NAVAN CHAMBER IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE ARDBOYNE HOTEL NAVAN WELCOMES FEARGAL QUINN TO NAVAN on July 6th 2009 Ardboyne Hotel, Navan 7pm.

Feargal Quinn Retail Entrepreneur & Politician Sen. Feargal Quinn is one of Ireland’s best known businessmen. From his first business experience at his father’s holiday camp in Skerries, Senator Quinn’s focus has always been the customer –look after them and keep them coming back.

He started the first Superquinn shop in Dundalk in 1960 with just eight colleagues. The first Dublin shop at Finglas came in 1965, and for the next 20 years Superquinn concentrated on becoming a major player in the Dublin area. Sen Feargal Quinn is President of Superquinn, by the time his family sold out their interest in the company in 2005, there were 21 shops and a team of over 5,000.

From the start Superquinn homed in on two big things - food and customer service. The focus on customer service brought playhouses for customers' children, feed-back groups where they listen to customers, and a host of other innovations for which in time Superquinn became famous all over the retailing world. They were first in Europe with a technology-based loyalty scheme, SuperClub, - technology which was sold to many countries. Superquinn also became partners in an innovative online shopping venture Buy4now. Sen Quinn also wrote a book about his business philosophy, "Crowning the Customer", which has sold like Superquinn sausages in several countries.

Apart from his involvement with Superquinn, Feargal Quinn has made many other contributions to Irish life. For a decade he was chairman of An Post, the Irish postal system. He chaired a steering committee on the reform of a key element in Ireland's education system which oversaw the introduction of the Leaving Certificate Applied. He was chairman of the St. Patrick’s Festival until 2003. Since 1993 he has been an independent member of the Irish Senate. He has been awarded honorary doctorates by the University of Dublin and by the National Council for Educational Awards. He received a Papal knighthood in 1994.

On the international scene, Feargal Quinn is President of EuroCommerce, the organisation representing commerce and trade in the EU. He is a former chairman of CIES – the Food Business Forum. He is also a board member of the Food Marketing Institute (USA), and a Fellow of the Institute of Grocery Distribution (U.K.) In 2006 he was appointed an Adjunct Professor in Marketing at NUI Galway.

Kathryn Lynch, Chair of Navan Chamber’s Retail Committee adds “ We are delighted to welcome Senator Quinn to Navan. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience from the retail and general business sectors. I’m sure his insights on our current economic situation and his thoughts on what the future will bring will be inspiring and educational for us all”.

Places are limited so book early to avoid disappointment!

RSVP to Navan Chamber on info@navanchamber.com or Tel : 046 9023330 by June 30th.
Admission: 10 Euros for Members and 15 Euros for Non-members.