Jim Flood retires

Esb colleagues gathered on Thursday, January 10th to welcome the family of Jim Flood to a special event to mark his departure from ESB after 37 years of service. Also present was Jim's mother, Betty, and his extended family.

Initially pursuing a degree in Arts for a teaching career, Jim quickly realised it wasn't for him and opted to join ESB instead in 1970, following a little sojourn in Cape Cod!

His first role was in Recruitment, an area he took to immediately. In 1978, Jim headed for the Middle East on consultancy, where he stayed for more than two years. It was while in Bahrain that he completed his professional qualification (ICSA). On his return, he worked in Benefits & Conditions in HR but in 1984 he moved to the customer side of the business and then to Research & Audit.

In 1987, Jim was appointed as Customer Accountant in Dublin Region, based in Fleet Street. This was an extremely busy time, as a major re-organisation involving the closure of the Dublin North West District and the opening of the first Contact Centre was taking place. Jim's talent, skills, tenacity and his analytical capability of what needed doing were critical to the successful implementation of three separate districts into one region. In 1990, Jim became Regional Accountant, North West and moved to Sligo.

Jim moved back to HR in 1995 as HR Manager, Northern Region. It was a time of great change and Jim was involved in all the HR activities underpinning these changes leading up to the radical restructuring of 2000. Jim's role in the new structure was as HR Manager, ESB Network Services. This period was characterised by the birth of Network Services and Network Projects.

Jim was a member of the Superannuation Committee where he made a serious and valuable contribution of the operation of the Committee.

He completed an MBS in HR Strategies in DCU in 2000 and was awarded a Diploma in Personal & Executive Coaching, with distinction and also became a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development.

Jim has a really wide range of interests and hobbies including a keen follower of horse racing and golf. He is also a member of the Rotary Club in Sligo, where he served as President in 2001. In 2002 he led a Rotary team of five representating the 32 counties of Ireland to Brazil. He has been awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship by Rotary International - a special award for service to the organisation.

On behalf of ESB, we would like to thank Jim for the great contribution he has made to the company and to wish him and his family well for the future.