Mike Johnson
Mike is Chairman at ardchail. He is a former financial advisor of AL Rajhi Bank in Saudi Arabia and has held CFO and other senior executive positions at Piper Heidsieck and Remy Martin. He holds Irish and UK citizenship, is a native of London and is a financial, corporate finance and M&A expert.
Mike is a qualified accountant and has an LLM in Corporate Law from the London School of Economics.
Mike worked for many years in France and has also been based in Russia, Eastern Europe, The Middle East, South Africa and Morocco working on various assignments and projects.
In his spare time, Mike is an accomplished guitarist and a keen student of history. He is fluent in English, French and Russian. He also has a reasonable command of Latin.
Garrett Flynn
Garrett is Founder and Executive Director at ardchail.
A native of Dublin, he is a communications, digital marketing and commercial expert with a wealth of experience built up over twenty years in the corporate and consulting sectors with businesses including Arysta AG, Coca Cola, Kerry Group, Bewleys and Almarai Company. His consulting experience extends across FMCG, Financial Services, Waste Management, Athleisure clothing, Specialist Vehicles, Mass Transit and Artisan Foods.
Garrett has an MBA from University College Dublin, a BSc in Marketing Management and various qualifications in PR, Digital Communications and Business Leadership, most recently from University of Oxford and IMD Lausanne.
Garrett has spent time living and working in several EU markets, the GCC, New Zealand, China and in addition has worked with businesses in Australia and North America.
In his spare time, Garrett is a writer, historian, a keen hillwalker and a former board member of the youth organisation Scouting Ireland. He speaks English and has a reasonable command of French.
Brendan Mc Cann
Brendan is a senior consultant at ardchail. A native of Dublin. He is a highly accomplished marketing professional, with over twenty years blue-chip experience across a range of sectors. He has a reputation as a category disruptor and creator of international brands.
He has managed numerous blue-chip FMCG brands across several businesses including in Europe – Pepsi, Cadbury Schweppes, Volvic, Denny and Bonne Maman. In the GCC, he has spearheaded major brand campaigns for Almarai and Al Rawabi Dairy, all with full P&L accountability.
Brendan has managed significant comms budgets across TV, print, outdoor, and social media. He has produced countless commercials, and has embraced and mastered social media as an increasingly pivotal component of any serious communications campaign
He is the holder of two Masters degrees, one in Marketing and one in English.
James Flynn
James is a board director at Ardchail. He is a former senior executive at the Automotive manufacturer Renault, where he spent much of his career in various senior roles. Alongside extensive technical expertise, James has always taken great interest in the customer journey.
James took early retirement in 2010 in order to pursue other interests and joined the board of Ardchail in 2022.
He brings a wealth of business experience, much of it rooted in a notoriously competitive industry