THE winner of this year's West Cork Business Ambassador & Lifetime Achievement Award at The Southern Star's West Cork Business & Tourism Awards 2024 is Sean O'Driscoll.
‘It’s very humbling to be recognised by my own'
DRIMOLEAGUE native Sean O’Driscoll is one of the country’s most successful business leaders and he credits his upbringing in West Cork in the 1960s with whetting his appetite for business.
The former chief executive of Glen Dimplex grew up in Gurrane South. His father John was the manager of Castledonovan creamery, and his mother Mary (McCarthy) was from a farming background.
‘Her brother Danny, known as Danny Andrew was one of the leaders of the IFA march to Dublin in 1966. In fact he always maintained that the walk started in Drimoleague and not Bantry Square because that’s where he set out from!’ said Sean.
Sean knew from the age of 15 that he wanted to pursue a career in accountancy, and credits his father with igniting that interest in him.
‘For my father, the job wasn’t just about getting quality milk from farmers, but also about making sure that the farmers ran a viable commercial operation, a good business. That would have been a topic of conversation in our house and that’s probably what whet my business appetite,’ he said.
Like many young people from West Cork, Sean boarded in Farranferris secondary school in Cork city where his life-long love of hurling was nurtured.
Among his classmates were the illustrious Johnny Crowley, Tadhg Murphy and Frances Collins and during his time in the Cork city school Farranferris won the Harty Cup four times.
Graduating in Commerce from UCC he joined KPMG in 1979 and qualified as a chartered accountant, and was elected to the partnership 10 years later. He has the distinction of being KPMG’s youngest ever partner, at the age of 31.
‘Three months after that an opportunity came up with Glen Dimplex and six months later I joined as finance director,’ said Sean.
That was in 1990 and he had a hugely successful career spanning more than 25 years with the privately owned electrical goods company, in roles including deputy chief executive (’94), group chief executive (’98), chief executive and chairman (2011) and president in 2016.
As a strong believer in public service and giving back, over the years he also sat on various boards and was a member of different government advisory groups, including six years on the National Competitiveness Council.
‘After the economic crisis in 2012, the government set up an Action Plan for Jobs, and invited six industry partners to work with them, and I was one of those for four years which I really enjoyed,’ he said.
His experience as a non-executive director on the board of AIB was slightly different.
‘It’s an oxymoron but taking that position was both one of my best and worst decisions,’ he said.
‘On one hand it meant I saw very early on the start of the financial crisis. The banking world saw it two and a half years before it hit the main street and I was able to take appropriate action to batten down the hatches at Glen Dimplex at a very early stage in the downturn.
‘But the role absorbed so much of my time, because within six months of me joining the crisis had hit the banking world,’ he added.
When he stepped off the Glen Dimplex board in 2018, Sean was clear on what he wanted to do.
‘In these situations it’s more useful to decide what it is you don’t want to do as that takes away 80% of the issue straight away.
I knew I didn’t want to sit on a board of any other company, public or private, as I had done that for 35 years,’ he said.
‘At the end of my full-time professional career, the criteria for my next step was that it had to be different to before; it had to be something I could learn from, I believe we all learn every day, and it had to be something I could contribute towards,’ he said.
These factors saw him become chair of the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) in in 2020, a position he still holds, and take up a seat on The Trilateral Commission.
This is a global membership organisation that for decades has brought together senior policymakers, business leaders, and representatives of media and academia to discuss and propose solutions to some of the world’s toughest problems with a view to influencing policy makers.
He was also appointed chair of UCC’s Governing Authority in November 2023.
‘That was something I had to think long and hard about,’ admits Sean, who received the prestigious UCC alumni award in 2006. Not that he has ever been slow to put his hand up, but he was aware of the time commitment required in such a role.
‘But I owe UCC a lot. That’s where I met my wife Rose who is from Kilmichael and our son is a graduate of the university. UCC has been good to us individually and as a family and I feel I owe it a lot and I’m really delighted I took that role on now,’ he said.
Sean can also be credited with coming up with the idea for the hugely successful Ludgate Hub in Skibbereen which generates millions for the economy annually, along with direct and indirect employment.
‘At the end of the West Cork Food Festival each year, there was always a half-day think-session where different stakeholders came together to discuss ideas to create more employment and regenerate West Cork,’ he said.
‘At one of these sessions I floated the idea of a digital hub, I just put the idea out there. Afterwards my great friend John Field asked me if it was something I would work with him to develop. However I told him he needed to get a group together locally and when he had I would be prepared to engage with him.
‘On a Saturday morning in November we met in Dublin, and John brought along Adam Walsh, Oliver Farrell, Kevin Buckley and Leonard Donnelly and I brought along Anne O’Leary, who was then the chief executive of Vodafone Ireland. John, Adam, Oliver, Kevin and Leonard are the people who deserve credit for delivering Ludgate for Skibbereen and West Cork.
‘We had our first official meeting over the Credit Union in Skibbereen that January. David Puttnam was at that meeting and he said that unless we could get broadband to the town, a digital hub could never ever happen. Later that month the government announced 50 towns that would to get broadband and Skibbereen wasn’t on the list, but five months later, we were the first town in Ireland to get it, which just shows the power of collective thinking and everyone putting their shoulder to the wheel.’
Sean credits Ludgate with contributing to the reinvention of Skibbereen and West Cork as a whole and he’s positive about the future economic prosperity of West Cork, and nationally.
‘Previously I would have said that rural Ireland was being neglected but I’m less concerned about that now. The Ludgate Hub has helped with that, and the rollout of national broadband.
‘West Cork people work hard and have always worked hard but success wasn’t always visible in the area, even up to 15 or 20 years ago. That’s changed. There are fantastic businesses all around West Cork, small hidden gems, and I’d be very confident and optimistic about the future prosperity of the region.’
He doesn’t see Ireland as being vulnerable to declining foreign direct investment.
‘I don’t believe we’ve reached peak FDI investment here. These companies can’t just walk away from the depth of investment made, the quality of people here, and the type of activity here, so it’s mutual dependency now, which wasn’t the case 20 years ago.’
However, he feels strongly that one thing could potentially see us exposed as a nation: ‘That’s the lack of investment in infrastructure for our roads, energy and in our fresh and waste water. An investor could look at Ireland and say they couldn’t take the risk to come here based on these three things.
‘Successive governments have been in denial about this for 20 years, and if an individual raised it, it was almost seen as if you were betraying the country but we need action and delivery on this by the incoming government.’
Sean ranks his family as the most important thing in his life (the second is the success he’s had in his business life, and the third is Ludgate).
Sean and Rose have three daughters and a son: Emma, John, Julie and Carly, and all four are pursuing business careers.
They are proud, hands-on grandparents of six, three who live in Dublin, and three in London.
The couple split their time between Dublin and West Cork, spending 40% of their time in Schull.
‘West Cork will always be home,’ said Sean who at the age of 67 has no plans to officially retire.
‘I don’t think I’m the retiring type!’ he said.
Has he any further ambitions to fulfil?
‘I think my professional career is complete. If I had any ambition it would be for one of my horses to win at Cheltenham. Outside of business, which can consume your life, I’ve two interests and they are hurling and horses. Cork hurling had a great run in the ’90s but we haven’t been in Croke Park in recent times. I enjoy horse racing very much. I grew up with horses and I’ve the time now to devote to it. I’ve a very good horse “Home By The Lee” who had a win at Leopardstown at Christmas and I’m looking forward to seeing how he does at Cheltenham. He’ll be easy to spot as he’ll be kitted out in Cork colours!’ said Sean.
What’s his best business advice?
‘Try to simplify things. People tend to complicate issues, but if you confront something usually 90% of it is noise and you’re left with 10% to get stuck into, and after that it’s generally relatively easy to find a solution,’ he said.
Among the many other accolades Sean has received over the years are an honorary OBE from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 2006 for services to British industry, and the Légion d’Honneur presented by the French state in 2016 for his contribution to French-Irish relationships.
But winning this ‘West Cork Business Ambassador & Lifetime Achievement award, he said, is very special.
‘West Cork is very important in my life and it’s very humbling to be recognised by my own,’ he said. ‘
