Paul Donovan

This is about the telecommunications business manager; for other persons called the same, see Paul Donovan Paul Michael Donovan (born 28 June 1958) is a British-born businessman and philanthropist, recognised for his abilities as a turnaround Chief Executive. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Arqiva Group Ltd since April 2020 and has been a non-executive Director at Thames Water Utilities Ltd since June 2019. He previously served as Chief Operating Officer of Eircom, Vodafone Ireland and most recently Odeon UCI Cinemas Group. He also served as a Senior Philanthropy Advisor to Chris Hohn between 2017 and 2018, as CEO of the CH Foundation and interim CEO of The Children's Investment Fund Foundation, the 5th largest global development philanthropy in the world. Early life Donovan spent his early life in Kent, moving to Watford when he was ten, where he attended Watford Boys Grammar School in 1969. After finishing school in 1976, he moved to London to undertake an undergraduate degree in Scandinavian Studies at the University College London. During his degree he spent a year in Sweden, where he studied the History of Scandinavian Languages at Lund University. Early career Donovan started his career as a graduate trainee at Pedigree Petfoods, a division of Mars Incorporated, where he eventually specialised in sales and brand management. After completing a full-time MBA, he joined Coca-Cola and Shweppes Beverages as a Trade Marketing Controller, before becoming Marketing Director. In the early 1990s, he moved into technology, becoming Marketing Director for Apple Computer UK and Ireland, where he helped launch the PowerBook, the company’s first laptop. He then began his telecoms career at British Telecom, before becoming a Commercial Director at One2One, a fast growing mobile operator, and then Optus, a Sydney based mobile and pay TV business.