Board of Directors
Herman Troskie
Chair
Herman Troskie is the Chair of the board of directors of Ardagh Group S.A. and has been a director of the Ardagh Group since 2009. He was previously the CEO of Corporate, Legal and Tax Advisory at Stonehage Fleming, the international family office. He has extensive experience in the areas of international corporate structuring, cross-border financing and capital markets. Mr. Troskie is a director of companies within the Yeoman group of companies, and other private and public companies. He qualified as a South African Attorney in 1997, and as a Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales in 2001. Mr. Troskie is chair of the Compensation Committee and the Finance Committee. He is based in Luxembourg and is a citizen of the Netherlands and South Africa.
Abigail Blunt
Independent Non-Executive Director
Abigail Blunt has had a 30-year career as a corporate and government affairs executive with extensive expertise in the consumer packaged goods industry. In September 2022 she left the Kraft Heinz Company after 21 years where she had led the Global Government Affairs function, served as an Advisor to the board, a Kraft Heinz Foundation board member and an ESG leader. Earlier in her career, Mrs. Blunt earned significant political acumen through her roles in government and government related entities including Finance Director of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), Deputy Director of the Bush Re-election Committee, US Chamber of Commerce Foundation Director, Government Affairs Director for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and a legislative aide in the US House of Representatives. Mrs. Blunt was named by Washingtonian Magazine as one of “Washington’s Most Influential People” in 2021 and 2022. She serves on the board of Apollo owned portfolio company, SmartStart, as well as on the board of VitaKey. She is a member of The Economic Club of Washington and Extraordinary Women on boards. Mrs. Blunt is an independent director and is a member of the Audit Committee and the Sustainability Committee. She is a citizen of the United States of America.
Gavin Coulson
Director
Gavin Coulson has been Director of Innovation for the Group since 2021. He co-founded and is a director of Terpsi Capital, a venture capital firm that specialises with investments in the food & beverage sector. Prior to joining Ardagh in 2021, Mr. Coulson worked at Citigroup in their leveraged finance division in New York. He has a Bachelor’s (BA) degree in Philosophy, Politics, & Economics from The University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Coulson is a citizen of the Republic of Ireland.
Paul Coulson
Director
Paul Coulson graduated from Trinity College Dublin with a business degree in 1973. He spent five years with Price Waterhouse in London and Dublin and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1978. He then established his own accounting firm before setting up Yeoman International in 1980 and developing it into a significant leasing and structured finance business. From 1998 to 2023, he was Chairman of Ardagh and initiated the transformation of Ardagh from a small, single plant operation into a leading global packaging company. Over the last 40 years he has been involved in the creation and development of a number of businesses apart from Yeoman and Ardagh. These include Fanad Fisheries, a leading Irish salmon farming company, and Sterile Technologies. Prior to its sale to Stericycle, Inc. in 2006, Sterile Technologies had been developed into the leading medical waste management company in the United Kingdom and Ireland. He is a member of the Compensation Committee and the Nominating and Governance Committee. Mr. Coulson is a citizen of the Republic of Ireland.
Michael Dick
Chief Executive Officer Ardagh Glass Packaging and Director
Michael Dick was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Ardagh Glass Packaging in 2022, in addition to his role of Group Chief Commercial Officer. He has previously held the positions of Chief Commercial Officer – Glass Packaging Europe and Business Development Manager – Metal Packaging, within the organization. Prior to joining Ardagh in 2010, Michael held a number of senior management positions in General Electric and US Can. Michael has a BSc (Hons) degree in Applied Polymer Chemistry from Edinburgh Napier University. He is the chair of the Sustainability Committee and is a British citizen.
Brendan Dowling
Director
Brendan Dowling has been a director of the Group since 1998. He holds graduate degrees in economics from University College Dublin and Yale University. He was Economic Advisor to the Minister for Foreign Affairs in Dublin before joining Davy Stockbrokers in 1979 as Chief Economist and later partner. He is a former member of the Committee of the Irish Stock Exchange and the Industrial Development Authority of Ireland. Prior to joining Yeoman International Group in 1995, he was Executive Chairman of Protos Stockbrokers in Helsinki, Finland. He is a member of the Compensation Committee, the Finance Committee and the Nominating and Governance Committee. Mr. Dowling is a citizen of the Republic of Ireland.
Yves Elsen
Independent Non-Executive Director
Yves Elsen is chairman of the board of directors of HITEC Luxembourg S.A., a Luxembourg-based industrial and technology company serving contractors in over 20 countries around the world. Mr. Elsen founded and led SATLYNX S.A., following extensive experience with listed satellite operator SES – Société Européenne des Satellites S.A. He was a member of the supervisory board of Villeroy & Boch AG from 2013 to 2019 and its chairman from 2017 to 2019. Mr. Elsen is chairman of the board of governors of the University of Luxembourg. He is an independent director and is a member of the Audit Committee. Mr. Elsen is a citizen of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
Houghton Fry
Director
Houghton Fry qualified as a solicitor in 1967 with William Fry, Solicitors in Dublin, Ireland having obtained an LLB law degree from Trinity College, Dublin University, Ireland. He became a Partner in the firm in 1970 and, in 1986, Chairman and Senior Partner. He specialized in international corporate and financial law and had extensive transaction experience in many different jurisdictions. He retired from legal practice in 2004 and has been a director of the Group since that time. He is a member of the Nominating and Governance Committee. Mr. Fry is a citizen of the Republic of Ireland.
Johan Gorter
Non-Executive Director
Johan Gorter has been a director of the Group since 2016. Mr. Gorter joined PLM in 1998 as plant director for the Dongen glass plant. He then held several management positions within Rexam PLC before he joined the Group in 2007 as Group Director for Continuous Improvement. He was Chief Executive Officer of Glass Packaging Europe from 2011 to 2019 and Chief Executive Officer of Glass Packaging from 2017 to 2019. Mr. Gorter was chair of Glass Packaging North America from 2020 until his retirement in December 2021. Mr. Gorter holds a Masters in Industrial Engineering from the University of Eindhoven. He is a citizen of the Netherlands.
Oliver Graham
Chief Executive Officer Ardagh Metal Packaging and Director
Oliver Graham is CEO of Ardagh Metal Packaging S.A., a position he has held since 2020. Before taking up this role, Mr. Graham was CEO of Metal Packaging Europe with responsibility for Metal Packaging Brazil, as well as being Ardagh Group S.A. Commercial Director. He joined Ardagh in 2016 following the acquisition of the metal beverage packaging business, prior to which he was Group Commercial Director at Rexam PLC. Mr. Graham joined Rexam PLC in 2013 from The Boston Consulting Group, where he was a partner. He is chair of the Sustainability Committee. Mr. Graham is a British citizen.
The Rt. Hon. the Lord Hammond of Runnymede
Independent Non-Executive Director
The Rt Hon. the Lord Hammond of Runnymede has had a distinguished career in British politics. A Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2019, he held a range of ministerial offices, most recently serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2016 to 2019. Prior to this, he served as Foreign Secretary from 2014 to 2016, as Defence Secretary from 2011 to 2014 and as Transport Secretary from 2010 to 2011. Lord Philip Hammond is an independent director and is a member of the Audit Committee. He is a British citizen.
Gerald Moloney
Director
Gerald Moloney has been a director of the Group since 2016, having served for many years on the boards of Yeoman International Group Limited and Yeoman Capital S.A. He is an executive with the Group since 2018. He holds a law degree from University College Cork and qualified as a solicitor in 1981. He worked for a period in European law in Brussels and has many years’ experience working in the areas of commercial law and commercial litigation. He is a founding partner of the commercial and litigation law firm, G.J. Moloney, with offices in Dublin and Cork, Ireland. Mr. Moloney is a citizen of the Republic of Ireland.
Damien O’Brien
Independent Non-Executive Director
Damien O’Brien served as CEO of Egon Zehnder from 2008 to 2014 and as its chairman from 2010 to 2018. Mr. O’Brien joined Egon Zehnder in 1988 and since then he has been based in Australia, Asia and Europe. He is also a member of the boards of IMD Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland, and St. Vincents Health Australia. Mr. O’Brien is an independent director and is the chair of the Audit Committee and a member of the Compensation Committee. Mr. O’Brien is a citizen of Australia and the Republic of Ireland.
John Sheehan
Chief Financial Officer and Director
John Sheehan was appointed Chief Financial Officer and Director of Ardagh Group in 2021, having previously been Director of Corporate Development and Investor Relations. Prior to joining Ardagh in 2012, Mr. Sheehan spent twelve years in the equity capital markets with Investec, RBS and NCB, covering a range of industry sectors, including packaging. Mr. Sheehan qualified as a Chartered Accountant with PriceWaterhouseCoopers. He is a member of the Finance Committee and the Sustainability Committee. He is a citizen of the Republic of Ireland.
Edward White
Independent Non-Executive Director
Edward White has been an Executive Professor of Finance in the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University since 2014. He was formerly a Senior Vice President and the Chief Financial Officer of O-I Glass, Inc. (“O-I”) for seven years until his retirement in 2012. During his 38-year career with O-I, he worked in a variety of management roles across finance, manufacturing and marketing. His international experiences included senior management positions as an expatriate in Finland, Poland, France and Switzerland. Mr. White holds a M.B.A. from the University of Hawaii and a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from Indiana University. He is an independent director and is a member of the Audit Committee. Mr. White is a citizen of the United States of America.
