Pat Hayes, who heads up State Street’s hedge fund business in Ireland, meets with members of its 1,000 strong workforce through an employee townhall meeting that brings together local employees and the teams in Jersey, Poland and the US. The townhall meeting gives him a chance to meet with employees and brief them on the company’s performance. State Street’s hedge fund business services a significant proportion of the 40 per cent of the world’s alternative investment funds that are adminstered in Ireland and Hayes says ‘we will continue to grow the business and provide opportunities for the many talented and highly qualified people in Ireland.’

Putting experience into practice: Colm McGuire is a founding partner of McGuireDesmond, the Cork based law firm. Having worked as an associate at the Dublin and London offices of Matheson Ormsby Prentice McGuire established McGuireDesmond with Ciaran Desmond in 2000 with the experience of working during the early days of Matheson Ormsby Prentice's London office giving him the confidence to start a new practice.