Directors & Heads of Department at RBK

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Chris is a Director with Russell Brennan Keane Corporate Finance and has over 10 years experience.  From Donegal, Chris is an Associate of Chartered Accountants Ireland and holds a Commerce Degree from NUI Galway.

Chris has built up considerable experience across a broad range of transactions and projects for private and public enterprises. His expertise includes the following:

• Chris has experience leading out projects in small to medium corporate enterprises across the full spectrum of corporate finance activities, including mergers and acquisitions, management buy outs, debt and equity fundraisings including Business Expansion Schemes, share valuations and financial due diligence.
• Chris has become involved in the firm's restructuring advisory services, advising clients on strategic direction through business reviews, financial forecast modelling and debt restructuring.
• Chris advises clients on start-ups and has worked with Enterprise Ireland and County Enterprise Boards providing support to early stage businesses on business planning, financing and strategic development.

Recent assignments include:

• Restructuring repayment profile of €20m debt across numerous lenders including an aggressive debt restructuring program and cost setting exercise.
• Detailed financial forecasting and modeling to enable directors to make strategic decisions on future direction of company, including development and assessment of options.
• Adviser to Management Team on purchase of Irish manufacturing facility from Administrator of German parent company.
• Chris has worked with financial institutions and public sector bodies in delivering independent reviews and assessment reports to support debt restructuring and provision of financial facilities.

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Karen joined RBK in 1997 and was promoted to Director in 2006.  Karen leads the four key function groups within HR Solutions: Recruitment & Selection, Learning & Development, HR Consulting and Payroll Bureau.

Based in our Athlone office, Karen offers strategic advice to clients on HR issues and is responsible for sourcing and placing senior personnel both in RBK and on behalf of clients.

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Catherine established and leads our Corporate Compliance Department which provides a wide range of services to both public and private companies.  Today, she and her team provide both compliance and consultancy services to over 1,000 companies.  Prior to joining the firm, she worked with Pearse Trust, Dublin and Pearse Trust International, London.  From Co. Westmeath, Catherine holds a Diploma in First-Line Management from the National College of Ireland and has completed various courses in Company Secretarial and Share Registration.

Catherine has extensive experience across a broad range of corporate compliance transactions.  Her expertise includes the following;

• Provision of all forms of corporate compliance and related services including company incorporations, reorganisations & restructures, annual compliance & maintenance of statutory registers, compliance reviews and strike offs.
• Advises clients on the practical implementation of Company Law and assists in the company secretarial issues arising out of reorganisations and entity simplifications.
• Catherine is involved in identifying areas where a company's compliance requirements may be streamlined which includes the implementation of web hosted software and the electronic filing of returns.

Recent assignments include:

• Preparation of share redemption.
• Creation of group structures.
• Voluntary Strike Offs

Email Mary | Download V Card | LinkedIn 

Mary is our Market Development Director with responsibility for the strategic development of all Russell Brennan Keane's communications and marketing programmes with a specific emphasis on identifying, developing and implementing commercially focused practice growth initiatives across the firms accountancy and business advisory services.

Prior to joining the firm, Mary worked with Evalon and Bank of Ireland where she gained significant sales and marketing experience in both Irish and European financial services organisations.  She holds a Hons BA in Business Studies - International Marketing from the University of Ulster and is a Member of The Marketing Institute.

Mary's expertise includes the following:

• Incorporating the development and execution of Russell Brennan Keane's brand marketing strategy and overall communications program to drive and strengthen brand profile and support business growth.
• Business development, brand development and design, press commentary, advertising, sponsorship, event management and tenders management.
• Providing strategic business development consultancy and support to a number of key clients.

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James, who joined RBK as trainee in 1997 and qualified in 2000, has experience in all aspects of General Practice.

Based in our Roscommon Office, he deals with a broad spectrum of clients and his specialist areas include pharmacy and general retail.  James is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and also completed a Degree in Accounting and Finance at AIT.

Email Matt | Download V Card | LinkedIn 

Matt joined Russell Brennan Keane in 1998 and became a Director in 2007. He specialises in providing focused business advice to a diverse portfolio of individual and corporate clients.

Matt previously worked within our Accounts & SME Division and has gained invaluable expertise across a variety of industries including the retail and hospitality sectors.  Matt is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.

Email Ronan | Download V Card | LinkedIn 

An Associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ronan's core expertise is with mid size organisations, mainly in the technology sector where he regularly performs risk reviews, appraises internal controls policies and procedures and reports to the audit committee.

Ronan also has a significant level of Big 4 experience in risk reviews, having performed a number of large risk and fraud reviews for large organisations in the UK and Ireland and a public sector organisation in Ireland. Ronan is head of audit in the Dublin office of RBK and acts as Responsible Individual on a number of large Audit Clients. Ronan is the Audit Director responsible for training and development in RBK Dublin. 

Ronan is a graduate of UCD, International Commerce with French (Hons) and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2002, Ronan joined RBK in 2006 as Audit Manager. Prior to joining Russell Brennan Keane, Ronan trained in Grant Thornton and worked after his articles in PWC for a number of years.

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Arthur, a Fellow member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA) and a graduate of Carlow Institute of Technology, joined RBK in 1993 and qualified in 1997.  He specialises in providing focused business advice to a diverse portfolio of individual and corporate clients.

Arthur has extensive experience in providing expert advice on business development & strategy, wealth management & retention as well as general business advice on compliance & taxation to the retail, professional consultants and agri-business sectors.

Email Ronan | Download V Card | LinkedIn 

An Associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and an AITI Chartered Tax Advisor (CTA), Ronan joined RBK in 2012 as a Tax Director in the Dublin office. Prior this he had been a Tax Director in Deloitte.

Ronan leads the taxation team in Dublin. Ronan's expertise range from advising domestic owner managed businesses to quoted multinationals. He has substantial experience advising on international tax and advises on structuring overseas property acquisitions for property developers/investors, structuring issues for Irish companies looking to expand overseas and multinationals locating in Ireland.

Ronan is a Business and Legal Studies Graduate from University College Dublin and holds a Master of Accounting from Smurfit Business School.

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Arline joined RBK in 1996, qualified in 1998 and became a Director in 2006.

Based in Athlone, Arline leads RBK's information technology division as well as working with clients to identify areas where IT would benefit the business; such as process automation, system audits, system Integration, waste elimination, automated financial reporting, system selection & project management.

Arline has gained extensive knowledge & experience in IT systems including Financial, Payroll, ERP, Time recording and EPOS.