Senior Management

Anthony Smurfit has served as a Director of the Group since 1989 and was appointed Group Chief Executive Officer in September 2015. He has worked in various parts of the Smurfit Group both in Europe and the United States since he joined the Group. He was Group Chief Operations Officer from November 2002 to September 2015 and Chief Executive of Smurfit Europe from October 1999 to 2002 prior to which he was Deputy Chief Executive of Smurfit Europe and previously Chief Executive Officer of Smurfit France. He is a Board member of CEPI (Confederation of European Paper Industries), and is also a member of the European Round Table of Industrialists. (Born 1963) 

Ken Bowles was appointed Group Chief Financial Officer in April 2016 and was appointed a Director in December 2016. He joined the Group in 1994 and has occupied a number of finance roles in various parts of the Group. In 2004 he was appointed as the Group’s first Head of Compliance, in 2007 he became the Group’s Head of Tax and in 2010 he was appointed Group Financial Controller. Mr Bowles is an associate member of the Institute of Chartered Management Accountants and holds a first class MBA from the UCD Graduate School of Business. (Born 1971)

Appointed Group Company Secretary in June 2020. Gillian joined the Group in 2009. She held roles within the Group Finance function before her appointment as Assistant Group Secretary in 2016. Gillian is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ireland and holds a Certificate in Company Secretarial Law and Practice. (Born 1976) 

Appointed Group VP of Human Resources in 2019. Sharon joined the Company in March 2019. Prior to joining Smurfit Kappa, she worked at Kerry Group plc. in various international HR Leadership roles over a 20 year career , most recently as the Global Vice President HR. Her previous roles included Global Director of Change and Communications, EMEA Vice President HR and Asia Pacific Vice President HR. Ms. Whitehead is a Fellow and Board Member of the CIPD, the Professional Body for Human Resources and People Development, and holds a Bachelors Degree in addition to various industry qualifications. Irish. (Born 1974) 

Appointed Group Corporate Planner in 2005. He joined the Company in 1989, and since then has undertaken a number of different roles in Ireland and abroad, the main emphasis of which was that of project analysis and development. He holds a primary and Master’s Degree in Business Studies from University College Cork, where he also taught. (Born 1963)

Appointed CEO of Smurfit Kappa The Americas on 1st Jan 2022. He joined the Company in 1994 as an Internal Auditor and since then has worked in several positions across Smurfit Kappa in France, the UK, Spain and the Netherlands. Previous to his current position, Laurent was COO of the Smurfit Kappa Europe Paper and Board Division. Laurent graduated from the Ecole Superieure de Commerce de Paris in 1990 and also served in the French Navy. (Born 1968) 

Since joining the Company in 1986, Saverio has held a number of commercial and operational roles. In 1996 he became Head of Pan European Sales before taking up the position of CEO of Italy in 2001. In conjunction with his role in Italy, Saverio has also been CEO of SK Russia 2007-2009, CEO of SK Poland from 2007-2011 and since 2011 was responsible for the Bag-in-Box (‘BIB’) Division. In September 2015, he was appointed Chief Operations Officer of Corrugated and Converting Europe and was responsible for the operational, sales, and financial performance of the corrugated plants and BIB.

Appointed Group Chief Sustainability Officer in July 2021. Garrett joined the Group in 2000 and has held a number of roles predominantly in operations, managing corrugated box plants in the UK and Ireland before taking up the position of Head of Investor Relations for the Group in 2016. Garrett holds a bachelor's degree in Commerce from University College Dublin and has recently completed his postgraduate studies with the Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership. (Born 1979)  

Appointed Group Treasurer in July 2022.  Emer joined the Group in 2006 as a Treasury Accountant before being promoted to Head of Treasury Accounting in 2013 and Assistant Group Treasurer in 2020. Emer is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA) and an Associate Member of the Association of Corporate Treasurers (AMCT). (Born 1971)

Appointed Group Vice President Information Systems in August 2017. Richard joined the Company as Information Security Manager in 2004. Since then, he has covered a number of managerial positions of increased responsibility, until he was appointed Director IT for Group IS in 2015. Richard holds Master Degrees in Electrical Engineering and in Business Administration, and is a Certified Information Systems Auditor. (Born 1973)

Appointed Group General Counsel in 1999.  He joined the Company in 1994 and has held the positions of Legal Director of Smurfit Capital and Counsel to Smurfit Europe.  He qualified as a Solicitor in 1985, completing his legal training in Ireland and British Columbia.  He was a partner with Hassans law firm in Gibraltar for 5 years.  (Born 1957)

Appointed Group Tax Director in 2009.  He is responsible for the management of tax compliance, controllership and planning including mergers and acquisitions and financing across the Group. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants (FCCA) and an Associate of the Irish Taxation Institute (AITI).  He gained 25 years of experience in international taxation at PWC, Black & Decker and GE Capital. (Born 1963)

Appointed Group Financial Controller in April 2016. She joined the Company in 1993 and has worked in a number of finance roles in the UK, Paris and Dublin. In 2005 she was appointed as Assistant Group Financial Controller. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants (FCCA) and holds a Bachelors of Business Studies (hons) degree from the University of Limerick. (Born 1970)