and for any company. We’ve had some challenging times, some tough times, but we’ve come through them very well.
“ARI is a company with a great culture and you’ll always hear ex-employees speak well of it. It’s a company that treats its people well, I believe.”
Of the highlights of his time at the helm, Foley singled out several. “Cyprus, where we are now an operator as well as shareholder in the airports business, was a big breakthrough. Our involvement in Beirut is another highlight. I remember arriving into a war-torn city with John Sutcliffe and Abdulla Buhindi in the middle of a crisis there, yet we just had this feeling that it was a business destined to succeed. And it has.
“I’ve also loved the deal-making side of the business. I spent 11 years in property development before I joined ARI and I love the kick out of doing a big deal. Our investment in Birmingham Airport was one of those during my time here and that gave me a lot of satisfaction. It was a phenomenal deal for the company.”
Of his new advisory role, Foley said: “I’m looking forward to staying on the regional boards. I have a great relationship with [ARI-Middle East Chairman] Abdulla Buhindi and a strong personal interest in many of the operations, such as Delhi.
“Business development is an area I enjoy. My aim is to help strengthen the business development team: it’s a part of the business that needs investment so we will work on that.”
Of the changing structure at DAA/ARI, whereby ARI will oversee retailing at Ireland’s major airports, Foley added: “Combining all of the group’s retail expertise and experience under one company makes perfect sense. Effectively the Irish airports, in a retail sense, will be an arm of ARI. We’ve been working towards this for a while now. It follows the move to take purchasing and procurement under ARI’s wing several years ago, and can bring many benefits.
“It becomes a larger single business, of course, and one that can be made more profitable. It allows the group to share knowledge and experience through a single pool of talent. ARI has always been good at delivering results operation by operation but this moves us towards becoming a strong single retail group driven by excellence. It’s also attractive from a DAA viewpoint as ARI delivers unregulated income and can boost the bottom line.”
On the future, Foley added: “I’m not going to retire fully. At 58 I still have a lot of energy, and fortunately still have my health too. I’m lucky in that I can choose what I want to do next, and that probably won’t involve working full-time for an organisation. I’ll decide what makes sense for me, plus I’ll be making up for lost family time. The timing is absolutely right.”
ARI is one of the world’s leading travel retailers and operates in the Middle East, Cyprus, India, Canada, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, Russia and Ukraine. It also holds minority shareholdings in Düsseldorf Airport in Germany and in Pafos and Larnaka Airports in Cyprus. The company employs around 3,000 people worldwide.
Comment: Eamon Foley has been a key influence on Aer Rianta International’s recent history, writes Dermot Davitt. In 2010 ARI delivered a +40% increase in profits to €18.8 million last year, with the retailer’s managed turnover – incorporating sales across all operations including management contracts and associate companies – reaching €954 million, a record.
There have been many highlights along the way, as he notes above, from airport investment deals at Birmingham, for example, to investments in Cyprus and striking and managing key partnerships in the wider Middle East, alongside his senior team. But there have been disappointments too, notably the group’s recent difficulties in Russia, and the sale of its retail interests in Domodedovo and Vnukovo airports in Moscow.
In his relationships with The Moodie Report and other media, Foley has never been anything less than straight and always quick to take or return a call.
On a personal level, we have enjoyed his company and that of his engaging wife Barbara often over the years, not least in a number of well-remembered expeditions to Thomond Park to watch his beloved Munster. The Moodie Report wishes them well in the next phase of their lives.
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The opening of Delhi Duty Free at Indira Gandhi Airport T3 was among the recent highlights of Eamon Foley’s tenure |
