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Thursday, 9th September 2010 |
| Selling Ireland Inc |
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| Derek Collins is director, new business at Bank of Ireland Corporate Banking and is responsible for working with international companies looking to set up operations in Ireland. He also works closely with the IDA to promote 'Ireland Inc'. |
7.00 Alarm goes off, listen to RTE news, followed by business report and then its time to get out of bed. Have breakfast with my daughter, Olibhia (aged 10), following arrival of my nanny - depart for Bank of Ireland head office in Baggot Street which, thankfully, is only 10 minutes drive.
8.30 Quick scan of newspapers and clear overnight emails. Take a call from the head of project finance at our office in Sydney, which has just opened, to give me some positive feedback on his meeting with IDA's representative in Sydney who is responsible for the Australian sub-continent.
9.00 We have a team meeting. My team is responsible for working with international companies who are looking to set up operations in Ireland. We also engage with a range of companies which Bank of Ireland Corporate Banking is looking to develop new business with. Pipeline is reviewed and various actions agreed. The flow of business is good - and in a competitive banking environment we continue to bank the majority of international companies setting up in Ireland. We also work closely with my colleague, Padraig Rushe, who has specific responsibility for all IFSC clients/prospects and he joins us for the end of our meeting to discuss current trends in this sector.
10.00 Meet with new client. Joined by Paul Harris, head of natural resource risk management from global markets. Paul gives a presentation on the energy sector, details to the client the bank's expertise in this area and the range of services we can provide. Presentation well received by customer.
11.00 Back to my desk to deal with steady flow of emails. Pat Gaynor, managing director of corporate banking Ireland, pops in to my office and gives an update on a credit proposal we have been working on with one of our relationship teams. It has been approved on the basis submitted which is good news. Good team effort delivers the right results. See an email regarding our next staff tag rugby match, pleased that I will be around to partake in the game (if selected for the team!). Incredible to see how popular tag rugby has become, must be something to do with the social side!
12.30 Grab a quick lunch in the sixth floor staff restaurant; chance to catch up with my colleagues on all the news and a chance to admire the uninterrupted views of the Dublin mountains.
1.00 Depart for West Dublin where I'm leading a team that is making a formal presentation to a large company that has put all of its banking business out to tender. Having completed a detailed request for proposal, we are now invited to make a full presentation on how Bank of Ireland can meet its banking requirements. Team of four will present and we deliver a professional and focused presentation. Presentation goes according to plan and we were advised we will know the outcome of the banking review within three weeks.
4.00 Arrive back at the office. As part of my remit, we work closely with IDA and this entails visits to the various IDA offices in the UK, Europe, Far East and the US. I'm planning a week long trip to the US and start the process of organising the trip through calls and emails. I will be joined by one of my colleagues from our treasury team in global markets, Stamford, Connecticut, as a number of the prospective clients have enquired about the various ranges of deposit options we can provide to them in the US market.
6.00 Tidy my desk and prioritise a number of 'must dos' for tomorrow; this list never gets any smaller. I depart for Bank of Ireland College Green, where I am hosting a dinner for an IDA visiting itinerary, I check out the scoreboard for the US PGA. As financial services sponsor of Padraig Harrington I am keen to see how he is playing especially after his back to back British Open wins. College Green, which was formerly the old Irish Parliament, is a magnificent building and our overseas visitors are particularly interested to learn the history of the building and are given a tour of the House of Lords chamber. We work closely with IDA as part of 'Ireland Inc' to convince companies of the merits of setting up new operations in Ireland. During the course of dinner, a short presentation is made detailing the range of banking services Bank of Ireland can provide to this company.
9.30 Dinner ends and depart for home to catch Olibhia just as she is going to bed. |
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