Top award for new Coillte boss from Clon

CLONAKILTY woman and new ceo of Coillte, Imelda Hurley, was the recipient of the coveted Businessperson of the Year award at the 48th Business and Finance Awards, in association with KPMG. 

The award honours people who have had a significant impact and achievement in Irish business.

‘I was extremely proud and honoured to receive the award,’ said Imelda. ‘These awards have been recognising business leaders in Ireland for 48 years, so it is a great honour to be amongst so many inspirational leaders,’ she said. 

Imelda, originally from Lyre, sees her award as a win for the Coillte team. Coillte, Ireland’s State forestry company, is responsible for managing 440,000 hectares of primarily forested lands. ‘While this is a personal honour, I accepted this award on behalf of the entire team at Coillte who I have the privilege to lead every day. 2022 has been a year in which we have achieved so much as an organisation including the launch of our Greener Future for All forestry strategic vision, the launch of Beyond the Trees Avondale and winning tourism and hospitality project of the year award and so much more. We have achieved all this while remaining focused on our day-to-day operations. 

‘In the coming years, forestry will play a key role in our economy and society as we deal with the many challenges posed by the climate emergency. Coillte’s purpose is to manage the State forests on behalf of the people of Ireland and we are looking forward to 2023 and beyond as we continue to deliver the multiple benefits of our forests to Irish society.’

Prior to joining Coillte, Imelda was an executive director and cfo with agri-services group Origin Enterprises and, earlier in her career, she held a range of senior leadership positions at PCH International and Greencore. She has also previously served as a non-executive director of  Total Produce, Valeo Foods and Ervia. Imelda is a graduate of UL, a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and an alumna of Harvard Business School.