Business Eye August 2020 by Buckley Publications

Issue 199 August 2020 £2.50 Voted best Business Magazine in Ireland 2005 and Magazine of the Year for Northern Ireland

Henderson Retail A Giant Response To The Covid Crisis

Features:

Sinead Carville - Managing Growth At FinTrU

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The 2020 Danske Bank Business Eye Profit 200

SME Forum - Helping Hand Through Tough Times

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Contents 6

Deloitte – Navigating Through The Challenges

Deloitte’s audit team in Belfast has been adjusting to the new normal by using a blend of agility, experience and innovation to ensure they continue to offer a quality service to their clients.

The Rabbit – A New Jewel In The Galgorm Crown

It takes a special kind of bravery to open a new restaurant just as the country climbs out of lockdown. But the management team at Galgorm Collection has successfully launched The Rabbit in Templepatrick, first as a bar/restaurant with hotel rooms following in November.

Henderson Retail – A Giant Response To The Covid Crisis

Mark McCammond, Henderson Retail’s Trading Director, has worked just about every day, Saturdays and Sundays included, since the Covid-19 crisis struck back in March. But, he is not alone, the entire Henderson Group have rallied together to support one another as ‘front line workers’ and in doing so feed the nation.

Sinead Carville – FinTrU’s 60 To 600 In Four Year

The fact that FinTrU recruited another 150 people during the Covid-19 crisis says a lot about the fast-growing tech firm. We catch up with Chief HR Officer Sinead Carville who’s seen numbers grow from 60 to 600 in her four years with the firm.

Danske Bank Business 47 Eye Profit 200 The 2020 edition of Northern Ireland’s best business listing, the region’s top 200 businesses ranked by the only measure that really matters, and that’s profit. It might be a pre-Covid shapshot of how the private sector here is performing, but that doesn’t make it any less relevant. Or fascinating, for that matter.

August 2020 ISSUE 199

CBRE’s Brian Lavery – Optimism In The Face Of Adversity

The commercial property sector is squaring up to enormous change in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The office requirement of many businesses will change, retail is facing a very different market and hospitality has its own unique challenges. But CBRE’s Brian Lavery remains optimistic. Buckley Publications 20 Kings Road Belfast, BT5 6JJ Tel: (028) 9047 4490 Fax: (028) 9047 4495 www.businesseye.co.uk

SME Forum – A Helping Hand Through Tough Times

Northern Ireland’s very own SME Support Forum was set up by accountants Harbinson Mulholland, solicitors McKees and financial advisers Kerr Henderson at the start of the Covid crisis. It’s been invaluable to some small businesses here, say the three founders, and it’s set to continue.

In Technology Masters 70 –Business A Case Study In Co-Working Ulster University Business School’s new MSc Business In Technology programme has been developed alongside industry. Richard Buckley talks to Professor Gillian Armstrong, Director of Business Engagement at UUBS, Management and Leadership Development Lecturer Helen McKenna and Claire McNally, Head of Capability & Development at PwC Operate.

DWF – Global Legal Business With A Northern Ireland Pedigree

Formed as C&H Jefferson was back in the late 1800’s, DWF Belfast now forms part of a global legal business which ranks as the UK’s largest listed business of its kind. We catch up with Executive Partner Ken Rutherford to talk about Covid and the firm’s place as a trused legal adviser to businesses here.

NIAVAC – Pioneering A 82 New Way Of Working When the Covid-19 crisis struck, Northern Ireland’s active events industry was left staring into the abyss. For one of the leading suppliers of audio-visual solutions, the answer lay in innovation. NIAVAC has come up with a range of hybrid event and presentation solutions for its many local clients.

A Unique Double For 92 Chartered Accountants Maeve Hunt and Paul Henry will always have a unique place in the history of Chartered Accountants Ireland, the professional organisation that represents 28,500 members across the island and worldwide. Over the lockdown period, Paul was elected as the new President of the allisland organisation whilst Maeve took over the chair’s chain of office at the Ulster branch. Both had to accept their new positions online.

Editor Richard Buckley Commercial Director Brenda Buckley

Design Hexagon Tel: (028) 9047 2210 www.hexagondesign.com

Photography Press Eye 45 Stockmans Way Belfast, BT9 7ET Tel: (028) 9066 9229 www.presseye.com

We’ve come a long way since the last edition of Business Eye was published in the later part of June. Back then, retail had Richard Buckley swung back into action but our hotels and EDITOR restaurants (and some pubs) were just Irish Magazine Editor of the Year 2005 preparing to re-open their doors.

Comment

“We all need to be aware that the virus is still a threat. We all need to take the necessary precautions. But many, many livelihoods and many, many families out there depend on the jobs generated by Northern Ireland businesses.”

ince then, a sense of normality has returned. But we’re still warned, pretty much on a daily basis, that we’re not yet out of the woods. At the time of writing, our schools have started the job of returning to action. The media might like to suggest otherwise, but that’s something that it being welcomed by the vast majority of parents and teachers alike. Our kids need school, our kids need friends, our kids need education and even the most pedantic of scientists admits that their risks are low. Businesses are also returning, gradually, to a more normal for of working. Largerscale offices are slow to open up, in the most part because employers are concerned about the risk – even if it is a small one – of bringing staff back into shared spaces. But the view, based on our own conversations with leading businesses, seems to be that the return to office working will accelerate during the autumn months. There’s no doubt that home working, or an element of home working, is here to stay. This autumn might well be marked by the development of what some call ‘hybrid working’ – some from the office, some from home. The simple fact is that people need people, offices need people and people – to some extent – need offices. And, as Belfast Chamber of Trade and others point out all too often, our city centre needs offices and the people that they are home to. The flip side of all of this, the return of our schools and the slow return of offices, is the fact that coronavirus is still with us. There are cases, in fact we’ve seen a rise in cases over recent times, but it’s clear that those cases are resulting in far fewer hospital admissions and almost no deaths. It’s against that background that we are going to have to co-exist with the virus for the

foreseeable future. That’s going to be challenging when normal autumn and winter colds and flus start to appear, and it’s going to be challenging when – inevitably – outbreaks crop up. But we have to move on. We have to continue to re-establish our economy. We have to get back to a relatively normal way of working, whether it’s a new normal, the old normal or something in between. The Government at Westminster level has done an excellent job through its various support measures, not least the furlough scheme. But it’s right that the furlough scheme is coming to an end. Politicians who seem to be calling for its indefinite extension are missing a very important point. The phasing out of furlough will mean job losses. One business adviser who spoke to Business Eye recently told us that he’s been hearing of potential redundancies from job about every employer he had been talking to in recent weeks. That’s a scary proposition. We are going to have to live with the virus and we’re going to have to manage the risk. The NI Executive has a key role to play in the background. It’s messaging around coronavirus tends to be mixed. One one hand, Diane Dodds might be pushing the private sector to get back to its city centre offices and making the same calls to busnesses. One the other, her Executive colleague Robin Swann continues to employ the fear factor, as he has done throughout this crisis. We all need to be aware that the virus is still a threat. We all need to take the necessary precautions. But many, many livelihoods and many, many families out there depend on the jobs generated by Northern Ireland businesses. Talk of second lockdowns must stop. Businesses must be given the chance to continue their recovery.

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Eye on Media

Former UTV MD Hits The Bestseller Charts A new book on the future of the BBC edited by former UTV Managing Director Michael Wilson has gone to the top of one of Amazon’s new release charts.

he book The Generation Game, edited by Wilson alongside Neil Fowler, looks at how all media – and the BBC in particular – can win the Netflix and Spotify generation back to so-called traditional media. Top media names and children’s presenters from across the year contribute articles including academics from University of Ulster and “vox-pops” with young people from across the region. The book has been at Number 1 in the Amazon new release chart for specialist books.

“New technology is sucking away eyeballs and the young audience is finding new forms of electronic entertainment.”

“Young people are not tuning into BBC television and radio. There is panic at the top of the corporation. What will the future hold for the backbone of British broadcasting? How will the licence fee be justified? New technology is sucking away eyeballs and the young audience is finding new forms of electronic entertainment,” says Michael Wilson. “It is the focus of all levels of the corporation, the regulator and the Government.” In the new book has brought together politicians, academics and journalists to provide answers and point the direction that the BBC needs to take to win this audience against the stiffest competition imaginable. With contributions from Mike

Read, Tom Harrington, Victoria McCollum, Ed Vaizey, Peter Weil, Alison Dolan, Kerensa Jennings, Alex DeGroote, Claire Hungate, Paul Robinson, Graeme Thompson, Michael Wilson, Farrukh Dhondy, Colin Mann, Maurice Smith, Tim Hartley, Neil Fowler, Marcus Ryder, Richard Waghorn, Marc Webber and Rebecca Beavington, The Generation Game is a book that will challenge assumptions, stimulate debate and bring a clarity to the role and purpose of the BBC for the future. In addition, there are fascinating and provocative soundbites from Anthea Turner, Baroness Nicky Morgan, Daisy Cooper MP, Keith Brown MSP, Chris Matheson MP, Kirsten O’Brien, Mark Curry, Peter Purves, and Sarah Greene, and the voice of students and

other young people give further insights into the challenges. Michael Wilson began his in radio in radio in Newcastle Upon Tyne. He then joined ITV where he became the youngest ever News Editor, before joining Sky News. In 2006 he was appointed Director of Programmes at UTV and then in 2008 he became Managing Director until 2017. He now runs a broadcast and content consultancy based in Holywood, spending time in Los Angeles, London and Cannes.

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Eye on Audit

Deloitte NI Audit: Navigating you through challenges and opportunities

Pictured from (L-R) Grace Cartin, Senior Manager, Gareth Martin, Director, Dawn Johnston, Director and Jason Starbuck, Director, Deloitte NI.

Deloitte’s audit team in Belfast has been adjusting to the new normal by using a blend of agility, experience and innovation to ensure they continue to offer a quality service to their clients.

ne upside of the disruption that coronavirus has caused for many businesses is a renewed drive to reassess priorities, operate more efficiently, to plan better and to focus on doing the right thing.

Deloitte says it has seen real resilience from businesses determined to emerge fitter and sharper despite the undoubted uncertainty. Ian Kelsall, who recently joined Deloitte in Belfast as

audit partner, notes that the issues which are now a priority for business leaders serve as a reminder that a meaningful audit can be of immense value to any organisation. “A quality audit should provide a high level of independent challenge that helps you improve your business. Many of the companies featured in this issue of Business Eye will have been taking stock of decisions they have taken or

not taken in recent years. If they haven’t had much in the way of commercial insight or challenge from their auditors, the question is, why not?” says Ian. “It has been a difficult time for clients, so we have ensured that we have been responsive and flexible while continuing to provide the robust audits they expect. This has allowed us to bring value and insight as they put in place measures to respond to challenges and opportunities.”

Eye on Audit “Many of the companies featured in this issue of Business Eye will have been taking stock of decisions they have taken or not taken in recent years. If they haven’t had much in the way of commercial insight or challenge from their auditors, the question is, why not?” IAN KELSALL, DELOITTE AUDIT PARTNER.

TECHNOLOGY Deloitte’s audit practice in Belfast serves some of Northern Ireland’s best-known companies across all industry sectors, from family owned businesses to NI’s largest listed companies. For many finance functions, the pandemic has introduced a virtual work pattern where traditionally everyone was physically in the same place, creating both leadership and regulatory challenges. Jason Starbuck, director, says: “Deloitte has been driving the use of technology where it benefits clients, applying solutions such as Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Analytics on engagements to bring added impact for Boards and management teams. Completing audits remotely has been a new challenge for some clients but one we have found solutions to, even for large clients with stringent reporting timelines, such as listed companies. “But technology is not the be all and end all. Our audit team puts a lot of stock in building trusted, sustained client relationships over the long term. We have a very well established senior team, which has been augmented by Ian’s experience, and we are committed to providing long term support to our clients.”

CHALLENGES Covid-19 is far from the only issue clients are dealing with. Gareth Martin, director, says new developments in financial reporting continue to provide a test.

“The knowledge and experience that Deloitte has developed as a team in areas such as climate change reporting, corporate governance, section 172(1) reports and new accounting standards means that we have been able to engage early with our clients and work with them to ensure that all their reporting requirements are met,” he says. “The experience we have as a team through audit, advisory and secondment engagements across a range of sectors such as technology, food and agri, financial services, energy and manufacturing means we have already seen many of the issues that our clients have, allowing us to work with them to quickly identify pragmatic solutions in relation to financial reporting, systems and processes and technical accounting,” he adds. “From a quality perspective the bar set by our regulators continues to rise and as a firm we are continuing to respond to that challenge through the transformation of our audits using data analytics, centres of excellence and innovative tools to continue to provide the quality service and insight our clients expect.”

TALENT Maintaining that quality service means investing in talent and skills. Grace Cartin, senior manager leads the graduate and intern recruitment process for the Belfast audit department. With nine years of experience auditing industries such as financial services, technology, local government entities, distribution and property

management, Grace also has a key employer liaison role with the local universities and spends a lot of time understanding the needs of client companies in order to ensure the brightest and best talent is recruited. “Ultimately audit quality is driven by innovation, so we look for the capability to adapt and learn in those we recruit,” she says. “I spent 18 months on a USA secondment to the Global Audit & Assurance Deployment & Adoption team, where I was responsible for deploying a range of innovative and analytical tools designed to enhance audit quality and add value to our clients. Since returning I have taken a lead role in promoting these tools across the firm.”

DIVERSITY Dawn Johnston, director, notes that the celebration of the centenary of the appointment of the first female chartered accountant in the world coincides with Deloitte’s celebration of 175 years in business. Diversity is much more of a consideration in the way the team recruits and works with clients, while collaboration with other parts of the firm is also a major focus for the future. “Collaboration across and within our teams is critical to Deloitte’s success. I’m

convinced that a diverse team yields better results, more creative solutions, and a clearer understanding of each other’s points of view,” she says. “We have come a long way and during my career with Deloitte I have had the privilege of working with plenty of courageous female leaders who have challenged traditional ways of thinking and working,” adds Dawn. “We can’t afford to be complacent, but I am proud of the blend of diversity and harmony in our audit leadership team in Northern Ireland and the positive impact we make on our colleagues, clients and society. Diversity and Inclusion is an increasingly critical business issue and one of the macro trends that will shape the future world of work and allow us to harness powerful thinking.”

For more information please contact Ian Kelsall at iakelsall@deloitte.ie

Eye on News

Mervyn Stewart Extends Site & Launches New Brand With Danske Backing

Leading car dealership, Mervyn Stewart, has made a £2m investment to expand its operation on Boucher Crescent with the launch of a new Mervyn Stewart Select brand, with support from Danske Bank.

his will lead to the creation of 10 new jobs over the coming months. As Northern Ireland’s largest ŠKODA retailer, Mervyn Stewart has been operating for over 50 years with sites in Belfast and North Down. In March, an opportunity arose to acquire premises formerly used to operate the INFINITI franchise. Mervyn Stewart had already purchased the adjacent property and, during lockdown, the company completed a transformation to turn the space into its first stand-alone Mervyn Stewart Select used car facility. The work involved demolishing an existing building to create

a large open display area and rebranding the original showroom with the new Select name. Stephen Stewart, managing director of Mervyn Stewart, said: “This year every retail sector has faced increased challenges with the uncertainty of the Covid-19 pandemic but we feel confident that we have launched our Mervyn Stewart Select brand at the right time. There has already been a significant bounce back in sales, with strong demand driving a strong performance through June and July. We have noticed that people have had time to consider what they want and they are now in a position to move forward confidently with their purchase.

Pictured (L-R) is Stephen Stewart, managing director of Mervyn Stewart, and Ellen Matthews, business banking manager at Danske Bank.

“Our Select brand will allow us to respond quickly to the changes in the market. We will stock the cars people want to buy, carefully selecting vehicles and preparing them to the highest standards so that our customers will get outstanding value for money. We offer a full range of vehicles from budget choice to premium brands and executive cars. Everything will have been specially chosen by our team to ensure we offer customers what they are looking for at that time.” He added: “We have significantly increased our digital offering, with our sales teams able to offer virtual tours of the vehicles and now our customers can even reserve cars online and complete a contactless purchase. While we did have to pause our project for a number of weeks as a result of the pandemic, our contractors, ME Crowe, were brilliant and worked with us so we

could open our doors in June when the lockdown restrictions were lifted. We have all appropriate social distancing and enhanced cleaning measures in place to keep customers and staff safe.” Ellen Matthews, business banking manager at Danske Bank, said : “We are pleased to have supported Mervyn Stewart with its recent expansion through a Bounce Back Loan. This is a company which has been a key player in the Northern Ireland car market for a long time, and they have managed well through the coronavirus lock down by quickly moving to a virtual platform for car sales. “Mervyn Stewart has proven time again that they are resilient, creative and innovative in how they respond to customer trends. The new Select site offers them additional space and we are confident that the brand will be a welcome new entrant for car buyers this year.”

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Eye on Investment

Companies Coping With Covid-19

It is still too early to quantify the lasting effects the Covid-19 pandemic will have on the global economy, consumer and company behaviours.

Aidan Donnelly, Head of Equities, Davy Private Clients

hat has held this economic contraction apart from others in history, has been the speed and depth of the decline and its global prevalence. This has resulted in the need for company managements to develop a new ‘playbook’ to deal with the implications of the crisis for the short and longer term.

Demand or supply? When we think about the operational implications the crisis has had on businesses, we tend to look at it through the lens of coping with significant or total cessation in the demand for their goods are services. We saw businesses forced to close their doors, shut down manufacturing facilities deemed to be non-essential, or stop work on construction sites. Unsurprisingly, the actions of company managements were straight forward. They right sized the business

Chris English, Head of Wealth Management, Davy UK

by furloughing workers (taking advantage of various governmentbacked programmes where possible), moving staff to work from home, and reducing all non-essential costs. But there was also a large group of companies that faced a problem of a supply side shock as many saw the demand increase. A nice problem to have you would think, but not if you had to protect your workforce from contracting the virus, or experienced significant impediments to your supply chain. This was made even more difficult for many global companies as their operations may have been deemed essential in one country where they operate but non-essential in another. While companies with a demand impact were cutting costs, many on the supply side were forced to increase expenses, as they re-configured production lines and other facilities for social distancing or equipped the home offices of their staff working from home.

The great re-opening Companies have identified three stages in this crisis: ‘dealing with the lockdown’, ‘living with the virus’ and ‘return to the new normal’. With economies slowly reopening, managements align the business to the changed landscape. Those with a global footprint have had an advantage in this regard. Key to the survival of many businesses will be how long it takes for their customers to return once they have reopened their businesses, and whether they will get access to working capital finance to keep the wheels turning in the meantime. Again, governments will be crucial here and we have seen programmes already announced in the European Union, the UK, and the US.

Dawn of the ‘New Normal’ In the last few months, we have witnessed the acceleration of certain trends in place before the crisis, such

as digital transformation and electronic payments replacing cash. New ways of engaging with customers (virtual meetings, digital applications forms) will open new markets to companies and potentially change the way they access existing markets. Embedded connectivity in the form of the Internet of Things (IoT) and Augmented Reality will revolutionise manufacturing, as social distancing limits the number of people that can be in production facilities. This, along with increased use of mobile and broadband, will require investment in telecom infrastructure, while increased ‘Working from Home’ will focus attention on the security and integrity of companies’ IT infrastructure. Finally, we will see greater focus on supply chain management, as companies seek to ‘re-shore’ some elements of their inward and outward distribution network and avoid single source inputs where possible/practical. For companies that emerge from this crisis with strong financial balance sheets, there will be opportunities for acquiring weaker competitors or growing organically by investing in the business at a time when their competition cannot. If you need any information, advice or reassurance during these challenging times, visit davyUK. co.uk or call us on 02890 310 655. J&E Davy (UK) Limited and J&E Davy are part of the Davy Group of companies. Davy Private Clients UK and Davy UK are the trading names of J&E Davy (UK) Limited. J&E Davy (UK) Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. J&E Davy, trading as Davy and Davy Private Clients, is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. In the UK, Davy is authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland and authorised and subject to limited regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority. Details about the extent of Davy’s authorisation and regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority are available from us on request.

Eye on Cloud Communications

Working from home is here to stay – and it can only get better It seems a lifetime ago, but when lockdown started and firms raced to get themselves set up to work from home, not everyone was happy. Many of us thought it would only be for a few weeks or maybe a bit longer and we longed for the way things were.

ut as weeks turned into months, most of us are used to it by now and many are enjoying the experience much more than we expected. That ‘new normal’ we talked about in March is now under way as hundreds of local firms seriously and proactively seek to incorporate a real and tangible remote working option for their employees. Some companies are even exploring how they might operate without the need for an office at all. Though no specific information is available for Northern Ireland yet, a recent survey published by Eskenzi found that 91% of the UK’s office works would like to work from home at least part of the time. The majority’s dream scenario was between one and three days at home, citing a quieter, relaxing environment, more time to concentrate, less commuting drama and costs and more time spent with family as the big reasons for wanting to stay put. Just 9% said they wanted to get back to the office full time. Not every employer is entirely happy of course but most now recognise the productivity and profitability gains which working on platforms such as Microsoft Teams have made to their business. Better collaboration, quicker meetings, more outputs – and the growing realisation that costly rents for big spaces – are now new areas for open discussion. These are big decisions to make and many of the UK’s biggest firms are already leading the way. Lloyds Banking Group is currently reviewing the amount of office space it uses, becoming the

Stuart Carson is Sales and Marketing Director at Rainbow Communications, Northern Ireland’s leading cloud telecom and IT provider. For more information on its full range of services, including bespoke solutions, visit www.rainbowcomms.com

latest large UK employer to take advantage of a homeworking trend during the Covid-19 pandemic. The bank, which has 50,000 of its 65,000 staff working from home, recently polled its staff and found 89% felt they were adapting well to the change. About twothirds said they wanted to work from home more in the future. These are uncertain times but leaner, more productive workforces will be pivotal to shared success and creating more opportunities for the future. And as the last five months have shown, technology can and is providing a critical and valuable support to keep clients on board, keep costs down and to drive new innovative solutions for growth. This global pandemic and lockdown has only forced a rapid pace of change which was happening anyway and fortunately, many local firms are already on this journey. So as you look towards September and into the challenges ahead, what can you do to best

position your business? Firstly, you will probably be already using Office 365 for your day-to-day work and you may already be more rapidly adopting the benefits and uses of Microsoft Teams. These powerful collaboration tools blend instinctively with the full Office Suite and keeps every aspect of your business unified, connected and fully secure. But there’s much more that Microsoft Teams can do, including direct call routing, which enables firms to use this as their phone service to make external voice calls. You can even retain your existing telephone numbers and avoid the cost and disruption of a phone system migration. With the deadline spelling the end of ISDN line looming large, you should already be considering how to integrate your phone system with MS Teams to create a truly collaborative workspace combining written and voice communications – and there’s even no need to

do away with the desk phone if you want that traditional feel. The benefits are great. Saving time and money, you get to link your business phone system with all the best features of Microsoft Teams, keep your numbers and safely and securely make and receive calls on any device from anywhere – on PC, Mac or Mobile. These hosted and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) systems also means there’s no big investment and maintenance contracts. Quite simply, you only pay for your users and the features they need. Changes to your phone system can even be made remotely, so there’s no need for expensive engineers. This cloud-based solution means you will also have the capacity to grow your business without a worry so you can enjoy the productivity benefits and cost-savings that most firms desperately need right now. What’s more, you’ll be better protected from whatever challenge the world brings us next.

Eye on News

BLK BOX COMPLETES 150th GYM FIT OUT FOR PUREGYM

Miles Canning BLK BOX

Belfast-based BLK BOX has just completed its 150th installation across the UK for PureGym, and with gyms in England having begun to reopen on Saturday (25th July), it is now moving forward with the next phase of a major UK contract with the leading operator.

he arrangement will see the Titanic Quarter based company expand the Functional Training Zone (FTZ) concept that it created exclusively for PureGym to a range of new locations, including Bank, Victoria and Leytonstone in London during the next few months. BLK BOX is one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of strength and conditioning equipment and specialises in the design and fitout of world class training facilities. It spent almost a year creating the FTZ concept for PureGym, after securing a major tender. FTZs are flexible spaces adaptable for both one-to-one workouts and group classes. The zones include a range of BLK BOX equipment that is designed and manufactured at the company’s

Northern Ireland headquarters. At the end of last year BLK BOX completed its 100th PureGym site at PureGym London Aldgate. This was a landmark project as it was a whole floor and a significantly larger zone within the operator’s flagship site. Earlier this year, BLK BOX installed an FTZ with training pods at the PureGym York site which is reopening this week. These allow personal trainners (PTs) to coach and individuals to train responsibly, with all equipment at an arm’s reach. The FTZ concept will eventually be installed by BLK BOX at all gyms in the PureGym estate. Installing the concept in other PureGym locations will help ensure gym members can train safely and in line with guidelines.

Commenting on the project, Miles Canning, Commercial Director of BLK BOX, said: “BLK BOX FTZs are built on modern training principles, designed to differentiate PureGym from their competitors and most importantly, increase member satisfaction. The zones are tailored towards functional training and provide a distinctly innovative offering within PureGym locations. The feedback we get is that they are significantly beyond what users expect from a commercial gym.” “Our partnership with PureGym is a brilliant challenge for everyone

at BLK BOX and it is a partnership that has been thriving and will continue to thrive as we now move forward with the contract post the lifting of the COVID-19 restrictions,” he adds. he adds. PureGym is the UK’s largest gym chain with over one million members and a pioneer of the high value, low price sector. Founded eight years ago by Belfast entrepreneur Greg Bradley, BLK BOX is headquartered in Titanic Quarter, Belfast where it employs over 60 people in a manufacturing, distribution and office facility.

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Eye on Hospitality

The Rabbit... A New Jewel In The Galgorm Crown

Lynsey Gordon, General Manager

It takes a special kind of bravery to open a new restaurant just as the country climbs out of lockdown. But the management team at Galgorm Collection was determined that the birth of The Rabbit in Templepatrick would go ahead in July.

he bar and restaurant and (from November) hotel form part of Galgorm Collection that includes the iconic spa resort outside Ballymena, Fratelli Belfast and Café Parisien in Belfast city centre. It occupies a familiar roadside site in the village of Templepatrick and on the main road to Belfast International Airport. Once occupied by the Pig & Chicken, it’s been the site of the Templeton Hotel for the past 30 years or so. Galgorm Collection acquired The Templeton in February 2019, when their vision was born and their £7 million renovation

programme commenced. “We were scheduled to open the first phase, our new bar and restaurant, at Easter but the Covid-19 outbreak put paid to that,” says Rabbit General Manager Lynsey Gordon. Once the Executive had relaxed lockdown regulations, the new bar and restaurant opened its doors on 17th of July, and it’s been given a warm welcome by locals and visitors alike. It’s a very large and spacious venue with plenty of light, extensive use of wood finishes and some traditional touches. The food – produced in an open

Eye on Hospitality

“We have gone the extra mile to put additional measures in place, and the reaction we’ve had so far from our guests has been very positive.

kitchen - is loosely themed around Deep South, USA, with popular dishes like ribs, wings and American-style meat cuts. There’s also an impressive wine cellar that is available for private wine tasting sessions. “We’re very fortunate to have a lot of open space around the hotel so our guests have been able to enjoy meals and drinks in our garden and terrace areas as well as indoors,” says Lynsey. “We’ve set out to be the sassy, classy little sister of Galgorm,” she smiles. “The Rabbit is all about informal dining and relaxed stays once our rooms open.” The new hotel’s 24 guestrooms are due to open in Winter along with the chic exclusive use venue called The Loft. A mini spa will follow in the Spring of next year. The hotel has already proven popular with couples who seek an alternative setting for their wedding day and is due to host its first wedding later this year. “We are very fortunate to be

part of a trusted brand so much so that our couples have booked their weddings with us after viewing our marketing suite, which gives a feel for what they can expect. We look forward to welcoming more couples in the process of planning their big day so show them what are about”. Lynsey Gordon has spent most of her career with Galgorm Collection. She joined as a receptionist at Galgorm Resort back in 2009, progressing through the ranks before exploring other opportunities. In April of last year, she returned to The Collection as General Manager of the newlyacquired Templeton Hotel. Opening on the heels of a pandemic isn’t without its challenges. “The biggest challenge was customer confidence,” she says. “Guests have to be comfortable in their surrounding, so our job is to be welcoming but, most of all, to be safe.”

On that front, The Rabbit is one of the relatively few establishments that checks the temperature of every guest as they come through the door. In addition, hand sanitisers are readily available and the bar and restaurant fogged daily with an anti-bacterial treatment. “We have gone the extra mile to put additional measures in place, and the reaction we’ve had so far from our guests has been very positive.” Already, The Rabbit is proving very popular with locals in the Templepatrick area, who were delighted to see the place coming back to life. We would like to thank each and every one of them for their continued support during the redevelopment programme. “The hotel has always held a bit of a special place for those who live in and around the village. And its close proximity to Belfast International Aiport means that we hope to welcome visitors passing through”.

Like most other establishments, The Rabbit has been boosted by the Government’s Dine Out To Help Out scheme. In fact, the restaurant is fully booked from Monday to Wednesday for the whole of the month of August. “We’re very confident about the future. We’ve opened our doors in the midst of a crisis and we’re off to a really positive start. As the situation improves, as we all hope it will, we’re even more excited about the later part of this year and 2021.”

Eye on Cover Story

Henderson Retail - A Giant Response To The Covid Crisis Mark McCammond has worked just about every day, Saturdays and Sundays included, since the Covid-19 crisis struck back in March. But, he is not alone, the entire Henderson Group have rallied together to support one another as ‘front line workers’ and in doing so feed the nation.

he retail giant has more than 460 SPAR, EUROSPAR, ViVO & ViVOXTRA stores across Northern Ireland as well as an expanding distribution centre complex at Mallusk and found itself front and centre when coronavirus swept in from Europe. The group’s Mallusk head office was soon all but deserted as key staff moved to home working. During the lockdown period, McCammond and a couple of other directors were the only ones in the office. But things were very different in the distribution centres and out in the stores, every one of which became an essential shopping lifeline for their local communities. “We’ve always had a community ethos,” says Mark McCammond. “We serve local communities and we’re part of those local communities. So we were proud to be able to take that to a whole new level.” The Covid-19 crisis brought huge change and any number of challenges. As families moved into isolation and shielding, shop staff were unable to work and absenteeism hit new levels within days. “Out of our 3,000 or so retail staff in the network, we had over 600 off work at the peak, over 20% of the retail workforce wasn’t at work. That’s a crisis by anyone’s standards.” The company asked for head office staff to volunteer to help out on the retail front line and was humbled by the numbers who offered to help, and headed out to stores all over the region. They were supplemented by hundreds of temporary part-time workers drafted

in to help plug gaps all over the store network. “We had to keep our stores open and running,” says McCammond. “We had to face up to staffing challenges across the business, particularly in retail and logistics, but we maintained our supply lines.” The supply problem was at its most challenging during the short period pre-lockdown when panic buying set in and toilet rolls, pasta, rice and some canned food lines were suddenly in big demand. Mark McCammond brings up a graph which clearly shows how customer numbers and basket spend peaked during that period, then customer numbers declined steeply at the start of the lockdown and have since recovered steadily. However, average basket spend remained abnormally high as customers simply made fewer trips, but spent considerably more. But what the graphs also clearly show is how Henderson Retail has built a lead over its competitors during the crisis. In fact, customer spend has been up on average by 51% since lockdown. “I’ve been in retail for 35 years and I’ve never seen anything like it,” he adds. “We have a real and genuine opportunity now to build on that achievement.” Mark McCammond is quick to pay warm tribute to the front line staff who have worked throughout the crisis and delivered the levels of service that have helped put Henderson Group ahead of the chasing pack. “Our people have been phenomenal. They really have,” he says simply. “It’s easy to overlook the fact that it took real courage for some people to continue to come

“Our priority right from the start of all of this has been to keep our colleagues safe and keep our customers safe. That remains our number one priority.”

Mark McCammond, Henderson Group Retail Director

Eye on Cover Story

to work every day in the face of an unprecedented public health crisis and a lot of fear out in the community.” He’s particularly proud of the positive feedback the company has had for its store staff and levels of service. “Like any retailer, we get complaints from customers. But we’ve had very few of those during this crisis. Instead, we’ve been bowled over by the number of positive comments we’ve seen coming through from our customers.” The Group employs its own occupational health nurse, Bernie McGurk, and Bernie found herself busier than she could have imagined during the crisis, talking online to front line staff about their health concerns. She was supported by an HR Team that worked ‘flat out’ to support colleagues across the Group. “At a time when GP’s were almost impossible to access, Bernie had an incredibly important role to play helping our front line staff through the worst of the crisis,” says Mark McCammond. “She managed to handle almost 1,700 occupational health calls

during the period. That’s incredible.” The company has a clear protocol in place for any staff member showing Covid symptoms and in contact with others who had. Remarkably, out of well over 3,000 retail staff, only three tested positive for the virus, and all three were linked to family members who were working in other front line sectors. The group also had to move quickly, in common with other retailers, at the start of the crisis. It spent just over £1 million on all of the necessary store markings, screens, signage and PPE...right through to pre-wrapped coffee cups and umbrellas for customers queueing outside stores. “Our priority right from the start of all of this has been to keep our colleagues safe and keep our customers safe. That remains our number one priority.” Back at the Mallusk depot, where frozen, chilled, ambient and fresh foods are shipped in and distributed out to the retail network, things have been anything but quiet. “In a nutshell, it’s been like 15 Christmas weeks in a row,”

says Mark McCammond. “The pace has been unrelenting.” A brand new addition to the warehouse complex at Mallusk is currently in the final stages of construction. Back in the stores, the period has also brought innovation. The group introduced telephone ordering and home delivery for the first time in many stores, and it has also developed electronic shelf edge product labelling...eliminating the need for shop staff to change paper signage on a regular basis. And new store development hasn’t been halted. A new SPAR store opened just recently at Carnmoney Hill in the north of the city and new EUROSPAR and ViVOXTRA outlets are at advanced stages of construction in Millisle and Banbridge. “We’re continuing to grow the business and expand our network. Our acquisition team are active as always in looking for new opportunities. We have a long-term investment plan in place, and we can look to the future with real confidence. The crisis has also brought real

challenges for the wider group. The Henderson Foodservice operation, which supplies food to restaurants, hotels, schools and universities, saw its business severely impacted by the sudden closure of many of its customer sites. The company is currently in consultation with a number of Foodservice colleagues with a view to inevitable redundancies. “As a firm with family at its heart, that’s a very difficult situation for all concerned. However, despite the challenges we will endeavour to rebuild as quickly as possible” says Mark McCammond. And, at the height of the crisis, sales of motor fuel on Henderson Group’s many forecourt operations were down by 75% at one stage and are only now recovering to closer to pre-crisis levels. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought both challenges and opportunities for the Henderson Group, but the team has never been more aligned and focussed on doing a great job for customers in terms of providing terrific local fresh food, supporting economic growth and working hard to keep everyone safe while shopping.

Eye on News

Life Insurance Policies Skyrocket During Pandemic A local insurance business has witnessed a 20% increase uptake in life insurance applications as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

antage Health and Life, a Belfast based insurance company has experienced a sudden increase in businesses and individuals taking out policies as a result of Covid-19. The business has put the marked increase down to the impact a death or illness of a director, employee or family member could have on their business. The company has increased its headcount with seven new members of staff appointed and is continuing with this growth to deal with the rise in enquiries. This includes Duncan Campbell who has been appointed as Sales Director to focus on helping grow and develop the team of advisors. Mr Campbell comes from a banking background specialising in mortgages and protection, managing teams within the branches coupled with a wealth of knowledge on specialist lending.

Vantage Health and Life has attributed the pandemic to people turning to thinking about how to increase the financial security of their families, now and in the future. As a result, life insurance has moved to the top of many to-do lists. Stuart Cranston, Principal at Vantage Health and Life said, ‘The pandemic has been a wake-up call for a lot of people to examine their finances. It’s unfortunate it takes an event like coronavirus to remind us that we’re just one unforeseen event away from needing an insurance policy. ‘Covid has highlighted how important planning for the unexpected really is. Although more people might be more focused on buying life insurance as a result of this situation, we expect that the importance of building in a cushion, whether that is an emergency fund or insurance, will resonate with consumers well beyond what is hopefully a relatively short period of uncertainty. ‘Navigating the pandemic wave with the help of a trusted financial professional can ensure your needs will be covered. People get ill unexpectedly. They have accidents. Things happen and it’s important we are protected’, said Stuart.

Duncan Campbell (L) & Stuart Cranston (R) of Vantage Health & Life

New North West Campaign Group Set Up to Tackle Remote Working Tax Rules for Cross Border Workers

Launching the Cross-Border Workers Coalition set up to tackle remote working tax rules for cross border workers is Paul Quinn, Sinead Logue and Conor Dowds.

new campaign group has been established in the North West to place pressure on the Irish Government to make changes to personal tax liability regulations for employees resident in the Republic of Ireland but who work in Northern Ireland. The group – the Cross-Border Workers Coalition (CBWC) – has been set up in response to the fact that employees who live in the Republic of Ireland but work in Northern Ireland are largely prohibited from remote working and are subject to a ‘double tax’ on their income should it be determined that they have worked from home or within the Republic of Ireland. The CBWC has now called on politicians to urgently review the situation and take advantage of the opportunity that has arisen during the coronavirus crisis when all companies across the island of Ireland instructed their staff to work from home as the pandemic took hold.

The new body says the financial contribution of this tax to the Irish Revenue is minimal and a blunt measure impacting on the health and wellbeing of workers, particularly at this difficult time. Whereby a NI resident employee can work in the Republic of Ireland for a number of days without triggering a tax liability, a RoI resident employee that works substantially outside of RoI would lose the ability to claim Cross Border Worker Relief for carrying out certain duties. Now that the lockdown enforcement is beginning to ease it is thought that many cross border workers will remain working at home for some time to come. The group says it’s time the make the right changes to future proof against other outbreaks and create a better work life balance for employees who are forced, in some cases, to commute up to 500kms each week, mostly by car.

Eye on Technology

Help! My Productivity is Broken

(l-r) - Gavin Woods, Nigel Mulholland & Michael Hutchinson.

Eye on Technology Mid-July saw the staging of Microsoft’s first ever online worldwide partner conference known as Inspire. Instead of experiencing the bright lights, searing heat and carnival atmosphere of Las Vegas, the attendees, at least from our neck of the woods, had to content themselves with late nights, a radiator and a packet of crisps. And yet it worked.

ell over 500 media-rich sessions were delivered flawlessly, covering topics like digital transformation, product development, business continuity, cyber security and organisational productivity. And it was one of the sessions on productivity by Aaron Dignan titled “Brave New Work” that particularly caught my imagination. Starting off by reminding us that despite the fact that we all carry around more computing power in our pockets in the form of a smartphone than took the Apollo missions to the moon, levels of productivity have been in constant decline for many years now. What’s even more embarrassing is that many economic experts are not entirely sure why it is that we seem to be largely incapable of doing more with more.

“Many of our customers had serious reservations about what would happen when their employees were facilitated to work from home during lockdown, and yet almost universally the result has been an increase in productivity.”

The Productivity Problem Interestingly however, most employees don’t find it so difficult to put their fingers on the nub of the problem. Bureaucracy! Simply put, more and more we are getting in the way of our own productivity. Dignan has a handy little analogy to explain what is often going on. Whenever you think of a crossroads, there are two main ways to manage the traffic at such an intersection - either a set of traffic lights or a roundabout. What is fascinating is that even though roundabouts have fewer accidents, more throughput and substantially cheaper operational

costs, there are 90% more traffic light-controlled junctions in most developed countries. Why is that? Well, it seems we have come to prefer control and compliance in our lives rather than trust and autonomy. And so Dignan argues that most organisations have unhelpfully enslaved themselves in too much of the former and not enough of a latter, and is suggesting we all take a look again at our business operating systems and infuse them with much more ‘roundabout’ ways of dealing with our productivity challenges.

Efficiency Comes From Empowerment As a technology organisation you might expect us to believe that productivity is entirely dependent on the latest hardware or software or gadgets or automation. Well, of course in the world of competitive advantage and technical advancement to a certain extent those things are vital if you don’t want to get left behind, but it is are far from the whole story. What is becoming increasingly obvious is that productivity is equally reliant on things like trust and purpose and empowerment. Take the simple example of working from home. Many of our customers had serious reservations about what would happen when their employees were facilitated to work from home during lockdown, and yet almost universally the result has been an increase in productivity, almost to the point where responsible employers are having to caution their staff to be careful not to work longer hours than they’re supposed to, and to ensure they are taking proper breaks.

home’ culture but lockdown saw all of us, bar a small skeleton team at the office, doing it at the same time. And guess what? Our 95-page company handbook was largely irrelevant in guiding us through a fresh new chapter in our history. What worked were regular touch points to review our progress of adapting to the new norm, learning and monitoring progress as we went (something we are still doing), with a commitment to continual improvement. And that is exactly how we run our Adoption and Change Management practise for our customers when it comes to the brave new work that is required around security and productivity. For the most part we believe the traffic light system of spending time once a year focussing on a technology upgrade is almost doomed to failure from the start. What has been proven to be much more effective is our unique style of account management that allows us to regularly collaborate with our clients in implementing and monitoring the incremental changes that, over time, can make a huge difference to the productivity landscape. It may be that you too have experienced a few ‘roundabout’ moments in your business over the last 4 months. If so, we’d love to hear about them. Without stretching the analogy too far you might also have had a few ‘near misses’. Well, don’t worry - those are probably the moments that will be foundational as we discover that ‘fixing our productivity’ is almost certainly going to mean doing a whole lot of things differently. By Michael Hutchinson, Director of Operations, Nitec Solutions

A New Way of Working At Nitec things were no different. We already had a ‘working from

Eye on Charity

Charity’s Volunteering Drive to #HelpEachOtherRebuild Volunteer Now, the lead organisation for promoting and supporting volunteering across Northern Ireland, says now is the time for volunteers and businesses to come together to #HelpEachOtherRebuild as Northern Ireland seeks to recover from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

olunteering is a key component for many organisations engaged in corporate social responsibility. Volunteer Now has worked in partnership with a growing number of organisations across the voluntary and community, public and private sectors in recent years. With a focus on supporting volunteerinvolving organisations, Volunteer Now provides a range of volunteering opportunities specifically tailored for businesses to help in a very practical way. Each year in Northern Ireland, Volunteer Now engages almost 1,000 people volunteering with support from their employer. Since its establishment in 2010, there has never been greater demand from businesses requiring volunteers than throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. “With lockdown imposed, many organisations found themselves without the necessary support to continue vital services. Many other businesses adapted their offering to address the new and emerging needs of the public in lockdown”, explains Denise Hayward, Chief Executive of Volunteer Now. Such was the demand from organisations for assistance that Volunteer Now launched a public recruitment campaign - #HelpEachOther. The response was overwhelming, with over 4,000 volunteers from right across Northern Ireland pledging their support by signing up to help local communities. “As we move into the recovery phase, now is the time for businesses and volunteers to come together to #HelpEachOtherRebuild and volunteering plays a key role in this. Employer supported volunteering offers a tremendous opportunity to make a positive social impact but often

Denise Hayward, Chief Executive, Volunteer Now

businesses need help in understanding how to effectively integrate this. A simple chat with us can help determine the opportunities available.” One such business that embraced volunteering throughout the lockdown period was Calvert Office Equipment, based in Belfast: “Volunteer Now connected us with the Belfast City Hospital Renal Unit where we had responded to an ‘ask’ to create a relaxing outdoor lunch space in a connecting courtyard. Since the COVID-19 outbreak the working conditions at the Renal Unit have been more difficult with the nursing staff wearing additional PPE. We donated

garden furniture to provide a suitable area which offered much needed fresh air and respite for staff working long hours in warm conditions. The hospital staff were delighted and it was fantastic for our own staff members to feel that they had really made a difference to the lives of frontline workers during a very difficult time”, explains Alan Roper. This is one of many examples of volunteers who delivered real and practical help and assistance to those impacted by the crisis, particularly the vulnerable, and Volunteer Now is keen to commend their efforts. “Working with councils, organisations and volunteers across the region, we embarked upon a photography project to capture volunteers in action over the last number of months and we look forward to launching the ‘Ordinary People – Extraordinary Times Photographic Series’ in the coming weeks. The series is a fantastic testament to the spirit and generosity of communities and is our way of saying a huge thank you to those volunteers who continue to make Northern Ireland a better place.

From food bank packers to prescription delivery drivers, soup kitchen workers, telephone befrienders and even online children’s storytellers and dance class instructors, the series aims to reflect the breadth and diversity of volunteer efforts made. As we look forward, the volunteer effort continues. Our focus is supporting organisations to restart volunteering safely and to connect volunteers to more opportunities in support of communities. Volunteers will continue to play a role within the fight against Covid-19 and are one of our greatest assets in aiding the region’s recovery. By utilising this asset, we can together mitigate the impact of this crisis and forge a new plan for growth.”

See how your business can get involved: www.volunteernow. co.uk/volunteering/employersupported-volunteering/

LET US REDESIGN YOUR WORKSPACE FOR YOUR TEAMS’ SAFE RETURN TO WORK

Eye on Media

Circulation In The Time Of Coronavirus –

The Reach Story

It is no longer mandatory for national newsbrands to report their circulation figures publicly, following an update to the longstanding ABC audit system. The ABC Board made the call to address “publisher concerns that monthly ABC circulation reports provide a stimulus to write a negative narrative of circulation decline.” LesleyAnn Diffin who looks after brand comms for publisher Reach talks about how their news brands fared during the pandemic. 28

he announcement from ABC should come as no surprise as circulation has become the most talked-about measurement of newsbrands’ health since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Not to mention that we live in a multiplatform age and there are publishing touchpoints that aren’t covered in ABC reporting, such as subscriptions, app readers and online audiences, so the focus on just the printed copies as circulation is not a fair reflection of a newsbrands’ “health” anyway!

Addressing the challenges of ABC data has been on the cards for some time. Whether you’re in the ‘to publish’ or ‘not to publish’ camp, this move by ABC can only be a positive one. It means we get to keep the industry currency that stakeholders continue to need but ensures the focus isn’t on printed circulation data in isolation, but instead an opportunity to share data that reflects a more holistic view in line with today’s news consumption habits. Print will always be an important and precious way of distributing

Eye on Media our editorial to readers. It is one of the most brand safe environments for advertisers and that’s why we’ll always protect it. Reach is among the majority of publishers that will continue to make our figures public and “there is no point in beating about the bush - the coronavirus pandemic has hit print circulation and advertising sales across the entire newspaper industry, and we are not exempt. But it’s not all doom and gloom”, says Diffin. In Ireland, Reach publishes seven print titles - the NI and Irish editions of the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror, NI and Irish editions of the Sunday People and RSVP Magazine - and five websites. As we entered weeks 12 and 11 of lockdown in NI and the Republic of Ireland respectively, we never imagined we’d be in a position to actually offset the “narrative of decline” around print circulation. For weeks now, the focus has tended to be on declining print circulation and rising online audiences - and of course you’re thinking ‘it’s a no brainer’ - we’re in a new working from home reality (so people are not travelling to work every day when buying a paper would have been part of their routine), parts of our high streets remain shut and for two months, the UK and Irish Governments kept the nation at home (meaning people couldn’t get to the shops to buy their daily paper). But closer scrutiny has shown surprising results. The immediate week after lockdowns in both parts of the country (which were one week apart), we saw the lowest decline in sales in both the daily and Sunday markets. The Irish Mirror was down 1.7% week on week after the first full week of lockdown but then increased the following week to 2.7% - in fact, our highest sale since the lockdown. Also, the same day the white van man returned to work in the Republic (week 8), our sales increased by 1.5%. Our interpretation of this - the initial panic and ‘stay at home’ mentality, within 7 days, shifted to ‘how best to keep informed, what news sources can be trusted to deliver impartial, reliable context on coronavirus and other news’? What happened next? The nation turned to newspapers. In NI, sales of the Daily Mirror were hit a bit harder with a decrease of 14% after the first week of lockdown, faring better in week 2 but still at a deficit of 3% week-on-week and it wasn’t until the third week of lockdown when we

noticed an increase in sale, up 2%. Skip forward to week 11 and we actually had the highest average sale of the NI edition since lockdown began – up 7% on the Saturday edition alone - aided by the return of horse racing that same week which meant we could bring back our horse racing supplement which historically is a big sales driver, especially with the weekend papers.” Then, on the other hand, the Sunday market has seen different trends entirely. “Ever since ‘stay at home’, it seems people are buying more than one newspaper at the weekends now to fill the time. The old traditional Sunday Newspaper market has seen a resurgence. Take the Irish Sunday Mirror and Sunday People, for example, they’re showing an increase of 5% and 1% respectively in May against the previous month.

with the launch of the e-editions of our newspapers and home delivery services. We cover 28 postcode areas in NI and Dublin city and surrounding areas in ROI which has served new and current readers in both regions. Then we also publish RSVP magazine and it would seem a rediscovery of magazines is underway as people look for things to do because the April edition of RSVP, which you could say was put together during the peak of coronavirus, was the highest-selling issue we’ve had since September 2018, up 21% year-on-year. Says it all, really.” So as to not dwell on just the print side of the group’s circulation story, according to Kelly during the same period, traffic to Reach’s online sites are at an all-time high. “March was a record month across the group with 84 million total page views, April was

“The initial panic and ‘stay at home’ mentality, within 7 days, shifted to ‘how best to keep informed, what news sources can be trusted to deliver impartial, reliable context on coronavirus and other news’? What happened next? The nation turned to newspapers.” “After the initial dip, we noticed a gradual recovery much sooner than even we envisaged ourselves with our papers operating at 82% and 92% of pre-coronavirus sales in NI and ROI respectively by the start of May - further proving the resilience of print. And we know the fall out could have been a lot worse considering there has been no sport whatsoever to report on - a key content pillar for our papers - and minus other key sales drivers for our brands such as the Grand National, Punchestown and Belfast Marathon which the Daily Mirror in NI supports as media partner.” Commenting further on the publisher’s performance, Reach Circulation Manager Alan Kelly said: “The fact we’ve managed to protect our sale despite the absence of Mirror’s ever-reliable sport reader base tells us that readership habits have changed. Our circulation trends during coronavirus not only tells us readers are relying on our coverage more than ever but also that we have new and different purchasers than before. Like many other publishers, we had to act fast to introduce ways to superserve our readers during this period

another great month but down on the previous month’s views and we clawed it back slightly in May but not quite as big as March. This lag could be down to coronavirus coverage fatigue with the big spike at the start but gradual decline as the weeks and months since coronavirus took hold here pass.” Diffin concludes: “This brings me back to the point made at the beginning, how we need to ensure the multiplatform reality of the news industry is measured as our total audience. Looking at our own circulation trends during coronavirus proves that newspapers are very much alive and people are relying on them. This announcement by ABC isn’t about suppressing what we all know is exceptional data during the coronavirus crisis but about changing up the single narrative that print is dead to, in fact, it’s actually stronger than you think.”

Eye on Tourism

Your Safe Haven for a Summer Staycation Summer holidays might look a little different this year but that doesn’t mean staycationers can’t enjoy a relaxing break right on their own doorstep.

he rising trend for staycations this summer opens up a world of new discoveries, adventure and luxury experiences close to home for those keen to switch off and enjoy a relaxing holiday break. Northern Ireland’s premier luxury hotel and spa, Galgorm Spa & Golf Resort, is situated only 30 minutes from Belfast and the perfect location to relax and get away from it all. Set within 163 acres of lush parkland with the spectacular River Maine flowing through the estate, Galgorm Resort has a truly unique setting. With safety at its heart, Galgorm has implemented a dedicated Hygiene Commitment throughout the Resort to ensure the safety of its guests. So, whilst things may be a little different this summer, guests are guaranteed the same great experience that Galgorm is renowned for…

Luxurious Stays The Resort’s range of superior and unique accommodation stays provide the perfect luxury retreat for all tastes. With 124 guest rooms including suites, deluxe

and superior rooms alongside a range of contemporary Cottage Suites, there’s something for every type of guest. For larger groups, the riverside log cabins with private hot tub offer an exclusive stay, whilst the secluded Red Oaks Residence provide families or groups with a home away from home in idyllic surroundings.

Rejuvenating Spa No trip to Galgorm would be complete without a visit to its world-renowned Thermal Spa Village, previously crowned the Global Luxury Spa Hotel of the Year. Experience the ultimate in relaxation with a range of spa treatments and unique wellness experiences for a serene journey of rediscovery. For those keen on being pampered from head to toe, Galgorm has launched its brand new non-touch Dermalux LED facial technology system, allowing guests to safely enjoy the full spa experience.

Award-Winning Fine Dining Savour the taste of Northern Ireland with seasonal dishes and extensive

wine offering at the Resort’s fine-dining restaurant, the River Room restaurant. Led by Head Chef Chris Rees, the River Room is one of only four establishments in Northern Ireland to hold three AA Rosette awards for culinary excellence and offers a unique and memorable dining experience with unparalleled views of the River Maine. Residents can also enjoy the ambience and charm of Gillies Grill, serving classic brasserie dishes along with Asian-inspired creations for a more relaxed dining experience. Famous Golfing Greens Tee off on one of Ireland’s finest Championship parklands at Galgorm Castle, home of the ISPS Handa World Invitational. Round off the day with a bite to eat at Castle Kitchen + Bar where the distinctive flavour and ambience of an authentic BBQ smokehouse await. Southern-inspired dishes and an eclectic mix of classics are sure to ignite your taste buds after a day spent on the green.

Lively Entertainment Enjoy the craic at McKendry’s Bar & Lounge with live entertainment every evening. A whiskey lover’s haven, McKendry’s boasts over 300 whiskey blends from 21 countries whilst gin lovers can get an authentic taste of Galgorm with the Resort’s first premium own-label Galgorm Estate Gin.

Sleep Easy For added peace of mind, the Resort is the first in Northern Ireland to receive the new AA COVID Confident Mark for its health and safety commitment, so guests can be reassured that the Resort is a safe place to stay. Open up a world of new discoveries, adventure and memory-making moments as you indulge in the luxury of Galgorm Spa & Golf Resort. Your summer safe haven awaits… www.galgorm.com

Secure Productivity

At Nitec, we believe technology should bring security and productivity to your business. That’s why we use Microsoft 365 Business Voice as our all-in-one communications system. Built for productivity and designed for small-medium businesses, Business Voice unifies calls, messaging and meetings into a single Microsoft 365 application, Microsoft Teams, delivering faster results and transforming how work gets done. At Nitec, we don’t just work with you, we’re working ahead of you. Contact us today to find out how we can work together to help your business with Microsoft 365 Business Voice.

NITEC.COM

+44 (0)28 9442 7000

Eye on Financial Services

Sinead Carville – FinTrU’s 60 to 600 in four years

The fact that Belfast and Derry/Londonderry-based FinTrU recruited another 150 people during the Covid-19 crisis, while many others have been furloughing staff and cutting jobs, says a lot about the fast-growing fintech firm.

he company’s rapid growth has been led from the top by Founder & CEO Darragh McCarthy along with his senior executive team that he has assembled around him. In her role as Chief Human Resources Officer, Sinead Carville has been instrumental in managing that growth from when she started with the company in October 2016. When she arrived at FinTrU from US banking group Citi, the company had grown to a team of 60. Just four short years later, the headcount is over the 600-mark.

And it is set to grow further. “We’re fortunate that there is a fantastic talent pool here in Northern Ireland, and we’re very confident that it’s a talent pool that will enable us to fuel further growth over the coming years.” FinTrU opened its second base in a former shirt factory in Derry/ Londonderry two years ago and is now home to over 120 members of staff. “We received the warmest welcome in the city, we’ve been made to feel valued and acceleration of our North West growth is one of

our key strategic priorities.” A Dubliner, Sinead Carville cut her teeth in the retail sector before moving into Financial Services and has over 15 years’ experience in HR leadership. “In a lot of ways, my retail experience prepared me for becoming an HR professional. Retail is a fast-paced, target driven environment with people at the core,” she says. Moving north to work with the Sliderobes group as their Training and Development Manager, Sinead decided on a change of tack

in career terms, signing up for a Masters in Human Resource Management at Ulster University. When Citi arrived in Northern Ireland to set up its HR function here, she formed part of the team that built and established the unit. She went on to work at Citi for four years. “It helped me to gain a real understanding of investment banking and to see if I could repeat previous professional successes within a completely different industry,” she says. “But it is a very big, global operation employing tens of thousands of

Eye on Financial Services

“I knew when I joined FinTrU in October 2016 that this business would achieve big results, but I am not sure I could have predicted a tenfold growth in our employee headcount within four years.”

people. In the end, I felt a bit like a small cog in a very big wheel.” The chance to influence strategy and help drive change attracted her to the FinTrU role. “It was a risk,” she says. “I was moving to a smaller organisation but one with big aspirations and dreams. After meeting with Darragh I knew I wanted to be part of the FinTrU story. I was fully confident that the plans for growth could be achieved and could see the determination and enthusiasm that existed within the firm. It was a risk that paid off tenfold”. Sinead arrived at FinTrU’s Gasworks site as the company had announced the creation of 80 new jobs, and since then the pace has been unrelenting. During her time, she has seen it all with FinTrU – with the company evolving throughout the growth from 60 to 600 employees during her tenure. The company’s 10x growth provides a nice correlation for Sinead to reflect on her four-year

anniversary in October 2020. “I knew when I joined FinTrU in October 2016 that this business would achieve big results, but I am not sure I could have predicted a tenfold growth in our employee headcount within four years. I am so proud of what we have achieved and the part that all our employees have played in this. “Our challenge back then was to sell a relatively new employer like FinTrU to candidates,” she says. “We sought out people who had that entrepreneurial mindset, who wanted to be part of building something really unique and special in Northern Ireland. “The crux of my role became the development of our employment experience from pre-employment right through,” she adds. “at all stages of our growth, maintaining our unique and vibrant culture whilst growing at pace was and continues to be a priority. The market for talent within Northern Ireland is competitive

and to be able to compete you need to offer an attractive employment proposition. We are now recognised as a leading employer of choice within Financial Services in Northern Ireland, something that we are extremely proud of achieving in such a short space of time. The Covid-19 pandemic brought big challenges for the organisation. FinTrU established a Covid response team back in February as the global crisis developed and had its entire staff working from home before the Government imposed a lockdown. “Prior to Covid, we had never been an organisation where working from home was part of the culture. The vast majority of employees worked within our offices so this represented a huge task,” says Sinead. “Ensuring the health and wellbeing of our employees and minimising the impact to our client services was at the forefront of all decisions we

took. Our employees have proved how resilient they are and their commitment during this time has been exemplary. Not only that but their ongoing support to our charitable events has been both creative and impressive”. So, what does the future hold for FinTrU in such uncertain times. According to Sinead the future is very bright indeed. “We have been very fortunate to not just maintain our business in such challenging times but to grow significantly and that demonstrates what a strong trajectory we are on. We have recently incorporated in the US and opened an office in New York and we have accelerated our technology strategy. Professionally this offers me so much to be excited about and I will always be thankful I took that leap of faith four years ago.”

Eye on News

Run in the Dark Is Back With A Virtual Facelift Run in the Dark returns this November as a virtual event. Thousands of runners and walkers across the globe will light up the night on Wednesday 11 November.

articipants will run individually and track their run on the Run in the Dark mobile application to place on a global leaderboard. Run in the Dark is the Mark Pollock Trust’s principal fundraising event which supports Northern Ireland-born Mark Pollock to deal with the ongoing impact of his catastrophic spinal cord injury while enabling him to pursue his personal mission to cure paralysis in our lifetime.

THE VIRTUAL RUN PACK INCLUDES:

Mark Pollock launching Run in the Dark Virtual at Dublin’s Trinity College.

é .KOKVGF GFKVKQP 4WP KP VJG &CTM NQPI UNGGXGF tech top (if you sign up by 31 August) é 4WP KP VJG &CTM OGFCN é (NCUJKPI CTODCPF VQ JQNF [QWT RJQPG QT MG[U é 6KOG CPF FKUVCPEG VTCEMKPI (from early September) é &KIKVCN EGTVKHKECVG QH EQORNGVKQP

BCM EXPANDS SENIOR LEADERSHIP TEAM WITH NEW APPOINTMENT BCM (Belfast Central Mission), one of Northern Ireland’s longest-running charities, has appointed Lynne Kavanagh as its new Deputy Chief Executive to support the development and implementation of the organisation’s growth and to oversee the delivery of care across its projects.

ith a career spanning humanitarian relief and healthcare at an international level, Lynne brings decades of valuable first-hand experience to the role. With her primary focus being the welfare and care of service users across BCM’s 15+ projects, Lynne will be responsible

for ensuring the practice-leading and often award-winning standards of care are upheld. Lynne is pictured with Nicky Conway, BCM’s Chief Executive in The Observatory of the Grand Central Hotel, Belfast. Photo by Brendan Gallagher.

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Eye on News

Five Star facials back in business at The Merchant Hotel

Eíthne Blaney-McAllister, Spa Manager is pictured with therapist, Jennifer Blaney and Nicola McIlhagger, Clinic Solution

n an ongoing commitment to excellence, five-star, multi-award-winning Spa at The Merchant Hotel, has invested in first-of-their kind, facial screens, allowing them to offer facial treatments after a five-month hiatus. Designed and manufactured by Holywood businesswomen, Nicola McIlhagger and Angela Hunter, the screens offer clients and therapists an added barrier of protection from Covid-19 and other infections during

facial treatments. Born out of their own inability to source a product anywhere in the world that suited their own business, Cinch Clinic’s, safety needs, the duo worked with student product designer, Joanna Gabrys, to design and create three unique products. In early July, Clinic Solutions was born and in six short weeks the business has gone global, retailing to hundreds of clinics, beauty salons, dentists and spas worldwide. The Spa at the Merchant Hotel is delighted to be the first luxury Spa in Northern Ireland to take shipment of their order. Eíthne Blaney-McAllister, Spa Manager explains: “We are delighted to receive our facial screens. We have seen nothing like this on the market and think it is so innovative, and exactly what we were looking for to allow us to get back to our full offering. “Since re-opening, we have taken every single precaution possible: introducing a very strict cleaning protocol, sanitising all equipment before and after each client, offering hand sanitising stations throughout the building etc. We invested in full PPE for all staff including masks and visors, however, as the clients are unable to wear masks during facials, we still weren’t offering this service. “When we saw the screen concepts, we were very impressed and have ordered a screen for each of our treatment rooms. We cannot wait to welcome

guests once-again for our signature facials.” Nicola Mcilhagger from Clinic Solutions continued: “We are thrilled to be able to play a role in getting fantastic Spas like The Merchant Hotel, and many others across the world, back to offering facial treatments. “Businesses need to be able to safeguard both their staff and clients against added risk of infection, and this product does just that. “Whilst nothing completely guarantees 100 per cent protection from the risk of Covid-19, this goes a long way in giving additional defence against cross-contamination and the passing on of any contagious infection. “We currently have three different facial screens on sale and a fourth at the design stage. Each screen has a moveable, bendable arm, which allows it to be positioned over the clients face during treatments providing an additional shield.” Nicola concluded: “We worked long hours and had many failures before coming up with the right size, dimensions and materials. The finished products are versatile, easy to clean and affordable. Every clinic, spa, salon or even health practice should consider investing in the products to give both their clients and staff peace of mind and added protection.” Visit www.clinicsolutionsni.co.uk to order or call 028 9099 5388.

New Fibre Infrastructure Company Launches Recruitment Drive Newly established fibre infrastructure company, Viberoptix, which opened its Coalisland headquarters earlier this year, is on a major recruitment drive as full fibre broadband continues to be rolled out across parts of Northern Ireland.

eputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill, who is also a local MLA, visited Viberoptix this week to hear first hand of the ambitious plans of the firm. Currently 32 people work at the firm and this number is scheduled to increase to 45 by the end of this month. Viberoptix has received support from Invest NI and Managing Director Naomhan McCrory welcomed the visit from the deputy First Minister. “We deliver frontline services to fibre network providers right across Ireland and the UK. We already have a team of qualified engineers who are well experienced in delivering

excellent service to the fibre network construction and maintenance sector. “Access to full fibre broadband is more critical now than ever and we have seen that during the pandemic reliable high quality broadband is now an essential utility in the same way as light, water and heat. Demand is increasing and that goes hand in hand with the service offered by Viberoptix.” Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill said: “The availability of high speed broadband is crucial to how we live, work, communicate and do business. It is vital that we have full rollout as soon as possible,

Viberoptix Managing Director, Naomhan McCrory welcomed Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill MLA to the firm’s headquarters in Coalisland.

especially in our rural communities which have shouldered the burden of restricted access for too long. “I was delighted to visit the team at Viberoptix in Coalisland to hear about the part they’re playing in making full fibre broadband accessible to all our homes and business. The new company is a real asset to the Mid Ulster

area and I was encouraged to hear about their exciting plans for future development which I hope will be a real boost to the regional economy.” Viberoptix are recruiting Infrastructure & Fibre Engineers, with full training provided. For more information, you can contact careers@viberoptix.com

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Reach. reachsolutionsireland. com

Eye on Energy

Power NI: Community at our core

Amy Bennington, Commercial Marketing Manager at Power NI, reflects on the energy supplier’s continual focus on community and business support, despite the changing world around us.

“A

t Power NI, we have been Northern Ireland’s leading energy supplier for almost 90 years. We not only provide energy solutions to local businesses, farms and household customers, but we give something back to our local communities, right across the province. “Our values are about bringing people together and representing genuine value and energy within a ‘New Northern Ireland’. Even throughout the challenges of recent months,

we have been able to stay true to who we are and continue to deliver community funding programmes to help in the fight against Coronavirus.

Energising charities & community groups “When we all first entered lockdown, it became apparent very quickly that help was needed in the community. A cross-business team worked together to launch a new Community Response Fund where Power NI staff from across our

Antrim, Belfast and Omagh offices were able to choose 29 local groups they wanted to support. It was great to see so many staff members nominate groups they volunteered with themselves in their local area and felt deserved additional help in these challenging times.” As well as staff nominated groups and projects, Power NI reached out to 15 Young Farmers’ Clubs and 13 charities and organisations that they had already partnered with, helping them to provide on the ground support in both urban and rural areas where it was most needed. Support ranged from manufacturing scrubs bags and PPE visors for frontline workers, to delivering meals and food parcels, as well as assembling activity packs for those living with dementia and essential living packs for families. The community scheme also funded volunteer laptops, counselling and chat services. These groups included Village Blinds, USEL, Age NI, NOW Group, Macmillan, Advice NI, foodbanks in Belfast, Antrim and Omagh, Action Mental Health and the Welcome Organisation. Amy continues: “The impact from the fund has been amazing, enabling all groups to provide a total of 2250 PPE visors, masks and scrub bags, 50 litres of hand sanitiser and 2550 meals, food parcels and grocery vouchers. Over 100 people have been supported by check and chat volunteers as well as 250 family and older people packs, laptops, tablets and high vis vests. Powering local businesses As well as community support, Power NI has always had a strong focus on powering the local economy and Northern Ireland’s vibrant businesses. Amy explains: “We’re delighted to continue our support this year as SME Partner of NI Chamber’s Learn

Grow Excel programme. After 15 years of competition, Power NI has provided the energy behind many business export success stories from this part of the world and we remain the largest supplier to the business sector with over 40,000 SMEs on our books. “We all are learning to adapt in this new business environment we face, and congratulations to NI Chamber in taking the existing programme of events and successfully relaunching with an online offering of virtual workshops and webinars. Many of these explore new ways of selling and winning business to scaling for growth and exporting. “As well as having tragic impacts on the health of our community, Covid-19 has also caused damage and disruption in our business sector. At Power NI, we have been actively working together with our customers over the last few months to weather this storm. Like all storms however, it will pass, and we are committed to growing our range of products and services, and, together with our customers, helping in the recovery of our local economy and tackling climate change.

Keep up to date with how we’re evolving to be more than just your energy supplier, by visiting www.powerni.co.uk/ letsgrowtogether

Eye on Recruitment

Mairead Scott & Honeycomb: All Set For A NewLook Marketplace Mairead Scott, Managing Director, Honeycomb Jobs

Mairead Scott describes herself as an optimistic realist, and there are probably quite a few more of us who fit into that category. It’s a bit difficult, after all, to ditch the realism in the current circumstances.

he Managing Director of boutique recruitment agency Honeycomb says that they started to see signs of trouble ahead back in early February. “There was a bit of reluctance in the market. Things definitely started to slow down a bit,” she says. “However, when lockdown was finally imposed in March, the pace of change was rapid and the impact on the business community unlike anything I had witnessed previously”. During the early days of the Covid crisis, with the Honeycomb team quickly adapting to working from home rather than the firm’s city centre office, there was plenty to be done. “But it was a different kind of work,” says Mairead. “Recruitment dried up completely. But we found ourselves looking after the concerns and worries of our temporary staff and the concerns and worries of our clients. “We had to be there to offer support and advice for companies trying to keep staff in place and for workers who were really worried about their livelihoods. “We’ve worked with our clients through crisis management planning through to contingency planning for the future, and

the task of safely getting people back to work. And we had to do all of that while working from home for the first time ever. It wasn’t something we’d done before to any degree. So I think it was a real testament to the professionalism of the Honeycomb team.” As the lockdown period progressed, Honeycomb ran online support programmes for jobseekers and candidates, and offered anyone who needed advice on employment and recruitment the opportunity to ask questions of the team. “Recruitment and job opportunities returned gradually during the crisis,” Mairead says. “We started to see demand for people in the tech sector and in core functions like HR and payroll support. The challenge for us then was to fill those vacancies remotely, without face to face interviews with candidates. “But the virtual process turned out to be very smooth and effective. It was another example of how we could adapt, utilise our technology and apply our professionalism in very different circumstances.” On the question of office working, she agrees with others who say that,

while office life will return, the days of the 5-day 9-5 office week may be gone. “I think the flexibility is the key. People have discovered a new way of working and they’ve found out that they can be productive with the right set-up at home. That said, it’s not for everyone and the dynamics of the office are really important. So I do agree with those who reckon that we’ll see a lot more hybrid working models being introduced.” She also reckons that companies will adapt and evolve their office needs. “I think we’ll certainly see less demand for big office spaces and that more companies will be looking for smaller, high specification, premium spaces, maybe with really good meeting rooms so that their people can use city centre office space when they need it rather than all the time. “We’ll see a definite trend towards a situation where outputs are regarded as a lot more important than presenteeism, and there’ll also be an added emphasis on diversity and inclusion in the workplace to drive productivity and engagement.” She also notes that Belfast is already seeing an upsurge in the number of high-quality serviced office developments, another pointer to the future of office working. On the wider recruitment market, Mairead Scott is confident that demand for new recruits, temporary and permanent, will return as

the economy slowly recovers. “Some sectors, hospitality is the obvious example, have taken a really big hit,” she says. “But others are coming back quickly and will provide a demand.” She’s already seeing a demand for skilled people from a very different direction. “We’re hearing from organisations who want people with experience and knowledges of customs, import and export regulations, as we head towards the Brexit deadline of January, 2021. There is definitely a spike in demand and we’re going to need more candidates. Brexit has been put on the back burner by a lot of companies, but it’s all going to start getting very urgent as we head into the later part of the year.” Whatever the future is going to bring, there will be plenty of changes. But Mairead Scott has a clear message for the business community. “Whenever your business is ready to start talking about its people, and ready to invest in the future, then we’re ready to talk.”

If you are considering your recruitment strategy, or are seeking to add talent to your organisation, contact the team at Honeycomb to schedule a private consultation. https://www.honeycomb.jobs

For when things start to pick up. For when it’s full steam ahead. For whenever you’re ready. We are too.

honeycomb.jobs For when business recovery needs admin support

Eye on Hospitality

Titanic Hotel Belfast –

Back To Doing What It Does Best “When you’re in the hospitality business, I think you have to be an optimist,” says Adrian McNally. “But it’s important to have a healthy dose of realism at the same time.”

he General Manager of Belfast’s unique Titanic Hotel is surveying the hotel’s main bar and lounge while he speaks. Even at not long after midday, it’s well populated by guests and visitors enjoying an early lunch in one of the city’s most elegant hotel settings. Adrian McNally jokes that he’s become one of only a couple of hotel managers in town to have opened the same hotel twice, the other one being Mike Gatt at the Maldron in the city centre. The Titanic Hotel Belfast was less than three years old when the Covid crisis hit in March. “When you’ve opened a hotel not very long ago, it’s a bit easier to repeat the process,” he smiles. But, like just about everyone else, he doesn’t need to be reminded about those dark days in March. “Everything happened within a week,” he says. “We’d had a really good January and February and then, over the space of a few days, the cancellations started flooding in and we knew we were going to have to close. We just weren’t sure on which day. In the end, all of the hotels in Belfast closed on the same day. “It was really, really tough. But we couldn’t just close the front door and turn the key. We had fridges full of food that needed to be frozen or disposed of, we had to unmake all the beds and put the linen into storage. Toughest of all, we had to contact couples and tell them that their wedding receptions wouldn’t be happening.” Of the hotel’s 151 staff, all but seven were furloughed and remained in post throughout the crisis, waiting and hoping for the permission to re-open the doors. The green light came in later June and the hotel re-opened amongst the first wave

of openings in early July. Since then, the summer months have been really busy. “When we sat down to do our forecasts before re-opening, we didn’t expect the hotel to be as busy as it has been, so that’s been a real bonus,” says Adrian McNally. Overnight visitors have come from all over the island, and beyond, and they’re now being supplemented by drop-in visitors from the newly re-opened Titanic Belfast. “It’s good to see the Titanic visitors coming in for lunch, drinks and early dinners,” Adrian adds. “It’s also good to be able to look out of the windows and see people milling around on the plaza around the Titanic Belfast building. We often looked out during the lockdown period and it was shocking to see the place so deserted.” Most of the hotel’s staff are now back at work looking after the summer guests with a handful still on furlough. Included are those who are caring for family members or circumstances result in them having to remain at home. “We spent a bit of time mapping out our social distancing and a one-way system around the hotel and it hasn’t been too difficult for us. We’re lucky to have a fair amount of space at our disposal.” In fact, the Titanic’s main bar and lounge doesn’t look much different than it did back at the start of March. A few stools and seats have been removed, but it’s space that naturally offered social distancing well before most of us had ever heard the term. In fact, the whole Covid response has been handled carefully but tastefully at the hotel. Adrian McNally and his management team have stuck with government guidelines, there is plenty of hand sanitiser in evidence, but no screens and no masks or visors for hotel waiting staff. “I think Janice Gault (the Chief Executive at the NI Hotels Federation) put it very well when she said just before re-opening that it was important that we offered a hospitality experience, not a hospital experience.” If he’s been surprised by the level of business during July and

August, Adrian McNally remains cautious about the prospects heading into autumn and winter. “I don’t think we’ll see any significant business travel until 2021 and, largely, I think the same applies to big corporate gatherings, conference business and even Christmas parties. That’s something we’re going to have to accept. “That leaves us with the leisure market, strong during July and August and maybe into the autumn so some extent, but fairly challenging after that,” says Adrian. “That said, we’re taking a realistic view. If we can make it through to St. Patrick’s Day on whatever business is out there, then we’ll be good to go. I think 2021 will be a very strong year.”

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Eye on Motoring

Electric Vehicles Explained

with Fleet Financial Emotive

Electric and Hybrid vehicles are rapidly changing the face of company vehicles, as more and more companies recognise the cost savings and environmental benefits of making the switch.

elfast based Fleet Financial has seen a huge shift in sales and has responded to demand with its new Emotive offering. Damian Campbell, Head of Corporate Sales at Fleet Financial explains. “Since the government announced its intention to overhaul the benefit-in-kind system from April 2020, our shift in sales has been quite dramatic; towards the end of 2019, our orderbook was 25-30% electric or hybrid and now it’s almost half. “Emotive helps companies to navigate towards the adoption of electric vehicles and hybrids. As with anything new, customers have lots of questions before making the commitment. Drivers need to explore the practicalities of owning and running an electric or hybrid vehicle, as well as understanding the financial and environmental benefits.”

Financial and Environmental Incentives “Since April 2020, employees switching to electric or hybrid company cars are substantially better off with Benefit-in-Kind now starting at 0% rate for battery electric vehicles. “By considering a vehicle that is appropriate for their needs, companies and employees can make considerable savings on Benefit in Kind and National Insurance Contributions. Combined with lower Road Tax, potential maintenance savings, and a further incentive on the cost of installing a charging point, the benefits multiplied across an entire company fleet make the whole picture very attractive. “For many, the decision to switch to electric and hybrid vehicles is driven by both the economic and environmental considerations. Their dramatically lower, and in some cases, zero greenhouse gas emissions contribute to a massive improvement in air quality in towns and cities.

investing heavily in developing technology. “The range is growing rapidly, from just nine core vehicles in 2011, to more than 130 plug-in cars and vans, including superminis, estates, SUVs, executive models, and medium-sized vans.

Launching Emotive “This is not a flash-in-the-pan trend. Governments have hefty targets to meet on green energy and they have put some mighty economic incentives in place to ensure they are met. “As well as explaining these financial incentives, Emotive helps drivers to navigate some of the key considerations of making the switch to electric or hybrid: mileage, charging, vehicle choice and costs. “This is the biggest innovation in the motor industry in our lifetime and we’re delighted to be a part of driving this exciting change.”

Increasing Choice “Of course, when choosing your next company car, badge and performance are still key considerations. The number of electric and hybrid vehicles is increasing every year, with most of the major motor manufacturers

For more information on Fleet Financial Emotive, visit https://www.fleetfinancial.co.uk/emotive

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Electric & Hybrid vehicles can bring a lot of benefits to your business. With Fleet Financial’s emotive offering, we are driving forward innovation and change in the sector to help make sure your company is ready for the future.

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Eye on News

GRANT THORNTON EXPANDS With New Digital Transformation Service

Grant Thornton Northern Ireland Managing Partner Richard Gillan, right, welcomes newly appointed Technology Partner Trevor Dunne who will head up the firm’s new Digital Transformation service.

Leading advisory firm Grant Thornton has expanded with the addition of a new Digital Transformation service aimed at helping businesses grow by harnessing technological solutions.

eaded by newly appointed Technology Partner Trevor Dunne, the practice will work across Grant Thornton’s growing client base identifying opportunities to develop digital strategies and operating models and to successfully implement game-changing technology. Trevor said: “There has never been a wider acceptance of the role that

technology and data can play in driving any business forward. The recent and ongoing pandemic has taught us that it has never been more important to get it right: your customers’ and your employees’ expectations have all changed - and now most of them are remote! Your market is truly global, and the opportunity for an agile business is huge. But make no mistake, your future competitors are all digital.

“Of course, Technology has always advancing at pace, but the rate of change has increased dramatically - there has been a real step change in the breadth and capability of technology available to even small business within the last two to three years. “When we talk about technology that can quickly effect real change in businesses, we’re thinking of course about robotics, and artificial intelligence, but also ‘augmented analytics’ platforms, and lowcode apps amongst a myriad of other solutions. This is a great opportunity but for many it seems like a daunting threat. It needn’t be. “A lot can be achieved by just making better use of vast amounts of data companies are already accumulating without even realising it. For example, working with a

local FMCG and retail company, our team was able to harness the data they had already accumulated to build a model which, for the first time, properly explained to them what was really driving their own sales performance. “We then used predictive analytics and AI to explain how affecting these drivers would maximise performance. These techniques optimised sales and predicted outcomes with impressive levels accuracy. Top line impacts such as these means that these technologies come with an impressive return on investment. Whilst some of the largest organisations are doing this – although not always well - most businesses are still not availing of the opportunity. “‘Quick wins’ are great and show what’s possible, but the key learning in our experience is that you can’t address this change with an ad-hoc approach that adds ‘an app here or a robot there’. That makes everyone feel good for a while, but I’ve never seen it achieve anything long lasting. “Businesses need an approach that focuses on outcomes, embraces digital markets and digital operations, and brings the right technology at the right time, while developing out the ongoing capability and culture of the business. That’s how real digital transformation happens.” The new practice will integrate with Grant Thornton’s existing service lines including Advisory, Audit and Tax. Richard Gillan, Managing Partner, Grant Thornton Northern Ireland said: “We are delighted that Trevor has joined us to head our Digital Transformation offering. He comes with a first-class reputation for guiding organisations through the implementation of technologyenabled transformation solutions for their business. “The announcement comes on the back of a period of sustained growth for Grant Thornton in Northern Ireland with revenues increasing fourfold over the past five years as demand has increased across all service lines.”

Eye

onprofit 200

200 Sponsored by

Information supplied by

Helping Northern Ireland grow again danskebank.co.uk/business 9467 Business Eye Profit 200 Strip 210x20mm PRINT.indd 1

10/08/2020 16:22

Eye on Profit200

Helping Northern Ireland

Grow Again By Shaun McAnee, Managing Director of Corporate & Business Banking at Danske Bank.

The annual Business Eye Profit 200 list of the most profitable companies in Northern Ireland is a keenly awaited barometer of how our best private sector businesses are performing.

s in previous years it is my privilege to congratulate the great companies who have made it on to the 2020 list – to be included is a testament to the work done by their management, employees and shareholders. These are not just companies who have done well financially, they are businesses who make a wider contribution to society through the jobs they create, the skills they help develop and the innovation they display in their products and services. However, this year, it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge that all of the businesses listed have been making this contribution in what are now hugely challenging circumstances. The coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc on the economy and society at large, with Danske Bank currently forecasting the Northern Ireland economy will shrink by 11% this year before starting to grow again in 2021. While that may paint a gloomy picture, I am encouraged by the fact that we have so many strong businesses who have shown

resilience in the face of all Covid-19 has thrown at them and who will manage their way through this. Many have been given a much better chance of doing so by the Government, who deserve a lot of credit for responding with unprecedented interventions including the furlough scheme, loan schemes and rate relief measures. I’d also like to take this opportunity to say how proud I am of the way our own team at Danske Bank have responded in order to help our customers. Of our 1,400 staff, 1,100 transitioned seamlessly to working from home while 300 key workers came in every day to do critical jobs, including keeping all of our branches fully operational. In the weeks ahead all of our head office colleagues who had been solely working from home, will begin a phased return to Donegall Square West. Since the lockdown in March, Danske’s business banking team has lent around three times what we would normally lend over the same period. We’ve lent over £430m to local businesses, around £330m of which has been through the government supported Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan and Bounce Back Loan schemes. This is all driven by the role we strive to play in society as Northern Ireland’s biggest bank. Looking ahead, though it

has been overshadowed by coronavirus, the challenge of Brexit also looms large on the horizon. Everyone in the business world continues to wait for clarity, particularly on issues such as checks on goods passing through our ports, changes to tariffs, and how this will all impact on trade, the ability to service customers, lead times for supply chains and overall costs. Given all that both the UK and Europe have been through with the pandemic, it must be hoped that a degree of pragmatism will prevail on all sides to reach agreement on how it will work. It would be great to say that by the time of next year’s Profit 200 I am confident everything will be “back to normal” but it is clear there will be obstacles to navigate. Some businesses will bounce back, but others will, sadly, cease trading altogether.

The key, we believe, is to help Northern Ireland grow again by normalising business and helping companies in all sectors to grow out of the current crisis. While it won’t feel like it for some business owners, many will be able to seize opportunities that arise because of the present situation, perhaps launching new products and services, finding new markets to sell to or embracing new ways of working that will help grow sales and profits. I remain confident that many business leaders in Northern Ireland will rise to the challenges that lie ahead and will respond with the same level of determination, resilience, innovation and creativity that earned them a place on this year’s Profit 200.

Helping Northern Ireland grow again danskebank.co.uk/business 9467 Business Eye Profit 200 Strip 210x20mm PRINT.indd 1

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Eye on Profit200 Information supplied by

Company Name

Year End

Pre-Tax (£000)

Turnover (£000)

Pre-Tax Profit previous year (£000)

Turnover previous year (£000)

No of employees

EP Kilroot Ltd

31/12/18

96,903

127,834

-92,027

107,259

102

Schrader Electronics Ltd (Sensate)

31/12/18

95,439

418,929

88,899

429,591

1198

Northern Bank Ltd (Danske)

31/12/19

90,827

235,394

88,790

237,230

1319

Northern Ireland Water Ltd

31/03/19

80,670

416,442

66,262

403,556

1308

Northern Ireland Electricity Networks

31/12/19

72,900

276,300

68,000

275,800

1204

Moy Park

31/12/19

70,033

1,580,444

67,303

1,567,151

10126

Terex GB Ltd

31/12/18

49,822

368,050

46,258

304,864

1558

Almac Group

30/09/19

47,646

634,279

27,611

54,888

5,150

W & R Barnett Holdings

31/07/19

46,015

1,355,474

51,616

1,231,621

1613

Encirc Ltd

31/12/18

40,635

313,288

36,613

285,582

1271

MRP Land Ltd

30/09/19

36,341

73,471

59,116

123,271

N.I.I.B. Group Ltd

31/12/19

33,807

22,401

124

John Henderson Holdings

31/12/18

33,279

853,008

20,040

759,066

3,570

Belfast Harbour

31/12/19

31,600

65,900

38,623

68,786

210

Qubis Ltd

31/07/19

29,773

1,151

18,302

1,245

Kainos Group Plc

31/03/20

23,150

178,778

21,125

151,230

1424

Gardrum Holdings Ltd

31/12/18

20,091

145,073

15,329

100,169

Ulster Bank, Ltd

31/12/19

20,000

242,00

53,000

235,00

1739

LCC Group Ltd

30/09/18

18,752

990,998

19,863

852,807

256

FP McCann Group Ltd

31/12/19

18,230

264,023

17,899

255,026

1716 49

Helping Northern Ireland grow again danskebank.co.uk/business 9467 Business Eye Profit 200 Strip 210x20mm PRINT.indd 1

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Eye on Profit200 Information supplied by

Company Name

Year End

Pre-Tax (£000)

Turnover (£000)

Pre-Tax Profit previous year (£000)

Turnover previous year (£000)

No of employees

M.J.M. Marine Ltd

31/12/18

17,447

97,725

7,858

49,525

272

First Derivatives Public Ltd Company

28/02/19

16,677

217,351

12,097

186,042

2315

Hilton Foods UK Ltd

30/12/18

16,251

496,832

15,651

476,987

1092

GE Grid Solutions (UK) Ltd

31/12/18

16,109

64,977

11,848

72,854

233

Severfield (NI) Ltd

31/03/19

16,057

100,712

14,811

89,849

314

T.G. Eakin Ltd

31/03/19

15,974

33,631

16,078

31,803

Phoenix Natural gas Ltd

31/12/18

15,496

62,055

-99

54,138

119

Clearway Disposals Ltd

31/12/18

15,355

85,515

12,234

75,529

Moyle Interconnector Ltd

31/03/19

15,338

31,098

7,227

30,363

Orby Holdings Ltd

31/08/19

14,799

13,201

4,391

12,261

Andor Technology Ltd

31/03/19

14,690

75,164

9,592

63,587

276

Soni Ltd

30/09/19

14,318

131,360

6,403

151,002

135

Montupet (U.K.) Ltd

31/12/18

13,922

95,406

12,693

87,268

603

McAleer & Rushe Cont. UK

31/12/19

13,740

340,403

16,777

395,167

340

Moyle Interconnector (Financing) Plc

31/03/19

13,593

31,098

5,468

30,364

Seagate Tech Ireland

28/06/19

12,649

170,741

12,983

186,904

1,372

Nelipak Healthcare Packaging Ltd

31/12/18

12,644

64,110

10,752

57,929

282

Capita Managed IT Solutions Ltd

31/12/18

12,577

89,476

12,103

101,890

561

Eos IT Holdings Ltd

30/06/18

12,537

95,644

6,757

49,252

199

Tobermore Concrete Products Ltd

30/03/19

11,902

50,745

9,138

42,949

242

Helping Northern Ireland grow again danskebank.co.uk/business 9467 Business Eye Profit 200 Strip 210x20mm PRINT.indd 1

10/08/2020 16:22

Eye on Profit200 Information supplied by

Company Name

Year End

Pre-Tax (£000)

Turnover (£000)

Pre-Tax Profit previous year (£000)

Turnover previous year (£000)

No of employees

Fane Valley Co-Op

30/09/18

11,578

135,790

8,967

314,013

365

Coca-Cola HBC Norhern Ireland Ltd

31/12/18

11,522

213,491

21,150

189,169

446

McLaughlin & Harvey Holdings Ltd

31/12/19

11,486

513,445

11,322

422,710

798

Mutual Energy Ltd

31/03/19

11,446

65,306

1,575

63,170

Power NI

31/03/19

11,201

1,146

14,876

939

Dale Farm Co-Op Ltd

31/03/19

11,133

446,312

8,351

425,947

821

Irish Salt Mining & Exploration Co

30/11/18

10,916

30,570

166

10,945

SSE Renewables UK Ltd

31/03/19

10,900

31,600

6,600

21,400

Portview Holdings Ltd

30/11/18

10,250

52,339

5,501

43,097

Beannchor Group

30/06/19

10,294

22,990

2,054

25,812

536

MclinsureTech Ltd.

31/03/19

10,115

11,672

5,637

13,827

Agricolor Ltd

30/09/18

9,599

109,054

4,304

89,118

223

Herbert Corporate Holdings Ltd

23/12/18

9,593

182,751

34,268

163,708

3846

Kelvatek Ltd

31/12/19

9,187

17,581

7,139

14,822

Premier Cement Ltd

31/12/18

8,697

31,491

-665

29,110

Isaac Agnew Ltd

31/12/18

8,683

289,624

6,323

291,513

591

Central Craigavon Ltd

31/12/18

8,590

9,873

-1,765

11,368

DCC Energy Ltd

31/03/19

8,532

64,387

4,846

169,674

Heartsine Tech.

31/12/19

8,390

44,155

162

26,317

206

John Graham Holdings

31/03/19

8,188

735,008

13,117

767,636

2161 51

Helping Northern Ireland grow again danskebank.co.uk/business 9467 Business Eye Profit 200 Strip 210x20mm PRINT.indd 1

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Eye on Profit200 Information supplied by

Company Name

Year End

Pre-Tax (£000)

Turnover (£000)

Pre-Tax Profit previous year (£000)

Turnover previous year (£000)

No of employees

Ulster Carpet Mills (Holdings) Ltd

31/03/19

8,156

74,432

10,702

75,733

664

B.H.C. Ltd

31/03/19

8,155

67,379

4,436

50,286

393

Norbrook Holdings

02/08/19

8,042

236,990

45,056

275,052

1974

Lough Erne Investments Ltd

25/12/18

8,007

73,075

7,135

65,426

171

Liberty Information Technology Ltd

31/12/18

7,982

43,368

7,933

45,230

510

Kilwaughter Holdings Ltd

30/04/19

7,955

40,379

7,744

33,655

191

Medwyn Holding Ltd

31/03/19

7,881

67,379

4,316

50,286

348

Gilbert-Ash Ltd

31/12/18

7,662

179,426

2,125

165,547

177

Moyallen Holdings Ltd

31/12/18

7,662

20,428

-4,210

19,457

Northstone (NI) Ltd

31/12/18

7,511

374,546

-232

375,227

1388

Energia Customer Solutions NI Ltd

31/03/19

7,410

236,996

10,293

235,285

152

Progressive Building Society

31/12/19

7,238

21,638

9,046

24,191

183

Mantlin Ltd

31/12/18

7,006

16,671

5,250

15,982

Multi Packaging Solutions Belfast Ltd

30/09/18

6,987

26,703

9,867

31,818

162

Brockaghboy Windfarm Ltd

31/12/19

6,739

11,757

8,987

15,794

Charles Hurst

31/12/18

6,659

622,660

7,028

478,985

951

The Old Bushmills Distillery Co Ltd

31/08/19

6,634

33,552

6,904

31,640

111

N & R Gordon Ltd

30/04/19

6,574

89,161

5,883

86,940

840

Belfast International Airport Ltd

31/12/18

6,525

45,565

6,243

41,000

212

D. Shannon Stewart Ltd

30/04/19

6,508

89,161

3,417

86,940

840

Helping Northern Ireland grow again danskebank.co.uk/business 9467 Business Eye Profit 200 Strip 210x20mm PRINT.indd 1

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Eye on Profit200 Information supplied by

Company Name

Year End

Pre-Tax (£000)

Turnover (£000)

Pre-Tax Profit previous year (£000)

Turnover previous year (£000)

P.J. Conway Contractors Ltd

31/12/18

6,507

21,958

1,197

17,185

528

Whitemountain Quarries Ltd

31/12/18

6,438

76,565

5,533

63,188

239

BHH Ltd

31/07/19

6,346

240,575

6,770

233,704

197

Westland Horticulture Ltd

31/08/18

6,205

132,407

5,011

130,512

606

BSG Civil Engineering Ltd

31/12/18

6,190

35,080

2,904

29,304

Tennent’s NI Ltd

28/02/19

6,150

55,703

6,246

50,299

104

Omniplex Holdings (NI) Ltd

31/10/18

6,033

20,330

3,791

16,725

189

Brett Martin Holdings Ltd

31/12/18

6,029

170,981

7,198

155,536

954

Pharmapac Holdings Ltd

30/06/19

6,022

63,653

1,436

22,971

230

SDC Trailers Ltd

30/12/18

6,021

175,240

6,002

122,205

693

Springvale EPS Ltd

30/06/19

5,962

32,137

6,295

32,590

129

SCY Ltd

31/03/19

5,818

4,707

12,649

4,550

Premier Electrics Ltd

31/03/19

5,738

49,376

4,859

42,855

Mac-Interiors Ltd

31/12/18

5,624

82,646

6,098

94,724

W.I. Hill Holdings Ltd

31/12/18

5,611

16,094

4,121

12,682

Heatons (N.I.) Ltd

28/04/19

5,502

54,405

4,189

53,599

459

Huhtamaki (Lurgan) Ltd

31/12/18

5,493

37,439

5,238

36,001

232

Balcas Timber Ltd

31/12/18

5,468

97,990

2,295

84,738

367

River Ridge Recycling (Portadown) Ltd

30/06/19

5,447

47,409

4,480

49,869

251

28/02/19

5,433

106,988

8,552

74,586

249

100 Heron Bros. Ltd

No of employees

Helping Northern Ireland grow again danskebank.co.uk/business 9467 Business Eye Profit 200 Strip 210x20mm PRINT.indd 1

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Eye on Profit200 Information supplied by

Company Name

Year End

Pre-Tax (£000)

Turnover (£000)

Pre-Tax Profit previous year (£000)

Turnover previous year (£000)

101 Germinal Holdings Ltd

30/06/19

5,247

27,619

3,056

26,231

102 MacNaugton Blair Ltd

31/12/18

5,189

93,336

4,730

88,219

452

103 Foyle Food Group Holdings Ltd

31/12/19

5,179

370,737

2,573

361,435

1284

104 William Keys & Sons No.2 Ltd

31/12/18

5,172

102,571

3,013

63,069

105 Andras House Ltd

30/04/19

5,149

25,978

6,998

23,555

347

106 RLC Langford Lodge Ltd

30/06/19

5,141

38,098

4,987

38,047

276

107 CDE Global Ltd

31/12/18

5,074

65,777

6,746

61,932

307

108 Kingspan Water & Energy Ltd

31/12/18

5,070

99,909

4,435

100,488

779

109 Cooneen by Design Ltd

29/11/19

5,029

70,211

3,387

64,094

191

110 Lynn’s Country Foods Ltd *

01/09/18

5,026

77,985

4,044

61,126

444

111 Hill Engineering Ltd

31/12/18

5,011

16,078

3,724

12,671

112 Haldane, Shiells and Company, Ltd

31/12/18

5,006

127,688

4,437

111,743

639

113 Valpar Micro Matic Ltd

30/04/19

5,000

18,324

3,387

17,952

114 Quinn Cement (NI) Ltd

31/12/18

4,887

17,634

4,217

15,290

115 Titanic Property Development Ltd

31/12/18

4,863

4,599

6,176

35,375

116 Lagan Homes Group Ltd

31/12/18

4,566

60,582

5,818

43,330

117 Lowe Rental Ltd

31/08/19

4,550

19,295

2,782

15,850

118 Ballygarvey Eggs Ltd

30/09/19

4,506

31,089

3,325

26,809

119 Calor Gas Northern ireland Ltd

31/12/18

4,485

32,294

4,005

28,004

120 Seopa Ltd

28/02/19

4,427

14,704

5,132

14,603

* A/C PERIOD EXTENDED

No of employees

Helping Northern Ireland grow again danskebank.co.uk/business 9467 Business Eye Profit 200 Strip 210x20mm PRINT.indd 1

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Eye on Profit200 Information supplied by

Company Name

Year End

Pre-Tax (£000)

Turnover (£000)

Pre-Tax Profit previous year (£000)

Turnover previous year (£000)

No of employees

121 Agnew Commercials Ltd

31/12/18

4,355

102,470

4,739

99,194

198

122 Aberco Ltd

31/12/18

4,346

1,390

905

1,384

123 Elite Electronic Systems Ltd

31/03/19

4,326

28,520

3,876

22,564

221

124 Allstate NI Ltd

31/12/18

4,281

114,583

18,123

113,568

2,186

125 Nicobrand Ltd

31/12/19

4,242

10,527

7,739

15,329

126 Lotus Homes Holdings Ltd

31/12/18

4,238

26,106

1,997

15,224

127 Tullymore House Ltd

31/10/18

4,224

24,125

7,041

22,288

526

128 Titanic Belfast Ltd

31/03/19

4,207

17,940

2,570

16,319

221

129 Aidan Strain Electrical Engineering Ltd

28/02/19

4,201

35,941

1,052

17,594

130 Beshouse Residential Properties Ltd

31/03/19

4,187

19,057

3,702

13,291

131 Oakwood Door Design Ltd

30/04/19

4,175

34,876

3,534

29,313

182

132 Sisk Healthcare (UK) Ltd

31/12/18

4,065

26,569

3,598

25,554

133 Decora Blind Systems Ltd

31/12/18

4,057

72,728

5,430

69,639

792

134 Keystone Lintels Ltd

31/12/18

4,047

53,307

3,213

50,110

465

135 Huhtamaki Foodservice Delta Ltd

31/12/18

4,001

54,990

3,310

50,335

354

136 Corbo Ltd

31/10/18

3,972

9,565

4,119

9,684

137 Regal Processors Ltd

31/12/18

3,938

13,167

3,707

11,867

138 McBurney Holdings Ltd

31/12/18

3,929

100,358

3,469

92,971

790

139 Munster Simms Engineering Ltd

31/12/18

3,873

21,836

3,221

19,992

192

140 Edge Innovate (NI) Ltd

31/12/18

3,824

24,198

1,421

19,032

154 55

Helping Northern Ireland grow again danskebank.co.uk/business 9467 Business Eye Profit 200 Strip 210x20mm PRINT.indd 1

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Eye on Profit200 Information supplied by

Company Name

Year End

Pre-Tax (£000)

Turnover (£000)

Pre-Tax Profit previous year (£000)

Turnover previous year (£000)

No of employees

141 Charles Tennant and Co (NI) Ltd

31/12/18

3,696

60,509

3,526

46,492

142 Dunbia (Northern Ireland)

30/12/18

3,637

236,268

810

179,058

938

143 BA Kitchen Components Ltd

31/03/19

3,617

29,574

5,707

27,839

231

144 JMW Farms Ltd

30/09/19

3,614

43,147

5,632

40,608

114

145 Woodside Logistics Group Ltd

31/03/19

3,578

67,337

3,000

64,407

518

146 James E. McCabe Ltd

31/12/18

3,532

98,438

2,924

94,795

573

147 Lamont Fireplaces Ltd

31/12/18

3,511

8,726

1,004

6,107

148 K Holdings (NI) Ltd

31/12/18

3,509

16,846

3,476

14,019

137

149 UTV Ltd

31/12/18

3,487

27,722

6,810

31,647

118

150 KVS Group (UK) Ltd

30/06/19

3,471

13,979

969

14,304

151 Diageo Northern ireland Ltd

30/06/19

3,447

80,803

3,116

133,356

118

152 Edgewater Contracts & Specialist Joinery Ltd 31/12/18

3,424

37,457

3,807

38,090

153 Lisdalgan properties Ltd

30/12/19

3,406

14,197

-85

13,659

154 Equiniti ICS Ltd

31/12/18

3,400

22,140

2,338

22,135

172

155 Texthelp Ltd.

30/09/19

3,375

19,214

2,135

16,044

170

156 Savage & Whitten Wholesale Ltd

31/12/18

3,365

95,088

1,668

85,131

228

157 A.J. Plumbing Supplies Ltd

31/12/18

3,330

25,209

2,465

21,141

158 Moyola Group Ltd

31/03/19

3,318

17,367

2,122

15,639

113

159 Murdock Builders Merchants Ltd

31/12/18

3,294

66,823

3,484

65,199

351

160 Highway Barrier Solutions Ltd

31/03/19

3,273

20,626

2,699

17,570

112

Helping Northern Ireland grow again danskebank.co.uk/business 9467 Business Eye Profit 200 Strip 210x20mm PRINT.indd 1

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Eye on Profit200 Information supplied by

Company Name

Year End

Pre-Tax (£000)

Turnover (£000)

Pre-Tax Profit previous year (£000)

Turnover previous year (£000)

No of employees

161 Terumo BCT Ltd.

31/03/20

3,267

31,630

4,814

39,149

275

162 Henry Group (NI) Ltd

31/03/20

3,251

71,758

2,540

88,560

213

163 Glenbeigh Ltd

30/04/19

3,249

21,375

3,062

21,567

358

164 Mivan Marine Ltd

31/12/18

3,247

29,045

1,017

16,922

170

165 Metal Technology Ltd

31/12/18

3,228

17,448

4,030

18,529

166 Castlehill Enterprises Ltd

31/03/19

3,198

21,927

2,865

18,885

123

167 Hastings Hotels Group Ltd

31/10/18

3,196

41,185

5,236

39,633

1244

168 Walter Watson Ltd

31/12/18

3,182

55,787

4,035

51,581

238

169 Maxol Oil Ltd

31/12/18

3,172

206,553

2,660

186,508

170 Regen Waste Ltd

31/12/18

3,164

29,587

3,823

26,753

196

171 Howden UK Ltd

31/12/18

3,162

40,538

7,699

54,368

160

172 Conexpo (NI) Ltd

31/12/19

3,158

25,597

2,826

23,500

173 Moyola Precision Engineering Ltd

31/03/19

3,145

17,367

2,122

15,639

113

174 Hagan Homes Ltd

30/06/19

3,145

19,251

3,877

17,219

175 McBurney Transport Group Ltd

31/12/18

3,139

89,708

2,868

83,030

614

176 Lagan Construction Aviation Ltd

31/03/19

3,135

52,823

3,817

61,937

106

177 Charles Brand Group Ltd

31/03/19

3,122

52,823

2,102

61,937

106

178 Hotpursuit Enterprises Ltd

31/12/18

3,104

24,958

6,522

23,991

179 Tappaghan Wind farm (N.I.) Ltd

31/12/19

3,093

5,431

4,463

7,004

180 Equipment & Plant Services Ltd

31/12/18

3,057

26,089

2,829

21,754

Helping Northern Ireland grow again danskebank.co.uk/business 9467 Business Eye Profit 200 Strip 210x20mm PRINT.indd 1

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Eye on Profit200 Information supplied by

Company Name

Year End

Pre-Tax (£000)

Turnover (£000)

Pre-Tax Profit previous year (£000)

Turnover previous year (£000)

181 Larne Harbour Ltd

31/12/18

3,056

182 Diageo Global Supply IBS Ltd

30/06/19

183 Wrights Accident Repair Centres Ltd

No of employees

5,012

3,233

5,058

3,055

62,300

2,993

61,376

125

31/10/18

3,046

18,255

2,478

15,720

191

184 Novosco Group Ltd

31/12/18

3,033

37,633

2,533

30,474

176

185 Belfast Container Terminal (BCT) Ltd

31/12/18

3,032

10,003

2,504

9,225

186 Dennison Commercial’s Ltd

31/12/18

3,029

71,559

2,914

55,077

230

187 Sangers (Northern Ireland) Ltd

31/03/19

3,024

39,755

1,107

70,433

188 Morgan McLernon Ltd

31/12/18

3,019

49,508

2,037

52,269

416

189 Dartan Hall Holdings Ltd

30/09/19

2,977

64,032

4,477

58,133

230

190 Cranswick Country Foods (Ballymena)

31/03/19

2,975

93,457

3,454

92,725

308

191 Kane Group Building Services Ltd

31/03/18

2,970

55,462

1,040

34,584

183

192 Greiner Packaging Ltd

31/12/18

2,967

41,865

2,142

40,149

241

193 Ducales Capital Ltd

30/09/19

2,954

7,616

3,290

8,401

194 Controlled Electronic Mgmt Systems Ltd 30/09/18

2,873

20,766

3,487

20,534

203

195 Tickey Shop (N.I.) Ltd

31/12/18

2,858

6,199

1,874

1,883

196 OML Belfast Ltd

31/03/19

2,854

12,175

2,934

12,859

197 Green Pastures, The People’s Church

30/04/19

2,851

7,431

3,279

7,784

198 Learning Pool Ltd

30/04/19

2,776

13,513

2,151

10,733

146

199 Gaffer (NI) Ltd

31/12/18

2,761

49,303

2,629

45,495

322

200 Skea Egg Farms Ltd

31/12/18

2,758

68,434

3,169

66,724

138

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Eye on News

Maritime Mile Treasure Trail Experience Launched The Maritime Mile Treasure Trail, an exciting new outdoor family experience aimed at encouraging locals and visitors to explore Belfast’s Historic waterfront, has been launched.

joint initiative between Titanic Foundation and Belfast Harbour, the trail provides a waterfront experience where visitors can explore Belfast’s maritime & industrial heritage. Titanic Foundation, the charity set up to preserve and promote Belfast’s maritime and industrial heritage including the development of Titanic Belfast, collaborated with Belfast Harbour on the trail. It was developed as part of the Foundation’s commitment to the development and promotion of Belfast’s iconic heritage waterfront as a seamless, accessible and vibrant destination for local people and visitors. The treasure trail, which is available now until 6th November, is free. There are 18 stops along Belfast’s iconic waterfront with questions, clues, facts and challenges all of

which can be easily found on a series of information panels along the self-guided route. There will be weekly prize draws as well as a main prize draw of a specially commissioned Maritime Mile painting by local artist and former Harland & Wolff employee Colin H. Davidson. There’s also a mini explorers version of the trail, with prizes also available. Everyone who completes the experience will get their very own Maritime Mile certificate. Kerrie Sweeney, Chief Executive of Titanic Foundation, said: “We are delighted to be working with Belfast Harbour on this project and we are looking forward to implementing further exciting plans for the Maritime Mile. The treasure trail is a wonderful experience that will fuel the imagination and get you exploring the most interesting parts of Belfast’s iconic

Artist Colin H. Davidson and Kerrie Sweeney, Chief Executive of the Titanic Foundation, and Belfast Harbour CEO Joe O’Neill.

waterfront, while discovering Belfast’s seafaring history, vibrant quaysides and historic docks, all in an outdoor environment. We would also like to thank our stakeholders Titanic Quarter Limited, who have provided outdoor seating along the Treasure Trail route, which really captures our neighbourhood spirit. We hope this new initiative inspires local people and visitors to embrace the Maritime Mile and increase their knowledge of the city’s important maritime heritage in a family friendly and fun way.” Joe O’Neill, Belfast Harbour CEO, added: “Belfast Harbour has a vision to create an iconic waterfront for Belfast which is a stand-out international destination to visit, live and work in. The Maritime Mile Treasure Trail is a great opportunity to showcase one of Belfast’s most historic and fascinating areas. For a long time Belfast forgot that its beginnings and prosperity rested on its waterfront. In recent times the City has started to rebuild

and rediscover that relationship, and the huge opportunities that its regeneration will bring.” Former Harland & Wolff employee and artist Colin H. Davidson commented: “I was very pleased to be commissioned to do this painting as it’s particularly special piece for me. I will be taking inspiration from my family memories of working in the shipyard. I worked for Harland & Wolff for over 13 years and my father and uncle worked on many of the iconic vessels. The Maritime Mile painting, will be inspired by the waterfront’s maritime & industrial history.”

For further information on the Maritime Mile Treasure Trail visit www.maritime-mile.com. Follow Maritime Mile on Facebook and Instagram #MaritimeMile.

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Eye on Commercial Property

CBRE’s Brian Lavery... Optimism In The Face Of Adversity Like all Belfast city centre offices, CBRE’s Belfast base is a changed place. But at least a healthy proportion of CBRE’s 40-strong team are back working there and that’s in stark contrast to some of the much bigger office buildings surrounding its Linenhall Street base.

Eye on Commercial Property

n common with plenty of others, CBRE’s Belfast Managing Director Brian Lavery feels strongly about the current fate of our city centre, and he’s keen to see as many big organisations as possible carefully bringing their people back into their offices. “It’s hugely important,” he says. “Otherwise we really do risk doing some irreparable damage to Belfast. Private sector organisations like the big banks and accountancy practices need to do their bit, but there is a real onus also on the public sector to get their offices up and running again.” Brian Lavery is all too aware that the commercial property world that he’s inhabited for many years is staring into a period of enormous change. Working practices will change, not just in the short term but also in the long term, while sectors like retail and hospitality have been profoundly impacted by the Covid-19 crisis. But the CBRE chief is not without hope. He’s quick to highlight one area of potential. “The investment market is looking a lot better than some might expect,” he says. “We’re seeing a distinct rise in enquiries from a diverse number of institutional investors from as far away as the Middle East, Far East, London and the US. Maybe they’re betting on a Brexit boost for Northern Ireland. Maybe they think that this is a good time to make strategic investments into a market that has always produced more yield. Either way, it’s good for the property sector here.” The office marketplace, not surprisingly, isn’t so buoyant or promising. “Take up on office space has fallen off a cliff since March,” he says simply. “Two years ago, we had our best year for quite some time. Last year was good. This year, things have changed so much that it’s hard to describe.

“What we’re seeing now are organisations looking closely at their requirements, at how much space they need and are going to need. Some might need less, but others will need more.” Brian Lavery isn’t the only one who is much happier to be working from his city centre office than from home. “This is a service industry,” he says, “relationships are important and it’s really difficult to do what we do on Zoom and in a spare room at home. “I believe that a lot of people, a high percentage of people, want to be able to get back to office work. Of course the details need to be looked and things need to change. Employees have to have more space, access needs to be examined and altered, and companies have to get down to technical details like touchless entry systems and effective and safe air conditioning systems.

has taken two extra floors to enable it to provide extra space for its people and it is finishing the building to a standard not seen in Belfast before. But Brian Lavery emphasis that government has a crucial role to play in the recovery of the property sector postCovid. Not only does it have to safely re-open its many city centre office sites, but it also has to help drive the ongoing development and regeneration of the city, where key projects include Tribeca, Weavers Cross and Titanic. “The tech sector is also instrumental here in Northern Ireland,” he says. “That sector is helping to drive the office market and it will continue to do so. And, while it’s always said that tech firms can work from anywhere, it’s clear that many of them prefer to have a bricks and mortar base from which to

“The solutions are out there and available. Safe working environments and open, flexible spaces are definitely achievable.” “But the solutions are out there and available. Safe working environments and open, flexible spaces are definitely achievable.” He anticipates an increasing requirement amongst organisations for Grade A office space completely fitted out, Covid-proofed, sustainable and ready to go, and reckons that tenants will be prepared to pay premium rents for spaces with that specification. “There is going to be a big emphasis on fit-out and building future proof offices,” he adds, holding up PwC as an example. The big four accountancy practice has taken occupancy for the fitout of its new Merchant Square building in Belfast city centre from Oakland Developments. It

work. They need collaborative space where workers can also be trained, and the space can be branded to reflect their company style and objectives. “Belfast has a really buoyant tech sector and that’s something that is going to be really important for this city as we move forward.” Moving on to retail, Lavery reckons that, regardless of the current crisis, the sector moves in distinct cycles. “I think we’re at the start of another cycle now, as we come out of this crisis. Some retailers, already badly hit, aren’t surviving and there is no doubt that the retail landscape as we know it will change completely. But retail has

changed and retail will survive. “There’s a view that a lot of retail space can be transformed into housing and maybe that’s something we do need to look at. Certainly, it’s important that we try to deliver the vision of encouraging more people to live in the city.” Out of town retail parks, according to CBRE, have been much less impacted by Covid-19. They were able to re-open earlier and they offer access and space advantages that city centres can’t. Brian Lavery and his team also work closely with the NI hospitality sector and he’s clear that it faces significant challenges. “It’s relatively early days for our hotels,” he says. “They’re up and running and they have occupancy, but it tends to be mostly at weekends at the moment. Getting people back into our increasing number of city centre hotels during the working weeks is going to be a much longer haul and it’s going to be very hard for some establishments to make any money.” He points to the example of New York City, where the glittering W Hotel in the financial district has been closed for good by its owners. “I’m not suggesting that is going to happen here, but it’s a stark indicator of what the sector globally is up against.” All in all, and across all the sectors, Brian Lavery isn’t without optimism. “It’s going to be tough, and we have to be innovative and accept change,” he says. “But it’s all about re-invention, and if our future depends on that, we can do it and do it better.”

Eye on Marketing

Mailsync – Best Practice Mailing For The Marketing Mix Today’s Pierce Group spans specialist sectors such as strategic branding and digital engagement, but this is a Belfast & Dublin based company with its roots firmly in the print industry. Not all of today’s Pierce customers will know that RW Pierce has been printing cheques for more than 50 years. And it’s still doing so today, admittedly at a reduced volume. But, as the banking sector has evolved, so has RW Pierce. Richard Buckley talks to John Pierce and Chris Baird to find out more...

“I

think we’ve always sought to provide advantage to our client by streamlining business processes and/or mitigating risk,” says John Pierce. “When industry figures showed increasing levels of cheque fraud in the 90s, we responded by designing and incorporating best value-for-money security features to protect our clients. It was a good call, as 50 million cheques later, these features are still regarded as industry ‘best practice’.” A niche approach may have excluded RW Pierce from larger-scale commodity printing, but it has allowed the company to work on a wide range of interesting, long-term projects. Projects like savings stamps, vehicle licences and driver permits and a variety of certificates, many building in camera/barcode tracking technologies. But, at the same time, another development was taking place, as Chris Baird explains. “Our digital printing capability had led to a big growth in direct-mail production,” he says. “Coming as we did from a security print background, we tweaked our camera/barcode tracking technology to guarantee 100% accurate direct-mail production.” “Don’t forget that this was prior to GDPR, and clients didn’t seem to care about data integrity… how things have changed today!” By 2016, the system was struggling to cope. RW Pierce set out reviewing all aspects of its mailroom operation in both Belfast and Naas, west of Dublin, as well as its client interaction and the upcoming GDPR requirements. “This was project ‘Mailsync’,” says John Pierce. “And that became the name for the product that we’ve developed out of it.” Mailsync is something of a game changer. “By consolidating production and posting of mail from for multiple clients we streamlined production whilst our transactional mail equipment ensured

Chris Baird (left) and John Pierce of RW Pierce

100% traceability and accuracy,” John adds. “But we were also able to consolidate production from multiple clients, so everyone benefited from postage discounts. And clients could trace their mail right down to individual items via a secure online portal,” says Chris Baird. “That meant that it wasn’t just a game changer for us, it was a game changer for our clients as well.” Mailsync is highly versatile. It can integrate, for example, with third party systems, allowing users to quickly and easily outsource the sending of ‘system generated’ communication by letterpost. “Quite a few of our clients quickly realised that Mailsync reduced administration time...freeing up staff to take on more valuable activities.” “Because we developed Mailsync ourselves, we’ve been able to introduce new features in response to client needs,” says John Pierce. “For example, we had several clients wanting to reduce distribution costs by transitioning from letterpost to e-mail, but because only a few e-mail addresses were known – it was proving to be a bit of a headache. “But Mailsync solved the headache – providing a single client process and automatically routing letters to post/e-mail/web-vault depending on the data content. The migration path was easy, the client just updated their systems with e-mail addresses.

“What’s more, if or when an e-mail is undelivered, it is reported to the client and is automatically sent by letterpost. So we’re covering all the bases.” During the Covid pandemic, Mailsync has been helping administration staff to effectively work from home. Remote users of corporate systems are able to generate and post customer communications as normal, without leaving their homes. Managers, meanwhile, can monitor activity and audit their postage spend. RW Pierce has kept socially-distanced production of direct mail items running at its factories in Belfast and Naas throughout the pandemic and items are sent into the postal system every day of the week. “Mailsync takes the hassle out of preparing the sending mail. There are no upfront capital costs and with traceability as standard, Mailsync makes GDPR compliance easier too. It just makes sense.”

Next month, we’ll profile some Mailsync users. If your business is producing mail in-house and spending more than £500 a month on postage, a chat with Chris or John could be enlightening. (tel 028 9037 2504)

The smarter way to print & post business mail especially for home-working.

028 9037 2504 www.rwpierce.com

Secure Print & Mail Solutions

Eye on SME Forum

SME Support Forum – A Lifeline For Local Companies During The Covid Crisis The Participants

Chris Ross, Managing Partner, John McKee Solicitors

Darren McDowell, Senior Partner, Harbinson Mulholland

Back in March, Northern Ireland’s very own SME Support Forum was set up by three local firms McKees, Harbinson Mulholland and Kerr Henderson to provide free guidance and support to small businesses impacted by the Covid-19 crisis, with each partner organisation was able to deliver targeted advice from a different perspective. The over-riding focus of the Forum was to be a ‘signal above the noise’ right from the start. Business Eye’s Richard Buckley talks to Chris Ross, Managing Partner, McKees; Darren McDowell, Senior Partner at Harbinson Mulholland and John Kerr, CEO of the Kerr Henderson Group.

John Kerr, CEO, Kerr Henderson Group

Richard Buckley, Editor, Business Eye

Taking you back to March, what was the rationale behind the establishment of the SME Forum?

What sort of questions were you getting at that early stage?

CR - There was a lot of fear and uncertainty in the market and we wanted to be a signal above the noise and try to provide practical support and guidance to SME’s out there. We wanted to provide real time legal, financial and insurance support and practical steps to help as many businesses as possible – many of which just didn’t have the resources in place to deal with the ever-evolving crisis. DM - We were all working with SMEs and we wanted to help them. Chris came to John and I with the idea and we didn’t have to think twice about it. JK - We didn’t really know where we were going with it and we certainly didn’t have all the answers but we felt collectively that we could add something for the good of the business community.

CR - At the start, companies were firefighting. I suppose looking back it was predominantly in the areas of understanding financial support and insurance issues around premises and employment as well as remote working. The most pressing issues were around how to hold on to staff and keep putting food on the table for employees. Once the furlough scheme and other government support measures came in, we were able to provide advice and support around those. JK - From an insurance perspective, there was the business interruption cover question and that’s still unresolved. There was real distress out there, wasn’t there? DM - It was unknown territory for everyone. Government stepped in with a huge amount of support but

Eye on SME Forum

that still had to be navigated. The fact that we were offering a collaborative approach was powerful. We learnt a lot on a case by case basis. The signposting articles were very helpful to SME’s directing them to concise and accurate sources of information on whatever they needed to know. So the response from SME’s to the Forum was positive? CR - It was very positive. We were getting a lot of traction on social media right from the start. We were issuing regular posts with small pieces of useful, timely information and it worked well. There was a lot of information being issued by government, which was great, but it was hard to some small businesses to break down the vast amount of information and know what they were entitled to or what steps they had to take – hthe SME Support Forum really came into its own by assisting. Social media is a good barometer of whether your message is hitting home and we could see that our’s was. The interaction on the McKees Twitter and LinkedIn accounts has grown by several tens of thousands over the four-month period. DM - And we got involved in webinars run by local councils as well as a range of other support initiatives for businesses. I think we became an integral part of the support available to businesses.

JK - One of the things we established early was a mental health help site aimed at employees and helping them through the transition to home working. Looking after our people is hugely important but sometimes neglected during this crisis. The big rise in the use of digital GP’s is testament to how much things have changed.

CR - Our lawyers have been looking at pre-redundancy planning, at the alternatives to redundancy... shorter working weeks, shift working, trying to keep people in jobs rather than shedding jobs. It’s vital that all businesses know that there are other options available to them and every one should be investigated before starting the redundancy process.

The various business support measures introduced by the Chancellor – CBILS, Bounce Back, Furlough Scheme, etc – have been widely praised. How important were & are they?

Companies in Northern Ireland adapted quickly to the crisis situation. Was that something that impressed you?

CR - We were really impressed at how agile a lot of our client companies were, how quickly most of them adapted to home working and how creative they were able to be. People really stepped up to the challenge. It underlines the strength and resilience of the local economy. We are focused on producing a series of articles on ‘Re-Imagining Your Business’ in key areas over the next few months. DM - Ingenuity and inventiveness is part of the DNA of businesses here. We work with a lot of family businesses

CR - They were essential. A lot of businesses would be out of business now if it hadn’t been for those schemes. It’s as simple as that. Particularly the furlough scheme which has managed to help small businesses to re-open and keep a lot of employees in work. Now it will be about understanding the shape, style and extent of support by sector and region. But the furlough scheme is coming to an end over the coming months. How is this going to pan out? JK - Every business will have taken time during this period to review how it’s going to go forward. To be honest, I haven’t talked to any company that’s not thinking about redundancies in some shape or form.

Eye on SME Forum support will change shape over the coming months to sustain business and the economy going forward. None of us know how the virus will behave, but assuming that another mass lockdown can be avoided, how quickly can the economy be expected to recover? CR - I don’t think it’s going to be a speedy recovery. It will almost definitely be gradual. There are encouraging signs, the housing market for example. But we’ll feel the effects of this pandemic into next year and beyond. But Northern Ireland people and companies are resilient. Throw anything at them and they’ll respond positively, so why should this be any different?

and we’re always impressed by the success stories that we come across. We’re also resilient. Don’t forget that generations before us survived through challenge like world wars. We’ve come through lockdown and businesses have re-opened. But there’s a whole new set of challenges now, isn’t there? CR - It’s all about the return to work strategy. How do companies bring staff back safely? Some staff want to come back, others don’t. So it’s about balancing business requirements with staff needs, and that’s not easy. But the interaction in the office space and the creativity that’s generated can’t be under estimated.

JK - We’re starting to bring staff back from the start of September, but there’s a lot of planning that has to go into it. Some want to come back, others don’t for very good reasons. And we have to respect those reasons. But it’s important to get people back into the office to get a sales culture going again. A service culture can be maintained from home, a sales culture can’t. DM - We are working remotely with a small number of us back in the office. We’re fortunate to have plenty of space. As things stand, some people have a 3,000 sq ft office. Many companies will now have an extra layer of debt in the

shape of CBILS, Bounceback or other borrowings. What are the potential out workings of this? DM - The problem is that we’re heading into an unknown marketplace and it’s hard to forecast business performance, profitability and the ability to repay debt. JK - I think that the government schemes, including the loan schemes, have given companies the best chance of survival. But there is the view that it just pushes the debt problem down the road. CR - That’s true. Added to the loan repayments, a lot of companies have deferred other payments as well, VAT, for example, and mortgage holidays for individuals. I suspect the government

JK - I heard an economist making the point that many people had saved a lot of money during lockdown. Maybe it’s a factor to be considered. Against that, it’s almost certain that jobs will be lost as a direct result of this crisis. But we’ve all seen businesses pivoting during the crisis, and that’s another reason for hope. DM - I think that there are so many unknowns that it’s really hard to tell what shape any recovery will take. But I do think it’s about people. People will drive the recovery and maybe that’s something that should make us optimistic. Do you plan to continue the activities of the SME Support Forum for the foreseeable future? CR - Definitely. It may take a slightly different direction but we’re keen to keep the momentum going and to continue to provide practical support and guidance, particularly as government schemes come to an end. There will be significant challenges going forward. The collaboration between our three firms has been very successful and it’s worth remembering that, as business owners ourselves we’re not immune to any of this either. We’re at the coalface too. JK - The eye of the storm is passing now, we hope, so it will take on a new format. But I think it has been a very positive experience for ourselves and the companies we’ve been able to help. DM - The collaboration has been a very powerful one, but most importantly, we’ve been able to provide real help and give something back to the wider local economy.

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Eye on Business Education

Business In Technology Masters A Case Study In University Business Co-Working Ulster University Business School is introducing a new MSc Business In Technology programme, co-created with industry here in Northern Ireland and a prime example of industry/ academia co-operation to ensure the development of relevant skills. It’s the latest product of the university’s approach to responding to skill challenges locally and building educational programmes accordingly, particularly relevant in the post-Covid world of work. Richard Buckley talks to Professor Gillian Armstrong, Director of Business Engagement at UUBS, Management and Leadership Development Lecturer Helen McKenna and Claire McNally, Head of Capability & Development at PwC Operate.

lster University Business School’s Business Engagement Unit has two clear aims, according to Gillian Armstrong. One is to ensure continued stakeholder engagement and relevance within developments and activities. The other is to support businesses and employers here in Northern Ireland towards a sustainable future, providing long term value around areas such as workforce development. And the co-creation of the new Business in Technology Masters programme is an excellent example of both. “The recent OECD Skills Strategy

Northern Ireland Report 2020 notes that developing relevant skills and using them effectively is crucial for NI’s ability to thrive in an increasingly interconnected and rapidly changing world. The report recommends increased co-ordination in skills policy and enhanced stakeholder engagement throughout the policy cycle. Some of this thinking and need to ensure easy access to the Business School lay behind the focus of the unit,” she says. “In the last few months, the need for this approach and cultural shift has accelerated. What we thought were emerging trends six months ago have

either accelerated or dropped off the radar. A lot has changed. “The university as a whole is focused on strong stakeholder engagement but in the Business School that has to be clearly evident. We’ve gone a step further again with this programme. Helen is immersing herself in the professional and technology services sectors and Claire is immersing herself in academia...and it’s an approach that works for all involved.” Helen McKenna, an Ulster University lecturer with an industry and consultancy background, chairs the group responsible for planning

and bringing the new course to reality, and she’s worked closely alongside PwC’s Claire McNally to do just that. Claire works with Ulster University Business School as an Industry Curriculum Consultant. “Having employees with relevant skills is critical to high performing business,” says Claire McNally. “And businesses must continue to transform how they educate and develop their employees. Combining university credentials and teaching expertise with employer influenced curriculum content is very powerful. Businesses can enhance workforce capability and employee engagement whilst

Eye on Business Education

Stephen Spinelli, President at Babson College; Helen McKenna, UUBS Management and Leadership Development Lecturer, Claire McNally, Head of Capability & Development at PwC Operate; Ed Marram, Professor and Entrepreneur at Babson College.

delivering business value.” Helen McKenna says the challenge at the outset was to design an interdisciplinary programme that met the needs of industry and the rigorous requirements of an academic qualification. “Working in partnership helped us to do that. It’s helped me understand the industry perspective and Claire to be able to use the benefits of university education to drive skills development. So, right through the process, we’ve looked at how our new programme can be relevant to industry and how it can contribute fresh thinking / research insights and develop future of work skills.” Claire McNally adds that, as a capability professional within business, she’s challenged to upskill and develop employees efficiently and with minimum impact on productivity. “The university team understands that we need to upskill but with an eye on revenue and costs. It’s critical for us to invest in upskilling and cross skilling our people to build an agile workforce fit for the future. Having the university’s help to do that is invaluable for business here in Northern Ireland.” “The new programme has been developed on the back of a need expressed by the professional services and technology sectors,” says Professor Gillian Armstrong, “with a specific emphasis on Northern Ireland and the development of these priority sectors.” The idea for the new programme can be traced back to a local

business event back in May of 2019, when Claire McNally and Helen McKenna met and started to talk. “I explained our skills gaps and vision for the future,” says Claire. “Helen talked about the business engagement unit and the University’s vision.” A month later, the pair found themselves at Babson College in Boston, USA, discussing a potential programme and its content with Stephen Spinelli (President) and Ed Marram (Professor and Entrepreneur) and other academic staff there. It has been built around a triangle of business understanding, human insights and technical capability based around a vision of where the workforce should go from a skills perspective. “At postgraduate certificate level this is a qualification that will be relevant to a lot of our workforce, to enhance new and accredit existing skills” Claire McNally explains. “We also see opportunities to utilise these skills with and for professional services’ clients. So our view is that there will be a significant target audience. “When we move to the Masters, we’re focusing on those with a technology background who need a more thorough understanding of business in order to progress within their organisation. This programme’s development marks a further cementing of the relationship between PwC Operate and the University. Already jointly delivering the UK’s first MSc in Professional Services

Fig: Ulster University - MSc Business in Tecnology (MBT)

Operational Delivery, we are also scoping research and development opportunities together through the Belfast Region City Deal.” Helen McKenna explains that the programme was initially designed with the tech and professional services sectors in mind, but it’s applicable to other sectors that are tech-led or engaging in transformation and innovation. The Covid situation, if anything, has accelerated the use of tech-led solutions. There’s a clear trend in management backing up their approach. More and more CTOs, it seems, are becoming CEOs. And this new programme will support this shift in workforce dynamics. The Masters programme is due to start in January of next year and it’s already attracted the attention of government. The Department for the Economy has decided to fund 100 places on the Postgraduate Certificate level (which starts in September) to help reskill those affected by Covid. “It’s a significant endorsement and vote of confidence for the new programme,” says Professor Armstrong. The new programme is the latest example of business here working directly with the academic sector. “I think we’ll see a lot more where this came from,” Gillian Armstrong adds. “In a lot of ways, it’s essential for the effective design of programmes aimed at developing relevant skills in the right places. This is best practice.” “We have an Integrated Curriculum Design Framework in place and crucial to that is the premise that we work closely with stakeholders,” adds Helen McKenna. “Their input

is critical to the development of programmes and that kind of co-working is going to grow and develop over the coming years. It’s not a concept we pay lip service to. It’s how we work.” Claire McNally adds that the increasingly close business university links mean that students get much more focused learning with valuable qualifications and businesses get a tangible return on their investment. “When you get both parties together, you get the significant programme innovation,” says Gillian Armstrong. “If we had based ourselves within the university and tried to develop this on our own, it wouldn’t have worked to the same impact. “Close university business links are the direction of travel and government is highly supportive of this joined up approach, whilst ensuring skills are central to economic recovery. We work hard to be responsive and to have an open door policy. It’s not necessarily the norm, but it is a win win scenario and will increasingly work well for Northern Ireland as a region.” Developed in close partnership with PwC for priority sectors, the new MSc Business In Technology programme is highly relevant to organisations engaging with technology led business transformation and innovation.

To find out more information about the course contact Helen Mc Kenna by email at h.mckenna@ulster.ac.uk

Eye on Law

DWF Belfast Executive Partner Ken Rutherford

Eye on Law

DWF - Global Legal Business With A Northern Ireland Pedigree DWF Belfast is a little unique amongst the ranks of Belfast law firms. Founded way back in 1898, it was part of the fabric of business life in the city as C&H Jefferson right up until four years ago.

“B

ack then, we started to look around for merger opportunities, the DWF opportunity came up and we didn’t have to think twice about it,” says DWF Belfast Executive Partner Ken Rutherford. DWF is a multinational legal business with 31 offices worldwide. In March 2019, the business was listed on the London Stock Exchange with a £366 million valuation and ranks as the UK’s largest listed law firm. Around 26% of the firm is now held by investors with the remaining shareholding retained. The business started life in the 1970’s as a small legal practice in the North West of England, expanded initially to other UK cities and since then it has grown globally through a series of international mergers. It has a current head count internationally of close to 4,000 staff. The head office remains in Manchester but DWF has an impressive showcase office base in the so-called ‘Walkie Talkie’ building at Fenchurch Street in the city of London. From its Queen Street base in Belfast, DWF’s 95 strong team concentrates on commercial and

insurance work alongside a range of connected and managed services and works across a wide range of sectors including insurance, banking and finance, retail, food & hospitality, real estate, technology, construction and transport. “Our key clients include a number of the leading accountancy practices, banks, property developers, retailers and construction companies,” says Ken Rutherford. “We do a lot of our work for large institutions, insurance companies and corporates such as BT. “We’ve also built up and retained a number of specialist practice areas through the years. One of those is industrial disease, a speciality built up through experience in a city once dominated by employers like Harland & Wolff, Shorts, Mackies and Gallaher. Shorts remain a client today.” Like every law firm in Belfast, DWF faced a wholesale change in the way it works with the onset of the Covid-19 crisis. “Before Covid, only our partners had the capability to work remotely,,” adds Ken. “But we adapted immediately when the crisis hit and we had everyone – juniors,

“As furlough comes to an end, I think we will see a lot of claims from aggrieved employees. And, with employment tribunals currently working on a much-reduced capacity, there is a real risk of backlogs developing pretty quickly.”

paralegals and support staff – operational from home really quickly. “It was particularly pleasing that we did not furlough any of our staff and were able to continue providing legal advice and valuable support to our clients throughout the lockdown period.” Now that lockdown is hopefully in the past, Ken Rutherford sees a slow but steady recovery ahead, adding that any further lockdown would be an economic disaster. It’s a view shared by everyone in business in Northern Ireland. “There are huge challenges for business going forward,” he says. “There’s the whole question of the furlough scheme coming to an end during September and October and what the outworkings of that will be. “We’ve been fielding client questions for some time now around the cost and legal implications of redundancies, as well as the many health and safety obligations companies face as they try to return to office working. “As furlough comes to an end, I think we will see a lot of claims from aggrieved employees. And, with employment tribunals currently working on a much-reduced capacity, there is a real risk of backlogs developing pretty quickly.” DWF’s Belfast office has a strong focus on retail clients, ranging from locally-based Menarys – based largely in out of town shopping centres – through to retail big names like Debenham’s, Homebase, Lidl and Iceland. It’s also been active alongside organisations like Retail NI, organising events and seminars and – during the current crisis – helping retailers and retail organisations to understand the new rules and regulations from a legal standpoint. “There is a lot for companies to get their heads around in sectors

like retail and hospitality. And it’s an area where we’ve seen our role inevitably change too.” Moving to real estate and construction, Ken Rutherford says that DWF’s lawyers have been active and expect to be busy in the wake of the Covid lockdown as commercial property requirements change and construction companies work to get back to some level of normality. “Immediately prior to lockdown we advised Michael Herbert on the sale of 150 KFC restaurants, which was a fantastic deal, but we’ve seen the real estate sector hold its own since and our team has been very active during lockdown.” And, while it might not be something some of us want to hear, the DWF Executive Partner expects to see insolvency work back on the legal agenda in the not too distant future. “Government and banks are reluctant to chase down debt just at the moment, but banks are businesses and there will come a time when they will have to do just that. So I think it’s inevitable that we will be seeing casualties.” DWF has around half of its staff back working from its city centre offices, but on a flexible basis. “Our number one priority has to be the welfare of our staff,” says Ken Rutherford. “There might be some for whom coming back to the office isn’t easy, but there are others for whom working from home, perhaps alone in an apartment, was a major mental health challenge.” Ken Rutherford sees DWF as a global legal business operating locally from Belfast. “We take the opportunity when we can to sell Belfast to our network and to the clients of the business internationally,” he says.

Eye on Finance

Colm McMullan New Director of Tax at Harbinson Mulholland County Antrim man Colm McMullan ranks as one of Harbinson Mulholland’s longer serving team members having clocked up more than 16 years with the Belfast firm since graduating from Queen’s University. Most of that time, following on from his period as a trainee accountant, has been spent as a tax specialist.

ut Colm has also had first-hand experience away from the accountant’s desk and at the coal face of business. He spent eighteen months on secondment at a local telecoms start-up company, Omiino Limited, doing everything from preparing management accounts and projections for funding rounds through to research & development tax claims and working with venture capital investors. “I was also closely involved in the due diligence process when the company was acquired by a Nasdaq-listed firm from Silicon Valley,” he says. “It was fascinating for me to see a deal like that progressing from a very direct point of view, not that of an adviser.” Back at base with Harbinson Mulholland, Colm has been appointed as the firm’s Director of Tax, heading up a dedicated tax team looking after a wide range of client requirements from Harbinson Mulholland’s base at the CentrePoint Building on Belfast’s Ormeau Avenue. “In essence, we advise on the tax implications of a range of different transactions such as due diligence and restructuring assignments, but we also look after the bread and butter annual tax compliance cycle

for our clients. We work closely with HMRC and, increasingly over recent times, we’ve been advising clients on the range of measures of support introduced by HMRC to help businesses through the current Covid19 crisis. The Job Retention Scheme, in particular, has been a lifeline to many businesses and we have been helping clients with the intricacies of the scheme and also in preparing their claims under the scheme.” As part of this Colm has also presented an online webinar to almost 100 pharmacy owners which focussed on the Job Retention Scheme and how it applied to that particular sector. “In addition, the new Future Fund which was launched to support the knowledge economy is something which is great to see. Our local companies in this sector punch well above their weight and I’m glad to see that they have not been forgotten about during the current crisis.” The regulatory regime around tax grows more complex all the time, Colm observes. That’s despite the best efforts of government and HMRC to make it more user friendly. “Making Tax Digital is a case in point,” he says. “It will ultimately make things easier and paperless, but it led to a

lot of extra work for us as we had to walk clients through the process and, in many cases, manage it on their behalf.” Harbinson Mulholland is an accountancy and advisory firm with a strong focus on family businesses, but Colm says that the client base is a mixed bag. “We work with a number of larger organisations but the majority are family-owned enterprises, where key issues can be around succession and the tax management implications of that. “We have high-growth tech start-ups on our books and these are companies with different priorities, but that kind of variety is what the job is all about. We have to be able to apply our knowledge and skills across the board.”

with an individual or maybe with both,” he says. “Either way, we work hard to keep close to our clients. If we maintain really high levels of service, the rest will come naturally.” Outside of the office, Colm is married to Christine and they have 2 young boys. He is a Manchester United fan and enjoys watching them on TV with his boys. He also enjoys running and has completed several marathons in the last few years – in fact he’s one of several runners in the HM Team who are in friendly competition with each other”

“The new Future Fund which was launched to support the knowledge economy is something which is great to see. Our local companies in this sector punch well above their weight and I’m glad to see that they have not been forgotten about during the current crisis.”

Colm and his tax team also work with a portfolio of personal tax clients, many of them in the high net worth bracket. “It’s all about relationships whether the relationship is with a corporate entity,

Eye on Hospitality

NIHF Confirms Impact Of Covid-19 On Hospitality Sector an average room rate of £78.13. As predicted, rural locations have led the way with stronger performances reported in Fermanagh, the North Coast and the Mournes. Derry-Londonderry came in at 31.9%, with Belfast recording a 21.4% occupancy level. It is important to note that not all properties were open for the full month. Room rates have fallen but not to bargain basement levels and are strengthening as the summer progresses. Belfast, as expected, remains particularly fragile. However, data for the first two weeks in August shows stronger weekend trading and a better weekday position. Occupancy levels for the city in this period have risen to 55.9%, a much-welcomed improvement which is evident throughout Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland Hotels Federation (NIHF) CEO Janice Gault.

As part of unlocking the local economy, hotels in Northern Ireland were permitted to reopen on the 3rd July 2020. After a sluggish start, the Northern Ireland Hotels Federation (NIHF) can report that 85% of the region’s rooms are now open and ready to welcome guests.

here have been some changes with many properties operating on a shorter week basis to adhere to social distancing measures. Other notable changes include the limiting of room inventory to mitigate the risk of COVID-19. The Federation lobbied long and hard for an opening date and once this was given, businesses took measures to ensure they could open

safely and securely. It’s difficult to imagine the extent of the challenge of opening an entire sector with limited bookings and no blueprint for trading during a pandemic. Performance figures released by STR, the independent benchmarking company for the sector, give a snapshot of how the local hotel sector is performing. Occupancy in July was at 24.9% on a Northern Ireland wide basis with

are down with a staggering 53% drop in occupancy. There are fears of local closures as clusters emerge and the threat of a second wave. This, coupled with a limited geographical base from which to attract business, is greatly exercising the minds of hoteliers throughout Northern Ireland. Furlough support comes to an end on the 31st of October and this is very much seen as a cliff edge for the industry. Having invested in the region of £600m over the last five years it would be a shame to see this go to waste. It is hoped that some targeted support can be given to the tourism sector by the Treasury on a national basis and that additional measures will be explored by the Northern Ireland Executive. Hoteliers would like to see the reduced 5% VAT reduction

“Tourism Northern Ireland has been running multi-platform promotional campaigns north and south. The continuation of this activity is vital as it keeps Northern Ireland front of mind when the domestic visitor is considering short break options.” These figures highlight the perilous situation the sector finds itself in given that the same period last year saw an occupancy level of 87.9%. On a positive note, there has been a significant increase in visitors from south of the border and the outlook for the remainder of August looks better. Tourism Northern Ireland has been running multi-platform promotional campaigns north and south. The continuation of this activity is vital as it keeps Northern Ireland front of mind when the domestic visitor is considering short break options. It is only when you look at the year to date figures that you see the stark truth laid bare - all metrics

remain, a reduction in business rates for the coming year and support for staff over the winter. There is little doubt that the winter will be tough. In 2019, Tourism spend was in the region of £1bn and the industry consensus is that the sector would be exceptionally lucky to reach half of this. Hotels are experiencing a difficult task of balancing increased costs, along with health and safety issues, with the desire to trade and return to some level of viable business. However, the industry is open, and hoteliers are trading albeit at a reduced level and are keen to contribute to the economy in a positive way.

Eye on News

A ‘Bolder Vision’ for Belfast Belfast City Council and Executive Ministers have given their backing to an ambitious blueprint to explore a shared approach to creating a more attractive, accessible, safe and vibrant city centre.

he ‘Bolder Vision’ document - which follows a joint study by Belfast City Council, Department for Infrastructure and Department for Communities – outlines a progressive and wide-reaching vision to significantly reimagine Belfast city centre with the focus moving to a greener, walkable and connected core that is more people and family-focussed. Lord Mayor Alderman Frank McCoubrey said: “A ‘Bolder Vision’ looks at ways of reimagining the city’s heart and key connections to local communities, where streets and open spaces are designed to meet the changing needs of a diverse range of users - as well as supporting existing businesses and encouraging inclusive growth. “As the city begins its recovery postCovid, and with the challenges that will remain in the coming months as we continue to deal with the current pandemic, there is renewed emphasis on how we use our city centre spaces safely, allowing for social distancing. “But even before this pandemic, cities across the UK and Europe have been examining how they diversify their city centres to ensure long term resilience and well-being for all, as we respond to the urgent need to create a more sustainable, climateresilient city to address issues around

flooding, congestion and air quality.” Alderman McCoubrey added: “This is a bold vision, and it is not without its challenges, but we need to show collective leadership if we are to deliver the objectives of the Belfast Agenda, while also supporting businesses and inclusive growth, and creating an attractive, accessible and vibrant city centre. “That means looking at every user’s needs, and sometimes those are competing needs; so it’s absolutely vital that we consider the findings of this study and start to develop a comprehensive and informed consultation process to establish the requirements of our residents and businesses, and to drive transformation to create a progressive, forward thinking city. “I’m pleased that there has already been some progress in this area with a number of trials and pilot projects already in motion, and it is fantastic to have the support of the Infrastructure Minister and Communities Minister to take forward our ‘Bolder Vision’ for the city.” Minister for Infrastructure, Nichola Mallon has said: “My department is committed to supporting local communities and councils across Northern Ireland to achieve a Green Recovery creating city and town centres which are cleaner, healthier,

and more attractive places for people to live and work and rest. A Bolder Belfast brings an exciting vision which combines elements of active travel, connectivity, place-making and investing in our waterways and green spaces to show how we can mirror the urban revolutions we are seeing in cities across the world. Minister Mallon added: “This work on improving connectivity in Belfast was always important. But it has taken on a new relevance and urgency as departments and the Council are planning how they will work together with all civic stakeholders to recover from COVID-19 and build a cleaner, greener, stronger and more resilient city. “It is increasingly imperative that we collaborate to agree how we can transform the heart of Belfast to create sustainable, attractive, liveable places where people and businesses thrive. I believe that this Vision is a blueprint for moving forward which will support many mechanisms of Green Recovery that we are currently exploring and already starting to deliver.” Communities Minister Carál Ní Chuilín said: “Our aspirations for the City Centre predate coronavirus and reflects the changes in the way people shop and the way that communities want to use their town and city centres. My Department is committed to supporting the adaption to these changes and I endorse the ‘Bolder Vision’ published today as a significant step towards that goal. The ‘Bolder Vision’ will be used to inform the projects we are taking forward in the city centre and I look forward to working with city partners as we take the next steps in this joint venture. “Whilst our aims remains one of

encouraging vibrant and authentic town centres where people live, shop, use services, and spend their leisure time, there is no denying that the City Centre businesses have been hit particularly hard by the coronavirus crisis and the road to recovery presents a particular challenge that we must address. My Department continues to support them through this difficult time and my recent announcement of an investment of over £1.3m in Belfast City centre as part of the £11m Capital Covid-19 Recovery Revitalisation Scheme is just one example of how I am supporting towns and city centres in their economic recovery from the impacts of Covid-19.” The vision sets out four key goals - by 2035 Belfast will be: t B IFBMUIZ TIBSFE WJCSBOU BOE sustainable environment, where people of all ages will choose to live, work and visit; t B DJUZ UIBU QSJPSJUJTFT XBMLJOH cycling and public transport; t MJWFMZ BOE TBGF XJUI HSFFO TUSFFUT that celebrate our built heritage with new leisure spaces and a variety of cultural activities; t B DJUZ XJUI CBSSJFST UP NPWFNFOU removed, ensuring that communities across the city are well connected to the city core with the River Lagan a key focus with multiple crossing points and activities along its banks. The next phase of the joint work with DfI and DfC will be to develop an action plan and delivery options which will help inform further discussions with key city partners and stakeholders before going out to public consultation later this year.

Eye on News

CBRE APPOINTED LETTING AGENT ON OLYMPIC HOUSE

Belfast Harbour and Titanic Quarter, who are co-promoting Olympic House, have appointed CBRE, the largest Real Estate broker in the world, as the letting agent for the significant development which is set to create 150,000 sq ft of new Grade ‘A’ offices in the city.

he appointment of CBRE, who have a wide ranging network of contacts, will be able to align potential tenants with sectors aligned with Invest NI’s strategy. Construction work on Olympic House began in May 2020 and, on completion, the offices will facilitate 1,500 jobs in a modern, efficient and sustainable working environment. The development occupies a prominent position within Belfast Harbour Estate, located in Belfast’s iconic Titanic Quarter alongside a diverse portfolio of neighbours including Belfast Metropolitan College, Citi Group, the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), Catalyst, and the area’s leading tourist attraction, Titanic Belfast. Olympic House will be a Grade ‘A’ office building comprising two linked blocks of six and seven storeys including a feature atrium providing high levels of daylight. The flexibility of the design enables the building to be let on a floor-by-floor or blockby-block basis to suit occupier requirements. The building will also offer basement bicycle and car parking and the location benefits from excellent public and sustainable transport connections.

David Wright, Director at CBRE, said: “With construction underway on Olympic House, it sends a clear message that there is confidence in the resilience of the Belfast office market in the face of the challenges of this year. We are seeing a growing focus from tenants on features which promote health and wellness and with ample, flexible space to allow social distancing and back of house facilities such as bicycle parking spaces and showering facilities, Olympic House responds well to these requirements. Belfast is a very walkable city and there is a real sense of community in the Titanic Quarter area.” Jonathan Hegan, chairman of OH Office Developments, said: “We are pleased to appoint CBRE as our letting agent on Olympic House. This development will be one of the most modern office buildings in the city, offering accommodation which will support both growing indigenous businesses and new market entrants. Keeping our construction sector moving is more important than ever and work is already progressing well on site. We will continue to work with key partners to support the NI economy to ‘Build Back Better’ from the pandemic crisis.” “Titanic Quarter is one of Europe’s first developments to deliver an Open Access Carrier Neutral Network with fibre direct to every occupant. This network is future proofed, enhances resilience, facilitates service concurrency and

encourages service innovation for the benefit of users. Belfast also has a highly skilled, young and dynamic workforce who have proven to be a great asset for many FDI companies who have already set up successful hubs in the city. We anticipate interest in Olympic House from fintech, cyber security and legal sector companies.”

For more information please visit: www.olympichousebelfast.com

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Designed especially for leaders who are setting off on their personal leadership journey and provides a solid leadership framework to build leadership capability on.

This highly immersive programme shapes and develops leaders currently in a managerial or leadership role. Refine leadership skills, cultivate greater self awareness and build a high performance mindset.

Build your business knowledge with MBA focused leadership skills and gain a firm understanding of the core elements of business – leadership, strategy, finance, markets and people.

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Learn from the experts and fine tune your negotiation skills. Discover insights into your own personal negotiation style and learn to negotiate and influence with impact.

This two day virtual workshop is designed to give a clear and concise insight into financial information, regardless of previous experience.

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Visit our website for the latest availability, dates and fees: www.leadershipinstitute.co.uk or contact us on: 028 9097 4394 or e-mail: leadershipinstitute@qub.ac.uk

Eye on Commercial Property

The future of the office here – the same old routine or the beginning of innovative ways of working? By Gareth Planck, Partner, Real Estate at Eversheds Sutherland in Belfast

The global pandemic has reshaped how we go about much of our lives. It has of course, also reshaped how many of us work on a day-to-day basis.

itchen tables and spare bedrooms have become make-shift offices where endless meetings are conducted over Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Despite the challenges, the adoption of technology to meet business needs, has been seamless. For some, the concept of remote working is attractive, but it does not work for everyone. Despite this, questions are increasingly being asked about the future of the workplace and the possible death of the traditional office. The relationship with offices will be different right across Northern Ireland, however, the idea that offices, which have endured the test of time will all of a sudden ‘die out’ seems wide off the mark. In fact, over the past number month, we have closed on two significant Belfast City Centre office deals which gives good reason to be optimistic about the market. Rather it seems, the birth of blended offices which combines the virtual and physical workplaces into a single network made up of a fluid mix of people, working between the two may be the direction of travel. Indeed, recent surveys have shown a demand for a new hybrid way of working. For younger professionals especially, the return of the social benefits associated with office life which are hampered by remote working will

be welcome. From our own business perspective, we have recently acquired our own new space in the heart of Belfast City Centre and genuinely believe that the modern office is central to team spirit and ultimately the success of our business. I suspect that this will be a view that is shared by many others. There are other benefits too. The reality is that office life allows us to work collaboratively and creatively together to get things done efficiently, brainstorm ideas around a table, and most importantly learn from colleagues around us. A well designed and modern office space will remain an efficient machine for getting things done. This would explain why deals in Northern Ireland are still progressing despite lockdown. That being said, the pandemic has shone a bright spotlight on

the possible and the endless opportunities that technology offers. The relative success of remote working over the past number of months can be capitalised on in a way that works for both employers and employees. The associated benefits of potentially higher productivity rates, less time spent commuting to and from work, and of course, a reduced financial spend on office overheads makes a shift to the blended method, very attractive. The serviced office sector has an important role to play here. Astute landlords will change their products to meet the evolving demand and we are certainly seeing that in Northern Ireland. Scottish Provident Building is a wonderful example of creative innovation in this sector where a tenant can secure a “global deal” on space, rent and services with

the flexibility to change in line with changes to a tenant’s business. The provision of flexible, good quality serviced office space has an obvious place in a more cost-aware, blended, and dispersed office world. However, a shift in this direction will be by evolution and not revolution. Currently, the focus for most businesses is simply on survival and the future of day-to-day working will be low on the agenda. That being said, the building blocks are now in place and the potential for a reimagined working environment is certainly possible, if not expected. In the coming years, it be interesting to observe the growth in the blended office model across the various sectors. What started out as the normal working environment may soon become a distant memory for many.

For when business success needs admin support

Eye Moving On 1 Deloitte has appointed Ian Kelsall as its new Audit Partner in Belfast. Ian joins a team of 6 partners and over 1,000 staff in Belfast. Ian joins the Belfast office from Deloitte’s Newcastle office, where he worked in its audit practice serving a diverse portfolio of clients of all sizes. As part of his transition to Belfast, Ian has spent the last 6 months in Deloitte’s Dublin office working with some of the firm’s Irish clients. He will lead the audit practice in Belfast which services some of Northern Ireland’s best-known companies, from family owned business to Top 100 firms and stock market listed entities.

1 Ian Kelsall

2 Nico Fell

R&D Tax Credit specialists, The Momentum Group, 2 has appointed Nico Fell as Head of Marketing. Nico brings a wealth of expertise to the role with over 20 years’ experience in marketing, digital and brand work across agencies and organisations in both the private and public sectors. Having been responsible for clients such as Bank of Ireland, Tourism NI, Diageo and Invest NI, as well as overseeing the rollout of the recent Ulster University brand refresh, he has an acute understanding of the current landscape both in Northern Ireland and beyond. 3 Law firm TLT has appointed Jason Byrne to its specialist litigation and restructuring and insolvency teams in Belfast. Byrne was previously head of Shoosmiths in NI. His appointment reflects growing demand from TLT’s clients for a high standard of specialist and dedicated insolvency and litigation support. He brings almost two decades of experience in insolvency and litigation to TLT, as well as financial services compliance and regulation.

3 Jason Byrne

4 Marv van Niekerk

4 Marv van Niekerk joins Flowlens as Head of Operations and Customer Success. Business transformation has been central to Marv’s work over the last decade, with previous roles as Project Manager at chartered accountants and business advisors, Haines Watts, as well as Chief Financial Officer and Operations & Finance Director at software solutions provider to the property sector, GoReport. Marv’s earlier career began in South Africa, where he spent several years as an accountant in Cape Town, before taking on roles in process migration, business growth and finance across Europe. 5 Donna Daniels has been appointed Operations Director at Urban HQ, Belfast’s newest flexible workspace offering based in Eagle Star House. Donna will be responsible for all operational activity at Urban HQ ensuring consistency and excellence for member organisations on site. With over 16 years’ experience in the flexible workspace and hospitality sectors, Donna will be the first point of contact for members at Urban HQ when it opens later this year. Belfast based accountancy and business advisory firm, Baker Tilly Mooney Moore, has announced 6 the promotion of Thomas Redpath to Audit Director. Thomas, who joined the team in 2008, is responsible for group consolidation and bespoke financial reporting for clients in NI, ROI and GB and delivers international projects in collaboration with other Baker Tilly International network firms.

5 Donna Daniels

6 Thomas Redpath

Eye on Events

NIAVAC

PIONEERING A NEW WAY OF WORKING

When the Covid-19 crisis struck, Northern Ireland’s active events industry was left staring into the abyss. Even now, with lockdown a thing of the past, an industry which supports thousands of jobs and brings millions of pounds into the local economy is unsure of its future.

mall-scale business events may get the green light fairly soon, but larger scale events may not happen between now and the end of the year. For one of the leading suppliers of audio-visual solutions, the answer lay in innovation. James Conlon, Managing Director of NIAVAC, takes up the story. “There’s no doubt that the pandemic had a very serious impact on our business with live events cancelled, perhaps for the rest of the year,” he says. “But we didn’t just roll over into some sort of furlough coma. We quickly

began to think about how we could re-invent what we did.” The spark that lit a flame was a simple request from a NIAVAC customer to use the firm’s 12,000 sq.ft. showroom at Prince

Regent Road in East Belfast for a Zoom call that he wanted to look as professional as possible. “We came up with the idea of converting one of our large showrooms into a full-functioning

Eye on Events As local companies have been returning to their office environments, NIAVAC has noticed an increase in enquiries for the installation of temporary or permanent video conferencing facilities in board rooms and training rooms. “I think it’s inevitable that some people will be reluctant to travel on business for some time, so it’s no surprise that we’re seeing a real spike in demand for professional in-house video conferencing,” James Conlon adds. “We can design and install ‘one-touch’ solutions that can fit within respective budgets but provide a resilient and professional solution.

Superb facility for socially distanced meetings, virtual conferences and any form of live streaming. Very innovative approach to our current difficulties. Noel Brady NB1

hybrid studio, integrating our live event technology to suit video conferencing platforms. Our IT and audio visual technology includes a giant LED wall giving a dramatic background and a multicamera setup with record, edit and playout capability. It meant that we had an exciting product to offer organisations who had to take their events into the virtual sphere,” James explains. “Lockdown has made everyone more comfortable with taking part in and speaking at virtual events and we’ve been able to host some very prestigious and successful ones over the past couple of months, with a small number of participants working from our virtual studio and everyone else joining in on Zoom or one of the other platforms.” NIAVAC’s Castlereagh base has played host from the recent New York: New Belfast conference organised by Aisling Events, to Beltech 2020 alongside both Kainos and Aisling Events and most recently an event organised by Belfast Chamber of Trade and Ardmore Advertising. “If participants do base

themselves here, we’re fully compliant with all of the Governments Covid-19 health and safety regulations, from a one-way system in and out of the building through to social distancing and the ready availability of hand sanitisers.”

“I think it’s inevitable that some people will be reluctant to travel on business for some time, so it’s no surprise that we’re seeing a real spike in demand for professional in-house video conferencing.”

NIAVAC not only showed us the way through the crisis but walked with us every step of the way to ensure we delivered the eleventh annual New York-New Belfast conference to acclaim. Máirtín O’Muilleoir, Aisling Events

Eye on Tax

No better time for cut in Corporation Tax

By Alan Dunlop Chairperson, NI Conservatives

It’s creeping back onto the political agenda. In places where key economic decisions are made in Whitehall, mandarins are once again turning their attention to Corporation Tax.

uietly, very quietly, Treasury officials have been asked to do the numbers on the transfer of Corporation Tax powers to the devolved institutions at Stormont. Currently, Corporation Tax is fixed at 19% which is 6.5% higher than the rate in the Republic of Ireland. You don’t have to be an economist to work out that this places Northern Ireland at a tax disadvantage that delays recovery and gives us a heavy handicap in the drive to attract international inward investment. Two things have to be factored into government thinking as it mulls over the matter. First of all, and most crucially, will the Northern Ireland Executive agree to the measure which could lop tens of millions off the budget? Secondly, if the power was devolved to Belfast, what rate would be executive set? In the recent past, there was a reluctance in the Department of Finance to commit to a bill that could be close to £100 million. Naturally conservative voices in the department didn’t like the idea of taking a punt on something that offered indefinable and unquantifiable benefits. Gambling is anathema even if the department’s stewardship of taxpayer money during the recent past was anything but exemplary. RHI is a case in point! For an outlay of this magnitude, we have to believe the benefits through increased employment, new and innovative manufacturing and increased exports will yield a five to ten-fold benefit that will more than justify the gamble or,

should I say, strategic investment. Obviously, the rate that would be set would determine the cost to the Northern Ireland block Grant. Shaving two or three percent off the national topline would have little effect. To deliver maximum impact, the rate cut would have to be below 12.5% that is currently in force across the border. Personally, I would argue for 10% to undercut our near neighbour and give Invest NI a fighting chance when it chases scarce overseas projects. Globally, the pandemic has battered economies of all sizes. No First World or developing economy has been left unscathed. Rebuilding economies will be

the priority. Competition will be fierce for potential investment opportunities. Companies eyeing an overseas base will have to deal with opposition from their home nation keen to husband and protect what it has and be the focus of intense wooing by international investment agencies. And that’s where our Corporation Tax rate comes into play. Too high, and multi-nationals will naturally opt for more favourable taxation regimes. In these difficult times, fortune will favour the brave. We simply cannot sit on our hands expecting the UK Government to continue its financial drip-feed. We have to think

differently, behave differently and rediscover our once-great can-do attitude to forge a new path in this new world order. While we’re at it, why not consider going the extra mile by transforming Northern Ireland into a Free Port zone. We want to attract the world’s best, learn from their innovation and creativity and create a new generation of doers and achievers. Reduced Corporation Tax coupled with ground-breaking Free Port status would give us the edge we need. We must have the confidence to jostle, but before we enter the ring to compete for the prize, we will have to have the tools to do the job.

Eye on Media

TV Bonanza...

Streaming Services The Winner During Lockdown

People in Northern Ireland spent nearly five hours a day watching TV during lockdown with huge numbers signing up to streaming services, according to Ofcom

f anyone prospered from the recent lockdown, it was streaming giants Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney. Figures from Ofcom, the media and communications regulator, found an estimated 12 million UK adults signed up to a new video streaming service during lockdown, of whom around 3 million had never subscribed to one before. Disney+, which launched on the first day of the UK’s lockdown, made an immediate impact. The new service attracted 16% of online adults by early July across the UK, surpassing NOW TV (10%) to become the third most-popular subscription streaming service behind Netflix (45%) and Amazon Prime Video (39%). And our adoption of streaming services appears likely to continue after lockdown. The overwhelming majority of online adults signed up to Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ said they plan to keep their subscriptions in the months ahead The rise of these global streaming

services has been a dominant feature of recent Ofcom reports with lockdown accelerating take-up further. But there was some encouraging news for “traditional broadcasters” too according to Ofcom’s Media Nations Northern Ireland 2020 report, which this year paid special attention to our viewing habits during the recent Covid period. It shows there was a surge in TV and streaming viewing during lockdown. As people across Northern Ireland followed advice to stay home during April 2020,

they kept themselves informed and entertained by spending 4 hours and 53 minutes each day on average – or 34 hours a week – watching broadcast TV, online video content and gaming – nearly a third (31%) more than last year. The lockdown saw people in Northern Ireland spending significantly more time (+78%) watching video-on-demand services such as Netflix, Disney+, YouTube and other non-broadcast content – an hour and 18 minutes per day on average in April 2020. However broadcast TV viewing retained the largest share of daily time spent with the TV during lockdown – reaching an average of 3 hours and 27 minutes in April 2020 (+19% compared with 2019). When lockdown was announced

towards the end of March, average daily viewing of broadcast television peaked at 3 hours 42 minutes in Northern Ireland, driven by demand for the latest news on the pandemic. TV and radio services from traditional broadcasters like the BBC and UTV were the most-used sources of news for people in Northern Ireland some way ahead of social media, as viewers turned to trusted sources for news about the pandemic. But the boost to these public service broadcasters (PSBs) during lockdown was short-lived, as the pandemic interrupted production of soaps, major sporting events and entertainment shows with viewing figures tailing off in May and June. The outlook for commercial PSBs is especially tough, as they manage cost-cutting measures amid financial uncertainty. Across the UK, their cumulative revenues declined by 3.5% in 2019 to £2.2bn, and TV advertising revenues are expected to fall 17-19% in 2020. Jonathan Rose, Ofcom Northern Ireland Director, said: “Lockdown led to a huge rise in viewing to TV, streaming and online video. “The public looked to broadcasters to keep them updated on news about the pandemic and entertained as the lockdown kicked in. Viewing figures for April especially underlined what a key role all broadcasters played during that time. “But traditional broadcasters face a tough advertising market, production challenges and financial uncertainty. So they need to keep demonstrating that value in the face of intense competition from streaming services.”

Ofcom’s annual Media Nations Northern Ireland report 2020 looks at key trends in TV, streaming and radio and is available on the Ofcom website: Ofcom.org.uk.

Eye on Young Enterprise

Back to School, Back to Business Imagine this - age 17 you make your first pitch in the imposing Invest NI Boardroom to a panel of business dragons including Bill Wolsey, who says he’d hire you tomorrow based on your pitch.

r selling in Foyleside shopping centre and meeting John Healy of Allstate who spends time talking with you about how you came up with your product idea tells you how impressed he is with your creative skills. These experiences can form a young person and give

a significant boost to their selfconfidence as they learn to apply their skills in workplace scenarios. These business experiences, provided by Young Enterprise NI are real, and give young people the opportunity to meet and work with business people from across NI. Over 900 volunteers

from large and small businesses support the charity, giving time and financial support to ensure local young people get experiences of work and get to apply the skills they need for the future. The culture of business supporting enterprise education is strong as CEO Carol Fitzsimons

MBE explains, “Businesses in NI are keen to support students in their education to learn about the world of work through activities such as Young Enterprise. We see this supported from the top of the businesses with busy senior executives giving their time to judge our events, and this supports

Eye on Young Enterprise

an internal culture of volunteering in the classroom. Whilst the year ahead may look different in school, we have already had volunteers getting involved digitally during the pandemic, giving their time to mentor students over Zoom. Even during a time that has been hugely challenging for us all, they understand the importance of giving these students their guidance of how they can develop their skills to be successful in the new workplace.“ Businesses during the pandemic have needed staff to adapt and learn new ways of working. The skills employers have needed are creativity, resilience, problemsolving and being able to respond to some of the greatest challenges their business has ever seen. These are the skills they will be looking for in new recruits and Young Enterprise wants to ensure

“The stories students hear this year will be of resilience and how businesses have adapted to survive and sometimes thrive during the pandemic, and what an important lesson for them to hear.”

that regardless of what the educational environment looks like this year that students continue to get those experiences of work. The voice of business in the classroom will be more important than ever this year when it is likely that work experience won’t take place in the same way and that the shape of business has changed forever. Recently Bank of Ireland have committed to supporting the Young Enterprise ‘Young Money’ financial education initiative. Staff

from branches usually volunteer time in the classroom to increase student awareness of how they manage money on an everyday basis as part of the programme. In the year ahead this will move to support via a digital learning platform including volunteer videos and e-learning. Bank of Ireland’s Ian Sheppard said: “At Bank of Ireland we are passionate about promoting responsible money management and are delighted to be involved in a scheme that will help young people develop

these skills from an early age. “We will help to do this by sharing our knowledge on key financial issues, engaging our staff directly in schools and providing support for a number of financial capability programmes throughout Northern Ireland.” The voice of business in the classroom allows young people to understand the application of the skills that they learn in a real-life environment. The stories students hear this year will be of resilience and how businesses have adapted to survive and sometimes thrive during the pandemic, and what an important lesson for them to hear.

To get involved contact info@yeni.co.uk

Eye on News

Rainbow Communications Marks A Decade At The Top For Mobile Growth

Northern Ireland’s largest independent telecoms company, Rainbow Communications, is this week celebrating a full 10 years of growth delivering mobile telephony and data services to thousands of local companies.

stablished in 1998, the company, which has 100-strong team operating across Northern Ireland, this month celebrates a new milestone in its history by marking 10 years since it first moved into mobile communications. Since August 2010, it has supplied more than 10,000 smartphones on all major networks including EE, O2 and Vodafone on tailored contract terms from one month and longer with the support of a dedicated local customer team. Stuart Carson, Sales & Marketing Director, Rainbow Communications, said: “In a decade, smartphones have transformed our lives and the way we do business, providing new and exciting opportunities, greater productivity, flexibility and connectivity than ever before. From the introduction of the first iPhone in 2007 and the initial success

Stuart Carson, Sales & Marketing Director at Rainbow Communications, Eric Carson, Director at Rainbow Communications and Martin Hamill, Director at Rainbow Communications.

of the Blackberry, there’s little that the next generation of mobiles cannot do. “In this time, we’re delighted to be at the forefront of this step-change in communications, delivering solutions which integrate this incredible resource into everyday business operations, creating capacity and growth through new cloud technology and ensuring that working remotely can always be an option.” As part of its own innovation and growth in this area, Rainbow Communications is launching its own-branded mobile service which access all major networks backed by a strong local customer service team and one simple, transparent monthly bill. “In these challenging times, connectivity is vital and our ability to communicate with customers, clients and prospects is vital,” said Stuart. “As our economy looks to recover in the weeks and months ahead, we too look forward to continuing to deliver the best support our local businesses need to survive and thrive.”

In 2010, around 20% of people in the UK owned a smartphone. Today, that figure is above 90%, according to Ofcom. At the same time, the number of people using a desktop has fallen below 25% overtaken by a growth in tablets which now account for 60% of the market. With greater internet availability and increasing speeds, more than three quarters of people now spend more time than ever before connecting, working and socialising on their smartphone. According to Ofcom, in 2018, at least 70% of people never turn their phone off and 78% of say than cannot live without it. Founded in 1998, Rainbow Communications is one of the UK and Ireland’s most successful providers of telecoms and IT solutions to business, with over 10,000 customers in Northern Ireland alone – including half of the region’s Top 200 companies. Through investment and expansion, the established family-owned firm employs over 100 staff.

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Eye on News

The Future Is Bright For Co Down Artist With Opening Of First Studio An award-winning artist from Rostrevor has opened her first studio following a 300% increase in sales during lockdown and a collaboration with Jay Blades, the Presenter of BBC’s ‘The Repair Shop’.

acqueline Rooney was the head of a busy secondary school art department for 12 years, before she left in 2018. She has gone on to win a number of prestigious awards and her vibrant and emotive artwork is available in galleries throughout Ireland, online at jacquelinerooney.com and now from her stunning studio in Rostrevor. “I am absolutely delighted to have opened my first studio as I can now showcase my artwork and meet and connect with some of the people buying my pieces. When the

galleries shut due to lockdown, it was a worrying time for me as a small business owner, because until then, that was my main source of income. Once I got over the initial panic, I worked hard to develop the Ecommerce side of my website and this has massively transformed my business over the last five months,” Jacqueline Rooney said. “The sales have trebled since March and I am now exporting to all over Europe, America and Australia. Whilst I have a strong local market, 45% of my orders are now coming from outside of Northern Ireland. At the end of April, I launched a new ‘Wildflower’ collection, which was inspired by the daily walks with my children who said the colours of the flowers reminded them of the colours in my work. I’ve been blown away by the response and what began as little symbols of hope at a time when we really needed them, are now on the walls in people’s homes across the world and this is something I am just so proud of. This demonstrates how art can be used at even the darkest of times to help bring some light and positively,” Jacqueline added. “Having the time over recent months to

focus on my business has also led to so many opportunities. One of which is with Jay Blades, the Presenter of BBC’s ‘The Repair Shop’ who contacted me after the vibrant colours of my artwork caught his eye. He showcased one of my pieces across his social media channels and this generated lots of interest and a further boost in sales. We’re in the process of working on our next collaboration and with my new studio and the plans I have in place to ensure the continued growth in the months ahead, it’s definitely an exciting time for me as an artist and as a businesswoman,” Jacqueline concluded.

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Eye on Accountancy

A Unique Double For Chartered Accountants

Maeve Hunt and Paul Henry will always have a unique place in the history of Chartered Accountants Ireland, the professional organisation that represents 28,500 members across the island and worldwide. 92

ver the lockdown period, Paul was elected as the new President of the all-island organisation whilst Maeve took over the chair’s chain of office at the Ulster branch. Both had to accept their new positions online...with no handshakes and no formal installation events or dinners. Paul Henry, Director at Belfast property firm Osborne King, is among a relatively

small number of former Ulster chairmen to take over the all-island presidency. Maeve Hunt, meanwhile, completes a unique father/daughter double in the Northern role. Her father James held the same position some 30 years ago. Chartered Accountants Ireland, Paul Henry explains, equates to a £33 million business in its own right. It has 175 staff and not far from 30,000 members,

1,000 of them on the other side of the world in Australia. Around 65% of the membership works in industry and the remaining 35% in accountancy practice. “A lot of the focus for us as an organisation is on training and education, and in promoting accountancy as a career choice for young people,” he says. “Here in Northern Ireland, our members are everywhere. Quite a number head up

Eye on Accountancy

“It’s crucial that the organisation does all it can to help the Northern Ireland economy to bounce back from this crisis.It’s the biggest challenge any of us has faced in a generation, so it can’t be underestimated.”

our larger companies and employers, a couple of the current Permanent Secretaries in government are accountants and so the list goes on. I don’t think anyone can dispute the prevalence of chartered accountants in top positions.” As for the organisation itself, it operates through a broad series of sub-committees, each of them continuing to run remotely during the Covid-19 crisis. “It’s the first time this has ever been done. And, to be fair, it’s been a whole lot smoother than anyone could have expected. The technology kicked in and we’ve managed to keep the organisation running smoothly throughout this crisis.” Both Paul Henry and Maeve Hunt agree that Chartered Accountants Ireland has a key role to play in the recovery of the economy here post-Covid.

‘To Support, To Inspire, To Evolve’ is the mission statement adopted by Maeve as she embarked on her period of office. “It’s crucial that the organisation does all it can to help the Northern Ireland economy to bounce back from this crisis,” she says. “It’s the biggest challenge any of us has faced in a generation, so it can’t be underestimated. But we have to redouble our efforts and use all the skills we have to drive the economy.” Paul Henry, like most in the business world, is quick to pay tribute to Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s package of emergency aid measures for businesses. “Government told businesses to shut down but balanced that by putting liquidity right back into the market,” he says. “But now, as we come out of the other end of the lockdown

and closure period, we’re starting to look at a whole different set of challenges. “Loans will have to be repaid, and as the furlough scheme tapers off, there will definitely be employment issues. It’s not going to be easy. What’s more, we’ve got the Brexit issue coming at us when it’s possibly the last thing we need.” Both are keen to encourage more chartered accountants to engage with their organisation. Some get involved, some don’t. “When I first qualified, I didn’t see any need to get involved. I didn’t bother them and they didn’t bother me...!” The same goes for Maeve Hunt. But, in both cases, they gradually became more involved. “My father always encouraged me to get involved in the organisation,” she says. “At first, I resisted a bit. But then I was

drawn in by the social side of it, and the potential for really good networking and contact making. And the rest, I suppose, is history. But I do think that whatever you’re able to put in, you will get even more out. “This organisation is a powerful resource for its members. We can provide a lot of information and support for members working in industry, for example. And we’ve worked hard to build a really strong student organisation with 1,700 students on our books, a vital bridge from education into practice and industry. “Our aim is to attract the brightest and the best into the accountancy profession.” Paul Henry paints a clear picture of the scale of the profession in Ireland as a whole. Few will be aware, for instance, that the fifth largest employer of chartered accountants in Ireland is the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, which bases its European finance and treasury operations in Dublin. Unlike Maeve Hunt, for whom chartered accountancy as a family business, he wasn’t always destined to be an accountant. “Going back to my schooldays, I always wanted to be a businessman. And I suppose I’ve achieved that ambition. But, on the way, I took a law degree before deciding to study to be a chartered accountant and working at what is now PwC.” He went on to work for a period with Invest NI. “It’s where I first learnt the importance of backing the jockey and not the horse. Business is all about leadership and entrepreneurs,” he says simply. As for Maeve Hunt, her’s has been a career path focused on audit. She qualified working with Hill Vellacott moving from there to BDO and then on to her current employer, Grant Thornton, where she’s as Associate Director in the Audit & Assurance division.

Eye on Commercial Property

REDEFINING BELFAST’S OFFICE SPACE

Jamie McCoubrey, Managing Director Urban HQ,

The full effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the business community remain to be seen. However, the lockdown period has enabled businesses to reflect upon workspace costs and future requirements, with early trends showing that many organisations are already taking steps to downsize and pursue more flexible workspace options.

elfast’s newest flexible workspace, Urban HQ, is ideally located at Eagle Star House in the central business district. Having worked within the flexible office space industry in Northern Ireland for over 15 years, Jamie McCoubrey, Managing Director at Urban HQ, is ideally placed to comment on trends and predictions in the office sector moving forward. “Covid-19 has brought about an undeniable increase in demand for adaptability; therefore, we only see

the demand for flexible workspace increasing further as businesses focus on cost optimisation. “Urban HQ presents an exciting opportunity to redefine flexible working in Belfast with the core objective of truly meeting the evolving needs of businesses.”

Superior Space As businesses review their space needs and employers assess what they need to do to retain talent, organisations

are demanding more than just a standard office as Jamie explains. “Businesses don’t just want a space; they want an environment to flourish. “Urban HQ, incorporating 500 desks across eight floors along with light filled meeting rooms, spacious central lounges and an impressive rooftop terrace, will provide members with the space and facilities to grow their business, all whilst adhering to the current distancing guidelines.” Jamie also highlights how Urban HQ provides an ideal environment for businesses to thrive through networking: “We understand the importance of community, even more so now, and believe collaboration will be key to Northern Ireland’s recovery.

“Urban HQ is perfectly designed to facilitate collaboration and social interaction, in accordance with current Government guidelines, not just with your own workforce, but with other members too.” The newly completed Eagle Star House is the result of a £6 million investment, with main contract awarded to local contractor GRAHAM and awardwinning Kingston-Lafferty Design appointed to undertake the interior design of the building.

Luxury from Door to Desk With home comforts being enjoyed by many during lockdown, Jamie believes Urban HQ’s interior will make the transition back to the office an easier experience for employees.

Eye on Commercial Property

“The décor within Urban HQ is stylish and comparable to that of a boutique hotel, the ambiance is warm and inviting. As far as working environments go, it truly is superior to anything Belfast has seen to date.”

“Working from home, people have become accustomed to having their own little luxuries at their fingertips. That could make the return to the office a harder adjustment. “The décor within Urban HQ is stylish and comparable to that of a boutique hotel, the ambiance is warm and inviting. As far as working environments go, it truly is superior to anything Belfast has seen to date.”

Unrivalled Connectivity In recent months, connectivity has become even more crucial to business success. And whilst social distancing and travel restrictions remain in place, so too will video conferencing. After months of working from home, everyone knows all too well how internet connection speeds will make or break this experience. There will be no such problems for Urban HQ members who can avail of best-in-class IT infrastructure owing to its WiredScore Platinum rating. “The WiredScore Platinum accreditation acts as a benchmark for technological capacity and infrastructure resilience and connectivity.

“As the first flexible workspace in Northern Ireland to achieve this coveted rating, we hope to deliver a product and user experience that will rival options available in both Dublin and London.”

with their business plans. “Urban HQ can offer businesses truly flexible contracts with unique all-inclusive-everything packages to make working life easier and reduce the complexity and hassle of renting conventional space.”

distancing measures at Urban HQ. “We are confident to say that we are creating one of the safest workspaces in Belfast by investing in premium technology and equipment, above and beyond industry standards.”

Truly Flexible Workspace Jamie is also keen to stress that all businesses, regardless of size or sector, are welcome at Urban HQ. “With a range of membership packages and scalability options available, businesses can adapt and update their memberships in accordance

Currently Urban HQ is offering no deposits and up to 3 months’ rent free for all new deals. “We have been working tirelessly behind the scenes implementing safety and social

To book a viewing or find out more information on the next generation of flexible working, contact jamie@urban-hq.co.uk or visit www.urban-hq.co.uk

Eye on News

Job Security is Top Priority for Professionals as NI Gets Back To Work Professionals in Northern Ireland value job security more than a job with an innovative or creative employer according to research, which captured sentiment amongst professionals as Covid19 began to impact workplaces across NI.

he ongoing pandemic and news that the UK is now officially in recession can be expected to heighten this desire for secure employment even further. The research was conducted among 1476 professionals across Northern Ireland by e-recruitment platform NIJobs.com, in partnership with global employer brand specialist Universum. Professionals were asked to rank in order of importance twenty career motivations. Competitive base salary ranked number one, followed by secure employment and flexible working conditions at number three. Innovation mattered least to professionals with a creative and dynamic work environment and opportunity to make a personal impact also appearing in the bottom three. In a revelation that should cause some concern for NI employers; less than one in five (17%) professionals would positively recommend their organisation to a jobseeker, 53% said they wouldn’t recommend their employer at all while a third (30%) were neutral about their employer. Commenting on the research Sam McIlveen General Manager of NIJobs said: “Recruiters need to understand the motivations of the talent they want to attract, and this research offers valuable insights into sentiment amongst NI’s professionals.

“The pandemic and the news that the UK is now officially in recession will have an impact on what people value in their working lives. It’s no surprise that security and flexibility are more highly prized than creativity, variety, and innovation. However, workers should appreciate that it doesn’t have to be a binary choice. “Northern Ireland is home to many vibrant, successful and dynamic businesses in sectors

such as IT, engineering, and food production, which continue to offer opportunities to professionals. While news that the UK is now officially in recession is challenging, in our most recent Job Report with Ulster Bank, we saw job listings increase in over half of our job categories. “Of more concern is that over half of professionals wouldn’t recommend their employer to a jobseeker. Employee advocacy,

what your workers say about you, is a cornerstone of employer branding and a cost-effective talent acquisition strategy. A strong employer brand ensures an organisation can attract the best available talent. In business, people are your best asset, hiring and employing talent is key to recovering and emerging successfully from this pandemic.”

Eye on Economics

BANK OF ENGLAND SEES SIGNS OF ECONOMIC RECOVERY In a nutshell

Covid-19 is reducing jobs and incomes in the UK

We are keeping interest rates low…

Since the Covid-19 crisis began, the Bank has taken extraordinary measures to support employment and economic activity in the UK.

e have cut Bank Rate from 0.75% to 0.10%, allowing businesses and households to borrow more cheaply. Through our new bank-funding scheme (the TFSME), we are giving banks incentives to pass that Bank Rate cut on to their customers and keep lending to small- and medium-sized businesses. And we are injecting a total of £300 billion of new money into the economy via quantitative easing, or QE, to support spending by businesses and households. In its latest Monetary Policy Report, the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) notes encouraging signs that households’ spending has already substantially recovered from a sharp fall in the first half of the year. Assuming the impact of Covid-19 fades gradually, the MPC’s central expectation is that economic activity will continue to recover, helped by the measures that the Bank and the Government have taken. As social distancing eases further, households are expected to spend more and businesses to grow more confident in making investment-spending decisions. Unemployment is likely to rise in the second half of this year, as the Government’s job-retention schemes are wound down. But it is expected to fall gradually from the beginning of next year onwards, as the economic recovery continues.

…and ensuring the financial system can support UK households and businesses

Inflation is expected to fall further below the 2% target later this year, partly because of the effects of a temporary cut in VAT and recent falls in the price of oil. As these effects unwind and the recovery continues, inflation is expected to return to target over the following few years. The future path of the economy remains unusually uncertain, however. It will depend on how the pandemic develops, the measures taken to protect public health, and how governments, households, and businesses respond. Because the MPC sees substantial risks to its expectations, it does not intend to withdraw any support until there is clear evidence of further recovery in activity and inflation. And it stands ready to provide further support, if necessary. In its latest Financial Stability Report, the Bank’s Financial Policy Committee (FPC) notes that banks have been playing a major role in supplying the credit necessary to get UK businesses and households through this crisis. The FPC judges that the major banks, while they cannot be infinitely resilient, are resilient across a very wide range of possible paths that the economy could take. The banks therefore have the resilience, and it is in their collective interest, to continue to support businesses and households. At the Treasury’s request, the FPC will consider how the financial system could even better support the supply of finance to UK businesses. The Financial Stability Report also contains updates on work being done to reduce other risks across the financial system, including those related to potential disruption at the end of the current Brexit

We will support the economy to promote the good of the people of the United Kingdom

Frances Hill.

transition period and the move to reduce reliance on Libor-linked contracts. However the economy evolves and the risks to monetary and financial stability change, the intelligence I and my fellow agents gather from our contacts in Northern Ireland and across the UK will remain crucial in shaping our policies for the good of the people of the UK.

Frances Hill is Agent for Northern Ireland. @BoENIreland

Eye on Business Personalities

William Reid – A Harbourside Hidden Gem If the business community here in Northern Ireland has plenty of hidden gems, it’s a fair bit that several of them live and breathe in the hidden world that is Belfast Port.

ehind its various security gates and entrances and on both sides of the river, Belfast Port is home to a myriad of businesses – stevedores, mooring and towage providers, cargo handling specialists and so the list goes on. From the comfort of Alan Dunlop’s air conditioned car (it’s an unseasonably warm day in Belfast), we tour around the quays, yards, depots and landmarks of what’s effectively a city within a city, passing vessels which have arrived in Belfast from as close as other UK Irish Sea ports and as far afield as South America and the Far East. Dunlop is a larger than life figure, officially retired but still a familiar face around the port. He’s one of two directors of William Reid Ltd, originally a 19th century company

of shipowners, brokers and agents. The firm was taken over by Dunlop and his business partner Tony Cromie back in 1982, venturing into the stevedoring business in the early 90’s and then developing a niche in the handling of steel products imported into Northern Ireland. “I had joined the company way back in 1967,” says Alan Dunlop. “It was my very first job and I was officially described as a message boy on a wage of £5 a week. Nobody told me that a week meant working six days, including Saturdays, until I had actually started.” He didn’t just live and work his way through the Troubles at Belfast Port. He also played his part alongside other dock employers in brokering the end of the old sectarian docks employment regime.

“I started work at William Reids on the 7th of October 1967 and I officially retired on the 9th of October 2017....50 years later and almost to the day,” he smiles. These days, the company operates from a number of different depots and sites dotted around the port complex, its five storage facilities covering a total of six and a half acres. The firm employs 25 people and amongst its activities is the only coiled steel handling and storage facility on the island of Ireland. ‘”Coiled steel has become a speciality for us. We import it from the Far East into Belfast Port and it goes on from here by road for a wide variety of industrial, manufacturing and construction end uses. But we also import steel plates and a range of other

products. In total, we’ll handle about 200,000 tonnes of steel each year.” Not surprisingly, the company has had to invest over the years in some heavy duty, and sophisticated, handling machinery for its steel stockholding facilities. A native of Belfast, home for Alan Dunlop is 70-odd miles away in Derry/Londonderry, but he can still be found around Belfast Port a couple of days each week. “I suppose when you’ve working here for as long as I have, it gets into your blood,” he says as he drives past the brand new container gantry cranes recently installed at Belfast’s dedicated container port. “There’s still something a bit special about seeing a vessel coming in, unloading and the cargo heading out of the port

Eye on Tourism

STATSports SupercupNI and Hospitality going for goal in 2021 The Chief Executive for Hospitality Ulster has paid tribute to the STATSports SuperCupNI and stated that the competition is now ‘an integral part of our tourism economy’.

t is one of the jewel’s in the crown of the Northern Irish tourism industry and it has become one of the premier sporting events on the island of Ireland. The tournament is one of the most prestigious youth football competitions in Europe and in 2019, the competition delivered £4.4 million to the Northern Irish economy. Colin Neill’s comments follow on from the recent news that the 2019 competition provided a valuable financial contribution the local economy. Mr Neill said the competition positively impacts so many facets of the local economy. “The STATSports SuperCupNI is an integral part of our tourism economy and the benefits created through the high number of bednights and associated spend by thousands of visitors will be vital to the hospitality sector as we move forward in our recovery process. “Obviously, the competition has been a key part of the Northern Irish sporting calendar for generations but is has also been part of the hospitality calendar for that same period of time.” Despite the economic blow from the cancellation of the 2020 competition, the organising committee have already agreed upon an expansion of the competition, with four age groups competing at the weeklong football festival in July 2021. This will inevitably bring with it increased financial windfall for the local economy. “The benefit the competition has brought to our bars, restaurants and hotels has been huge, “added the Hospitality Ulster Chief Executive. “Its footprint stretches far beyond our bars and hotel but into our suppliers and the agriculture scene. Often people see

events like the STATSports SuperCupNI as a ‘sports event’ but forget the wider impact and economic value of the tournament. It creates jobs and supports jobs right across the local economy.” Plans are already well underway for the 2021 tournament, which takes place between 25th July to 30th July and Mr Neill concluded by saying it is crucial financial support is given to the competition. “It is really important that our political powers like our MLAs and MPs step in behind these events and make sure they are financially sustained until such times as to when they can take place again.” Last summer, aspiring young footballers from Africa, Asia, North and South America, as well as teams from across Europe descended upon the Mid and East Antrim Borough Council area and Causeway, Coast and Glens Borough Council for a week-long festival of football. Despite the obvious disappointment of the cancellation of the 2020 tournament due to the COVID 19 pandemic, the competition’s organisers can revel in the impact the 2019 event had on the local economy. “Our Tournament is first and foremost a football event but over the years it has become an important feature in the Northern Ireland Events Calendar and provides a major boost to the economic life of not only the Tournament area but the whole of Northern Ireland.” The tournament not only attracts teams from across the world, but also visitors including family members of tournament participants, football talent scouts and holiday makers eager to immerse themselves in a week of high-quality youth football.

Victor Leonard, Chairman of Organising Committee, pictured with Bridgene Keeley, McKeever Hotel Group and Colin Neill, Chief Executive of Hospitality Ulster.

In 2019, the footfall of spectators at the 13 venues reached in excess of 50,000. The local economy benefitted immensely from the increase in footfall across the two council areas and between visitors and participants in the competition, the tournament directly contributed to 27,000 bed nights over the duration of the Tournament. This directly generated £1.8 million for local accommodation providers and Marketing Director for the McKeever Hotel Group, Bridgene Keeley, said the tournament plays an important role in the local tourism industry. Their group hosted teams at three hotels, the Adair Arms, the Dunsilly Hotel and the Dunadry Hotel last summer. Ms Keeley commented, “The Adair Arms enjoyed 100% occupancy for the duration of the tournament

since it began. This holds jobs and often leads to an increase of employee numbers over this time. “The increase in productivity also requires an increase in the amount of produce purchased from our suppliers of which the majority are local companies. These companies supply everything from food, beverage, laundry, cleaning products, entertainment and transport to name a few. “Overall, the event has a major impact both economically and is a promotional tool for NI regions which is of tremendous value.” The 2021 STATSports SuperCupNI will take place from Monday, July 26th through to Friday, July 30th, with the traditional parade of teams and welcome ceremony at the Coleraine Showgrounds to take place on Sunday, July 25.

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Eye on News

Errigal Buys Former Enkalon Site In Antrim

Errigal Contracts has purchased the former Enkalon site in Antrim following three years of growth and international expansion across Europe.

he company is investing £20m over the next three-year period towards the initial development of the 70-acre site, the former Enkalon industrial estate, with plans to create a centre of excellence for off-site construction. The company already has manufacturing facilities in Monaghan and this further investment is part of the Brexit strategy to make the business more flexible.

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The market-leading international construction company specialises in partition systems, external facade, interior fitout, ceilings and bespoke solutions working throughout the UK, Ireland and Europe. With significant growth in the last three years, Errigal has more than doubled its employee count to 325 and this is projected to grow further to 450 in the coming year. It also has an extended

workforce of over 1,500 currently working on-site across projects. The company has also more than doubled its turnover since 2016; growing from £52.4m in 2016 to £116.2m in 2019, with a strong operating profit in the last year of £7.1m. Errigal was founded over twenty years ago in London and is now headquartered in Monaghan with offices in Derry, London, Amsterdam and Zurich, alongside the new development estate in County Antrim. The Irish company, led by Cormac McCloskey and Damien Treanor, has worked on some of the most innovative and ground-breaking construction projects from residential, commercial and education to healthcare and hotel & leisure. Cormac McCloskey, from Derry, was recently included in the prestigious EY Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist list for 2020, one of only three from Northern Ireland, with the winner to be announced in November this year. To date, Errigal has completed over 320 construction projects valued at more than £500m across 12 countries including the UK, Ireland, Belgium, Austria, Slovenia, Germany, Holland, France, Switzerland and Denmark. Within the 70 acres purchased by Errigal in County Antrim, 30 acres of this includes a functioning distribution warehouse centre. The company plans to breathe new life into this, supported by Invest NI, as well as using the whole site to enable Errigal to continue to develop innovative off-site construction processes. The team will be working with their supply chain to encourage other companies to locate around the site, complimenting Errigal’s off-site construction development. It will also include a residential development to meet local demand for housing across 15 acres and in addition create a host of jobs in the Mid-Ulster area. It will provide a forwardthinking learning environment for apprenticeships, with over 84 apprentices and 18 undergraduates currently enrolled in the The Errigal Training Academy, an

accredited training centre. Cormac McCloskey, Director, commented: “The new investment in county Antrim is an exciting development in the growth of the business. We have extensive experience in off-site construction, and it is our aim to develop the site into a centre for excellence in off-site construction, benefiting our clients across the UK, Ireland and Europe. It allows for early collaboration and a lot of sectors are seeing the benefits of this, such as healthcare and education. It is becoming increasingly important to do as much construction as possible off-site, reducing the number of people required on-site to install works. “While navigating the Covid-19 crisis has been challenging, it is a result of our great team that we haven’t experienced any significant impact on our projects and growth plans. Our people are the absolute core of this growth and success, not just our direct workforce, also our extended team of over 1,500, as well as partners and subcontractors. It is the commitment, care, experience and knowledge of its people and their dedication to the industry that distinguishes Errigal in the marketplace.” Current projects for Errigal include the completion of 22 Bishopsgate, London City’s tallest building and newest skyscraper with 62 floors at 278-metres high. This high profile £26m project for Errigal is set to open this month. In hospitality and leisure, the company has completed a range of prestigious projects. This includes the restoration of Limerick’s Adare Manor Hotel and Estate, The InterContinental O2, The W Hotel in Leicester Square and work with a range of hotel brands including Hilton, Novotel, Jurys, Maldron, Clayton and Ibis. Errigal’s commercial projects include the Aviva Stadium in Dublin and Wembley Stadium in London as well as retail malls and outlets across the UK, Ireland and Europe with Westfield, Dunnes, Primark and Cineworld notable commercial clients.

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Eye on News

Women in Business partner with Ulster Bank to launch Young Women’s Network

Clare Gallagher, WIB with Francesa Morelli, VAVA Influence., Marguarita McNally, WIB and Joanne Wilson, Ulster Bank

Women in Business, Northern Ireland’s largest and fastest growing business network for female entrepreneurs and business leaders, have today announced the launch of an innovative Young Women’s Network, (YWN), in partnership with Ulster Bank.

vailable to all young women age 18- 25, the initiative will provide an exclusive platform to come together to encourage, educate and evolve. With an annual membership fee of just £20, the professional tools and crucial networking opportunities the young women will receive

will be key to achieving their personal development goals. Speaking of this unique network, Head of Membership Clare Gallagher, Women in Business explained, “We are delighted to be launching our Young Women’s Network in partnership with Ulster Bank as we want to support young women to connect, grow their network, reach their full potential and to achieve all their ambitions. Young people (under 25 years of age) are critical to the future economic development of our economy. Empowering young people to establish and grow their careers or set up their own business is part of the solution.” Joanne Wilson, Customer Experience Lead at Ulster Bank, highlighted the importance of supporting the Young Women’s Network, “At Ulster Bank we recognise the value in having access to strong mentorship and guidance throughout all stages of your career, however this

can be especially important for graduates and new-recruits. “Working with the Young Women’s Network allows our colleagues to pass on their expert skills and advice and pave the way for the next generation of female business leaders to thrive. Supporting female entrepreneurship is a key priority for our teams across the business and we have introduced a series of measures to support women and their businesses through our Entrepreneur Accelerator Programme and the Back Her Business initiative.” Marguarita McNally, 23, Membership Executive at Women in Business and Francesca Morelli, 23, Co-Founder at VAVA Influence. will lead on this exciting initiative and look forward to welcoming all new YWN members. Francesca commented, “I am delighted to be invited as a representative of the New WIB Young Women’s Network. This is phenomenal support for young women and brilliant to have

that experience, guidance and mentorship only an email intro away.” Women in Business believe it is never too early for young women to begin making useful connections and understand the difficulties they may face when trying to do so. The YWN will offer much needed guidance and first-hand knowledge and experience that can only motivate and turn thought into action. YWN members will be able to avail of all WIBNI membership and will gain additional benefits from exclusive events and programmes, from invaluable mentoring opportunities to a seat at the YWN committee table.

For more information on joining the Young Women’s Network visit www. womeninbusinessni.com or email membership@ womeninbusinessni.com

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Eye on Health

Cosmetic Mole and Skin Tag Removal Mr Andrew Diver is a Consultant Plastic Surgeon at Cosmetech and offers skin tag and mole removal and other non- surgical treatments including PDO Thread-lifts, Dermal Fillers and Anti-wrinkle Injections. He also offers Cosmetic Surgery at Kingsbridge Private Hospital.

oles are extremely common in the general population and are found in every age –group including new born babies. Most appear in childhood and up to the age of 25. It is normal for an adult to have between 10 and 40 moles. The skin contains pigment cells called melanocytes which make the pigment melanin. When these cells grow in clusters it forms a mole or ‘pigmented naevus’. They are benign but rarely a mole can change into a type of skin cancer called a melanoma. Warning signs would be an increase in size, darkening of the colour, bleeding or ulceration and a significant change in shape. Any suspicious lesions should be seen by your doctor and referred to a specialist if necessary. Skin tags are also very common. They are flesh coloured and usually have a narrow stalk to normal skin. They are often seen in the neck, chest, back, armpits, groin, under the breasts and on the eyelids. These are benign but can be irritating by rubbing on clothes or by being cosmetically unacceptable to the patient.

Q: How are skin tags and moles removed?

Skin tags are a bit easier and can be removed by cutting, freezing (cryotherapy) or burning off (electrotherapy). This should be done in a controlled sterile setting to minimise the risk of infection, and they do bleed so the clinic needs to be able to manage this. Moles are usually excised with a scalpel. Occasionally they are shaved off but to ensure completion of the removal, especially if there are any suspicious features, the whole depth of the skin needs to be removed in one piece. Moles should be sent to the lab for pathology to ensure there are no suspicious cells. At Cosmetech we send all moles for pathology. Q: Does it hurt having these removed? If there is going to be significant discomfort the doctor or surgeon should usually administer local anaesthetic to numb the area. There will be mild discomfort as the anaesthetic is being injected but it is usually not significant and the anaesthetic takes effect within a couple of minutes. For very small skin tags, they can sometimes be frozen off without anaesthetic. Cosmetech has local anaesthetic cream which can be applied in clinic in advance of the procedure. We don’t like causing pain and make every effort to minimise it. 102

Eye on Health

Q: How long does the procedure take? Most of these procedures are very quick. A mole can be removed and the skin sutured within 5 to 10 minutes. Administration of anaesthetic and skin preparation add some time, and if several lesions are being removed obviously it will take a bit longer. A skin tag can be removed in a matter of seconds but again, it is key that this is done in a controlled sterile setting (don’t try this at home).

between 5 to 7 days, but are left a bit longer on other body areas. Again these should be removed by someone skilled and experienced as doing it incorrectly can leave bits of stitch in the skin, or risk reopening the wound. After about a week most wounds do not need dressed but should be kept clean, and paraffin ointment often helps at this time. Depending on your surgeon, the wound may be dressed with ointment alone or sometimes skin glue.

Q: Can I drive home afterwards? Usually there is no issue with driving unless for example the lesion was near the eye and vision was temporarily affected by swelling or watering. Hand surgery can also affect driving but the vast majority of these lesions are small enough not to cause a problem. If in doubt bring a friend or relative or take a taxi. Q: What about aftercare? There is usually a dressing for the first 3 to 7 days and, depending upon the operation site, sutures may need to be removed. On the face these are often removed

Q: Will I have a scar? All surgery which cuts through the full depth of skin will leave a scar. Skin tag excision shouldn’t leave much noticeable scarring but mole excision usually will. The quality of the scar can vary depending on genetics. To optimise the scar we perform precise stitching, remove stitches at the appropriate time, and encourage scar management in the form of moisturising and massage. Scars can take up to 2 years to mature to their final appearance. If a scar does become thicker or remain red for a long time there are treatments such as steroid injections or laser colour reduction, but these are thankfully rarely necessary.

Maypole Clinic 5-7 Shore Road Holywood BT18 9XH T: 028 9042 3200 E: frontdesk@cosmetech.co.uk www.cosmetech.co.uk

READER OFFER Quote Business Eye 347 when booking to redeem a £50 Voucher off your consultation fee. Valid until December 31st 2020 To book a consultation at Cosmetech please call 028 9042 3200 Other treatments available include: Anti-wrinkle Injections, Dermal fillers, PDO Thread-lifts, Thread vein removal, Aqualyx fat dissolving injections and Profhilo.

Eye on News

OKTO Technologies brings ‘breath of fresh air’ to COVID world

Lisburn-based Smart Building Specialists, OKTO Technologies. has launched a new ‘wellness’ division - OKTOair – to eradicate the problem of indoor air contamination, kill harmful airborne viruses, and revolutionise Building Management Systems in some of the world’s most luxurious homes, offices and hotels.

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ith such properties located in highly polluted and densely populated city centres, OKTOair’s new suite of Wellness technologies will reassure occupants that the air they breathe is of optimum quality and free from dangerous contaminants and natural allergens/pollens. The Artificial Intelligence-led disinfecting filtration system is so advanced, testing has proven to remove a proxy virus for SARSCoV-2 (the virus that causes Covid19), from the air with 99.98% elimination within 10 minutes and 100% in 45 minutes. An invaluable feature for hotels, businesses and homes across the UK, this system is set to minimise the risk of virus transmission on their premises. Central to OKTOair is an intuitive air management system which continuously monitors, contrasts, and manages indoor air quality, temperature, and humidity. The technology incorporates a user-friendly dashboard to keep occupants totally updated on all aspects of air quality inside and outside their property. By analysing 11 key air quality metrics in real time OKTOair provides a detailed breakdown of pollutants, including the levels of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) and ultrafine contaminants measuring 2.5microns (one twentieth of the width of a human hair). The system then determines how to manage the air to achieve optimum living conditions. This ranges from automatically opening or closing vents and windows, to filtering the air through its bespoke AirWorks by OKTO Disinfecting Filtration System (DFS). The DFS filter is so advanced it can remove airborne particulates including harmful contagions and pathogens down to 0.007microns, which is 40 times smaller than when filtered by industry leading

HEPA systems. AirWorks then purifies the air using electronic disinfection techniques, killing even the smallest bacteria or virus. Based on technology developed by the US military to defend against chemical and biological attack, OKTO is the only company in the UK and Ireland certified to design, develop, and implement the AirWorks DFS system. OKTOair executives are in the final stages of negotiations with several of the world’s leading investment banks to integrate the new system into their London offices. They are also finalising designs for its integration into some of London’s exclusive new Super-Prime residential and hotel developments. The launch of OKTOair follows 18 months of research and development by the company’s in-house team. However, the process has been fasttracked in response to heightened concerns surrounding indoor airborne infection risks linked to COVID-19. Identified as an ‘invisible’ problem, exposure to polluted air has been a growing concern in densely populated cities such as London, Paris and New York, where the majority of OKTO’s multi-millionpound projects are located. According to Philip Dowds, MD of OKTO Technologies, air quality, health and well-being lie at the heart of the ‘Smart Building’ philosophy: “The launch has been fast-tracked because of COVID-19. Never has the public need been more focused on feeling safe and protected in the home or work environment. “OKTOair elevates our Smart Buildings Technologies ethos to a new level by creating living spaces which enable occupiers to thrive and flourish. In the midst of the most densely populated and polluted city centres, where property prices are at a premium, our solutions offer optimum control, comfort, health, wellbeing and ultimately, peace of mind.”

Eye on News Lynsey Nixon, Communications, Engagement & Volunteers Manager at Woodland Trust NI pictured with Don Brennan, Trading Director at Hughes Insurance

Hughes Insurance Partner Woodland Trust Northern Ireland TO PLANT THOUSANDS OF TREES Hughes Insurance and Woodland Trust Northern Ireland have joined forces to plant thousands of trees in NI by 2022.

he relationship aims to reduce the Newtownards based insurance broker’s carbon footprint whilst increasing the number of trees being planted in NI by the Bangor based charity. Hughes intend to donate £2 to Woodland Trust Northern Ireland for every customer that switches to e-mail based communications. As one of Northern Ireland’s largest insurance brokers, Hughes aim

to encourage up to 80% of their customers to switch by 2022, as they plan their journey to become a carbon neutral business. Ian McCurley, Chief Executive of Woodland Trust NI commented: “Northern Ireland is one of the least-wooded regions in Europe, with just 8% woodland cover compared with the European average of 37%. Our role is to stand up for trees, protect our woods and increase woodland cover locally for the benefit of people, wildlife and climate. The partnership with Hughes Insurance is an excellent example of how progressive local businesses can get involved and help us increase woodland cover throughout NI whilst reducing their own carbon footprint.” The partnership with Woodland

Trust Northern Ireland has been established to facilitate the planting of thousands of additional trees in Northern Ireland. Don Brennan, Trading Director at Hughes Insurance advised: “As a local business, with local staff, we are passionate about reducing our carbon footprint and protecting the environment. Our partnership with the Woodland Trust Northern Ireland provides us with tangible targets that we can focus on to offset our carbon footprint. A business of our scale, and the administrative nature of our processes, means we produce huge amounts of printed materials that often go unread. Whilst our target of 80% is ambitious we believe it’s achievable as the entire team is committed to driving this change. So far this year nearly

10% of customers have changed their preferences meaning 47% of customers have now switched to paperless communications. Simply put, our goal is to use less paper and help plant more trees.” The Woodland Trust has been established in NI for 20 years and manage 50 woods across the country. Many of these woodlands recently experienced a surge in visitor numbers during lockdown as the public chose to take their daily exercise in these free to visit locations. Don concluded: “We are excited to be working with Woodland Trust Northern Ireland and look forward to supporting them and their ongoing objectives of offsetting carbon emissions, protecting wildlife and tackling climate change.”

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Eye on News

Students take action against dementia with fundraising efforts

Power NI placement students (from left), Amy McBride, Eoin Logue and Cara McKinstry helped raised £8000 for the energy company’s charity partner, Dementia NI. Also pictured are Gwyneth Compston (right) from Power NI and Fionnuala Savage from Dementia NI

Three placement students, Amy McBride, Cara McKinstry and Eoin Logue, working alongside Power NI staff have helped raised £8000 for the energy company’s charity partner, Dementia NI.

ver 20,000 people are living with dementia across Northern Ireland and the cash raised by Power NI staff members will support the charity’s peer to peer empowerment groups in each health trust. The teams who run the groups offer peer support, training and provide a voice for those people living with the condition. Group members meet on a regular basis to offer each other support, friendship and reflection through social gatherings and meet-ups. Group members use their personal experiences and opinions to help shape dementia

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services and support for individuals and families and to challenge the stigma of dementia. Fionnuala Savage, income generation manager at Dementia NI congratulated Power NI staff saying, “I am thrilled to accept the donation of £8000 from Power NI colleagues across their Belfast, Omagh and Antrim sites. Power NI’s year-long partnership with Dementia NI aimed not only to raise substantial funding but also to increase awareness of the vital work we carry out in helping people affected by dementia. With Power NI’s generous support, Dementia NI

will continue to help many more people living with dementia and their families to rebuild their lives. “Without our support, people diagnosed with dementia can be left feeling anxious and frustrated which can lead to social isolation and depression. Our empowerment officers and volunteers encourage people who have received a dementia diagnosis to achieve the things that are important to them, so that while their life will not be same as before, it is still very much worth living.” Gwyneth Compston from Power NI said, “Our placement students, Cara, Eoin and Amy did a fantastic job during their year with Power NI. They encouraged all of our staff across our three sites to get involved and organised a huge range of events from bake sales to quizzes and raffles to prize draws Our charity trio also took part in an abseil down the front of the Europa Hotel alongside

seven other Power NI staff. I would like to thank all our wonderful staff for helping us raise this fantastic total – everyone was so enthusiastic and generous and we all had great fun. “We’re delighted to be Dementia NI’s first ever year-long corporate partner and were pleased during our year that Power NI was able to facilitate workshops with staff colleagues and Dementia NI members to raise our own awareness and gain or change opinions of dementia. We do hope we can build on our relationship with Dementia NI in the future.” Dementia NI was set up in January 2015 by five local people living with a dementia diagnosis. It operates a number of initiatives across each Health Trust area in Northern Ireland helping to raise awareness about dementia, offer peer support, training and providing a voice for those living with the condition.

Eye on Employment

Cutting costs — without Cutting staff By Donal Laverty, Consultancy Partner at Baker Tilly Mooney Moore

In the heat of a financial crisis, such as the one we are presently going through, companies must focus on their financial viability. When businesses run into financial difficulties and need to reduce costs, the knee-jerk reaction is often to consider the scope for job cuts.

ut redundancies are not a cheap option and if mistakes are made in the way redundancies are handled, further costs may be incurred on account of tribunal claims. Other drawbacks include the loss of valuable skills and experience and the negative impact on the morale of the staff that are retained. When you let a long-term employee go, you may be saving a weekly wage, but you also lose years of priceless knowledge that person has accumulated about your business and your industry (knowledge that may be hard to replace or that may very well end up benefitting a competitor). Then there is of course the cost of rehiring. As things pick up again, as they inevitably will, you’ll face all the expense involved with recruiting new staff and training them to the level of the employees you let go. So rather than opting for short-term gain and longer-term pain, it might pay you to look at other cost-cutting measures first, because there are a number of ways to reduce your costs, without reducing your workforce. This brief summarises some of the ways to reduce staff costs*

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme In response to the ongoing health crisis, the government’s Job Retention Scheme has allowed employers to temporarily lay off employees (furlough).The JRS covers the cost of wages backdated to 1 March 2020 (if applicable) and has been open up to a maximum of £2,500 per month. A Job Retention Bonus was recently announced by the government to incentivise employers to keep on furloughed employees after the furlough scheme finishes at the end of October 2020. A one-off bonus of £1,000 for each furloughed employee who is still employed on 31 January 2021 is offered.

Withdraw Job Offers and/ or Defer New Joiners If you have recently made an offer but it has not been accepted then you can withdraw it without any cost implications. However, you need to be careful if unilaterally withdrawing a job offer that has been accepted as this will be a breach of contract. Alternatively, deferring a new recruit’s start date will help cashflow but require their consent if the offer has already been accepted.

Short-Time Working or Introducing Reduced Hours Short-Time working is a similar concept to layingoff, but is where an employer unilaterally reduces an employee’s hours and pay commensurately, on a temporary basis. As with lay- offs, there must be a contractual right for the employer to make the change, and the employee retains the right to claim a redundancy payment once certain timescales have been reached.

Redeployment or Secondments Consider redeploying employees who are less busy or perform fewer essential tasks to areas of the business where there is a maintained or increased workload – supporting them with retraining where necessary and practicable.

Sabbaticals and Unpaid Leave Some employees may welcome the opportunity for unpaid time off, particularly those with young children or elderly parents and who now have full time caring responsibilities or trying to achieve home schooling. Salary Sacrifice You could introduce a shorter working week (for example a four-day week with an associated 20% pay cut) as a temporary measure.

Other options worth considering include; t 3FEVDJOH PS SFNPWJOH EJTDSFUJPOBSZ or non-contractual benefits. t "MMPXJOH GJYFE UFSN DPOUSBDUT UP FYQJSF without renewal (noting that this amounts to a dismissal in law). t 3FEVDJOH PWFSUJNF BOE VTF PG contractors or associates. t 3FRVJSJOH FNQMPZFFT UP VTF VQ IPMJEBZ before busier times resume. This has the additional benefit of reducing termination costs if dismissals become necessary. t 1PTUQPOF QBZ JODSFBTFT BOE CBDLEBUF MBUFS t 1SPNPUF KPC TIBSJOH BSSBOHFNFOUT - Job sharing arrangements allow multiple people to fill one job role Finally - Ask the employees : Ask the employees if they can come up with any ingenious or innovative ways of reducing costs whilst avoiding redundancies. They may have some good ideas! Baker Tilly Mooney Moore provides a wide range of organisation restructuring and cost improvement services – speak to the team if you need assistance in making your business work again. *Always seek professional advice before embarking on any cost reduction strategy

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Eye on News

Lyric Theatre Helps To Rewrite The Narrative On Digital Theatre Experience

Lyric Theatre Belfast is leading the way on a vital exploration of the future role of digital experiences within theatre.

unded by Future Screens NI and NI Screen, in partnership with Belfast-based immersive technology specialists Sentireal and Professor Pedro Rebelo from the Sonic Arts Research Centre at Queen’s University Belfast, the project called ‘Rewriting the Narrative’ will explore the use of Virtual Reality (VR) to enhance the audience experiences in context of social distancing restrictions due to Covid-19. As part of an open call to the Northern Ireland creative industries, ‘Rewriting the Narrative’ by Future Screens NI and NI Screen asked applicants to explore where and how the changes of the Covid-19 pandemic are happening in the creative industries, and importantly how we can learn from the ongoing crisis in order to strengthen

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the future of the industry. The global impact of Covid-19 has forced theatres across the UK & Ireland to close their doors as social distancing restricts live audience experiences. The Lyric Theatre already estimates that only 10-20% of their audience would be able to return to the venue to experience theatre live, with socially distanced measures in place. With the impacts of Covid-19 likely to be in place for many months to come it poses the questions - how can audiences return to theatre in a safe and socially distanced way and in what ways can the digital experience replace or enhance the live theatre experience? The Lyric Theatre had already been exploring the potential use of digital technology on audiences. Earlier this year, they received a

£10,000 Creative Industries Seed Fund grant from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Department of Communities to enhance their Schools programme Blackout with an immersive technology experience. The project, also supported by Future Screens NI and Digital Catapult will now take place in later in the year but will form the basis for the ‘Rewriting the Narrative’ research project. The use of new, emerging and immersive technology within Blackout will help to provide an understanding of technological experiences on live theatre. Claire Murray, Head of Development and Marketing at the Lyric Theatre, said: “We have always been interested in exploring the Lyric’s ever-evolving relationship with its audience, including how we can harness digital technologies to enhance the audience experience and widen the scope of live theatrical performance. ’Rewriting the Narrative’ will enable the team at the Lyric to enhance, reshape and adapt our original plan to focus on testing if and how digital

can complement the ‘reduced’ and limited live experience of theatre. This research is now a much more urgent consideration for all arts organisations and venues, and we hope that the results can provide insight and recommendations for the whole industry.” Professor Paul Moore from Future Screens NI commented: “Covid-19 has changed the nature of activity within the creative economy. Future Screens NI is delighted to work in partnership with the Lyric Theatre to develop new forms of audience engagement using new, immersive and emerging technology. Extending the audience and experi-ence of theatre beyond the physical has the potential to place the audience at the heart of the performance, and Future Screens NI is privileged to work with such recognised partners to con-sider ways in which this can be achieved. It is our hope that this project will play a considerable part in the crafting of new forms of creative and theatrical experiences.” Matthew Malcolm, Creative Industries Development Officer at Arts Council NI, added: “The Covid-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on our theatres and live audiences. Whilst it’s heartening to see a date announced for reopening, theatres and performances spaces still face the huge challenge of reduced audiences due to social distancing requirements and will need to adapt and explore alternative ways to engage audiences. The Lyric Theatre’s ‘Rewriting the Narrative’ research project is leading the way in the exploration of innovative technologies for audiences to experience and enjoy live theatre remotely and we look forward to seeing the results of this impressive undertaking which potentially could have far reaching impacts for the entire Northern Ireland arts sector.”

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Eye on Motoring

New Cars On The Horizon – What To Expect The Covid crisis hasn’t put the brakes on the flow of new models coming through from the main car manufacturers. In fact, the latter part of 2020 and early part of 2021 promises plenty in terms of new model reveals. Here are a few worth looking out for:Nissan Qashqai Few cars epitomise their class more than the Nissan Qashqai. Ask someone to think of a typical family SUV, and the odds are they’ll opt for the ever-present Nissan. The fact that 50,000 were sold in the UK last year and the car is six years old and you get the picture. So the new third-generation Qashqai will be carrying a huge weight of expectation on its sturdy shoulders. Industry insiders reckon that it will look very different indeed. And it will need to do that to stand out next to a whole raft of rivals, ranging from the Vauxhall Grandland to the excellent Volvo XC40. Engines choices look likely to be traditional with a range of petrols and diesels plus a range-extender hybrid.

Vauxhall Mokka The Mokka has been around for a bit and it’s a bit of a niche choice amongst smaller cars. The new models keeps faith with the car’s funky origins. It’s a bit different, this one, what with its rearward-opening back doors and cameras in place of door mirrors. The new car is based on Vauxhall’s 2018 GT X Experimental concept which looked like just another show car that would never get near the road. However, it became the starting point for the new Mokka small SUV.

Cupra Formentor Called after a scenic cape in the north of Mallorca, the Cupra Formentor follows in the wake of its first model, the Cupra Ateca. Cupra, once a name used for Spanish maker Seat’s performance hatchbacks like the Ibiza and Leon, it has now become a stand-alone performance brand hived off from the main Seat name. Seat’s new brand will roll out two more sports SUVs: the electric Tavascan and this smaller Formentor, a plug-in hybrid with 242bhp and an electric-only range of 30 miles. Technical highlights include four-wheel drive, adaptive suspension, a dual-clutch automatic gearbox and a 10.0in infotainment touchscreen.

Ford Puma ST Now here’s a good-looking little car almost guaranteed to catch the eye out on the road. More evidence of Ford’s much sharper design values these days, the Puma small SUV is What Car’s reigning current Car of the Year and this one comes in ST form, and it promises to be a very capable sports SUV. The Puma ST will get the Fiesta’s 197bhp 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbo petrol engine, along with lower, stiffer suspension, better brakes and a prominent bodykit. Expect it to cost around £24,000.

Toyota Yaris Cross As its name suggests, this small SUV is closely related to the fourth-generation Yaris hatchback, which is due to go on sale this autumn. However, despite the two models having plenty in common mechanically, the Yaris Cross gets its own distinct, rugged kind of look. Or as rugged as a Toyota Yaris could expect to look... The only engine option will be a 1.5-litre petrol that works in conjunction with an electric motor to produce a combined 114bhp, but both front and four-wheel drive variants will be offered.

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Eye on Motoring

New Cars continued... from page 114 Volkswagen Golf GTI If ever there was a motoring legend, this has to be it. For those of us of a certain age, the Volswagen Golf GTI was the car that we all wanted to have outside our front door. Following the launch of the new, eighthgeneration Golf, we’ll get a new hot version in 2021. And, at first glance, it really looks the part while holding on to the GTI’s family traits. In a reversal of its original plans, Volkswagen has decided not to switch to hybrid power, a decision which all petrolheads will celebrate. Instead, the new Golf GTI uses an updated version of today’s turbocharged

2.0-litre petrol engine, with even the standard version matching the 241bhp of the outgoing GTI Performance and the successor to that car – which is likely to be called the Clubsport – packing 296bhp. As with the current Golf GTI, you’ll be able to choose a six-speed manual or seven-speed dual-clutch automatic (DSG) gearbox. A 0-62mph time of around 5.5sec seems realistic when the latter is fitted. And engineers involved say a lot of their attention has been focused on the steering in an effort to provide greater responsiveness and feedback.

Despite a concerted effort to launch a range of exciting new models and boost sales, Alfa Romeo is still a long way short of the rather ambitious worldwide sales target it had set for 2020. However, the market for family SUVs is booming, so the introduction of the Volvo XC40-sized Tonale could provide the lifeline the brand needs. The Tonale will be the first Alfa Romeo to be sold with plug-in hybrid power and a ‘DNA’ driving mode system: Dual

Power for optimum performance, Normal (which uses a mixture of both the petrol engine and electric motor for maximum efficiency) and Advanced (which propels the car under electric power alone). Pricing is expected to start from around £30,000, putting the Tonale on a par with class favourites like the Aud1 Q3 and Range Rover Evoque.

Alfa Romeo Tonale

Citroen C4 The old C4 Cactus has its followers, but it also had those who probably wouldn’t want to be seen dead in one . But the replacement models looks more elegant and a whole lot more promising. The new car has SUV-inspired looks and employs the same mechanicals as the latest Peugeot 208, meaning turbo petrol and diesel engines as well as electric power. You can expect a range of around 200 miles from the latter. Citroën is also placing an even greater emphasis than usual on ride quality and interior comfort.

Chevrolet Corvette And now for something completely different, as the Monty Python team used to say. Following the UK arrival of the Ford Mustang, another true blue American icon, the Corvette, will finally offer right-hand drive. In its eighth-generation, this Porsche 911 rival has its engine – a 495bhp 6.2-litre V8 – mounted behind its driver for the first time, promising better handling. Drive is sent to the rear wheels via an eightspeed paddle-shift gearbox, and you can expect to pay around £70,000.

Ferrari Roma Or, should you have a few spare pounds knocking around the back of the sofa, but don’t fancy an American supercar, we have an alternative for you. The Ferrari Roma is aimed, or so they say, at those who “might be a bit afraid” of Ferrari supercars – but also have £175,000 burning a hole in their pocket. A pretty small constituency then. With a 612bhp 3.9-litre V8 driving the rear wheels via a dual-clutch automatic gearbox and the whole car weighing just 1472kg, it can hit 62mph in 3.4sec. Inside, you’ll find a curved 16in digital instrument display, an 8.4in touchscreen, a 345-litre boot and four seats. Most importantly, though, you’ll have a Ferrari.

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