Tony McDonnell has been appointed as head of continental Europe and offshore for HSBC Securities Services. He will also retain his role as the bank’s global head of alternatives, overseeing HSBC’s private assets strategy and its global operating model for hedge funds. Tony will continue to report to Sebastien Danloy, interim global head of securities services, with a line into Marwan Dagher, head of markets and securities services, continental Europe. He has worked at HSBC since 2002 primarily in securities services roles. He was the country head for securities services in Ireland from 2014-21. Tony will continue to be based in Dublin, where HSBC employs 350 people.

Margaret Berry has been appointed as head of sustainability with food company Kepak Group. She previously held key roles with Bord Bia and Kerry Group. She has also designed and delivered core modules for UCD Smurfit Business School in executive and undergraduate education in Global Food Business Strategy and the Leaders Sustainability Acceleration Programme building capability and climate literacy at board and senior management. Margaret is also a board member of Gurteen Agricultural College, the largest agricultural farm in Ireland and is chair of its sustainability committee. Kepak CEO, Simon Walker, said: Margaret’s unique skillset will help to drive Kepak’s sustainability agenda, a key priority for the group.” 

Stephen Clancy has been appointed as motor engineer and claims assessor with law firm HOMS Assist, which has offices in Dublin, Limerick and Cork. He brings 20 years’ experience in vehicle damage claims and the motor industry, notably with Gerard M Doyle and Assess Ireland as a motor engineer assessor, dealing directly with insurance companies. He acts as a conduit between insurance, legal and garages, working to ensure the insurance company covers all of the costs involved, with no cost to the person involved in the accident. Stephen and the team have over 50 years’ experience in material damage and road accident claims.

Nicola Hodson has been named as CEO for computer firm IBM in the UK and Ireland, succeeding Sreeram Visvanathan, who is leaving IBM following a 22-year career. Dr Hodson joins from Microsoft, where she was VP of customer and partner solutions, transformation, and a member of its global leadership team for commercial business. She is deputy president of techUK, the trade association. She has also held roles with Siemens, CSC (now DXC) and EY. She was a non-executive director at energy regulator Ofgem and a board member at the UK Council for Child Internet Safety and at CEOP, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection group in the UK.

Neha Gupta has been appointed as a non-executive board member with corporate learning firm Learning Pool in Derry. Neha is a leader in ethics and compliance. She is a former CEO of True Office Learning (acquired by Learning Pool in 2022). She was also senior director of learning solutions and strategic initiatives at NYSE Governance Services. An innovation catalyst and cognitive science and data enthusiast, Neha is a speaker at industry events and in media. She holds an MBA in Global Business & Strategy from Rutgers Business School, in New Jersey, USA, and BE from Honors School of Engineering at Rutgers in Electrical and Computer Engineering.