Bank of Ireland has appointed bank outsider Lucy Ryan as head of the food & beverage sector on its business banking sectors team.

Ryan will be charged with growing the bank's food and beverage lending and funding operations, and working with businesses in the industry to tackle challenges facing them

She has over 25 years' experience working with major food, beverage and alcohol companies, including Diageo, C&C Group, and Valeo Foods in Ireland, the UK and Italy.

Ryan joins Bank of Ireland from Dublin-based provider of gluten-free bread and bakery products BFree Foods, and she holds a degree in languages from University College Cork and a postgraduate qualification from UCD Smurfit Business School.

Jilly Clarkin, head SME markets, commented: “Lucy possesses vast domestic and international knowledge and experience of working within the food and beverage industries, knowing what works to establish and grow successful brands and what it takes to sustain them in ultra-competitive markets.

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"It’s an exciting time for Lucy to be taking up this role, with a variety of changes and challenges impacting businesses across the food and beverage sectors. I’m sure that Lucy’s extensive industry knowhow will help both new and existing food and beverage businesses to achieve their short-term goals and support their long-term aims.”

Photo: Lucy Ryan.