CEO Outlook: Scaling a business for the global market, with Anne Heraty, CPL

Anne Heraty founded CPL in 1989 and, 31 years later, in 2020, sold the company for €318m. That journey from inception to exit has involved recessions, a floatation, and the digital transformation of the workplace. However, despite the recent sale of CPL Resources to Japanese firm Outsourcing, it is not a journey that Anne is ready to end just yet. Heraty believes that the world of work is at a fascinating point in time and so, as she tells host Richard Curran, “it is not a time I’d like to be standing on the sidelines”.

Growing up in and around the family business, Anne learned a lot from watching her parents run their shop, pub, and farm in Co Longford. She was one of only two girls in her class to go to university, and, after taking ‘the scenic route’ to finding her career path, she eventually became an entrepreneur in 1989 with the founding of Computer Placement Ltd (CPL). 

In this episode of the EY CEO Outlook series, Anne tells host Richard Curran the story of an Irish company that has had international success. Anne talks about: 

·        Becoming the first female CEO of a publicly listed Irish company, and her thoughts on work done and work yet to be done around female entrepreneurship

·        Weathering the bursting of the dotcom bubble in 2000 and the 2008 economic recession, and lessons learned

·        How technology is transforming the world of work.

·        Why she advises people to ‘love what they do, not do what they love’. 

·        The secret to doing a great interview and finding the right talent.