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Meet the team

Close Press shot of Robert Finnegan

Robert Finnegan

Robert Finnegan was appointed as CEO of Three UK and Ireland in March 2020 having been Three Ireland’s CEO since the company’s launch in 2005 and led the acquisition of O2 Ireland in 2014.

As CEO of Three UK, Robert is responsible for utilising the UK’s leading spectrum portfolio to deliver a great experience for its 10 million customers and has a mandate across both CK Hutchison businesses to accelerate meaningful growth opportunities.

Three Ireland, is one of the country’s leading mobile operators with 35% market share, over 2.3 million customers and carries over 65% of all mobile data traffic in Ireland. Robert is committed to providing its customers with a better connected life through meaningful products, best in class service and a connected network experience.

Robert worked for CK Hutchison (formerly Hutchison Whampoa) in Hong Kong for thirteen years before he joined Three Ireland. There he served as CEO of its beverage division, Watson’s, where he strategically led the development of its water business in China and Europe, building it to market leader position. He also initiated and led the divestiture of Powwow to Nestle for US$545m. Prior to his role as CEO at Watson’s, he held positions as Financial Controller and Finance and Strategic Planning Director at Hutchison for six years.

In addition to Three, Robert is also a non-Executive Director of AMCK, a leader in the Irish aircraft leasing market in Ireland and a CK Hutchison sister company of Three.

A qualified accountant and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, Robert has also held senior finance roles at Procter and Gamble and Allied Domecq.

Close Press shot of Elaine Carey

Elaine Carey

Elaine Carey is Three UK and Ireland’s Chief Commercial Officer.

Elaine joined Three Ireland as Head of Sales in 2008 becoming Chief Commercial Officer in 2013 before taking on the combined UK and Ireland role in March 2020.

At Three UK, Elaine, spearheads all of the business’s consumer commercial activities and using the UK’s largest spectrum portfolio to deliver a great customer experience. Her role includes devising and managing Three’s propositions and products portfolio, managing the retail footprint, overseeing ecommerce, customer care and all digital and brand activities along with the management of our partnership with Chelsea FC.

A graduate of business and computing from Limerick IT, Elaine started her career with Esat Digifone and then moved to Digicel in the Caribbean where she was part of the management team that set up the Digicel business in markets including St Lucia, Barbados, Jamaica and others. In 2006 Elaine returned to Ireland and took up the role of Head of ICT with Eircom where she spent two years setting up its ICT division before joining Three in 2008.

Elaine is a Board member of Three UK, Three Ireland and CK Delta, which are all owned by multi-national conglomerate, CK Hutchison Holdings.

Close Press shot of Darren Purkis

Darren Purkis

Darren Purkis has been our Chief Financial Officer since June 2018 having worked at Three for just over a decade, previously as deputy CFO.

In addition to his traditional CFO duties, Darren is also on the board at MBNL responsible for our network share with EE, ensuring that we can deliver an amazing customer experience while controlling our costs.

Prior to joining Three, Darren was previously finance director at Warehouse Fashions and prior to this various Finance roles across the retail sector at Borders Books, Kingfisher plc and Marks & Spencer Group plc.

Close Press shot of David Hennessy

David Hennessy

David Hennessy is Three UK and Ireland's Chief Technology Officer. He became Three Ireland's CTO in 2008 before taking on his dual role in May 2021.

David leads the Technology and Operations functions across both businesses and is responsible for the network and IT systems.

He has more than 20 years’ telecommunications experience, having been responsible for Three Ireland’s radio network roll out following the acquisition of a 3G license in 2004.

Close Press shot of Mark Redmond

Mark Redmond

Mark Redmond joined Three in 2007 and is Chief People Officer for Three UK & Ireland.

During his time at Three Ireland, the business has grown from a team of 50 to 1,400 employees. Mark was instrumental in Three’s acquisition of O2 in 2014, ensuring a seamless amalgamation of the two organisations.

In 2020, Mark took on the additional responsibility for People & Property in Three UK and now leads a cross-geography team supporting 5,500 people across both businesses.

Mark’s previous experience includes senior HR roles at PayPal International Ltd and A. O. Smith. He has an MBS from the UCD Smurfit School of Business, a BA in Psychology from UCD as well as certificates in employment law and health and safety management from UCD.

Close Press shot of Stephen Lerner

Stephen Lerner

Stephen Lerner is General Counsel and Director of Regulatory Affairs at Three UK and has worked at the company since 2003. He and his 100-strong team are responsible for driving legal and regulatory strategies for the company.

Stephen is currently overseeing a number of initiatives designed to change restrictive policies in the UK mobile phone market. By challenging the status quo on issues such switching and mobile backhaul, Three hopes to encourage competition in the sector at the same time as giving a fairer deal to customers.

He gained his legal qualifications at the University of Western Ontario and studied for his Masters Degree at McGill University in Montreal.

Close Press shot of Ashley Cook

Ashley Cook

Ashley Cook is Three UK and Three Ireland’s Chief Portfolio and Change Officer and is responsible for ensuring that we are focusing our efforts and resources in the right areas to deliver the best experience for our customers.

He has worked for Three for almost a decade joining as Chief Customer Officer in Ireland before taking on his current role across the UK and Ireland in June 2020. He leads a team of 140 who are also responsible for the operational efficiency of both organisations.

Ashley has 15 years of experience in the telecoms industry including holding senior roles at O2 and Carphone Warehouse. Prior to that he spent more than 20 years at Tesco in a number of different roles across operations, service and IT.

Close Press shot of Mike Tomlinson

Mike Tomlinson

Mike joined the company as Managing Director for Three Business in August 2020, creating a new and significant contributor to our overall growth. He is responsible for our Business commercial strategy, operations, marketing propositions, sales and account management.

He has 25+ years of experience in telecoms and his most recent role before Three was Managing Director of BT’s SME division. He was previously Director of Small Business for EE, responsible for launching 4G and accelerating business adoption in the UK.

Prior to that he was Head of Strategy for Virgin Mobile during its period of rapid growth and subsequent IPO. He then founded his own consultancy business and served international clients specialising in strategy and market development.

Mike graduated as Master of Business Administration with Distinction from Manchester Business School. He is also a Bachelor of Engineering and started his career with BAE Systems in Aircraft Design.

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