In this episode of the EY CEO Outlook Podcast, Laura Trimble, CEO of HSBC Ireland joins host Richard Curran to discuss leadership culture, customer-focused banking, and why Ireland remains a stable and attractive place to do business in a volatile global economy.

“There are quite a few parallels between doing endurance sports and working ... It requires you to plan, to be organised, to make a schedule, and to break big goals down into smaller ones along the way.”

Laura Trimble brings the mindset of an endurance athlete to leadership, focused on preparation, resilience, and long-term performance.

Raised on the south coast of England, Laura Trimble studied Mathematics and joined HSBC during a college placement before progressing into a full-time role with the organisation.

After building extensive technical and international experience across the business, she relocated to Ireland to take up the role of CEO of HSBC Ireland.

Laura has built her career inside the organisation, gaining deep technical expertise, international experience, and a strong understanding of how businesses grow and adapt in changing environments.

They also discuss:

- How endurance sport principles shape leadership

- Building a high performance, high care team culture

- Why customer success is central to HSBC’s role globally

- What global customers are saying about optimism and supply chain resilience
- Ireland’s position as a stable place to do business

- The value of diverse perspectives in better decision-making

- The impact she hopes to leave as a leader

In this episode of the EY CFO Outlook podcast, Marc Van Huet, CFO of Calor Ireland joins host, Dearbhail McDonald, to talk about building a modern finance engine, why a private, family-owned structure creates space to innovate, and the role LPG and BioLPG can play for rural homes, hotels and industry on the journey to net zero. He also shares the cultural lessons he’s learned in Ireland, the value of a diverse team, and why a good culture is built in small daily choices.

Marc Van Huet’s road to CFO began behind the glass walls of an iconic Louis Vuitton store in Singapore, where a particular project taught him about relationship between customer experience and process discipline. That experience sparked an early interest in how strong brands connect with people, something that continues to guide his work today.

Marc’s career has taken him across several industries and leadership roles, from working with entrepreneurs to managing financial and project teams within SHV and beyond. Now, as the youngest CFO featured on the EY CFO Outlook podcast, Marc brings that same focus on people, growth, and innovation to Calor Ireland.

They also discuss:

• Marc’s early career and the importance of customer service.
• Key lessons learned from working with entrepreneurs and across multiple industries.
• The modern CFO: freeing the month-end “engine” to focus on value; AI and process mining in finance
• Calor’s ambition to grow while leading Ireland’s energy transition.
• How being part of a global family business supports innovation and investment.
• Why culture and teamwork matter in modern leadership.

In this episode of the EY CFO Outlook Podcast, Peter Quinn, CFO of An Post joins host Dearbhail McDonald to talk about his career, the challenges An Post has faced, and why he’s optimistic about the future.

“When I started my career, it was before Microsoft Excel,” recalls Peter Quinn. “People thought technology would do away with jobs. Instead, it gave finance more firepower and made us more important.”

That same ability to see challenge as opportunity has defined Peter’s two decades as Chief Financial Officer of An Post. Since joining the company in 2004, he has navigated three of the biggest shocks of modern business - the financial crash, Brexit, and COVID - each one reshaping the world An Post operates in.

Today, Peter says An Post is no longer just the postman at the door. It’s a €1 billion business delivering state savings products, Amazon parcels, daily post, and rolling out electric vehicles. An Post, he says, is no longer just a postal service, it’s competing to be Ireland’s leader in home delivery.

They also discuss:

• How ‘An Post’ has shifted into parcels, logistics and financial services.
• The financial crash, Brexit, and the €100m cost of COVID.
• National postal operators still deliver half of all parcels and why An Post wants to stay on top.
• Believing in Sustainability, Peter talks about electric vans, closing the gender pay gap, and backing UN goals.
• How delegation and finance shape business decisions.
• Peter talks about sea-swimming with Alastair Campbell, a rugby tour in Uganda, and the optimism that drives him.