INTERTRADEIRELAND - Key Persons
Adrienne McGuinness co-founded and manages The Nest Box Egg Company, one of Ireland's largest egg packing and processing operations. Based in Castleblayney, the company grades, pasteurises and boils in excess of four million eggs per week, supplying leading retailers, food manufacturers and food service companies in Ireland, the UK and the Middle East.
Growing up on her parents' poultry farm, Adrienne is passionate about the egg industry and proud to represent, support and promote the many Irish family farms that supply Nest Box with eggs. Her family egg production company Rockfort Eggs has been in business since the mid-sixties and is one of the longest surviving egg companies on the island of Ireland.
Active in her rural community and an advocate for early learning and equal opportunities she is proud to be associated with Art Mooney Community Childcare Ltd where she holds a non-executive director position.
Job Titles:
- Director of Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Alison Currie is the Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at InterTradeIreland, leading an experienced team that strives to enhance opportunities for cross border trade, innovation, collaboration and investor readiness.
Alison's focus is on helping businesses to grow, through collaborative innovation supports, developing investor readiness and facilitating cross border clustering activities. Ultimately the goal is to connect businesses with cross-border partners to increase efficiency, boost profits, reduce costs and improve sustainability through innovative processes, products and services. Alison is spearheading the delivery of InterTradeIreland's key strategic priority which is to support collaboration, clusters and networks as well as supporting the all-island entrepreneurship ecosystems so that even more investor ready business can grow and scale.
Alison has significant experience working in strategic management roles within the economic development and innovation ecosystem in Northern Ireland, Ireland, and Scotland. Previously she was the Co-Innovate Programme Director, an EU Interreg funded programme delivering cross-border collaboration and innovation projects. Prior to this, Alison was an Operations Manager in InterTradeIreland leading on the delivery of cross-border trade supports.
Alison works closely with The Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in Ireland to promote and deliver economic, entrepreneurship and clustering policy.
Colin is currently Director of Trade at InterTradeIreland.
Colin has gained 20+ years' experience in economic development working across a range of public bodies, delivering significant capital infrastructure and business development schemes in partnership with national anchor institutions. Most recently, Colin led initiatives in the Greater Belfast Area, which concentrated on generating wealth and shaping spaces through investment, international relations, regeneration, talent development, business growth and entrepreneurship.
As Director of Trade, Colin's focus is on helping businesses realise their cross-border export ambitions. InterTradeIreland's Trade Strategy concentrates on increasing the number of first time cross-border exporters and increasing the overall volume of exports. Colin oversees a number of service areas focused on these goals including funding towards sales resource, informing export strategy, lead prospecting services, assistance with sourcing and supply chain and profiling commercial cross-border opportunities for businesses across multiple sectors. The provision of specialist advisory services in the areas of cross-border customs, regulation, employment and financial advice via the new InterTradeIreland Cross-Border Trade Hub ensures that trade between both economies works as seamlessly as possible for businesses.
Colin works very closely in partnership with The Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland and the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment in Ireland to successfully promote and implement economic and trade policy.
David Simpson was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Upper Bann from 2005 to 2019. He had previously been a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Upper Bann, from 2003 to 2010.
David was a member of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments, the Commons Select Committee on Statutory Instruments (2005-2009) and the Transport Select Committee (2007-2008). He joined the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee in 2008. He has been DUP Spokesperson on Trade and Industry (2005-2007), Transport (2007-2009), International Development (2007- 2010), Education (2007-2010), Business, Innovation and Skills (2009-2017), Communities and Local Government (2010-2015) and Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (2017-2019).
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- CEO of Newry
Dr Conor Patterson is the CEO of Newry and Mourne Co-operative and Enterprise Agency. He is also a director and past president of Newry Chamber of Commerce and Trade, a member of the Maze Long Kesh Development Corporation, a director and former Chairman of Enterprise Northern Ireland, the company secretary of Binnian Developments, the company secretary of Oriel Developments Ltd and a co-opted advisor to the Board of the Newry Confederation of Community Groups.
Conor manages four Business Parks in Newry, South Armagh and South Down which host 130 businesses together employing 800 people. He has extensive experience of delivering central and local government and EU-funded economic and business development programmes. Between 2001 and 2021 his team assisted 2,830 business start-ups and co-ordinated the provision of support to 1,400 growth companies.
At international level, Conor has been involved in the development of enterprise initiatives across the European Union as well as in Kosovo and Egypt. He has also co-ordinated several trade missions to the USA and Canada and has spoken on ‘innovation in business' at a number of international conferences.
Florence Bayliss has worked in the Financial Services sector for most of her working life. She began her banking career in Ulster Bank Retail before moving to Nat West Operations and later to Project Management, where as Senior Manager she played a leading role in the successful implementation of a number of high value projects for NatWest UK.
In more recent years and up until 2019, Florence was employed as CEO of Ballyconnell Credit Union, a cross-border business providing financial services to individuals and SMEs and a business which grew significantly during her tenure, with assets increasing from seven to thirty eight million euro.
Florence has served in a voluntary capacity on a number of local boards and committees and currently serves as a director and committee member on a regional Board of Money Advice & Budgeting Services (MABS) and is a member and treasurer of a local school Board of Management.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- Business Leader
- Role of Chief Executive
Margaret Hearty was appointed to the role of Chief Executive of InterTradeIreland in April 2021. InterTradeIreland is the cross-border body established to provide leadership advice and support to maximise export growth opportunities through greater cross-border collaboration, innovation, entrepreneurship and trade.
Margaret is an experienced Business Leader. Before being appointed to the role of CEO, Margaret worked with InterTradeIreland for over twenty years leading the development and delivery of its range of innovative business supports. She has been a member of the organisation's Senior Management Team for over eleven years. Margaret's career spans two decades of experience working with entrepreneurs, small & medium sized enterprises and start-up businesses. She has extensive experience designing innovative solutions and supports for business.
Margaret is highly networked within the all-island economic policy and business eco-system and has extensive experience of working collaboratively with multiple partners.
Margaret is a business and marketing graduate and has a MBA.
Job Titles:
- Director of Corporate Services
Martin joined InterTradeIreland in 2013 and was appointed Corporate Service Director in April 2018. Martin leads the Corporate Services team to support and promote InterTradeIreland's wide range of business supports for small businesses across the island.
Martin is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland and is a graduate of the University of Ulster and Queens University, Belfast.
His previous employment included financial management roles within an advertising company and a large accountancy practice.
Job Titles:
- Vice - Chair
- CEO and Co - Founder of Combilift Ltd
Martin McVicar is the CEO and Co-founder of Combilift Ltd., a manufacturer of materials handling solutions, with its global HQ based in Co. Monaghan, Ireland. Starting with just a handful of employees in 1998 when Martin established Combilift with Technical Director Robert Moffett, he now heads up a workforce of around 650 and the company exports to more than 85 countries.
Combilift's unparalleled growth and success in the handling sector is down to the drive, energy and innovation that underpins the company's - and Martin's philosophy. Continual investment of 7% of turnover in research and development has enabled Combilift to become the fastest growing global forklift manufacturer, and to always be one step ahead when it comes to designing and supplying safer, space saving, productive and more cost-effective ways to lift and store long and awkward products, palletised loads, containers and oversized goods.
Martin's career in engineering began when he was just a teenager and his skill and insight over the years in identifying exactly what customers need from handling equipment has resulted in the customised approach to the company's range of products, over 60,000 of which are now in operation. In spite of the recent constraints of the pandemic, Martin has succeeded in spearheading the company to further growth, with 2021 being the best ever year for sales and orders on record.
Passionate about his roots in Monaghan, Martin is a keen advocate of involving and supporting the local community. He also has a strong commitment to the education and training of future engineers and together with the Monaghan Institute he initiated the OEM in Engineering Traineeship.
Combilift has won dozens of awards for its products, its exporting prowess and management and this is in no small part down to Martin's tireless ambition for his company to be the absolute top of its game on a global scale. This ambition was already evident in 2001 when he was named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year at the age of just 29.
Martin joined InterTradeIreland in April 2022 as the new Director of Strategy. He is responsible for leading the Strategy and Communications teams, developing the corporate strategy and promoting InterTradeIreland's wide range of business supports for small businesses across the island.
Martin is a business graduate and has an MBA, as well as over 25 years' experience working with entrepreneurs, small & medium sized enterprises and start-up businesses in various roles within Invest NI, most recently, as head of Invest NI's Strategy Team.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Group CEO of Lakeland Dairies
Michael Hanley is Group CEO of Lakeland Dairies. A highly experienced dairy industry figure, he previously held various senior management positions with Lakeland Dairies since its formation in 1990, including deputy chief executive, general manager of Northern Ireland operations, general manager of dairy operations and manager of member relations. He is originally from a farming background and is an Agricultural Science graduate of University College Dublin. He is also Chairman of County Cavan Enterprise Fund.
Job Titles:
- Micheál Briody / Board Member
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Company Director of Byrne Monumental Works
Pete Byrne is the company director of Byrne Monumental Works Ltd, a family-run memorial business established in 1946 and based in Crossmaglen, South Armagh. Through his business he has well established import links with India and China for granite products and operates cross-border on the island.
Pete has a BSc (Hons) in Mathematics and continues to deliver private tuition to schools and students, with over a decade's experience.
He currently serves as a local Councillor for Slieve Gullion DEA on Newry, Mourne and Down District Council where he sits on the political advisory group for the Belfast City Deal Panel. In addition, he is the current chairperson of the Belfast-Dublin Economic Corridor Oversight Board.
Pete is involved in several voluntary community roles, working with young people, and tackling rural inequalities.
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Member of the Board
Richard Kennedy is Chairman of InterTradeIreland and former Chief Executive of agri-tech company Devenish. In 2019, he was the winner of EY Entrepreneur of the Year Ireland and a finalist for EY World Entrepreneur of the Year.
Richard began his commercial life growing up on the family-owned Livestock Mart in Aclare. He went on to secure a B.Agri.Sc from University College Dublin.
Richard's passion for farming and food was at the core of Devenish's One Health, from Soil to Society strategy. Having held several senior roles within the company, he drove a forward-thinking vision and attitude throughout the business. This saw Devenish transform from a trading company focused on the Northern Ireland market to an international research, development and innovation business trading in over 50 countries.
Richard became an InterTradeIreland Board member in December 2020. He was appointed InterTradeIreland's Chairman in December 2021. He is a purpose-driven entrepreneur with a desire to innovate for the greater good, while providing an environment for the people around him to express their ability and be the best they can be.