Better Business Q3 2016

S U P P O R T I N G E N T R E P R E N E U R S | VA L U I N G S M A L L B U S I N E S S | R E W A R D I N G R I S K TA K E R S | A U T U M N 2 0 1 6

BUSINESS THE INSIDE HACK

BETTER BUSINESS Q3 2016

IN BUSINESS FOR GOOD

IRELAND’S SUCCESSFUL SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS

ADVICE ON MAKING YOUR BUSINESS CYBER SAFE

KEEP IT LOCAL

THE LANDSCAPE FOR SMALL AND LOCAL FOOD PRODUCERS

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€2.70

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SIOBHÁN BYRNE LEARAT ON MAKING IT IN THE LUXURY TRAVEL MARKET

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LESSONS IN LUXURY

SFA IS A TRADING NAME OF IBEC

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CUT THE COST OF YOUR COMMUTE SAVE UP TO 52%*

To see what you can save, visit taxsaver.ie

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WELCOME AUTUMN 2016

BUSINESS

Welcome to Better Business, a magazine dedicated to the small business community.

THE INSIDE HACK

BETTER BUSINESS Q3

IN BUSINESS FOR GOOD

IRELAND’S SUCCESSFUL SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS

ADVICE ON MAKING YOUR BUSINESS CYBER SAFE

KEEP IT LOCAL

In this edition we give you the tools to protect

THE LANDSCAPE FOR SMALL AND LOCAL FOOD PRODUCERS

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entrepreneurs and explore two staffing

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€2.70

challenges that are becoming big issues for

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SIOBHÁN BYRNE LEARAT ON MAKING IT IN THE LUXURY TRAVEL MARKET

with some of Ireland’s most exciting social

small businesses: recruitment and employee

9

LESSONS IN LUXURY

your business from cyber crime, check in

SFA IS A TRADING NAME OF IBEC

retention. In these pages we put a spotlight

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on local food production and the emerging fintech sector. We sit down with

On the cover: Siobhán Byrne Learat, Founder and CEO, Adams & Butler Photograph: Jason Clarke Shot on location at The Merrion Hotel, Dublin

Minister for Small Business, Pat Breen, to hear his priorities and we give you top tips on business success, energy saving and balancing work and fitness. This edition contains more stories that inform, inspire and entertain. It showcases and celebrates the achievements of small companies, provides advice to help you in your business and keeps you up to date on the latest trends at home and abroad.

Editor: Joseph O’Connor

Throughout its pages you will discover the often-hidden stories of Ireland’s small

Managing Editor: Mary Connaughton Creative Director: Jane Matthews

businesses – the highs, the lows, the perseverance and the innovation. Ireland is

Editorial Contributors: Garrett

a nation of small businesses. New data shows that of over 235,000 businesses in

Concannon, Orla Connolly, Conor Forrest,

the country, 99 per cent have less than 50 employees (small) and 92 per cent have

Valerie Jordan, John Kinsella, Ciara

less than 10 (micro). These companies can be seen in every city, town and village

McGuone

in the country and together they provide employment to half of the private sector

Production Manager: Mary Connaughton

workforce. The Small Firms Association has been the voice of small business for

Production Executive: Nicole Ennis

over 40 years. We are a trusted partner to over 8,500 member companies, spanning

Account Director: Shane Kelly

every sector and county. We want to make Ireland the most vibrant small business

Sales Director: Paul Clemenson

community in the world – an environment that supports entrepreneurship, values

Managing Director: Gerry Tynan

small business and rewards risk takers. Better Business is the magazine of the small

Chairman: Diarmaid Lennon

business community. We welcome your feedback, suggestions and ideas to info@ sfa.ie or on Twitter @SFA_Irl

Email info@ashville.com or write to Better Business, Ashville Media,

Patricia Callan Director, Small Firms Association

Old Stone Building, Blackhall Green, Dublin 7. Tel: (01) 432 2200 All rights reserved. Every care has been

Social Entrepreneurs  Feature

Feature  Social Entrepreneurs

Gary Doggett, Pro-Social Drivers

taken to ensure that the information contained in this magazine is accurate.

The publishers cannot, however, accept responsibility for errors or omissions.

Reproduction by any means in whole or in part without the permission of the publisher is prohibited. © Ashville Media Group 2016. All discounts, promotions and competitions contained in this magazine are run independently of Better

IN

“WE VIEW OUR PROGRAMME AS A COMPLEMENTARY ASSET TO THE JUSTICE SYSTEM.”

Business FOR

GOOD

Sector Spotlight  Small Food Producers

E

stablishing a successful business in a challenging economic environment is, alone, an impressive feat. Some entrepreneurs challenge themselves with not only starting an enterprise, but using that business to develop and implement innovative solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. With the Irish economy now in recovery rather than recessionary mode, there is an emerging shift in using business acumen to resolve social issues affecting vulnerable members of society. “We need to be at least as entrepreneurial, innovative and resourceful in solving our social problems as we need to be in commercial business,” says Sara Dennedy, Impact Associate with Social Entrepreneurs Ireland, a not-for-profit group that works with social entrepreneurs to help them develop their projects and ensure that their ideas are implemented as effectively and efficiently as possible. “We can’t build a strong society without a strong economy. Equally, we can’t build a sustainable economic recovery

PRO-SOCIAL DRIVERS

without developing a strong society.” These social entrepreneurs not only help those who directly avail of their services but also strengthen the economy by promoting a culture of change and prosperity in Ireland. “With an average of 7,489 people being impacted by the work of each social entrepreneur we support, and 1,080 jobs created thus far, we need to cultivate the ecosystem to allow these social entrepreneurs to increase their impact,” adds Dennedy. For many of Ireland’s entrepreneurs the definition of good business has changed.

Attention is no longer exclusively fixated on profit margins, and social entrepreneurs are questioning the effect their business can have on wider society. Dennedy notes: “For some of these entrepreneurs, the core impact they want to make is solving a social problem. The idea that you can combine your passion for a social mission with your business has struck a chord with people.” Meet some of Ireland’s top social entrepreneurial talent making their mark in the world.

LOCAL

Dangerous driving has been at the forefront of public debate in Donegal for numerous years. Yet, it wasn’t until Gary Doggett was approached by a senior probation officer and local traffic inspector to examine the attitude to negligent road use that he saw a solution to reducing re-offending behaviour. One thing Doggett soon came to realise was the emotional and behavioural factors determining driving habits. He explains: “It shook us that a lot of the research shows it’s not so much technical skills, but personal attributes that are the main cause of risky and careless driver behaviour.” With this in mind, Doggett began to construct his programme, Pro-Social Drivers, a road safety initiative which seeks to engage course participants through self-referrals or referrals through the justice system, offering an alternative to traditional punitive measures. The first thing the programme examines is the loss of emotional control which, as Doggett points out, isn’t exclusive to the traditional idea of road rage. This behaviour can also manifest itself as using a horn in anger or altering your speed to aggravate other road users. Another important aspect of the course teaches social responsibility along with the real-world consequences of Stephen Treacy, dangerous driving. As part of the programme, Doggett often invites of the emergency services or Gardaí to talk CEO,members CustomsMatters to the participants about the consequences that can arise from reckless driving. Dogget says: “We view our programme as a complementary asset to the justice system, not a replacement for what’s in place already. You can’t diminish the danger of dangerous driving in any way, shape or form and we wouldn’t wish to do that. We’re addressing the issue by bringing it to the fore and discussing it with people.” Having quickly garnered impressive results, Pro-Social Drivers has now expanded into Cavan and Monaghan, with plans in the pipeline to establish another programme in Mayo.

BETTER BUSINESS TAKES A LOOK AT THE LANDSCAPE FOR SMALL AND LOCAL FOOD PRODUCERS IN IRELAND, CHANGING CONSUMER TRENDS AND THE POSSIBLE FALLOUT FROM BREXIT.

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| BETTER BUSINESS 15 The traditional IrishSFA meat-and-potatoes diet is more or less a thing of the past and the modern consumer is increasingly concerned with healthy eating, locally produced food and sustainability issues.

Today, 87 per cent of Irish consumers 14/09/2016 regard their diet as fairly or very healthy; 68 per cent of consumers believe buying local produce to be important and 57 per cent of Irish people say they are more

conscious of environmental issues in their choice of food products, according to Bord Bia’s biennial PERIscope study in 2015. Another study, the Irish Consumer 2015, found that a new more empowered 15:56 customer is looking for the human face behind everything with increasing expectations around transparency and responsibility.

Mary Morrissey, Senior Manager at

ISSN 2009-9118

SFA FACT

SFA+ Food and Drink If you are a small business in the food and drink industry, the SFA+ Food and Drink membership gives you the full benefits of SFA membership, along with essential sector insights from Food and Drink Industry Ireland (FDII).

Membership gives you: • Access to FDI regulatory tracker • Monthly commodities update • Access to FDII events (restrictions apply) • Quarterly FDII business monitor email

Business. The promoter/advertiser is responsible for honouring the prize.

Small Food Producers  Sector Spotlight

Keep it

ORLA CONNOLLY CHECKS IN WITH FOUR SUCCESSFUL SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS WHO ARE USING INNOVATIVE BUSINESS MODELS TO TACKLE SOCIETAL PROBLEMS, AND PROVING THAT SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP IS MORE THAN A FAD.

SFA+ Food and Drink have a special membership offer until the end of 2016.

To find out more visit sfa. ie/foodanddrink or call 01 6051664

FROM LEFT: Mary Morrissey, senior manager at Bord Bia with particular responsibility for entrepreneurship and small business. Kevin Sheridan, Sheridan Cheesemongers and Chair of Taste Council of Ireland, Evan Doyle, Owner Brooklodge Hotel and member of Taste Council of Ireland, and Una Fitzgibbon, Director of Marketing Services, Bord Bia

Sign up for SFA+ Food and Drink if you produce, market or sell: beverages, dairy, edible horticulture, prepared consumer foods, meat or seafood

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SFA | BETTER BUSINESS 1

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CONTENTS AUTUMN 2016

05 12 14

Big News for Small Business News, views and profiles from SFA members and small businesses in Ireland

Keeping It In-House Industry experts provide advice on handling HR issues in-house

Cover Story SiobhĂĄn Byrne Learat on the business of luxury travel

The Inside Hack Security experts tell us how you can keep your business cyber safe

In Business for Good Four successful social entrepreneurs using innovative business models to tackle societal problems

20 24 30

Brexit Bounce For Fintech?

Is Ireland really set to become a global leader in the fintech sector as a result of Brexit?

34 36 40

Small Business Profile Kildare-based SweetSpot Sourcing is taking the hassle out of sourcing specialist goods

Back to Business Minister of State for Small Business Pat Breen on his plans for the small business sector

Sector Spotlight A look at the landscape for small and local food producers

Trading Places The Irish ad man in Uganda

Arts/Culture Historian Pat Liddy on his kind of Dublin

A Day in the Life... of Wayne O’Sullivan, Managing Director of Dentpro, the car dent repair experts

44 64 72

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Autumn 2016  Contents

FROM TOP LEFT: Siobhán Byrne Learat of Adams & Butler on her success in the luxury travel market, page 20 // Minister Pat Breen on his plans for the small business sector, page 36 // Derek McDonnell, one of four social entrepreneurs we profile, page 14 // Sue Dempsey and Fiona Craul, directors and co-founders of SweetSpot Sourcing, page 34

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News  Updates

AWARDS

BIG NEWS FOR SMALL BUSINESS

Edel Browne

SUCCESS FOR TEEN ENTREPRENEUR

Dr Eric Clinton, DCU, Michael Murphy, Chairman, IVCA, Mary Mitchell O’Connor, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation and Regina Breheny, Director General, IVCA

EMPLOYMENT

Teen entrepreneur Edel Browne, who featured in our last issue of Better Business, has been announced as the winner of U Magazine’s ‘30 Under 30’ in the contribution to STEM category as well as being named as one of the Sunday Business Post’s ‘30 Under 30’ for Technology. Nineteenyear-old Browne from Athenry, Co Galway is in second year of a BSc in Biotechnology at NUI Galway. She is the founder and CEO of Free Feet Medical, a multi-award winning medical device designed to treat gait freezing for people with Parkinson’s disease and is the Student Entrepreneur in Residence in Blackstone LaunchPad at NUI Galway.

She is a past participant on the STEMette’s Outbox Incubator in London, a founding member of the Digital Youth Council in Ireland, and a global youth ambassador for America’s Amazing Teens.

Report Highlights Role of VC backed Firms

Venture capital (VC) backed firms created 20,000 high level jobs since 2003, an average of 1,600 a year, according to an economic impact study by DCU Business School.

While overall employment rose by 3.4 per cent last year, VC-backed firms saw their employment increase by almost 20 per cent in the same period. In the 2013-2015 period, overall employment rose 2.8 per cent, but VCs increased by 14.4 per cent, adding more than 3,600 jobs. Author of the report, Dr Eric Clinton of DCU Business School, said: “VC backed firms are an important constituent in helping to build a knowledge economy. We found that high tech companies account for 98 per cent of funds raised, which is the highest technology weighting in Europe and more equivalent to Silicon Valley.” Minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor welcomed the report findings and said: “The fact that this growth was achieved during the last five years amid one of the toughest recessions in history emphasises the important role of venture capital backed companies to the economy.” To download the report go to www.ivca.ie.

CARLINGFORD CENTRE EARNS CERT OF EXCELLENCE Carlingford Adventure Centre has received a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence, an accolade which celebrates hospitality businesses that have earned great traveller reviews on TripAdvisor over the past year. “Carlingford Adventure Centre is delighted to have received the certificate,” says Ciara Cunningham, Marketing Manager at Carlingford Adventure Centre. “Our team works very hard to deliver a memorable experience to all our guests, from children on a school tour to 40th birthday parties to corporate team building events. We thank everyone who has taken the time to review us.” For more details on the packages available or to book online visit www. carlingfordadventure.com.

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Updates  News

SFA MEMBERS IF YOUR BUSINESS HAS SOME NEWS TO SHARE THAT YOU WOULD LIKE FEATURED IN THE NEXT EDITION OF BETTER BUSINESS, CONTACT LINDA BARRY ON 01 6051626 OR LINDA.BARRY@SFA.IE

John Tyrrell and Emmet Savage, Rubicoin co-founders

FINTECH START-UP RAISES €1.2M IN FUNDING Irish fintech start-up Rubicoin has announced that it has raised €1.2 million in funding. This funding round, which will assist Rubicoin to expand into new markets, came from existing and new private investors, and brings to €3m the total amount the company has raised to date. Rubicoin has also announced that its Invest

by Rubicoin app is now available to users around the world. Previously, the app was only accessible to US customers but now, with a global reach of 140+ countries, worldwide investing in their cherry picked ‘showroom’ is now possible. Rubicoin was co-founded by Emmet Savage and John Tyrrell in 2013 aimed at designing a product that would create millions of successful stock investors by making the investing process both engaging and enjoyable. Supported by a long-standing and fully audited investing track-record, Rubicoin has produced two apps that place user experience front and centre, Learn by Rubicoin and Invest by Rubicoin. For more on the rapid growth of the fintech sector in Ireland go to page 30.

ENERGY

GAS PRICE OUTLOOK

Gas prices are expected to increase this winter before starting to fall as we head into spring 2017. That’s according to the latest price outlook from energy market experts SmartPower. The increases are due to a number of factors including the surprise closure of the UK’s largest gas storage site, Rough. All injections and withdrawals from the site were stopped due to safety issues with one of the wells and it was recently announced that the closure was to be extended by at least seven months. Customers will be further impacted by a new PSO levy, which is due to increase by one-third in October, adding costs for all types of contract-holders. SmartPower is giving the following advice: “Normally we tend to favour the ‘pass through’ tariffs for your electricity purchase as these tend to offer the best value in the longer term. Some clients may be happy to sit out a rise in prices this winter (how much the prices increase by will depend on your connection level and the market) in the knowledge we expect prices to decline again into spring 2017. However, for clients where budget certainty and risk migration are important over the winter then now is a good time to consider a ‘well priced’ fixed rate contract.”

For further information visit www.smartpower.ie.

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News  Updates

BOOKS TOP TWEETS Are you a small firm (under 50 employees)? DHL are proud to sponsor the export category of the SFA Awards

DHL Express @DHLEXpressIre

Jemma Redmond (second from right)

OBITUARY

‘INSPIRATIONAL’ FOUNDER DIES UNEXPECTEDLY

Better Business was sad to hear the news that Ourobotics founder and CEO Jemma Redmond passed away unexpectedly in August. Jemma was a leading figure in the Irish sci-tech space, and her company developed the first-ever 10-material bioprinter capable of printing items for use in medicine, something we featured in our Q1 issue. The company commemorated her as an inspiration to all her colleagues.

COMPETITIVENESS

BREXIT PROVIDES TIMELY REMINDER OF IMPORTANCE OF COMPETITIVENESS

The National Competitiveness Council has published its annual benchmarking report, Ireland’s Competitiveness Scorecard 2016.

The Scorecard provides a comprehensive statistical assessment of Ireland’s competitiveness performance with regard to a range of countries with which we compete on international markets for trade and investment. The Council warns that sustaining the momentum of growth cannot be taken for granted. As a small open economy, long standing external threats such as financial market volatility and the fragile global economy persist, and are now exacerbated by the uncertain consequences of the British decision to leave the EU. Speaking at the launch of the report, Professor Peter Clinch, Chair of the Council commented: “This year’s Competitiveness Scorecard shows the important role that improved competitiveness has played in our improved economic recovery. The challenge now is to sustain this recovery and ensure that the benefits of growth are shared across the country.” The full report is available from www.competitiveness. ie/publications.

35% increase in motor insurance premiums damaging small firm competitiveness - govt must tackle costs crisis

Small Firms Association @SFA_Irl

NEW BOOK ON PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

It’s a key @SFA_Irl priority in the 5 yr vision; we will keep plugging away at it!! #ruralbroadband

Some €90 billion in supplies, services and works will be procured in Ireland and Northern Ireland over the next five years. This is a significant opportunity open to companies of all sizes. However, if current trends continue, over €8 billion in contracts will be awarded to non-Irish companies. That’s according to a new book by Peter Brennan and Joanne Gillen of Bid Management Services. Drawing on practical experience, case histories and global best practice in tendering, Public Procurement: Rules of the Road is an essential reference work for Irish small businesses that want to secure a greater share of this vast procurement market. In tandem with the publication, Bid Management Services has launched its Tender Training Excellence Programme that provides insights about every aspect of tendering from sourcing information; to developing a bid strategy; through to the production of a bid response document. Further details are available on www. bidmanagement.ie.

Geraldine Lavin @GeraldineLavin Are you prepared for a call from a WRC Inspector?

Expert advice at SFA Employment Law Conf book now: sfa. ie/events

Small Firms Association @SFA_Irl

@SFA_Irl wants #budget2017 tax changes to help selfemployed

Sunday Business Post @ sundaybusiness

Mon 12: that’s our Kiwi doing a Q&A on building customer relationships for @SFA_Irl with @ EireChrom. #corkhour

Eight Degrees Brewing @8degrees brewing

What They Said

@SFA_IRL

“This is one of the most informative, well-written and essential business books published in recent years.”

Senator Padraig O’Ceidigh, Aer Arann

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Updates  News

GREEN INNOVATOR RECEIVES NOVAUCD AWARD

Professor Kevin O’Connor, recipient of the NovaUCD 2016 Innovation Award

University College Dublin has presented Professor Kevin O’Connor, a leading green technologies researcher and innovator, with the NovaUCD 2016 Innovation Award. It was presented to Professor O’Connor, a professor at the UCD School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science and a principal investigator at the UCD Earth Institute,

by UCD President, Professor Andrew J. Deeks, during an event held at NovaUCD, the Centre for New Ventures and Entrepreneurs.

Professor O’Connor’s interests include research into the development

AALTO RELEASES ANTIBODIES FOR ZIKA VIRUS

Aalto Bio Reagents, the Dublin-based developer and provider of raw materials to the in-vitro diagnostics industry and to research laboratories globally, has announced the availability of its Tri-Plex suite of proteins and antibodies which include its market leading Zika Virus (ZIKV) primary Envelope and NS1 proteins. Aalto has been leading the field in the development of the necessary diagnostic tools for ZIKV available to researchers in outbreak regions of Brazil, Columbia, Asia and the USA as well as to key scientific personnel in established infectious disease centres and pharmaceutical vaccine development centres worldwide.

FADAS BACK IN BUSINESS

of biodegradable polymers; methods of improving the recycling of plastic and other materials. His expertise includes areas such as the bioeconomy, environmental technology, bioprocessing, biocatalysis, and protein engineering.

Professor O’Connor, who has already secured over €16 million in research funding, is the lead principal investigator in the UCD Biocatalysis Group. He is also the co-founder and CEO of Bioplastech, a UCD spin-out company which he established in 2009 with Dr Ramesh Babu, from Trinity College Dublin and Italian entrepreneur Enrico Altieri.

ABOUT THE NOVAUCD INNOVATION AWARD The NovaUCD Innovation Award was established in 2004 to highlight UCD’s commitment to innovation. The award is presented annually to an individual, company, organisation or group in recognition of excellence in innovation or of success achieved in the commercialisation of UCD research or other intellectual activity.

MID-WEST BUSINESSES TO BENEFIT FROM WORLD-CLASS RESEARCH

A new collaboration is to provide start-ups and small businesses in the mid-west with access to world class research. Lero, the Irish software research centre, and the University of Limerick’s start-up incubation hub, Nexus Innovation Centre, have announced a partnership that will extend Lero’s reach into the start-up community. The collaboration will allow Nexus-based companies access to the research capabilities of the Lero centre which is funded by Science Foundation Ireland. Commenting on the partnership, Nexus Centre Manager Gert O’Rourke said: “Lero is recognised as one of the leading software research organisations in the world. Start-ups seldom have the opportunity to avail of such a world class resource.”

IE Domain Registry (IEDR), the company that manages Ireland’s .ie domain, has announced that Irish businesses are now able to register .ie domain names that include fadas. This policy change allows companies, for the first time, to register a .ie domain name that includes á, é, í, ó and ú. The Sunrise phase for rights holders kicked off on August 23rd, with the secondary phase, Landrush (for existing registrants whose domain is missing a fada) expected around mid-October. For further information on how to register for an Internationalised Domain Name (IDN) and use .ie domain names with nonstandardised characters go to www.iedr.ie/ internationalised-ie-domain-names.

NEW E-FILING MEASURES

Mandatory e-filing of certain company submissions is to be introduced by the Companies Registration Office (CRO) from June 1st 2017. The new measures come after the Minister of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation signed SI 458 of 2016 Companies Act 2014 (Section 897) Order 2016 into law. Mandatory electronic filing will apply to the following submissions: B1 Form - annual return (including financial statements and electronic payment); B2 Form - change of registered office; B10 Form - change of director and/or secretary, or in their particulars; B73 Form nomination of a new annual return date.

Further details can be found at www.cro.ie.

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“Our trials proved this drug could save lives...

The Enterprise Europe Network helped us find the finance to patent it”

OPEN

your business to Europe

Discover how Europe can help finance your success.

Being in Europe opens up many new ways to finance your business. The Enterprise Europe Network can help you find the right sources of new capital, loans or grants to fund whatever you need to succeed.

Want to know more? Find the Enterprise Europe Network in Ireland at een-ireland.ie We’ll help you open your business to Europe.

#EUopen4business

Internal Market Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs.

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Updates  News

PENSIONS: IT PAYS TO SHOP AROUND Differences in charges for the investment of pension funds can mean a gain, or loss, of thousands of euros for individual pensioners. That’s according to a survey by the Pensions Council of charges on Approved Retirement Funds (ARFs) taken out at retirement to provide pensions for the elderly. A pensioner investing €75,000 over ten years might have saved up to €5,440 in charges by choosing the fund with the lowest charges. For an investment of €150,000 a pensioner might have lost up to €11,700 or nearly 8 per cent of the initial investment, by choosing the fund with the highest charges. The survey results are not a consumer guide to the cheapest or most expensive companies or charges but they do provide a snapshot of charges at one point in time. For more details visit the Council’s website, www.pensionscouncil.ie.

ONE EASY STEP THAT COULD SAVE YOU MONEY ON YOUR INSURANCE PREMIUM...

ACTION PLAN FOR JOBS 2017 Figures released at the end of August show that there are over two million people at work in the State for the first time since 2008. Yet unemployment – at 8.3 per cent – still has some way to fall and specific issues relating to female participation in the workforce, youth unemployment and long-term unemployment are still cause for concern. The SFA is a key stakeholder in the development of the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs, sharing insights

He Said

into what changes would support small businesses to create additional employment. In September the SFA met Mary Mitchell O’Connor TD, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, to discuss the priorities of the small business community. The SFA is currently preparing a written submission containing proposals and feedback from companies. If you have an idea that you believe would encourage job creation, please email linda.barry@sfa.ie.

SHe Said

“Over 330,000 journeys will be disrupted on each day of the strike. Commuters who depend on the bus to get to and from work will be left high and dry and there will be a negative impact on shops and businesses around the city.”

“The tax system has a vital role to play in supporting development at each stage of the life cycle of a small business.

The capital gains tax regime is in need of an overhaul to boost investment.”

urging Dublin Bus workers to call off six days of strike action scheduled for the month of September.

speaking at the launch of the SFA Budget 2017 submission.

SFA Director Patricia Callan

SFA ADVICE

SFA Chairman AJ Noonan

Small firm owner-managers have identified wage inflation as the biggest threat to their businesses in the coming year. The recommendations of the Low Pay Commission are out of touch with the reality that these businesses are facing.”

SFA Assistant Director Linda Barry responds to the Low Pay Commission’s report on the National Minimum Wage.

A survey of SFA and Ibec member companies on injury claims and insurance costs has indicated practical steps that small companies can take in an effort to stem rising insurance premiums. One tip arising from the survey is to put in place a pre-employment medical for new hires. On average, companies that do not have these medical checks in place have seen their employer liability insurance costs rise 2.5 times more in the last five years than those that do.

Many employers make an offer of employment subject to a satisfactory medical evaluation. This aims to ensure that the prospective employee is fit to perform the job effectively and that the employer is fully informed of any medical issues which may impede on their ability to perform the role effectively.

Under the Employment Equality Acts 1998-2015, it is important that an employer makes any reasonable accommodations necessary to facilitate the employee to successfully complete their duties. This may involve some modification to the employee’s duties or structure of the workplace in order to allow the employee to undertake their role. However, what is deemed to be “reasonable” accommodation will be determined on a case by case basis and consideration would be given to the size of the organisation and the costs of implementing the necessary changes.

The potential insurance costs savings are not the only benefit to employers of putting in place a pre-employment medical.

Medicals are also effective in identifying potential issues at the earliest possible stage and preventing any health and safety issues arising. It has been shown that preemployment medicals increase employee attendance and reduce workplace injuries.

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News  Updates

Small businesses across the island were adversely affected by the financial crisis of 2008 as the availability of finance contracted and domestic demand shrank.

Despite an overall improvement in the financing environment in recent years, small and younger firms are not only still experiencing greater difficulty accessing finance but are unaware of the range of finance options open to them. The banks have always been the principle drivers of business finance; however there is now an increasing choice of alternative funding available in the market today.

No matter how ambitious your sales projections are, or how innovative your business, most enterprises need funding. And very often, this is the hardest challenge of all. Here Gráinne Lennon, Funding for Growth Manager at InterTradeIreland, outlines in simple terms some top tips for accessing finance and explores some of the current alternative funding options available to small businesses.

LOOKING TO RAISE FINANCE FOR YOUR BUSINESS? GRÁINNE LENNON, FUNDING FOR GROWTH MANAGER AT INTERTRADEIRELAND, SHARES SOME TOP TIPS FOR ACCESSING FINANCE AND EXPLORES SOME OF THE CURRENT ALTERNATIVE FUNDING OPTIONS AVAILABLE TO SMALL BUSINESSES.

TOP TIPS FOR ACCESSING FINANCE

● Don’t just rely on traditional sources of finance ● Clearly define your funding requirement ● Consider the optimum ‘cocktail of funding’ (i.e. funding from more than one source) ● Develop a robust business plan or funding document ● Market the plan more widely ● Prepare for due diligence ● Contingency planning is key – have a plan B ● Negotiate to secure best terms ● Start looking for funding well before you actually need it ALTERNATIVE FUNDING OPTIONS Asset Financing Leasing and hire purchase

allows you to spread these capital costs and in the last 5 to 10 years many new providers have entered the market alongside banks.

Asset Based Lending (ABL) Invoice discounting - Your debtor book is a company asset and there are multiple specialist companies that will assist you in realising cash flow from this asset.

Peer to Peer lending (P2P) Ideal for short-term loan financing. This is a nonbank loan given by private funders for an agreed term and interest.

Equity Funding There are many forms

of equity investment that allow you to exchange shares in your company for cash and expertise from an investor. The traditional models are venture capital where a fund invests in your company and business angel finance where a syndicate, investment group or high net worth individual invest smart money in your company. This type of funding is suitable for early stage high potential companies. Then there is private equity which is suitable for more established companies seeking to grow. There are also many new equity based solutions,

such as crowdfunding, where a large group of small investors take small shareholdings.

This method has less interference in the running of the business.

Government Backed Loan Funds There

are also many government backed loan funds including Microfinance Ireland in Ireland or The Growth Loan Fund and NI Small Business Loan Fund in Northern Ireland.

For more details go to www. intertradeireland.com/raisefinance.

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Feature  HR

KEEPING IT

IN-HOUSE HAVING A DEDICATED HR PERSON IS IMPORTANT FOR MOST SMALL COMPANIES, BUT IT CAN ALSO BE AN EXPENSIVE FUNCTION TO MAINTAIN. BETTER BUSINESS CAUGHT UP WITH INDUSTRY EXPERTS TO GET THEIR TOP TIPS WHEN IT COMES TO HANDLING HR ISSUES IN-HOUSE.

Your company is only as good as its staff. It may sound like a cliché that’s thrown out by one of the seemingly endless stream of recruitment firms out there, but for many small businesses it is undoubtedly true. The hiring, firing and maintenance of employees can be a tricky and time-consuming job for a small firm, particularly if they can’t afford the luxury of having an in-house human resources (HR) function.

A study carried out last year by Dublinbased HR agency The HR Department offered an interesting window into how HR is viewed by small firms. The study – based on responses from 600 businesses – found that virtually all firms view HR as a crucial role in business. However, that strong appreciation of its importance translates into implementation in different ways.

Fewer than one third (32 per cent) of firms with less than ten employees have an HR function. That figure is slightly higher – 36 per cent – amongst companies with 11-50 staff, while 71 per cent of organisations with between 50-250 staff answered that they had an HR function.

The tendency for small firms to avoid spend on HR was undoubtedly exacerbated by the economic downturn. Naturally enough, as revenues dropped, uncertainty rose and cutbacks were required, many companies opted to place HR on the chopping board.

According to Pat Shortt, Managing Director of ETC Consult, a supplier of psychometric testing for recruiters, few firms axed their HR function completely, but did seek to re-shake how their people operated. He says: “Some cut the numbers in the function by transferring some staff to other sections, offering voluntary redundancy or letting them go.

Others merged the function with other departments - for example, general administration or accounting/finance.”

Recovery Reaction With the economy picking up once more and many companies firmly back in growth mode, are firms budgeting for HR once more? Shortt notes a mixed response over the past five years. “Change has been

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HR  Feature

reluctant to employ a dedicated HR person.

However, McNamara points to the fact that an HR person can bring a number of benefits to a business. “HR within smaller firms also tends to cover all areas from hiring new staff, employment legislation to performance reviews and dismissals and even payroll,” she says. “They become an integral and necessary function in every organisation in order to ensure that small businesses remain competitive and operate within the safety parameters of the ever-changing employment legislation.”

The Outsource Option

mixed. Some companies have re-instated the HR function to former strengths. Many more are quite content with the changes they made during the recession and are sticking with them.”

Unsurprisingly, cost is often cited as one of the main reasons for not investing in a HR professional. But there are others too.

Last year’s HR Department study saw 16 per cent of firms cite cost as their reason for putting HR on the back burner. Two out of five simply felt that their company was ‘too small’, while 1 in 20 stated that they had a good enough relationship with their staff which meant they did not require an HR function.

As well as cost, Shortt points to two other reasons for HR avoidance — distrust of the function and a perception that HR is a cost with questionable benefits as opposed to an asset or investment.

Róisín McNamara, Founding Partner of Hero Recruitment, also points to the fact that small firms often struggle to see the return on investment in having an experienced HR function and are therefore

A common approach by many small firms when it comes to plugging the HR hole in their business is to outsource the function to an outside party - which sees them handle everything from hiring, interviewing and contracting.

For expanding firms, having someone who can handle the entire recruitment process is important. If someone is charged with the responsibility on an ad-hoc basis within a company, they may successfully recruit a candidate, but the firm could risk brand damage.

McNamara says: “Now more than ever a company’s recruitment process is a reflection of their own company’s branding – the hiring process is truly a mirror of your culture and branding. Social media has made everything so public. We’re being rated and reviewed all the time.”

Where hiring a dedicated person isn’t feasible, Cora Barnes, Managing Director of Three Q Perms & Temps, suggests that small firms should also look internally to fill HR gaps. “One suggestion would be to train up line managers or supervisors in a niche aspect of HR,” she says. “Some people are great at identifying potential and could thrive in the role of training and development if they get the training to review roles and skills required to do same.

Many companies also utilise services from organisations such as the Small Firms Association. The SFA provides HR and employment law advice to owner-managers and staff dealing with HR in small firms and also to HR consultants on developments and best practice in the area. This can be an effective alternative for companies that do not require a dedicated HR professional.

Any firm pondering the HR issue should identify the most pressing and time consuming HR matters and decide what model of HR, whether in-house or outsourced, best meets their needs. The options are clearly available.

ask the expert Top HR Tips

Róisín McNamara, Founding Partner, Hero Recruitment

Put HR to the forefront when considering expansion plans. Your employer branding and employee wellbeing is key in today’s competitive market. Hire a flexible, professional HR person – HR can cover all aspects of “personnel” from hiring new staff, learning and development, performance reviews, career progression, disciplinary to payroll.

Róisín McNamara

Pat Shortt, Managing Director, ETC Consult

Carry out a forensic cost/benefit analysis of the function, then decide whether to have a full HR function, a partial one or whether to outsource the entire function.

Monitor the outcome and whatever decision is made, draw up a checklist of typical HR activities, review them at monthly board meetings, and if they are being effectively and efficiently carried out stay with them. If they are not, introduce corrective measures.

Pat Shortt Firms should focus on the three P’s – People, Process and Profit.

Know who you want on your team, treat your people right, set up the right processes for them to enjoy their work and so they can deliver results and ensure their work and your company profit from what you do. When hiring follow the advice of the experts.

Cora Barnes

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Feature  Social Entrepreneurs

IN

Business FOR

GOOD

ORLA CONNOLLY CHECKS IN WITH FOUR SUCCESSFUL SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS WHO ARE USING INNOVATIVE BUSINESS MODELS TO TACKLE SOCIETAL PROBLEMS, AND PROVING THAT SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP IS MORE THAN A FAD.

E

stablishing a successful business in a challenging economic environment is, alone, an impressive feat. Some entrepreneurs challenge themselves with not only starting an enterprise, but using that business to develop and implement innovative solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. With the Irish economy now in recovery rather than recessionary mode, there is an emerging shift in using business acumen to resolve social issues affecting vulnerable members of society. “We need to be at least as entrepreneurial, innovative and resourceful in solving our social problems as we need to be in commercial business,” says Sara Dennedy, Impact Associate with Social Entrepreneurs Ireland, a not-for-profit group that works with social entrepreneurs to help them develop their projects and ensure that their ideas are implemented as effectively and efficiently as possible. “We can’t build a strong society without a strong economy. Equally, we can’t build a sustainable economic recovery

without developing a strong society.” These social entrepreneurs not only help those who directly avail of their services but also strengthen the economy by promoting a culture of change and prosperity in Ireland. “With an average of 7,489 people being impacted by the work of each social entrepreneur we support, and 1,080 jobs created thus far, we need to cultivate the ecosystem to allow these social entrepreneurs to increase their impact,” adds Dennedy. For many of Ireland’s entrepreneurs the definition of good business has changed.

Attention is no longer exclusively fixated on profit margins, and social entrepreneurs are questioning the effect their business can have on wider society. Dennedy notes: “For some of these entrepreneurs, the core impact they want to make is solving a social problem. The idea that you can combine your passion for a social mission with your business has struck a chord with people.” Meet some of Ireland’s top social entrepreneurial talent making their mark in the world.

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Gary Doggett,

Social Entrepreneurs  Feature Pro-Social Drivers

“WE VIEW OUR PROGRAMME AS A COMPLEMENTARY ASSET TO THE JUSTICE SYSTEM.”

PRO-SOCIAL DRIVERS Dangerous driving has been at the forefront of public debate in Donegal for numerous years. Yet, it wasn’t until Gary Doggett was approached by a senior probation officer and local traffic inspector to examine the attitude to negligent road use that he saw a solution to reducing re-offending behaviour. One thing Doggett soon came to realise was the emotional and behavioural factors determining driving habits. He explains: “It shook us that a lot of the research shows it’s not so much technical skills, but personal attributes that are the main cause of risky and careless driver behaviour.” With this in mind, Doggett began to construct his programme, Pro-Social Drivers, a road safety initiative which seeks to engage course participants through self-referrals or referrals through the justice system, offering an alternative to traditional punitive measures. The first thing the programme examines is the loss of emotional control which, as Doggett points out, isn’t exclusive to the traditional idea of road rage. This behaviour can also manifest itself as using a horn in anger or altering your speed to aggravate other road users. Another important aspect of the course teaches social responsibility along with the real-world consequences of dangerous driving. As part of the programme, Doggett often invites members of the emergency services or Gardaí to talk to the participants about the consequences that can arise from reckless driving. Dogget says: “We view our programme as a complementary asset to the justice system, not a replacement for what’s in place already. You can’t diminish the danger of dangerous driving in any way, shape or form and we wouldn’t wish to do that. We’re addressing the issue by bringing it to the fore and discussing it with people.” Having quickly garnered impressive results, Pro-Social Drivers has now expanded into Cavan and Monaghan, with plans in the pipeline to establish another programme in Mayo.

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Feature  Social Entrepreneurs

EXPRESS YOUR GENDER

ONE TO WATCH One social entrepreneur on the rise is 22-year old John Godfrey, who, after spending time volunteering at a refugee camp in Calais, was struck by the inhumane hygiene conditions endured by its inhabitants. This lack of sanitation prompted the NCAD student to create a shower kit, costing a mere €6 to produce, that contains two bars of soap, a toothbrush, toothpaste, hand sanitiser and sanitary napkins.

Godfrey hopes to sell the product at €15 and every time a member of the public purchases a kit, one will be dispatched to a refugee.

VIRTUAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE

MOJO

In 13 years as CEO of An Cosán, Elizabeth Waters has helped 15,000 students in their journey from basic to third level education. Since then, she’s set her sights on growing her new educational project, the Virtual Community College (VCC), which aims to promote learning in disadvantaged communities where residents don’t have the ability to access traditional education.While there is an abundance of online education available in Ireland, it wasn’t successfully influencing the students who Waters felt would benefit most from it. Namely, the early school leavers, lone parents and the unemployed. She says: “We wondered was there some way we could use technology to bring education into those communities and that’s what the virtual community college does. We offer basic and higher education to disadvantaged communities across Ireland.” Just some of the programmes available at the VCC include certificates in community leadership, active citizenship, community education, technology enhanced education and learning to learn at third level.

“If people are returning to education after a long absence, they may be early school leavers, then something like learning to learn at third level is a great support for them to move into higher education,” Waters notes.

Thanks to one of the most popular programmes, the Community Leadership programme, the VCC is set to partner with City and Guilds to launch a Social Enterprise and Leadership programme, which looks at developing social enterprise in the heart of disadvantaged communities.

Waters says: “The funding that we’re getting from the City and Guilds foundation is a wonderful acknowledgement of the work that we’re doing and what we might be developing here for women in disadvantaged communities in Ireland could be replicated in disadvantaged communities across the globe.” With the VCC up and running for little more than a year, 156 people have availed of its services with another 200 lined up to take part in its programmes in September. “Our goal is to have 1,000 students taking courses by 2018,” says Waters.

When Derek McDonnell was hired to investigate the high rates of stress among men from Tallaght, one reoccurring social factor became impossible to ignore: unemployment. McDonnell discovered that men who were unable to work, for a variety of reasons, had grown isolated from their social groups and experienced depression as a result. “They felt emasculated because they didn’t live up to the idea of the ideal man providing for their family,” he says. Due to the stigma associated with men’s mental health, many affected refused to seek out services in their local area. “That’s why we branded it ‘Mojo’,” says McDonnell. “So men could identify with getting their mojo back as opposed to looking at their mental health.” After joining Mojo men undergo a three-part programme aimed at rebuilding their mental health. The first two elements focus on mental resilience along with strategic planning for the future. “We teach the men how to set goals and ask what stopped them setting goals in the first place. We also discuss how to plan for their future, utilising the agencies that are already in the community,” explains McDonnell.

Finally, the participants learn to build sustainable social connections.

“What we’re looking at is the whole person from mental health to physical health, close connections and then having a life plan after they’ve left Mojo,” says McDonnell. “What the men do in Mojo is they reclaim the notion of what it means to be a man and they redefine masculinity.” Initially Mojo was set up as a brief 12-week course. However, when McDonnell was approached by programme members who wanted to continue to promote a culture of positive mental health and social inclusion in their community, Mojo branched off into new territory. “So in South Dublin they set up their own Mojo Men’s Shed,” says McDonnell.

“They connected in with the whole Men’s Sheds organisation nationally and three years on they’re still meeting five times a week.” Since yielding impressive results from Mojo in South Dublin, McDonnell has overseen the opening of another site in Kildare and recently celebrated the opening of Mojo programmes in Offaly and North Dublin.

John Godfrey pictured with the President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins

Rachel Moore set up Express Your Gender two years ago with the aim of helping the transgender community find their true voice. More specifically, Moore works alongside transpeople who feel their voices, from sounding prominently masculine or feminine, may lead them to be misgendered.

As a speech and language therapist, a key component of Moore’s expertise is to support clients in becoming confident and competent in whichever environment they choose to operate. This is the same function she fulfills for her transgender clients as, primarily, Moore’s services aid the transgender community to manage the anxiety that often arises from speaking in public. “That doesn’t necessarily mean making speeches,” explains Moore. “It could just be speaking with shop assistants or bus drivers or people on the street. There can be a lot of fear around using the voice in public because it causes you to be misgendered.” While Moore’s services are keenly focused on working directly with the transgender community, they extend significantly beyond this. “I provide affordable voice and communication therapy services, I have developed a trans career development programme which I am trying to get off the ground, and next year I will launch a diversity and inclusion consultancy service.” Moore notes that corporate partnerships are a pivotal aspect of being a social entrepreneur and despite the success of Express Your Gender, she jokes that she shies away from initiating them (although they’re always welcome!). In a community that reportedly experiences higher rates of poor mental health and hate crime than others, Moore expresses that any movement which helps people feel confident, protected and able to self-represent is worthy of time and attention. “A lot of clients have told me that they just feel a hell of a lot more confident about using their voice in public and that has opened up a lot of other opportunities, work-related and social opportunities, opportunities to engage with society and friends.” While Moore is currently based in Dublin, she has plans to expand Express Your Gender to the Galway and Cork regions. However, with the introduction of a new app on the near horizon, she’s set her sights further afield, providing her services nationally and internationally to the transgender community.

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Social Entrepreneurs  Feature Rachel Moore, Express Your Gender

“THERE CAN BE A LOT OF FEAR AROUND USING THE VOICE IN PUBLIC BECAUSE IT CAUSES YOU TO BE MISGENDERED.”

Eliizabeth Waters, Virtual Community College

Derek McDonnell, Mojo

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i want to invest...

newireland.ie

Talk to your Financial Broker or Advisor today.

Warning: The value of your investment may go down as well as up.

Warning: These funds may be affected by changes in currency exchange rates.

Warning: If you invest in these funds you may lose some or all of the money that you invest.

You may invest in iFunds through a life assurance policy with New Ireland Assurance Company plc. Terms and conditions apply.

New Ireland Assurance Company plc is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. A member of Bank of Ireland Group. The Company may hold units in the funds mentioned on its own account.

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14/09/2016 28/07/2016 17:02 13:42

How To ...  Tips

Charlie Grendon Managing Director GET Solutions

y g r e n e e v Sa

TIPS FOR REDUCING THE COST OF YOUR COMPANY’S ENERGY

1

2

3

4

5

6

ENERGY AWARENESS Water doesn’t just come from the sky, or electricity from the socket. Actually they do but our job is to show you that there are many different kinds of energy available – and the cost can vary hugely depending on contracts, source and technology.

Often small businesses sign up to an energy provider, set their budget and set up their monthly direct debit without giving energy further consideration.

USE ENERGY SAVING PRODUCTS Switching from regular bulbs can make a huge difference on your monthly bills. Initially, we recommend LED lighting which can reduce your lighting cost by as much as 66 per cent. However, that advice comes with a caveat – make sure you only purchase quality products.

Sub standard lighting can lead to dissatisfaction levels with the quality of lighting.

DON’T STAY STATIC MANY SMALL BUSINESSES DO N0T REALISE THAT A STATIC ACCOUNT OFTEN QUICKLY MOVES UP TO THE PREMIUM COST LEVEL.

REVIEW YOUR BILLS The next step is to review your bills. There are many aspects to examine closely.

Did you know your bill consists of several service charges, which can vary dependant on the supplier? Also, if you exceed your agreed level of kilowatts then you can jump into a punative cost per unit – rather like a loan shark. We can provide a procurement billing review as an annual service for you on a complimentary basis.

REDUCE YOUR USAGE There are many simple steps to reduce your consumption of energy. Turning down a thermostat or setting timers is a good start and can significantly and positively impact your bills.

Turning to clever inventions can also assist – such as the addition of a solar cool product which, when fitted to cold storage, heating or air-conditioning units, can deliver energy savings of between 40 and 53 per cent.

CHANGE YOUR PROVIDER Are you still in contract? Many small businesses fall out of contract without notice and continue to pay premium bills. Examine your contract, make note of when you are released or take action immediately if you are unencumbered. When looking for better priced energy, do not rely on cost per unit alone. Ask questions of your provider – do not be swayed by a seemingly low unit rate.

MAINTAIN YOUR EQUIPMENT While new technologies can save you money, so too can old fashioned maintenace. An old or creaking unit can cost more money to run than newer, more sophisticated and energy efficient machines. Again, attention to detail on your usage surges can highlight possible energy pits, and our software can help you identify this by monitoring specific socket outputs to help stay on top of your energy levels.

If you need advice on how to

get the best deal on energy for your business, GET Solutions provides this service without charge, keeping you informed every step of the way. Think Energy, Think GET Solutions. getsolutions.ie

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Business  Cover Story

THE

BUSINESS

Luxury

OF

BETTER BUSINESS SPOKE WITH FOUNDER AND CEO OF ADAMS & BUTLER, SIOBHÁN BYRNE LEARAT, TO DISCOVER HOW SHE CARVED OUT A NICHE FOR HER COMPANY IN THE LUXURY TRAVEL MARKETPLACE.

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“The one thing about an MBA is that you learn a lot from the small groups that you study with,” explains Byrne Learat.

“We’d talk about the challenges we faced in a day or during the week, and they said, ‘Siobhán, why don’t you set up your own company?’ So it was really a result of the guys that I was working with; a tax specialist from AIB, a senior executive at Hewlett Packard, the general manager of the national building agency. There were a lot of good people in my group and they encouraged me to set up the company.”

Byrne Learat was divorced with four children when she approached the bank for a loan to fund the business. The bank sought security on her house in exchange for a loan of €150,000, which led Byrne Learat to take out a mortgage on her home for 10 years, something that she doesn’t look back on with great fondness.

“That really annoyed me that I had to do that,” she says. “They were charging me a corporate rate!”

The first four years of the business were challenging and Byrne Learat often had to pay salaries out of her own savings. She says it was not until 2008 that there was a significant shift in the company’s fortunes.

“We were doing okay but we weren’t making money so we either had to stop or turn the company around so I decided to

take over the accounts.”

Byrne Learat believes that, until that point, part of the problem was that she had been too far removed from the lifeblood of the company; the cash. And given that she had a strong background in accountancy, it made even more sense for her to be involved in crunching the numbers. “I had taken on a qualified accountant and I didn’t realise how well or badly we were doing because the accountant liaised with the auditor and we’d just get information second-hand. The accountant’s attitude was that they were the accountant and we were the businesspeople. But no one looks after your pennies as well as you do!”

Another milestone for the business was the difficult decision to part ways with one of her associates who had worked at Adams & Butler from the beginning. She says the individual had become a liability and they no longer fitted in with the team culture Byrne Learat had strived to develop within the business. “They were very intelligent but every time I had an idea, they would find all the reasons why I shouldn’t do something rather than the 95 reasons why I should,” she recalls. “I was wasting a lot of my time and my energy was being sapped out of me.”

The third factor, according to Byrne Learat, behind the turnaround was the support Adams & Butler received from

Photo: Jason Clarke

The great American author John Steinbeck once wrote: “People don’t take trips, trips take people.” It’s a quote that could be used to describe the philosophy adopted by Irish luxury travel company Adams & Butler, which has been providing clients with unique travel experiences since 2003.

The company is the brainchild of Siobhán Byrne Learat who, while undertaking an MBA at UCD Smurfit Business School, spotted a gap in the market for a travel company catering for wealthy and sophisticated clients seeking authentic travel experiences in Ireland.

Without necessarily knowing it, Byrne Learat had put the groundwork for the company in place many years previous, gaining experience and contacts while working for high-end, luxury hotels over the course of 11 years, and later becoming managing director of a property development company which renovated heritage properties and rented them out on behalf of their owners.

It wasn’t, however, until she began working on a group project with her fellow MBA students that she was encouraged to bring her idea to fruition, using the business plan for Adams & Butler as the subject for her final dissertation. Receiving a first class honours was a good indication that she was on the right track.

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Cover Story  Business

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Business  Cover Story

“THE ACCOUNTANT’S ATTITUDE WAS THAT THEY WERE THE ACCOUNTANT AND WE WERE THE BUSINESSPEOPLE. BUT NO ONE LOOKS AFTER YOUR PENNIES AS WELL AS YOU DO!” Enterprise Ireland. The company didn’t gain access to capital from the state agency, but as a client company it took advantage of a lean programme as well as a number of courses for senior staff, which Byrne Learat says was invaluable in further developing the aforementioned team culture she was looking for.

Today Adams & Butler has 10 staff and is in the process of hiring three more.

Figures for 2016 are looking healthy – so far earnings are 36 per cent up on last year. Those figures come with a caveat, however, as part of the increase is a result of a recent booking of €260,000, not the kind of sale the company gets every day.

While Byrne Learat wouldn’t be drawn on who was behind such a lucrative booking, some of the high profile clients that Adams & Butler has had in recent years have been made public. Among those were Michael Jackson in the early days of the business, Harrison Ford, more recently Taylor Swift, and the much publicised honeymoon of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian.

So what is it that draws A-list celebrities, high ranking politicians and generally people from the higher echelons of society to Adams & Butler for their travel needs? According to Byrne Learat, it comes down to to the lengths they are prepared to go to customise the service to meet the clients’ requirements.

“We start with a clean piece of paper,” she explains. “We look at their age, the duration of the trip, their fitness levels, their interests and we build all that in. If they want to meet a famous politician, a famous author, a member of the aristocracy, an actor, we can arrange it.

Even if we don’t know the person, we knock on the door of someone who does.”

It’s that tenacity that enables Adams & Butler to go the extra mile for the client. “Previously we had an ex Treasury Secretary renting out Lismore Castle,” recalls Byrne Learat. “The highlight of his trip was riding on the back of a tractor to an oyster farm. We’ve always done experience, that’s a given for us. We find

that the people who want to travel with us always want to engage, they want to meet new people. It’s not just to see things, it’s not just to do things, it’s to meet real people and talk to them.”

Adams & Butler is now firmly established as a small high-end tour operator for Ireland and the UK, providing niche products and itineraries to travel agents, but also to specialist highend tour operators with private clients.

Its most sought after itineraries include hiking, biking, fishing, gourmet, whiskey, equestrian, castle tours as well as general all-Ireland and all-Scotland touring, either by self-drive or private driver-guided tour.

The company works with some of the top hotels in Ireland and Britain, as well as having a selection of elegant private castles, villas and country estates for clients to rent on an exclusive basis.

“We’ve a very good relationship with the key players,” says Byrne Learat. “We work closely with stakeholders like the

SFA FACT Did you know?

Siobhán recently became the first person in Ireland to be acknowledged by Travel + Leisure as one of its A-list travel experts, while Adams & Butler is the only Irish company to have been listed

by Condé Nast and Travel + Leisure as one of their chosen top travel specialists.

tourist board, with travel agents, tour operators, hotels and suppliers. They end up watching our back. They will tell us if a hotel is slipping in standards or if a client was left waiting. They will let us know and then we can let the agent know. It’s very much that we’re all working in this together.”

While Adams & Butler is focused on continuing to offer its luxury travel experiences in Ireland and the UK, it has been branching out to explore other markets in recent years. It was as a result of Byrne Learat’s second marriage with Kasao Learat – whom she met in 2007 when he was hired as her group’s driver in Kenya – that Adams & Butler Africa was founded. By combining her experience in luxury travel with his as a private guide and safari warden with local knowledge as an elder of the Samburu tribe in north Kenya, the company now offers tailored travel experiences in Kenya, Zambia and South Africa. Some of the tours involve bringing clients to the villages of the Samburu tribe in Kenya as well as meeting renowned African-based journalists and documentary-makers who can share a wealth of information about the continent.

According to Byrne Learat, it’s in no way a “singing and dancing contrived type of visit”, it’s a very real and unique experience.

Along with the African side of the business, the company has begun to tap into the outbound market in Ireland. “At the moment, the wealthy Irish are booking through UK operators,” says Byrne Learat.

“We saw that there was a gap in the market because there are people contacting us asking if we could book something for them, so now we want to offer an outbound service from Ireland.”

There’s plenty more to come from Adams & Butler over the coming years it seems but will Byrne Learat remain at the helm or would she ever consider selling the business?

“It’s been positive for the last four years but last year I didn’t know whether to grow the company or whether to sell because I had three people who knocked on my door wanting to buy it. I went to Mazars who kindly advised me and said that I was being given a fair market price, but who pointed out that the suitors didn’t know the business as well as I do. They said, ‘You should really hold on to the company and leverage it yourself because there is no one who could grow it better than you could.’”

Only time will tell as to how much of that advice Byrne Learat has taken on board but for now, business growth looks very much on the agenda.

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Cover Story  Business

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Feature  Cyber Crime

THE INSIDE

HACK

ON

CYBER CRIME ALMOST EIGHT IN TEN IRISH BUSINESSES HAVE BEEN THE VICTIM OF A CYBER ATTACK IN RECENT YEARS, WITH ONE THIRD EXPERIENCING SECURITY BREACHES IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS ALONE. BETTER BUSINESS SOUGHT THE ADVICE OF SECURITY EXPERTS TO FIND OUT HOW YOU CAN KEEP YOUR BUSINESS CYBER SAFE.

Cyber crime isn’t a one size fits all game.

With the constant evolution of technology, it can come in a variety of forms. In the past, one of the most notable areas that attracted the technologically sophisticated criminal was hacktavism. This cyber activity refers to individuals who hack computer systems in order to retrieve and then expose valuable data, satisfying political or personal agendas.

However, a disturbing trend in cyber crime practices in recent years has been the rapid growth of ransomware attacks. These attacks aim to gain access to a company’s data which they then encrypt and effectively “ransom” back to the owner. A recent surge in this activity has resulted in a high volume of targeted attacks across all sectors, including small businesses. While

high-profile hacktavism is still carried out on a regular basis, financial motives are driving the cyber crime industry.

“Increasingly it’s for financial return, it’s not for bragging rights anymore, it’s an acute financial motive,” says Pat Larkin, CEO of Ward Solutions, a provider of information security and risk management solutions.

One major error in judgement for small businesses is assuming that, because of their size or sector, their data is insignificant to cyber criminals, but this is simply naive thinking, according to another cyber expert. “Many business owners feel that they have a small low profile business and would be of no interest to a cyber attacker but this is most definitely not the case,” says John Coffey,

Managing Director of GC Technology, an IT service provider based in Sandyford, Dublin.

In reality, any data that is valuable to a company is an asset for hackers to either ransom or sell on the black market. This includes data from a number of sectors that previously would not have been considered high risk targets. “The initial driver was cyber crime in the legal industry, but that is now being overtaken by healthcare,” says John Brennan, Director of O’Leary Insurances, a company that specialises in cyber liability insurance. “In the past month we have been instructed to obtain quotations for funeral directors, financial advisors and not-for-profits,” shedding some light on the myriad of businesses keen to protect their data.

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Cyber Crime  Feature

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Feature  Cyber Crime

“MANY BUSINESS OWNERS FEEL THAT THEY HAVE A SMALL LOW PROFILE BUSINESS AND WOULD BE OF NO INTEREST TO A CYBER ATTACKER BUT THIS IS MOST DEFINITELY NOT THE CASE.” According to a recent survey carried out by Ward Solutions, two thirds of companies that have experienced ransomeware attacks said the demand they faced was less than €1,000. This suggests a trend of high volume attacks on small businesses for less demanding sums, rather that one costly attack on a larger corporation. Larkin explains: “With small businesses, whilst the return from the attack might be less to the person perpetrating the attack, the conventional wisdom is that they won’t have as robust controls and budgets in place to try and stop the type of attacks they might suffer.”

Pat Larkin, CEO, Ward Solutions

Protecting Your Data

Finding a company that specialises in cyber security, whether it be cyber protection or insurance, is becoming almost a prerequisite for Irish businesses. However, the initial step for any business endeavouring to protect its data is to accept that a breach is inevitable and to plan accordingly.

“You’re going to have information security incidents and we often find that organisations that have a good risk assessment and a good mitigation plan in place, plan for the inevitability of an incident,” explains Larkin. Twentysix per cent of businesses admitted to having no such crisis management plan in place for when a breach does occur and research shows that companies that fail to manage a security incident quickly and appropriately suffer greater in terms of data and financial loss.

Larkin suggests that, along with a comprehensive risk assessment plan, companies should not only employ disaster recovery methods, but routinely rehearse the steps that will be taken should a breach occur. This type of monitoring of your security services can be less time consuming if you assign a specific employee, typically a member of the IT department, who can carry the responsibility for initiating your response plan in the event of a breach.

Another fail safe against cyber attacks is to educate every member of staff,

John Coffey, Managing Director of GC Technology

from the bottom up, about the potential risks their actions can can have on the company’s cyber security. “To a cyber criminal, the weak link is usually a member of staff who may not be aware of the potential dangers involved in opening email attachments, clicking on email links or browsing websites that may be infected,” says Coffey.

“The majority of attacks or infections are caused by traditional phishing

emails, browser exploits or unintentional downloads of infected files.”

Reluctance to Report

Despite the frequency of such activity, cyber criminals still remain increasingly difficult to pursue. One major factor behind this is the reluctance of business owners to report attacks. This reluctance extends to affected third parties as 46 per cent of Irish businesses have admitted they wouldn’t disclose a data security breach to customers and suppliers.

“There’s a worrying trend that cyber crime is being under-reported in Ireland,” notes Larkin. “Customers place their trust in the companies they deal with and it is every business’s obligation to be transparent with those customers and inform them of any risk to their data.

However, we do expect that more robust compliance obligations will drive reporting levels up in the near future.”

Another issue that arises when in pursuit of these criminals is the relatively new and frequently changing technology involved in the hack. This requires businesses to be consistently vigilant and informed of current methods engaged by cyber criminals. This is something recognised by insurance companies involved in cyber security. “Cyber liability insurance is relatively new and is developing the whole time as the exposure continues to change,” says Brennan. “Some of the scams we come across are extremely targeted and insurers have to balance a fine line of pricing this ever-evolving risk using sparse claims information.”

The value of data in any sector cannot be underestimated and due to the nature of technology and data, business location, size or sector is no longer a deciding factor when choosing a cyber target.

According to Brennan, the worst thing a small business can do is nothing. “Don’t bury your head in the sand, this is not an overseas phenomenon and cyber risks are going nowhere,” he advises. “Cyber crime is now more valuable than the global drugs industry and crime syndicates are run like professional organisations. It’s as easy for a foreign criminal to target an Irish business as it is one in America or England.”

“DON’T BURY YOUR HEAD IN THE SAND, THIS IS NOT AN OVERSEAS PHENOMENON AND CYBER RISKS ARE GOING NOWHERE.”

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16/08/2016 12:29 12:53 17/08/2016 14/09/2016 17:03

Advice  Wise Guys

WISE GUYS

IN BUSINESS AND THRIVING - SIX INDUSTRY EXPERTS SHARE ONE SECRET OF THEIR SUCCESS

1

Food Sarah O’Connor

Co-founder, The Cool Bean Company

2

My mantra in business is that the only thing in life you can control is your attitude – so be positive.

People thrive on positivity and if something goes wrong it is better to be solution focused and believe you will get through a challenge rather than defaulting to the negative. You still have to be realistic but can do it with a positive outlook and approach; colleagues, customers and suppliers appreciate it and will more than likely be positive in return.

How do we define success?

Textiles Seán Walsh

Managing Director, Poplar Linens

We buy products from factories all over the world and I put a lot of effort into developing a personal relationship with their top management.

While bringing them a gift from the west of Ireland might seem like a small gesture, when it comes to price negotiation, having a personal relationship with a client often helps to get the desired result.

I also prefer to place substantial business with a key supplier rather than spread the business around. The more important my business is to a supplier the sharper the price I can negotiate!

3

Analytics Lokesh Arora

Founder and Director, Knowlvers

I am passionate about solving the business problems of our clients and we keep a ‘hawkeye’ view on this. Our approach is to look at the ‘nuts and bolts’ of everything, because in analytics the saying ‘the devil is in the detail’ rules! I believe the key to success is to really enjoy what you do; if you are not enjoying the ‘non-core’ activity, you are spending your resources on the wrong activity and should outsource it. If you are not enjoying the ‘core’ activity then you are in the wrong business.

There are many definitions, but there’s one thing that all great business leaders agree on, and that’s how success can only come by persevering despite failure.

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Wise Guys  Advice

“Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time.”

George Bernard Shaw

4

Shipping Bernadette Kinsella CEO, Worldbox

I believe you need a passion for people in general and an understanding of what makes them tick. For example, our latest brand was created by understanding, then eliminating, the customers’ ‘pain points’ and delivering solutions that makes a difference to them. Also, ensuring that everyone in the team understands that they play a huge part in sales support no matter what their role is. Oh and don’t feel entitled to anything you didn’t sweat and struggle for!

If you are a business leader

5

Communications Paddy Hughes

Executive Director, Drury Porter Novelli

Working as business and communications advisors to senior management teams, big and small across the Irish economy, on what are often highly complex, tense situations and issues – our people are successful due to: an energetic can-do mentality, balanced with measured and considered perspectives and advice, all of which are underpinned by good judgement skills and an honest approach that seeks to challenge conventional wisdom. A positive, can-do approach to devising solutions that effectively address our clients’ issues is vital.

George Bernard Shaw

(July 26th, 1856 – November 2nd, 1950) was an Irish playwright who wrote more than 60 plays during his lifetime and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1925.

6

Technology Paschal Naylor Founder and CEO, Arkphire

At Arkphire, we live and die by the motto ‘the customer is king’ and our people are absolutely committed to meeting the IT requirements of our customers. This customer centric approach is engrained as a deep value in Arkphire and is one of the key factors that have contributed to our top line growth of over 400 per cent in four years.

Happy customers are good for business and my personal experience has shown that referrals from customers and partners are by far the most effective path to a winning way.

and you feel you have some words of wisdom to share with the small business community please email linda.barry@sfa.ie

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Feature  Fintech

Brexit BOUNCE

FOR

FINTECH? IS IRELAND REALLY SET TO BECOME A GLOBAL LEADER IN THE FINTECH SECTOR AS A RESULT OF BREXIT? BETTER BUSINESS CAUGHT UP WITH IBEC’S MARC COLEMAN TO HEAR ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR IRISH FIRMS AND THE STEPS GOVERNMENT MUST TAKE TO ENSURE WE GRAB OUR FAIR SHARE.

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Fintech  Feature

It’s amazing how quickly things can turnaround. Rewind just eight years and the Irish financial sector was on its knees.

For years after the 2008 collapse, the scandal at Anglo Irish Bank, combined with the poor health of the country’s main banks, meant virtually all finance-related firms were viewed with a large amount of, at best, scepticism, or, more typically, contempt by the general public.

Fast forward to the present day, however, and the sector – or at least parts of it – is slowly but surely regaining its credibility.

Nowhere is that more evident than in the area of financial technology – or to give its better known title – fintech.

Fintech is a line of business based on using software to provide financial services.

Some financial technology companies are start-ups founded with the purpose of disrupting incumbent financial systems.

This is a global phenomenon. A recent study by Accenture found that global investment in fintech has sky-rocketed from $4.05 billion in 2013 to $12.2 billion in 2014.

At a regional level, Europe experienced rapid growth rate, with an increase of 215 per cent to $1.48bn in 2014.

The good news is that Ireland is making a notable fist of establishing itself as a European fintech hub. The success of a number of companies, such as Colm Lyon’s Realex Payments, the Dublin-based online payments firm which was last year sold for a whopping €115m to US giant Global Payments, and also the likes of other exciting young companies such as Brett Meyers’ CurrencyFair and the phenomenally successful Stripe, set up by the Collison brothers, has put Ireland firmly on the map.

Figures from the IDA and Enterprise Ireland suggest that fintech employment in Ireland grew in 2015 by about 7 per cent to almost 9,000. Marc Coleman, Director of Financial Services Ireland (FSI) at Ibec, says it is likely that the number of people employed in the sector will reach 10,000 this year.

“According to our most recent survey, roughly one-third of overall employment was outside Dublin,” he says. “Indications to date are that there is a healthy proportion of job creation occurring outside of Dublin. Companies like Fexco in Killorglin, Pramerica in Letterkenny and others are showing just how successful this industry can be in the regions. By its very nature fintech is more geographically mobile and has the exciting potential to

accelerate IFS expansion outside Dublin as well as in Dublin. Fintech creates jobs, but its products – from tap and go debit cards to mobile wallets – are used across the country.”

IRELAND’S FINTECH CREDENTIALS

A report published by PwC earlier this year backed up Ireland’s claims of being a fintech hub. The report, entitled ‘Blurred lines: How fintech is shaping financial services’ and based on the views of over 50 Irish organisations across all areas of financial services including banking, insurance, asset and wealth management, fund transfer and payments institutions, as well as fintech companies, identified that a quarter (25 per cent) of Irish respondents believe that they will lose more than 20 per cent of their business to fintech companies by 2020.

The Irish banking sector is feeling most pressure from fintech companies believing they could lose 25 per cent of their business by 2020 (insurance: 20 per cent; asset and wealth management: 16 per cent).

The reason for this change in the market is quite simple, according to the authors of the PwC report: “As consumers become accustomed to the digital experiences offered by companies such as Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple, they expect the same level of customer experience from their financial services providers. Fintech companies are driving disruption with solutions that can better address customer needs by offering enhanced accessibility, convenience and tailored products.”

BREXIT POTENTIAL

PwC is predicting that Dublin could eclipse London as Europe’s number one location for financial services companies post-Brexit. A special Brexit report from PwC rated London as the most attractive city for financial services companies to set up operations in Europe at present.

Dublin ranked second in the survey, up from third place the year before, moving ahead of Luxembourg. The research, which evaluated nine of Europe’s main financial centres, put Paris in fourth place, while Vienna rounded out the top five.

The study evaluated each city in six main areas, including the ease of doing business and the number of workers with a third-level education. Dublin ranked above average for two-thirds of the areas

scrutinised – falling down slightly on its market infrastructure and the share of credit available to the private sector as a percentage of GDP. Of course, Ireland isn’t alone in seeking to grab its slice of the fintech pie. Across the Irish Sea, London has also established itself as a big fintech player. However, many experts have warned that Britain’s decision to leave the EU could derail London’s booming fintech success with Ireland – and particularly Dublin – mooted as a potential beneficiary of any flight away from London.

The hopeful voices believe that fintech companies are increasingly considering Irish headquarters ahead of the UK’s departure from Europe. The attraction, they say, is Ireland’s open economy, skilled English-speaking workforce and strong connectivity. The more conservative, however, point towards potential spanners in the works, warning that the Irish regulatory system won’t be able to reform itself fast enough to meet demand, and that Dublin’s housing shortage combined with the Government’s lack of investment in infrastructure, will lead to companies opting instead for cities such as Frankfurt or Amsterdam.

But FSI’s Coleman is quick to stress that any business won on the back of a British exit from the EU will be very hard won. “Any comment on Brexit needs to be predicated by acknowledging that this is a significant challenge for the Irish economy,” he says.

“For the financial services sector, there are challenges as well as opportunities and we need to be mindful of both. London’s very strong presence in fintech relies on a strong pool of talent, a sensible tax system and an active government policy of promoting the industry. The more the Irish government replicates these conditions in Ireland, the more Ireland can leverage its particular advantages. These include a

SFA Fact Did You Know?

It is estimated that the Irish banking sector could lose 25 per cent of their business by 2020 as a result of the emergence of fintech companies.

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Feature  Fintech

sensible and flexible business environment, excellent clusters of high technology, a high quality of life and, of course, an unambiguous position within the EU, with all that implies for passporting rights and regulatory certainty.”

OPPORTUNTIES OUTSIDE DUBLIN

FSI published what it claims to be the first comprehensive budget proposal for the sector in September of last year. The organisation is also currently working with stakeholders in industry and Government to produce the first comprehensive strategy paper for fintech. Coleman says that the potential opportunities will not only present themselves to Dublin, but to other areas of the country also.

“Dublin has a real chance to improve its offering,” he says. “But the focus of growing fintech here should be based on the whole country and not just Dublin. Instead of worrying about ranking and position, the focus should be on listening to the needs

and requirements of the industry in terms of better and more certain regulation, faster access to licenses, a strengthened pool of talent and also, importantly, a tax regime that promotes enterprise at the early stage of development and a cost base that enables start-ups to compete and grow in a demanding international environment.

“According to the Global Competitiveness Index, Ireland has improved its global ranking significantly in the last three years. This is in no small part due to the work done by the IFS 2020 strategy group, which FSI was Secretariat of in its crucial first year, but also to continued improvement in the Irish economy. More policy work needs to be done to promote the sector,” he adds.

FINTECH START-UPS

The growth of fintech globally means there is no shortage of young, up-andcoming companies seeking to make their mark on – and some money out of – the

space. Enterprise Ireland is looking to play its part in nurturing the next breed of Realexes and Stripes with a new €500,000 fund aimed at supporting start-up activity in the area of fintech. Successful applicants can be awarded up to €50,000 each in equity support, and the competitive start fund is open to early stage companies that are either offering technology-driven solutions within the sector or are targeting the fintech and financial services sector as an end market.

According to Derek Butler, CEO of Grid Finance – a relatively new peer-to-peer lender operating in the fintech space – Ireland’s experience in financial services, coupled with the emergence of a new breed of fintech entrepreneur, will help Ireland establish itself as a major player. He also believes the Government has a significant part to play. “I would like to see them embrace fintech as a key ingredient for positioning Ireland as a global leader in financial services. That opportunity is there for Ireland, we just need to grab it.”

Fintech Fledglings Six Irish start-ups making a splash in the fintech space

Stripe Arguably the most hyped Irish fintech start-up of all. And with good reason.

Founders, brothers John and Patrick Collison, have created a system which allows companies to accept payments online. Stripe is now valued at more than $5bn.

Fenergo Fenergo, whose software helps banks and other financial institutions to manage regulatory compliance, is just six years old but is already responsible for the biggest ever investment round by an Irish software company (€75m) and plans to float on NASDAQ within three years.

Their founder Marc Murphy is just 37 and the company has been backed

by Insight - the same VC that took early stakes in the likes of Twitter, Shopify and Solarwinds.

CurrencyFair CurrencyFair is an online marketplace where individuals and businesses can exchange currencies and send funds to bank accounts worldwide. In 2015 it became the first platform to break the $1bn barrier in money-matching transfers.

Fire Financial Services Colm Lyon would have been forgiven for heading off to live on a desert island after selling his first company, Realex, for €115m. But the Dublin native has opted to roll the dice again with Fire, which aims to bring instant personal payments to users through the Pay with Fire app and to make instant mobile payments to anyone with a UK or Irish mobile phone number.

Ding Despite its questionable name, Mark Roden’s Ding enables people living or working abroad to instantly top-up the mobile phones of friends and family back home. More than 100,000 Ding transactions are made per day around the world.

With the company taking a 10 per cent cut, that’s a nice return for Roden.

Grid Finance Grid Finance utilises crowdfunding to provide small businesses seeking funding an alternative to borrowing from banks. Borrowers are vetted and deemed creditworthy before they can access cashflow from a large pool of potential lenders. With Grid Finance, users can invest in businesses to receive monthly repayments, or support charities and community organisations without returns.

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14/09/2016 29/08/2016 17:03 10:44 26/08/2016 14:57

Small Business Profile  SweetSpot Sourcing

HITTING THE

SWEET SPOT

SOURCING SPECIALIST GOODS IN FAR FLUNG REGIONS CAN BE A TRICKY BUSINESS BUT KILDARE-BASED SWEETSPOT SOURCING IS TAKING THE HASSLE OUT OF THE PROCESS FOR MANY IRISH COMPANIES. BETTER BUSINESS FOUND OUT MORE. When Sue Dempsey and Fiona Craul put their heads together to generate an idea for a start-up business there was no doubt that China would form part of the package.

Both had come from roles within the manufacturing sector – Dempsey having worked in international sales for a lighting company and Craul in global sourcing for an Irish importer – and had developed a long list of contacts, predominantly factories in the Far East. With a desire to go out on their own, and with over 12 years’ experience in the bag, they came up with SweetSpot Sourcing in 2012.

To get the start-up off the ground, initial funding was raised by Dempsey and Craul themselves, while they slowly drummed up business, minimised overheads and built up a cash reserve. They also availed of an employment grant through the Local Enterprise Office (LEO). Now based in Naas, Co Kildare, SweetSpot specialises in the sourcing of branded promotional goods that can be used for events, on pack promotions, gifts with purchases and giveaways. Most clients request products to work alongside marketing campaigns and that can be anything from branded rubber ducks for Virgin Media to a mini beer cooler for Molson Canadian beer.

SweetSpot works closely with its clients from start to finish; the design of the product, sampling, manufacturing, managing quality control, export and import and logistics. The factories it works with are worldwide; in Asia, Europe,

Turkey and it has an office in Xiamen, China to support its Asia operations. Once manufactured, the goods are shipped to the SweetSpot warehouse in Kildare and then onwards to customers across Ireland.

“We use our knowledge and connections to offer clients the opportunity to source different products that fall outside of their core range,” explains Dempsey.

“Take a food brand for example. They obviously manufacture food but if they want to give away a lunchbox, it’s out of

SFA FACT Did you know?

SweetSpot says it prides itself on ethical sourcing. It has its own auditing process and the directors or management in its China office will visit each factory to ensure everything is above board.

their remit. They wouldn’t necessarily have the experience or the know-how to manufacture something like that and also, a lot of what we do is in extremely high volume so it’s not something that you can find your way around, you need to know what you’re doing.”

This know-how has seen SweetSpot work with some major companies in Ireland like Lidl, Electric Ireland, Flahavan’s, eir and Dublin Bus. The sourcing company’s flexibility to tailor its work to the needs of the client makes Dempsey and Craul’s proposition an attractive one and the pair are developing client relationships that are built to last.

Another unique selling point to SweetSpot’s offering is how closely it works with its clients to ensure it understands the end goal of each product. It’s the process by which the company got its name, according to Dempsey. “Take our client Keelings as an example,” she explains. “It’s about us helping them reach their sweet spot customer. They start the process. We have a meeting with them, a couple of ideas are thrown around, but ideally you need to work with the company. You’ve got a budget constraint, you’ve got timelines, you need to understand who their customer is, the demographic you’re trying to hit and all of those touch points along the way. So our job is trying to find the part that will meet all of those requirements and that will ultimately appeal to their customer. You’re trying to get their sweet spot!”

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SweetSpot Sourcing  Small Business Profile Cultural Differences As part of its long-term business plan, in 2013, SweetSpot opened its office in Xiamen, China. It made sense to have offices on the ground in the region where it sources much of its goods. In terms of doing business there, it’s a far cry from striking deals at home or even in Europe as it can be frought with obstacles, not to mention the challenges posed by cultural nuances.

“Doing business in any other country throws up its challenges no matter what,” says Dempsey. “There’s always cultural differences. You have to be very aware of that when you’re dealing internationally whether it’s customers or whether it’s dealing with factories in China. Our experience allows us to be very adaptable and responsive to doing business in different countries. In China, it isn’t like doing business with a manufacturer down the road who will inevitably know a friend, or a friend of a friend. They are very wary initially, you have to invest the time in getting to know them and unless you do that you’re not going to get the best kind of outcome.”

Aside from its work with manufacturers in the Far East, SweetSpot has been exploring other markets in which to expand. One of those is the UK and, ironically, it was the weekend following Britain’s vote to leave the European Union that SweetSpot was to hold initial meetings with potential British customers.

The company had been awarded funding through the InterTradeIreland Elevate programme to enter a new market, and chose Northern Ireland and the UK as countries where they sought to develop a stronger footing.

The timing, as it turned out, was far from ideal but it’s not something that concerns Dempsey too much. “Literally the weekend [Brexit] hit we had our initial meetings. But you know it hasn’t impacted us and our plans because those curve balls are going to happen no matter if it’s now or in five years’ time, so you kind of have to adapt to them.”

Diversifying the Business SweetSpot’s immediate plans are to focus on sales, and the company’s target for 2016 is a turnover of €1.5 million. With the help of the National College of Art and Design, it’s also developing its own range of retail products that will bring in an additional revenue stream. Perhaps more significantly though, the consultancy side of the business has seen rapid growth this year,

ABOVE: Sue Dempsey and Fiona Craul, directors and co-founders of SweetSpot Sourcing OPPOSITE: A lunchbox that SweetSpot sourced on behalf of its client Keelings

something Dempsey and Craul are keen to capitalise on.

“We find that a lot of start-ups or small businesses are coming to us looking for advice,” says Dempsey. “Maybe they’ve gotten so far down the road with the factory but then there’s nobody to QC the product. They’ve no expertise in the logistics side of it, how to get it into the country and get your duty paid and those types of things.”

Reflecting on what she and her business partner have achieved since founding SweetSpot, Dempsey is proud of how far they’ve come in such a short period of time. “We’re four and a half years now in business,” she says. We’re very proud to come from what we’ve started with – zero – and we’ve grown it 20 per cent yearon-year. This year we’re predicting 70 per cent year-on-year growth so I think that’s something in itself.”

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[STANDFIRST]

Interview  Minister Pat Breen

BACK TO

BUSINESS A FEW MONTHS INTO HIS NEW ROLE, MINISTER OF STATE FOR SMALL BUSINESS PAT BREEN DISCUSSES THE IMPORTANCE OF SMALL BUSINESSES IN IRELAND, HIS PLANS FOR THE SECTOR, AND THE CHALLENGES FACING BUSINESS OWNERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

It’s the end of the summer and the Dáil is about to reconvene. Pat Breen, the recently appointed Minister for Employment & Small Business, has been in the job for three months and feels he is getting to grips with his new remit.

“I’m getting to know all the people in my department, meeting other bodies and organisations that I’ll be working with and I’m listening to the concerns of the small business industry. I have an advisory group that is made up of 25 representatives of associations, like the SFA, and businesspeople themselves. They have raised concerns about a number of issues and I want to listen to what they have to say,” says Breen.

The concerns he’s hearing are wideranging, from labour and insurance costs to the general cost of doing business in Ireland; access to working capital is still an issue. Breen is keen to point out the efforts that have been made by the current government to help finance small businesses, like Microfinance Ireland, which lends up to €25,000 to start-ups and existing

Things are looking up: Minister Pat Breen says the Budget is an opportunity to put initiatives in place to further promote entrepreneurship.

businesses, and the Credit Guarantee Scheme, which encourages lending to small businesses that are unable to obtain facilities from their bank.

Under the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs, and specific regional plans, small businesses are key in creating jobs,

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IMAGE COURTESY OF SUNDAY BUSINESS POST

Minister Pat Breen  Interview

particularly in rural Ireland. Breen says: “We have to ensure we look after small enterprises, as they will be key in reducing unemployment. We need to support entrepreneurs and create that environment to support indigenous businesses. You’re not going to get large

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Interview  Minister Pat Breen

companies into rural areas, so we have to drive these businesses and generate employment locally in all the regions.

“Foreign direct investment is important to Ireland but it should be pointed out that it makes up a very small percentage of the workforce. There are 186,000 small or micro enterprises in Ireland and they make up 90 per cent of the businesses in the country, so they’re extremely important as we tackle unemployment.

“In 2012 the unemployment rate was 15.1 per cent; today it’s 7.8. A lot has been done to get businesses off the ground.

There has been job growth in all the regions. That’s important because you find that FDI and larger enterprises are confined to clusters in the main cities.”

Breen believes the local enterprise offices (LEOs) have an important role to play in helping small enterprises. There are now 31 of these offices throughout the country, providing support and advice for people who want to launch new businesses.

However, Breen acknowledges that communication around the LEOs could be improved.

“Part of my work since I took over the job is to visit these LEOs and I do find it rewarding to see those small companies that have taken off as a result of the local enterprise offices. Although, there still are a lot of people that don’t know that these offices exist. We need to encourage entrepreneurship and we need to ensure people know what tools are out there to help them start up businesses. I also think there is more we could be doing to make facilities available for people with ideas and start-up companies.”

Statistics show that Irish companies are ahead of many of their European counterparts in online trading – the EU Digital Economy and Society Index 2016 found Ireland’s small businesses are the number one sellers online in the EU. However, Breen wants to ensure even more businesses are supported in getting a piece of this online pie.

“Trading online is the future and small

SFA FACT Did you know?

Breen has been a TD for Clare for 14 years, during which time he acquired the nickname, ‘The Ambassador’, due to his regular encounters with foreign dignitaries at home and abroad.

businesses need to realise the full benefits of new technologies. In the world that we have now the retail sector, in particular, needs to be online. €815,000 an hour is being traded online in Ireland. That’s a lot of money. We have the Trading Online Voucher Scheme to encourage more businesses to step up to selling online and we have a tool on our website for small businesses, but at EU-level I think we need to provide information and advice and a step-by-step guide to get businesses online.”

Minimum wage will be one of the first issues on the agenda when the Dáil returns.

The Low Pay Commission has suggested a 10c increase, bringing the minimum

“WE NEED TO ENCOURAGE ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND WE NEED TO ENSURE PEOPLE KNOW WHAT TOOLS ARE OUT THERE TO HELP THEM START UP BUSINESSES.”

wage from €9.15 to €9.25. “The aim of the increase is to have an incentive to work, first of all, and it’s fair and it’s obtainable.

However, we have to ensure it doesn’t have a negative effect on the economy or a negative effect on employment. The recommendation will be considered next month in the context of the Budget itself.”

The Government will also be dealing with the issues around zero hour and ‘if and when’ employment contracts. “The University of Limerick has done a study on its prevalence and zero contracts are not really a big issue in Ireland; if-and-when hours are,” says Breen. “We’re looking at the issues and we’re taking submissions at the minute. It is an issue if someone has been on a 15-hour contract but been doing 30 hours for the last ten years and then they can’t get a loan because of the contract. It’s important that employees are treated fairly so we will be dealing with that.”

The potential consequences of Brexit will continue to overhang everything this or the next government attempts to do – until those consequences become clear. At present, currency movements are a challenge for businesses trading in the UK and Breen advises that for now, we will have to accept uncertainty as the new normal.

“Small businesses will be concerned about their future, particularly because we depend a lot on the UK as our single biggest trading partner and whether we like it or not we can’t downplay the serious implications of Brexit. Enterprise Ireland has put into place a number of measures for the companies that it supports.

Businesses have been encouraged to diversify their export markets in recent years – from 45 per cent of goods and services exporting to the UK to some 37 per cent in 2015. Enterprise Ireland will also be increasing their trade missions to other EU countries and non-EU countries.

“Optimism has been dented a little but we need to wait and see what happens as it won’t happen overnight. We have a plan in place to deal with it but it’s something we will be very careful of. There are ideas that I have for growing small businesses and particularly micro enterprises. We have an opportunity with the Budget to put initiatives in place to realise the potential we have and to promote entrepreneurship.

I think there is real potential to grow these businesses, in conjunction with the LEOs, in conjunction with Enterprise Ireland, to ensure we’re not dependent on FDI.”

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Sector Spotlight  Small Food Producers

Keep it

LOCAL

BETTER BUSINESS TAKES A LOOK AT THE LANDSCAPE FOR SMALL AND LOCAL FOOD PRODUCERS IN IRELAND, CHANGING CONSUMER TRENDS AND THE POSSIBLE FALLOUT FROM BREXIT. The traditional Irish meat-and-potatoes diet is more or less a thing of the past and the modern consumer is increasingly concerned with healthy eating, locally produced food and sustainability issues.

Today, 87 per cent of Irish consumers regard their diet as fairly or very healthy; 68 per cent of consumers believe buying local produce to be important and 57 per cent of Irish people say they are more

conscious of environmental issues in their choice of food products, according to Bord Bia’s biennial PERIscope study in 2015. Another study, the Irish Consumer 2015, found that a new more empowered customer is looking for the human face behind everything with increasing expectations around transparency and responsibility.

Mary Morrissey, Senior Manager at

SFA FACT

SFA+ Food and Drink If you are a small business in the food and drink industry, the SFA+ Food and Drink membership gives you the full benefits of SFA membership, along with essential sector insights from Food and Drink Industry Ireland (FDII).

Membership gives you: • Access to FDI regulatory tracker • Monthly commodities update • Access to FDII events (restrictions apply) • Quarterly FDII business monitor email SFA+ Food and Drink have a special membership offer until the end of 2016.

To find out more visit sfa. ie/foodanddrink or call 01 6051664

FROM LEFT: Mary Morrissey, senior manager at Bord Bia with particular responsibility for entrepreneurship and small business. Kevin Sheridan, Sheridan Cheesemongers and Chair of Taste Council of Ireland, Evan Doyle, Owner, Brooklodge Hotel and member of Taste Council of Ireland, and Una Fitzgibbon, Director of Marketing Services, Bord Bia

Sign up for SFA+ Food and Drink if you produce, market or sell: beverages, dairy, edible horticulture, prepared consumer foods, meat or seafood

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Small Food Producers  Sector Spotlight

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Sector Spotlight  Small Food Producers

EAST COAST BAKEHOUSE East Coast Bakehouse is a biscuit manufacturing business based in Drogheda. It started up in 2015 and is launching its new range of Irish-made biscuits across the retail trade over the coming weeks. Alison Cowzer, Marketing and Innovation Director, says: “As a startup, we’re feeling very positive about the potential for our business and for the Irish food industry in general. Irish biscuit lovers buy over €200 million of biscuits every year, and almost all of them are imported. We’re launching our new range, to offer better biscuits, made in Ireland.” Cowzer says Ireland’s reputation for food production and the access to quality ingredients are major advantages to operating in the sector. “We work closely with suppliers to source only the best ingredients; all our recipes include Irish butter, which really makes a difference to the taste and texture of our biscuits. Bord Bia has worked closely with the great community of Irish food producers, driving innovation and product development and promoting Ireland’s food credentials globally.” The business has received support from Enterprise Ireland which Cowzer says recognises the need to assist food producers to scale.

She says support from Government and lending institutions is key to ensure that small-scale food businesses can plan for and achieve scale. In terms of Brexit, Cowzer says the business is still planning for significant exports to the UK. “The Brexit vote is not ideal. However, we will adapt to the changing market and of course we’ll be placing more emphasis on the European and global markets.” eastcoastbakehouse. com Alison Cowzer, Marketing and Innovation Director, East Coast Bakehouse

Bord Bia with particular responsibility for entrepreneurship and small business, says that while these changing consumer behaviours bode well for small Irish food businesses, they still need to work hard to communicate their message and justify their products.

“From a consumer perspective, we would see from our research that there is a willingness and desire to buy local Irish food products. However, it’s important that producers communicate their key points of difference and unique selling points to their consumers and let them know where the products are available and to make them accessible, whether it’s at markets or in stores or online.

“In the last number of years we have seen a lot of new and innovative products coming to the market, in particular around the area of health and wellness. What we’re seeing around health and wellness is that while it is a trend, it is very much here to stay. But that doesn’t mean a company is necessarily going to be successful at it.

Any company going into any food product needs to think about who’s buying their product, where they want to buy it, when they want to buy it and what the product is delivering for them. And they will need to continue to change and adapt their product or their messaging to their customer.”

Morrissey says the ability to react to the market and to adapt is one of the greatest advantages small food businesses have over bigger competitors; in terms of bringing new products to market or changing messaging, small businesses can move a lot faster than more established companies.

She says the support structure that exists among the sector is another significant advantage for small food producers in Ireland. “Generally speaking, there’s a good network among food producers.

They talk to each other and there’s a lot of peer-to-peer learning. There’s a nice healthy relationship that we see with them coming together at both formal events and informally.

“The vast majority of small businesses are owner-managed which means there’s a huge amount of passion and drive there but there are also challenges. It can be difficult for owner-managers because they have to do literally everything, especially in the early days. It can also be hard for them to look at their business strategically and actually plan for growth and where they want the business in five years’ time and how they’re going to get there.”

Bord Bia has a number of supports and programmes in place specifically for

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Small Food Producers  Sector Spotlight

small food businesses. Food Academy is an initiative specifically designed for small companies in collaboration with the local enterprise offices and SuperValu to help bring products to market. Businesses receive one-to-one mentoring and can pitch for a chance to trial their products in a SuperValu store. Since the programme began in 2013, over 1,100 products have been successfully trialled and are now on sale through the Irish supermarket chain. The initiative is expected to create 373 new jobs over the next 12 months.

Bord Bia is also working with the Taste Council to build a database of small food producers around Ireland, with the aim of quantifying this area of the food and drink industry, providing information to and representing the industry at large.

Morrissey says Bord Bia has a number of other smaller initiatives to support the sector, from a marketing assistance programme to a soon to launch export preparation programme. The organisation’s annual Bloom food festival also gives small producers a platform to meet and communicate with their customers.

Undoubtedly many of these companies will be concerned about Brexit. Amidst speculation, the issues at present for these companies are around currency and cheaper products coming to market.

“For any small business exporting at the minute there is the currency issue.

There will be challenges around price competitiveness in the UK market, which means that these companies have to work harder in all other aspects of their business; they’re going to have to have a really strong point of difference. And in the domestic market, there will be some concerns over time around cheaper products coming into the market.”

Bord Bia has identified four pillars under which it will be addressing Brexit: the first is currency volatility, helping businesses understand and manage it as best they can; the second is consumer and market insight, as companies will need to be more aware of their consumer and market to drive their business; third, customer engagement – businesses will need to really engage their customers in the UK market; the fourth pillar is market diversification, ensuring Irish companies are aware of all their different market opportunities.

“The UK is our biggest trading partner.

We export 41 per cent of our food and drink products to the UK, so Brexit will be a concern. Companies are looking for information and for information sharing and that will overhang everything.”

William Despard of the Bretzel Bakery

BRETZEL BAKERY Bretzel Bakery is a bakery, shop and café located in Portobello – a Dublin institution since 1870. Its new owner, William Despard, has kept the heart of the original bakery while modernising the systems around it. He’s also expanded, investing over €500,000 in a second bakery in Harold’s Cross. The business is thriving with six vans, delivering to 200 trade customers around the city and employing 37. On the advantages of being a small food producer in Ireland, Despard says: “There’s a growing market in proper, real bread and a big interest in locally made, artisanal produce, especially in the post Celtic Tiger economy.” Good bread is what drives the business and Despard says he would like to see joined-up thinking and cooperation between food producers and the health department.

“Small food producers should be encouraged and assisted to produce healthier food; good nutrition, from everyday food, should be for all, not just elite athletes.” In terms of supports, Despard would like to see reduced rates for businesses that are identified to improve the sense of community. Having created over 12 jobs in the last two years he also thinks labour-intensive companies should be rewarded. bretzel.ie

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Interview  Trading Places

AD MAN UGANDA IN

CONOR FORREST SPOKE WITH IRISH ENTREPRENEUR NIGEL SUTTON, FOUNDER OF UGANDAN-BASED ADVERTISING AGENCY LIMELIGHT LTD, TO DISCOVER MORE ABOUT LIFE IN THE EAST AFRICAN NATION The Irish, as a nation, tend to spread their wings around the globe, with strong Irish communities from America to Australia and many other places in between. Uganda, however, isn’t a typical destination on that list.

Nigel Sutton’s first trip to Uganda came in March 1995 after a nine-month contract with Guinness came to an end. His father was Diageo’s managing director in Uganda, serving between 1994 and 1998, and so a two-week holiday to the landlocked African nation was arranged. Before he could leave for Ireland, he was offered a job at ad agency McCann Erickson as creative director,

which he accepted. Eight months later, he set up an agency with a partner, which lasted for a year, followed by Limelight Ltd, which is still in operation today.

“It’s still very traditional media – radio, newspapers, billboards,” he says of the

SFA FACT Did you know?

In 2015, Bubbles O’Leary was listed as one of the top ten best Irish pubs in the world (outside Ireland)

by The Irish Times.

advertising landscape within Uganda. “It’s beginning to veer a little bit towards social media, because the traditional media has got very expensive and a lot of companies just don’t have the budget to run big media campaigns. To run a full page ad in the national newspaper is about $4,000-5,000.”

Because of the price of print advertising, advertisers are driven towards radio.

However, that medium isn’t entirely straightforward. Sutton explains that Uganda has the most FM stations per head in the world – over 300 in total. As a result, the cost of advertising over the airwaves is a little cheaper, but you have to work with more stations than you might in Ireland in order to maximise your audience.

Building Bubbles Sutton’s interests didn’t (and don’t) simply lie in advertising, however. The lack of a decent watering hole in Kampala – Uganda’s capital city with a population of around 1.65 million – led Sutton and a friend to the idea of building their own haven. Having discounted kit pubs from Guinness as too expensive, they discovered through the grapevine an establishment known as Mulligan’s – The Linen Hall which was for sale in Drogheda. Sutton

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Trading Places  Interview

Nigel Sutton, founder of Uganda-based Limelight Ltd

returned to Ireland in January 2003 to take a closer look, and made the owner an offer for everything within the walls, from the cold room and the ash trays to the glasses, tables and chairs.

Two builders were hired to dismantle the interior and place everything in a 40-foot container, and then travelled ahead to construct the front of the pub in Kampala.

“They sat in Uganda for about six weeks waiting for the container to arrive, which was typically late,” Sutton recalls with a laugh. The name – Bubbles O’Leary – came about by chance. The builders were chatting with Sutton’s business partner one day, and it turned out they had attended the same school.

The name of the religion teacher, Bubbles O’Leary, quickly cropped up, and on overhearing the conversation, Sutton decided that it was the perfect moniker.

Running the business wasn’t quite as straightforward. With Limelight beginning to gain traction at that time, Sutton sought a manager to oversee the pub’s day-to-day operations. Each of his managers lasted for approximately one year, arriving with fresh ideas of how to transform the business and then departing within the next six to 12 months, worn down from long hours and missing stock. Some, he tells me, would turn the pub into their own, personal party spot after a few months, while others still might help themselves to some of the products while on the job.

And experience within the industry was in short supply. “It’s not like in Ireland when you put ads in the paper looking for a bar manager – shake a tree in your garden and a bar manager will fall out.

But in Uganda you’ve got people who never worked in a pub in their lives.”

One particular interviewee stands out in his mind. “I was interviewing for a new chef for the pub and had received a CV from a guy who was living in Uganda, but was Kenyan. I brought him in for

“THE AD GAME IN UGANDA IS VERY DIFFERENT TO THE AD GAME IN IRELAND. THERE’S A SERIOUS LACK OF CREATIVE SKILL.” the interview and started asking him the regulation type questions re: experience, what he could bring to the job and what he was expecting from the job,” he says.

“During a lull in the conversation, and in an effort to find why he had left Kenya to work in Uganda, I asked him: ‘So Julius, what brought you to Uganda?’

With a dead straight face and in all seriousness he answered: ‘A bus.’

Not much you could say after that!”

These days, Bubbles O’Leary is in the

hands of another owner, and Sutton is focusing his full attention on growing Limelight and changing the perception and quality of advertising within Uganda. “The ad game in Uganda is very different to the ad game in Ireland. There’s a serious lack of creative skill, because they don’t ever really see creative advertising,” he explains.

“There’s very little attention to detail, so you’re trying to instil some level of ‘would this appear in an Irish newspaper’, which has its moments and is pretty trying. But it’s all good experience.”

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Business Books  Extract

SPEAKING OF

BUSINESS

TAKEN FROM HER NEW BOOK TEN RED-HOT TIPS TO PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS, ELLEN GUNNING OUTLINES WHAT TO CONSIDER BEFORE OFFERING YOURSELF AS A CONFERENCE SPEAKER.

SFA FACT Did you know?

The SFA Business Book Club is launching soon.

To register your interest, email info@sfa.ie

The most important point here is that you are a good speaker. If you are not, you should not volunteer. There is no point in giving people an opportunity to have a negative experience of your business. It is said that public speaking is one of the great stresses that people have. If you are stressed by the idea of addressing a large group of people you need to ask yourself, in the first instance, if this is something that you want or need to learn to overcome.

Structuring a presentation for a conference works to certain rules. You need to have a PowerPoint or Prezi presentation prepared. People expect to have something to look at while you are speaking. Your presentation should be visual – not a lot of text that can be read from the screen.

You might need to involve colleagues in preparing the visuals for you.

Your speech will be divided into three parts – beginning, middle and end. Work to the established formula – tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you have just told them. People are listening to learn. Give them something useful to take away from your talk.

People are also listening to be entertained. Learning should never be dull. We have little patience if we are asked to sit through a poor speaker, or listen to a poorly structured presentation. Time is precious.

If you are offering yourself as a speaker,

you believe that you know something of interest to the audience, establish exactly what that is. You might know a lot about education, but every one of your peers attending an education conference will know a lot too. What will make your presentation different? Have you conducted research into the future of third-level education for example?

Can you reveal findings about the kind of jobs that will require a master’s degree at entry level in the future? Do you have expertise in comparing education systems around the world? Can you speak about trends in other countries or on other continents which might impact the Irish education system? Have you written a book about a specific area of education and would you like to share your insights into the subject? If you are as ‘generally’ knowledgeable as everyone else attending then you have no reason to be a speaker.

Find an expertise and sharpen it.

You then need to start learning the craft of the speaker. Look at speakers you admire. Why are they so good?

They make it look very easy don’t they? That’s because they put a lot of work into making sure that their presentations are fully researched, rehearsed and relevant to the audience.

Be careful if you are using technology.

The simplest piece of technology can let you down. I usually ask people to make sure that my PowerPoint presentation has been set up before I arrive to prevent any mishaps on the day. Checking in

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Extract  Business Books advance means that you can spend some time fixing any problems.

You speak more quickly when you are nervous, public speaking is always something you should be mildly nervous about. Moreover, you will naturally pick up more pace as you proceed, so if you speed it up, it becomes very difficult for anyone to understand you. Deliberately slow down, and speak as clearly as you can.

If you are preparing a speech, you might be better to prepare the entire speech – word for word – and then reduce it to key points and visuals when you know exactly what you are saying.

Ideally, have someone review the speech to highlight anything that confuses them.

If it confuses on paper, it will definitely confuse when spoken! It doesn’t take a lot of time to sort out these ‘blimps’ in advance, but it will make a lot of difference to the audience’s experience.

Practise your speech. You can do this in the car travelling to and from meetings, while you are gardening at the weekend or walking the dog.

Make sure that you have all of the information clear in your head before you enter the hall to stand and speak.

Do not use the conference as an opportunity to plug your business.

About the Author Ellen Gunning is the director of the Irish Academy of Public Relations, which she formed in 1992. She has worked in PR and event management since the 1980s, and has handled some of the largest PR campaigns in the country. A member of the Professional Speaking Association, Ellen regularly addresses small businesses at conferences, seminars and meetings about ways in which businesses can improve their profile and generate more publicity.

People did not come to hear you advertise. Share your expertise with them and they will associate that level of knowledge with your business anyway.

Be open to questions and answers at the end and expect that someone might ask you something that you cannot answer.

You are there as an expert speaker, not as a seer! If you cannot answer a question, offer to find out and let the organisers know so that they can share the response with attendees – and thank the person for asking such a clever question!

Finally, learn from the feedback that people give you. One of the first speeches I ever made was in a community hall in central Dublin. A lady came up to me afterwards and said that while I was good she found it really annoying looking for my neck. I asked her to explain, as her comment didn’t make sense to me.

She said that as soon as I started to speak, I hunched my shoulders so that they rose to the height of my chin and my neck couldn’t be seen! For many months afterwards I began every speech thinking ‘I hope they can see my neck’!

This is an edited extract taken from Ten Red-Hot Tips to Promote Your Business by Ellen Gunning, reprinted with permission from Mercier Press.

“PEOPLE ARE ALSO LISTENING TO BE ENTERTAINED. LEARNING SHOULD NEVER BE DULL. ”

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HR  Employee Retention

6

RULES OF RETENTION CIARA MCGUONE, SFA EXECUTIVE, OUTLINES SOME KEY AREAS THAT BUSINESSES SHOULD CONSIDER IN ORDER TO RETAIN THEIR TOP TALENT.

At a time of economic growth, one of the main objectives of a business is to ensure that it is retaining its high performing employees. Having quality and experienced employees ensures that a business is in a position to defend itself against competitors. With this in mind, many employers are currently looking at employee management strategies to ensure that they are best placed to retain their top talent. There are six key areas to consider to ensure employees are engaged and are less likely to look for employment elsewhere.

INVESTMENT

In order for employees to feel valued and engaged, it is important that the business is willing to invest in their development.

Managers should hold regular meetings with employees to discuss their performance as well as their longer term career plan. The information gleaned from these meetings will make it much easier for managers to arrange training that caters to the needs of the employee and which also supports their career goals. Many businesses will also encourage employees to undertake additional courses of study that are relevant to their role and can offer support such as contributing towards course fees and/or providing study leave.

If a business has a culture of continuous professional development and is willing to invest in their employees, it is likely that staff will remain engaged and committed to the business for the long term.

plishments. In addition, it can also have a highly detrimental effect if a manager is seen to tolerate poor performance by other employees. This can have a negative impact on morale and can disengage the top performers in a business.

Ciara McGuone, SFA Executive

BENEFITS AND REWARDS

Many people view the benefits package on offer as a main point of contention.

Although an attractive salary can help with the recruitment of top talent, it does not guarantee that those employees are retained. Therefore, it is important that the salary on offer is competitive in the industry and that high performing employees are rewarded through an effective performance appraisal procedure. It is also vital that an employer identifies what their employees consider important in terms of a benefits package. This can vary depending on an individual’s circumstances, for example, if the employee has a young family, generous leave entitlements may be a high priority.

EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT

We have all often heard the expression, “employees don’t leave jobs; they leave managers”. It is very important that managers are well trained and competent in performing their role. An effective manager should build relationships with employees and reward and acknowledge their accom-

RECRUITMENT

It is very important that a business has a thorough and effective hiring process in place to ensure that they are selecting the right candidates. It is also important to identify during the selection process what is important to the candidate to ensure that they are a right fit within the company from the outset.

WORKPLACE FLEXIBILITY

A business is rewarded by employee commitment when they adopt a flexible approach to working. Employers should review roles within their business and seek to identify any areas where more flexibility could be added. It is often the case that employees work best when they can balance their work responsibilities with their personal life. This can include options such as working from home when applicable, term time and career breaks.

COMMUNICATION

A business should aim to be open and transparent with their employees as much as possible. Managers must believe in the importance of communicating with their staff on an ongoing basis and this should be

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Employee Retention  HR

reinforced by the overall business culture.

This should start from when an employee joins the business and continue up to when they leave employment. When an employee resigns, it provides the business with an opportunity to meet with the employee and discuss their reasons for departure. Since the employee is leaving, they will often be more open and frank in their discussions about the business. This information will be of great benefit to the company as it will give the employer an insight into how the business is perceived and ideas on how to improve the employee experience. If there is a common trend as to why employees are leaving the employer will be in a position to try and remedy this matter.

To conclude, it is essential in any successful talent management strategy that an employer recognises that employees are central to the success of the business. The starting point in this process is acknowledging that every employee has the potential to add value and the business must be committed to ensuring that this happens. The six steps outlined above will ensure that an employee feels valued and is committed to the business. By adopting this approach, the employer is not only investing in its employees but also investing in the long term success of the business.

For further information or advice, contact Ciara MCGuone, SFA Executive, on 01 6051668 or ciara.mcguone@sfa.ie

The Power of Thank You

One4all’s Power of Thank You report found that one-third of Irish employees do not receive any kind of thanks from their manager. Of those that are recognised, 31 per cent said they are thanked on an annual basis, while 14 per cent said they are thanked “rarely”. The majority of respondents (68 per cent) believed that they should be thanked more often, highlighting the need for improvement and the big impact that could be made by showing gratitude to staff. The Small Firms Association has partnered with One4all Rewards to make it easy for SFA members to say thank you to their staff with a reward they can spend on whatever they want. One4all Gift Cards are accepted in over 7,000 outlets nationwide, including popular high street retailers such as Argos, Debenhams, TK Maxx, Woodies, Boots and many more outlets, ensuring that your staff will find a gift they will truly appreciate.

Win

SFA Member Offer Free card customisation: customise your gift cards free of charge with your company logo. Every order placed by an SFA member from October 31st to December 2nd will be entered into a weekly draw to win a €100 One4all Gift Card. All orders will also be delivered free of charge. To find out more about this exclusive offer and to get the SFA promo code, visit one4allrewards.ie/sfa.

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Business Advice  SFA Business

THE BIG LEAN UP

DERMOT FREEMAN OF DERMOT FREEMAN & ASSOCIATES ASKS WHY IT IS THAT OUR SMALL BUSINESS SECTOR IS INDIFFERENT TO LEAN.

Do your eyes go glossy the moment you hear mention of ‘lean’? If so, why is that?

Just about every multinational organisation operating in Ireland has a continuous improvement or lean programme/ department. Our indigenous small companies are, sadly, a different story.

This is all the more confusing given that there is 30 per cent plus in savings opportunities available from an effective lean programme, no matter what your business is. Why, therefore, is there such poor take-up of lean processes?

“It is not relevant to us or our business and anyway, we’re too busy!” Nothing could be further from the truth. It is relevant to every business and its benefits may be the difference between survival and failure especially if there is a downward pressure on costs associated with

Brexit. Get rid of the wasteful activities and you will have all the time you need not to be busy.

“We’re not big enough.” Again, this could not be further from the truth as we are implementing lean in Irish companies from staff of five up to 500.

Lean forces you to look at your business, to eliminate waste and finally focus on your customer. It is not difficult to do and there is significant support available by way of grants from Enterprise Ireland through their LeanStart and LeanPlus programmes.

So how are small Irish companies improving their processes? Here are some examples.

Having downsized in the recession, a construction company was later able to increase its output in a way that avoided

having to reinstate a second shift. More importantly, it brought structure and control of its processes resulting in its on-time delivery and quality metrics soaring.

A small processor in the food service industry had a production unit that spent only 2.5 hours per day actually producing product. The rest of the time was spend going to various parts of the facility to get the materials that were needed. Working with the people doing the job, some basic pre-kitting of materials for orders and a re-layout of the workplace increased production to six hours per day without any extra resources. In essence, a 125 per cent increase in output!

A plastic processing company had the good fortune to win extra business but between the raw materials needed, the new equipment and the holding of finished goods, it was faced with having to add up to 50 per cent extra space.

Working with its suppliers, creative storage of its work in progress and an agreement with its customers to introduce a daily “milk run”, the company was able to free up the space it needed for its new business and avoid having to develop a second facility. All of that was extra profit!

Several companies are looking at their support processes for significant improvements. Here long delays for design department outputs, poor procurement processes driving stock-outs, site management issues and changing customer demands are some of the tasks being tackled using lean methodologies with positive effects.

Remember, every euro you waste is a euro taken from your profits!

Utilising over 37 years’ experience, Dermot Freeman works with companies in all sectors that are looking to improve the quality, cost and delivery of their product offering, giving them the edge before the competition has it. www. dermotfreeman.com

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Budget 2017 SFA Policy

Launching the SFA’s pre-Budget 2017 submission, AJ Noonan, SFA Chairman, said: “Competitiveness must be at the heart of Budget 2017. In an environment where many factors are outside of our domestic control, the Government must relentlessly pursue improvements in the competitiveness of those areas it can influence. This is especially critical in light of aggressive competition from the UK in the aftermath of the Brexit vote.

“The tax system has a vital role to play in supporting development at each stage of the life cycle of a small business. The capital gains tax regime is in need of an overhaul to boost investment. A 10 per cent entrepreneurial rate would encourage business owners who sell their business to invest in another company. It is vital that this applies to all businesses so that the impact can be felt immediately. Practice over the last 20 years has shown that when the CGT rate drops, the Exchequer benefits due to a surge in activity, so this is a clear win-win.”

A BUDGET FOR SMALL BUSINESS

THE SMALL FIRMS ASSOCIATION HAS SET OUT THE SMALL BUSINESS PRIORITIES FOR BUDGET 2017.

Other tax changes that would remove disincentives to establish a business, take up employment or invest include: ● End discrimination against the self employed in the tax system to encourage entrepreneurship by: - Abolishing the 3 per cent USC surcharge that applies only to the self-employed - Increasing the self-employed tax credit to the same level as the PAYE tax credit - Introducing a voluntary PRSI system for the self-employed ● Reward work by increasing the entry point to the marginal rate of tax and decreasing the rate by 1 per cent. ● Review employer PRSI to fulfil the commitment that the National Minimum Wage increase on January 1st 2016 would not penalise employers. ● Introduce a scheme similar to the UK’s Enterprise Management Initiative for employee share options in small firms. ● Enhance the EIIS scheme to encourage friends, families and experienced local investors to invest in small firms.

“The Irish economy is starved of investment. Years of under-investment, coupled with Ireland’s growing population, is leading to serious bottlenecks in transport, education, broadband, housing and other public infrastructure.

Capital expenditure must reach 4 per cent of GDP as soon as possible and investment must be targeted strategically,” said Noonan.

The SFA has identified a number of priority areas for investment: ● Improving broadband infrastructure, particularly in rural areas ● Developing public transport links

● Building a real motorway network linking regional cities ● Addressing housing shortages ● Enhancing education and in-work training

“Budget 2017 will chart a course at a time when Ireland’s economic future could follow a number of trajectories.

Small businesses make up 99 per cent of our enterprise base and employ half the private sector workforce. More than anything, the upcoming Budget must deliver competitiveness improvements to allow small businesses to put their best foot forward, domestically and internationally,” concluded Noonan.

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Events  SFA Awards

The SFA National Small Business Awards 2017 were officially launched on Tuesday September 7th by Awards Patron, An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, TD, at Government Buildings. The aim of the awards is to celebrate the achievements of small business in Ireland, and to recognise the vital contribution of the small business sector to the Irish economy. Speaking at the launch, An Taoiseach said: “Small Firms have been central to Ireland’s recovery. I am delighted to support the SFA Awards again this year.

Across Ireland there are thousands of people who go to work every day in small firms and they play an important role in our economy. It is fantastic to have these awards to highlight the success of many Irish businesses and their constant drive to improve and seek new markets.” The awards competition is free to enter and is open to all companies in Ireland with up to 50 employees. There is a wide range of categories to suit all sectors – including a category for companies with under five employees and newly formed businesses.

A generous prize package valued at €50,000 is awarded to all shortlisted finalists throughout the programme with additional prizes for the overall winner.

WHY ENTER? As these awards celebrate excellence, achievement and innovation in small business this is your opportunity to promote and showcase your business and enhance your credibility both internationally and nationally through the extensive PR and media profile these awards attract.

Companies are regularly featured in national and local press and radio. Previous SFA award winners have also featured in European SME week publications. These awards also provide companies with a vehicle to recognise the valuable commitment that employees make to the organisation by highlighting their contribution and achievement.

Celebrating Small Business

THE SEARCH IS ON FOR THE BEST SMALL BUSINESS IN IRELAND.

2017 PRIZE PACKAGE

HOW TO APPLY

ALL FINALISTS

Entries to the awards will be accepted until 5.30pm on Friday October 21st 2016 and entry forms are available online at www.sfa.ie/awards.

● A comprehensive development programme including media and presentation skills training along with discounted participation on a management development programme through Skillnets ● Exhibition opportunity at the SFA Awards Small Business Showcase ● An interview/profile in a specially commissioned Irish Independent Awards Supplement ● Five complementary tickets to the Gala Awards Ceremony ● A finalist certificate CATEGORY WINNERS ● Award trophy – presented at the Gala Awards Ceremony ● One year membership of the Small Firms Association

€50K PRIZE PACKAGE FOR ALL FINALISTS

OVERALL WINNER ● Winner trophy – presented at the Gala Awards Ceremony ● Profile in the SFA Better Business magazine ● A bursary of €5,000 to present to a charity of their choice (funded by the 2013 Overall Winner, Megazyme International Ireland) ● Responsible business practices check-up and action plan from Business in the Community Ireland

THE CATEGORIES ARE: Manufacturing sponsored by Energia Food and Drink sponsored by Bord Bia Services sponsored by Three Outstanding Small Business, up to five employees sponsored by AIB Innovator of the Year sponsored by Enterprise Ireland Sustainable Energy sponsored by Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland Small Business Exporter of the Year sponsored

by DHL Express Emerging New Businesses, less than two years in existence sponsored by IE Domain Registry Skillnets is the Management Development Partner for the awards programme.

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SFA Awards  Events

Pictured at the official launch of the SFA National Small Business Awards 2017 were patron An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, TD and Patricia Callan, SFA Director, with sponsors (from l-r), Una Fitzgibbon, Bord Bia, Jim Gannon, SEAI, Catherine Moroney, AIB, Joe Healy, Enterprise Ireland, Alison Moore, DHL Express, Gary Ryan, Energia, David Curtin, IEDR, Padraig Sheerin, Three and Paul Healy, Skillnets

KICK OFF THE FESTIVE SEASON AT THE SFA ANNUAL LUNCH The SFA Annual Lunch is the highlight of the small business calendar. It is an opportunity to celebrate the contribution that small businesses make to the Irish economy and society. Join over 500 guests, including small business owner-managers, politicians, senior government officials and media for the biggest business lunch of the year. The SFA Annual Lunch is the perfect opportunity to bring together your guests, special customers, clients and valued employees to kick off the festive season.

WHEN:

Friday November 18th WHERE:

Mansion House, Dublin DETAILS:

www.sfa.ie/events

BUSINESS BYTES FREE SEMINARS ARE BACK Business Bytes are free evening seminars, brought to you on the second Wednesday of the month by the SFA and Bord Gáis Energy. Participants have the opportunity to hear from a guest speaker, engage in Q&A and network with other small businesses. The 2016-2017 season will kick off on October 12th with a must-attend event for all business owners. The theme is ‘Personal financial management for business owners’ and participants will get tips from our expert speakers on efficient tax planning, protecting your business, succession planning and ensuring your income in retirement. Other topics that will be covered in the upcoming series include Brexit, sales pipeline management and closing techniques, employment law, employee engagement and staff retention, marketing, data protection and controlling business costs.

Save the date for the second Wednesday of the month and go to www.sfa.ie/events for more information and to register.

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Commercial Profile

BREXIT: AN OPPORTUNITY FOR ALTERNATIVE LENDERS DAVID MARTIN, DIRECTOR IN DELOITTE’S DEBT & CAPITAL ADVISORY TEAM, EXPLORES THE POTENTIAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALTERNATIVE LENDERS IN THE IRISH PRIVATE BUSINESS MARKET PRESENTING THEMSELVES IN A POST-BREXIT LANDSCAPE. The implications of the UK referendum on Brexit on June 24th have yet to be fully recognised by Irish private businesses. The immediate effect of the vote was evident in the sterling exchange rate, which declined sharply against the euro and while the impact of Brexit on the UK economy is not fully appraised, some economic commentators are predicting recession in 2017.

Given Ireland’s close trading relationship with the UK (Ireland exported circa €15 billion of goods to the UK in 2015, representing 14 per cent of total exports, according to the Central Statistics Office), Brexit is likely to have a negative impact on Irish businesses relying on the UK market.

Deloitte Debt & Capital Advisory advises trading businesses, property acquirers and developers on maturing debt facilities, acquisition and growth facilities, accessing new debt markets, recapitalisations to facilitate payments to shareholders, off-balance sheet finance and asset-based finance solutions.

While the appetite of both international and domestic banks to lend to those businesses exposed to the UK is yet to be determined, a recent Deloitte/Alternative Credit Council in the UK report noted the potential for increased activity for alternative lenders as a result of Brexit. We believe this trend will follow in Ireland, with banks likely to be more selective in evaluating borrowers’ capacity to repay loans in the medium term as: • There will likely be continued volatility in capital markets affecting Irish banks • Regulatory/capital adequacy requirements on Irish banks are likely to remain stringent • Brexit is expected to have a negative effect on Irish exporters and tourism-related companies’

turnover/profitability • Alternative lenders that have capital locked in for Ireland seek to utilise these funds The main export sectors likely to be affected by Brexit are agriculture and food. Although the Irish economy has become less reliant on the UK in recent years, it still remains the largest export market for food producers.

The UK accounted for 45 per cent of Irish food exports, valued at €4.5bn in 2015. Brexit has, therefore, created major uncertainty and immediate price challenges for agri-food businesses.

Another sector likely to be affected by Brexit is hospitality with one industry report pointing out that 95 per cent of hoteliers surveyed are concerned about the result of the UK referendum.

Impact of Brexit on banks

The Irish lending market is dominated

by Allied Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank, which, from a business lending perspective, operate in the SME, mid and large corporate lending markets. This is further augmented

by Barclays Bank Ireland, Rabobank and HSBC which tend to focus on the funding of larger corporates. Over the last number of years, activity has been high with the domestic banks creating specialist lending teams to focus on the hospitality, agriculture, pharmacy, healthcare, retail and motor dealership sectors.

Banks typically dominate the corporate debt market, with transactions of up to two times net debt to EBITDA ratio typically attracting lower margins with shorter tenors. Transactions attracting a net debt to EBITDA ratio of greater than 3.5 are viewed as highly leveraged finance transactions, which will attract higher pricing and more restrictive covenants. Alternative lenders are active in this highly leveraged

finance space. Furthermore, Irish banks are playing an active part in the funding of property acquirers and developers, albeit on a more restrictive basis than they had been pre-2007.

In the short to medium term, the result of Brexit is likely to mean that banks will pursue higher quality borrowers and more restrictive lending conditions until there is more visibility on what ramifications the Brexit vote will have on: (1) the turnover and profitability of Irish businesses, and particularly those with heavy exposure to UK customers; and (2) volatility in capital markets affecting Irish banks.

Impact of Brexit on alternative lenders

The last number of years have seen an increase in non-bank lenders in the Irish market. Typically, alternative lenders are operating in the unitranche facility space or stretched leverage space, which would typically see a net debt to EBITDA ratio in excess of 4, which will attract margins in excess of 7 per cent.

Alternative lenders in Ireland consist of a wide range of non-bank institutions with different strategies, including private debt, mezzanine, growth and distressed debt. Deloitte Debt & Capital Advisory has noted particularly strong activity in recent years from the likes of Activate Capital, AIB Specialised Finance, BBF Capital Partners, Bluebay Asset Management, Broadhaven Credit Partners, Cardinal Mezzanine Fund, Earlsfort Capital, Lotus Investment Group, Origin Capital, and the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF).

For alternative lenders in Ireland that have already locked in capital, Brexit should create further lending opportunities as banks are more likely to become more risk averse, particularly to sectors that rely significantly on the UK market. This is likely to be the case for both alternative lenders that

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Commercial Profile

David Martin, Deloitte Debt & Capital Advisory

lend to trading businesses and for property acquirers and developers.

Deloitte Debt & Capital Advisory has worked with the majority of the alternative lenders in the Irish market. Each lender demonstrates its unique appetite for different sectors.

As many alternative lenders do not provide clearing facilities, we note the importance of trading businesses, in particular maintaining their relationship with a bank, as well as an alternative lender. Thus, the potential rise of activity for alternative lenders is also likely to be an opportunity for banks to provide ancillary services to borrowers.

Over the last few years, more lenders have emerged in funding property developers, with Activate Capital, Lotus Homes and the Cardinal Mezzanine Fund having concluded numerous transactions in the space.

Furthermore, private companies without access to further shareholder

funding lacked the ability to make transformational acquisitions.

Bank lenders are typically not able to fund junior debt/quasi-equity risk and require a sizeable equity contribution from shareholders to fund growth. Alternative lenders see an opportunity to accelerate the growth of the company and exponentially grow shareholder value in a shorter timeframe.

We believe this trend is likely to continue, where their ability to execute quickly, be flexible on structure and access debt across the capital structure will provide property acquirers/ developers with additional capital that a traditional bank is unable to do, due to their regulatory and risk policies. This access to additional capital, aided by increased volatility as a result of Brexit, is likely to provide an opportunity for alternative lenders with flexible lending mandates.

Cooperation expected

While alternative lenders and banks often compete on transactions, we have seen and expect to see more cooperation on transactions between banks and alternative lenders. The recent Deloitte/Alternative Credit Council survey found that two-thirds of alternative lenders use their relationships with banks to source credit opportunities, and use the banks as an important part of concluding transactions through the use of their ancillary services, including clearing accounts.

In conclusion, while Brexit has created uncertainty for many Irish private businesses, we believe increased capital available from alternative lenders is likely to provide a sustained capital base for Irish private businesses to meet their ambitions.

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Commercial Profile

ENERGY MATTERS IN BUSINESS NICKY DORAN, MARKETING AND ENERGY SERVICES CONTROLLER AT BORD GÁIS ENERGY, TELLS BETTER BUSINESS ABOUT THE POSITIVE IMPACT THAT SMARTER ENERGY MANAGEMENT CAN HAVE ON A SMALL BUSINESS’S BOTTOM LINE.

While many businesses understand the benefits of being more energy efficient, the reality is that some are still falling behind. Energy efficiency is often pushed off the agenda as managers don’t fully understand the positive impact that smarter energy management can have on the bottom line. In fact, implementing energy saving projects can actually reduce operating expenses and increase productivity.

There’s always something you can do to improve energy efficiency in your business, whether you’re ready to commit to a long term strategy or just looking for some quick wins. Some measures don’t cost a thing and are quick to implement, while some require more consideration and investment. Whatever your approach, it’s a good idea to appoint an energy efficiency champion in your business to drive the message internally.

Energy efficiency funding

Bord Gáis Energy offers a range of initiatives including funding for commercial customers towards the capital cost of energy efficiency projects.

To apply for this funding, companies make an initial enquiry and this is followed by a technical evaluation by one of our energy experts. The value of the financial support available for each project will be based on the total volume of energy savings in kilowatt-hours (kWh) made by each project.

To measure the success of the energy efficiency project, we help businesses verify the savings achieved through detailed reports. This helps to quantify the financial savings and highlights the financial benefits of energy efficiency at all levels of an organisation.

The types of energy efficiency projects supported include lighting, boiler or chiller replacements, high efficiency pumps and drives, building management systems, process improvements and renewable energy technologies. Through active participation in these initiatives, companies could expect to save up to 20-30 per cent off the capital cost of their energy efficiency project.

Organisations wishing to apply for the

Nicky Doran, Marketing and Energy Services Controller, Bord Gáis Energy funding can contact our dedicated team at energyservices@bordgais.ie for more information on this scheme.

Lighting

Many business managers don’t realise that the cost of lighting can equate to up to 40 per cent of a company’s electricity costs. Using an LED lighting solution can help reduce these costs by as much as 70 per cent. LED lighting offers 50,000 hour running life which translates to virtually maintenancefree lighting. It also offers improved luminance levels when compared to fluorescent lighting.

We have partnered with UrbanVolt

to offer businesses an opportunity to dramatically reduce their energy costs through LED upgrades, without having to make any upfront investment. Bord Gáis Energy provides financial support to help fund the upfront cost of the LED installations. UrbanVolt then funds the cost of the lighting assets over five years, only taking their payment from the savings generated. LED lighting retrofits are available to both Bord Gáis Energy customers and non-customers.

For more advice or energy saving tips visit the Bord Gáis Energy website bordgaisenergy.ie/energy-efficiency or email energyservices@bordgais.ie.

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Commercial Profile

ACCESSING LOWER COST FINANCE NICK ASHMORE, CEO, STRATEGIC BANKING CORPORATION OF IRELAND (SBCI), OUTLINES HOW IRISH SMALL BUSINESSES CAN BENEFIT FROM AN SCBI LOAN.

Providing access to lower cost finance lies at the heart of the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) mission. The SBCI was set up in late 2014 to address issues SMEs were facing in the credit market in Ireland following the banking crisis. Specifically, the SBCI was put in place to secure sources of long-term lower cost funding for SMEs. An initial €800 million of funding from the German development bank, KFW, the European Investment Bank and the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund has been fully allocated to our current lending partners.

So far (up to the end of June 2016), the SBCI has supported 8,619 Irish SMEs with loans totalling €347m. Between them these SMEs employ over 43,000 people. SMEs were borrowing funds at an average of 1.5 per cent less than they could source elsewhere. Loan sizes have varied from €1,200 to €5m with a good geographic spread throughout Ireland.

Almost a quarter of all our loans have so far been drawn down by agri-businesses, while the accommodation and food trade (hotels, restaurants), wholesale and retail trade (shops, distributors) and the administration and support sector have also featured strongly.

Benefits

SBCI finance is available to businesses in almost every sector of the Irish economy, and we encourage any SME that has not thought about an SBCI loan to consider the benefits our finance can bring.

The benefits for businesses that secure loans through SBCI include a lower cost and longer repayment periods, delivering cashflow advantages to SMEs. So far, 87 per cent of SBCI loans have been used

by SMEs for investing in growing their business, with the remaining 13 per cent split between working capital and refinancing loans from banks that have exited the Irish market.

Lowdown on lenders

SBCI is not a retail bank lending directly to businesses; rather it acts as a channel for lower cost funding from European and domestic sources to financial institutions, with the cost and flexibility benefits passed along to SME borrowers.

Nick Ashmore, CEO, Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland Along with traditional banks, the SBCI has to-date brought on board four non-bank lenders. The successful rollout of SBCI loans owes much to the commitment and SME focus of our on-lending banking partners AIB, Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank along with non-banking partners Finance Ireland, Merrion Fleet, First Citizen Finance and Bibby Financial Services Ireland.

Bringing non-bank lenders into the market is a way of driving competition along with providing more niche loan products including leasing, hire purchase and fleet finance, agriequipment finance and invoice finance.

What’s next?

The SBCI is preparing for exciting new developments that will allow us to play an even bigger role in supporting Irish business. These are challenging times for Irish SMEs and, given the SBCI is here to make some of these difficulties easier to overcome, we encourage you to get in touch and share your business experiences and ideas with us.

You can find further information on how to apply for SBCI loans and our contact details at www.sbci.gov.ie.

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Commercial Profile

TAXSAVER SAVINGS THE TAXSAVER SCHEME HAS BEEN AROUND FOR 16 YEARS HELPING EMPLOYEES TO REDUCE THE COST OF THEIR COMMUTE, WITH BIG SAVINGS FOR BOTH EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE…SO HOW DOES IT WORK? IARNRÓD ÉIREANN IRISH RAIL’S GARY DUNPHY EXPLAINS.

Q

Q

Could you tell me about how the Taxsaver scheme with Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail, Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann works and how long it has been in operation?

How can employers assist employees in receiving a Taxsaver ticket?

Registering for the Taxsaver scheme is easy, employers can simply log on to taxsaver.ie, complete a quick online registration form and set up for the scheme. We offer guidance, assistance and advice for employers through our dedicated Taxsaver email and phone helpline and we can also arrange to visit companies and talk directly with staff, highlighting the benefits of the scheme, making them aware of the most economical way of travelling to work.

The Taxsaver scheme was introduced in 1999 by the Government as an incentive to encourage the use of public transport. The scheme has seen huge growth with over 6,000 companies now purchasing monthly and annual tickets for their employees. Employers can purchase Taxsaver tickets on behalf of the employees; the cost of the ticket is then deducted from the employee’s gross salary saving them from paying tax, PRSI, Universal Social Charge or benefit in kind on this amount. It is an easy to use, innovative, practical and green initiative encouraging people to utilise clean modern and reliable public transport whilst leaving the car at home.

Q

How do employees benefit from the scheme?

Employees can avail of a monthly or annual ticket through the scheme, the cost of the ticket is deducted from the employee’s gross salary giving them a fantastic saving of up to 52 per cent off the cost of their commute to work!

Employees can see exactly how much they can save by using the savings calculator on our website. Another great benefit of the scheme is the convenience of having a monthly or annual ticket delivered to your office, no more queuing at the station or looking for change on a Monday morning.

Q

What types of companies are availing of the service?

Q

How do employers benefit from the scheme?

The Taxsaver scheme is a win-win for the employer and commuter.

The employee makes fantastic savings of up to 52 per cent off the cost of their ticket whilst the employer can also save up to 10.75 per cent through PRSI savings, as the employee’s gross income is reduced. It’s an employee perk that doesn’t cost you money. No more parking problems and the staff will love you!

The Taxsaver scheme is open and available to all companies from small firms to large multinationals.

Our online registration and ordering process is quick and easy and our friendly and knowledgeable staff can guide new companies through the process with ease. We provide a complete information and support service to help you introduce the Taxsaver scheme in your company, including detailed information on all aspects of the programme, from ticket types to photo requirements. Employers and employees are welcome to contact our Taxsaver team on 1850 211 777 or visit our website www. taxsaver.ie.

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Commercial Profile

COMBINING CAPABILITIES

BETTER BUSINESS CAUGHT UP WITH THE HEADS OF DHL EXPRESS AND MEMORY BANK TO HEAR ABOUT THEIR DISTRIBUTION PARTNERSHIP FOR THE EXPORT MARKET. Bernard McCarthy, Managing Director for DHL Express, talks about how international exporting can help small businesses grow their customer base.

How does exporting outside of Ireland give small businesses opportunity to grow?

There is lots of evidence to show that small businesses that embrace international markets are more successful in the long-term. Indeed DHL’s international research has shown that firms that export internationally are twice as likely to be successful than those that operate only in their domestic market.

What are the current risks facing small businesses that take their business international?

Whilst expanding into international markets presents opportunities for diversification and growth, it’s critically important that any new exporter

carries out the necessary research and planning. First and foremost it’s very important to know your sector and your competition – what are the relative strengths and weaknesses of your product or service within the new potential market. Make sure that you have the required working capital in place and be aware of exchange rate issues when dealing outside of the euro area. And of course, be sure to partner with a reputable logistics partner who will deliver your goods safely, securely and on time to your new export customer.

How important is it for DHL to have an in-depth understanding of a customer’s business and their product?

At DHL we work to understand our customers’ needs and in so doing we regularly provide advice in relation to selecting the right transport mode, providing information and support in relation to customs requirements,

terms of trade etc. Many of these topics will be ‘second nature’ for larger, more experienced exporters but it’s important that new exporters fully explore these areas and make the right decisions for their business.

Elaine Ralph, CEO of Memory Bank, discusses the importance of a reliable partner for distribution in the expansion of its business.

Memory Bank is a successful distributor of IT infrastructure products, providing an extensive range of bestin-class brands from industry leading vendors. It was founded in 1995 and has a total of 20 employees.

Tell me about Memory Bank’s export journey since it was established?

The change in sales channels and specifically the move to online buying brought a huge opportunity for Memory Bank to enter the complex world of online selling. Starting with the UK and then mainland Europe, it quickly became apparent that there were different business requirements, in particular around logistics and access to real-time delivery information.

What have been the biggest challenges in expanding and exporting internationally?

Specifically for our business, we deal with large online marketplace providers who have strict rules and regulations around distribution practices. In particular, proof of delivery, the times of delivery and access to real-time delivery information are of utmost importance to us. The challenge Memory Bank faces is ensuring that we adhere to these guidelines to avoid any financial penalties which would hit our bottom line.

Bernard McCarthy, Managing Director, DHL Express

How important is the reliability of a distribution partner been for your business?

The reliability of our distribution partner is high in terms of importance to our business. The ease of integration to our systems, shipping costs and performance metrics were all pivotal in us choosing DHL as a partner.

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Commercial Profile

FLEXIBLE BUSINESS FINANCE ARE YOU A SMALL BUSINESS SEEKING GROWTH CAPITAL? A NEW SOURCE OF FUNDING FOR IRISH BUSINESSES IS NOW AVAILABLE, AS TADHG O’CONNELL, COUNTRY MANAGER, LIQUID FINANCE IRELAND, EXPLAINS. No one is going to argue that the small business sector provides the backbone to the Irish economy. To continue to do so, businesses must grow, increase their number of outlets, invest in new assets and launch new ranges.

However, growth requires financing and the finance landscape has changed dramatically in Ireland in the last eight years. Traditional lenders have re-evaluated where and how they want to lend and some are still quite risk-averse to the small business sector. According to research, 67 per cent of small businesses feel that banks’ products and services have not evolved to support them.

This has created a vacuum into which the ‘alternative’ funding industry has stepped and Liquid Finance is pleased to announce the opening of its Irish office, based on Merrion Street, Dublin 2.

Liquid Finance Ireland provides a unique funding product to small businesses that take credit and debit cards. It is called a ‘Merchant

Cash Advance’ and is a flexible, quick alternative to traditional finance.

Is it for me?

Have you been in business for over 12 months? Do you take debit and/or credit cards? Do you average over €3,500 per month in card related turnover? Are you looking for finance to help fund future growth of your business? If the answer to these questions is yes, then a cash advance could be ideal for you.

What can I use it for?

We will provide funding for stock, refurbishment, equipment, product development, basically anything that facilitates business growth.

How it works

The Liquid Advance is based on the average monthly card (debit and credit) turnover of your business.

The average is usually the amount we will advance you. We charge a fee for the advance. You repay the advance and fee via committing an

Tadhg O’Connell, Country Manager, Liquid Finance Ireland agreed percentage of your future card takings until it is paid back.

Why is it unique?

Repayment of the advance reflects your cashflow and repayments are made daily, by automatically deducting the agreed percentage from your card takings. This negates the requirement to provide for onerous monthly repayments or placing pressure on your cashflow. This is particularly relevant, when dealing with seasonal businesses. There are no repayment deadlines, fees or penalties.

There is no business plan required or lots of complicated paperwork.

The advance is unsecured and our team is in place to get the cash to you generally within ten working days.

What do our customers say?

“The Liquid Finance Cash Advance is a breath of fresh air. The repayment flexibility is excellent for us as we have quiet periods and busy periods during the year. I would definitely recommend this to others!”

What do I do next?

Please do not hesitate to contact one of our team at 01 9066167 or get further details on our website www.liquidfinance.ie.

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Commercial Profile

PROTECTING YOUR PERSONAL LIABILITY WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF A CLAIM WAS MADE AGAINST YOU PERSONALLY ARISING OUT OF YOUR ROLE IN THE MANAGEMENT OF YOUR BUSINESS? CARMAN DEVLIN OF O’LEARY INSURANCES LOOKS AT THE PROTECTION PROVIDED BY A D&O LIABILITY POLICY. Zurich Insurance, in partnership with the SFA’s preferred broker, O’Leary Insurances, is offering a bespoke management liability insurance policy to small and medium sized businesses, with additional benefits to SFA members.

This Directors & Officers (D&O) liability policy protects company executives’ personal liability and can be extended to include corporate, employment practices, pension trustee liability and crime.

This policy protects the individual from claims arising out of company insolvency, shareholders, competitors and regulators and can be extended to protect the company from claims arising out of harassment, bullying and employee crime through the additional modules of cover available.

Annual premiums start at €350 and cover as standard: • Defence costs paid upfront • Guaranteed access to appropriate legal representation • The financial loss of directors/ officers where the company is unable to indemnify • Automatic cover for spouses/partners • Extended ‘lifetime’ reporting period for retired directors SFA members receive additional benefits such as: • Direct debit facility • Increased cover for reputation recovery and emergency costs, civil fines/penalties, court attendance and loss of employee data • Reinstatement of the D&O limit on the policy should the first aggregate limit be exhausted • Any one claim coverage provided on the crime section

Claims could lead to personal financial ruin

Scott Diamond, Head of Financial Lines with Zurich in Ireland, says: “It’s not uncommon for directors to think that a

‘corporate veil’ will protect them in the event of a claim. In reality, there are a range of circumstances where a company may not pay a director’s legal costs, for example where there are criminal charges or where payment of these costs may be in breach of company legislation.

This can result in a director being left personally liable, with the potential of financially catastrophic impact to their personal assets and families.”

In a recent case, a building company employee died after falling through a roof at work. Following an investigation by the Health and Safety Authority, one of the company directors was charged with gross negligence manslaughter and convicted. The defence costs totalled €175,000.

Global strength, local experts

As a global leading D&O insurer, Zurich can provide tailor-made solutions for SFA members. “We can provide custom-made policies, something our competitors sometimes struggle with,” says Diamond. “Getting the right policy is only part of the story,

the real test comes when a customer needs to make a claim. At Zurich, we provide a professional Irish based claims-handling service.”

Why Zurich?

Zurich is one of Ireland’s most trusted global insurers, having unrivalled financial strength and stability demonstrated by Standard & Poor’s AA rating (as at August 1st 2016).

Additionally, Zurich has written over €750 million financial lines business globally. Zurich Insurance plc is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.

Why O’Leary’s?

The O’Leary Insurance Group has been the preferred broker to the Small Firms Association for over 15 years and is one of the largest independent Irish insurance brokerages with over 220 employees. O’Leary Insurances (Dublin) Ltd. is regulated

by The Central Bank of Ireland.

For a quotation, please contact Carman Devlin in O’Leary Insurances at cdevlin@olid.ie or 01 6608211.

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Commercial Profile

KNOW THE SCORE

THE CREDIT REVIEW OFFICE IS ADVISING IRISH BUSINESSES TO BE AWARE OF THEIR CREDIT RECORD IN ORDER TO IMPROVE THEIR CHANCES OF GETTING CREDIT - TIMELY ADVICE AHEAD OF THE INTRODUCTION OF A NEW CENTRAL CREDIT REGISTER. Increasingly in recent years there has been a move towards faster credit approval and automated decision making. In many cases, this means that a poor credit record can lead to a speedy ‘no’ when applying for credit. A bad credit rating can mean a credit refusal, even if the individual or business can repay the loan. Irish businesses and individuals are often unaware of what credit records are held about them, whether they are accurate and how they can be improved, corrected or amended to ensure a better chance of getting credit.

Banks assess each business application for credit on a case-by-case basis and each bank operates its own credit policy. Often, when considering

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a credit application, a lender will check the credit history or credit score of the business and its owners/promoters, using a credit reference agency or credit register. At present, the main credit reference agency in Ireland is the Irish Credit Bureau (ICB). Their database includes information on a wide range of loans, including personal loans, mortgages and credit card loans.

The ICB does not decide whether or not credit is provided but financial institutions may use ICB information to help make the decision to lend.

A new Central Credit Register is currently being established by the Central Bank of Ireland, which is expected to commence operations in 2017.

What should Irish businesses do?

• Knowledge is key – businesses and individuals should be aware of their own credit record before applying for credit.

• If the credit track record is poor, address the reasons why with your lender.

• Seek to repair any inaccuracies that may be held on the record – you will have to request the lender to get the record changed. If there are problems or delays, a formal complaint can be made to the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner.

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19/09/2016 16:22

Commercial Profile

EVERY COMPANY SHOULD HAVE ITS PERKS THE BMW BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP HAS BEEN DESIGNED TO MEET THE NEEDS OF SMALL BUSINESSES AND HELPS REPRESENT YOUR COMPANY WITH A SENSE OF STYLE, CONFIDENCE AND DETERMINATION.

With a sheer presence that’s come to define the essence of driving, BMW embodies leadership, dynamism and cutting-edge performance – factors that are integral to modern business. Driving a BMW vehicle for business ensures that you represent your company with a sense of style, confidence and determination.

If you manage a fleet of between 1 and 20 company cars, then BMW Business Partnership has been specifically designed to meet your needs. This corporate programme is open to all business users in the small business sector including business operators who choose to take a car allowance from their employees.

BMW Business Partnership brings you compelling Contract Hire and PCP rates across the entire BMW range as well as special offers. Thanks to the combination of low running costs and strong residual values, BMW continues to make a compelling proposition in the fleet market. No other manufacturer can offer fleet decision makers such an appealing combination of classleading cars and services as BMW Group. The ever improving range of EfficientDynamics technologies is overwhelming proof that low running costs and tax efficiency don’t have to come at the expense of dynamic performance and driver appeal.

These strong financial offerings combined with economical driving pleasure are complemented by the industry knowledge and expertise of a dedicated Business Partnership Manager in each participating BMW centre. As a BMW Business Partnership customer, you can always expect the highest standard of customer service.

Even so, we still believe there will always be room for improvement.

BMW 330e Sport Saloon The Business Partnership Manager will provide you with comprehensive vehicle support and will ensure a smooth journey from the initial quotation to vehicle handover and future relationship management from all aspects of the industry.

To explore the benefits that BMW Business Partnership can offer you and your company, simply arrange a meeting with one of our Business Partnership Managers at a participating BMW centre. They will be happy to coordinate a meeting at your workplace or the BMW centre to assess your company’s needs and preferred finance option.

Forty years of experience has led the BMW 3 Series to be the next in a series of greats. You can drive in luxury today in a 316d SE from €361.45 (excluding VAT) per month on contract hire (terms and conditions apply).

The BMW 3 Series is the embodiment of a sporty saloon. In its sixth generation,

this irresistible combination of dynamic design, unrivalled agility and excellent everyday practicality is as impressive as ever.

The characteristic BMW driving dynamics have been enhanced further still from its already impressive setup, coupled with a high level of standard equipment on each and every model.

The BMW 3 Series has been designed with fleets in mind, so the model is particularly beneficial to business users.

BMW EfficientDynamics technologies continue to encourage lower emissions and low fuel consumption without compromising performance. The new BMW 316d SE Saloon has an impressive 68.9 mpg (combined) with CO2 emissions at 109g/km.

For further information on the BMW Business Partnership Programme please contact your local participating BMW Business Partnership retailer or log on to www.bmw.ie/business-partnership for full terms and conditions.

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19/09/2016 16:21

Arts  Culture

MY

DUBLIN HISTORIAN PAT LIDDY IS ONE OF THE GO-TO PEOPLE FOR FACTS AND FIGURES ON OUR CAPITAL. BETTER BUSINESS CAUGHT UP WITH HIM ON DUBLIN’S MAIN THOROUGHFARE TO DISCOVER HOW HE CAME TO PROVIDE WALKING TOURS OF THE CITY AND TO GET HIS VIEWS ON WHAT MAKES DUBLIN UNIQUE.

Recognising the true value of our home town is not something that comes naturally to most of us. For writer, historian and experienced tour guide Pat Liddy, it took years of travelling the world to fully comprehend what Dublin had to offer. It’s an understanding that would set him on a lengthy journey of informing, educating and promoting the riches of our capital.

Liddy’s jetsetting began back in the 1960s after he left school and landed a job in ticket sales at Aer Lingus, having accepted that his ambition of studying architecture at university was not a financially viable one. It was an exciting time to be working in the travel industry and the Phibsborough native went about establishing a career for himself at the national carrier which would span three decades, and indirectly instil in him a new found passion for Dublin.

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Culture  Arts

“I’VE WRITTEN TEN BOOKS AND THEY’RE ALL A GENTLE REMINDER, ESSENTIALLY, OF THE UNIQUENESS OF DUBLIN WHICH I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE TOOK ON BOARD.”

“I was so enraptured with that job because it afforded me the opportunity to see the world,” says Liddy, sipping on an Americano in Flanagan’s café on Upper O’Connell Street, next door to where he has been operating his daily walking tours of the city since 2005. “I literally went everywhere and it gave me a sense of value for Dublin that very few people had at the time. Through the ‘60s, ‘70s and even into the ‘80s, Dublin was just seen as a property opportunity for a lot of people to make money. Local and national government had no love for it.

The so-called Dubliners tended to be the poorer people and everyone else looked upon Dublin as an old fashioned place.”

In the 1980s Liddy made an unlikely move into the world of journalism.

It came about as a result of his globetrotting, when he began to notice how culturally rich Dublin was in comparison to many of the cities he was visiting. The problem, he says, was that we were neglecting the things we should have been cherishing.

“From from an architectural point of view, streetscape, height of the city – we weren’t dominated by skyscrapers – stories and people, Dublin really had something going for it,” he says. “I guess

I was a bit disappointed with the way people were treating the city. When I was in Aer Lingus I was still doing a lot of art – drawing and painting. I decided that I’d go around and take note of buildings that I felt were neglected but which had potential. I decided to contact The Irish Times to see if they’d be interested in running a short feature on it, maybe lasting four or five weeks relating to a few places that I could draw attention to. I would do a drawing and some historian would do the writing.”

The Irish Times liked the idea but its conditions took Liddy by surprise. “I asked ‘who will do the writing?’” he recalls. “They said ‘you will’. Write for The Irish Times? I almost failed English in the Leaving Cert!”

His questionable editorial skills aside, Liddy gave it a shot and describes it now as having been “a new birth for him”. Not only did he do four or five articles but for the best part of the 1980s, The Irish Times ran Liddy’s column on a weekly basis. “So I literally did hundreds, if not thousands, of drawings in that period and out of those drawings and articles came various books. I’ve written ten books and they’re all a gentle reminder, essentially, of the uniqueness of Dublin which I think a lot of people took on board. It formed part of – but was obviously not totally responsible for – the resurgence of interest in the city.”

Liddy’s leap into the area of walking tours happened in much the same vein.

It was 2005, more than a decade after retiring from Aer Lingus, when the then chief executive of the Dublin Business Association approached Liddy with the suggestion of starting walking tours in the city. He had seen them work in other capitals and thought that with Liddy’s local knowledge, it could prove to be a real success in Dublin. They established an office in Temple Bar, provided by the Temple Bar Cultural Trust, but after just a couple of months in operation they had to shut down when it proved difficult to drum up interest. It was a few months later, however, when approached to do a private walking tour, that Liddy was encouraged to look at the option of setting up a private operation. This paved the way for Pat Liddy’s Walking Tours which has been running ever since.

More Than A Whistle-Stop Dublin has come a long way since Liddy sought to correct the view that the city was merely a gateway for tourists on their journey to somewhere else. 2016 has been another successful year with full hotels, bustling pubs, shops and restaurants, and record tourist attraction visitor numbers in

Liddy’s Three Hidden Gems of Dublin

Chester Beatty Library “It literally has a world beater in there, which is the world’s oldest fragment of the New Testament. I mean, you say it in one breath but it’s incredible. They don’t know how old it is but if it’s not the second it might be the third oldest bit ever written.”

The Crypts at St. Michan’s Church “St. Michan’s Church has 600 mummified bodies but it is also the church where Handel played the organ. A lot of people actually don’t realise that George Frideric Handel lived in Dublin for ten months, it wasn’t a flying visit. He loved the Irish so much and their enthusiasm for his music.”

Gulliver’s Travels Roundels I like to go up to Bride Street and look at the roundels, the little sculptures on public housing there, which are scenes from Gulliver’s Travels. It’s a lovely concept whereby someone said ‘let’s do something to signify that here in this area Jonathan Swift once worked’.”

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Arts  Culture

Pat Liddy at Dublin Castle during one of his walking tours

the city. Liddy now identifies a challenge of encouraging tourists to stay longer and not to treat Dublin as a whistle-stop destination. He believes visitors often miss out on getting a real sense of the place by trying to squeeze too many destinations into one short trip.

“I would say that from one-third to a half of the business coming to Dublin take trips outside Dublin, even if they’re only here for three days,” says Liddy. “You see it from the figures: the Cliffs of Moher attracted at least 1.4 million people last year and Guinness 1.5m so that will give you some idea. Marketing has actually convinced people that Ireland is a small country and you need to see the Cliffs of Moher. I don’t really agree with that and I run the risk of angering people but you could just as easily go to Howth and Kilmainham because you spend so much time in a coach going down to the west.

You can do a Ring of Kerry day tour from Dublin. I think that’s mis-selling Ireland in some sense. Of course you must go to Kerry, of course you must go to the Cliffs of Moher, of course you must go to Belfast.

But what we have to do is convince people to stay longer in Ireland or to make two trips.”

So in Liddy’s opinion, what makes Dublin unique? “It’s both small and accessible,” he says. “It’s a city that would require, certainly in my view, at least four nights rather than the customary two or three nights.”

Our lack of high-rise buildings is something that works in our favour, according to Liddy. “It’s a low rise city.

While we think we’re not that modern because we don’t have skyscrapers, it’s actually much appreciated by visitors that we don’t, that’s what makes us different.

They come here with a different experience.

“A lot more investment has to be spent on our side streets,” he continues. “It’s a lot cleaner a city than it used to be and it’s a lot cleaner city than a lot of cities that people come from. When the Luas comes in it’s going to add and extra layer of sophistication. It’s what people expect in a modern city, to have a good transport network.”

Liddy also believes that we take for granted how we are viewed abroad as a nation of friendly people. Indeed Dublin was recently named third friendliest city in the world by travel magazine Condé Nast.

“It’s actually very impactful on visitors,” he says. “It’s the first thing they comment on

“I’M 72 AND I STILL HAVE A FIVE-YEAR PLAN! I HAVE IDEAS WHICH I HOPE WILL LEAD TO EXPANSION, BUT ALL FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF ENHANCING THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE OF VISITING DUBLIN.”

all the time. So we shouldn’t take that for granted.”

Dublin’s geography is also unique, according to Liddy, in terms of the range of environments surrounding it. “The new Dublin where the financial service centre is, where the river is, the famine statues – that’s a totally unexplored area. It is quite unique for us to have an area that Irish people don’t even know a lot about and it’s very accessible. Equally as accessible is a trip out to Howth. What city would you get a wilderness in Wicklow, so close to the city, within an hour’s drive? Or go to the sea, whether it’s Dollymount, that beautiful strand at Bull Island or Howth. That’s a completely unique experience for them.”

Now aged 72, Liddy appears to still have bundles of energy and holds plenty of plans for the walking tour business. It has undoubtedly become a competitive market, particularly with new free tours popping up in the city on a regular basis.

Nonetheless, he’s determined to continue playing a role in enhancing the visitor experience. “I want to grow it because I want to be able to afford a manager or somebody who can take it after me when I finally retire,” he says. “I mean I first retired in 1994 when I left Aer Lingus and look at me now; I’m 72 and I still have a five-year plan! I have ideas which I hope will lead to expansion, but all from the point of view of enhancing the whole experience of visiting Dublin. I feel there’s a lot more work to be done with that. I’m not interested in competing per se with other parts of Ireland, I just want people, when they come to Dublin, to say ‘this is a fantastic place’. I’d be happy to have a very small role in that.”

SFA FACT Did you know?

Liddy says: “People are surprised when you tell them that Leinster House formed a model for the design of the White House in Washington.”

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Lead. With Confidence.

Our Corporate Finance team advises on protecting, enhancing and realising value. Specialising in Mergers & Acquisitions, Debt & Capital Advisory, Valuations, Transaction Services and Restructuring & Forensic Services, we deliver insightful solutions to our clients to drive their businesses forward.

deloitte.com/ie

Audit. Tax. Consulting. Corporate Finance. © 2016 Deloitte. All rights reserved.

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So, why should you join the SFA? Businessfocused advice and insights

Connecting members in a thriving community

n 56,755 enquiries from members in 2015

n Quarterly printed magazine for members

n 83% employment law / HR management

n Online through www.sfa.ie – 2.9 million hits and on Twitter @SFA_Irl 4,500+ followers

n Weekly e-zine n Webinars and publications

n 60 events nationally

Voicing small business priorities to Government

Management training where it’s needed

n National Economic Dialogue

n Topics include: project management, performance management, customer service, employment law, foundations in management, credit management and tendering.

n Ministerial meetings n Presentations to Oireachtas Committees n Backbencher newsletter

n ‘Train to Gain’ – training programmes tailored to small firms at affordable prices

n Written submissions

Learn more about us at www.sfa.ie or telephone (01) 605 1664

www.linkedin.com/company/ small-firms-association @SFA_Irl

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14/09/2016 17:05

Travel  Toronto

The Flatiron building

AWAY ON

BUSINESS TORONTO AS AN IRISHMAN EXILED IN CANADA, GARRETT CONCANNON PROVIDES SOME LOCAL KNOWLEDGE ON HIS ADOPTED HOMETOWN OF TORONTO FOR THE BUSINESS TRAVELLER WHO LIKES SOME LEISURE.

Ballroom at the Fairmont Royal York Old City Hall

Often mistaken as Canada’s capital, Toronto is the fourth largest city in North America, surpassing behemoths like Chicago and Houston in terms of population. Its exceptional growth shows no sign of abating and a view of the city over Lake Ontario often reveals a new building or skyscraper, adding to an already impressive and iconic cityscape. Consistently ranked at the top of international indexes for competitiveness, innovation and livability, it is no surprise that Toronto is a major hub for business.

And it has the household names to prove it. Among the successful startups residing in the city are Shopify, Kik, Hootsuite and D2L. Toronto also houses major corporations such as IBM, Apple, Google, Facebook and Twitter, the kind of companies Ireland likes to shout about!

Generous tax credits and a favorable currency undoubtedly contribute to the lure of this city but with the Microsoft World Partner Conference having recently taken place here, it further emphasises

Toronto’s appeal of being a centre for business excellence.

Upon arriving at Toronto’s Lester B. Pearson Airport, you have numerous options of reaching your destination but why not take advantage of the relatively new UP Express train with just a 25-minute ride downtown? With comfortable seating and WIFI onboard, it’s a great opportunity to catch up on emails after your flight.

It will also drop you at one of Toronto’s oldest train stations, Union Station, which has a history stretching back to 1858. If you are in search of somewhere to stay, look no further than across the street from Union Station to one of the most renowned hotels in Toronto, The Fairmont Royal York. For those who are used to a bit of luxury, you’ll be right at home, and whether it’s fine dining you’re after or just a casual drink with your colleagues after that long meeting, the Fairmont will meet your needs. The hotel also has the capacity to host events and conferences with a choice of 32 meeting and function rooms

fully stocked with multimedia services and technology to bring a bit of colour to your presentation. For meetings of a smaller scale, located in the Discovery District, you will find The Chase. With casual and lavish dining on offer, there is something for every palate. It offers private rooms while catering up to 16 guests with boardroom seating. It also supplies audio-visual equipment ideal

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Toronto  Travel

g for Travellin Business

GETTING THE BEST DEAL

Toronto skyline

Lavish dining at The Chase

1

FLIGHTS: Flight comparison website Skyscanner is great for sourcing the best options to Toronto and will also provide alternative routes if you have any prior business travel.

Aer Lingus, Air Canada and Air Transat operate direct flights from Dublin.

2

GETTING AROUND: Traffic in Toronto is horrendous but there are plenty of car rental options available. Best wait till you leave the airport before sourcing your rental due to higher airport charges. Take the subway and arrive on time for that meeting. A day pass will set you back $12 with unlimited travel.

3

HOTELS: Toronto has a plethora of hotels catering for every business need. Use www.booking.com to seek out the best deals. Before committing, it is worth checking the hotel’s own website to see for any seasonal specials not being displayed on price comparison sites.

Brewery District

for teleconferencing. The outdoor rooftop patio is a real treat, particularly in the summer season, where you can sample some exquisite seafood and wash it down with a crisp local Ontario Sauvignon Blanc. Also popular for impromptu, casual meetings is The Cactus Club Café, located in the downtown core, the economic powerhose of Toronto. It has proved to be

immensely popular on the west coast and is quickly becoming a Toronto favourite. It makes an ideal setting to discuss your latest business venture and to get that deal over the line, while you sip on passion fruit bellinis. If you’re a steak lover, you’ll be in your element, but the more than ample menu will satisfy most.

4

DINING: Toronto is happy hour crazy and not just for drinks. Most restaurants, cafés and bars cater towards the after work business crowd. Take a walk down King St. at rush hour and check the signs outside displaying their tempting offers.

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Toronto skyline

Toronto  Travel

g for Travellin Business

GETTING THE BEST DEAL

Lavish dining at The Chase

1

FLIGHTS: Flight comparison website Skyscanner is great for sourcing the best options to Toronto and will also provide alternative routes if you have any prior business travel.

Aer Lingus, Air Canada and Air Transat operate direct flights from Dublin.

2

GETTING AROUND: Traffic in Toronto is horrendous but there are plenty of car rental options available. Best wait till you leave the airport before sourcing your rental due to higher airport charges. Take the subway and arrive on time for that meeting. A day pass will set you back $12 with unlimited travel.

3

HOTELS: Toronto has a plethora of hotels catering for every business need. Use www.booking.com to seek out the best deals. Before committing, it is worth checking the hotel’s own website to see for any seasonal specials not being displayed on price comparison sites.

Brewery District

for teleconferencing. The outdoor rooftop patio is a real treat, particularly in the summer season, where you can sample some exquisite seafood and wash it down with a crisp local Ontario Sauvignon Blanc. Also popular for impromptu, casual meetings is The Cactus Club Café, located in the downtown core, the economic powerhose of Toronto. It has proved to be

immensely popular on the west coast and is quickly becoming a Toronto favourite. It makes an ideal setting to discuss your latest business venture and to get that deal over the line, while you sip on passion fruit bellinis. If you’re a steak lover, you’ll be in your element, but the more than ample menu will satisfy most.

4

DINING: Toronto is happy hour crazy and not just for drinks. Most restaurants, cafés and bars cater towards the after work business crowd. Take a walk down King St. at rush hour and check the signs outside displaying their tempting offers.

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19/09/2016 17:42

Fitness  Health

THE RIGHT FIT

WITH BUSY SCHEDULES, HEAVY WORKLOADS AND DREAMS OF A LIFE OUTSIDE THE OFFICE, MANY WORKERS FEEL THERE’S NO TIME FOR ROUTINE EXERCISE. BUT WHO EVER SAID STAYING ACTIVE HAD TO GET YOUR SCHEDULE BENT OUT OF SHAPE? DON’T TAKE THE EASY ROUTE We’d all love to have time for that powerhouse, hour-long gym workout but some days you just can’t find the hours. Still, just because you can’t achieve that killer gym session doesn’t mean the day is a total loss. Small changes to your daily routine can still contribute to a trim waistline. If you typically drive to work, try parking your car a distance away from the office and treat yourself to a morning breather before your workday begins. If you’re a fan of public transport, hop off the Luas or bus a couple of stops early and walk the rest of the way. Map your route and record your pace to add extra motivation. Even small habits like taking the stairs instead of the elevator can garner noticeable results. Remember, there are plenty of sneaky exercises you can do at your desk without anyone even noticing!

GYM MEMBERSHIP

Choosing fitness as a priority means thinking of it as an appointment that can’t be missed. Storing your gym gear in your car means you’ll also be prepared for a workout, so you can head straight to the gym after work. It’s tempting to put your feet up for a half hour first but that can quickly turn into half an evening. If the gym just isn’t your thing, coax some co-workers into taking a dance class or starting an out-of-work weekly football game. And most colleagues will be unable to use their work schedule as an excuse not to sign up! Use the popular Teamer app to take the hassle out of managing your matches.

One benefit of a health conscious company is that, thanks to corporate discount gym memberships, employees can drop the pounds and keep some euros at the same time.

“We offer small or big businesses in the area tailored corporate rates that the owners, management, their employees or contractors can avail of,” says Katarina Paucova, Club Manager at Celbridge-based B-active Fitness Club. With early opening hours and late night closing, such establishments allow office workers to tackle a stress busting workout before and after a day at the office.

“Running our small business, we understand that people doing the same in any industry face stress on a daily basis. Physical exercise is one of the best ways to switch off after a busy day, reset your mind and relieve the stress.”

W: www.teamer.net

W: www.b-active.ie

W: www.mapmywalk.com

GET COLLEAGUES INVOLVED

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Profile  A Day in the Life

DENTS IN A DAY WAYNE O’SULLIVAN, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF DENTPRO, THE CAR DENT REPAIR EXPERTS, LETS BETTER BUSINESS INTO HIS WORLD FOR A WORKING DAY.

5AM Between 5am and 8am I tend to get most of my marketing done. First I check our Google website analytics to see how many hits we had the previous day. I analyse where the traffic has come from and how it has interacted with our site. I then check our Facebook adverts and analyse the performance of our marketing campaigns. Once all of this is done I will work on website and social media content, updating pages and adding news. 8AM My dogs are nudging me to take them for a walk and at around this time you will generally see me strolling though Celbridge with our two American bulldogs and our new Boxer puppy. It’s 30 minutes of exercise, great for clearing the head and thinking about the day ahead. Then home, feed the hounds and into the shower. Then it’s into the car and off to the office where the day officially starts. I begin with my meetings and also try to catch up with our technicians. 8.30AM Fiona, our admin manager (and the real boss!), arrives at her desk. First thing she does is check messages on the phone, emails and Facebook. If someone has emailed looking for a quote, she will check the DentPro Quote Management System (DQMS) to see if the clients that have contacted us have registered as a client through our app and have uploaded a request for quote. 9AM Technicians arrive at their sites and Joe, our fill and spray technical director, and Christian, our PDR technical director, check the DQMS through their engineer app and respond to any job requests. They are constantly checking the app to ensure clients get feedback as quickly as possible. They are also conscious of Fiona monitoring the system and torturing them if there is a request in the system for longer than five minutes! Matt, our business development manager, hits the road and visits our new and existing customers. He is currently working on the rollout of our care packages nationwide with our partners Mapfre and Topaz.

9.30AM Fiona keeps an eye on the DQMS, manages the phones and books clients in or helps them with queries. We generally receive between 20 and 30 calls per day. I keep an eye on the Facebook page and respond to any messages/comments. 2PM The phone generally dies down and gives Fiona time to work on administration work, managing invoices and keeping them filed, creating before and after pictures for Facebook and updating the website with testimonials, arranging and scheduling mobile jobs with various garages. 4PM Fiona confirms all appointments for the following day and updates the calendar with any new bookings. Matt updates the team on his meetings through our WhatsApp groups, of which we have six, covering different areas of the business. Most are serious but one or two are general chat where we get the chance to have some craic and let off a bit of steam. 6PM We wrap up in the office, technicians generally finish up but sometimes stay back to complete work. 9PM We are all generally home but still either doing quotes for clients through the engineer app or winding each other up through WhatsApp. None of us really ever stop!

72 SFA | BETTER BUSINESS

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19/09/2016 16:17

BMW Business Partnership

The Ultimate Driving Machine

EVERY COMPANY SHOULD HAVE ITS PERKS. BMW BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP. Fleet management solutions for small businesses.

Every road is a pleasure in the right company. And with BMW Business Partnership, we can design a BMW fleet management plan for your company, whatever your needs. From the initial quotation to vehicle handover, your BMW Business Partnership Manager will take care of every aspect, including arranging finance to suit your company.

• Competitive Contract Hire rates and PCP payments • Comprehensive service packages • Dedicated BMW Business Partnership Manager.

For more information visit www.bmw.ie/business-partnership Model

3 Month Initial Rental Excl VAT

Monthly Rental Excl VAT

Term

Mileage p/a

BMW 116d SE 5 door

€1,124.64

€374.88

3 + 45

15,000 kms

BMW 216d SE Gran Tourer €1,248.12

€416.04

3 + 45

15,000 kms

BMW 316d SE Saloon

€1,084.35

€361.45

3 + 45

15,000 kms

BMW 518d SE Saloon

€1,662.99

€554.33

3 + 45

15,000 kms

BMW 730d SE

€3,609.63

€1,213.21

3 + 45

15,000 kms

Terms and Conditions. Offer available to business users only. Figures exclude VAT. Based on a 48 month Contract Hire agreement with a monthly rental plus VAT, annual mileage of 15,000 kms. First monthly rental will include an additional €75 fee. BMW Service Pack included. Excess mileage, vehicle condition and charges may be payable.

Subject to status and in the Republic of Ireland only. Individuals must be 18 or over. A guarantee may be required. The amount of VAT you can reclaim depends on your business VAT status. Rentals may change if VAT rate changes during agreement. Hire provided by BMW FINANCIAL SERVICES IRELAND LIMITED, 2 SWIFT SQUARE, SANTRY, DUBLIN, D09 R802, IRELAND. BMW FINANCIAL SERVICES (IRELAND) LIMITED IS REGULATED BY THE CENTRAL BANK OF IRELAND. Offers valid at the time of print and liable to change. Images are for illustrative purposes only.

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19/09/2016 16/09/2016 16:29 11:02

SBCI loans – progress to end June 2016

8,619 SMEs

€347m

across Ireland have drawn down SBCI loans

%

1.50

loans drawn

by Irish SMEs

percentage points

Average discount on SBCI loans versus market rates for loans <€250,000

43,349JOBS

SBCI funding is benefiting a wide range of sectors (% of loans by value)

In Irish SMEs supported

by SBCI loans

€40,000

24%

Agriculture

10.6%

Admin & Support

7.4%

Manufacturing Services

Average loan size

(all figures cover the period March 2015 to June 2016)

4.3%

What SMEs use SBCI loans for

86.5% 7.6% 5.9%

Professional & Scientific

3.3%

2.8%

Construction Services

Transport & Storage

17.7%

15.3%

of loans used for investment in growing the business

used for working capital used to refinance loans owed to banks exiting the Irish market

infosbci@ntma.ie |

@SBCIreland |

Untitled-1 1 trade ad.indd 240347-1C_National Treasury1Management_Better Business autumn.indd 1 5671 SBCi A4

14.6%

Accommodation & Food Trade

Wholesale & Retail

Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland

Other

sbci.gov.ie

14/09/2016 18/08/2016 17:08 17/08/2016 12:0917:06 p.m.