Eoin Tonge, the Irish man who has been given the nod to head up Primark – trading as Penneys in Ireland – on an interim basis following the resignation of Paul Marchant was cutting his teeth in business from the age of just 21 with Goldman Sachs.
The now 52-year-old, who holds a first class honours degree in engineering from UCD, worked for the US investment bank from 1994 to 2005, holding a variety of finance, treasury and capital market roles in London, Hong Kong and New York.
Mr Tonge then joined Irish sandwich-maker Greencore in early 2006 as group capital markets director with responsibility for treasury, investor relations, and group communications.
He was promoted to group strategy and corporate development director just three years later, and his steady rise continued in 2014 as he was made managing director of Greencore’s grocery division in the UK. He was also a member of its executive board from its inception in 2012.
Mr Tonge was appointed chief financial officer (CFO) of the convenience food producer in 2016, led at the time by Patrick Coveney, who described him then as having played a “critical role” in shaping the group’s strategy as well as having led the delivery of a number of acquisitions.
When leaving Greencore four years later to take up the same role in Marks and Spencer (M&S), Mr Coveney described Mr Tonge as a “loyal colleague” he had enjoyed working with on “both a professional and personal level”, whom he would “miss greatly”.
He joined M&S at a time of some turbulence for the storied British retailer, which had been shutting stores as its clothing business kept losing ground. Several key executives had departed and its shares had fallen 34 per cent over the previous 12 months.
Mr Tonge steadied the ship and also helped steer the group through the Covid-19 pandemic. As well as his role as CFO, he also spent nine months juggling as group chief strategy officer towards the end of his time there.
But he missed out on the chief executive’s job following Steve Rowe’s retirement in May 2022, and made the decision to leave the company shortly afterwards and move to Associated British Foods, Penneys’ parent.
After he made clear his decision to make the move, M&S chairman Archie Norman said the group’s financial controls, reporting and financial discipline were in “a far stronger place than when he arrived”.
His association with ABF began in 2023 as a director in February that year and as finance director in April.
Associated British Foods chief executive George Weston said at the time that Mr Tonge was an “ideal successor” for the role, while analysts at Barclays said: “We think Eoin is a good choice given his experience in both food and clothing.”
In a statement on Monday, Associated British Foods said Mr Tongue will act as Primark chief executive on an interim basis following the resignation of Mr Marchant after an investigation into alleged inappropriate behaviour towards a woman.
The change in the upper echelons of the group comes less than a year after David Paterson departed as chief financial officer after seven years in the role.
Associated British Foods said on Monday that Mr Tonge has the experience to perform his new role well.
