23 minute read
Balmoral Furniture - Ready For The Post-Covid Era
EyeonFuture Of The Office
Balmoral Furniture –Ready For The Post-Covid Era
Paul Moffett (left) and Stephen Shaw, Joint Managing Directors at Balmoral Furniture.
Like most management teams here in Northern Ireland, the team at Balmoral Furniture were left staring into the abyss just over a year ago when we were all plunged into a deeply frightening lockdown. But, like most, they thought it would be for a fairly short period of time.
“I remember going around the factory telling everyone that we were hitting the pause button, but that we’d be hitting the play button in three weeks time,” says Joint MD Stephen Shaw. “That’s what we were all led to believe.”
It didn’t work out that way, of course. Balmoral’s head office and production facilities at Dunmurry shut down completely for nine weeks before resuming on a very limited basis at first.
“We had a small group of staff who volunteered to work to service our Health Service contracts, but that was about it at that stage,” adds Paul Moffett, the other half of the Joint MD team at the helm at Balmoral.
The company, still owned by the Moffett family and run by its fourth generation, celebrated its centenary in 2020. “To say that we celebrated our centenary is a bit misleading,” smiles Paul Moffett. “We were just putting plans in place around what we’d do to celebrate when Covid came in and put a stop to all of that.”
But this is still a company with a long and proud history of manufacturing and supplying furniture to a wide range of customers. It no longer has its own retail outlets, as it once did, but it’s a leading supplier of furniture to the retail trade and on a contract basis, notably to hotels, offices, schools and colleges and to hospitals and health centres.
Balmoral manufactures a range of office, school/college
EyeonFuture Of The Office
and hotel furniture items at its Dunmurry plant where it has busy furniture production and upholstery operations. But a second – and important – part of its business is its bedding division.
It is one of few companies on the island of Ireland manufacturing own brand beds and mattresses as well as branded lines on behalf of a number of the leading bedding and furniture retail groups.
“We re-opened gradually last June with a small group of employees and business picked up fairly quickly back then.” says Stephen Shaw. “Like everyone else, we were really thankful for the furlough scheme and we started to slowly bring our production staff and others back as the summer progressed and we resumed our supply lines to hotels and the retail sector.”
The most recent lockdown period has been different. Largely, Balmoral has continued to work almost as normal, but with a small number of its 109 employees still on furlough and some working limited hours.
“We’re very proud of the fact that we haven’t had to make any redundancies during the Covid period.
“We’ve had hotel clients who’ve used the lockdown period to plan new properties and re-equip existing ones,” says Paul Moffett.
“And we’ve continued to supply some of our retail customers who’ve been able to adapt and sell furniture online to customers.”
The Dunmurry company supplies customers the length and breadth of Ireland and across the Irish Sea in GB. And it has continued to send goods across the border despite travel restrictions imposed by the Irish Government, which don’t apply to commercial traffic.
The re-opening of the hospitality sector across the British Isles is imminent – although dates will differ – and that’s likely to provide a further boost to the company’s operations. While some hotels have
used their downtime to re-equip, the majority have yet to spring back into any kind of action.
Both Paul Moffett and Stephen Shaw are no big fans of the working from home concept. And it’s in their interests, of course, that most offices return to some element of normal working.
“I really do think that most people want to get back to the office, at least for part of the time.” says Shaw. “We’re social animals, after all, and most of us have learnt a lot of our working knowledge by being around the office, watching, listening and talking to others through the years. It’s essential.”
Meanwhile, the company’s operations haven’t been adversely affected by Brexit and its outworkings. “We do bring in furniture and components from the likes of Germany and Italy, and we’ve had some issues, but nothing that we haven’t been able to get around,” says Paul Moffett.
“The transport companies – we work with Allen Logistics and Maxwell Freight amongst others – have done a great job. Effectively, they take all of the logistics headaches, and the bureaucracy, away from us as customers. So we can’t complain.”
Both MD’s say that they’re optimistic about future prospects post-pandemic. “We’re a positive management team with a positive outlook. As things recover, I think we’re all in for bit of a boost in the coming months,” says Stephen Shaw.
EyeonViewpoint
Business Is Being Failed By The NI Executive
By Michael Stewart – President, Belfast Chamber
It has become all too apparent to businesses over the past few years that some within the world of politics do not view industry in the best of lights.
It’s more than just our current Prime Minister’s apparent reply of “f*** business” back in 2018 when asked about business worries over Brexit. More substantially, his Government’s choice of an exit from the European Union which prioritised sovereignty over ease of doing business has added cost and complexity to trade which is detrimental to both companies and consumers.
Locally, we’ve, bizarrely, witnessed business organisations being blamed for the outworkings of Brexit and, perhaps less appreciated, is how, last January, the new Executive de-prioritised jobs and the economy, unlike its predecessors who had explicitly made it their number one priority.
That sense that the economy has slipped down the political pecking order has been compounded during the crisis created by COVID-19. In my role as President of Belfast Chamber, I engage with businesses from all over our city. At a time like this, when businesses are struggling and fearing for the future of the firms they’ve started and grown, they look towards the Executive for help and hope. Increasingly, I am finding that business owners feel abandoned and ignored by what they see as an out of touch Executive.
Businesses that have been closed since Boxing Day have absolutely no idea when they will be able to open their doors again. That gives shopkeepers, publicans, restaurateurs and others no ability to properly plan for reopening. And they are looking enviously at counterparts in Great Britain who have dates in early April when they can start trading again. On 12 April a person in England will be able go shopping, get their hair cut or have a drink in a beer garden. In Belfast, on the same date, we will only be able to use click and collect in ‘non-essential retail’, barbers and hairdressers will stay shut and we’ll still have no idea when we can have a drink or a meal inside or outside a pub.
The Executive’s abject failure to offer businesses here even indicative dates is not simply frustrating, it is extinguishing a sense of hope that was growing as we started to see infection rates drop and the vaccine roll out exceed all expectations. So much so, that without the kind of certainty that businesses in England, Scotland and Wales are increasingly getting from their governments, many businesses will call it quits. As they see debt mounting and they incur continued costs just to stay closed, with not even the hint of a timeframe for reopening or clarity on where the health data needs to be to allow them to reopen, can anyone blame them after enduring one of the toughest years ever to run a business?
As I listen to business owners, I get an abiding feeling from them that they think that Ministers aren’t listening, that they don’t understand how business operates and even that they don’t care what fate befalls their businesses or their employees. They don’t believe that the Executive is engaging with them and that decision after decision feels almost designed to make life more difficult for them.
No doubt, some within the Executive will seek to defend how they’ve supported business throughout this crisis. They will point to millions of pounds worth of grants and rates holidays for retailers and hospitality businesses. Let’s set to one side the fact that the Executive has merely been responsible for the onward transmission of money that has flowed from London, it has often done so in ways that are complex, been slow to materialise and left gaps that have totally excluded some businesses from accessing any support. The rates holidays have undoubtedly been helpful, but we should not ignore the fact that the Executive stood little chance of collecting rates from businesses that have not been trading at all or properly for a year now. In effect, the rates holiday has been like the writing off of a debt that in lots of instances was unlikely to have been paid. Indeed, had rates bills landed on the door mats of many businesses, there is a fair chance that would have been the thing that would have forced many to close forever and make staff redundant. At the risk of sounding ungrateful for the support that businesses in Belfast and right across our region have received, it is compensation that they are more than entitled to given that it was Executive decisions that forced them to close, depriving them of income, and accessing support shouldn’t have been as difficult as it has been for some.
The Executive has a job to do to restore trust with large sections of our business community. The Executive’s own Programme for Government consultation states repeatedly that it is only through collaboration across sectors that we can achieve the targets that are set. Belfast Chamber has been at pains throughout this crisis in saying that our response should not be characterised as health versus the economy. We have watched as the private sector helped the government fix its PPE supply problems, how retailers and agri-food factories have remained open to help keep shelved stocked and people fed and how, in a public-private partnership that will go down in history, a vaccine was developed and approved in record time. As we start to edge towards recovery, it will be business that will create the jobs that generates the tax revenue that the Executive relies on to deliver public services. This is too small a place with too many challenges for elements of business to be made feel like it’s the enemy.
On 18 March 2020, as this crisis was commencing, the deputy First Minister said that “Covid-19 is not just a public health issue; it’s a societal and economic crisis without precedent in our time”. Our path out of the challenges we face and towards recovery requires a proper partnership approach that should begin with treating businesses with some respect and fairness by giving them a proper, timetabled plan for reopening.
EyeonNews
Galgorm Collection set to open The Rabbit Hotel & Retreat this summer
Pictured launching the new hotel are (L-R) Lesley Gordon, General Manager at The Rabbit Hotel & Retreat, Colin Johnston, Galgorm Collection Managing Director and Abby Dunlop, Wedding & Events Manager at The Loft.
Galgorm Collection has announced the opening of Northern Ireland’s newest luxury hotel in an investment worth £10 million that will create an additional 26 hospitality jobs, taking its total workforce to almost 100 team members, and provide an exciting welcome break for visitors from this summer.
The 33-bedroom boutique hotel and spa - The Rabbit Hotel & Retreat – will open on 18 June and follows the purchase and dramatic transformation of the former Templeton Hotel in Templepatrick, a picturesque Co Antrim village located only 20 minutes from Belfast and 10 minutes from Belfast International Airport.
The property was acquired by Galgorm Collection in 2018 and now offers stylish accommodation, a luxury outdoor spa and lakeside walk, an onsite bar and restaurant and an exclusive-use events space for weddings and conferences.
Galgorm Collection Managing Director, Colin Johnston, said:
“After more than 18 months of extensive redevelopment and a challenging year for the hospitality industry we’re thrilled to throw open our doors and welcome guests to enjoy this unmatched new experience.
Not only does this represent a significant investment in the local economy and cements our longstanding commitment to support and grow our tourism industry, but it comes with 26 new hospitality roles which we are currently recruiting for.”
Extensive refurbishment work has been undertaken to upgrade the hotel’s 33 guestrooms which come equipped with all the latest mod cons.
Additionally, a £2 million outdoor spa area offers guests a lakeside tranquil space for relaxation, with unique attractions including Swedish saunas, aromatherapy steam room, halotherapy salt chamber and Roman inspired baths and hot tubs. Exclusive to The Rabbit is a lakeside beach complete with heated sand, a Lake Bar, sunken lounge and plush cabanas for a laid back, luxurious experience.
The Rabbit Hotel & Retreat will safely welcome its first guests from Friday 18th June 2021 and stays can be booked online at rabbithotel.com.
“We’re all about good times at The Rabbit Hotel & Retreat and guests can expect a truly unique experience; from relaxing on our brandnew heated beach with lakeside views, the only attraction of its kind in the island of Ireland, to enjoying a personal cocktail turndown service from the comfort of our stylish rooms.
With full safety measures in place and a fresh new offering, The Rabbit Hotel & Retreat is the perfect place for reuniting with loved ones and enjoying memorable new experiences and we look forward to welcoming guests this summer,” said Colin Johnston.
Following an extensive £2.5 million refurbishment, The Rabbit Restaurant and Hunter’s Bar first opened to diners in July 2020, seating up to 180 guests and boasting a large outdoor terrace for al fresco dining. Internally, the restaurant is home to an extensive wine cellar featuring the finest labels from around the world, whilst a showstopping bar adorned in glistening bronze takes centre stage along with its extensive cocktail menu.
In addition to the accommodation, spa and bar and restaurant offering, The Rabbit Hotel & Retreat has also opened the doors to its brand-new banqueting suite and wedding venue The Loft, offering unabridged luxury in a magical setting.
With high vaulted ceilings, chandeliers adorned with foliage, marble dining tables, dramatic fireplaces and a stunning romantic lake view from the spacious outdoor terrace, the fairy-tale setting is the ideal backdrop for a picture-perfect wedding day. Operating a one wedding a day policy, The Loft is available for up to 140 guests.
Galgorm is renowned for creating world-class hospitality experiences throughout their awardwinning properties in Northern Ireland. Galgorm Spa & Golf Resort has received numerous awards and accolades for their stellar service and offering, including receiving the Four AA Red Star Award for excellence in quality and hospitality last year, as well as previously holding the coveted title of Global Luxury Spa Hotel of the Year.
For more information visit www.rabbithotel.com
EyeonBusiness Recovery
ASM Chartered Accountants Announce Office Move into the Heart of Newry
One of Northern Ireland’s leading Chartered Accountancy firms - ASM Chartered Accountants – are excited to announce the relocation of their office into the heart of Newry City.
For the last eighteen years the firm has been located at Wyncroft on the Rathfriland Road. Work on the new city-centre office is now complete, and the firm officially took up residence on 22 March 2021.
The popular accountancy firm says the decision to move comes amid a period of significant growth. ASM’s new office is 30 Monaghan Street, Newry.
Before moving to the Rathfriland Road office in 2003, the accountancy firm had offices in Merchants Quay and John Mitchel Place.
Ian Finnegan, Director at ASM, spoke of his excitement at the move back to the city centre.
“It’s been a challenging twelve months for us all, and we’re delighted with this bit of positive news amidst the pandemic and Brexit.
“Plans for the relocation have been ongoing for quite a while.
“But Covid-19 has meant that the move has unsurprisingly suffered some delays.”
Ian says he and the Newry team are excited to be moving back to the heart of the city.
“Monaghan Street and the surrounding area has been undergoing a transformation in recent years.
“And there’s a lot of optimism in the local business community.
“Southern Regional College recently announced the purchase of the old Sports Centre, which will be a welcome addition to the area.
“There are plans for significant development of Railway Avenue, and there’s also a new whiskey distillery - Matt D’Arcy & Co - opening soon. “Monaghan Street is a real hive of activity, with restaurants, take-aways and coffee shops, so we’ve been looking forward to moving in and saying hello to all of our new neighbours,” he continues.
Ian says the firm looked at other places to move their office to, but they felt drawn to the city centre.
“Newry is a young, vibrant city, and we want to be amongst the hustle and bustle to serve our clients best.”
The new site is an ideal location for clients to visit, and there are several free car parking spaces available.
Ian continues, “The beauty about Newry is that everything is within walking distance, so it makes sense for us to be close to our clients.”
The new office is bigger than the Rathfriland Road site, Ian says.
“Our new office will give us room to grow as a company,” he adds.
The firm also has offices in Belfast, Dundalk,Dungannon and Magherafelt.
Ian Finnegan, Director at ASM
EyeonNews
New report finds youth jobs crisis set to cost UK economy almost £7 billion next year
A new report from The Prince’s Trust and the Learning and Work Institute warns that young people will increasingly bear the brunt of the unemployment crisis, at a growing cost to the UK economy.
The major study, supported by HSBC UK, shows how, while some areas of the economy might begin on the road to recovery, young workers are under-represented in these sectors, and the industries that typically employ young people will be hardest hit in the long term.
The report, based on new labour market analysis and surveys with employers and young people1, also warns that the pandemic will continue to exacerbate pre-existing inequalities.
Key findings:
Long-lasting damage from youth unemployment:
New economic forecasting reveals that, while young people’s employment has been worst affected by the pandemic with under 25s accounting for three in five jobs lost, youth unemployment is due to climb further still, even as the economy recovers.
The outlook for young people’s employment is worse compared to the outlook for older workers. In addition to being over-represented in the sectors hit hardest by the pandemic to date, young people tend to be overrepresented in the sectors that are forecast to see lower employment in the long term and under-represented in occupations which are likely to see the strongest job growth.
This suggests that, in addition to the greater risk of unemployment for young people during the pandemic, the longer-term structural changes in the labour market are likely to reduce future employment opportunities for young people without support to improve skills for the jobs available.
For the first time, the report cautions of the financial hit to the economy of higher youth unemployment due to the pandemic:
youth unemployment in terms of lost national output is forecast to be £5.9 billion in 2021, rising to £6.9 billion in 2022 unemployment, in the form of lower tax revenue and higher benefit spending, is forecast to be £2.5 billion in 2021, rising to £2.9 billion in 2022 for young people entering the labour market in 2021 alone is forecast to be £14.4bn over the next seven years. This relates to the impact on employment and earnings they are likely to suffer for at least seven years, due to entering the labour market at a time of higher unemployment.
Pandemic exacerbating preexisting inequalities:
The report finds disparities in the impact of the crisis on different groups of young people, raising concerns that the pandemic has, and will continue to, exacerbate pre-existing inequalities.
Analysis shows that the decline in working hours for young people with no qualifications (34%) has been five times higher than the decline for those with a degree level qualification (7%).
Demand for employees with lowerlevel qualifications is projected to fall in the short, medium and long-term, raising concerns that the employment prospects of young people who lack higher level qualifications will be further negatively affected.
The report also finds the decline in hours worked for black young people (49%) has been three times higher than for white young people (16%).
New data surveying UK employers finds two in five (41%) feel the pandemic will have a negative impact on young people’s prospects in their sector in five years’ time. A survey of young people finds one in four (26%) expect their employment prospects will still be impacted in five years’ time.
The impact on young people in Northern Ireland:
Ireland have seen a 19% drop in working hours, compared to before the pandemic in Northern Ireland think it’s “very” or “fairly” likely that the pandemic will continue to impact their employment over the next year, and 34% say it will impact their employment over the next 2-3 years
Ireland, 45% say they are “very” or “fairly” likely to consider working in a different sector or profession (to their current job) in the next 6 months, rising to 52% considering it in the next year their plan to move jobs is because they work in a sector that has been badly affected by the pandemic
Mark Dougan, Northern Ireland Director of The Prince’s Trust, said:
“This report is a stark warning of how the current economic crisis will have a scarring effect on young people, their earnings and prospects. We also know from 45 years’ experience of working with young people that youth joblessness can impact self-esteem and mental health for years to come, if we fail to act.
“Government, employers and charities must work together to ensure that the young people who need the most support in Northern Ireland are not forgotten. They need the opportunities to upskill, retrain and access job opportunities, or we risk harming not only our young people’s futures but the recovery of our economy.”
The Prince’s Trust helps young people to build confidence and skills for work, education and training. The employability courses offered by The Trust are run both in person and online and give young people the practical and financial support needed to stabilise their lives.
Ian Stuart, Chief Executive of HSBC UK, said:
“This research highlights the important role the private sector can play in ensuring young people have the opportunity to thrive in the UK’s recovery.
“It’s crucial that we back the job creators – the UK businesses of all sizes up and down to the country – to ensure they have the confidence to invest, grow and create the jobs of tomorrow, as well as help young people develop the skills and experience needed to step into these roles.
“Together with the Prince’s Trust, we’re proud to have helped more than 50,000 young people access skillstraining and employment opportunities that will help them succeed going forward, including in key sectors such as digital and the green economy.”
The Prince’s Trust has helped one million young people across the UK since 1976 and focuses on supporting disadvantaged young people into jobs, education and training.
EyeonBanking & Finance
Spring is the time of Plans & Projects*
As we move into the Spring– it is hard to believe that it is more than a year since we were asked to stay at home to “flatten the curve.” For the first time the mood music in the market seems to be changing and business owners are looking once more to the future.
Upstream Founder and Managing Director Judith Totten MBE.
We are not out of the woods yet, and there might be more bumps in the road, but with these twists comes opportunity – whether to grow your business, restructure, diversify or look at the global landscape beyond our shores, the chance to excel is within your grasp. Sadly, there will be corporate casualties – but that too opens a world of possibilities for acquisition, merger and ultimately, renewal.
Within Upstream, in the last twelve months, through lockdown, we have supported significantly larger and more complex transactions than ever before. As a result of the vision and drive of our new funding partners we have brought to life several transformational plans for local businesses, and we thought this month that we would share just two examples:
Firstly, we were approached by an NI founder in April 2020. With a background in logistics and technology, he had designed and launched a platform to streamline the movement of goods across the world. The missing piece in his offering was funding. Could Upstream overlay that platform with a funding option for his users? Yes, we could – but in sitting down with a blank sheet of paper we found we could do a lot more. Alan Wardlow our Sales Director comments,
“I asked him what he could really do with the business if we plugged it into an existing platform in the US, owned by our partners, added unlimited growth capital and wrapped it all up with a funding programme for users to both move their goods and release working capital as they transacted. Long story short, he has now scaled the business exponentially, and is currently in the process of acquiring a warehousing business to store goods before they move into ‘the last mile’ of their journey.”
This client now has a global footprint where last year he was simply planning modest UK growth. He now has the fire power to acquire complementary businesses, and he has completely reprofiled his future aspirations.
Then we were approached by a long-established business, looking to growth in the US through a number of groundbreaking projects. We sat down and discussed how we could augment their working capital funding through Supply Chain and Invoice Finance, but again, we introduced the concept of “… how far could you go with unlimited capital for growth?”
Their ambitious answer has now resulted in a full equity, debt and working capital restructure through Upstream. This business now has a laser focus on scaling, and they expect to increase their revenue by 400% in the next 3 years.
These are only two examples of several exciting projects we have structured this year.
Sometimes all it takes is that one question, “with unlimited growth capital, what could you achieve?”
So, what have you got to lose in asking us to review your plans and projects? You might be very pleasantly surprised with the answer you get.
*quote from ‘Anna Karenina’ by Leo Tolstoy
Contact us for more information: Upstream Judith Totten MBE or Alan Wardlow 02890 999450 www.upstreampositive.co.uk
