Former ESB manager joins An Post: ThePost.ie


TCH Archives > Sunday Business Post > 2005/01/09 > Former ESB manager joins An Post

Former ESB manager joins An Post
Sunday, January 09, 2005 - By Niamh Connolly
A third former ESB executive has been appointed to An Post's management team.

Safefood's Barney Whelan will join An Post as head of business development and corporate affairs on January 24.

The new position arises from the establishment of PostPoint, a subsidiary company providing shop-based electronic payment services. It will be headed by Enda Kelly, head of commercial strategy at An Post.

Whelan was the ESB's manager of corporate advertising and sponsorship for almost ten years before moving to Safefood, the food promotions board in 2002.

The board recently approved the establishment of PostPoint as a subsidiary company in recognition of the challenges that face it in a competitive market.

After Whelan left, the ESB axed 24 of its corporate sponsorships, retaining just three programmes.

Whelan will join his former ESB colleagues Donal Curtin, chief executive of An Post, and Larry Donald, director of regulatory and corporate affairs, in two weeks' time.

A former head of ESB International, Curtin became chief executive of An Post in July 2002, inheriting a €47 million loss after the departure of former chief executive John Hynes.

Donald, former ESB company secretary and corporate affairs director, joined An Post later as director of regulatory and corporate affairs, heading a review of the semi state's business strategy.

A plan aimed at bringing An Post back into profit by next year proposes 1,450 redundancies and overtime cuts.

It has been challenged by trade unions, led by the Communications Workers Union.

Management introduced an effective pay freeze last year, which saved the company €20 million. This contributed to an expected break-even for the company last year. But the pay freeze sparked substantial industrial relations unrest in the run-up to Christmas.