When Anthony Gallagher started Petstop 30 years ago, dogs in Ireland were kept outside and got scraps. Now, the dog – or the cat or the fish – is absolutely a member of the family.”
The €500m+ pet market is three times the size of the baby market in Ireland, and globally, the pet sector is expected to reach €400bn by 2030 – that’s bigger than recorded music or gaming.
His career has spanned the graduate trainee programme in Penney’s, to owning a deli store, to being a retail consultant in London. While there he was asked to do a study on the Irish pet food market, which led to him taking an Irish distribution contract for a vet-focused brand. And then he convinced fellow Sligoman Seán Melly and corporate high-fliers Bernard Sommers and Liam Booth to back him and opened five large format stores. Petstop was born.
An ill-fated entry into online pet stores nearly sank the business but a lucky exit gave them the ability to regroup, carry on, and four years later come out the other side. Large format pet stores are now the focal point for the industry and Petstop is ideally placed to continue its growth.
This is the 51st episode with guest Anthony Gallagher, CEO and Founder of Petstop in the Davy podcast series 'Everyday Business with Aidan Donnelly'.
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47:49
50: Tomás O’Leary, CEO & Founder at Origina
Tomás O’Leary is a visionary leader driving transformation in the software industry. As the Founder and CEO of Origina, he has revolutionized independent software maintenance, providing enterprise customers with a reliable alternative to vendor support.
Origina is a software maintenance vendor and are the independent software maintenance and support provider that pairs their clients with dedicated, global IBM, HCL, and VMware product experts who keep a perpetual eye on the performance, longevity and compliance of the enterprise software estate. They support large global organizations with complex IBM® environments that need to modernize and grow, and take care of interoperability, licensing and security, so customers can dedicate your time and budget to moving forward.
Tomás leads with bold vision, uniting innovation, advocacy, and sustainability to create meaningful change in the enterprise software market.
Since founding the company in 2012, he has positioned Origina as a global leader, empowering organizations to break free from vendor lock-in and unlock greater value from their software investments.
This is the 50th episode with guest Tomás O’Leary, CEO & Founder at Origina, in the Davy podcast series 'Everyday Business with Aidan Donnelly'.
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1:12:04
49: Jac Dunne, CEO of Dimply
Jac Dunne is CEO of Dimply and brings over 30 years of financial services and fintech expertise, backed by an MBA from Dublin Business School. Throughout her career, Jac has held senior roles at prestigious institutions, including HSBC, Bank of New York (BNY), Bank of America (BOA), and Confluence Technologies, where she held global positions and developed and executed transformative strategies. Her international perspective and diverse sector experience enable her to deliver innovative solutions and foster meaningful growth.
Dimply is an innovative, no-code, new generation customer experience platform designed specifically for financial services. It allows organisations to leverage any data source available to deliver hyper-personalised digital experiences, regardless of complexity, at scale.
Jac brings a unique approach to business growth and relationship building. Her management philosophy, centring on empowerment and a balanced focus on client and team needs, sets her apart in the industry.
Her commitment to charity work is not just a pastime, but a deeply ingrained part of her life. Her belief in equal opportunities for all drives her to create a more equitable society, and this passion for social progress resonates in all aspects of her life and work.
This is the 49th episode with guest Jac Dunne, CEO of Dimply, in the Davy podcast series 'Everyday Business with Aidan Donnelly'.
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53:36
48: Loretta Dignam, CEO of The Menopause Hub
Loretta Dignam has pioneered menopause in Ireland. As founder and CEO, she opened the doors to The Menopause Hub, Ireland's first and only dedicated peri/menopause clinic in January 2019. This was one of only two clinics in the world dedicated to menopause.
The Menopause Hub is a centre of excellence, and now has three clinics in Ireland, and Ireland’s first Menopause App, which is available for free and which also acts as an adjunct to the patient care pathway.
Loretta is a passionate advocate for menopausal women, smashing the taboo and striving to make menopause mainstream. Through the Menopause Hub Academy, she has also developed a CPD accredited programme to support organisations with menopause in the workplace awareness, education, training, and policy development and hosts the Menopause Workplace Excellence Awards in partnership with Great Place to Work and has created the Menopause Workplace Accreditation programme to recognise those who are leading the way in menopause support at work.
Loretta has had a lengthy and highly successful career working for many multinational, global businesses including; Mars Inc, Diageo plc, Kerry Group plc Ardagh Group and Jacob Fruitfield, as a senior marketing and communications leader.
She is a multi-award winner - Marketer of the Year, Tatler Woman of the Year 2024 (Health), Women's Health CEO of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year runner up in the Image Businesswoman Awards, and HIHI FemTech 2023 Winner.
This is the 48th episode with guest Loretta Dignam, CEO of The Menopause Hub, in the Davy podcast series 'Everyday Business with Aidan Donnelly'.
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49:51
47: David Kieran, Managing Director at ZOMA
Founded in 2016, ZOMA’s team of creative experts specialise in digital strategy, web design, branding, content creation, and performance marketing. ZOMA's journey began humbly, with its founders working from a small attic space fuelled by passion and determination. Armed with little more than laptops, whiteboards and big ideas, they sought to challenge traditional marketing norms by offering innovative digital solutions.
Over the last three years, ZOMA has transformed into one of Ireland and Northern Ireland's largest and most recognisable digital marketing agencies, with a turnover of €1.2million and 12 full time staff. Currently working across a range of industries including corporate, health and wellness, fashion, food and hospitality, tourism, sport and events, construction, property, agriculture, medical and manufacturing.
David Kieran is founder and managing director of Zoma. David's belief in a “people-first” approach has been instrumental in building a company that values talent, collaboration, and customer success. Combining digital expertise with youthful enthusiasm and a desire to break the corporate mould, ZOMA have ditching the traditional suit and tie approach. A unique approach to work-life balance helps their team flex their creative muscles which results in distinctive brands and ideas.
This is the 47th episode with guest David Kieran, Managing Director at ZOMA, in the Davy podcast series 'Everyday Business with Aidan Donnelly'.
In this podcast, Aidan Donnelly is in discussion with numerous guests to get insights into their journey, their highs and lows, their management styles, and the lessons they have learned along the way. Most of Aidan’s time has been spent focusing on the financials of these companies but what is more fascinating to him is how companies operate, how the entrepreneurs started them, and the business people/managements who run them.
But as with most things, a work/life balance is essential, so it won’t just be about the professional developments they have made through the years, but also the personal ones.
Aidan Donnelly, Head of Equities at Davy, has been working in, analysing, and investing in companies for decades. He has 27 years’ investment management experience. He joined Davy in 2005 and has worked as an analyst/fund manager for a range of global equity funds and is now responsible for the direct equity offering at Davy.
There will be a new episode released every two weeks, so please like, share and subscribe if you like what you hear!
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