"We have outgrown the reputation of London’s little brother, and are now seen as a truly modern European city in our own right, with many firms relocating here"

What's your name?

Orla O’Gorman

What position do you hold?

Head of Equity Listing at Euronext Dublin and a member of the Euronext global listings team.

What are your day to day responsibilities?

I am responsible for managing our relationship with Euronext Dublin listed companies as well as working with companies looking to list on Euronext markets. I also lead our strategic financing programme, #IPOready, which provides executives in high-growth companies with the required skillset for raising strategic finance and accessing the capital markets. Right now, this is taking a lot of my focus as our 2019 programme is open for applications.

What is your professional background?

I have spent most of my career in corporate finance having worked on both the advisory and corporate side of a wide variety of public and private transactions. I have been involved in a number of IPOs, fundraising, acquisitions, divestments, joint ventures, restructuring and other corporate transactions. I have a a Bachelor of Commerce and Master of Accounting from University College Dublin and am a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland.

You are speaking at the 2019 Growth Capital Summit. What are you speaking about?

I am passionate about financing as a key enabler for ambitious companies to scale. The correct financing strategy is critical - business owners should understand the various funding options available and how to choose which is most appropriate for them. I believe strongly in this so it is what I will be focusing on – long term strategic finance and of course the role that capital markets can play in helping companies achieve this. Indeed, it was this very topic that led me to develop our IPOready programme in order to give companies the opportunity to understand how to prepare for raising strategic finance and the correct source of funding to deliver to their objectives.

What have been your highlights in business over the past year?

In March 2018 the Irish Stock Exchange became part of Euronext, the leading pan-European exchange operating markets in Belgium, France, Ireland, The Netherlands, Portugal and the UK. The migration of our Irish listed companies to trading on the Euronext single orderbook, giving them access to a deeper pool of liquidity, trading member base and over 5,000 investors has been the big highlight over the past year. Being part of Euronext enables us to offer additional benefits to companies seeking a stock exchange listing, in particular to Tech and SMEs where Euronext is the #1 listing venue.

What’s next for your company?

We are mid launching IPOready, our strategic financing programme for 2019/20. So, this is my current focus including integrating it within the Euronext TechShare programme for scaling tech companies. At a group level we are currently working on our 3-year strategic plan which is very exciting.

What new trends are emerging in your industry?

The world of financing and particularly stock markets is ever evolving with new trends emerging all the time! The current trend right now is that Irish companies, and the finance community here are becoming more and more Euro rather than UK-centric. Certainly at the start of my career, Dublin still had the mindset (and reputation) of being somewhat of a London satellite, whereas now, the ambitions have become a lot bigger and bolder. Companies are now going straight to Europe and the US for growth – and succeeding. I think the success of Irish companies has also changed the perception and reputation of Dublin – where our listed companies are internationally well regarded and have a very diversified international shareholder base. We have outgrown the reputation of London’s little brother, and are now seen as a truly modern European city in our own right, with many firms relocating here.

What are the challenges facing your industry going forward?

As expected, one of the biggest challenges right now is the uncertainty of Brexit and the impact it is having on investor decisions. However, on the flip side it is also a big opportunity for us as there is a growing demand for UK and international companies to access euro capital which we are uniquely placed to provide.

Orla O’Gorman is speaking at the Growth Capital Summit at Croke Park on May 30th, 2019. Full details are available atcapitalsummit.ie