EY CFO Outlook: From Stamps to E-Commerce with Peter Quinn, CFO, An Post

In this episode of the EY CFO Outlook Podcast, Peter Quinn, CFO of An Post joins host Dearbhail McDonald to talk about his career, the challenges An Post has faced, and why he’s optimistic about the future.

“When I started my career, it was before Microsoft Excel,” recalls Peter Quinn. “People thought technology would do away with jobs. Instead, it gave finance more firepower and made us more important.”

That same ability to see challenge as opportunity has defined Peter’s two decades as Chief Financial Officer of An Post. Since joining the company in 2004, he has navigated three of the biggest shocks of modern business - the financial crash, Brexit, and COVID - each one reshaping the world An Post operates in.

Today, Peter says An Post is no longer just the postman at the door. It’s a €1 billion business delivering state savings products, Amazon parcels, daily post, and rolling out electric vehicles. An Post, he says, is no longer just a postal service, it’s competing to be Ireland’s leader in home delivery.

They also discuss:

• How ‘An Post’ has shifted into parcels, logistics and financial services.
• The financial crash, Brexit, and the €100m cost of COVID.
• National postal operators still deliver half of all parcels and why An Post wants to stay on top.
• Believing in Sustainability, Peter talks about electric vans, closing the gender pay gap, and backing UN goals.
• How delegation and finance shape business decisions.
• Peter talks about sea-swimming with Alastair Campbell, a rugby tour in Uganda, and the optimism that drives him.