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Business News
COVER STORY 20
Aidan D’Arcy, Vie-President of Wholesale and Business, Virgin Media Ireland
HCS INVESTING FOR GROWTH
IT, security and telecoms company
HCS is investing €3.2m to double HCS is investing €3.2m to double the size of its workforce to 60 people the size of its workforce to 60 people within the next three years and within the next three years and forecasting increased annual revenues of €9m by 2025. revenues of €9m by 2025.
Headquartered in Waterford Headquartered in Waterford and with a base in Dublin, and with a base in Dublin, this investment has this investment has enabled HCS to open a enabled HCS to open a third location in Cork. third location in Cork.
“We expect to see high “We expect to see high growth across cyber security growth across cyber security and managed IT services and managed IT services in the face of evolving threats in the face of evolving threats and the rise in hybrid working and and the rise in hybrid working and anticipate further opportunities for anticipate further opportunities for growth in the productivity space,” said growth in the productivity space,” said
CEO of HCS, Neil Phelan. “We also CEO of HCS, Neil Phelan. “We also expect continued adoption of hosted expect continued adoption of hosted telephony, driven by flexible working telephony, driven by flexible working practices and the replacement of practices and the replacement of traditional copper wires with fibre lines traditional copper wires with fibre lines throughout the country.” throughout the country.” of over 8,000 students, Intel has moved into first place as the top
Neil Phelan, CEO, HCS
AMERICAN APPROVAL
More than 95% of US multinationals have a positive view of Ireland as an investment location, according to a survey of American Chamber of Commerce Ireland members.
Business BITES
GREEN FUND
The Government has launched a new €55m Green Transition Fund, designed to help businesses plan for a sustainable future and move away from depending on fossil fuels.
Students drawn to work for multinationals
Multinationals located in Ireland are the employers of choice for thirdlevel students across the country, according to the Most Attractive Employers Index Ireland 2022, published by Universum, which is part of IrishJobs. Google, Microsoft and Apple are the top three employers for Business/Economics, IT and Engineering students, followed by Amazon and Intel in fourth and fifth places, respectively. In the survey of over 8,000 students, Intel has moved into first place as the top preference for Engineering students, with Google ranked second and Microsoft coming third. The main attributes students associate with the tech multinationals are “market success, a willingness to embrace new technologies and innovation”.
Toast opens new Dublin o ice
US company Toast has opened a new o ice in Dublin, with plans to hire 100 people this year across several functions. Toast is a cloud-based, all-inone digital technology platform purpose-built for restaurants. Headquartered in Boston, Toast was founded in 2012 and today employs over 3,000 people across the US, Ireland, the UK, Canada and India. It established its first international technology and product development centre in Dublin in 2017. “Toast originally chose to invest in Ireland largely for its concentration of highlevel technical capability; we’ve come to reap so many more benefits since, including ease of collaboration with other Toast teams and Irish hospitality,” said Robert McGarry, Leader of Toast Dublin.
CARBON NEUTRALITY
A DataSolutions survey reveals that while 78% of tech companies have plans to achieve carbon neutrality, 65% have not yet measured their carbon footprint. DATA CENTRES The value of investment in global data centres more than doubled
to US$59.5bn in 2021, when there were 117 transactions, according to a DLA Piper survey.
PICTURE THIS
Ad Net Zero, an initiative to help advertising respond to the climate crisis, has been launched in Ireland. Pictured are Pat Mannion, JC Decaux, Suzanne McElligott, IAB; consultant Elizabeth Sheehan, Charley Stoney, IAPI; Anne-Marie Curran, Arrow Films and Barry Dooley, AAI.
FEMALE FOUNDERS
Last year funding into female-founded start-ups surged 120% to reach a record €230m, according to a TechIreland report published to coincide with International Women’s Day. PANDEMIC EFFECT A survey of around 1,000 o ice workers in Ireland by Censuswide found that 39% say
the pandemic has had a negative impact on their company culture.
5TH
FIBRE BROADBAND
New data published by Comreg has revealed that fibre-to-the-premises technology in the Irish market is now on a IRELAND’S ATTRACTIVENESS
par with cable broadband subscribers for Ireland ranked as the fifth-most the first time.attractive labour market in Europe for international job seekers, according to new research into 21 countries by jobs site Indeed.
Peter Garvey, Co-founder of Melior Equity Partners and Richard Kennedy, Group CEO and MD of Rose Confectionery
INVESTMENT BOOST FOR ROSE CONFECTIONERY
Irish private equity firm Melior Equity Partners has agreed to invest in Rose Confectionery, a manufacturer and distributor of confectionery, freeze pops and savoury snacks. Headquartered in Ireland, Rose Confectionery employs 87 sta , with 33 in its 18,000 sq ft manufacturing facility in Edenderry, Co O aly, 27 in its distribution centre in Dublin and the remaining 27 in the UK. “After more than 30 years in business and having grown very strongly over the past few years to reach €40m in sales, we knew it was the right time to seek additional investment,” said Richard Kennedy, Group CEO and MD of Rose Confectionery.
Kevin Quinn, Head of Commercial and Marketing at Leinster Rugby and Gillian O’Sullivan, Country Leader for BearingPoint Ireland
Leinster Rugby enters the metaverse
Consultancy firm BearingPoint hosted an event showcasing the capabilities of metaverse technology for the Leinster Rugby sporting community recently. Business partners, media and sporting stars attended through virtual reality (VR) technology in four locations across Europe. Guests went on a virtual journey from the BearingPoint offices in Paris, finishing with a pitch-side experience in a VR Aviva Stadium developed by the BearingPoint team. “By entering the metaverse, we are broadening our horizons to identify new digital commercial opportunities and working to develop immersive rugby experiences that provide our community with new ways to interact with our brand,” said Kevin Quinn, Head of Commercial and Marketing at Leinster Rugby.
&OPEN RAISES US$26M IN SERIES A FUNDING
Irish-headquartered gifting platform &Open has raised US$26m in Series A funding in a round led by Molten Ventures, including participation from First Round Capital, LocalGlobe, Tribal VC, as well as new investor Middlegame Ventures. This brings &Open’s total capital raised to date to US$33.2m. Ciara Flood, Jonathan Legge and Mark Legge founded &Open in 2017 to fix corporate gifting by delivering better gifts at scale. It currently employs over 90 people across Ireland, the UK and the US. “&Open is where some of the world’s best brands come to build loyalty,” said Jonathan Legge.
Johnny Aitken, US CEO and Mark Hughes, Global COO, PointsBet
POINTSBET MAKES THE LIBERTIES ITS EUROPEAN HOME
Global sportsbook and i-gaming operator PointsBet has announced the opening of its new European headquarters in Dublin’s Liberties. PointsBet acquired Irish start-up Banach Technology in 2021 and plans to grow via its team of technology and product specialists in Dublin – making it the long-term home of its European operations and a driving force behind its US business plans. “We intend to grow our investment in the Irish operation into the future, with our newly announced agreement with Dublin-based Nellie Analytics expected to provide additional sports analytics and quantitative modelling services,” said PointBet’s US CEO Johnny Aitken.
