Speakers Michael Connolly

Group Strategy and Business Development Director, Connolly's RED MILLS ULC

 

 

 

Michael read Anthropology, Philosophy and Theology at NUI Maynooth and following a couple of years in journalism, Michael joined his family company with other fourth-generation brothers Joe, Bill and the late John Connolly (Snr) in 1993. He relocated to Köln, Germany in 1994 from where Michael (and his teams) have built and manage the bulk of the group’s global business stretching from Portugal to Japan and South Africa to Sweden across equine, pet food, camel and supplements.

He earned a first in his Masters Degree in International Business Administration from Trinity College, Dublin in 2007 and joined the post grad diploma course on the International Sales Programme with TUD Technical University of Dublin in 2008. Apart from sales and marketing, Michael plays a key role in the product and process development of the company such as the key technological development NFMS project to extend product shelf life. He was responsible for the company’s strategic entrance into the supplements business with the acquisition of Foran Healthcare in 2011 and RED MILLS subsidiary in Japan in 2014. Now focused on equine and camel, he has been based as Managing Director of RED MILLS International FZE in Dubai, United Arab Emirates since 2019 from where he leads the European, Middle Eastern and APAC businesses. Michael is a fluent German speaker and has a working proficiency of several European and Asian languages and cultures, including classic Arabic.