Our Board

Patrick Kennedy, Chair

Patrick Kennedy is Chairman of Bank of Ireland Group plc. He joined the board in 2010, and was previously Deputy Chairman and Chairman of the Risk Committee. Patrick was Chief Executive of Paddy Power plc from 2006 to 2014. Prior to joining Paddy Power, Patrick worked at Greencore Group plc for seven years where he was Chief Financial Officer and also held a number of senior strategic and corporate development roles. He previously worked with McKinsey & Company and KPMG Corporate Finance. He was a non-executive Director of Elan Corporation plc from 2008 to 2013, and Paddy Power from 2004 to 2005.

Willie Walsh, Deputy Chair

Willie Walsh is the Director-General for the International Air Transport Association (IATA). His career spans over 40 years in the aviation industry, having held Chief Executive roles at IAG, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Futura. Willie was President of the London Chamber of Commerce from 2010 to 2013 and has represented the airline industry as Chairman of the Board of Governors of IATA, Chairman of Airlines for Europe (A4E) and President of the Association of European Airlines (AEA). He completed a Master of Science degree in Management and Business Administration at Dublin’s Trinity College in 1992.

Peter O'Donovan, Executive Director

Peter O’Donovan is CarTrawler’s Chief Executive Officer, having previously held the roles of Chief Operations and Chief Product Officer respectively.

In his time at CarTrawler, he has successfully led his team in the creation of a best-in-class revenue management function and platform and developed deep partnerships with the world's leading travel brands and car rental companies.

Before joining CarTrawler, Peter spent 14 years at Paddy Power (now Flutter plc) where he led the online business, driving significant growth and revenue generation.

Peter is a proven commercial, technology and people leader in the dynamic and competitive digital sector.

David Cotter, Executive Director

David Cotter has been CarTrawler’s Chief Financial Officer since January 2018 and also serves on the CarTrawler board as an Executive Director. He joined the company in January 2017 and was previously responsible for Car rental, Mobility and Insurance Supply along with strategic projects for the company. Prior to joining CarTrawler, David worked for Paddy Power Betfair where he was Director of Corporate Development with responsibility for executing the global expansion strategy of the business along with all M&A activity. David has also worked at LivingBridge, a UK private equity fund, investing in SMEs across technology, consumer and business services sectors and spent a number of years investing in the hospitality sector in Latin America. David originally qualified as a chartered accountant with KPMG, Dublin. David is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin and is a member of Chartered Accountants Ireland.

Fabrizio Ruggiero, Non Executive Director

Fabrizio Ruggiero joined the Edenred Group in September 2021 as CEO of Edenred Italy. Edenred is a leading digital platform for services and payments for people at work, and has over 50 million users and 850,000 corporate clients worldwide. Prior to joining Edenred Group, Fabrizio held the position of Deputy CEO of the Europcar Group from March 2015 to August 2021. Prior to his appointment as Deputy CEO, he held various roles within the Group including: Managing Director of Italy, Group Head of Mobility Solutions and Deputy CEO Sales, Marketing, Customers and Low Cost. Prior to these roles, Fabrizio worked for Leasys, Bain & Company Italy, and Accenture.

Conor Kehoe, Non Executive Director

Conor is a Senior Adviser and former Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company. He chairs the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) – a coalition of 70 organisations dedicated to improving ‘ESG’ reporting. He founded and co-leads McKinsey’s Board Intelligence Forum - bringing the latest management thinking to the boards of large companies. He founded McKinsey’s Private Equity/Investor Industry Practice and was also involved in board and owner governance and in Corporate Strategy. He was a founding member of the Executive Committee of McKinsey Solutions, a Venture Capital activity that invests in software tools for management decision support, and, originally a software engineer, has led McKinsey’s Tech and Telecom Practice in Europe. He was a member of McKinsey’s Global Risk Committee and is also adjunct lecturer at Tsinghua University in Beijing. Recently, he has refreshed his old software engineering skills– completing Stanford’s Machine Learning Course in May 2018. He joined McKinsey from the then FTSE100 Granada Group where he was a member of the Board Executive Committee and a Divisional Chairman.

David Barger, Non Executive Director

David Barger is an Operating Partner at Connor Capital located in Santa Barbara, CA. He is also Co-Chair Industry Specialists at Oaktree Transportation & Infrastructure Fund located in Los Angeles, CA, a $1.25B newly closed fund. In his airline career, he was part of the founding team of JetBlue Airways Corporation in 1998 as President & Chief Operating Officer and served as its Chief Executive Officer from May 2007 to February 2015 and was a member of JetBlue’s Board of Directors. From 1992 to 1998, he served in various management positions with Continental Airlines, including Vice President of the Newark hub. Dave held various Director level positions at Continental Airlines from 1988 to 1992 and was with New York Air from 1981 – 1988. Dave was awarded the 2016 L. Welch Pogue Lifetime Achievement Award by the International Aviation Club and was involved with many aviation organizations over his aviation career.

Gordon Holmes, Non Executive Director

Mr Holmes is a Managing Director of TowerBrook, where he also serves as Chief Investment Officer. His career has been spent in the private equity industry, where he was worked at firms in both London and New York prior to joining TowerBrook’s London office in 2010. At TowerBrook, Mr. Holmes has been responsible for investments in the media, financial services, healthcare, aerospace and industrial sectors. He earned his B.C.L. from University College Dublin in 1990 and received his M.B.A. from Stanford Business School in 1995. Mr. Holmes is a member of the Board of Trustees of Habitat for Humanity GB.

Sumit Dheir, Non Executive Director

Sumit Dheir is a Senior Principal at TowerBrook. Prior to joining TowerBrook, Sumit was a Principal in the London office of private equity firm Silverfleet Capital. Prior to joining Silverfleet in 2014, he spent four years in M&A at Greenhill & Co. Sumit holds a BSc. Economics from the University of Warwick.

Zillah Byng-Thorne, Non Executive Director

Zillah has extensive technology sector experience, spanning online gaming, digital media and e-commerce. She announced she is retiring at the end of March 2023 from her position as Chief Executive of Future plc., a global platform for specialist media, a position she assumed in 2014. Future has been a leader in the Global media publishing industry and was transformed under her leadership. With over 20 years of experience as an executive officer, she has demonstrated a focus on driving operational excellence and is a proven people manager, identifying and developing talent at the senior level. Currently a Non-Executive Chair of TrustPilot Group plc, and Non-Executive Director of NCHL plc, Ms. Byng-Thorne also served as a Non-Executive Director of Flutter Entertainment for nine-years before stepping down in early 2023. She was Chief Financial Officer of Trader Media Group (owner of Auto Trader) from 2009 to 2012, and Interim Chief Executive Officer from 2012 to 2013. Previously, Ms. Byng-Thorne was Commercial Director and Chief Financial Officer at Fitness First Limited and Chief Financial Officer of the Thresher Group and a former Non-Executive Director of THG Holdings plc. Ms. Byng-Thorne is a chartered management accountant (CIMA) and qualified treasurer (ACT) and has an MA in Management from Glasgow University and an MSc in Behavioral Change from Henley Business School.

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