Bank of Ireland UK plc announces Board changes

  • Dennis Holt retires from the Chairmanship
  • Christopher Fisher, Board director, named new Chairman
  • Patrick Haren and Senan Murphy join Bank of Ireland UK Board plc as non-executive directors

Bank of Ireland UK plc today announces that Christopher Fisher (58), currently a non-executive director of Bank of Ireland UK plc, will assume the role of Chairman with effect from 29 June 2012, following the retirement from the Board of the current Chairman, Dennis Holt (63).

Christopher Fisher was appointed a director of Bank of Ireland UK plc in March 2010 and has served as Chairman of the Audit Committee and as a member of the Risk Committee.  Christopher has over 30 years’ corporate finance experience, principally at Lazard, where he became a Managing Director; then subsequently at KPMG, where he was Vice Chairman, (Corporate Finance); and currently, at Penfida, where he is a senior partner.

Dennis Holt steps down from the chairmanship of Bank of Ireland UK plc after being appointed to the Board as both director and Chairman in March 2010. Dennis was a non-executive director of Bank of Ireland Group from 2006 to 2011 following a distinguished 40 year career in financial services, including Retail Banking Executive Director on the Main Board of Lloyds TSB and CEO of AXA’s UK and Ireland businesses.

Commenting on Dennis Holt’s departure, Des Crowley, Chief Executive of Retail UK at Bank of Ireland, said: “We are grateful to Dennis for his stewardship through two challenging years for Bank of Ireland UK. He has worked tirelessly to maintain the Bank’s position at the heart of the UK banking sector and we wish him well for his retirement.”

Christopher Fisher, Chairman-designate, added: “Bank of Ireland UK has significant potential and I am looking forward to working with and supporting the Board and management as we continue to unlock this potential through improving efficiencies in and building on our chosen franchises including our valued and successful partnership with the UK Post Office.”

In addition, Bank of Ireland UK announces that Patrick Haren (61) and Senan Murphy (43) have joined the Board as non-executive directors.

Patrick joined Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) as Chief Executive in 1992 and took the company through privatisation. He later became Group Chief Executive of Viridian Group plc, as part of the restructuring of NIE which he led in 1998. Patrick led the enlarged group to become a leading FTSE 250 company, employing over 1,600 staff, before overseeing the sale of the business to Arcapita in 2006.  Since 2007 Patrick has served as Deputy Chairman and Chairman of Viridian Group.  He was appointed to the Court of Directors of the Bank of Ireland Group in January 2012.

Senan joined Bank of Ireland as Head of Group Manufacturing in February 2012 and is responsible for Group-wide operations and technology. A chartered accountant, Senan was most recently Chief Operating Officer and Finance Director at Ulster Bank, which he joined in 2008. Previously he was Chief Financial Officer of Airtricity, whose sale to Scottish and Southern Energy he led in 2007. Before that, Senan worked in a number of senior roles in General Electric in both the US and Europe.

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