Kerry Co-op will unveil its new secretary to advisory board members at meetings on Thursday and Tuesday. Thomas Hunter McGowan has been selected to fill the vacuum that existed since Stan McCarthy vacated his position as co-op CEO 18 months ago.
While at first glance a direct replacement for Brian Durran, who doubled as secretary of the plc and the co-op until late last year, McGowan’s role will be more towards managing the co-op’s share registry and rulebook.
My understanding is that he will be taking on a lot of the executive roles from his new office under FBD’s premises in Tralee.
His reported wage packet of in excess of €150,000 would suggest he is in for some heavy lifting. He comes from Inter Trade Ireland, where he was CEO, and has worked in local authority. Before that he headed the Swansea-Cork ferry company for 18 years.
Two of the biggest issues he faces are ongoing: the arbitration over the fabled “13th payment” and the battle with Revenue over the tax liability due from the patronage share scheme. A court date for that case is now set for 22 and 23 November.
The core questions for the new co-op leadership remain largely unchanged:
How does the co-op best protect and advance the interests of its membership? How does it maximise the wealth created by generations of investment and sacrifice by farm families? The range of answers is similarly familiar. The nuclear option would be to dissolve the co-op and transfer the plc shareholding in full to the members. The option would then exist for farmer suppliers to use some of the share wealth to build another co-op – effectively Kerry mark II.
Kerry’s 3,200 active supplier co-op membership comprise less than one-quarter of the co-op’s membership, but that is not necessarily a barrier to evolving the co-op’s direction.
Glanbia has a similar proportion of active dairy suppliers within its co-op membership, but has mastered the art of achieving significant structural change within the co-op. A majority shareholding in the entire Irish Glanbia business has been purchased, with hundreds of millions of plc shares handed over to co-op shareholders.
Of course, a lot of Glanbia shareholders are farming, just not dairy farming, but Kerry drystock farmers would similarly be trading with agribusiness. There is the option of making payment top-ups on milk, or rebates on feed or fertiliser. The co-op could also invest outside Kerry plc, whether in startups or established companies.
The option of doing nothing also exists. Would that be leadership? The board has much to ponder.
Kerry Co-op will unveil its new secretary to advisory board members at meetings on Thursday and Tuesday. Thomas Hunter McGowan has been selected to fill the vacuum that existed since Stan McCarthy vacated his position as co-op CEO 18 months ago.
While at first glance a direct replacement for Brian Durran, who doubled as secretary of the plc and the co-op until late last year, McGowan’s role will be more towards managing the co-op’s share registry and rulebook.
My understanding is that he will be taking on a lot of the executive roles from his new office under FBD’s premises in Tralee.
His reported wage packet of in excess of €150,000 would suggest he is in for some heavy lifting. He comes from Inter Trade Ireland, where he was CEO, and has worked in local authority. Before that he headed the Swansea-Cork ferry company for 18 years.
Two of the biggest issues he faces are ongoing: the arbitration over the fabled “13th payment” and the battle with Revenue over the tax liability due from the patronage share scheme. A court date for that case is now set for 22 and 23 November.
The core questions for the new co-op leadership remain largely unchanged:
How does the co-op best protect and advance the interests of its membership? How does it maximise the wealth created by generations of investment and sacrifice by farm families? The range of answers is similarly familiar. The nuclear option would be to dissolve the co-op and transfer the plc shareholding in full to the members. The option would then exist for farmer suppliers to use some of the share wealth to build another co-op – effectively Kerry mark II.
Kerry’s 3,200 active supplier co-op membership comprise less than one-quarter of the co-op’s membership, but that is not necessarily a barrier to evolving the co-op’s direction.
Glanbia has a similar proportion of active dairy suppliers within its co-op membership, but has mastered the art of achieving significant structural change within the co-op. A majority shareholding in the entire Irish Glanbia business has been purchased, with hundreds of millions of plc shares handed over to co-op shareholders.
Of course, a lot of Glanbia shareholders are farming, just not dairy farming, but Kerry drystock farmers would similarly be trading with agribusiness. There is the option of making payment top-ups on milk, or rebates on feed or fertiliser. The co-op could also invest outside Kerry plc, whether in startups or established companies.
The option of doing nothing also exists. Would that be leadership? The board has much to ponder.
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