Gerry Keaney (left Volvo Car Corporation May 2011)
GERRY KEANEY, CV AND BIOGRAPHY
Name: Gerry Keaney
Present position: He left the company in May 2011
Joined Volvo: 1990
Born: 2 October 1956
Education: Business graduate of North Staffs Polytechnic, Chartered Accountant
Previous positions:
2003 - 2011: Senior Vice President, Marketing, Sales and Customer Service (MSS)
2002 -2003: Vice President, Sales, Volvo Cars
1999 -2002:Regional President, Europe/Beneluk Market Area, Volvo Cars
1996 -1998: Managing Director, Volvo Car UK Ltd.
1993 -1995: Sales & Marketing Director, Volvo Car UK Ltd.
1992 -1993: Sales & Dealer Director, Volvo Car UK Ltd.
1991: Field Operations Manager, Volvo Car UK Ltd.
1990: Network Representation Manager, Volvo Car UK Ltd
1986 -1990: Management consultant, Coopers Hybrand,
1984 -1986: Financial Controller, Habitat Ltd.
1982 -1984: Financial Analyst, Rockwell GB Ltd.
1980 -1982: British Leyland: various financial positions at Jaguar and Land Rover.
Civil status: Married and has three daughters
Hobbies: Sports, collecting maps, music, Italy, including its wines and food
BIOGRAPHY
Gerry Keaney was born on 2 October 1956 in St. Helens, a small Lancashire town close to Liverpool. The family later moved to Rugby in the British midlands – almost in the heart of the car industry – where he attended school.
At the age of 18, he enrolled in a Business Studies course at North Staffs Polytechnic and graduated in 1979. He is also a chartered accountant.
“After that, there was never any doubt that I would look for a job in the car industry,” he recalls.
He joined British Leyland, spending two years with the company as an accountant – working with Land Rover and then with Jaguar!
“At that stage, I wanted to work for a somewhat smaller company. So I left BL for the British subsidiary of US Rockwell, which made axles for most of the European truckmakers, and I was also based for a time in the USA and Italy.”
Gerry Keaney’s career then took a completely different direction when he was appointed financial controller of Habitat, the British furniture and home furnishing multiple.
“Having visited Sweden to study IKEA, Habitat’s founder established a similar operation in a smaller format – and it was a concept that worked well,” he remarks. “However, the company then changed hands several times and, in the late 1990s, it was acquired by – yes, IKEA!
“I enjoyed the job – it was great to be in the High Street and to work directly in the everyday sales situation. We were also successful and we had a great management team.”
Three years later, he joined a firm of management consultants, where he remained for four years.
“We had many interesting customers, and we undertook a number of exciting and strategic projects in my time there,” remembers Gerry Keaney.
In 1990, he joined Volvo UK, then an independent importer.
“And a highly successful one,” he adds. “At that time, Britain occupied a strong position as the second biggest Volvo market in the world. I had a number of different managerial positions before I was appointed MD in 1996. Three years on, I became Regional President for Beneluk (Belgium, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Ireland and Britain) at Volvo Cars – Volvo's largets region outside North America.”
In August 2002, he moved to Göteborg as VP Sales before he became head of Marketing, Sales and Customer Service (MSS) on 1 March 2003.
He is very interested in sport, although he is now more a spectator than a participant.
“I keep fit by running, although I was once an active rugby player. My other hobby is collecting antique maps from around the world, mostly from Europe. I am interested in both the geographical and artistic aspects of cartography.
“As a near-Scouser, I obviously like music. Not just the Beatles, but a great deal of other stuff.”