Seafarms secures Mick McMahon as new chief executive, Ian Brannan as chief finance officer

The company behind the NT’s $1.5bn prawn farm projects has secured the services of former chief executive of a major food service company.

SEAFARMS, the company behind the Northern Territory’s $1.5bn prawn farm project, has pulled off a coup by securing the services of former chief executive of chicken processor Inghams chicken group.

Mick McMahon will start as chief executive of Seafarms on September 20. Seafarms has also appointed another former Inghams senior executive, Ian Brannan to be its chief finance officer.

Seafarms chairman Ian Trahar said the key appointments marked another key milestone in an exciting phase of the prawn farm project.

“These two positions have been planned for the better part of a year and I am delighted to have secured the highly credentialed Mick McMahon as chief executive officer and Ian Brannan as Group chief financial officer.,” Mr Trahar said.

New Seafarms chief executive Mick McMahon and new chief financial officer Ian Brannan.

“Mr McMahon brings deep knowledge and experience to Seafarms that will benefit the development and growth of Project Sea Dragon aimed at transforming our business into a significant global seafood player.

“In addition to his experience as CEO of Inghams Group Limited, Mr McMahon has extensive experience with major Australian retailers, a major animal feed and nutrition provider and Australia’s largest skilled labour provider with a strong exposure to Northern Australia.

“Mr McMahon is uniquely positioned to appreciate the challenges and opportunities that the vertically integrated business structure of Project Sea Dragon brings, and the importance of our advanced breeding and biosecurity programs. Mr Brannan was Group chief finance officer at Inghams at the same time that Mr McMahon was CEO and managing director. Having already worked together Mr McMahon and Mr Brannan are a proven team. With Sea Dragon now heading towards production we have now in the operating team to take us to the next step.”

Mr McMahon said he was delighted to be joining the Seafarms team at this critical stage of its development.

“I look forward to building on the work done to date to create a world class integrated prawn business that delivers benefits for all its stakeholders,” he said.