Irish boardroom pro Danny Kitchen to chair Sirius Real Estate

Germany-focussed branded business parks operator Sirius Real Estate announced the appointment of Daniel ‘Danny’ Kitchen to its board as non-executive chairman with immediate effect on Monday.

The London-listed firm said Kitchen was bringing more than 25 years of property and finance experience in both the listed and private markets to the company.

It said that, after 14 years in corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions with the Investment Bank of Ireland, he was appointed in 1994 as the chief financial officer of Green Property, an Irish-listed property company.

In 2003 he left to join Heron International as group finance director and deputy chief executive.

He is currently non-executive chairman of Workspace Group, Hibernia REIT and Applegreen.

Kitchen is also a non-executive director and chairman of the audit committee of LXB Retail Properties, although that organisation was currently being wound down.

Sirius said Kitchen was appointed chairman of Irish Nationwide Building Society between 2008 and 2011, and is a director of the Irish Takeover Panel.

“We are delighted to welcome Danny to the board as our chairman and look forward to working with him,” said Sirius Real Estate chief executive officer Andrew Coombs.

“Danny brings with him extensive experience and expertise in real estate and finance, as well as being a very experienced listed property company chairman.

“His skillset will further strengthen our existing board and add significant value in helping Sirius to deliver its future growth ambitions.”

Danny Kitchen added that he thought of Sirius as a well-respected business, with a “very interesting” business model capable of delivering “significant growth” in shareholder value over the coming years.

“I look forward to working with the board and wider executive management team to maximise the future opportunities open to the company.”