Philip Lee LLP is proud to continue our partnership with Business Plus on Business Plus Talks, an eight-part podcast series where leading voices share their own inspiring stories about the experiences that shaped their careers, outlook and approach to the ups and downs of business.
Following our second episode with Pierre Boutin, President and CEO of Volkswagen Group Ireland., we are delighted to announce our third guest: Ken Bowles, Chief Financial Officer of paper and packaging giant, Smurfit Westrock.
Ken Bowles has built an extraordinary 31-year career with Smurfit, joining what was then Smurfit Kappa in 1994. Over the years, he has held key finance roles across the group, including:
- 2004 – Appointed as the company’s first Head of Compliance
- 2007 – Promoted to Head of Tax
- 2010 – Became Group Financial Controller
- 2016 – Elevated to Group Chief Financial Officer, a role he continues to hold following Smurfit’s landmark 2023 merger with WestRock
Today, Smurfit WestRock is the world’s largest maker of cardboard boxes, employing 100,000 people across 40 countries, with 2024 net sales of $21.11 billion and net income of $319 million.
Ken is also a company director, an associate member of the Institute of Chartered Management Accountants, and holds a first-class MBA from UCD Graduate School of Business.
Episode 3 will be released this Friday and will be available on Spotify, YouTube, PhilipLee.ie and BusinessPlus.ie.
If you missed last week’s episode with Pierre Boutin, you can catch up here on Spotify or watch the full interview on YouTube.
We would like to thank Ken for joining us and sharing his remarkable journey.
Philip Lee is excited to support this initiative and bring you conversations that inspire, challenge and inform, just as our values inspire us to lead the way in law and business.
