Eddy Collier

, the managing director of

Centrica

Ireland, the owner of

Bord Gáis

Energy, has been tapped

by its parent company for an international role, as part of a wider management shake-up at the Centrica group.

Mr Collier, who led the buyout of the retail division of the former State-owned energy business in 2014, will lead “a new initiative to help Centrica build the company’s footprint outside its core markets of UK, Ireland and north America”, it said.

Dave Kirwan, a long-standing company executive who is currently BGE's chief operating officer, will replace Mr Collier, who is expected to remain in his role here until April.

Retain a link

Mr Collier will retain a link with BGE by joining its external advisory board, which includes former

Creganna

chief executive

Helen Ryan

, the former

IDA Ireland

chief executive Barry O’Leary and

Ronan Harris

, the head of Google’s Irish operations.

The decision to move Mr Collier to an international role was unexpected. In November, Mr Collier, who comes from England, revealed he had bought a house in Dublin and indicated he was planning for a long-term future in Ireland.

It is part of a wider revamp that follows a strategic review ordered last year by Ian Conn, the chief executive of the Centrica group, which owns British Gas.