The Irish Times Business Person of the Month: Brian O'Sullivan, Zeus Group
Zeus
Group, has been chosen as The Irish Times Businessperson of the Month for June, an award run in association with
Bank of Ireland
.
The Cork-based packaging group announced in June that it had completed bolt-on acquisitions in England and Spain that will add €20 million to its annual revenues, which will be in excess of €500 million this year.
The Irish company closed the acquisition of Empire Tapes, a Rotherham-based manufacturer of specialist adhesive tapes, and Rio Tinto Plásticos, a Spanish distributor and manufacturer of sustainable packaging products.
David McWilliams on how 'big incentives' to build could save Dublin city
Listen |
36:51
The Zeus founder said Spain was a market 'that we will look to double up in over the next two to three years'.
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Founded in 1997, Zeus is one of the largest privately-owned packaging companies in Europe, with a footprint across 40 countries and employing 1,500 staff directly. The acquisitions will help the company hit revenues of about €550 million for 2025, with significant growth forecast for next year.
'What we see in our pipeline between organic [growth] and acquisitions, we'd be looking to reach to between €650 million and €700 million of revenue,' O'Sullivan told The Irish Times, adding that it could breach the €1 billion mark within the next three to five years, subject to market conditions.
'We can grow by bolt-on acquisitions, and we can grow to that figure of €1 billion; that's within our grasp.'
O'Sullivan was
named the EY Entrepreneur of the Year in 2021
. At that time, the company employed about 670 staff and had annual revenues of €300 million
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We were bottom of the league [at Derry] when I took over, and we ended up in Europe. But there was a pivotal game that year at home to St Pat's. I'll never forget it. 'I couldn't settle all day. Obviously, I was new to the job and a new manager. It was all new to me, and I was very anxious and worrying about everything. 'And I actually rang Jim, and I said: 'Jim, I'm on edge here. I'm really worried.' And then he started asking me questions: 'Have you covered this? Have you covered this? Have you covered this?' And basically, simplified it for me, just to reassure me that: 'No, you'll be alright. You've covered all the bases, all the angles.' 'And I felt a lot more settled after that conversation. He gave me 15-20 minutes of his time, and I was really settled. And after that, we ended up getting a great 1-0 win at home. He definitely had a part to play.' Despite all his coaching talents, the overriding perception from the outside, at least, is that McGuinness failed in the world of soccer. Was Ryan surprised that he did not make a greater impact? 'Yeah, and no. I'm surprised that he hasn't got a job, but there are so few jobs here in this country. And you know, he has a large family, a few kids, they're growing up. So that would be a factor in him travelling again, I suppose. 'I would think at some point he will go back to it, or he'll have a go. But obviously, he's having a successful time there with the GAA at the moment.' Higgins also wouldn't be surprised to see McGuinness return to the world of soccer eventually. 'I wouldn't rule it out. I know he's very passionate about it. I definitely wouldn't say that he's failed. I don't think he's had the opportunity that he would have liked. 'And there's no doubt, a lot of the stuff, so much of the stuff is transferable. 'I spoke to him one time about potentially helping me out at Derry as well. At one point, I met him, but he had a lot of other stuff going on. But I've absolutely no doubt that he could be a success, that he would make a really good manager. He's just a huge figure in Irish sport. And any sport would love to have him.' Ryan agrees: 'He has everything in the game from doing the [pro licence] course, and you can apply some of the principles to the GAA pitch. I would say he does. And there are certain aspects there — people going into a low block defensively or breaking. That probably originated from football, and it developed into the GAA, and the rules changed, because people went more tactical. So I'd say there are definitely [soccer] aspects he brings into it.'
