Business FIrst, March-April 2015

northern ireland’s business magazine

BUSINESSFIRST INFORM CHALLENGE INSPIRE

MARCH-APRIL 2015

EIRCOM: LEADING OUR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION Rising Stars 2015

Thought Leader

Business Builder

Best Practice

Willis Insurance & Risk Management sponsor the Business First 40 under 40 Rising Stars 2015

How to attract the millenial generation, Olivia May William J Clinton Leadership Institute

The complex maze of R&D Tax Claims explained by Martin Malseed, Jumpstart

Culture and Behaviours the vital role of the Director, by Joy Allen Leading Governance

Business First supports the

Campaign

CONTENTS

Putting your Business First

What’s inside this issue CLICK ANY PAGE TO BE TAKEN STRAIGHT THERE COVER STORY Matt McCloskey eircom Business Solutions Northern Ireland on eircom's commitment to being at the heart of Digital NI. page 10

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

40 under 40 - Rising Stars Who are the Rising Stars of Northern Ireland business? Find out in the Willis insurance & Risk Management Rising Stars. page 15

12 Avoid the dangers of being

in association with

underinsured

Richard Willis, Willis Insurance & Risk Management

14 Expanding the economy – the next

If it’s talent you want look no further We never know who is going to turn up when we put out the call for Northern Ireland’s Rising Stars under 40. But what we do know is that whoever it is will be pretty special -and this year it’s no different.

Sponsored by Willis Insurance and Risk Management in association with the Ulster University Business School, the Northern Ireland Rising Stars 2015 are a superb collection of men and women who are making a difference within their companies and adding real value to Northern Ireland plc.

I don’t believe you can create a business leader. Rather a business leader is born, although you can certainly train them to take full advantage of the motivation and ambition they bring with them. So you’ll see in the Northern Ireland Rising Stars a mix of people who have different skills, talents and abilities.

But what they all have in common is a commitment to doing business better and making Northern Ireland a successful enterprise.

We’re going to meet them at lunch courtesy of Ulster University, so I’ll let you know more about them in our June issue of Business First.

Meanwhile, be sure to spot the upcoming talent from page 15.

See you on the frontline.

Gavin Gavin Walker Managing Editor FRONT COVER IMAGE Matt McCloskey, sales director eircom Business Solutions Northern Ireland.

Image by Khara Pringle, Khara Pringle Photography

steps

FEATURES

Wilfred Mitchell, FSB

30 CultureTECH award is a positive sign for Derry Sinead McLaughlin, chief executive, Londonderry Chamber of Commerce.

24 Culture and Behaviours - the vital role of the Director

Joy Allen, Leading Governance

26 Becoming a Chartered Director – the 32 Transforming your company’s IT agenda for the future Shane Haslem, eircom Business Solutions NI

34 When 26 become 11: what does local government reform mean for your business Environment Minister Mark H Durkan MLA

40 Marketing skills key to success for Northern Ireland companies

questions you will be asked Peter Martin, Director Development

28 Delivering for business, Nigel Smyth, CBI Northern Ireland

36 Why mediation works Jonathan Forrester. Cleaver Fulton Rankin

38 Why we should resolve disputes amicably

Richard Houdmont, Network Manager (Wales, Ireland and Isle of Man), CIM

44 New MATRIX report suggests a way to

66 The complex maze of R&D tax claims

boost local economy and improve patient care

Martin Malseed, Jumpstart

80 What’s next for digital democracy?

Chris Brown, MCE Public Relations

Professor Jim McLaughlin CTO at Intelesens

46 The generation game at workattracting the millenial generation Olivia May, William J Clinton Leadership Institute

Subscribe to BUSINESSFIRSTDIGITAL Subscribing to your complimentary copy of BUSINESSFIRSTDIGITAL couldn’t be easier and we’ll send your copy of the magazine directly to your door or mailbox every time we publish. To subscribe, please scan the code & visit our website at www.businessfirstonline.co.uk and follow the easy links to our subscription page.

PUBLISHED BY: The Wordworks Partnership (Limited) Suite 60. Enterprise House Balloo Avenue, Bangor BT19 7QT Tel: 028 9147 2119 info@businessfirstni.co.uk www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

YOUR BUSINESSFIRST TEAM Editor Gavin Walker gavin@businessfirstni.co.uk Sales Jenny Belshaw jenny@businessfirstni.co.uk Finance Margaret Walker margaret@businessfirstni.co.uk Design Studio Tw2 studio@twworks.co.uk

www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

1

CLICK ON ANY PICTURE TO BE TAKEN TO THE ARTICLE

YOUR EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS Articles from some of Northern Ireland’s most influential business leaders that will inform, challenge and inspire your thinking.

Roger Willis Willis Insurance & Risk Management page 12

Joy Allen Leading Governance page 24

Nigel Smyth CBI Northern Ireland page 28

Sinead McLaughlin Londonderry Chamber of Commerce page 30

Gareth Morrison, The Lava Group page 41

Olivia May William J Clinton Leadership Institute page 46

Stephen McDonnell ASM page 53

Dr Sharon Loane Ulster University page 56

Dorethea Stuart Toastmasters International page 62

Professor Simon Bridge University of Ulster page 68

Ben Collins, RICS page 71

Chris Brown MCE Public Relations page 80

2

www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

New Belfast Harbour chair takes the helm

Belfast Harbour Master Kevin Allen and crew member Alan Gilfillan look on as new Belfast Harbour Chairman David Dobbin takes the helm of the Harbour’s new pilot boat

aking the helm of Belfast Harbour’s new Pilot Boat, supplied by local boat builder Red Bay Boats, and making his first statement since he was appointed as chairman of Belfast Harbour at the beginning of January, David Dobbin took the opportunity to set out his vision for the business.

“Belfast Harbour is first and foremost a major port which makes a vital contribution to Northern Ireland’s economy handling almost three quarters of all of Northern

T

Ireland’s sea borne trade.

“As the incoming chairman I am committed to ensuring that Belfast continues to be the most modern and efficient port on the island.

With over 23 million tonnes of cargo and 1.4 million ferry and cruise ship passengers passing through the Port annually, it is Northern Ireland’s primary gateway to rest of the world.

“The scale and breadth of the Harbour’s business ensures that it is of strategic importance to sectors as diverse as agri-food,

tourism, manufacturing, construction, financial, legal, retail and energy.

“By providing best-in-class marine facilities for our exporters and importers, developing new commercial opportunities and ongoing investments in the regeneration of Belfast Harbour Estate, it will continue to be a major driver of economic activity across Northern Ireland and beyond.”

He concluded: “In the past 20-years Belfast Harbour has re-invested every penny of profit we have made into further developing our infrastructure for the benefit of the entire local economy.

“We have invested over £400 million in infrastructure and providing our customers with new quays, terminals, logistics warehousing and quality office space.

“Some of the investment in recent years has been to develop new sectors such as cruise ships and offshore energy creating new direct and indirect jobs across the economy.

“In the next few years we have committed to investing a further £140 million in a number of major projects including a new cruise facility, new cargo and crane facilities, further quay development, the next phase of the City Quays office development and increasing our movie studio facilities.

“Belfast Harbour has a tremendous history of being an engine for local economic and regional development.

“Our board drawn from the business community and nominees from Belfast City Council recognises the importance of the role we play and intends that we will continue to create significant trade and job opportunities for this and future generations just as we did in the past.”

P2V Systems appointed as official BT Preferred Supplier 2V Systems is delighted to announce that it has been appointed as an Official BT preferred supplier. Having already worked with BT for over seven years providing IT services on many various contracts, the company is very proud to have attained this status.

MD Stephen McCann commented “Knowing the criteria BT requires its preferred suppliers to meet, P2V Systems is delighted that our quality of service and level of experience and professionalism has resulted in being selected as an Official BT preferred supplier.

“This achievement marks another great step forward for the company and will present many more opportunities to work closely with BT and their distinguished client base.

P

4

www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

“As we drive the company forward, this appointment is testament to our values.

These are, regardless of contract size, always provide our customers with a professional and individual service, presenting a solution that will cater for both their needs and budget, drawing on our widespread multisector experience and skills.”

This announcement comes just after P2V Systems delivered the first phase of a secure server infrastructure project for the Houses of Parliament’s visitor tours. The second phase of the project is currently underway.

With 2015 already off to a busy start, the company is excited to continue the successful growth rate it enjoyed over the last year.

David Gavaghan new vice chair for Model Dealer wins CBI Northern Ireland UK’s first full-year

BI Northern Ireland has announced that David Gavaghan has become the Vicechair of the business organisation. He will succeed Colin Walsh as chair of the organisation on 1 January 2016 for a two year term.

Mr Gavaghan told Business First: “I am

C

delighted to be given the opportunity to represent the business community in Northern Ireland. I see this role as the most prestigious position that can be occupied with business locally and am very honoured to have been appointed.

“With the UK Government agreeing to devolve Corporation Tax varying powers to the Northern Ireland Assembly, [to take effect from 1 April] in 2017, the coming two years is a critical time for the business community as we develop a more sustainable and balanced economy.

“I very much look forward to working with the business community and with the Northern Ireland Executive to maximise the opportunities which this presents - to create value added jobs across a spectrum of industries and activities.”

The current chair, Colin Walsh, said: “I am delighted that David has agreed to take on this important role. He brings a great depth of knowledge and experience through his extensive interests and involvement in the Northern Ireland business community. I am confident the business community will be well served by David’s leadership in the future.”

Atlas Celebrate their 100th with a Very Lucky Mascott ne of Northern Ireland’s leading building companies, Mascott Construction, has become the 100th customer to benefit from super-connected broadband fitted by Atlas Communications.

Atlas is a registered supplier under the Belfast City Council superconnected cities scheme, which gives businesses with inadequate broadband speed vouchers worth up to £3,000 to install high speed broadband connections.

Mascott’s IT manager Sam Gaw said the company, based at Heron Road in Belfast, had been suffering Manus Savage (left), Atlas Communications programme manager, with 100th Superconnected Customer Sam Gaw, from the area’s very slow IT manager at Mascott Construction broadband speed. little disruption as possible,” said Manus “Trying to get people connected at the same Savage, Atlas programme manager. time led to bottlenecks, while downloading “As well as offering high speed downloads and uploading tenders took forever,” he said. similar to fibre to the cabinet services, our “There is no facility to lay fibre optic cable service provides higher upload speeds in the estate, but Atlas came to the rescue making it ideal for media and content with wireless broadband. As the work was intensive businesses. covered by the Superconnected voucher, we “For those businesses with previously only had to pay for the VAT, which was limited broadband capacity this service opens refundable.”

“We aim to deliver broadband at a price that up much greater access to cloud based and remote access services providing new options fits most businesses and do it a way that is for how an organisation chooses to operate.” high impact, rapidly deployable and with as

O

Van Pro stamp of approval from Mercedes-Benz

MB T&V (NI) managing direct Neil McKibbin

orthern Ireland’s official Mercedes-Benz Vans Dealer has become the first in Britain to pass a stringent quality audit covering all aspects of its light commercial vehicle sales and after sales operation.

Mercedes-Benz Truck & Van (NI), which is based on Mallusk Road, Newtownabbey, was hailed a “model Dealer” by the manufacturer in recognition of its achievement.

The Van ProCenter programme is an international initiative by Mercedes-Benz that puts customer care at the very top of the agenda. Just over a year ago, having been pipped at the post by a fellow franchisee, Mercedes-Benz Truck & Van (NI) became only the second UK Dealer to meet all of the scheme’s demanding criteria and earn accreditation as a fully-fledged Van ProCenter – to underline just how tough the process is, most members of the Mercedes-Benz Dealer network are still working towards this goal.

Now, 12 months on, Mercedes-Benz Truck & Van (NI) has just claimed top spot by becoming the first Dealer to pass a rigorous audit covering a full year’s operation as a Van ProCenter.

Significantly more demanding than the process it went through to secure its accreditation, the new audit effectively confirms that Mercedes-Benz Truck & Van (NI) has delivered on all of its promises.

Steve Bridge, managing director for Mercedes-Benz Vans in the UK, explained: “Van Pro Dealers have to meet more 50 separate standards of excellence which, taken together, mean their customers are assured of classleading levels of service, not only when selecting, ordering and taking delivery of their new vehicles, but also once they’re on the road.

“The excellence of our Dealer partner in Northern Ireland is reflected by its achievements over the past year, not only in terms of vehicle sales but also against a range of key performance indicators. MB T&V (NI) is a model Van Dealer.”

N

www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

5

Women in Business NI celebrates 12th anniversary omen in Business Northern Ireland is synonymous with successful business women in Northern Ireland.

Nurturing, assisting, encouraging and inspiring women at the top of their game, those starting out taking their first tentative steps into self employment and women aspiring to take their career to the next level.

Roseann Kelly has been at the helm of Women in Business NI for half of its lifetime. The organisation began 12 years ago and in 12 short years has succeeded in offering its more than 1,000 members the opportunity to make real business connections which have impacted on their bottom line.

From its humble beginnings, the organisation offered sole traders, start ups and SMEs the opportunity to network with likeminded business women. In 2014, Women in Business NI hosted its first International conference attracting women from USA, Europe, Northern Ireland, Middle East, Republic of Ireland and the UK. Described by Minister Foster as ‘brilliant’, real business connections were made and already business has come to Northern Ireland from the Middle East as a result of the three day conference.

Roseann Kelly said: “We have achieved massive growth through passion and the determination of a great team. We have grown literally from zero to 1,000 members who range from sole traders to small business owners, senior managers and leading business leaders, spreading across a diverse range of sectors and size.”

As well as its long association with Invest Northern Ireland, Roseann has worked tirelessly to create and develop relationships and partnerships with many companies both local and international, including the newest partner to develop a link with Women in Business NI, NIE. At its core is its diverse range of networking events for members and non-members. This year’s spring/summer schedule is one of the most varied and ambitious that the organisation has developed.

Laura Dowie, Events & Marketing Manager at Women in Business NI, has been working to produce a calendar of events which sees

W

events taking place at all hours of the day and night, in line with members’ demands.

More than 100 business women gathered at Malone House for the annual Voices Heard event last month. They heard from leaders in manufacturing, professional services and the travel industry before taking part in sustained networking. And over the course of the next three months, events will take place across Northern Ireland culminating in the annual conference at Belfast’s Hilton Hotel on 21 May where the theme will be ”Leading Global Ambition”. The Conference will see Rosaleen Blair, Founder & CEO of Alexander Mann Solutions, take to the stage as keynote speaker to share her success and experience of growing a company from inception to having a turnover of over £617 million.

Speaking about the new and diverse events schedule, Roseann said: “Our members have wide and varying demands on their time and we have taken that into consideration this year more than ever. We’ve listened to their requests and we’ve literally provided an event schedule with breakfast events, lunches, dinners and even yoga thrown in!”

Events aren’t just limited to being hosted in

Belfast, with ambassadors in Mid Ulster and Co Down, events will be taking place in Coleraine, Upperlands and Newry this spring.

The packed schedule whets the appetite for the fifth annual Women in Business NI Awards which take place on 19 November in the Culloden Estate and Spa. Roseann commented: “In November we will celebrate the women right at the heart of business here with our special fifth annual awards ceremony. The pressure is on to take our awards to the next level as we have become a firm fixture in the Northern Ireland awards calendar and this year celebrate five years of recognising the outstanding business talent we have. We’ve had the entertainers, the millionairess entrepreneurs, the psychologist to address our guests and this year we’re looking for inspiration and motivation from someone who gets right to the heart of what we’re all about. This year’s speaker will certainly deliver that for us.”

For further information on the Women in Business NI events schedule or to book a place, simply log onto www.womeninbusinessni.com

With Love from George Best Belfast City Airport eorge Best Belfast City Airport has teamed up with East Belfast charity, Dee Street Loop Group, to help fund a number of fun, interactive social events for senior citizens to enjoy throughout the year.

Working in collaboration with Belfast City Council’s Engage with Age programme, Dee Street Community Group aims to reduce isolation by building cross community social connections with the elderly through a wide

G 6

www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

variety of creative workshops, outdoor activities and events, part funded by the Belfast City Airport Community Fund.

Pictured enjoying the festivities at the charity’s Valentine’s Tea Dance is husband and wife duo, Godfrey and Ria Brock-Gadd.

For more information on how your school, group or project can apply to the Belfast City Airport Community Fund, please contact: communityfund@belfastcityairport.com

HMRC pays out £20million in R&D Tax Credits usinesses are claiming millions of pounds in R&D Tax Credit claims according to HMRC figures which show more and more companies are looking at innovation as a means of driving our economy forwards.

The scheme, which was introduced in 2000 for SMEs, with a separate scheme for larger companies launched in 2002, was set up by the UK Government to increase the R&D base by helping to reduce the cost of corporate research and development to encourage more companies to invest.

In 2013, SMEs in Northern Ireland have submitted 270 claims which totalled a payout of £10million while 65 claims were submitted by large companies which also totalled £10million.

Tom Verner, of Bangor based Momentum Business Development, is managing claims on behalf of companies in Northern Ireland and said, although HMRC have paid out £20million to companies here, there is still a huge potential for other companies to benefit.

"The most recent figures released by HMRC

B

8

www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

are to be welcomed as it shows an increase in companies here being more aware of the scheme which aims to increase innovation and boost wealth creation in our economy . There is no set limit on the amount of money available for R&D tax relief or credits and this is provided through the tax system and is dependent on what claimants in a given year apply for.

"There is also no time limit on the scheme so it is a permanent part of the corporate tax regime, unless, at a later date, the Government decided to amend the legislation."

Mr Verner said R&D tax credits are not restricted to the types of industry which people used to associate R&D with, such as science and aerospace, but it includes companies who can demonstrate other innovations such as the development of new

products and new processes.

Companies eligible to claim must be a Limited Company or PLC registered in the UK, the company claiming must be a 'going concern' at the time of the claim and it must be subject to paying corporation tax.

The amount of R&D relief claimed is proportional to the amount of R&D activity carried out.

IN CONVERSATION

where business is easy, BUSINESS WILL GROW Gavin Walker talks with Matt McCloskey, sales director eircom Business Solutions Northern Ireland about Network NI and eircom's commitment to being at the heart of the digital transformation of Northern Ireland plc

10 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

“E

”

Any business that is not digital will not be around in 10 years time.

Matt McCloskey, sales director eircom Business Solutions Northern Ireland

ven looking across Belfast from its fifth floor boardroom you can't see the impact that eircom Business Solutions NI has made during the eight years of its presence in Northern Ireland. And yet we all touch – or are touched by – eircom's presence every day.

Engage with government at any level and you will be connecting via an eircom Business Solutions platform. That’s because Network NI, delivered by eircom, connects all Central government departments and agencies - and has done so for the past 7 years. Your local school or library is on the eircom digital platform. And if you call Translink, NIE or Power NI, you’ll also be connecting to their services.

Because connecting government is at the heart of what eircom Business Solutions NI does – at least until now.

Solid beginnings When the company arrived in Northern Ireland in 2007 it did so to a headline that it was going to invest €5m and employ 15 people. Eight years, £20m investment and 52 jobs later, eircom Business Solutions NI has far exceeded its initial modest targets, has connected Northern Ireland government, and is now – under the sales leadership of Matt McCloskey – determined to use its experience and learnings to do the same for Northern Ireland business.

“The investment we have made over the past eight years has resulted in a digital motorway around Northern Ireland.” Matt explained. “It's a motorway we're expanding daily with 13 more towns being linked up by September, bringing the total to 22. And now we want to encourage as many local businesses as possible to join us on the outside lane to becoming a digital business.

“The reality is stark,” Matt said. “Any business that is not digital will not be around in 10 years time. And that doesn't mean having a website that let's customers buy online but results in somebody with paper and pencil running around fulfilling the order.

That's 'doing' digital. What I mean is digitising as much of the business process as possible from top to bottom. That's 'being' digital.”

Digital buy-in And becoming a digital business requires two things: a commitment at Board level and the freeing-up of the IT Manager/Chief Information Officer/Chief Digital Officer from reacting to the day to day demands of maintaining the network, to investing in the long term strategic positioning of the business.

“IT isn't very sexy for many directors,” Matt said. “It's something that happens, rather than being understood as something that is an integral part of the business. They know it's important, but the 'IT guy' is seen as a necessary expense rather than a potential driving force in the business.

“But for companies that take time to understand the power of digital and take steps to embrace it, the transformation is measurable. Local business success stories like Chain Reaction and Wrightbus understand digital and either are digital businesses or, like Acheson & Glover, are well on the way to making theirs digital.”

If buy-in from the Boardroom is the first step in the process to becoming a successful digital business, then the second step is recognising the value and creativity of the 'IT department' and allowing them the freedom from day-to-day tasks to use their knowledge and skills to innovate.

Chain Reaction Chain Reaction Cycles is probably one of Northern Ireland's most phenomenal business successes in recent years.

Combining a passion for everything cycling with a determination to be a world-leading digital business, Michael Murdock explained the thinking behind their digital strategy and ensuring they had a strong and reliable technology platform to allow them to focus on the digital agenda: “I wanted my team and I to be completely focused on using our skills and knowledge to add real value to the business.

“The network is a utility like electricity, which in itself doesn’t add value to a business; however, if it isn’t functioning properly it causes issues.

“That’s why I outsourced the management of our network to eircom Business Solutions NI; they’re experts at what they do, they monitor and maintain our network, making sure I never have to worry about it. This frees me and my team up to do what we’re experts at.”

“And that really sums up what we have to offer,” Matt explained.

“It’s easy to get technical about what we do and what we have to offer. For instance, we use IP SLA to monitor quality while our competitors only monitor availability. And we have teams of guys who can out-geek any of their peers. In fact, we have more Cisco certified engineers than any other in Northern Ireland. But what a business owner or managing director wants to know is this: what can eircom Business Solutions do to help grow my business?

We connect things, people, businesses and the public. We ensure those connections are the best they can be, all the time – because we monitor their performance and quality proactively. With everything connected and managed, the barriers to new ideas are removed and IT teams are allowed the time and freedom to get creative.”

Companies as diverse as Hastings Hotels, Balloo Hire, Autoline Insurance and United Dairy Farmers – all of whom are availing of communications solutions from eircom – would say exactly the same thing: the network is a utility, the knowledge, expertise and potential for innovation of the IT/digital team is the value.

Northern Ireland needs innovation “In a recent report on innovation across the regions of the UK, Northern Ireland was close to the bottom,” Matt said. “But the reality is that we have the opportunity to be at the top. We have the digital infrastructure in place, we have a favourable geography, we have a history of being innovative, we have an educated young population, we have the promise of a financial incentive with the new Corporation Tax powers, and now we need leaders from the private sector to inspire us to embrace the possibilities that a digital future promises.”

Matt cites the example of Estonia with a population of 1.4m – very similar to our own. Over the past decade Estonia has transformed itself into one of Europe’s business success stories, mainly thanks to the sophisticated e-solutions available there.

Whether they’re business-to-business or government-to-business, these solutions rely on infrastructure like the X-Road (similar to NetworkNI) and eID (the most highly-developed national ID card system in the world) to create the kind of fast interaction and access needed to make commerce work.

“It’s a simple fact – where business is easy, business will grow,” Matt said. “Services in the private sector such as internet banking and digital signatures have cut costs and speeded up trade in Estonia like never before. It works there and with inspired leadership and continued investment in digital platforms, it can work in Northern Ireland as well. Where Belfast was once at the centre of the shipping networks that powered the Industrial Revolution, we stand now before an even greater opportunity to be front and centre of the Digital Age.” matt.mccloskey@eircomni.co.uk www.eircom.co.uk

www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

11

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

avoid the dangers of BEING UNDERINSURED

by Richard Willis, managing director at Willis Insurance and Risk Management any businesses, regardless of industry, are risking their own survival by unwittingly remaining underinsured. The problem is widespread and perennial, and a cataclysmic event can strike at any moment, leaving businesses vulnerable to complete destruction.

A 2012 survey from the Building Cost Information Service found that 80 per cent of commercial properties in the United Kingdom were underinsured.

An October 2014 survey of small- and medium-sized businesses in the UK found that about 62 per cent of respondents were underinsured due to a lack of business interruption insurance or because they did not even know if this type of cover was included in their business insurance policy.

You may only find out that your business is underinsured when you experience a major loss event, such as a data breach, flood or fire, and need to make a claim. Be proactive and know your status now so you can fix that gap and be prepared for anything.

M

What does it mean to be underinsured?

If your business is underinsured, it means that you possess policies but your assets are valued and insured at less than their true value, leaving your business inadequately protected. Therefore, in the event of a disaster, you would be compensated for less than the true value. A shortfall in your insurance payout could ruin your organisation.

Businesses can be underinsured for many reasons. Often it is because business owners think that a major loss event will never happen to them, so they do not need comprehensive protection. But inclement weather, a cyber-security hack or a destructive fire can impact and destroy any business.

Business owners may fail to review their cover and leave sums insured and estimates untouched for years, despite major changes at their organisation such as additional employees, new equipment or recent construction.

And because buildings and contents are typically insured for their reinstatement value (how much it costs to rebuild), neglecting to habitually update your sum insured could mean you are only insured for the initial market value (the price of the property when you bought it) and thus, you would only be partially covered by your

12 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

policy for rebuilding costs in the event of a partial or total loss.

Sometimes business owners choose to underestimate building costs and remain underinsured simply because they want to save money on their insurance premiums. But the short-term savings can never compensate for the out-of-pocket payments required to complement your insurance payout in the event of an insured disaster.

There are many different reasons businesses find themselves with inadequate insurance cover—but the most important thing is to recognise when your business is underinsured, to understand the attendant risks and to take action that increases your cover.

What is the danger of being underinsured?

Being underinsured threatens a business’

entire survival. A single loss event, no matter how trivial, can be disastrous if a business is underinsured and thus receives an insurance payout following the loss that is insufficient to return the business to its pre-loss position.

But a meagre sum insured is not your only threat—an inadequate indemnity period may cause insurance payments to stop before a business fully recovers after a loss. This could leave your business half-recovered and stagnant once the indemnity period on your insurance policy expires.

The same applies to undervaluing your business’ revenue—if you choose a sum insured that does not accurately reflect your business’ revenue, you could receive only a fraction of your losses under a business interruption policy.

Insurers can even void cover on the grounds of misrepresentation or nondisclosure, such as providing figures that

A 2014 survey of businesses found that about 62 per cent were underinsured due to a lack of business interruption insurance or because they did not even know if this type of cover was included in their business insurance policy. value the property or under-represent your revenue.

Being underinsured leaves your business vulnerable to financial ruin. With weak, inadequate insurance cover, you may need to close for an extended period of time—or even forever if your cover fails to account for the total cost of returning to business.

Which policies are most often underinsured?

Any commercial policy can be underinsured, but insurers report that the following are the most commonly underinsured policies: • Buildings – Business owners often only consider the market value of a building and ignore the actual cost of rebuilding. Failing to regularly reassess the value of your property and adjust your policy accordingly could lead to your business being underinsured and consequently unprepared for even the smallest losses.

• Machinery and plant – A frequently updated list of all machinery and plant is the best way to ensure it will all be covered when making a claim. Reflect any changes in your machinery and plant by adjusting your sum insured.

• Business interruption – The inability to maintain business operations in the wake of a crisis can be devastating. Possessing a current continuity plan and a gross profit/revenue insurance payout to cover it are essential.

• Cyber liability – Data breaches are an increasing threat to businesses of any size.

Improving your cyber security and developing an action plan are now necessary business practises to offset the potentially huge losses of a data breach.

How can I avoid being underinsured?

You can prevent your business from being underinsured by accomplishing the following: • Provide the cost of rebuilding the property (including the costs of demolition, materials and professional fees) to your insurer rather than the market value or the amount you purchased it for.

• Calculate and use your actual total revenue.

• Conduct regular, accurate valuations of your business and property.

• Determine an appropriate indemnity period that allows your business enough time to recover.

• Review your policy wording to ensure you have the broadest cover possible.

• Increase your sum insured to reflect inflation.

Complete Your Cover Your business is your lifeblood, and you should do everything you can to protect it— this includes properly insuring it against any possible damage. Willis Insurance & Risk Management is here to help you review your policies and to ensure that you are covered for any type of claim.

More than just insurance Insurance is just one of the business services that Willis Insurance & Risk Management currently offers. As the need to protect clients in more ways continues to develop, Willis IRM endeavours to broaden its risk management techniques.

Further to the article adjacent, Willis IRMs other services compliment businesses efforts to combat ‘under insurance’. These unique offerings help to create a truly bespoke risk management package for clients.

Consulting and Employment Services Willis IRMs Human Resources and Health & Safety team proactively review businesses procedures to ensure protection of employees. As a leader in the field of Health and Safety in Ireland, Willis IRMs Consulting division can provide organisations with the assistance they need to stay on top of their legal and moral obligations. Getting procedures in place and more importantly keeping documentation up to date is a common downfall of Northern Irish businesses that can lead to exposure.

Accident Investigation Services (AIS) As the only broker in Northern Ireland with its own dedicated accident investigation division, Willis IRM can proactively assist businesses should an incident give rise to a claim. An example of this was highlighted last year; Willis IRMs AIS division were appointed to a large hospitality client who were having difficulty with an outstanding claim. After getting up to speed with the incident, the AIS team were able to proactively chase the claim resulting in a six-figure reserve saving for their new client, leading to a much improved claims experience and reduced renewal premium.

The AIS division can also help provide businesses with a claims gap analysis should they have a large incident that could give rise to a claim.

For more information or impartial advice, call Richard Willis on 028 9032 9042 or via richardw@willisinsurance.co.uk

Willis Insurance and Risk Management Client Directors

COMMENTARY

expanding the economy –

THE NEXT STEPS he concept of ‘rebalancing the economy’ is frequently referenced by our politicians - a simple phrase that belies the hard reality of achieving it, and one that means different things depending on one’s standpoint.

To some, it is the shrinking of the public sector; to others, growth of the private sector; and to many it is a combination of the two, but with great variance about the point on the balance between contraction and expansion of the two parts.

In truth, there are only two ways in which Northern Ireland’s economy will expand.

Either way, we need to bring more money into the Province, and this will only be done through increased foreign direct investment and by export sales, so policy needs to reflect and complement this.

The private sector has never sat on its laurels, content with the status quo. Instead, by its very nature, it is always focused on growth, so when politicians turn to it and request or require expansion to help address a structural deficit in public service delivery, there are no previously unconsidered markets to uncover.

That’s not to say that a partnership between government and business cannot change the paradigm and help drive the change that both parties want to see.

A clear example of this partnership approach, which will be a major catalyst in bringing foreign investment into the economy, has been seen in the campaign to reduce the rate of corporation tax.

Business identified a policy measure that could transform part of the private sector, and government responded - eventually. Before getting misty eyed about this policy, it is important to highlight that it has taken years of lobbying by the FSB and others simply to persuade government to stop taking so much tax from those businesses that generate jobs and wealth.

At last, politicians across the spectrum have accepted the fact that tax deters business, so they have agreed to take less of it, in order encourage the wealth creators and employers; but there are other areas in which government and business can also cooperate to help drive the recovery.

Exporting to markets outside Northern Ireland is still not the norm for most of our businesses. Indeed, across Europe, even the removal of barriers through the creation of the single market over two decades ago, has seen little increase in exporting.

T

A clear example of this partnership approach, which will be a major catalyst in bringing foreign investment into the economy, has been seen in the campaign to reduce the rate of corporation tax.

Wilfred Mitchell

14 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

As an island economy, we have advantages and challenges, but there is tremendous potential for us to expand our role as exporters.

Over the coming months, the FSB will be staging events and producing a range of support and guidance to help small businesses to navigate the hurdles and either start selling to new markets or expand existing sales, including harnessing the opportunities afforded through online trading.

Government has a role to play here, too, so we will work together to remove barriers and provide a supportive exporting environment.

In tandem with both increasing inward investment and export sales is the opportunity afforded through innovation. In order to gain and retain a competitive edge, businesses must continually innovate.

This can range from the simplest changes to products and processes, to the development of copyright inventions that take advantage of the available tax breaks through the Patent Box and other schemes.

Northern Ireland has a long history of worldbeating innovators but we have often been less successful in harnessing the associated benefits of production, wealth generation and employment that have followed.

The incoming corporation tax policy will help to address that for future innovators by creating a more benign and business-friendly environment.

We must strive to ensure that government and business continue to cooperate to remove barriers and create the conditions to let exports flourish, to stimulate innovation and to encourage the rebalancing to occur - whatever interpretation is applied to it.

WILLIS INSURANCE & RISK MANAGEMENT

Northern Ireland’s Rising Stars 2015

40 under FORTY SPONSORED BY

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Back by popular demand the Business First 40 under 40 is generously sponsored by Willis Insurance and Risk Management in association with the Ulster University Business School which is celebrating its 40th year serving Northern Ireland.

On the following pages you will find a wide range of talent representing just about every sector in Northern Ireland. It’s a mix of entrepreneurs, directors and managers and each of them has shown that they have what it takes to make their business fly.

In their own way each of this year’s Business First 40 under 40 representatives are working hard to secure both their own, their company’s and our commuity’s economic futures.

As we begin to see the establishment of a real recovery it’s encouraging to know that there is new generation following where we have led and ready to take up the challenge to move Northern Ireland plc into a new era.

They are all champions of Northern Ireland business and are ready to launch themselves into a positive and exciting future. And we at Business First wish them all every success throughout 2015 and beyond.

Gavin Walker Managing Director Business First

www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

15

CHRISTINE ADAMS Christine Adams, 32 Director of Marketing and Business Development, Tughans An award-winning Chartered Marketer, Christine’s 10 years’ experience managing marketing communications and business development has taken her across B2C and B2B through a diverse sector range. After graduating from the Ulster University Business School, Christine worked for Mango at their London HQ and then retailer Douglas and Grahame, where she collected a CIM Marketing Excellence Award, before moving into culture, arts and leisure with Ulster Rugby and Audiences NI. As Group Marketing Manager for Abbey Insurance, Abbey Bond Lovis and Prestige Underwriting brands she picked-up CIM and WiB awards for Abbey Insurance’s re-brand campaign – which increased new business by 44% and customer retention to 91%. Now it’s the professional services sector with NI’s largest law firm Tughans, where she has worked for the last year. Although the sectors have been varied the focus has always been on marketing communications, skills enhanced through CIM study – including a postgraduate Professional Diploma in Marketing and a Digital Marketing Diploma. @Tughans_news www.tughans.com

GARETH QUINN

documented. A solid academic base, including a BSc Honours and MBA, coupled with a diverse range of strategic roles on Belfast City Council, provided Gareth with the technological and business nous to challenge himself within NI’s private sector. In January 2013 Gareth founded Digital DNA NI, a unique all-round business experience showcasing the best knowledge, practice and expertise from local successful business and global thought leaders. The first series, of now annual events, involved companies such as Google, Facebook, NYSE Technologies and Deloitte Digital. His responsibilities have now expanded to Commercial Director for Smart Business Show, an innovative business showcase held annually in Dublin and Belfast. @garethjquinn www.smartbusinessshow.com

16 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

Head of Operations, RUA Digital Donna is a graduate in Business Management and is Head of Operations at RUA Digital.

Donna has 10 years of experience in sales support and office management. She is responsible for managing a team of 10 staff in RUA in offices in Northern Ireland and Dubai.

Donna is responsible for managing the HR, finance and operational functions within the business. She focuses on creating efficient and effective organisational programs and processes. Donna has extremely strong communication skills, is an excellent problem solver and has strong leadership skills. She has a real strength and skill in building and maintaining strong client relations. Donna is the NI Regional Co-ordinator for GO ON UK the regional charity that aims to get everyone online and provide basic online skills.

She is an inspirational colleague and works tirelessly at motivating the whole team while maintaining a professional manner and a funloving attitude at all times. @mullindonna www.ruadigital.com

STEPHEN McCANN Stephen McCann, 34 Managing Director, P2V Systems With a refreshing approach to IT, Stephen’s enthusiasm for working in this sector compliments his remarkable IT skills.

Having worked in IT for almost ten years, Stephen honed the knowledge and understanding to identify customer needs and create and deliver professional IT solutions to address these.

This prompted him to set up his own IT company, P2V Systems, in 2008.

Now in its seventh year of trading, the Lisburn based company provides IT solutions including Managed Services, Cloud, Security and Business Continuity to SMEs in NI, ROI and GB. With achievements in the last year including work on IT security projects for Houses of Parliament and securing the enviable status of Official BT Supplier, Stephen has created one of Northern Ireland’s most emergent and exciting IT companies. @p2vsystems www.p2vsystems.com

Gareth Quinn, 34 Commercial Director, Smart Business Show Gareth has over ten years’ experience of operational management and strategy development at a senior level within very complex, sensitive and continually changing environments. His track record for successfully delivering large, complicated projects, programs and initiatives across a wide range of organisations is well

Donna Mullin, 31

DONNA MULLINS

GERRY MAY Gerry May, 36 Managing Director, Forde May Consulting From Belfast, Gerry went to QUB to Study Politics. After Graduation, Gerry worked for an insurance firm and relocated to Southern England, where he managed sales and customer service teams.

Gerry was ‘headhunted’ by an international search firm to establish their customer contact and project management division operating within the utilities, public and charitable sectors.

Gerry operated out of Manchester and London offices servicing clients such as the NHS, Thames Water, The Big Lottery Fund, The British Red Cross, and various county councils on diverse senior executive headhunts.

Gerry returned to Northern Ireland towards the end of 2009. Since his return and commencement of work with Forde May Consulting, Gerry has worked with numerous local and multi-national firms in attracting individuals to Northern Ireland, and he has also worked with numerous local export companies in sourcing local candidates to work for them in countries such as the U.S, Dubai, Taiwan, mainland Europe, and of

course Great Britain. Gerry became Managing director of Forde May Consulting in 2014.

He is also back at QUB studying for a Masters. @niexecjobs www.fordemayconsulting.com

FRANCES MAGEE Frances Magee, 34 Owner, Dress This House Frances Magee is the founder and owner of Dress This House and her enthusiasm for design and how people interact with interior spaces has only strengthened over time.

Following her training at the University Of Ulster Art College in Belfast, Frances spent years in the business world gaining the confidence and skills necessary to set up her own design practice.

With a wealth of expertise to support all property styling requirements Frances eats, sleeps and breathes the world of Interior Design.

With a body of work covering residential, hospitality and commercial projects, clean and functional interior spaces are Frances’ passion. It truly is what makes her tick.

After identifying a niche for ‘home staging’ in the Northern Ireland property market, Frances has extended the offerings to include professional de-cluttering/organising services and home packing/unpacking for busy movers.

Dress This House has grown from strength to strength since its formation in 2013. @dress_thishouse www.dressthishouse.info

ANDY HILL Andy Hill, 34 Managing Director, Dokoo Digital Andy runs Dokoo Digital, an award winning marketing agency based in Holywood, Co.Down. Andy has worked for clients such as Tourism Ireland, Liverpool Football Club, Natwest and UNICEF. Dokoo helps businesses

exploit the digital opportunity and are currently working with a number of household brands across the UK and America.

The entrepreneurial bug bit Andy at an early age, a former pupil of Sullivan Upper School and the Newcastle Upon Tyne Business School where alongside studying he started his first business at the age of 19.

Andy is currently a member of the Ireland Board of The Chartered Institute of Marketing and does voluntary work mentoring businesses for Business In The Community.

Andy has several other business interests outside Dokoo; among them is Lanyon Property an innovative property company that combines digital marketing and augmented reality. Andy states the keys to his success are hard work and perseverance. @FollowAndyHill www.dokoo.com

ALAN MERCER Alan Mercer, 27 Managing Director, Hillmount Garden Centre Married to Ciara, Alan is the fourth generation Mercer to manage the garden centre which started as a modest nursery in East Belfast. This year Hillmount celebrates 75 years providing colour to the gardens of its thousands of customers from across East Belfast, North Down and beyond.

Alan was educated at Grosvenor Grammar School and Essex University and gained invaluable experience working in garden centres throughout the UK before returning to the family business to oversee a £500,000 extension where customers now enjoy a unique dining experience in The Gardener’s Rest. Alan has also realised his dream of creating Hillmount’s BBQ Academy – the only one of its kind in a garden centre in Ireland.

His most recent achievements have included the opening of a second garden centre – Hillmount Bangor – and taking the original garden centre at Gilnahirk to a four star accolade with the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, training his staff in WorldHost customer service excellence and winning the inaugural Castlereagh Borough Council Business of the Year Award. @hillmountgarden www.hillmount.co.uk

LISA BOYD Lisa Boyd, 34 Director, Cleaver Fulton Rankin, Solicitors Lisa specialises in contentious and noncontentious Public Procurement and Construction law. Her expertise is evident not only in her advice to clients, but also through her contributions to local press and legal publications. She also is a regular speaker at legal seminars for clients and professional bodies and occasionally lectures at the University of Ulster.

Lisa has two bachelor degrees from Queen’s University (Mathematics and Law). In addition, in 2012 Lisa graduated from Nottingham University with a postgraduate certificate in Public Procurement Law and Policy.

As Marketing Director, Lisa promotes charitable activities within the firm leading to over £60,000 being raised over the last 3 years.

Lisa is recommended by a number of prestigious legal directories who comment that she "consistently delivers beyond expectation".

She was recently awarded the ‘Best in Professional Services’ award at the Women in Business Awards 2014 and shortlisted for UTV Business Personality of the Year. @CFR_Law www.cfrlaw.co.uk

Chris Hughes, 27 CEO, Enterprise Factory From selling boxing programmes at 12 to paving the way as one of the foremost event producers in Ireland.

Chris returned from training in entertainment in Vancouver and started his first business, Hughes Leisure; a teenage disco in a church hall loaned to him by the Parish. Within 4 months it attracted 6,000 people and a roller-coaster into the world of entertainment began ranging from the MTV EMA's to helping produce Wembley for Channel5 and at 23 brokering a world title boxing contest making him one of the youngest promoters ever licensed.

Realising a gap in the market for educational events, Chris sought out the real Wolf of Wall Street, Jordan Belfort and negotiated his European tour debut at Dublin’s RDS for a 3,500 sell-out seminar.

Enterprise Factory was born with the aim of supporting young people in employability through practical enterprise programmes which is thriving both commercially and societally across Ireland. @MrChrisIre www.enterprizeofficial.com

www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

17

CHRISTINE WATSON Christine Watson, 33 Chartered Marketer, Watson & Co Chartered Marketing Christine provides marketing consultancy and business mentoring services to company directors across Ireland and Scotland.

Christine is a self-described grafter, working in the tourist town of Newcastle, County Down from the age of 13. With specialisms in business improvement and retail marketing, Christine has delivered double and triple digit growth as a cross-border marketing manager and business mentor in both large and small private sector organisations. Christine's career to date includes Head of Marketing for The OUTLET village, Banbridge from its launch in April 2007 to its position as a shopping destination with an all-Ireland customer base in 2010, a knowledge transfer partnership with the Centre for Competitiveness and QUB, Business Mentoring on the Western Innovation Network, market research for Maritz and front line retail experience in Tesco Stores Ltd. across NI and in Scotland. @watsonmydear www.watsonsmarketing.com

LYDIA McCLELLAND Lydia McClelland, 37 Head of Marketing, Ulster University Lydia McClelland, Chartered Marketer, is Head of Marketing at Ulster University and ViceChair of CIM Ireland. At Ulster, Lydia is responsible for the recruitment of students to undergraduate and postgraduate courses from the UK and Ireland.

Lydia has held a number of senior business development and marketing roles in the education, arts and economic development sectors in Northern Ireland. Previous roles include Head of Marketing and Development for the Ulster Orchestra and Business Development Manager for Castlereagh

18 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

Enterprises Ltd (a local enterprise agency). A passionate marketer and business person, Lydia leads from the front. Lydia is results driven and strives for continuous improvement.

Lydia also lecturers on a part-time basis for Belfast Academy of Marketing on the CIM Diploma in Digital Marketing and postgraduate Diploma in Marketing. Lydia holds a BA (Hons) in Spanish, a Master's in Business Studies, CIM postgraduate Diploma in Marketing and the CIM Diploma in Digital Marketing. @lydiamcclelland www.ulster.ac.uk

JEANETTE DONOHOE

LISA McILVENNA should be a force for good and she has led on the creation of Business in the Community’s ground-breaking tool to help companies measure and benchmark their corporate responsibility (CR) – CORE: The Standard for Responsible Business. Under her leadership, membership of Business in the Community in Northern Ireland is at its highest levels and her passion for CR has helped inspire students at QUB where she lectures on the topic. She is a trustee of Artemis Schools NI and in her spare time, teaches tin whistle to a number of students. @LisaMcIlvenna ww.bitcni.org.uk

Jeanette Donohoe, 34 Director, Cleaver Fulton Rankin Jeanette, together with her Co-Directors, leads a team of 100 staff at this leading Belfast commercial law firm. She is Head of the Insolvency & Business Restructuring team and is a specialist in advising distressed businesses, banks and Insolvency Practitioners in the full range of complex contentious and non-contentious insolvency procedures.

Joining the firm in 2003, Jeanette was quickly promoted and invited to partnership in 2009.

Aged 29, she was the youngest partner ever in the firm which has been in business for over 100 years. The firm incorporated in 2011 and Jeanette joined the Board of Directors.

Jeanette is constantly recognised as a leading lawyer in legal directories. She is listed as a leader in her field in both NI and UK and quoted as a “firm favourite” with clients, who say she is "knowledgeable, practical and always available”, Chambers UK 2014, A Client’s Guide to the Legal Profession. @CFR_Law www.cfrlaw.co.uk

Dr Lisa McIlvenna, PhD, 31 Deputy Managing Director, Business in the Community Lisa is passionate about responsible business, choosing it as the subject of her PhD, completed at the start of 2015. She leads Business in the Community’s drive for membership, engaging and supporting companies to make their business more sustainable, while fulfilling their responsibilities towards society, the environment and their current and future workforce. Lisa believes business is and

PAUL REDPATH Paul Redpath MA, 30 Director, Catalyst2.com Paul started the web hosting company catalyst2 while still at school in 2000 and progressing it at University , dissatisfied with the lack of great customer service in the industry. Since then the business has grown to host thousands of websites over hundreds of servers for a variety of individuals and businesses, including the Poppy Appeal, Virgin, Marks & Spencer and the NHS. Catalyst2 has also won several industry ISPA awards for Best Customer Service and Customer Choice, along with and two Deloitte Fast 50 awards for business growth. Paul continues to manage the business along with a clear focus on exceptional customer service and ease of use.

Paul is also involved and a Director in The Company Shop which is Northern Ireland’s leading company formation agency, also working to provide an excellent customer experience in a somewhat virtual marketplace. @catalyst2 www.catalyst2.com

KATY BEST

quality management systems and extensive staff training. His strong work ethic, calm nature, practical approach and genuine people skills are the keys to his success.

In 2011 Stephen completed a Diploma in Business Management & Leadership and in 2013 he was appointed a company Director.

In his spare time Stephen volunteers at his local GAA Club; Rossa, as well as being a devoted family man to his wife and two young sons. @signatureworks www.thesignatureworks.co.uk

Katy Best, 37 Commercial & Marketing Director George Best Belfast City Airport Katy Best has been instrumental to the growth and success of George Best Belfast City Airport over the last decade. Bringing British Airways and Aer Lingus to the Airport and growing the network operated by flybe has provided BCA with a comprehensive domestic route network. This network has now been expanded into Europe firstly with Aer Lingus and this year KLM and Vueling will commence operations at BCA for the first time positioning the business for double digit growth and a record year. In addition to the growth of the route network Katy has transformed the Commercial offerings at BCA and today there are 30 different companies operating within the Airport.

This impressive track record has resulted in Katy’s skills being much sought after and she is currently a Board member of Tourism NI, the 2015 Belfast Tall Ships, Visit Britain in London and the Mac. All this and 3 young children!! @belfastcity_air www.belfastcityairport.com

STEPHEN COLLINS

IVAN WAIDE Ivan Waide, 39 Partner, A&L Goodbody Ivan Waide is a leading IP and Technology lawyer. As a partner at award winning law firm A&L Goodbody, Ivan heads up the IP & Technology practice area in the Belfast office, specialising in technology, intellectual property and commercial law. He has extensive experience advising both Northern Ireland-based and international clients on technology transactions and commercial contracts (including outsourcing, IP commercialisation and supply chain contracts), as well as e-commerce and data protection. Ivan studied at Queen's University Belfast and the College of Law London. Prior to returning to Northern Ireland, Ivan worked for international law firms in London, Munich and New York, and is a fluent German speaker. A true leader in his field, clients recognise him as being "a brilliant lawyer" (Chambers UK), "the best I've had the privilege of working with" (Chambers UK) and a "mature, confident lawyer who is approachable and easy to talk to" (Chambers UK). www.algoodbody.com

Stephen Collins, 39

Louise Kelly, 36

Production Director, The Signature Works Leaving school at 18 Stephen began his career in 1998 as general assistant to, now codirector, Peter McConvey in Expert Tees.

Tasked with everything from general admin to warehouse organisation, Stephen got a good early grounding in all aspects of running a business. In 2000 Expert Tees merged with, then supplier Sportscrest, later re-branding to The Signature Works in 2010.

Stephen has been at the forefront of changes that have helped the business grow to become Ireland’s largest screen-printing and embroidery facility. These include implementation of LEAN manufacturing,

Partner at Grant Thornton Northern Ireland Louise is tasked with growing the NI audit practice. Having joined the business advisory firm as a trainee 2000, she has developed a wealth of experience working with public and privately owned companies, particularly within the construction, education, motor retail and manufacturing sectors.

During her career at Grant Thornton, Louise has headed up the Risk, Compliance and Professional Standards department, where she gained extensive technical expertise in Irish and UK GAAP and company law. She is also passionate about educating others,

LOUISE KELLY having lectured for a number of professional accountancy bodies, as well as writing Advanced Auditing & Assurance, the audit text book used in Chartered Accountants Ireland final auditing exams.

Louise has completed a Bachelor degree (BA) in Accounting and Finance from Manchester Metropolitan University. She qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2003 and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ireland (ICAI) and Institute of Directors. @GrantThorntonIE www.grantthornton.ie

CONOR O’HAGAN Conor O'Hagan, 34 Director, Capital Project & Infrastructure, PwC Conor is a chartered civil engineer, an MBA graduate and, prior to joining PwC, spent his formative years in the construction industry where he led teams in the design, management and delivery of complex infrastructure projects and programmes.

Conor made the move to PwC in 2010 because he is motivated by solving complex problems and wanted to do so on iconic national and international projects. He is now a Director in PwC and leads their Capital Projects & Infrastructure business in Northern Ireland. Over the last 5 years he has worked in an advisory capacity specialising in creating insight, removing complexity and reducing risk for his clients across a number of critical national infrastructure and complex multinational programmes. He is motivated by building trust, growing and developing his team, and helping his clients achieve better outcomes than they thought possible. @ConorOHagan1 www.pwc.co.uk

www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

19

PETE HANLON

work with a company expanding into a new market at the Centre for SME Development, Ulster Business School.

He is one of the few people from Northern Ireland to have written internationally in corporate communication for Charlton Media Group Hong Kong where he wrote for three of their leading Asian business magazines (Singapore Business Review, Asian Banking & Finance and Hong Kong Business). In the UK he has written for Business Matters magazine. @johnnymmcginley

Pete Hanlon, 34 Head of Creative, Flint Studios Ltd. Pete Hanlon co-founded Flint Studios in December 2011. In a short space of time Flint Studios has flourished from a small team into a full-service digital agency. Constantly pushing new boundaries, Pete has overseen the company’s high rate of expansion, now employing 19 members of staff providing technical, creative and digital solutions to clients throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland. As a director and member of the board, Pete is responsible for strategic leadership, staff development and improving the company’s performance. He has been instrumental in ‘speeding up’ the company’s rate of expansion by increasing the active customer base year on year by over 25%, introducing professional development plans for all staff and expanding the company’s core service offering.

His vision and craft has resulted in two awards wins for Flint Studios in the past year; Best eCommerce Website 2014 at the Realex Fire Web Awards and Website of the Year 2014 at DANI Awards. @pete_hanlon www.flintstudios.co.uk

JOHNNY McGINLEY

ANTON McGONNELL

British and European Standards and Codes of Practice pertinent to the fire and security industry, is widely recognised as second to none within Northern Ireland. With the recent addition of prestigious clients including Queens University and the Belfast Harbour Commissioners, to an existing portfolio of clients including The Odyssey, Diamond continue in their commitment to delivering high quality service using a compliant and cost effective product range. @Diamond_Systems www.diamondsystems.co.uk

Anton McGonnell, 27 IT Service Architect, BT Anton is a highly driven and intelligent young professional, who is also extremely socially conscious. He graduated from Queen's University in Business Information Technology with First Class Honours and received the Deloitte and Business Technology award in the process. He then went to New York City on the USNI Mentorship Program working as an Interface Developer for the New York eHealth Collaborative. He returned over a year later to work as a Consultant for Healthcare IT companies from the UK and Ireland entering the US Market, before joining BT as an MIS Specialist before being promoted to Service Architect, he was chosen to represent BT at the One Young World summit in Dublin due to his leadership potential. He was a speaker at the British Irish Association conference for two consecutive years and helped found the Young Influencers group, set up to make Northern Ireland a better place. He has a particularly keen interest in the economy. @aton2006 www.bt.com

Johnny McGinley, MCIPR, 36

Steve Snoddon, 37

Business Mentor Johnny combines two busy roles at present.

He works in the public sector in a Change Management & Transformation role and as a Business Mentor on a government funded innovation and employer support programme at Belfast Metropolitan College.

As a business mentor he has successfully advised business owners and directors on growth innovation and marketing for their companies building their innovation capacity.

In 2014 he won an Entrepreneurship award sponsored by the Berner Group UK for his

Managing Director, Diamond Electronic Systems Limited Steve Snoddon (37) is Managing Director of electronic fire and security company, Diamond Systems. In 2014 Steve celebrated 20 years with the company, having joined the company as an apprentice, working alongside his father, company founder Tom Snoddon.

Steve has seen the company grow from humble beginnings of a two man team, to its current workforce of eighteen staff. Having worked at all levels within the business, Steve’s awareness and understanding of the

20 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

STEVE SNODDEN

NEAL LUCAS Neal Lucas, 36 Managing Director, Neal Lucas Executive Search Ltd Neal Lucas is Northern Ireland’s leading executive search and recruitment professional. With 15 years’ experience recruiting senior managers, Directors and Board Members, Neal set up his own executive search business in 2009 during the challenging economic climate and has built it up to become the largest executive search business in Northern Ireland, with a dynamic team of consultants. Neal has identified and attracted talented executives for some of the top companies based in Northern Ireland and in recent years has moved into the RoI and GB markets with plans to expand into Europe.

He is currently Chair of the Institute of Directors, Young Directors Forum and sits on the NI Executive Committee. Neal is considered to be an expert in the field of recruitment locally and nationally and has acted as a spokesperson on the industry to a variety of NI media. @NealLucasRec www.neallucasrecruitment.com

energy, the Health & Safety Executive NI and First Trust Bank. She has grown and developed the Genesis media department and is part of the agency’s senior management team, securing business for the agency now and into the future. Her media campaigns have won recognition from the All Ireland Media Awards and PANI, and in 2014, she served as a judge for the All Ireland Media Awards. @genesisbelfast www.genesis-advertising.co.uk

ROSS LICENCE Ross Licence, 37 Events Director, Inform Communications Ross has worked in the Event Management sector for 12 years in both in-house and consultancy roles. His experience spans the full spectrum of event development, planning, marketing and delivery and includes international business conferences, fund raising galas, awards dinners, large scale consumer exhibitions, product launches, corporate entertainment and film premieres.

Ross has provided creative event solutions with the Private, Public and Voluntary sectors throughout his career managing everything from large international conferences to more intimate private dining experiences. Ross has designed and managed over 500 events in his career ensuring success and seamless event delivery for clients. Examples of some of the high profile events Ross has managed include CIPD NI Awards, The Food and Drink Show NI, First Trust Bank GAA Awards, The Law Society Annual Conference, Ulster Rugby Finest XV Awards, Belfast Restaurant Week’s Taste and Dine and Lisburn Restaurant Week. @rosslicence www.informcommunications.com

PATRICE O’HAGAN Patrice O’Hagan, 27 Account Manager, Turning Technologies “Success is 99% attitude, 1% aptitude.” Celestine Chua. My professional career started in June 2010 following a degree in Business. Within three short years I became General Manager to Ireland’s fastest growing Fitness Training Academy. Having achieved what I could I moved to the IT Industry, and what a change Turning Technologies is a US based company with 300+ employees; the world’s leader in their field. Working from the International HQ in Belfast, I am an instrumental part of the fastest growing area of the company; having increased our year on sales by 160%.

I am experienced in International Business and Marketing, selling to EMEA and also APAC. This has allowed me to travel across the world from Amsterdam to Saudi Arabia.

I believe my success so far is down to positive attitude, hard work and dedication, and I’m only getting started! @TurningTech www.turningtechnologies.com

WENDY McKNIGHT Wendy McKnight, 38 Media Director, Genesis Advertising Ltd Wendy McKnight leads the Media Planning and Buying Department at Genesis, a leading Belfast agency creating local and global campaigns for clients based in NI, GB and Ireland. Having begun her career at McCannErickson in Belfast some 15 years ago, she has since worked for the Belfast Telegraph, The Q Network & Exterion Media. Since joining Genesis in 2010, she has planned, bought and implemented broadcast, digital and print campaigns across the UK, US, Asia and Europe for clients such as Invest Northern Ireland, SPAR UK, Henderson Group, firmus

provide excellent training and services in all aspects of the Leisure Industry. Aileen is quality driven, striving at all times to ensure each and every course participant feel they have gained valuable information and skills they can put into practise in their employment, as well as enjoying the course.

Aileen believes that the excellent Tutors and Staff are paramount to BRIO’s success.

Keeping BRIO’s team upskilled, ensuring each person is passionate about the skills they teach, is essential in offering the best to customers. Aileen has a passion to help people succeed in their goals and achieve their professional targets. Aileen and BRIO always welcome customers to keep in touch, and offers relevant information and support along their way. @brio-aileen www.briotraining.co.uk

AILEEN BYRNE Aileen Byrne, 36 Director, Brio Training Aileen Byrne is Director of BRIO, a Magherafelt company that mainly provides specialised training for the Leisure Industry.

Beginning 8 years ago, delivering Pool Plant Operation Courses, BRIO has evolved to

GARY COBURN Gary Coburn, 39 Regional Sales Director, Close Brothers Commercial Finance Gary Coburn has worked for Close Brothers Commercial Finance for five years as Regional Sales Director and has 15 years experience in the industry. He was the first employee working on the asset finance side of the business in Northern Ireland when the operation started in April 2010 and has worked hard to build the brand from the ground up. The company is now a leading, independent provider of asset and invoice finance and asset based lending (ABL) to both SMEs and large businesses, assisting all types of firms with capital expenditure investments.

Gary is responsible for the Northern Ireland asset finance sales team, dealing with a diverse portfolio of clients from construction to engineering, haulage and transport. His team regularly meets with companies across the region to provide tailored finance packages, allowing them to reach business objectives and plan for future growth.

When Gary started with Close Brothers he was also a student at the Ulster Business School studying for a BSc Hons in Accounting, which he completed in 2012. The attainment of this qualification has been a catalyst for his success within the business. www.closecommercialfinance.com

www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

21

RIKI NEILL Riki Neill (34) Director, RNN Communications Founded by Riki Neill in late 2012, RNN Communications is a young and exciting integrated communications company that likes to do things a little differently.

Riki established RNN Communications in a bid to create a more fluid communications agency, that taps into our 24/7 world, is flexible in its approach and fosters partnerships.

2014 was a landmark year for the agency.

With an expanded team, RNN Communications launched two new divisions, increased turnover by 57% and built a bespoke eco-office, which is home to RNN Comms, RNN Digital and RNN Green.

Working in both NI and ROI for international clients and local players, over 65% of the company’s client base is based outside of Northern Ireland.

For 2015, Riki and the team will continue to deliver solutions through intelligent, creative and engaging communications. There are also plans to establish a number of strategic alliances in NI & ROI. @RNNComms, @RNNGreen www.RNNCommunications.com

SHIRLEY OHANLON Shirley OHanlon, 31 Sales & Marketing coordinator Todds Leap Activity Centre Shirley OHanlon has hands on experience having grown within the family business, Todds Leap Activity Centre, from the very beginning, which is celebrating its 25th Anniversary this year. Starting out as a small off road driving school, which operated only at Weekends, offering off road driving & quad biking. Todds Leap is now a multi award winning outdoor activity centre, offering 20 + activities, accommodation for over 100 people, an onsite conference centre & a

22 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

licensed restaurant ‘ The Twisted Axle’ .

Todds Leap operates 7 days a week all year round and welcomes some 30, 000 visitors each year.

When she was 22, Shirley managed her father’s sister company, Todds Leap Racking & Shelving, a storage solutions trader. In 2010, Shirley moved to a full time sales role in the activity centre which experienced a 120% growth in sales. Shirley is now the Sales and Marketing coordinator at Todds Leap Activity Centre, responsible for the strategic planning, communications and business development @shirleyo1 www.toddsleap.com

PAUL HASLAM Paul Haslam, 38 Managing Director, The Web Bureau Paul is the Managing Director and co- founder of The Web Bureau, Proud winners of the Digital Agency of the year award 2 years running, we specialise in Engaging Design, bespoke Online Software Development and Digital Marketing Strategies that get results..

Having extensive expertise in user experience, online learning resources, accessibility and digital marketing Paul also provides creative direction at The Web Bureau where websites range from interactive brochure style presences to highly functional, mutli-currency eCommerce applications.

Having started his career producing innovative websites for SME’s in the UK & Ireland, Paul then went on to become an interactive designer for BBC Schools & Education. Since forming The Web Bureau, Paul has project managed large sites for a variety of clients such as BBC, The Radisson Group, Phoenix Gas, Bombardier, JP Corry, Habitat for Humanity and the Kingspan Group, Ceen and the IOD. He also managed an Intranet with 800 users for the BBC. @thewebbureau www.thewebbureau.com

Trevor Dempster, 32 Digital Marketing Manager, Branding Bay & Partner at NI Business Directory Trevor is a Digital Marketing Manager at Branding Bay - one of the most innovative and versatile Digital Marketing Agencies in Northern Ireland. Trevor is also a partner in NI Business Directory - an online portal for businesses which is set to take Northern Ireland by storm this year!

TREVOR DEMPSTER With over 15 years in the digital media industry, Trevor applies his significant experience in website design & build, digital marketing and online brand management.

Through Branding Bay. Trevor has worked with some of Northern Ireland's largest companies such as Dunbia, Balcas, Brookvent, Willowbrook Foods, to name just a few.

When not engrossed in all things digital, Trevor is a big fan of Arsenal FC and is a season ticket holder and a member of the Arsenal Supporters' Trust.

Outside of work Trevor is married with two young children (and one on the way) and Kylene (2) who he fosters - this seems to take up all his spare time! @TrevorSDempster www.brandingbay.com www.nibusiness.directory

WESLEY JAMESON Wesley Jameson (34) Managing Director at Segway NI Ltd, Adventure Holdings NI Ltd, USA NI Ltd, Portadown Recycling & Skip Hire Ltd, Paintball NI Ltd & Itera Properties Ltd Wesley operates within the construction, recycling, tourism and outdoor adventure sectors. Segway NI Ltd has won the best newcomer and the best outdoor experience in Northern Ireland in the past two years. His latest company (USA NI LTD), is a unique sports park in Belfast City Centre on an eight acre site with the Only Paintballing Site in Belfast and the Only Batting Cages in Ireland. @SegwayNiEvents www.usani.co.uk www.segwayni.co.uk

PATRICK BROWN

Strategic review that included the streamlining of operations and systems, efforts are now fully concentrated on our core business.

Allen maintains focus on all his responsibilities as a Director but also has a specific emphasis on finance, risk management, vision corporate governance and strategy. He continually seeks to make improvements and employ best practices throughout the business. @AR575 www.henrybrothers.co.uk

RACHEL DOHERTY

Patrick Brown 38

Rachel Doherty (25)

Managing Partner, Tughans Ranked as Band 1 in Chambers UK – the guide to the best lawyers, Patrick has been with Tughans since qualification, making Partner in 2006 and rising to Managing Partner of Northern Ireland’s largest commercial law firm in 2015. A senior partner within the Dispute Resolution team, the biggest team of its kind in Northern Ireland, Patrick is recognised as a market leader in dispute resolution and litigation, and has been involved in a significant number of landmark cases including the Ulster GAA Casement Park stadium project.

He has expertise in a broad range of contentious matters including high value and complex insurance claims, professional negligence, shareholder and partnership disputes, financial services litigation, contractual and warranty claims, environmental litigation and judicial review.

Patrick’s leadership qualities stem from his days as Ireland hockey captain, when he amassed an impressive 151 caps. @Tughans_news www.tughans.com

HSQE & Marketing Manager, GES Group.

Rachel joined GES Group through the Parity graduate programme in 2012, and her achievements secured her a permanent position as Group HSQE & Marketing Manager. Rachel has since guided the company through successful achievement of IIP, ISO18001, ISO14001 and ISO9001 accreditation, while also completing her NEBOSH Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety. Rachel has been actively involved in the 5 Year Strategic Plan for the company, that has seen them achieve significant growth and development.

IAN MORROW Ian Morrow, 27 CEO – Jet Assist Ltd Ian is a hardworking and dedicated individual who strives to promote his business as well as Northern Ireland as much as possible. He has worked hard to achieve his goals and is not afraid to put in whatever hours are necessary to see those goals through. He is also dedicated to his family life and finding the balance between work and family.

Ian has a proven track record in sales, operations, management and business development and started his life in aviation at the bottom; level refuelling private aircraft at the age of 18. He has worked his way up from the bottom by working hard to both establish and create a well-known brand. @jetassist2 www.jetassist.co.uk

Clive Jones, 39

ALLEN REID Allen Reid, 34 Group Financial Director, Henry Brothers (Magherafelt) Ltd Allen Reid ACA joined the Henry Group in 2012 and has an exceptional track record of achieving excellence throughout his career.

He is meticulous, highly competent and extremely professional in performing his role as Group Financial Director. Allen continued his professional development during 2013 by undertaking the Chartered Director Programme achieving distinction at Certificate level and obtaining the IoD Diploma in Company Direction.

Following the implementation of a Group

Director, Precept IT Limited Clive obtained a BSc(Hons) in Environmental Biology, then MSSc in Organisation and Management from Queens University Belfast.

After a number of years working in the financial/insurance market locally, Clive recognised the growing importance of IT and undertook a conversion course on the LEDU RAP programme at BIC Systems. Initially working as a software developer for Almac Sciences, Clive moved onto working for 2 of Northern Ireland’s leading hotel chains directing their IT operations. This gave Clive the basis from which to launch his own IT company Precept IT. In addition to IT support, the highly skilled team that Clive assembled at Precept guided SME’s to find their feet with emerging cloud technologies.

Precept have subsequently developed a number of their own cloud based solutions. @preceptit www.preceptit.com

RICHARD ELLIOTT Richard Elliott, 33 Managing Director, Webrecruit Ireland Richard has been involved in the Recruitment and Recruitment Marketing sectors for over a decade, witnessing at first hand the vast impact that technology has had on the recruitment landscape. Richard has been with Webrecruit Ireland since its launch in 2010, leading the business from zero clients to over 700 with year-on-year growth.

Richard strategically directs the business in the key areas of Sales, Service Delivery, Marketing and Technological developments.

By offering effective talent sourcing and recruitment technology solutions that reduces recruitment costs, Webrecruit Ireland has carved a niche in the local recruitment marketplace.

Richard is a regular speaker at HR/Digital Conferences, He is continually looking to revolutionize the local Recruitment industry and was delighted to be presented, on behalf of Webrecruit Ireland, with ‘Recruitment Innovator of the Year’ at the Irish News Workplace and Employment Awards in 2012 and again in 2014. www.webrecruitireland.com

www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

23

BEST PRACTICE

Culture and Behaviours the vital role of the Director

by Joy Allen CDir Leading Governance, writing on behalf of the Institute of Directors

hen considering the role of the Director, we often focus on legal compliance, strategic planning, risk management, oversight of performance.

While those are all vitally important, the latest annual report from the Financial Reporting Council underlines the importance of boardroom leadership in influencing behaviours at all levels.

The report ‘Developments in Corporate Governance and Stewardship 2014’ recognises the crucial importance of organisational culture on governance, and stresses the Directors’ responsibility for shaping that culture, starting in the boardroom and extending to everyone in the business.

It acknowledges that, within the board’s thinking on key risks, there needs to be recognition of the threats arising from behaviour in the company.

Behaviour happens one person at a time, and becomes a habit if not corrected.

Directors need to be thinking about the drivers of culture and behaviours: • What are the values that need to be set, to influence the behaviours of every individual in the organisation, from the chairman to the receptionist and everyone in between?

• Does everyone know what those values are and what they mean for their day-today behaviours?

• Are the values woven through all of our business processes – recruitment, induction, continuing development, daily feedback, annual performance review processes?

• Does the board have assurance that the values are being lived by all, that appropriate behaviours are being rewarded and inappropriate behaviours are being addressed quickly and consistently?

Back in 2005, I was delighted to support the directors of Hastings Hotels with their thinking on vision, values and culture.

With a passion for excellence and continual development, they were challenging themselves as a board team to articulate a motivational vision and values that would steer individual behaviours. That thinking is still being used today, to inform job applicants about what will be expected of them, and to set a clear framework for feedback and continual development for everyone.

W

Getting the board to invest time and energy in away days, with a less pressurised agenda than usual, and an opportunity to define the required culture and behaviours, pays huge dividends. If you have not yet experienced that energy, ask someone who has.

Joy Allen

24 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

From the vision and values, the Hastings Group developed a tailored performance management framework – measuring each person on the targets they have achieved and also how they achieved them.

All of the managers have been trained in performance management, including language for feedback conversations.

They have also been trained in coaching, and have received coaching themselves to support application of the learning.

This required significant investment, and a focus on the long-term benefits rather than the short-term costs.

The results they have seen are higher performing teams, increased customer satisfaction, and ultimately business success.

Ensuring that the board spends sufficient time in reflective and creative mode needs planning.

Getting the board to invest time and energy in away days, with a less pressurised agenda than usual, and an opportunity to define the required culture and behaviours, pays huge dividends.

If you have not yet experienced that energy, ask someone who has. It is essential to put in place processes to assess the culture in all parts of the business, and ensure that the values are being lived.

Effective review and development processes at board level are crucial in this. In 2010, the UK code provision B.6.2 introduced the external facilitation of board evaluation in FTSE 350 companies at least every three years. Yet Grant Thornton reported that in 2014 less than 40 per cent of companies carried out such a review.

During 2015, the FRC will ‘assess how effective boards are at establishing company culture and practices and embedding good corporate behaviour’.

There is a real opportunity for Directors to lead their boards to do great thinking and decision making in this area.

IoD member and Chartered Director, Joy Allen, is managing director of Leading Governance Ltd, and has specialised in board review and development processes for 13 years.

SPONSORED ARTICLE

Becoming a Chartered Director – the questions you will be asked

by Peter Martin, Director Development established and/or reviewed the values of the organisation?

3. What approach did the Board take in embedding its vision, mission and values and what was your role?

4. How were the vision, mission and values communicated and what role did you play in this?

5. How have you championed the values of the organisation?

Part B - REVIEWING AND DEVELOPING THE ORGANISATION’S STRATEGY

he Institute of Directors (“IoD”) Chartered Director Programme that runs in Northern Ireland and in Dublin leads to two of the IoD’s three qualifications – the IoD’s Certificate and Diploma.

Then Diploma-holders have up to 10 years to apply for the third qualification, Chartered Director, regarded as the gold standard for professional directors. At the heart of the Chartered application process are 25 questions, grouped under five themes or “Parts”.

These have to be answered in a maximum total of 1500 words as part of a portfolio, followed by an interview in which, over a period of around 90 minutes the answers to these 25 questions are probed more deeply with the candidate expected to explain the context and give specific examples to support the written answers.

T

Here are the 25 questions.....

Part A - VISION, MISSION, VALUES 1. What was your role when the Board developed and/or reviewed the organisation’s vision and mission?

2. What was your role when the Board

26 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

1. What approach did the Board take in reviewing the organisation’s internal and external environment and what role did you play in this?

2. How have you contributed to the Board’s analysis of competitive advantage?

3. What has your role been in the identification and assessment of strategic options?

4. How have you contributed to the Board’s strategic decision-making process, particularly in relation to the financial consequences of those decisions?

5. What role have you played in supporting the Board to ensure that key enabling factors are in place and what are these factors?

Part C - DELEGATION TO MANAGEMENT AND REVIEWING ORGANISATIONAL PERFORMANCE 1. What role have you played in developing and/or reviewing business/operating plans?

2. How have you ensured that the Board has accurate and appropriate management information to assess the performance of the organisation?

3. What role have you played in ensuring thorough, impartial and regular review of operational performance?

4. How has the Board aligned policies, actions and staff training and development to performance outcomes and how have you contributed to this process?

5. What role have you played in the Board’s communication of progress and performance, the capture of organisational learning and implementation of changes arising from this?

Part D - EXERCISING ACCOUNTABILITY AND RESPONSIBILITY TO STAKEHOLDERS 1. Who are the key stakeholders, and what role have you played in identifying them?

2. What role have you played in actively managing these stakeholder relationships?

3. How does the Board objectively measure stakeholder feedback, and what role have you played in this process?

4. How have you contributed to communicating with stakeholders and what is communicated?

5. Provide an example of how you have anticipated, balanced and resolved conflicts of interest between different stakeholder groups.

Part E - DISCHARGING YOUR DUTIES AS A DIRECTOR AND AS A MEMBER OF A COLLECTIVE AND RESPONSIBLE BODY 1. How does the Board ensure policies and systems are in place to meet its legal and other requirements and what is your personal contribution to this process?

2. How does the Board define and assure ethical and responsible business practices and what role have you played in this?

3. How have you contributed to ensuring the Board has considered business continuity and what has this entailed?

4. How have you contributed to the Board’s discussions in determining the organisation’s financial risks and their mitigation?

5. What role have you played in the Board’s assessment of its effectiveness and how does it measure its effectiveness?

The next IoD Chartered Director Programme in Northern Ireland starts on 15/16 September.

CHARTERED DIRECTOR PROGRAMME Better directors, better boards, better business!

The Institute of Directors (“IoD”) sets the standards for leadership in the UK and Ireland. Our highly acclaimed Chartered Director Programme is designed to ensure that the directors of today and tomorrow from all sectors can contribute effectively to major organisation-wide decisions. With a current all-Ireland annual demand for around 120 places, we are clearly the leader in our market segment – and all 6 current cohorts were oversubscribed.

We offer 12½ days of face-to-face tuition over nine months including five two-day residentials on the themes of Role of the Director and the Board Strategy and Marketing Finance Leadership and Change Developing Board Performance Our programme leads to the IoD Certificate (“Cert IoD”) and Diploma (“Dip IoD”) – afterwards we help many go on to become Chartered Directors – the “gold standard” for professional directors in the UK and Ireland and increasingly adopted worldwide.

We draw upon the IoD’s unrivalled resources – approved facilitators who work internationally and understand the implementation issues rather than simply the theory, state-of-the-art programme materials and highly accessible on-line support. The modules are delivered in an engaging, enjoyable style. Aimed at busy people there are no tedious assignments or dissertations. There are however two exams, for which our delegates are well-prepared, consistently excelling in terms of both pass-rate and number of Distinctions. The opportunities for networking and peer learning, during the programme and in our local Alumni group, feature highly in delegate feedback.

The next Northern Ireland programme starts on 15/16 Sept 2015 and finishes in June 2016. If the local dates for a particular session do not suit we have alternatives in Dublin. Some financial support towards fees may be available.

For details and endorsements call Peter Martin on 028 9064 1131 or email directordevireland@gmail.com PS: it’s fun too! www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

27

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

DELIVERING FOR BUSINESS hile not doubting the significant headwinds that remain, 2014 was a year of better news for many businesses across Northern Ireland, with confidence growing, and increasing momentum in the recovery.

Invest NI’s record year for jobs promoted has already been surpassed by their half year performance in 2014/15 and, while challenges on growing our exports and the impact of budget reduction remain, our attractiveness as a region to do business and invest in is clearly on the up.

Undoubtedly, the key policy win of the year was the decision by the UK Government to devolve Corporation Tax powers, subject to progress on other issues like the budget, to the Northern Ireland Assembly. December’s announcement, taken forward with the published legislation in January, will now set the agenda for the delivery of economic and social goals that so many have fought long and hard for. For us, this is about transformational economic change.

However, rather than further looking back, this is an ideal opportunity to lay out our priorities for embedding economic growth into 2015 and beyond.

Firstly, winning the public’s trust and confidence in business – we will continue to demonstrate the positive value of business within society – building on our Great Business Debate theme - and, in the run up to the two elections before us, deepen our engagement with politicians and the media to ensure that positive message from business continues to be heard.

W

by Nigel Smyth, Director, CBI Northern Ireland

We will continue to lobby on business and investment critical issues such as high energy costs for our large energy users.

28 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

Secondly, boosting businesses capacity to grow and compete – the decision by the Government to devolve Corporation Tax powers to the Assembly has been, rightly, strongly welcomed. With legislation now speedily passing through Parliament, we must, in the new financial year, build on this by pressing the Executive to set an early ‘date and rate’ which will afford businesses the clarity in respect of when Northern Ireland will take a lower rate of tax forward.

A ‘date and rate’ would be a major confidence boost to local and foreign business and would enable Invest NI to sell the golden opportunity that is now before us.

The ongoing inquiry therefore by the Enterprise, Trade and Investment Committee into how the Executive can maximise the benefits of a lower Corporation Tax rate is, to our minds, business critical.

While this Executive has undoubtedly made progress on issues like education and skills and planning reform, there remain key areas for focus over the coming two year period, from when we can take advantage of a lower Corporation Tax rate, and beyond that can unlock the potential of significant business investment on these shores.

In addition, we will continue to lobby on business and investment critical issues such as high energy costs for our large energy users, looking to promote workable solutions to ever increasing competitiveness issues.

Should the Executive and Utility Regulator not take some of the key strategic decisions that we have outlined, then Northern Ireland will continue to be, as a result of energy prices,

The decision by the Government to devolve Corporation Tax powers to the Assembly has been, rightly, strongly welcomed. With legislation now speedily passing through Parliament, we must, in the new financial year, build on this. Nigel Smyth unattractive for those investors whose cost base relies heavily on competitive pricing.

We, and others, have been consistently clear on this for some time and there is no longer the option of resting on our laurels.

Thirdly, getting Northern Ireland building – 2014 saw significant progress in respect of the centralisation agenda we advocated in our infrastructure report of October 2013.

In our view, 2015 must see this process expedited – particularly given the continued challenges faced by our construction industry.

Leveraging the available Financial Transactions Capital, influencing the new Investment Fund, focusing on all-island infrastructure with our colleagues in Ibec and achieving certainty, stability and speedy decision-making in our new planning system will also be key areas of focus.

Set within a lower Corporation Tax rate opportunity, the infrastructure of Northern Ireland must be seen to be globally competitive. It must be benchmarked against the infrastructure of our key competitors and it must seek to maximise three critical themes for all investors – improved access to markets and onward connectivity; reliable journey times on the strategic transport network and;

investment opportunities that are set within key catchment areas for employees.

Finally, ensuring growth makes a difference to everyone – from utilising our Step Change report to focusing on improved school outcomes, to seeing through the proposed reforms to the careers strategy, to speedily progressing the employment law reform bill that is shortly to be introduced into the Assembly, we have a wide and varied policy platform which seeks to achieve growth that is of relevance to all in society.

With financial imperatives also now playing a major role in the delivery of Northern Ireland’s public services, it will also be critical for business to input into the OECD’s strategic review of our public sector. Better outcomes for end users must be our overriding goal throughout.

On top of this, with the election cycle continuing into this year and next, it remains of continued importance that the Executive continues to exhibit strong, united political leadership on economic matters.

The unity of purpose that the five Executive parties have shown throughout the period since the Coalition Government came to power at Westminster was a key enabler

towards the UK Government making its positive decision to devolve Corporation Tax powers.

That united leadership, also seen to be crucial on numerous trade missions conducted by Executive Ministers in recent years, is a major influencer of any business’ investment intentions with a stable political environment being something that any business of any size will take into account before making a positive choice.

Taking forward the outcomes of the Stormont House Agreement and delivering on its many facets is something that the business community locally wishes to see – but the Executive must also retain at the front of its minds that that same delivery will be important to show those potential foreign direct investors that Northern Ireland is a politically stable and economically ambitious place in which you can do business. This is an undoubtedly significant agenda – but one on which, from the perspective of business, Northern Ireland plc cannot afford to fail.

For further informaton please visit www.cbi.org.uk/ni

www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

29

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

CultureTECH award is a positive sign for Derry Sinead McLaughlin, chief executive, Londonderry Chamber of Commerce. f Northern Ireland is to move up the ‘value added’ chain – earning higher wages and higher profits – the knowledge economy is key.

The recent NISP Connect Knowledge Economy Index provided some encouraging news. Northern Ireland’s knowledge economy is growing fast – though from a low base. The reality is that we must do more if we are to compete effectively - and it is all about skills.

To achieve that skill offer, Northern Ireland has to excel in all parts of our education and skills provision. That starts at primary school, goes through the secondary schools system, onto vocational training at the further education colleges and then into that mix of vocational and academic education offered by our universities – backed up by the universities’ input into exceptional research and development.

But while the Londonderry Chamber of Commerce is strongly focused on expanding university education in our city, through the expansion of the Magee campus, we are also determined to do what we can to support primary and secondary education.

Our role in that has included CultureTECH. This is our annual culture and technical festival, which has just won this year’s Allianz Arts & Business Northern Ireland Awards. The prize was won outright by CultureTECH as Arts Organisation of the Year. Moreover, CultureTECH was also ‘highly commended’ – runners up – for its partnership with Seagate for the Allianz Arts & Business Northern Ireland Sustained Partnership Award.

Mary Trainor-Nagele, chief executive of Arts & Business NI, explained the basis on which the title was awarded. “The innovation and creativity that CultureTECH showed in developing and maintaining a wide range of business partnerships made them a very worthy winner of the Allianz Arts & Business NI Arts Award,” she said.

Before City of Culture was even being dreamt about, the Chamber saw the opportunity to promote the city’s digital aspirations and to celebrate its cultural qualities. We recognised the need for an effective means of marketing the digital potential of the city and we went for it.

We created Digital Derry, which evolved into CultureTECH. But though the Chamber was confident we had the right vision, even we have been

I

While the Londonderry Chamber of Commerce is strongly focused on expanding university education in our city, through the expansion of the Magee campus, we are also determined to do what we can to support primary and secondary education.

Sinead McLaughlin

30 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

surprised at the scale of the success of an event that last year attracted an attendance of 43,500.

People have come from not just across Ireland, but across the world in recognition of its important place in the annual technology calendar. Our aim is to make CultureTECH the premier event of its type not just in Ireland, but in Europe.

Just as important though – and perhaps even more significant – has been the partnerships CultureTECH has developed with local schools. CultureTECH has been able to inspire many school children through its displays of robots, artificial intelligence, a Minecraft tournament, coding teaching and the promotion of a children’s ‘Digital Champion’.

For adults last year there was the ‘Google Juice Bar’, in which entrepreneurs bounced their ideas off some of the greatest digital brains in Ireland; a digital jobs fair backed by some of the biggest local employers; and the Digital Skills Conference.

The schedule for this year’s CultureTECH in September will be just as exciting – and the attendance is likely to be its highest ever as knowledge of the event spreads ever more widely.

But it is through CultureTECH’s role in inspiring future generations of ‘tech wizards’ that the real prize lies. We hope that there are hundreds of children in Derry who are more likely to become coders and some even business entrepreneurs after visiting CultureTECH events.

CultureTECH has been awarded an award for the quality of its partnership between arts and business organisations. This is fabulous.

But the essential collaboration for the future, which is the driver of the knowledge economy, is the one that we develop with children.

CultureTECH personifies that collaboration.

If Northern Ireland is to create a successful economy – and let us be honest, our economy is not, at present, a success - we need to think of new ways of teaching a generation that will drive our future economy.

Government, academia and businesses most hold hands and value our education as it is only hope for the delivery of a positive future.

Our economy – and much else – depends on it.

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

Transforming your company’s IT agenda for the future

by Shane Haslem, head of Network Enabled Design, eircom Business Solutions NI

our IT team has never been more important to your business, but are you exploiting their skills to their full advantage?

Traditionally a company’s IT team’s main focus has been on the IT Agenda of the business, defined by CIO magazine as the things your firm does with technology, systems, and processes to support and transform internal operations.

The last few years have seen a gradual shift in this trend; we’re now seeing IT teams increasingly focus on the Business Technology i.e. the technology, systems, and processes that win, serve and retain customers.

The importance of this shift toward the Business Technology agenda is reinforced by Cisco’s CEO John Chambers who recently said that the digital disruption facing companies is so intense one-third will not make the transition over the next three years.

Companies need to become more digital.

Your IT team can embrace this transformation and play a central role in your business by enhancing business processes, developing software to aid customer acquisition, service and retention, and implementing applications that drive operational efficiencies. But to do this effectively they need to be free from day-today ‘keeping the lights on’ tasks, like ensuring the organisation’s infrastructure is operating at peak efficiency.

By outsourcing these elements (the IT agenda), your IT team can focus on delivering on the strategic goals of your organisation.

Among our own customers we’re seeing this happening more and more, particularly when it comes to outsourcing an organisation’s network, where a dedicated team of experts manage and monitor your network 24/7, ensuring it is operating at peak efficiency and minimising the risk of downtime. In this increasingly connected world, the network is king and its performance is a critical factor now that companies are so reliant on it not only for their website and communications but increasingly, for accessing mission-critical apps and the cloud.

Y

32 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

Take Chain Reaction Cycles for example. As the company expanded from a family run bike shop to the largest online bike retailer in the world, its CIO Michael Murdock understood the central role his IT team could play in the firm’s ongoing expansion. “I wanted my team and I to be completely focused on using our skills and knowledge to add real value to the business. That’s why I outsourced the management of our network to eircom Northern Ireland; they’re experts at what they do, they monitor and maintain our network, making sure I never have to worry about it. This frees me and my team up to do what we’re experts at.”

So where do you start if you’re considering outsourcing the management of your network? Here are some key questions you need to think about.

How critical is the network to our business?

Does your network support customerfacing applications such as web e-commerce and CRM, or voice and video applications that support customer communications? If the network was unavailable for a period of time what would be the financial, operational and reputational impact to the business? Perhaps you need additional Redundancy or operational Disaster Recovery measures if your network is deemed critical.

What access do I need at each site?

What are each of your premises using the network for - data, voice and video, or access to applications on the cloud? How critical are they to the core business operations? With the help of your managed network services partner, you can determine the bandwidth and access technologies that are best for each.

For example, at your head office dedicated fibre will be the best option, while DSL fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) or Ethernet first mile (EFM) might be sufficient for a remote-office.

What service levels should I be looking for?

The level of monitoring you choose will depend largely on how critical your network

is to the running of your business –from basic ‘break/fix’ reactive monitoring to proactive monitoring where we identify and fix an issue before you even know it’s happened.

If you are trusting your network to someone else, be sure there are success criteria in place – if they don’t meet these, they need to credit you.

If your network is business-critical, you will want someone to proactively monitor & manage not just its availability but also the quality of its performance – in technical terms, that’s latency, jitter and packet loss and you need real peace of mind that if anything does go wrong it will be fixed quickly and efficiently.

Who are the people managing my network?

You’ll not only need reassurance that your managed services provider has the right experience and track-record but that they have the technical field force skills on the ground to react to faults.

Having the right people to assist with Design Workshops to support your business changes and growth will provide additional peace of mind.

Is there an opportunity to free up your IT Department so they can apply their skills and knowledge to adding real value to the business?

If yes, ensure that your chosen partner has the necessary expertise, experience, equipment, processes, and service levels in place to give you that ultimate reassurance.

Managed by dedicated experts, your network will run at peak performance consistently, and your IT team can turn to embracing the digital disruption that will keep you in business.

Shane Haslem is head of Network Enabled Design, eircom Business Solutions NI. Contact Shane at uk.linkedin.com/in/shanehaslem to talk about how managed network services can help your business . www.eircom.co.uk

The Business First

Digital Heroes of Northern Ireland 2015 In association with eircom Business Solutions NI, Business First is celebrating Northern Ireland’s Digital Heroes - the most transformative IT Leaders who are driving the digital agenda in Northern Ireland.

The technology strategies of these IT Leaders and their achievements and ambitions towards transformation will be celebrated in a special 10-page feature in Business First.

The Digital Heroes of Northern Ireland is a showcase of the IT Role and what it can do for organisations.

It will profile key individuals to highlight their creativity, determination and strategies for the use of technology in moving successfully forward and growing, changing, expanding their businesses.

NOMINATE YOUR DIGITAL HERO TODAY AT www.businessfirstonline.co.uk/digital-heroes THE CRITERIA: Nominations for the feature will be considered by our panel of judges and the Top Five will be selected against the following criteria: Entrepreneurship: demonstration of new business models and opportunities that technology allow.

Vision: not just for technology but for business, at the forefront of ideas for driving the business forward to attain commercial goals.

Driving Change: challenging the organisation to reconsider existing approaches & operations and driving decisions on the use of technology or influencing at board level or with top decision makers in the organisation.

Operational strength: having a strong and reliable technology platform to allow them to focus on the Business Technology or transformation agenda.

Overcoming Barriers: Funding, Talent, Selling Ideas to Senior Decision Makers.

The Top Five will be individually featured in a full-page interview in Business First Magazine and will be invited to attend a networking dinner hosted by eircom Business Solutions NI in early summer 2015.

The Business First Digital Heroes of Northern Ireland 2015 JUDGING PANEL

Dr Joanne Stuart OBE

Timothy Brundle

Bill McCluggage

Director of Development Northern Ireland Science Park

Director of Research & Innovation, Ulster University

Managing Director Laganview Associates Ltd

Darren Lemon General Manager Eircom NI Terms & Conditions Apply. See website for details

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

When 26 become 11: what does local government reform mean for your business by environment minister Mark H Durkan MLA his April, a new era for local government in Northern Ireland will begin as 11 new councils take over the reins.

It is the biggest change in local government since 1972. It will bring democracy closer to people; power closer to people.

As well as being bigger, the new councils will be fundamentally different. They will carry out a number of functions previously delivered by Northern Ireland Executive departments, including local planning, off street parking, and local economic and tourism development.

In 2016, they will also take on responsibility for urban regeneration and community development.

In addition, they will lead a community planning process whereby councils and public service providers will work together to collectively address local problems. They will be able to influence how and where services are provided. Councils will also have the General Power of Competence.

This will allow them to act with similar freedom to an individual, unless there is a law to prevent them from doing so. Essentially, they will be able to act in their own interests and develop innovative approaches to improving the economic, social and environmental well-being of their areas.

These reforms will modernise and strengthen local government, improve the services it provides, allow it to be more flexible and responsive to local needs and bring power closer to the public.

There are other changes too. Councils will also operate under new governance arrangements.

For the first time, sharing council positions of responsibility across political parties and independents is enshrined in law, and the public will also have more access to council meetings and documents.

A new ethical standards regime has been introduced with a mandatory code of conduct for councilors, and a new performance improvement regime requires councils to report annually on performance.

There is an end to dual mandate and a Partnership Panel of Executive Ministers, councillors and members of the Northern

T

I am excited for the future of local government in Northern Ireland. Councils are important to people’s lives. It is often their first port of call and experience of the democratic and political process. Mark H Durkan

34 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

Ireland Local Government Association has been established to discuss matters of mutual interest.

For the last ten months the new councils have operated in shadow form to make all the necessary preparations ahead of April.

This has included approving business and financial plans, setting the 2015/16 rates, appointing senior staff and leading cooperation between merging councils.

They have also designed their new organisational and service delivery structures, and agreed the method by which positions of responsibility within their council will be shared.

With these new roles and responsibilities, changes are ahead for elected members, council staff and staff transferring from central government departments.

This period has therefore also been used to further train and build their knowledge to aid a seamless transfer of functions and responsibilities, ensuring that the new councils can hit the ground running on day one.

The last couple of years have been intensive and challenging for all involved. It has also been an exciting time, shaping and defining the new councils.

Many people have worked hard to get us to this point and I very much thank them for that. Now, I look to our new elected members, new council chief executives and to council staff, to continue to drive this transformation.

I am excited for the future of local government in Northern Ireland. Councils are important to people’s lives. It is often their first port of call and experience of the democratic and political process.

Rightly, rate payers have high expectations of the level of service they should and deserve to receive from their Councils.

The whole purpose of this reform process is to benefit and enhance people’s lives.

I encourage everyone to embrace the opportunities it presents.

the power of

MEDIATION A Business First feature sponsored by

WHY MEDIATION WORKS Mediation can be a quick, cost effective process which can provide a “win/win” solution for the parties, without the glare of unwanted publicity, says Cleaver Fulton Rankin’s Dispute Resolution Director, Jonathan Forrester. ediation has been described by the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution as a “flexible process conducted confidentially in which a neutral person actively assists parties in working towards a negotiated agreement of a dispute or difference, with the parties in ultimate control of the decision to settle and the terms of resolution”.

Mediation is therefore conducted in a private forum where parties to a dispute can freely explore commercially viable solutions to resolve their differences.

The business and commercial objectives of the parties drive the Mediation process and determine the outcome, not simply the legal arguments and there is at least the potential that the relationship between the parties can be preserved.

It must also be emphasised that the Mediator does not fulfil the role of a Judge, or Arbitrator by issuing a binding decision at the conclusion of the process. The Mediator’s role is to facilitate a resolution of the dispute. Only the parties can determine the outcome. If Mediation does not result in an agreed settlement, you can still have your day in Court.

In contrast, traditional litigation results in a Judge finding in favour of one party in a very public forum, which in turn can lead to a complete breakdown of the parties’ business relationship.

Furthermore, parties who participate in Mediation usually bear their own costs, whereas the usual Order of the Court is that the losing party has to bear his own costs and the costs of the successful party.

As a result, your potential costs exposure can be dramatically reduced by submitting to a Mediation process as opposed to pursuing litigation to trial.

M

36 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

The qualified mediators within Cleaver Fulton Rankin’s 16 strong Dispute Resolution Team: Michael King, Associate; Fergal Maguire, Associate; Aaron Moore, Associate; Julie-Ann McCaffrey, Solicitor; Jonathan Forrester, Director

All too often parties to a dispute are initially resistant to the concept of Mediation because it is perceived as a sign of weakness, or it appears to be a stalling tactic, or even an extra layer of costs.

However, it is my experience that Mediation can be a quick, cost effective process which can provide a “win/win” solution for the parties, without the glare of unwanted publicity.

Mediation is now very much a part of legal practice and commercial life in Northern Ireland. Commercial contracts usually make provision for some form of dispute resolution procedure, which the parties are contractually obliged to adhere to prior to issuing Court proceedings and the procedure will normally include provision for Mediation.

There is also significant Judicial encouragement of the Mediation process.

The overriding objective of the Rules of Court is to enable the Court to deal with cases ‘justly’ and that includes, amongst other things, saving expense, ensuring that the case is dealt with quickly and fairly, and allotting to it an appropriate share of the Court’s resources.

The Northern Irish Judiciary clearly believe that Mediation can play a vital role in achieving the overriding objective. For example, there have been significant amendments to the Rules of Court to give support to Mediation.

The Court may now order that proceedings should be adjourned for such time as the Court considers just and convenient to facilitate Mediation. There are also potential costs sanctions where it appears to the Court that a party has acted unreasonably, or improperly by refusing to participate in a Mediation and the Court may in such

circumstances award some or all of the costs of the proceedings against that party.

Practitioners have also been required by our local Judiciary to provide a costs comparison between Mediation and litigation, not only to the Court but also to their clients.

The Commercial List Pre-Action Protocol also requires the parties to consider at a preaction meeting what form of Alternative Dispute Resolution procedure, such as Mediation, could be more suitable than litigation.

When proceedings are issued and a case is entered into the Commercial List, directions are issued by the Judge which specifically draw the attention of the parties to the existence of alternative forms of dispute resolution and the Judge emphasises that parties may be required to justify a decision not to resort to an appropriate form of dispute resolution.

Whilst the Court has no power to compel parties to mediate and acknowledges that its role is to encourage Mediation, the encouragement can be quite robust and it would be a very brave lawyer indeed who recommended to his client that he should reject Mediation without good reason.

Quite apart from judicial encouragement, the main reason we recommend Mediation to a wide variety of clients is that the process also enjoys a very high success rate.

According to the Jackson ADR Handbook, increasing use is being made of Mediation year on year and around 70 – 80 per cent of cases settle at Mediation. In relation to the minority of cases that do not settle at Mediation, there is evidence that they often settle shortly thereafter.

The Mediation process also has a very broad application and is not sector specific.

Northern Irish Judiciary clearly believe that Mediation can play a vital “ The role in achieving the overriding objective. For example, there have been

”

significant amendments to the Rules of Court to give support to Mediation.

Jonathan Forrester Mediation can assist in all manner of cases, including those arising in the context of the construction industry, real estate, professional negligence claims, employment issues, disputes about Wills and Trusts and financial services litigation.

For example, I was recently involved in a construction dispute concerning the installation of allegedly defective flooring.

There were four parties to the dispute, each with their own Solicitor, Barrister and Expert.

Undoubtedly, the legal costs of a three day High Court trial would have been prohibitively expensive. Whilst the parties were “poles

apart” in their assessment of both liability and quantum, we agreed to a Mediation process which lasted over eleven hours and the parties eventually managed to reach a commercial compromise which simply could not have been achieved if the matter had been determined by a Judge at trial.

I have also represented clients involved in a property dispute before the High Court and Court of Appeal in relation to the enforcement of a settlement agreement reached at a Mediation, which one of the parties refused to honour.

Both Courts made it very clear that they

fully supported the Mediation process and would readily enforce settlement agreements, with serious costs sanctions for the defaulting party.

This article has been produced for general information purposes and further advice should be sought from a member of the Dispute Resolution Department at Cleaver Fulton Rankin.

Jonathan Forrester is a Director in the Dispute Resolution Department at leading Belfast law firm, Cleaver Fulton Rankin.

Please email j.forrester@cfrlaw.co.uk for further information.

Mediation training with Cleaver Fulton Rankin ver the last few years Cleaver Fulton Rankin has invested heavily in training and promoting its Dispute Resolution team. In 2014, two of the firm’s Associate Solicitors, Fergal Maguire and Aaron Moore, completed the Law Society’s accredited Mediation course, taking the number of qualified Mediators within the Dispute Resolution team to five, with Director Jonathan Forrester and Associate Michael King having already completed the Law Society course and Solicitor Julie-Ann McCaffrey having qualified as a Mediator with the ADR Group.

The expertise and experience of Cleaver Fulton Rankin’s Solicitors has been recognised nationally, having received the Member’s Choice Awards at the Professional Mediators Association Awards Ceremony in London in September 2014. Julie-Ann McCaffrey was singled out for her “tireless work to promote Mediation in Northern Ireland, in particular but not exclusively to the legal sector”. Julie-Ann was also the CEDR Young Professional of the Year in 2012.

Legal 500, a prestigious legal directory which interviews lawyers and clients across the world, recognises the talents of Cleaver Fulton Rankin’s Dispute Resolution team, saying that it is “deservedly at the top of the tree when it comes to Dispute Resolution; it houses industry experts who give 100%, every time”. Chamber & Partners recommends the team for its “pragmatism” and “sound practical advice”.

In addition to training its Solicitors, Cleaver Fulton Rankin has embarked on an exercise

O

Lisa Boyd, Director, Cleaver Fulton Rankin with Justice Minister David Ford at the launch of Cleaver Fulton Rankin’s Mediation Masterclasses.

in training clients as to the benefits of Mediation. 2014 saw the team develop and roll out a Mediation initiative inviting clients to workshops to see the Mediation process in action which was supported by both David Ford, the Minister for Justice, and Mr Justice Weatherup, the Commercial Judge.

Director Jonathan Forrester said: “We at Cleaver Fulton Rankin view Mediation as an Appropriate Dispute Resolution process rather than an Alternative form of Dispute Resolution, a view supported by the Judiciary”.

Director Lisa Boyd said: “Our initiative aims to educate clients and promote Mediation so that when faced with a Mediation in the future, clients can concentrate on settling the dispute rather than worrying about the procedural aspects of the day”.

To further this, Cleaver Fulton Rankin’s Dispute Resolution team is offering a training programme in their offices through the Mediation Academy of Ireland in April and May 2015, which will enable clients to become accredited Mediators, at a substantially reduced cost.

Director Patrick Fleming who heads the Dispute Resolution team said: “We will continue to promote and lead the way in Dispute Resolution and hope that this initiative will allow clients and contacts who are interested in Mediation to further develop their expertise and understanding”.

For anyone interested in Mediation or attending one of our courses, please contact l.boyd@cfrlaw.co.uk.

Please also follow the firm on Twitter and LinkedIn for regular legal updates.

www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

37

WHY WE SHOULD RESOLVE DISPUTES AMICABLY roperly supplied mediation can negate the requirement for the parties involved to resort to expensive court action, says Graham Boyack, director of the Scottish Mediation Network.

At the time when people are thinking about resolutions for the year ahead, it is appropriate that we turn our thoughts to a resolutions based approach to complaints and disputes.

The recently published report from the Consumer Insight Centre that looks at Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR- by which is meant ways of resolving disputes without going to court) approaches for the Legal Ombudsman concluded that there are a range of ways of designing ADR systems for organisations and their customers to resolve disputes.

P

This year will see the implementation of the European Directive on Alternative Dispute Resolution and Online Dispute Resolution. In basic terms, this requires organisations to have considered how they would provide access to Alternative Dispute Resolution for their customers.

38 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

Their analysis of the use of mediation points to different approaches that can be used depending on the nature of the issues that are presented.

Their study show that different approaches to mediation can be used to deal effectively in different situations with different issues.

They looked at the Irish Financial Ombudsman’s mediation process which is used to resolve high value/difficult cases and concluded that their system works well for that type of case.

The mediation used relied on the mediator devoting considerable time and effort with the parties to resolve the dispute. They also looked at the Small Claims Mediation Service which works on court-based cases in England and Wales.

They limit the time of their mediations, which is normally an hour, and carry out the mediation by telephone, which has the added advantage that people do not need to attend a court in order for the case to be resolved.

Her Majesty’s Court and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) service is dealing with thousands of mediations a year and settlement rates of 62 per cent are being achieved with 94.4 per cent of respondents saying they would use mediation again.

The report highlights that there is a lot of mediation taking place to resolve everyday disputes and complaints throughout the UK. This year will see the implementation of the European Directive on Alternative Dispute Resolution and Online Dispute Resolution. In basic terms, this requires organisations to have considered how they would provide access to Alternative Dispute Resolution for their customers.

The UK government is currently working through what provision will be available and the process represents an opportunity to improve how disputes are resolved, both from the perspective of customers and also for the

organisations involved.

The increased use of mediation is welcome, as it provides people with a choice in how they can resolve their disputes and in many cases the process is much more focused on the needs of those involved, than it would be if the dispute was dealt with using litigation.

Not only can mediation be used in formal processes such as referred to above, but it also recognises the ability of people to use the skills of mediation on a day-to-day basis in their personal and professional lives.

Key mediation skills include active listening, questioning, summarising, reframing, and reality-testing, to name but a few.

People who have experienced mediation skills training are often more able to help others resolve their disputes without a mediator being required and are better equipped to recognise when the services of an independent mediator would be helpful.

An increased number of people practising mediation skills would have a number of potential benefits. The first is that if people are able to resolve their disputes early and in a way which engages them, that has to be good for society.

The second is that for the people and organisations involved, complaints and disputes that become mired in either complex systems and/or in the courts, can be very expensive and divert people from more important priorities.

The third is a wider benefit for society in that those with greater skills would be able to apply these within their communities.

From the great work already carried out by many charitable organisations we know that the use of mediation can help towards resolving issues such as homelessness and relationship breakdown.If people had the skills to be able to engage better with others that would surely help to reduce some of the social problems that our society currently faces.

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

Marketing skills key to success for Northern Ireland companies Richard Houdmont, Network Manager (Wales, Ireland and Isle of Man), CIM ith the forthcoming Westminster elections I was thinking of Tony Blair’s 1996 speech “Ask me my three main priorities for government and I tell you: education, education and education.”

Before that we had "It's the economy, stupid" deriving from Bill Clinton’s 1992 Presidential campaign.

Putting the two together in the context of today, as we emerge gingerly from recession, business might say skills are a key issue. Of course skills are a devolved issue but the Westminster election gives us an opportunity to question politicians on the role of government, whether in Westminster or Stormont, or indeed at council level in ensuring that we are able to recruit staff with the right skills.

Skills have a major impact on the economy of Northern Ireland. Skills improve the employability of individuals, and strengthen the creation of jobs and growth, which in turn has social benefits.

One of the things which has surprised economists about this recession is that businesses appear to have retained staff more than would have been expected. That’s to be welcomed in many respects; the impact of redundancy on individuals and their families can be profound.

The downside is that UK productivity is relatively low, which isn’t a good place to be when, as well as planning to the upturn in the economy; we ought also to be planning for the next recession.

I regularly hear employers complain that they find it difficult to recruit marketers with the right skills and at graduate level the missing skills are rather basic: communication skills, such as speaking to

W

40 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

someone on the phone as opposed to texting, and face-to-face interaction rather than emailing.

At the more senior level everyone is terrified of being left behind in the digital race, and whilst there’s no doubt the future is digital, we mustn’t forget that so-called traditional forms of advertising such as billboards and television can be extremely cost-effective in the right circumstances.

That brings me to the other often-quoted skill gap: numeracy. Marketing metrics are key to success. So-called ‘attribution modelling’ or as I’d prefer to call it ‘what works’ can save your company huge sums by cutting out waste and focussing on success.

We know there’s a skills gap, thanks to the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) Employer Skills Survey 2013 published last year, and the sub-set of statistics relating specifically to Northern Ireland. The good news was that this showed a significant fall in skills shortage vacancies between 2011 and 2013.

The remarkable finding when you look at the detailed report is that in NI there is no marketing skills gap whatsoever. But that’s not so surprising when you look at the questionnaire used to compile the report, which doesn’t include the word ‘marketing’ anywhere.

I have some sympathy with UKCES of course, it’s difficult to drill down into specifics in a report like this, but if Northern Ireland is to power ahead of its competitors we must invest in the right skills, and marketing is key to business success.

One solution if you have a skills gap in your business is to outsource, and for many small and microbusinesses that’s the norm. But

who do you trust with something as important as marketing? Some 99 per cent of businesses in Northern Ireland have less than 50 employees and each one is individual – with different goals, mind-sets and business models.

That’s where CIM can help. We are undertaking a nationwide survey of small businesses to help them understand the challenges they face so that marketing support can be tailored to meet their needs.

CIM are offering participants a chance to win a prize of a CIM training voucher, membership subscription or a copy of an award-winning marketing book for small business. See www.cim.co.uk/smereesearch for further details.

Biometric technology is the way of the future Gareth Morrison, managing director of The Lava Group, a leading Belfast based producer of biometric technologies, looks ahead to the future of security solutions as large scale financial institutions introduce fingerprint passwords. he announcement that RBS, along with NatWest, would allow its customers to access their accounts using fingerprint recognition technology on iPhones is an industry first, but it is something that we are likely to see a lot more of in the coming years.

At The Lava Group we have been integrating biometric technologies into access control and other security applications for the past 20 years. This technology can be used as an effective replacement for passwords in any setting and I anticipate that it won’t be long before it becomes a total replacement for traditional security measures.

Working in the field of biometric solutions means that we are at the cutting edge of what is capable in the IT sector at the moment. Our products often have features which are more commonly seen in James Bond films, including fingerprint readers and eye scanners.

Such is the level of innovation taking place within the company that we have recently been shortlisted in the European IT and Software Excellence Awards for Security Solution of the Year.

T

Forefront of the industry Specialist knowledge, coupled with our continual investment in R&D, has positioned us at the forefront of the industry. The Lava Group was the first in the custodial sector to use biometrics to create an independent audit trail, the first in the UK to provide biometric secure login to enable staff to access computers and the first to provide a Power over Ethernet custodial lock.

Unlike passwords, which can be copied or stolen, biometrics are much harder to replicate. You can’t write them down. They are unique to each individual. There is always

Unlike passwords, which can be copied or stolen, biometrics are much harder to replicate. You can’t write them down.

They are unique to each individual.

Gareth Morrison

the chance that they can be replicated, as with anything, but it would take a much more sophisticated attack to do this, rather than simply stealing a mobile phone and writing down a password.

Northern Ireland is ahead of the UK in certain sectors in its adoption of biometric technology. The security sector in particular has shown that it is prepared to take perceived risks in this area, and those decisions are paying off with increasingly effective access solutions now in place in several facilities.

Voice recognition technology We expect more voice recognition technology to appear on every day apps as opposed to fingerprint biometrics. In order for a fingerprint system to work you need to install a scanner on to the hardware, however voice recognition only requires a microphone, which most phones and other devices already have. This will make it cheaper and easier to install, while still providing the same level of security for the end user.

This type of technology has the potential to offer significant cost savings to the public purse. The installation of our biometric hand reader solution in one high security facility has been credited with saving the public sector approximately £100,000 per year.

While many of our cost savings are not fully quantifiable, through time saving and improved efficiencies, they can be credited with a substantial knock on impact. In another location the installation of our Cell

Point Kiosk has eliminated the need for 95 per cent of manual records in one facility, allowing for a more efficient use of staff time.

Biometric technology is often seen as going hand in hand with security, but its benefits reach further than just this one sector.

Through the experience we have gained in custodial care, we are now developing solutions for the increasingly important area of connected health, where the ability to monitor vital signs and behaviour, and provide this information to healthcare professionals remotely, is crucial to improved patient care.

There are global opportunities for our products and for biometric technology solutions. We are already selling our products in the Republic of Ireland and once new orders in the UK are confirmed we will be exploring opportunities in Canada and Australia, where this type of technology is in high demand.

Significant growth anticipated We are anticipating significant growth in the field of biometrics in the coming years and as a company we are looking ahead with new product launches in the pipeline and an ongoing approach to investment in R&D. Our goal is to remain at the forefront of this exciting and innovative field and respond to the evolving security requirements across the public and private sectors.

For further information please visit www.thelavagroup.co.uk.

www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

41

INNOVATION

Could your business benefit from hosting a talented international trainee, with cutting edge technical knowledge, cultural and linguistic skills?

IAESTE – a win-win opportunity for business Intelesens, a leading-edge Belfast-based healthcare products developer and manufacturer, decided to extend the capabilities of its new range of wearable, vital signs-monitoring devices.

This year Intelesens was selected as one of the 10 finalists in the global Qualcomm Tricorder Xprize Competition, with a prize of $10m. To help rise to this exciting challenge, Intelesens lost no time in recruiting an IAESTE trainee for its team.

‘IAESTE placement candidates are an elite, self-selected subset of university level students who by presenting themselves to the programme, have already demonstrated exceptional self-confidence, ambition, Can you host a STEM student and help facilitate a global exchange of talent? motivation and the drive to grasp the opportunity’ says CEO Michael Caulfield, IAESTE trainees bring the latest technical e provide highly motivated and who has employed more than a dozen training and fresh innovative perspectives talented undergraduate students from over 1000 universities worldwide. If you trainees over the years. from over 80 countries worldwide to need expertise in engineering, science and support science, engineering, IT and technology for short or long term projects, the ‘The IAESTE selection process allows you to industrial companies gain an edge in the IAESTE programme is for you! marketplace. define, as precisely as you need, the technical profile of the human resource which will add to the value of your team and Go to our website Hosting an IAESTE trainee is easy - IAESTE then IAESTE does the rest.’ www.britishcouncil.org/iaeste/ukUK takes care of visas and work permits. The employers for further information and watch only cost to you is the trainee’s salary, which our video to see what UK company Michelin must adhere to the national minimum wage.

The firm was delighted with its most recent Tyre PLC say about their recent IAESTE IAESTE trainee Clara Körting from Berlin, trainees.

Germany, studying Medical Physics at Beuth By hosting a trainee, you are also developing University Berlin, who arrived in Intelesens home grown talent. We operate on a in July this year.

Go to our website reciprocal basis. Your offer of a placement for an international student enables a UK student www.britishcouncil.org/iaeste/ to avail of a work placement overseas.

Clara proved to be an invaluable member of ukemployers/offer-traineeship to offer a the team and helped develop some new placement by completing our prototype modules, set to go into production online Company Offer of With over 65 years’ experience, IAESTE is a later this year.

Training Form by the deadline tailor made, employer-led programme, of 31 March 2015 and read meaning trainees are selected according to more testimonials from our your specific requirements and criteria.

To prospective employers Michael says ‘I IAESTE Employer Brochure. strongly recommend you consider offering a Trainees are ideally placed to: placement this year and in future years.

• help develop new business opportunities IAESTE provides plug and play, off-the-shelf Contact us at iaeste@britishcouncil.org • carry out short term projects human technical resources!’

• plug staffing and skill gaps • assist in your export or expansion ‘For business, for academia and for each of us as individuals the IAESTE international strategies overseas placement scheme is one of life’s rare WIN• build and develop contacts and WIN opportunities.’ cultural links.

W

42 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

SCIENCE & IT

New MATRIX report suggests a way to boost local economy and improve patient care I

by Professor Jim McLaughlin CTO at Intelesens

was delighted to help launch the MATRIX Life & Health Sciences report at the Titanic Building this month. As co-chair of the panel which produced the report, it’s naturally very rewarding to see all our hard work come to fruition.

But it was just as rewarding to see the level of interest that the report attracted from across the Northern Ireland life science sector and beyond. UK Life Sciences Minister George Freeman MP was there, speaking powerfully about the government’s desire to create an environment for UK life sciences where innovation could flourish. He applauded the MATRIX report for the insight it gave into what the Northern Ireland life and health sciences sector has to offer.

Minister Arlene Foster also welcomed the report and assured the audience of almost 200 life science professionals that its findings would directly impact the new life and health science strategy.

In Northern Ireland there are around 130 private sector life and health science companies employing around 7,500 people and worth close to £1bn to the local economy. The sector is 90 per cent export focussed, accounting for 12.5 per cent of Northern Ireland’s exports and growing by an average of 12 per cent each year.

So it’s vital that we have an overarching strategy in place to allow us to compete for FDI, attract high quality skills into the sector and to allow companies to avail of a grander plan.

Northern Ireland offers range of unique selling points including a fully integrated Health and Social Care service, two worldclass universities (both with a strong emphases on health related science and engineering), a newly rolled out and unique clinical database in the Electronic Care Record system and three of the UK’s most globally successful indigenous life sciences companies.

The emerging connected health companies and the interest from ICT and digital companies in the wider health sector is also recognised throughout Europe as the basis for strong growth, particularly as home-based monitoring, hand-held diagnostics and wearables are appearing as local strengths that attract the attention of major multinationals.

One of the main points we wanted to communicate in the report is the significant opportunity to grow Northern Ireland’s

44 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

Robert Grundy, Anglezarke Consulting, co-chair of the MATRIX Life and Health Sciences Panel; Arlene Foster MLA, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment; George Freeman MP, UK Minister for Life Sciences; and professor Jim McLaughlin, co-chair of the MATRIX Life & Health Sciences Panel.

economy and address increasing health requirements if businesses, government and universities were to work together more closely.

Northern Ireland’s unique health and social care system and the newly implemented electronic care record system creates a socalled “living lab” environment which could be used to develop new medical devices and diagnostic systems more efficiently or test drugs in shorter times, thus acting as a microcosm for the NHS and social services across the rest of the UK, while providing better healthcare locally.

The increasing need for more personalised healthcare (analysing an individual’s DNA to determine which drugs will be most effective) and the impact that the growing ageing population will have on the way healthcare is delivered are two of the key reasons for focusing on this growing sector. Cancer, dementia, diabetes and cardiovascular disease are all set to rise over the next ten years, largely because people are living for longer.

Earlier, more accurate diagnosis and better, more targeted treatments will not only save money in healthcare but will also improve

quality of life.

For the sector to fully develop its potential there needs to be greater focus on local strengths in diagnostics, big data, clinical trials, data analytics and connected health.

The MATRIX report outlines a real opportunity for Northern Ireland to become a centre of excellence and attract foreign investment by investing in and supporting key elements of the sector, both in business and academia.

The launch of the report comes at an exciting time for the sector – DETI has just confirmed funding for a scoping project to investigate how best to create a focal point or hub for Northern Ireland life and health sciences; a virtual “shop front” which will simplify the landscape for key stakeholders, indigenous businesses and potential inward investors.

All in all, this is an excellent time to be bold in our leadership at all levels of this sector, including industry, academia, health and government, to ensure that the opportunity to prosper in health and wealth is not lost.

The report can be downloaded from the MATRIX website www.matrixni.org

SPONSORED ARTICLE

Atlas announces network upgrade completion A tlas Communications, an independent Internet & network services provider based in Belfast, has announced the completion of a complete upgrade of its core network across the UK and Ireland. The upgrade enables new business grade telecommunications and network services to be provided to the local market.

The strategic upgrade of Atlas Communications’ legacy network to this new infrastructure enables us as a company to offer a portfolio of connectivity solutions that compete with some of the largest players in telecoms in Northern Ireland such as BT and Virgin Media.

The new MPLS network based on Juniper Networks platforms is designed to meet the need for bandwidth hungry businesses in a flexible manner.

With small and medium businesses becoming ever more reliant on networks for their day to day activities, Atlas aims to change the rigid manner in which these services are offered.

“We have a clear vision of how we want to

develop our business and enhance the quality and reliability of the services we provide our customers”, said Richard Simpson, Atlas MD. “The need for top quality data networking services, often something that was the preserve of larger Enterprises has now become even more critical for SMEs due to the increased use of cloud applications and newer ways of communicating such as desktop video.

Twenty years ago if the phones didn’t work it was a crisis situation and business could grind to a halt. Today if your Internet doesn’t work that is the crisis. “ “The new Juniper network infrastructure offers us the best potential platform to achieve this, one that we can scale accordingly as we add to our services.”

Richard Simpson, managing director of Atlas Communication.

Atlas provides in-premises and hosted data and telephony solutions to businesses across Northern Ireland and can be contacted at 028 9078 6868.

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THE GENERATION GAME AT WORK attracting the millenial generation

by Olivia May, William J Clinton Leadership Institute ost commentators divide today's workforce into three generations: post-war "baby boomers" born between 1945 and 1965; "GenX" born between 1965 - 1981, and "millennials" those born from 1981 to 1997.

This millennial generation - also known as Gen Y, Generation Me or Digital Natives - are changing the face of today’s workplaces and bring a whole host of different wants, expectations and attitudes with them.

M

So what do the millennials expect and want from today's workplace?

The recession put paid to the job for life concept, and Millennials now neither expect nor want it. What they do want on the other hand is work-life balance, particularly when they see some of the sacrifices made by their parents on the altar of that false god, the career.

Olivia May

Let's start with one thing they don't expect or even necessarily want, and that's a job for life. Millennials expect to stay in a job for 3-5 years at most, and may end up working for as many as 16 different employers over their career.

They have definitively torn up the traditional version of what is known as the “psychological contract” – the unwritten rules and expectations between employer and employee.

In years past, this psychological contract was all about loyalty given and granted: I, the employee, give you my loyalty and commitment, and you, the employer, reward me with a secure job and defined career progression.

The recession put paid to the job for life concept, and Millennials now neither expect nor want it.

What they do want on the other hand is work-life balance, particularly when they see some of the sacrifices made by their parents on the altar of that false god, the career.

They want time and space to pursue outside interests. They see no reason why they can’t work flexibly - as "digital natives" they have grown up with always-on communications technology, and view the traditional office environment and 9-5 workday as outmoded and anachronistic.

What can employers do to make their workplaces more attractive to this generation?

A lot has been made of the silicon valleytype workplaces complete with slides, juice bars and pool tables.

46 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

There is a more sinister side to this style of workplace that millennials can see right through – providing facilities to keep your employees on site so they don’t actually need to go home.

As well as refusing to sacrifice all their lives for work, millennials actively seek meaning and purpose in the work they do.

If they are only going to be with an employer for a short time they want to learn, be challenged and play a part in contributing to the overall mission of the business.

Employers need to think about a new psychological contract to offer these workers where energy, commitment and creativity in the short and medium term, is rewarded with opportunities for learning, stretch assignments and creative teamwork.

Millennials are more likely to be attracted to employers who create a “brand” that is line with their hopes, aspirations and ideals.

In practical terms this might mean providing new millennial employees with a coach, so that they can fast –track their learning at the side of an experienced and willing colleague.

It could also mean providing plenty of opportunities for interesting sideways moves: for millennials career development is by no means always about upwards progression – career paths can branch sideways, loop and meander in all sorts of rewarding directions.

Sideways moves can give them opportunities for new experiences and learning new skills.

Employers should also take their corporate social responsibility plans seriously when it comes to attracting millennials.

A company that gives as well as takes from society will appeal to millennials’ desire to work for organisations that have a positive impact on the wider world.

In short, millenials seek growth, variety and meaning - isn’t that something all of us, whatever age we are, would welcome a bit more of in our workplaces?

ENERGY the switch is on A Business First feature sponsored by

www.businessfirstonline.co.uk 47

Save your business even more.

Go paperless with Power NI It’s time to say goodbye to paper bills! From 1 April, small businesses can save up to 6%* off Power NI’s new lower prices by switching to Energy Online at powerni.co.uk/paperless, says Alan Egner, Power NI’s Commercial Sales & Marketing Manager. ower NI, Northern Ireland’s leading energy company, recently announced a cut in small business tariff rates of 9.2%, saving a typical small business around £200 a year* (based on using 15,000 units p.a.). And not only are prices coming down, but discounts are going up!

Alan Egner, Power NI’s Commercial Sales and Marketing Manager comments: “We promised that we would always look for ways to reduce prices and save our customers money. I’m happy to say that we can now deliver lower prices and increased online billing discount for small businesses and farms using our online billing service, Energy Online.”

From 1 April, small businesses will be able to save an additional two per cent on top of their four per cent Direct Debit discount by switching to Energy Online. By going paperless, instead of waiting for your bill to arrive by post, you get an email sent directly to your inbox. In just a few clicks you can access your online account where up to two years’ bills and payments are organised and stored safely, ready for you to view or print at any time.

Alan continues: “Energy Online can help reduce your energy costs as well as your carbon footprint, no matter the size and type of your business. It is paper and postage free which means less carbon is used during the production and delivery stages, allowing our customers to do their bit for the environment.

As a thank you for going paperless, we are happy to reward our Energy Online customers with extra discount off their bills.

“There’s a lot more to Energy Online than a simple online account service. It has lots of free extra features that make monitoring and managing your energy costs much easier, including the option to compare bills as well as bar charts showing consumption, cost and CO2 emissions for every bill. You can also check your balance and submit meter readings online without ever having to call us – which can be really handy if you are responsible for multiple sites.

After nearly 15 years of competition, Power NI continues to be Northern Ireland’s number one electricity supplier. Over 35,000 commercial customers continue to choose Power NI and last year over 900 businesses returned from other suppliers. Power NI customers are assured of local, friendly service and according to Consumer Council

P

48 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

Northern Ireland, Power NI continually receives the lowest number of formal complaints per 100,000 customers than any other electricity supplier in Northern Ireland – now for three years running!

Alan concluded: “You can be confident that you’ll always pay a fair price with Power NI. We believe in offering discounts to every single one of our customers, year in, year out.

Over 45,000 homes, farms and businesses have activated their Energy Online account making it easier for customers to keep a closer eye on their usage and help cut down on energy bills.

For more information on how your small business could benefit from Energy Online, visit www.powerni.co.uk/paperless and start saving today.

* Energy Online is available to Power NI Direct Debit customers only. 6% discount includes 4% Direct Debit discount and new 2% Energy Online discount. Applies to small business and farm tariffs only. Other discounts apply for larger users. New discount effective from 1 April 2015. ** Actual saving dependant on customers’ tariff and consumption. New prices effective from 1 April 2015.

ENERGY

The green, green gas of home Can converting to natural gas really make a big difference to businesses in Northern Ireland? Business First hears about the experience of a Coleraine Creamery since converting to gas in 2010. xpanding the offering of natural gas across Northern Ireland has long been an argument for securing the viability of local businesses by enabling them to decrease one of their energy costs and allow them to make their premises more energy efficient and environmentally friendly.

Aiming to reduce one of its main overheads and its environmental impact, Ballyrashane Creamery investigated converting from heavy fuel oil to natural gas when it became available in the Coleraine area a few years ago.

In business since 1894, today Ballyrashane Creamery, operates as a cooperative, with more than 100 farmers bringing their milk to the plant for processing. Each day the business produces 100,000 litres of milk, 100 tonnes of butter and eight tonnes of speciality cheese with products sold locally and as far away as the Falkland Islands and Malaysia.

Ian Campbell, operations manager for Ballyrashane Creamery, explains: “Our plant runs seven days a week with a high production rate so a significant amount of energy is required to power the machinery involved in the processing of our products.

We pride ourselves on being a responsible company and so using a greener fuel is very important to us. Our main aim was to significantly reduce our carbon footprint as well as strengthening our bottom line by making financial savings.

“Since we switched to natural gas in 2010, we have reduced our carbon emissions by more than 1800 tonnes of CO2, which is equivalent to taking almost 600 cars off the road or enough to fill an Olympic size swimming pool more than 400 times.

“We use the fuel mostly for pasteurisation of our products and steam generation and it is a huge benefit that our boilers now operate at more than 90 per cent efficiency so that we are minimising the amount of energy that is

E

wasted. Using natural gas also means that we are able to control the temperature more effectively which ensures we maintain a consistently high standard across all our products.”

Ian adds: “As energy costs are one of our main outlays it was essential that we chose a fuel which was energy and cost efficient, and so connecting to natural gas also provided important financial savings which, as we act as a co-operative, has helped to secure the livelihood of more than 100 farmers, who bring milk to us for processing.”

The energy market in Northern Ireland has been maturing steadily over recent years, with the increasing presence of natural gas, allowing more and more homes and businesses to take advantage of the ‘new’ fuel. firmus energy has brought the option of natural gas to more than 20 towns and cities across Northern Ireland that hadn’t had it before and has built out more than 900km of pipeline with an investment of around £85

million in the local economy. Due to the increasing popularity of the fuel, firmus has already been granted six extensions for areas outside the original licensed locations, including most recently, Bushmills and Ballyclare.

Alison Moore, commercial development manager for firmus energy, comments: “We now have more than 74,000 firmus energy customers across Northern Ireland, both commercial and domestic, who are seeing the benefits of natural gas that have been enjoyed by firms and homes in GB and the Republic of Ireland for the last thirty years.

“As a food producer, Ballyrashane Creamery is a major energy user and it was important for the company to have the most environmentally-friendly and economically advantageous fuel option.

“By switching to natural gas from heavy fuel oil, Ballyrashane lowered fuel costs immediately and began to reap the other benefits of being a firmus energy business customer, such as forecasting information, online bill management and a dedicated customer service representative.

“In addition to reducing the operating costs of the facility, making it more competitive, the substantial environmental savings accrued by Ballyrashane Creamery have also significantly reduced the company’s green credentials.”

For more information on firmus energy please visit www.firmusenergy.co.uk

50 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

Moy Park farmer installs Retlan Renewables Biomass Module for sustainable heating in Poultry Houses The biomass module was bespoke engineered by Retlan Renewables and installed onsite by fully approved bpec engineers with a metering system for RHI payments. Kyle set up a contract with Stobart Renewable Energy to supply G50 / W30 woodchip to fill the 90m3 store for each cycle.

The sizing of the fuel store that is capable of holding 90m3 of woodchip / pellet was chosen to coincide with the chicken cycle energy demand.

Malcolm Paterson, Business Development manager at Retlan Renewables said, “We have worked hard to gain this contract with stiff competition. We know that customers are concerned with biomass fuel prices, and a biomass multi-fuel option is the most sensible route to managing fuel costs.

“With the simple Siemens touch control system a fuel can be selected, programmed in, and within minutes the system will be supplying heat. Retlan Renewables is well placed to supply a turnkey heating system that will not only ‘out class’ a standard pellet boiler installation, but with the Heizomat’ s robust design and ‘engineered to last’ philosophy, the boilers will still be in service far beyond that of its rivals.” For more information call 028 7965 0765 or visit www.retlanrenewables.com

Biomass Heating Module supplied and installed by Retlan Renewables with internal Heizomat boilers and fuel store

County Antrim poultry farmer has become one of the first in Northern Ireland to install a fully engineered biomass heating module with German manufactured Heizomat multi-fuel boiler at his site in Crumlin.

Kyle Molyneaux is one of a number of local business owners who have adopted the innovative container heating system from Retlan Renewables in a bid to reduce energy costs, while securing a more environmentally sustainable future.

The Crumlin based farmer is a supplier to Moy Park, the UK and Ireland’s a leading provider of fresh and locally farmed poultry.

An advocate of good farming practices, Kyle began researching biomass heating boilers in 2014 to replace a LPG system to heat two poultry houses.

The solution was a self-contained biomass module complete with two pre fitted 99Kw Heizomat boilers and a 90m3 fuel store. The

A

multi-fuel boilers can be used with wood chips or wood pellets, offering increased flexibility and price stability over the standard wood pellet only systems.

The design installed allowed for the integration of the existing LPG system to ensure that in the event of any failure of the system the birds were still safe.

It is early days, but Kyle is pleased with results. Retlan Renewables installed the system within a container, which is ideal when the site does not have an existing building to house a biomass boiler and fuel store.

The container has a flue system and all the necessary pumps, components and pipe work, so the transition was very straightforward. As a renewable energy source, the heating system not only creates a more sustainable future, but also delivers additional welfare benefits for the chickens through enhanced environmental conditions on the farm.

One of two 99Kw Multi Fuel Heizomat boilers installed at Kyle’s Crumlin farm to heat poultry houses

www.businessfirstonline.co.uk 51

COMMENTARY

Caution and care must be the order of the day

by Paul Henry, chairman, Chartered Accountants Ulster Society e’re in the run-up to a General Election when parties with their hands on the levers of power will want to convince you that the battle against the evil ‘cousins’ of downturn and slowdown is being won.

For a while at the turn of the year, we saw some glimmer of hope. In straitened times, the Northern Ireland Budget got through the Assembly, managing the conjuring trick of maintaining the giveaways without addressing the deficit. This year will be tough, but it will be small beer compared to what’s coming down the tracks in 2016 and beyond.

We hear that 20,000 jobs in the Public Sector will have to be shed as we learn the lesson of having to do more with less.

Tax varying powers – that’s the ability to set our own rate of Corporation Tax - will be devolved to help us to expand the private sector as the public sector contracts.

The re-balancing of the Northern Ireland economy is going to cause considerable pain over a prolonged period of time.

Corporation Tax setting powers will assist and the price tag that’s mentioned, £350 million, will be worth it if we manage to up our game internationally and secure even greater numbers of inward investment projects.

W

Our geographic location – our remoteness – means that we’re more dependent on air links than any other region. Sixty percent of our trade is with GB, and cost effective air travel is essential to maximise the opportunity to do business with customers in our most important market.

Paul Henry

52 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

Air Passenger Duty Which brings me on to another tax varying

power that I think would be to the benefit of Northern Ireland. Air Passenger Duty (APD) costs each of us £26 every time we fly to London.

Our geographic location – our remoteness – means that we’re more dependent on air links than any other region. Sixty percent of our trade is with GB, and cost effective air travel is essential to maximise the opportunity to do business with customers in our most important market.

Therefore, in our terms, APD undermines competitiveness and is an impediment to exporting. Just as the Republic of Ireland did, and Scotland will do, we should lobby to have the power devolved.

Turmoil in Euro-land The turmoil in Euro-land will also present challenges for us. Uncertainty over Greece will be felt keenly as we strive to retain export levels with our island neighbour.

International currency markets are jittery, unsure and volatile, and that gives manufacturers or service providers in Coleraine cause to worry about customers in Cork.

There are some positive indicators out there, some grounds for mild optimism. But overall, the prudent ‘cousins’ of caution and care must take precedence over all else.

Has your business established a baseline for IT security? asks Stephen McDonnell, IT Audit Manager, at ASM Chartered Accountants. yber-attacks and data breaches were at an all-time high in 2014, with high profile attacks on Sony, eBay and DropBox all making the headlines.

Too often businesses take the view that if they have had no data breaches, no business interruptions or no fines from the Information Commissioner they are not at risk.

However, anyone with a web presence or internet connection, regardless of scale, is at risk. Business owners and managers need to recognise that the investment required to review their IT security controls and to establish a baseline of control is marginal compared to the possible costs of cyberattack or data breach.

A 2014 report conducted by the Government’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, put the average cost of a cyber attack at between £600,000 and £1.15 million for large organisations, and £65,000 to £115,000 for SMEs. Ensuring your business has an appropriate baseline for IT security will help to ensure the protection of valuable assets against unavailability, loss, misuse, disclosure or damage. Businesses need to ensure sufficient controls are in place to manage the likely security risks.

The level of control will need to be proportionate and will vary from business to business, however irrespective of perceived risk, all businesses and organisations should ensure that a minimum baseline is in place.

The minimum baseline for IT security should include controls in each of the following areas: • IT environment and staffing; • Management of IT inventory; • Patch management; • Anti-virus, password and access controls; • Back-up, recovery and business continuity; and • Vulnerability review and testing.

C

Ensuring your business has an appropriate baseline for IT security will help to ensure the protection of valuable assets against unavailability, loss, misuse, disclosure or damage. Businesses need to ensure sufficient controls are in place to manage the likely security risks.

Stephen McDonnell

Businesses need to assess the controls in place and ask themselves questions around each of these areas, for example: • Is automatic / regular patching employed for operating systems, web browsers and applications?

• Is an anti-virus policy in place, with all workstations running the latest antivirus version?

• Are robust password and access controls in place which are enforced through software • Are appropriate perimeter controls in place including firewalls and intrusion detection systems?

• Is the network subject to regular independent vulnerability testing?

• Does the business know what data it holds and ensure that it has controls in place to handle it appropriately?

• Are appropriate controls in place for data back-up, restoration and business continuity in the event of a security incident?

• Do staff need their current system access levels to do their jobs?

• Are staff aware of security risks and controls?

Although the threat landscape is rapidly becoming more diverse, the application of fundamental controls will offer a high degree of protection for most businesses.

Despite the widening threat, research still indicates that the insider threat and staff are a major area of risk.

As a starting point businesses and organisations should ensure that staff are aware of the risks to which they are exposed as a large proportion of cyber-attacks still rely on the ignorance of individuals through targeted attacks utilising spyware, phishing or social engineering.

ASM have extensive experience in this area which can be used to provide assurance on the effectiveness of the controls in place within your business and to support you in the development of an IT security framework.

Stephen is a CISA qualified IT auditor, a qualified accountant and project manager, with over ten years’ experience in IT audit and IT systems management. He can be contacted at Stephen.McDonnell@asmbelfast.com for a copy of our free IT Security Baseline Questionnaire.

www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

53

SPONSORED ARTICLE

Are low oil prices good for Northern Ireland business?

Head of the Quilter Cheviot Belfast office, Nigel Crawford, discusses the falling price of oil, interest rates and what Northern Ireland can expect in 2015.

S shale production remains higher than last year and OPEC is producing above its agreed target, pair this with the fact that demand from China and Europe is at its lowest level and it’s no wonder we are seeing an excess supply of oil.

The surplus supply was sufficient to push the oil price from over $100 per barrel in the summer to $75 in late November. Following OPEC’s decision not to cut production, the cost has continued to fall and now stands at around $60.

As the cost slips, fears are mounting that low oil prices could cause some destabilisation, particularly in oil producing countries such as Russia and Venezuela.

While undoubtedly there are risks out there, notably a low oil price causing economic or political instability within some oil-producing countries, the overwhelming benefit of lower oil prices is to provide a boost to economic growth for the vast majority of oil importing countries, including Ireland.

Households in particular will benefit from lower fuel prices. Many developed countries have failed to see any significant wage increases over recent years so the reduced cost of oil will provide a much needed boost to household finances.

This will be particularly welcome news to households in Northern Ireland, who’s average household income per head is currently one of the lowest of the UK regions.

The disinflationary impact of a weaker oil price should also help keep overall inflation rates low and as such, central banks will likely maintain a more accommodative monetary stance than they might otherwise have adopted.

Mid-year we can expect to see interest rates start to gradually increase in the US, potentially followed by the UK. The economy is in good shape, jobs growth is strong, but inflation is low and may even decrease further in the next few months, so these rate rises are likely to be modest and should be easily absorbed by markets. Average earnings will continue to show some recovery and wage rises will remain modest.

2015 will see quantitative easing (QE) start in the Eurozone and currencies continue to diverge, which could mean a challenging time ahead for Northern Ireland exporters, as QE

U

leads to further depreciation of the euro against sterling.

Since QE started in Japan in April 2013, the yen has fallen by 20 per cent against the dollar. A QE programme in the Eurozone would likely push the single currency down and the overall global monetary stance will remain very accommodative.

Since launch, the euro has risen by 20% on a trade-weighted basis. Getting the exchange rate down will boost the competitiveness of the region and the euro could move to parity against the dollar.

Meanwhile the dollar has been a relatively weak currency over the same period and has room to appreciate. The pound has its own issues especially ahead of what could be a tricky UK election.

On balance it should weaken against the strengthening dollar, but moves against the euro are slightly more difficult to map since both currencies may be under pressure in 2015.

Bond yields may rise but will likely stay relatively low. Inflation rates are expected to remain below target in most western economies, especially if oil prices don’t bounce back to previous levels any time soon, and with interest rates expected to rise only modestly in the UK and US, the likelihood of a sharp rise in bond yields seems slim.

Equities will continue to remain the asset class of choice. While interest rates remain low and bond yields similarly so, the relative attractions of equities, particularly from an income point of view, remain compelling.

The UK equity market yields over 3.5% which compares with a 10 year gilt yield of nearly half that figure and dividends are expected to grow. Global equities yield around 3%. Given the recent fall in oil prices, many sectors will see an additional benefit either from higher consumer spending or reduced input costs.

Market valuations are not stretched, certainly when compared with 20-year averages, suggesting that equities should make good progress in 2015. The UK, however, with its large exposure to oil & gas and mining shares, may lag other major stockmarkets.

2015 may be a more volatile year in asset markets compared with the last couple of years, but should ultimately prove to be a

rewarding one.

Quilter Cheviot, which can trace its heritage back to 1771, is one of the UK’s largest discretionary investment firms and is based in twelve locations across the UK, Jersey and Ireland and has total funds under management of £16.2bn.* Our team based on Montgomery Street, Belfast, focuses primarily on structuring and managing bespoke discretionary portfolios for private clients, charities, trusts, pension funds and professional intermediaries. We enjoy successful relationships with independent financial advisors across Northern Ireland and beyond.

We take an approach which is both entrepreneurial and bespoke when it comes to the investment solutions we offer clients.

We believe our exemplary regulatory track record, the absence of institutional conflicts of interests and the transparency of our charges all bear positive comparison with some of the larger institutional bodies, such as banks.

For more information on how Quilter Cheviot can guide your investments, contact Nigel Crawford at the Belfast office on 028 9026 1150 or email nigel.crawford@quiltercheviot.com Investors should remember that the value of investments and the income from them can go down as well as up. *as at 30 September 2014.

BEST PRACTICE

Global markets are waiting for you

so what are you waiting for? says Dr. Sharon Loane, senior lecturer in International Business, Ulster University orthern Ireland is a small place.

According to The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research agency, the population is estimated to be 1.830 million people. To set this in context Greater Manchester has 2.55 million people while the West Midlands stands at 2.44 million (Office of National Statistics).

As well as this small domestic market, Northern Ireland also has a relatively weak private sector and is particularly dependent on government funds.

This combination of factors makes it clear that our economy can really only achieve meaningful growth through an increased export footprint. Indeed numerous studies have identified that export led growth delivers benefits to individual nations and also to the world economy.

Increasing exports has been high on the Northern Ireland Executive’s agenda, and the Programme for Government (2011-2015), undertook to deliver long-term economic growth by “improving competitiveness and building a larger and more export-driven private sector”.

The target was to raise manufacturing exports by 20 per cent, with an expected increase of seven per cent by 2013/14.

However, results have been disappointing, and whilst there has been a growth in exports, this has fallen short of the targets set.

Undoubtedly there are some outstanding export success stories from Northern Ireland firms, yet the base of exporters remains small and there were just 1500 goods manufacturers exporting in 2013, this is just over two per cent of the registered firms (Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce, 2014).

The major trade partner continues to be the Republic of Ireland, and recent economic improvements in that market bode well for Northern Irish firms.

Recently, Nigel Smyth, CBI Northern Ireland director has said that “A strong recovery in the Republic of Ireland’s economy does provide good opportunities for small companies, as well as the growing number of medium sized businesses, which the CBI believe have the potential to transform the Northern Ireland economy”.

Although the strength of the pound relative to the euro may dampen export demand from the Republic of Ireland and the Eurozone more generally, other key markets are the United States, Canada, Germany, France and the Netherlands.

N

Increasing exports has been high on the Northern Ireland Executive’s agenda, and the Programme for Government (20112015), undertook to deliver long-term economic growth by “improving competitiveness and building a larger and more export-driven private sector”.

Dr Sharon Loane

56 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

Why export?

According to the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce, our larger firms (>250) account for around two thirds of exports, and the top 10 exporters account for half of manufactured exports here.

Therefore the real challenge is to increase the number of companies actively engaged in export and there is a need for home market focused firms to be aware of the benefits enjoyed by exporters.

Firstly, increased sales and growth potential are possible, however, the idiosyncratic nature of each export market must be taken into account, whilst greater profits are often possible, lower profit margins may arise due to the competitiveness of the export market and also the increased costs attached to exporting.

Active exporters can lower risk by serving a number of markets with differing economic conditions, therefore they are less dependent on the home market and its small consumer base.

Increased exports also lead to increased production and economies of scale may result, improving the cost competitive stance of the firm. Additionally, some exporters may be able to identify an opportunity to export a product which is mature or in decline in the home market to an export market where this is not the case, extending the product lifecycle.

Exporters are likewise well placed to take advantage of any new knowledge generated in their firm, as they come into contact with new export markets, new cultural contexts, new customers, new ways of doing things, and new technologies, all of which expose the firm to international best practice.

Through broadening the firms reach often new ideas are generated, leading to new product/service innovations. Recent Ulster University research has identified that credibility is an issue for exporters, and that successful firms were identifying a key reference client in an industry niche (Loane & Bell, 2007), and that selling to them in the export market provided the exporter with enhanced marketing collateral and an enhanced reputation both at home and abroad.

Starting the export journey The reality of exporting is that it takes time, commitment, effort and money. Before you commit to exporting you need to honestly assess your company’s export potential – both in terms of the business and the product or service you are intending to sell.

Careful research and planning may appear time consuming in the beginning but are absolutely vital in avoiding potential problems further down the line, and below are some important issues to consider before you venture overseas.

It is essential that you focus and identify where your customers are, therefore detailed market research is essential to identify and evaluate the target market(s).

InvestNI and InterTradeIreland for example, can provide focused business support and help establish the viability of foreign market opportunities.

Exporting is not for everyone, but it is worth considering, if this is inspiring you to look to overseas markets to grow your revenue and profit, you need to plan your export journey and understand what it is you need to do, and then how will you actually do this.

Careful research and planning may appear time consuming in the beginning but are absolutely vital in avoiding potential problems further down the line, and below are some important issues to consider before you venture overseas.

Export Market selection 1. Detail your target markets and itemize why you chose these. Keep to a small number at the start so as not to over stretch your resources 2. Market position, this may be different to the home market and different across markets, therefore check and establish positioning in each market 3. Analyze the competition, you need to undertake extensive research to establish where the competition will come from, and how, in each market.

4. Distribution, establish how you will get product to end users in each export market. How will you organize your sales presence in export markets through direct selling, a strategic partner, a distributor, a sales agent, or your own local office?

5. Sales targets, set realistic targets with key milestones.

Product or service issues 1. Key features/benefits, be clear about your value proposition – what are the features and benefits of your product which make it attractive in each export market?

2. Localize, decide what must be adapted or modified for export markets (think about specification/design changes, packaging and labelling, will your brand withstand translation. Only adapt what is necessary.

3. Production scheduling/capacity, draw up detailed production schedules, then you will be able to see where extra production can be scheduled to service exports, this will inform decision making allowing you to establish by how much and when you need to increase production to service export orders.

Export pricing decisions 1.Establish which factors will impact the total export cost for each export market.

For example the costs of: • Raw materials and production costs • Costs attached to market entry • International marketing communications costs • Costs of export credit insurance (To cover for commercial and political risks) 2. Define desired profit margins based on the cost of export 3. Build in wriggle room, for example, a safety margin and a margin for sales negotiations 4. Clarify which if any export tariff costs apply 5. Research any potential costs for compliance (eg Food and Drug Administration costs) 6. How will you handle forex movements, or changes in competitor pricing strategies?

Market Entry mode choices 1. Develop your market entry strategy, consider which mode suits your firm and products best (will you export from your home base which is the least risky method, or will you require a foreign market presence, for example an office abroad?)

2. How and Where will you sell (i.e. to wholesalers or through retail channels?)

3. What partners or intermediaries do you need? Establish what roles are required and how you will find the “right” agents, distributors or partners.

4. Be flexible, the correct entry modes are highly situation specific, and what works in one foreign market may not work in another.

Promotional strategy considerations 1. How will you market your products? You will need to research and understand the traditions, culture and legislation of the target export markets and customize your marketing communications accordingly.

2. How will you support your foreign market customers, what aftersales requirements are there, and how will these be undertaken?

3. How will you support export market partners, for example, distributors may require support and training, as well as market visits.

4. Which promotional materials are required? Are there translation issues and costs, will your brand message be consistent when translated?

5. Establish the media that are suitable for your promotional message and advertising materials; also which media channels are suitable for these.

Finally, it is tempting to look at the issues illustrated above which must be considered before entering export markets, and saying, “this is too complex for my small firm.”

Of course exporting is complex, but so are many home market decisions. Firms who are successful at home have the ability to work through the relevant issues one at a time, and in the process demystify the process.

Decision makers in Northern Ireland’s small firms have to consider their own mindset, and be open to change and willing to embrace exporting, the profits and benefits are waiting.

www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

57

HOSPITALITY

Make mine whatever’s locally brewed: the tourist benefit of locally crafted beer

by Dr Peter Bolan, Ulster University raft breweries are opening up all over the UK and Ireland. In much the same way the foodie revolution has already taken hold and focused on localism, natural ingredients and produce, bold flavours and artisan methods, so small-scale brewing ticks all the same boxes. Northern Ireland has been no exception.

The number of small independent breweries here has tripled in the past decade, notable examples including Hilden, Whitewater and Pokertree to name but a few. The latest to join these ranks is Lacada, a north coast venture based in Portrush.

The Lacada micro brewery is quite unique in many ways as it is a co-operative, owned solely by its members. As Laurie Davies (one of the key driving forces behind Lacada) puts it ‘we want to produce a range of beers which reflect the rugged beauty of the north coast and which we can all be proud of’.

The local community spirit is something which the new micro brewery believes is hugely important and wants to tap into to full effect. The idea that it is their beer and something to be part of, as well as proud of, is something which can really capture the public imagination, but also something that will make it appeal to tourists.

Trends in tourism very much show that tourists are seeking a stronger connection to the places and communities that they visit. It’s not just about taking in the scenery and visiting the key tourist attractions.

Our visitors want to be immersed in the local communities they visit, eat local cuisine, drink local beer and indeed meet the artisans making the products they are tasting and purchasing.

As such it can all be seen as part of what has become known as the ‘experience economy’.

The craft beer scene here in Northern Ireland is now ideally positioned to be a very important part of this experience economy and a key asset in our overall tourism product.

Visitors want authenticity, products that are genuine with an identifiable link to the area.

That very much adds value to the tourism experience.

From the typical tourist who may simply wish to try a local beer to the actual ‘brewery tourist’ who has a more passionate interest, we now have a great range of artisan beer products to offer and this continues to grow and develop. It has become a crucial component of the overall tourism portfolio of our communities and Lacada in particular is a great example of this with its co-operative

C

Trends in tourism show that tourists are seeking a stronger connection to the places and communities that they visit. It’s not just about taking in the scenery and visiting the key tourist attractions.

Dr Peter Bolan

58 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

structure and approach.

Wine tourism has been popular for a very long time (from France to Italy to the USA, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia).

Likewise whiskey tourism and whiskey trails have proven incredibly popular (including our own Bushmills Distillery). Now it really is beer’s turn to have a slice of the tourism market and clearly the thirst is there.

We’ve already seen it thriving in North America in recent years (on the east coast in Virginia it brings in $600 million to the local economy), whilst in Brittany and Normandy in France they have recently developed a beer route across four key regions to boost the profile of this new tourism market.

Our latest local example – Lacada, is still raising funds through its community share offer which runs until March (shares are priced at £1 each with a minimum investment of £100 and a maximum of £20,000). More information can be found on the concept at www.lacadabrewery.com.

Such community centred approaches are to be commended and welcomed as community involvement and buy-in is also essential for true tourism success.

Going beyond simply enjoying the beverage then, beer tourism offers travellers an insight into local culture and identity, and very importantly, a new way to develop local tourism which can only be a good thing for this growing industry and our economy here in Northern Ireland.

Northern Irelands only airport hotel I

n the heart of Northern Ireland you will find the Belfast International Airport and Maldron Hotel Belfast.

It is the only Airport Hotel in Northern Ireland, located within the airport grounds and only a two minute walk from the terminal. Maldron Hotel Belfast is renowned for high standards, outstanding service and a keen eye for detail.

Maldron Hotel Belfast is perfectly located for corporate meetings when you are bringing people together from different parts of the region or even from further afield.

With excellent access to the M1 and M2, it is the perfect base to conduct all your meetings.

As the saying goes “time is money, money is time” that’s why Maldron Hotel Belfast is the ideal location for conducting your business.

Save time and money by holding your meeting or event conveniently close to the airport. We have a choice of 10 conference rooms to suit your event and budget.

Do you want to ensure your travels from Belfast International Airport are as stress-free as possible?

With traffic and the stress of daily life,

getting to the airport on time for your flight can sometimes be a nightmare.

So why not make life easy on yourself and stay at Maldron Hotel Belfast the night before your departure? No need to stress about taxis and traffic delays!

Arrive at Belfast International airport the night before your flight and check into the Maldron Hotel Belfast. Relax and enjoy an evening meal at Stir Restaurant, enjoy a good night’s sleep and arrive for your flight relaxed, refreshed and ready for your travels.

Take advantage of our convenient Stay, Park and Fly facilities, where you can leave your car in our secure parking area where it will remain safe for your return. Park & Fly packages are available from £84.00 with up to Seven Days Parking included.

You don’t even have to stay over at the Maldron Hotel Belfast to take advantage of the great facilities.

Avoid the stress of the airport and enjoy a meal in the tranquillity of our hotel. We serve a full Irish Breakfast every morning from 7.00 am to 10.30am, or why not enjoy a pre-flight lunch in our Lobby Bar.

If you are flying out of Belfast International Airport for business, why not enjoy a leisurely coffee before your flight and take advantage of our Free Wi-Fi where you catch up on your emails before you depart.

Maldron Hotel Belfast is part of the Dalata Hotel Group and offers the largest selection of hotels in Ireland with almost 18 locations to choose from throughout Ireland and the UK. For more information on the hotel and our facilities please visit www.maldronhotelbelfast.com, call us on +44 (0)28 9445 7000 or email us on reception.belfast@maldronhotels.com

www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

59

Collaboration helps Todds Leap fly into a new era odds Leap Activity Centre in Ballygawley will be celebrating 25 amazing years in business this year and what an incredible journey it has been so far.

Starting off as just a small family business, operating on weekends, Todds Leap has grown into a multi award winning establishment, offering over 20 activities scattered over its 10 mile off-road track, with accommodation for up to 100 in the form of cosy log cabins and funky refurbished shipping containers, a state of the art conference centre and a licensed restaurant and welcoming over 30,000 visitors last year.

The one thing that hasn’t changed at Todds Leap in its 25 years of business is its strong dedication to customer service and business development.

Any stumbling blocks met along the way were soon overturned when a partnership between Todds Leap, Flint Studios and Bluefin Software Systems was formed, that revolutionised the business as Centre Manager Patrick Rafferty explains.

"Being as unique as we are, we needed a complete bespoke solution. After an extensive selection process we engaged with Flint studios and Bluefin software to reinvent and integrate our website with our CRM system.

“We now have fully responsive website which takes online orders and automatically populates our CRM, this in turn automatically creates a daily schedule for all our customers.

T

60 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

“This in essence means we have a nontouch ordering system that makes the customer journey a seamless one. The growth of the site has been amazing and this is a testament to great web design and focus on providing our customers with a superior online booking experience tailored to their exact need and requirements.

“Our online orders have increased by over 100 per cent and the customers experience has been greatly enhanced. To top all this, we recently won eCommerce Website of the Year in the Realex Fire Web Awards in Dublin and received a Highly Commended for Website of the Year at the DANI Awards in 2014."

Belfast-based web agency, Flint Studios worked in partnership to produce a highly innovative web solution for Todds Leap.

Managing Director, Jeremy Biggerstaff of Flint Studios comments: "We built an actionpacked eCommerce website with a fully responsive layout working across all devices from desktop, to mobile and tablet.

“The challenge was to create an easy-touse and comprehensive e-commerce application to sell their full range of activities and packages on the new look Todds Leap website.

“With an entire re-write of the website and tight integration of a new ecommerce system and content management system, it is now possible to plan events, book accommodation or buy merchandise online.

Jeremy continues. “Flint Studios' dedicated staff have really excelled with this project and by creating a flexible and

responsive solution.

“The bespoke CMS solution enables the centre to easily add 'new' activities and packages, including their most recent innovation the Todds Leap Winter Wonderland. Additionally, the CMS gives Todds Leap direct control of its online content, allowing them to add and edit content without the need to involve a developer.

He adds “With more and more people using tablets or smartphones to browse the internet, having a responsive website is no longer simply a nice feature but rather a necessity.

“The responsive design and functionality of the website is based on five breakpoints to cater for a large percentage of mobile and tablet devices. This provides the ideal framework for ordering and booking activities online.”

The award-winning website brings the adventure and adrenaline of Todds Leap to the internet. With a heavy focus on photography and visual content, the website gives the user a true sense of the Todds Leap experience.

The imagery truly conveys the adrenaline and showcases the full range of fantastic activities available at Todds Leap Activity Centre. Everything from off road driving and clay pigeon shooting to Giant swings and Zip lining, and all available to book online with ease.

Events at Todds Leap Events at Todds Leap are all about getting outdoors, doing something momentous and having more fun than ever felt possible!

That’s what makes Todds Leap a great choice for Corporate Adventure days!

With various activity packages available to book online, you are just a few clicks away from a tried and tested activity experience.

Soon you and your work colleagues will be swinging through bushes and leaping off free fall drop zones!

As no two corporate events are ever the same, the website can also customise packages to meet the needs, requirements and budget of every group. This is perfect for those who prefer something more tailormade. Simply choose from the huge range of activities to create a customised online itinerary.

The website intuitively responds to requirements, showing what is available on particular dates, what is suitable for people of different ages, height and weights, as well as suggesting accommodation in Todds Leaps’ Cosy Log Cabins if the selected activities take more than a day to complete.

Are you planning a team-building day? Visit www.ToddsLeap.com and take a look.

The outdoor activity centre provides a unique location for any corporate event and our purpose built hospitality centre includes a choice of conference rooms, licensed restaurant with bar, function room and onsite accommodation.

Todds Leap has 25 years’ experience providing team events, staff reward days, adventure conference days and effective teambuilding programmes.

The corporate events team will take the hassle out of your event from planning to delivery and guarantee a day you will never forget.

So lace up your old trainers for some

quality time out of the workplace.

Book online at www.toddsleap.com County Down based software development company, Blue Fin Software Solutions worked closely with Todds leap over a period of 18 months to develop a unique CRM solution to fit their business. Blue Fin owner John Walsh recalls, “We were invited to look at Todds Leap requirements back in 2012.

“As with every project, we spent considerable time with key team members to fully understand their processes, defined those processes and designed a suitable system around them. We were delighted that the solution we proposed was accepted by Todds Leap and supported by Invest NI. “We delivered the solution on time and within budget and continue updating the system as the Todds Leap business evolves.”

According to Patricia Currie, Todds Leap Marketing Manager throughout the project, “With two previous software suppliers

failing to deliver our project, we cautiously invited Blue-Fin to look at our requirements and wish we had found them from the word Go! “They visited us a few times to understand our business and our requirements. They documented everything so we knew exactly what we were getting, how much it would cost and how long it would take to deliver.

“We all love the new Booking & Enquiries System as it makes our administrative tasks so much easier allowing us more time to speak to customers.

“It has improved our customer service and cemented our brand image, as our communication with our customers (by automatically generated branded emails) is consistent and professional.

“We highly recommend them and are looking forward to future projects with BlueFin Software Solutions.”

www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

61

Titanic Belfast: changing the meetings and conference landscape itanic Belfast has changed the physical and economic landscape of Belfast since opening its doors in March 2012.

Estimated to have contributed around £100 million to the local economy, Titanic Belfast has firmly established the city as the birthplace of RMS Titanic and a serious destination to do business. Playing host to prominent domestic and international guests, conferences and events, Titanic Belfast is the venue of choice for creating a lasting impression.

If flexibility, adaptability, accessibility and hospitality are key factors for your conference, product launch, gala dinner, team meeting, charity ball or even a wedding, then there is one stand-out venue in Belfast that embraces all client expectations and ambitions. Only Titanic Belfast, located where the great liner was built and launched, can offer a world-class experience right in the heart of Belfast’s Titanic Quarter.

With five conference and banqueting rooms, a 20,000 sq ft atrium, external plaza, spectacular building, and a major outdoor event location, there’s no limit to the range of events that can be hosted by Titanic Belfast.

The venue’s Sales and Event Planning team, led by the vastly experienced Laura Cowan, have managed more than 700 diverse and unique events since Titanic Belfast opened in 2012.“Titanic Belfast, the location, its hospitality and many other qualities make

T

every event special,” said Laura.

“The venue also means clients have maximum buy-in to their events, and we have found that since opening, which has been welcomed by our cross-border clients in particular.”

Having played host to guests such as Her Majesty The Queen, TITANIC director James Cameron, former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton and events for the Irish Neurological Society, the British and Irish Chambers, and the Forget Me Not charity ball, Laura’s team have also had to show their event management skill at the World Championship Boxing held on Titanic Belfast’s slipways.

Laura’s team has also developed the hospitality offering to meet the ever-changing needs in the industry and have recently launched new corporate and charity packages.

She added: “Titanic Belfast is aware of the diversity of clients, budgets and expectations.

So, whether it’s an intimate dinner party or a large scale event, we will have bespoke packages to suit every client’s needs.”

For more information on Titanic Belfast’s corporate and charity packages, contact enquires@titanicbelfast.com or call 028 90 766386

How to use visual aids effectively isual aids can be a very useful part of a business presentation – but not if you just stick to boring PowerPoint slides.

There are only three reasons for using visual aids: 1) to make a point crystal clear to your audience 2) to make your point memorable 3) to make an impact so that your audience remembers YOU. Remember you are one of your visual aids!

Your overall style of delivery, including your clothes, has visual impact. If you’re talking about your organisation going through culture change how will you behave and dress? Is your image in conflict with the new, vibrant, fast-paced culture you are describing? For maximum impact your visual appearance needs to be in synch with your message.

We remember best when we are emotionally connected to the subject. Even in informative business presentations we need emotional engagement. For example, start with: “We’re here to discuss a subject of vital importance to you.”

The creative use of props can evoke a strong emotional response. Imagine you’re fundraising for a charity for premature

V

babies. What’s likely to happen when, after some well-chosen words, you pause and hold up a tiny suit of baby clothes?

At an event with many presentations the audience can’t remember everything.

Carefully picked, impactful visual aids will make you and your presentation stand out.

There are famous examples of iconic aids: Steve Job with the MacBook Air in an envelope, Bill Gates talking about malaria, releasing mosquitos into the audience. I recall a formally dressed Scandinavian colleague suddenly putting on Smurf-blue Viking hat with horns. Once seen, never forgotten!

Pictures can make a point powerfully. If you’re talking about in-store merchandising, showing your sales force photographs of the good, bad and ugly will be more efficient and effective than elaborate verbal descriptions.

Graphics can be distracting if they are too complex. For example, if you are describing a year of sales growth do you need the horizontal and vertical marks for every 100k?

A dramatic upward sweeping arrow might be more powerful.

Some members of your audience may need

the detail – therefore follow-up with handouts if necessary.

In large organisations it is easy to get distanced from reality. I recall a meeting with a board of directors who resisted increasing a development budget. It was only when they tried using the prototype product during the presentation that they fully appreciated the problem which the focus groups had highlighted. A well told story or metaphor will create the visuals in your audience’s heads. Your story should paint a scene that people can relate to but be broadly described.

That way they can fill in detail themselves.

For example, if you’re talking about stress reduction you might contrast a relaxing Saturday on the beach with a work day. Rather than saying “imagine walking on the golden sand” say “imagine walking by the sea.”

Some people like sandy beaches some like gravel beaches with rock pools. They can decide which it is. It’ll make the story meaningful and memorable for each listener.

Let’s not forget the humble flipchart - so long as everyone in the room can read it. They can be prepared in advance or used during a meeting.

Just make sure your handwriting is legible.

www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

63

North Down Businesses – FREE Diagnostic Service he Business Assist Programme helps business owners in the Borough of North Down identify and target the barriers they face when growing their business.

Through a free business diagnostic and oneto-one consultation, the challenges, opportunities, future goals and ambitions of each individual business will be assessed.

This easy to use, free online tool allows you to assess how your business is doing across areas that are critical to business growth.

You simply answer a series of questions which are tailored to measure your business' development needs in key areas including: • vision • finances • markets • customers

T

A personalised report will be generated which provides you with an assessment of how your business is performing, suggesting actions to help you achieve and maintain excellent performance and compares your business performance with similar businesses in your sector.

Based on these findings, you will be signposted to the business support services of SIGNAL Business Centre including a complimentary market intelligence research service, a range of workshops and masterclasses, local networking opportunities; and other funded development programmes as appropriate to the needs of your business.

This Programme is jointly funded by North Down Borough Council, Invest Northern Ireland and the European Regional Development Fund under the Sustainable Competitiveness Programme for Northern Ireland.

Over 40 businesses in North Down have already benefited from the funded support offered by the Business Assist Programme. Many more businesses will also benefit from the information obtained through the business diagnostic and the follow-up one-to-one consultation.

64 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

To register for the FREE Business Diagnostic or for further information on the Business Assist Programme contact Patrick Devine at SIGNAL on (028) 9147 3788, businessassist@northdown.gov.uk or visit www.nibusinessinfo.gov.uk/ signalbusinessassist.

For further information on the Business Support Services at SIGNAL contact Paula Ault on (028) 91473788 paula.ault@northdown.gov.uk or visit www.signalni.com

SPONSORED ARTICLE

the complex maze of R&D TAX CLAIMS

by Martin Malseed, Wealthcare Ireland

n 2014 eight companies I worked with recovered overpaid corporation tax of £688,238 from HM Revenue & Customs.

UK wide the total identified by my colleagues was nearly £13,500,000.

Clients comprised bakeries, salad and ready meal producers, engineering, construction, software, printers, sausage makers, plastics and packaging companies.

Most people probably expected to see pharmacy companies in this group as they are the ones with the white coats and the safety glasses. But what all these recipients of cheques from HM Revenue and Customs did was deal on a day to day basis with projects.

These projects are seeking an advance in science or technology with activities that directly contribute to the resolution of scientific or technological uncertainty.

In reality the answer was not found on Google. It could involve lots of attempts by experienced ,knowledgeable technically able people with outside help brought in .

There could be wasted material in the process . A project could stop and start or even be aborted . The improvement sought should be more than minor or routine upgrading. It should represent something that a competent professional working in the field would consider to be genuine and non trivial.

As I listened to food companies talking about pressures to reduce fat or sodium content or prolong shelf life using competent people you realise a claim is possible.

It could be an engineering company making a metal pole with a certain bend in it and a certain coating which would not wear and would maintain its inbuilt strength.

These companies received this windfall as they had the commercial sense to bring in outside experts to help with a rather unusual tax break.

Traditionally tax breaks are based on identified expenditure on either overheads or high value capital equipment .The accountants picked up such expenditure pretty well from training and experience. This is a “fuzzy “ tax break and in the communication with outside accountants

I

66 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

who rarely got to meet engineers or bakers etc claims fell by the wayside The reason why our staff who only do R&D claims are so successful is they are PhD level graduates who are then trained exclusively in the complex legislation. They worked with the shop floor engineers and talked their language. Only at the end did the accountant fill out a simple grid to capture the cost In 2000 the government brought in the tax break to reward and encourage companies who were innovating. This break came by identifying such expenditure and then enhancing it by certain percentages to give the “extra “tax break. From 2013 this enhancement had risen to 125 per cent.

So a company spending a £100K had an enhancement of £125K seeing a tax saving of £28,750 on top of the money saved already when the expense was “written off “ . Those with losses could cash them in. Large companies had different rates Quantifying the amount unclaimed locally since inception could well be in excess of £50M. A food company we advised had claimed nothing until we got involved in 2012.Thanks to our work they recouped over £300,000. In that example working back the tax overpaid since 2000 is substantial.

Despite a recent HM Revenue & Customs education programme there is still a reluctance to claim.

Speaking to companies and external accountants raised some interesting feedback on this concession .

Certain companies were adamant they were not doing R&D as they did not have a lab and scientists on the payroll. Yet their website talked about changing products to cope with customer demands.

Other companies felt they faced a tedious process to justify a claim and without being objective decided not to claim.

Others said they had Invest NI assistance feeling that would negate any claim. If the assistance was for a specific project the amount of the expenditure enhanced is at a different rate .Latterly Invest NI produced a very readable booklet on R&D Tax relief. A

few client executives were in the dark regarding how claims worked.

Some financial directors were adamant that no R&D was going on. Clearly going to the board and saying I have missed a golden opportunity over the last decade to claim money back or we have paid too much tax may be career threatening .

A few companies thought if you did one of these claims the Inland Revenue “would be all over you “ and looking at everything else , wasting time and resources and maybe finding something to open a can of worms.

With all the publicity regarding aggressive tax schemes, headlines in certain papers and celebrities being outed for their tax arrangements some directors thought this tax concession from the tax people was some sort of edgy planning .

The external accountants all varied. Some were nervous about bringing in outside specialists for fear of losing the client. Even though the outside specialist only did R &D claims. Some were like your medical GP and realised not their area and it was very specialised and worked with us for everyone’s benefit. As some had not claimed anything ever they felt by alerting client they could be seen as negligent or incompetent.

Others were we do everything for the client and even though we will never match your expertise or experience do not dare approach our client. Good news is companies can go back two years and rework tax billsi Simple solution for company directors to see if there is a cash benefit is to contact Martin Malseed on 0792 900 2238 or martin@wealthcareireland.com for an informal chat.

Martin Malseed has many years experience in accounting and business consultancy. He has a keen interest in working with company directors to ensure they are maximising tax breaks for innovation and that the businesses and personal assets are protected for future generations

www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

67

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

job-taking or JOB MAKING?

by Simon Bridge, visiting professor at Ulster University

orthern Ireland needs people who are entrepreneurial - and being entrepreneurial has been described as being a change-maker, not a change-taker: a person who, instead of waiting for someone else to offer them a suitable job, takes steps to create their own employment.

Northern Ireland particularly needs entrepreneurs who will create jobs because we need jobs both for those who want a job but don’t yet have one and for those who might lose the job they have if, for instance, the forecast reduction in public sector employment comes to pass. Therefore, if it is to ‘rebalance’ its economy, Northern Ireland needs job-makers but in many ways its approach to economic development seems largely to be influenced by a ‘taking’, rather than a ‘making’, mentality.

We seem to expect that someone should create jobs for us and sometimes we even complain that not enough job creation is being done for us. We appear to think that the most that we can be expected to do ourselves is to be prepared to take the jobs if and when they are created.

We rarely seem to think that we could or should actually engage in the change or jobmaking process. We generally want to wait for someone else to take the initiative – but expect that we would then be allowed to hitch a ride on it.

N

68 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

Careers Advice

Mistaken emphasis on FDI

For instance our attitude to careers for young people often has a strong job-taking assumption. We see fields of activity such as medicine, the law and the civil service as providing good respectable jobs, even though some of them may be in the public sector.

So we encourage young people to get the right qualifications for such fields in the expectation that there will then be attractive jobs for them to take. And the same might be said of jobs in big businesses.

Even today some of the skills which businesses need are in short supply so, if people can show that they have those skills, they should be Able to find a job which they can take.

In a similar vein DEL’s employment and learning policy has an emphasis on encouraging and helping people to acquire the skills that the economy needs – so that they will be ready to take the jobs which are likely to be on offer: jobs which we will need to fill if our economy is to grow.

However in this we seem to be fixed on a series of assumptions: that we need more employment in private sector businesses if we are to ‘rebalance’ the economy, that our own capability to start and/or grow businesses is limited and therefore that, if the economy is to grow, we will have to attract in businesses from outside.

This has led to a strong emphasis on FDI, for which a reduction in corporation tax is seen as the key trigger and an essential prerequisite.

In the expectation that the businesses we want to attract will conform to the supposed private sector model of wanting to maximise the profit they can distribute, we assume that a reduction in corporation tax will be a sufficient incentive to attract those businesses to come here.

But does this chain of assumptions hold - and does such a venture have to be imported from outside? In looking to inward investment as the main route to growth are we not following a job-taking approach – because we are trying to attract others here so that we can take advantage of their job creating potential, rather than trying to make those jobs ourselves.

The advocates of a low-corporation-tax, FDI approach may claim that it is essential to go down that route because there is no Plan B, but is that because they have only looked for a Plan B within the limits of their current thinking?

There may be good reason for thinking that current incentives, even with a lower rate or corporation tax, are unlikely to stimulate a higher rate of local start-ups – but that does not mean that nothing will.

We seem to expect that someone should create jobs for us and sometimes we even complain that not enough job creation is being done for us. We appear to think that the most that we can be expected to do ourselves is to be prepared to take the jobs if and when they are created. Professor Simon Bridge Why don’t we think about tying to stimulate our own ability to make and grow the enterprises we need?

Our efforts to do this so far have been very limited and have often amounted to tying to bribe people to do it with grants and other support. But an enterprise is not necessarily about making the most money out of other people or businesses – as many who speak about businesses seem to assume.

It might surprise them to discover that actually relatively few people are motivated solely by income maximisation and will impartially and logically select the occupation that best offers that.

People are socially motivated – we do the things that what we think will earn us approval in our social circles. So that is something which a Plan B might address.

Change making Of course an enterprise needs to be sustainable financially and ultimately ecologically and to make a living for those involved in it – but economic activity can be sustained by ventures which seek to minimise waste, to recycle, to improve efficiencies and to introduce new sustainable technologies.

Enterprise, and jobs in it, can be about creating value both for the initiators and for wider society – and that value doesn’t have to be just money and creating it doesn’t have to be personally, ecologically or morally damaging.

We can’t force change-making, but we can encourage it, legitimise it, extol it, support it and acknowledge the social value of it. An example of a programme which seeks to do that is Young Enterprise.

It explains, enthuses and provides example and guidance; and it gives young people the experience of doing something for themselves – of being change-makers not change-takers.

Much of our education process is about getting qualifications – and qualifications are essentially a job-taking tool. There is nothing wrong with being prepared to take advantage of job opportunities but we do need people who are going to make those opportunities and Young Enterprise is an initiative which helps students to engage in the making process themselves and to learn what is involved in getting a working enterprise off the ground.

Lauding entrepreneurship We should laud the people with ideas and the initiative to realise them – instead of assuming that no one here has anything worth contributing.

We should try to grow local drive and ability instead of attempting to transport apparent success from elsewhere. We should seek out local initiatives for local conditions instead of hoping to transplant foreign ventures which are the product of different situations.

We should celebrate, encourage and support those who can make change – but doing that itself requires a change-making mentality.

If balancing the economy involves more people working in the private or third sectors and fewer in the public sector – how many of those public sector people have a job-making approach?

For instance are the economic development people who we employ in public sector organisations such as DETI and Invest NI, thinking about job-making and the possibility of moving into the private or third sectors to create their own ventures?

Or are they just waiting for a reduction in corporation tax in the expectation that it will result in the import of lots of new businesses which will offer attractive and better paid jobs to entice them and others out of the relative comfort of their public sector employment?

Expecting that, by means such as lower taxes, we can bribe other businesses to establish here, or existing businesses here to grow more, appears to be both the opposite of trying to do something for ourselves – and a fallacy.

False assumptions Do we assume that some people will want to start businesses here which will create jobs, but don’t do it because the likely financial returns are not high enough?

Even to encourage more start-ups we have offered financial support and advice to enable or at least help them to do it, on the assumption that that is what is holding them back.

An FDI and business growth policy might lead to the creation of more jobs but how will it stimulate more entrepreneurship?

Do we assume that some people will want to start businesses here which will create jobs, but don’t do it because the likely financial returns are not high enough?

For that we need to encourage more change-making by inculcating a changemaking attitude. Northern Ireland’s policy seems instead to be based on a preference for change-taking – and that is not the route to a satisfactory sustainable future.

www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

69

IOD NORTHERN IRELAND ANNUAL DINNER

Northern Ireland can reap the benefits of devolved corporation tax - but we must act quickly

Marie-Thérèse McGivern, director and chief executive of Belfast Metropolitan College receives the IoD Lunn’s Award of Excellence from Suzanne Lunn, marketing director, Lunn’s the Jewellers; Paul Terrington, chairman IoD Northern Ireland; Ian Sheppard, Bank of Ireland and Alan Taylor, Arthur Cox.

he chairman of the Institute of Directors (NI), Paul Terrington, has told guests at this year’s IoD Annual Dinner that the financial benefits of devolved corporation tax to the local economy far outweigh the costs.

Mr Terrington said: “We believe the case is strong for the economic benefits of lowering the rate of Corporation Tax and at the same time, I believe it will bring some less tangible but potentially equally important benefits.

“The more accountability we take on to ourselves, the more we will really put the economy at the heart of government programmes.

“Devolving corporation tax setting powers is the start, not the end, of a process where we can be much more ambitious in terms of what is possible.”

The chairman also signalled his support for the forthcoming Carnegie Institute report.

He said: “The Carnegie Institute’s

T

70 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

Roundtable on Well Being in Northern Ireland sets out a series of strategic outcomes and key performance indicators for government departments.

“It offers some interesting food for thought and is aimed at promoting a wider debate.

“IoD welcomes the proposals and some of the thinking around the role of government in delivering outcomes, rather than inputs.”

The IoD Annual Dinner is the highlight in the local business calendar. Sponsored by Bank of Ireland and Arthur Cox solicitors, the evening also honoured Northern Ireland’s leading local director.

Chief Executive and principal of Belfast Met Marie-Thérèse McGivern was announced as the winner of the 2015 Institute of Directors (IoD) Lunn’s Award of Excellence.

Marie-Thérèse was nominated for the Award as one of the category winners of the IoD NI First Trust Bank Director of the Year

Awards held in November, where she took the title of Public Sector Director of the Year.

She was presented with the Award of Excellence perpetual trophy and a Rolex Daytona wrist watch by Suzanne Lunn, Marketing Director of Lunn’s the Jewellers, Northern Ireland’s leading jeweller. She said: “Marie-Thérèse has positioned Belfast Met at the heart of the business arena by engaging closely with the private sector to deliver a skilled workforce that contributes to the growth of the Northern Ireland economy.”

“Throughout her career she has been driven by a fundamental belief that we all have a duty to hand our cities to our children in a better state than we found them.

COMMENTARY

Facebook and the role of facilities management T

by Ben Collins, RICS Northern Ireland Director

At Facebook’s headquarters, employees are able to tailor the layout, height, and configuration of their own desks, based on personal preference.

Teams can also create whatever workspace layout best supports their project or work.

Ben Collins

here are many things that impact business performance. Cash-flow management, cost-control, marketing, and peopledevelopment are some that come to mind.

But there is also an increasing focusing on the environment in which people work as an important factor in determining their level of performance.

A report by the World Green Building Council, Health, Wellbeing and Productivity in Offices: The Next Chapter for Green Building, presents evidence that office design significantly impacts the health, wellbeing and productivity of staff.

The report says that a range of factors, including air quality, lighting, views of nature and interior layout, can affect the health, satisfaction and job performance of office workers.

A recent Harvard Business Review article on this subject is also interesting. It points out that knowledge workers whose companies allow them to help decide when, where, and how they work were more likely to be satisfied with their jobs, performed better, and viewed their company as more innovative than competitors that didn’t offer such choices.

Facebook is cited as an example. At the social networking company’s headquarters, employees are able to tailor the layout, height, and configuration of their own desks, based on personal preference.

Teams can also create whatever workspace layout best supports their project or work. They can move desks into a circular break-out space or into a long row of desks, for example.

There are meeting spaces across the campus available to all workers. And Facebook offers a range of options to employees for managing their personal lives and time, ranging from the transactional (banks and cleaners) to the social (e.g. restaurants).

Not every company can offer choice to employees on the same scale as Facebook. But the Harvard article says that all organisations should carefully consider what they can do to give their employees the spaces and tools to enhance and support their workday tasks, as well as corporate goals.

Overall, facilities management has been one of the more overlooked areas of the property sector over the years. But it has also become one of the most important for many businesses, and an area that Northern Ireland companies should ensure is playing a strategic role in their organisation.

A discipline that can have a big direct influence on the bottom line, it impacts on reputation, corporate social responsibility,

employee wellbeing, and work-life balance. It also cuts across areas like fair-trading, environmental reporting and data protection.

In short, facilities management is a critical, strategic business discipline, particularly when organisations increasingly occupy complex buildings and use sophisticated technology for communications and control.

Buildings represent one of the largest corporate assets for an organisation and the alignment of facilities management and business strategies holds the key to improving performance through reducing costs and improving productivity.

When the BBC relocated critical services from London to Media City in Salford, facilities management played a critical role, and was credited with fostering creativity in the organisation.

Areas where competitive advantage can be gained from facilities management, but are often placed in the ‘too-difficult-to-quantify’ box, include better quality and variety of work spaces, leading to greater work satisfaction; improved air quality and indoor environment, leading to improved productivity; and workplaces that people like, helping attract and retain talent.

The benefits from external applications of good facilities management, through maintenance or better buildings, include maintaining market image and retaining real estate asset value. Facilities management can also lead to benefits for health and wellness, leading to reduced sickness and absenteeism, also helping an organisation to be a good corporate citizen.

FM professionals are found in all sectors of industry, commerce and services, and may be employed by consultants, facilities management providers, client departments, the public sector, and beyond.

RICS believes that Facilities Management is key to corporate competitiveness and needs to be an essential part of, and closely aligned to corporate strategy.

RICS has some 4,000 members in Northern Ireland, employed in the land, property and construction markets and in associated environmental issues. Its members are employed across private practice, regional and local government, public agencies, academic institutions, business organisations and non­governmental organisations. RICS has a Royal Charter which requires it to act in the public interest.

www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

71

ON THE MOVE

Business First celebrates your success [1] Dr Joanne Stuart OBE has been appointed to the role of Director of Development at the Northern Ireland Science Park. Joanne has over 25 years’ experience working in the IT industry including nine years with the Oracle Corporation where she held various senior management roles in sales and operations. Joanne will be responsible for the development of all strategic relationships that will have an impact on the growth of the Science Park.

[2] Elaine Smyth has been has been appointed to the role of Head of Programmes at NISP CONNECT at the Northern Ireland Science Park. Elaine has over 18 years’ experience in the science and technology industries, including her role as chief operating officer of Aepona Ltd for ten years.

Elaine will oversee NISP CONNECT’s programmes including Springboard, Generation Innovation and flagship innovation competition, INVENT. [3] Symon Ross has been appointed head of Corporate PR at MCE Public Relations. He was previously a business journalist for almost 15 years, working for daily newspapers, newswires, magazines and broadcast media in Belfast, London and New Zealand. Prior to joining MCE he worked for BBC NI, Ulster Business magazine, The Belfast Telegraph and Dow Jones Newswires.

[4] Gareth Morrison has been appointed as managing director of The Lava Group. Gareth’s career has demonstrated rapid progression, spanning over 15 years, with the previous three years at the Lava Group as technology manager. The Lava Group is a market leader in biometric technology solutions and Gareth will be using his experience in the industry to target new export markets and the connected health sector. Gareth graduated from Dundee University with an Honours Degree in Accountancy.

[5] Robert Ditty has been appointed senior director, Agency/Capital Markets at CBRE Robert specialises in strategic property investment advice to include sales and acquisitions, office development, site identification and assembly and tenant negotiations. He had previously worked with commercial property firm Osborne King since 1993.

[6] Colin Mathewson has been appointed Senior Director, Retail with CBRE . Colin previously worked with commercial property firm Osborne King for the last 26 years. Prior

72 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

to that, he worked with the Burton Group in London. He has been involved in the development and leasing of most of the major shopping centres in Northern Ireland.

[7] First Trust Bank has appointed Kieran Mailey to the role of specialist agri-advisor.

This brings the number of dedicated AgriFood consultants at the Bank to 16. Kieran will play an integral role in First Trust Bank’s Agri-Food Team, providing on-farm support and expert knowledge across different farming systems to bank customers. He will also be part of the overall AIB agri-team of advisers and will be able to readily access and share knowledge and experience of the industry from across the island of Ireland.

[8] Gillian Skelton has been appointed to the role of consultant with DMS Ireland to design and deliver Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development (CIPD) Qualifications and programmes. Gillian joins the DMS team with an extensive background in the Human Resource field with some of

the UK’s leading retailers and more recently in consultancy positions delivering recruitment and outplacement solutions.

[9] Andrew Coggins has been appointed director, Capital Markets with CBRE. Andrew specialises in property acquisitions, disposals, funding and investment strategies for a varied client base including high net worth individuals, property companies, funds and institutions both in Northern Ireland and mainland UK. Andrew worked with commercial property firm Osborne King for 13 years. Recent deals he has worked on include the Marks & Spencer forward commitment in Aberystwyth, Wales, the purchase of a B&Q store in Craigavon and the sale of a mixed use development in Barking, London.

BEST PRACTICE

Why you should write a will T

here is a fairly common assumption that if you don’t own very much there’s little point in making a will. The assumption further argues that making a will is expensive and time consuming, so it’s better to save your money and your time and just get on with living.

That may be the easy way out - for you.

However, when you die without a will the law will decide who gets what. The result may be considered unfair by family members who may resent the fact that you didn’t think enough of them to properly specify who the beneficiaries of your estate should be.

Around two thirds of those who die in Britain have no will. In these cases the Law of Intestacy (1925) comes into play. If you are unmarried and if you have no close relatives, then the Crown can claim your estate. In other words, no one will receive any of your possessions other than the government.

If you write a will you are effectively tidying up your affairs and showing clear consideration for those you will leave behind.

Circumstances change of course, so it can be a

good idea to review your will every five years or so and make any amendments or adjustments you deem necessary.

Having a will in place makes the pain of death much easier for those you leave behind.

Dealing with intestacy, the situation where there is no will, is a difficult and lengthy process. It can be stressful and very upsetting as well. It is in fact all the things you would rather avoid at a time that is already fraught with stress and difficulty.

There can be sensible financial considerations for writing a will. Inheritance Tax can be a burden, especially where a substantial sum is inherited.

A Nil Rate Band Discretionary Trust stipulated in a will to be set up for your surviving spouse or children can minimise the amount of Interitence Tax payable and thereby maximise the benefits to your family.

One good reason why you should write a will is so you can make your own funeral arrangements and see to the costs. If you specify that part of your estate will pay for the funeral, and money is set aside for this, then

your family will not have to pay the large bill that usually accompanies a funeral.

You can also state where the funeral should be held, which hymns or readings should be used, and whether you wish to be buried or cremated. This can mean a considerable saving in time and money for the grieving family.

Writing a will and registering it is the best way to make sure that there is no last minute scrambling around by relatives searching for a will, wasting time and money in the process.

Writing a will also ensures that those who may need your money after you have gone, and who have the right of inheritance to it, will have access to it as soon as possible, thereby avoiding possible hardship. Writing a will simply makes sure that everything in your estate is tied up in the best way possible for the greatest number of people concerned.

Source: www.writeawill.org.uk

www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

73

ARTS & BUSINESS AWARDS

2015 Allianz Arts & Business NI Awards - creative Collaborations O

ver 250 guests recently attended the Allianz Arts & Business NI Awards 2015 at Theatre at the Mill, Newtownabbey and were entertained by a fantastic selection of home grown cultural talent.

The Awards showcase examples of innovative creative collaborations between the business community and the arts sector, delivering a diverse range of tangible business benefits. The winning partnerships represented a varied section of the business community and arts sectors.

The audience enjoyed electric performances by Hard Rain SoloistEnsemble, Belfast Philharmonic Children’s Choir (affectionately known as "The Phil Kids"), Bruiser Theatre Company and a breath taking performance by First Soloist with The Royal Ballet, Melissa Hamilton, born in Dromore, County Down.

Presenting the Allianz Arts & Business NI Awards Brendan Murphy, CEO, Allianz, congratulated the partnerships and all the winners saying: "The innovative partnerships between arts and business celebrated here tonight showcase the cultural, community and business dividends that are delivered with every engagement. Congratulations to all this year’s winners and to all those partner projects who showcase precisely just how successful arts and business ventures can be."

Business of the Year was picked up by AES Northern Ireland, a mere dabbler in the arts just three years ago and now a true champion of the arts scooping two awards by also picking up the Employee Engagement Award.

AES Northern Ireland engaged with local arts organisations, Cinemagic and Belfast Exposed using the arts to deliver on multiple business objectives including corporate social responsibility, branding and employee engagement.

AES Northern Ireland joined forces with leading law firm Arthur Cox to break the mould of training videos. Teaming up with

74 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

Winner of Allianz Arts & Business NI Business of the Year Award was AES Northern Ireland. From left: Brendan Murphy, CEO, Allianz; Dr Joanne Stuart, OBE, chair, Arts & Business NI; Davy Elliott, Carla Tully, AES Northern Ireland and Mary Trainor-Nagele, chief executive, Arts & Business NI

Cinemagic and Stephen Beggs, they created a video that would illustrate both health and safety issues in a large company as well as providing an insight into court proceedings for young lawyers. The concept of a staged mock trial featuring a fictitious commercial company accused under the Corporate Manslaughter Act, dramatically brought home the ethics of the issued concerned.

AES Northern Ireland also linked with Cinemagic to create promotional and valuesday videos for the company with filming taking place at local power stations talking to staff about what the AES values meant to them. The feedback was tremendous and

shared globally within the AES network.

AES Northern Ireland also got on board with Belfast Exposed with a photography project which aimed to encourage young people to think about their energy in their environment, and their role in protecting both. The project was undertaken by 120 Primary 7 pupils and harnessed Key Stage 2 subject areas of creativity, environmental awareness and science – using the medium of photography. Their photos were amalgamated so that all the students involved had their work showcased at a major twoweek exhibition in Stormont and was launched by Sammy Wilson MP, who showed the children around Parliament Buildings.

Recognising the success of all the partnerships, Mary Trainor-Nagele, chief executive, Arts & Business Northern Ireland commented: “These awards show that when the arts are strong, business wants to be aligned with that excellence.

“As more and more businesses subscribe to the power of the arts, the cultural sector undoubtedly has a very credible offering for business at this time. Businesses understand that a vibrant, cultural sector is right for their employees, their customers and ultimately their businesses.”

BUSINESS IN THE COMMUNITY

Make March your month to volunteer

by Hilary Hanberry, Business in the Community pring has sprung, the grass is green. I wonder where all the volunteers have been? The answer is ‘right here all along’.

Volunteering is a regular thing for some and a one off for others, but everyone who puts their hand up to volunteer does it because they are driven by a passion for a cause, event or good idea.

At Business in the Community we campaign to encourage businesses large and small from across Northern Ireland to empower their employees to volunteer. And our member companies love it!

They get involved in all sorts of volunteering initiatives – from enabling colleagues to sit on the board of community or voluntary organisations to garnering teams to get stuck in to complete a practical challenge for a local group.

Volunteering is increasingly on the boardroom agenda for responsible businesses.

Interestingly, Andy Haldane, the chief economist of the Bank of England believes volunteering has a much larger impact on society than most people think.

He reported that, in Britain, formal volunteers do the equivalent amount of work as 1.25 million employed people (this is almost the same size at the NHS, employing 1.4 million).

Each year, nearly one billion people are engaged in some sort of volunteering worldwide. The Office for National Statistics

S

The Big Business Bake Off in aid of Comic Relief – 13 March

estimated that frequent, formal volunteering produces about £24 billion of economic output for Britain - equivalent to 1.5 per cent of GDP. Infrequent volunteering may boost that figure to close to £50 million.

Volunteers do not receive payment but this does not mean they are worthless, in fact, quite the opposite – they are priceless. And they experience massive benefits themselves by giving back and going out of their way to do something for nothing.

One major benefit is increased health and wellbeing. It’s been estimated that, on average, people would need to be compensated with about £2,400 per year to miss the opportunity to volunteer. Equating that to the 15 million regular volunteers across the UK means the private financial benefit is £36 billion per annum.

Can you be just one more company volunteering? Could you complete just one more volunteering challenge? Perhaps you can be just one more person who sits on a board? Or can you give just one more hour?

If you’re a seasoned volunteer or if you’d like a taster to get you started, find out more about volunteering by visiting www.bitcni.org.uk. Alternatively, please email hilary.hanberry@bitcni.org.uk or call (028) 9046 0606.

With so many different interests, how can employers help their people to volunteer?

Hilary Hanberry

It’s always a challenge. Some people love the outdoor practical style of volunteering, for others it’s their worst nightmare.

So, at Business in the Community we’ve listened to our members and developed a ‘pick and mix’ range of volunteering opportunities.

We’re looking for individuals and companies to get involved with our #justONEmore campaign.

Bring a book to work - 2 - 6 March 2015

www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

75

MOTORING

Top of the C-lass

by Ian Beasant, BUSINESSFIRSTMAGAZINE motoring correspondent

ercedes is hoping that the new C– Class – which is certainly a head turner – will also be a game changer. I spent a week with the new C220 BlueTec Sport Estate.

Mercedes has taken bold steps with the design of its most recent models, and the CClass Estate certainly cuts a dash compared to its rivals. As you would expect, it mostly shares the saloon’s looks, so you get a large rounded grille with an oversized threepointed star, while swooping headlights add yet more drama to the front end. Sport models and above get full LED headlamps with distinctive daytime running lights.

Further back, the sculpted wings and doors add drama to the look, while the extended roof line of the estate blends into a small bootlid spoiler and a rounded tailgate. The Estate also gets roof rails, which are finished in chrome on Sport models and higher, while the tail-lights wrap around the rear wings and bootlid. That tailgate is power-operated on all models.

Climb inside and the C-Class Estate is identical to the saloon, so you get the same high-quality look and finish as you’ll find in the S-Class limousine. Again, all models have a tablet-style colour centre console display and, while it looks a bit like an after-market addition, it’s easy to navigate, courtesy of the standard command control wheel. while the mix of gloss black plastics and metal switches adds an air of solidity. The leather interior is man-made, but you’d be hard pressed to tell it from the real thing.

The C220 BlueTEC is powered by a 2.1-litre diesel engine, providing plenty of in-gear

M

76 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

performance. Combined with a seven-speed automatic, and in typical Mercedes fashion it smoothes out shifts for a really relaxing drive.

Officially, the C220 takes 7.6 seconds. The engine is smooth but still a bit noisy, easily overcome with the excellent sound system I just turned it up a notch and the interior is a really nice place to be.

My test car was fitted with the option of the AirMatic Agility package at a cost of £895.00.

This gives you options to adjust the suspension and overall handling of the car from Economy to Sport+ - a well worth investment.

I kept the car in sport mode and it was

outstanding. The steering was sharp and the suspension just about right for our roads. For an estate car the C class in this mode offered a sporty drive with plenty of feedback and you need only switch to comfort mode for motorway driving.

There is plenty of room inside the car and if you need to carry a large load, dropping the rear seats is very easy and leaves you with an almost flat carrying space.

The C-Class adds up well on all fronts, it’s stylish, it’s practical, it’s great to drive and its economical 50mpg is easily attained, add that three-pointed star in the middle of the grill and that says it all: quality.

MOTORING

Peugeot Crossover 2008

by Ian Beasant, BUSINESSFIRSTMAGAZINE motoring correspondent

Crossover vehicle is a sports utility vehicle built on the chassis of a car for example the Peugeot 2008 has all the underpinnings of the Peugeot 208.

As a compact crossover, it blends the success and design of the award-winning 3008 with all the features, performance and state-of-the-art engines of the new 208 supermini.

With a characterful on-the-road presence, the 2008 is intended for young city-dwellers who love the urban environment but also enjoy escaping from it at every opportunity.

In keeping with the dynamism of its profiled silhouette, power comes from the latest generation of low fuel consumption Peugeot engines.

The 2008 I test drove was fitted with a 1.6 HDi 115 bhp engine which dives the front wheels through a manual six-speed gearbox and very sophisticated differential. It is capable of 117mph and will still offer nearly 60milesper gallon.

When you get behind the small sporty steering wheel and out on the road the Peugeot 2008 does feel like a car even though the driving position is a bit higher – it eats miles on B roads and never seems to be unsettled.

For a tall car or Crossover there is very little body roll and it steers neatly, all round visibility is good, yes, it does drive like a car.

The 2008 puts a new twist on the existing Peugeot family face, as seen on the 208. The floating grille is cut from a solid block and set upright to create a powerful and dominant design cue.

A

The sculpted headlamps with LED daytime running lights blend seamlessly into the nose.

From the side, the car presents a dynamic yet elegant profile enhanced by the roof bars which hint at the car’s practicality and versatility.

At the rear, the wide tailgate and low loading lip – just 60cm off the ground – mean exceptional ease of use. It is handy.

The interior of the Peugeot 2008 provides the driver and passengers with a spacious and flexible cabin, with a cockpit-style instrument panel and aircraft-type handbrake which is really a round and thick pad on top of the lever.

A smart satin chrome finish to the air vents,

handbrake lever, steering wheel, gear lever and touch-screen trims all add to the level of luxury and create a genuinely premium feel.

The 2008 is definitely a Handy car and certainly a smart looking car offering great economy and it is also fun to drive.

The Trick Differential is a great idea as it offers equal power to each front wheel which helps if you get caught on a slippy surface –it may not be as good as four wheel drive but it certainly works well and is easy to use with just by turning a circular button between the front seats you can set the 2008 for driving on the sand, the ice, the snow, mud and on the road – simple and effective.

www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

77

MOTORING

All new

CORSA

he Vauxhall Corsa is a staple of the supermini sector, and has been popular with buyers all over the UK and particularly in Northern Ireland where it has always been in the top three best sellers ever since it was launched in 2006.

It’s offered in three and five-door guises, while the sheer variety of engines and trim

T

levels on offer mean there should be a Corsa to suit your needs.

Sitting near the top of the range is SRI Trim.

This is a sporty variant which comes with sports suspension, 17-inch alloys and a sporty bodykit.

I tested the Corsa Sri which has a 100bhp 1.0 turbocharged petrol engine and drives

through a brand new lightweight six-speed gearbox. I chose the five-door version which looks a little squarer than its three-door stablemate. I wanted to see how practical it was and was not disappointed. Practicality is one of the Vauxhall Corsa's trump cards, and it's one of the most spacious cars in the supermini class. Plenty of room for passengers plus their bits and pieces.

The interior is a lot better quality than previous models and while the layout of the instruments will be very familiar to Corsa lovers, the addition of a Dab radio and a touch panel controls do enhance the Corsa ‘s interior .

The engine and gearbox work well together showing no signs of Turbo –lag, and a generous amount of mid-range torque.

Economy is on the button as well with Vauxhall claiming a sweet 74.4mpg on the combined cycle and emissions of 104g/km.

That’s because the 1.0TSRi comes with stopstart as standard.

On the road the Corsa is a lot better than the model it replaces and the driving position has been completely rethought giving you excellent visibility all round. The steering could be a bit sharper and the suspension is not hard enough to be described as sporty and sharp, but it is comfortable and quiet and a really good fit for our roads.

The New Corsa is sure to be a winner in sales for Vauxhall and with that 100,000 mile warranty and prices starting at just below £9,000 it will be hard to pass by.

Nissan welcomes the Pulsar.

A fter eight years since Nissan took the bold decision to let go of their medium sized hatchback to concentrate on the crossover market with the Qashqai and The Juke, they are now back with the all new Pulsar.

The Pulasr is a smart looking car. Nissan offer the Pulsar in both diesel and petrol forms and I drove the 1.2 litre turbocharged 114bhp petrol engine version.

The engine itself is a real surprise for a car of this size as it offered plenty of power and is quiet and extremely refined. The six – speed manual gearbox that drives the front wheels is a slick changing version and works well with the powertrain. Not only is the Pulsar nippy – a sprint to 60 mph is covered in just about ten seconds and it is capable of hitting 118mph top speed – it also offers an average of 56 miles to the gallon.

On the road the Pulsar offers a comfortable ride and with light steering is very easy to drive and also to park as with its elevated driving position visibility is good all round.

The Pulsar is a bit like a Tardis as there is an abundance of room for passengers thanks to the extra-long wheel base for this size of

78 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

car compared to its rivals. The interior is well laid out, although I was not keen on some of the hard plastics. Ergonomically the Pulsar really does score well for interior comfort and space and overall feels very well built and well screwed together.

The model I drove had every extra you could ever want but the stand out one for me was the XENON headlights which are just brilliant. The Pulsar does fill that gap in the Nissan portfolio and I am sure it will be a hit.

It is very practical and smart but what it does not do is excite you when you are driving.

This may not be a bad thing as it does everything well but when you are trying to stand out against competitors like the Ford Focus and The VW Golf I feel that the Pulsar is just that bit behind. Then again it’s better for carrying passengers and as they say each to their own. Prices star on The Pulsar at just under £16,000 the car tested with all the extras was just over £20,000.

HO

The Final Word What’s next for digital democracy?

by Chris Brown, MCE Public Relations

General Election 2015

ast month the speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, launched a report exploring how the use of digital technology could improve parliamentary democracy in the UK. The consultation took in the views of a wide range of people, including people from the tech industry, young people, voluntary organisations, adults with learning difficulties, academics, people with visual and hearing impediments, civil servants, marketing and public relations experts. We even had a session in Northern Ireland.

Running to nearly 100 pages the report makes a long list of recommendations that it is hoped will see the light of day at some point over the next parliamentary term.

Others are loftier, but good to have a few stretch targets to ignite the imagination.

The Commission has outlined four main key recommendations which are designed to act as a route map for the House of Commons to meet: By 2020, the House of Commons should ensure that everyone can understand what it does.

By 2020, Parliament should be fully interactive and digital. The 2015 newly elected House of Commons should create immediately a new forum for public participation in the debating function of the House of Commons.

By 2020, secure online voting should be an option for all voters.

L

80 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk

By 2016, all published information and broadcast footage produced by Parliament should be freely available online in formats suitable for re-use. Hansard should be available as open data by the end of 2015.

There is a general need to address the issues that we currently face in this area. Many feel frustrated by the inability to vote digitally, truly understand politics and Parliament, and how it relates to our daily lives. The impending General Election will only serve to highlight the lack of work to date.

We have the potential to lead the way in this region in terms of digitising our democracy.

Although our Assembly isn’t functioning the way many would like to see it operate, our size and circumstance could see Northern Ireland as an appropriate test bed for many of the Bercow recommendations. Why should we hang about and wait for the trickle down from London or be forced into making changes?

There is lots of work going on up at the Assembly in terms of open data, but we also need to look at other things such as being able to register to vote online which you still can’t do here. There is still a percentage of our MLAs who haven’t created social media profiles, and a greater number who don’t communicate well on the various platforms they have signed up to. Hopefully we can get the act together sooner rather than later.

By the time you read this the local parties will be churning out their policy positions, manifestos and reaching for the hearts and minds of the electorate in the run-up to the May 7 poll.

In terms of the election, it looks like the Northern Ireland MPs might have a bigger say in the overall outcome if a hung parliament presents itself.

If the DUP win eight or possibly nine seats in May and it is as tight as some pundits predict, then the role of Northern Ireland parties could be crucial.

The DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds said in the event of a hung parliament his party would do "what is right for Northern Ireland".

The DUP has said that it will not go into formal coalition with another party at Westminster and their voting record indicates that they have supported both the Labour and Conservative party in crucial votes in the Commons in the past.

The Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency has a particular wider focus and will be worth watching. Currently held by Michelle Gildernew MP it is the constituency with the smallest majority in the entire UK with just four votes in it.

In Upper Bann, Jo-Anne Dobson the Ulster Unionist candidate could split the unionist vote further jeopardising the return of the current MP for the area David Simpson. Could the Sinn Fein candidate Catherine Seeley steal the limelight if she builds on the party’s very close third place in 2010?

South Belfast will also provide a bit of entertainment with junior minister Jonathan Bell throwing his hat into the ring as a prospective candidate recently.

He joins former Belfast Lord Mayor Mairtin O’Muilleoir as a candidate competing for the seat currently held by SDLP leader Alasdair McDonnell.

Connect with Chris Twitter: @CB_PRandPA Email: chrisbrown@mcepublicrelations.com

Northern Ireland PA & Office Manager of the Year Awards 2015 Nominate your PA& Office Manager today Follow the link from www.businessfirstonline.co.uk and say thank you! sponsored by

in association with

Nominations close April 15 2015.

Award Lunch at Cultra Manor, Ulster Folk & Transport Museum, Wednesday 3 June 2015