Businesse Eye Dec 2014

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Issue 146 Dec 2014 £2.50 Voted best Business Magazine in Ireland 2005 and Magazine of the Year for Northern Ireland

Property Firm’s New Era

Shortlisted Magazines Ireland Awards 2011 Business To Business Magazine of the Year

Features:

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Housing Market...

Recovery & Growth Pains

STRAIGHT TO BUSINESS Up to 40 flights a day around the UK from Belfast City. flybe.com

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Mukesh Sharma...

Traveller’s Tales

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Leslie Hughes...

A Legend Steps Down

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Contents

titanicbelfast.com Dec 2014 ISSUE 146

Cover Story

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Property Firm’s New Era

Specials Euro Troubles Danske Bank’s Angela McGowan casts an expert eye over the Eurozone....a region that doesn’t have its economic troubles to seek.

Today’s property professionals might be same people as the property professionals of 2006 and 2007... but there’s little doubt that all of them are a little older and a lot wiser, helping them to navigate their clients through an ever changing marketplace. We catch up with Lambert Smith Hampton’s Capital Markets team.

Business and Giving In the latest of our Eye on Giving corporate philanthropy series, Mary Trainor Nagle, CEO of Arts & Business, talks about the importance of corporate giving to the arts in Northern Ireland.

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Property & The Economy NI Housing Marketplace... Recovery & The Way Ahead With recovery clearly evident in the Northern Ireland residential property marketplace, Business Eye joins forces with the Progressive Building Society to stage a round table discussion and gather the views of some leading players in both property and the wider economy here.

Holiday Pay... A Trap For The Unwary Andrea McCann of John McKee & Son Solicitors takes a closer look at the recent changes in legislation governing holiday pay and offers some timely advice to business owners and managers.

In a unique cross-table discussion hosted by HSBC and Business Eye, Mark Berrisford-Smith, HSBC’s highly respected Chief Economist, debates local, national and international economic hot topics with Professor Neil Gibson of the University of Ulster.

World Travel Centre... New Name, Trusted Brands World Travel Centre might be a new name to the business travel marketplace in Northern Ireland, but as Mukesh Sharma explains, it’s the coming together of a couple of the most trusted travel agency names in the local arena.

There’s a wealth of psychology and planning behind the opening of every new retail outlet – based around what we buy, when we buy it and and what are future preferences might be. Christine Grant, Propositions Development Manager at Henderson Retail, takes up the story.

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Locate in Lisburn With inward investment coming to Northern Ireland at an all-time high, it’s hardly surprising that our local councils are sitting up and taking notice. One of the first to launch its own inward investment stategy is Lisburn.

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Two Marks & A Passion For Design

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Business Leader Profile Leslie Hughes... A Legend Steps Down Thirty eight years on from establishing Hughes Insurance in his back bedroom, Leslie Hughes steps down on 1st July next year from his current role as Chairman of the company which he built up from scratch to an operation employing more than 300 people at its impressive Newtownards headquarters and at 11 regional branches.

Regulars

ABC average circulation Jan-June 2010, 7,610 copies Yearly Subscription £35 UK and NI or £37.50 outside the UK

It takes a bit of courage to call your studio ‘The Ideas Factory’ but that’s exactly what Mark Mulholland the Mark Case have done at one of our leading design agencies, Whitenoise. They talk to Business Eye about the development of the business.

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Corporate Responsibility Champion When it comes to the pratice of corporate responsibility, there are few better at it than George Best Belfast City Airport. We catch up with the airport’s award-winning Head of HR & Corporate Responsibility, Michelle Hatfield.

Eye on Events

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Eye on Technology

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Eye on Internet

88

Eye on Agri Food

30

Eye on Retail

76

Moving On

90

Eye on Communications

32

Eye on Manufacturing

80

Eye on Motoring

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Buckley Publications 20 Kings Road Belfast, BT5 6JJ Tel: (028) 9047 4490 Fax: (028) 9047 4495 www.businesseye.co.uk

Editor Richard Buckley Commercial Director Brenda Buckley Sales Manager Claire Dickson

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The Science Of Retailing

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State of the Economy... A Dual Perspective

Business Travel

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Features & Promotions Manager Ciara Donnelly

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

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How many times over the years has Stormont had to resort to staging what amounts to an end of term school play, complete with ‘parents’ flying in from London and Dublin?

Comment

One encouraging sign, if you look at it from a certain angle, is that our local political parties seem able to get past bickering about the same old issues of flags, languages, etc.

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Irish Magazine Editor of the Year 2005

t happened all over again on the run up to Christmas, with David Cameron and Enda Kenny indulging in a spot of festive hardball by heading home before any of the local parties had a chance to throw one of their trademark tantrums.

For the well-worn population of Northern Ireland, it’s not something that will give the vast majority of people any cause for concern. These dramas rarely end in anything too serious, do they?

It begs the question of why our politicians have to indulge in them in the first place? The answer to that is simple. Northern Ireland hasn’t yet got beyone the stage of hand-holding politics. Our political leaders still like to see their respective parents (Cameron for some, Kenny for others) making the odd appearance, preferably with well-stocked wallets in their pockets.

But, having warned for years that days of hand outs were gone, it seems clear now that the British and Irish governments are going to stick with that firm line, much to the chagrin of the key players up at Stormont.

Joking apart, there is a lot at stake here for the the Northern Ireland economy. Just a couple of weeks ago, the Chancellor devolved corporation tax powers on one condition – that the talks between the parties reached a clear agreement.

At the time of writing, no agreement had been reached.

Those who have insisted in recent months that George Osborne’s pronouncement was the easy bit when it comes to delivering lower corporation tax for Northern Ireland were right. Convincing the Chancellor may have taken time and effort, but it’s starting to look like there may be a long way to go before we can ever start reaping the benefits of having a competitive corporation tax rate here.

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And benefits there would be, despite the increasing number of doubts being bandied about.

One encouraging sign, if you look at it from a certain angle, is that our local political parties seem able to get past bickering about the same old issues of flags, languages, etc. We’ve seen Sinn Fein start to lean towards its ideological roots, refusing point blank to even consider welfare cuts when it’s clear to (almost) everyone that they must form part of a widespread cost-cutting exercise. The same party – with a couple of key members the only exceptions – are also very slow to engage in the corporation tax debate.

One wonders what Mairtin O’Muilleoir, one of the best Lord Mayors Belfast, a likely candidate come May for South Belfast in the General Election and an astute businessman in his own right, thinks about it.

The DUP, of course, is on much safer ground here and has been vociferous in its support of the tax measures. The SDLP is caught in a bit of a time warp around it’s socialist birthright, Alliance rarely seems to have anything much to say on business and the economy and, while Michael Nesbitt is looking like a much better leader of the UUP, his party also needs to make up ground in an area where it should be strong.

But this is all starting to read a bit like an end of term school report (to keep up our educational theme).

On that note, the pre-Christmas antics show not only that our politicians could do better. They couldn’t do much worse.

Eye on News

MIVAN CO-FOUNDER NAMED BUSINESS ANGEL OF THE YEAR One of Northern Ireland’s leading entrepreneurs has been named as the 2014 Halo “Business Angel of the Year.”

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ervyn McCall, co-founder of Mivan Ltd, was awarded the accolade by Halo, the NI Business Angel network.

Mervyn, who owns MNV consulting, has invested over £1million into eight different startups in Northern Ireland, including group buying website TreatTicket and Tactility Factory, which blends textiles and concrete.

Alan Watts, Director of the Halo Programme based at the NI Science Park, said, “Mervyn’s commitment to the Northern Ireland startup scene has been remarkable. His ability to not only believe in a

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product, but also in the people behind the product is what makes him a rousing business angel. The time and dedication he affords to the companies in which he invests has been continually applauded.

“To be at the top of your game and to want to give something back by investing in the smaller companies coming through is testament to all our Halo angels and we are delighted with their ongoing commitment this year.”

Seven early-stage companies pitched to over 50 investors at a special event last night, where Mervyn was presented with his

award by Stephen Houston, non-executive director at Sophia, who was named as the Business Angel of the Year in 2013.

Mervyn McCall, previous Chairman of the Institute of Directors Northern Ireland, said he was honoured to have been selected, “I am inspired by the vibrant startup scene here and truly believe the quality of our new companies is world-class.

Growing companies need not just funding but also guidance and

advice, and it’s very rewarding to be a part of nurturing that growth.

“Thanks to the work of Halo, the wider network of private sector investors and Halo’s pitching events, there is now a great foundation for angel investment in Northern Ireland- infrastructure and opportunities which were not available when I was starting my own business. I am delighted to receive this award and look forward to future investments in Northern Ireland. ”

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Eye on News

JL Grant & Co. Joins PKF-FPM Accountants Accountancy practice JL Grant & Co. located in Mallusk has become part of PKF-FPM Accountants, one of the leading all island accounting and business Advisory firms, with offices in Belfast, Newry, Dungannon, Mallusk and Dundalk. PKF-FPM is a member of PKF International, one of the top Global Networks of Accountancy Firms.

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oth firms have worked closely over these past few months in planning for the business of JL Grant and Co. Accountants to be subsumed into PKF-FPM Accountants Limited. The combined firm will be known as PKF-FPM Accountants Limited and will employ more than 90 people.

JL Grant & Co was a very successful, well established and respected general accountancy and business consultancy practice with additional sector expertise in charities, farming and fishing.

Both practices are very positive about the benefits which the new arrangement will bring to both firms in terms of additional capability to service and support their clients in today’s

challenging and ever changing times.

Speaking on the exciting new development PKF-FPM Managing Director Feargal McCormack stated: “Our two firms have respected and known each other for a number of years now. Over time it became clear that we also had similar values and a shared professional ethos in terms of being passionate about helping our clients grow and develop their businesses, understanding the importance of providing a personal service as well as really caring about the career development of our people. We are delighted that Lowry Grant and all his staff will be joining us and that Lowry will become an equity director in PKF-FPM Accountants Limited”.

Bangor Pub Takes Top Title P ubs of Ulster Chairman, Mark Stewart, Andrew Gedge from The Goat’s Toe, Bangor and Finance Minister Simon Hamilton pictured at Pubs of Ulster’s prestigious Pub of the Year Awards 2014, where The Goat’s Toe in Bangor was named the overall Pub of the Year 2014.

The Awards night, hosted by Cool FM Breakfast Show Host, Pete Snodden, was attended by the best in the hospitality business and was held at the La Mon Hotel and Country Club. The annual Pub of the Year Awards are the only industry recognised awards and provide a valuable opportunity to recognise the significant contribution local pubs make, not only within their own communities, but to the industry as a whole.

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PKF-FPM Belfast Director Teresa Campbell welcomes Lowry Grant as a new Equity Director in PKF-FPM Accountants as PKF-FPM Managing Director Feargal McCormack looks on.

New PKF-FPM Director, Lowry Grant stated: “By coming together we collectively feel we can offer our clients and our people access to even more expertise and opportunities.

Our clients will benefit from having access to an even wider range of services and a more extensive pool of

knowledgeable and capable individuals right across the various service lines such as audit, tax, corporate finance, accounts, outsourcing, business recovery and financial services. Our people will benefit from having more career opportunities in the enlarged firm of PKF-FPM Accountants Limited”

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Eye on News

PUTTING CUSTOMERS AT THE HEART OF UTILITIES Ciaran Duffy, Head of Utilities Practice at Neueda, a leading technology consultancy and services company located in Belfast, recently held an all-island utilities client seminar in Dublin on the theme of Creating a Customer Centric Utility.

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he event focused on the role that innovation and technology have on deepening the customer experience and the customer centric strategies adopted by utilities. Over sixty clients within the sector across electricity, gas, renewables, telco and water attended the event.

Commenting on the event, Ciaran Duffy said: “I am delighted to host Neueda’s first ever utilities client event which will focus on the role technology plays in putting the customer at the heart of these organizations. This is an exciting

and challenging time within the sector as providers look to put in place ICT solutions to deliver on and where possible, exceed customer’s needs. We are pleased to have speakers from Yorkshire Water, NI Water, Scottish Water, OEE and Furnell Energy Consultants to share their experience of the challenges of delivering on the customer promise.”

He added: “We work with many clients within this sector who are looking to ICT to ensure they can offer customers an “anytime, anywhere any device” solution to every aspect

Pictured at the Neueda Utilities Briefing were Susan Furnell, Furnell Consulting, Ciaran Duffy, Neueda, Dr Helen Phillips, Yorkshire Water and David Bole Neueda

of the customer journey. We believe that all utilities need to constantly innovate and integrate the next generation of platforms to ensure they can deliver the optimum customer experience against the backdrop of growing customer demands.

Going forward, technology will deliver solutions which will transform the customer

experience, including tailor-made programmes to suit individual needs and consumption patterns based on better information and analysis of that information.

The customer experience within utilities will continue to get better and better as a result of new technology..”

The event was held in The Gibson Hotel in Dublin in October.

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Eye on News

TOP BUSINESS WOMEN TAKE CENTRE STAGE The crème of Northern Ireland business women were last night recognised at the fourth annual Women in Business Northern Ireland Awards in association with Invest Northern Ireland.

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oy Park Chief Executive Janet McCollum took the top award of Outstanding Business Woman of the Year but other key winners included Siobhan Allen and Extra NI in the Small Business category, Bernie McClelland of Holywood’s Rayanne House for Customer Service and Claire Vallely of The Rug House in Newry for Export Achievement.

Guest speaker at this year’s event was psychologist, author and TV personality Dr. Linda Papadopoulos.

Full list of Winners:-

Dr. Linda Papadopoulos in action.

t Best New Start Up: Mandy Little and Cathy Fay, Porcellana Tile Studio, Belfast

Janet McCollum receives her award from Jeremy Fitch of Invest NI and the Women in Business NI Chief Executive Roseann Kelly.

t Best New Start Up Knowledge Economy: Irene McAleese, Limeforge Ltd (trading as See Sense), Newtownards. t Entrepreneurship / Innovation: Winner - Colleen Harte, Lucy Annabella Ltd, Dungannon t #FTU JO 1SPGFTTJPOBM Services: Lisa Boyd, Cleaver Fulton Rankin, Belfast. t Best Marketing Campaign: Aine McVerry, The MAC, Belfast. t Best Small Business: Siobhan Allan, Extras NI Ltd. t Excellence in IT: Lesley Brown, dotRetailer.com

t Best Customer Service: Winner - Bernie McClelland, Rayanne House, Holywood t Advancing Diversity in the 8PSL 1MBDF Winner - Tara Moore, Ulster University t Best Exporter: Clare Vallely, The Rug House, Newry. t Best Young Business Woman PG UIF :FBS Victoria Mann, Homemade by Manns t Outstanding Management and Leadership: Ellvena Graham, Ulster Bank and Jackie Henry, Deloitte. t Outstanding Businesswoman PG UIF :FBS Janet McCollum

DOWN ROYAL... A DEAD CERT TO BEAT THE BOXING DAY BLUES. As traditional as mince pies and Christmas pudding, Down Royal is preparing to welcome thousands of racegoers to the County Down course for the annual Boxing Day race meeting, one of the most popular and fun days out in Northern Ireland’s sporting and social calendar.

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his popular fixture will feature one of the best hunter chases in Ireland, the Silks@downroyal Hunter Chase, with the first three horses home in the Fox Hunters at Cheltenham, all runners in this race at Down Royal last year.

Steeped in tradition and heritage, Boxing Day at Down Royal has been entertaining and enthusing racing fans for decades. A recently-completed

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refurbishment programme guarantees unrivalled facilities for the thousands expected at the County Down venue.

Down Royal Manager, Mike Todd, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to experience the adrenaline, energy and excitement of National Hunt Racing. Boxing Day at Down Royal is well established as a traditional fixture in the racing calendar, and one that has grown

in popularity over the years. “This event rounds off a fantastic year of racing here at Down Royal, with world-class racing and the completion of a refurbishment project which has proved a major hit with visitors.

We look forward to another great year of racing in 2015.�

The first race starts at 12.30pm and the final race is at 3.30pm.

More information is available from www.downroyal.com

Model Anna Henry looks forward to the Boxing Day meeting at Down Royal

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Eye on News

EXPANSION FOR FAMOUS FAMILY ESTABLISHMENT Tea and coffee specialist SD Bell & Co – a true institution in suburban East Belfast - has invested in a major refurbishment of its premises at Knock.

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ore than just tea rooms and a coffee house, SD Bell’s is also an importer of quality teas and coffees, with its products selling online and across Northern Ireland in venues such as St George’s Market, La Mon Hotel, the George Best Belfast City Airport, and many quality restaurants, hotels and artisan shops. In 2012 the company celebrated 125 years in business, with the current managing director, Robert Bell, marking the fourth generation of uninterrupted family leadership.

Mr Bell said: “SD Bell’s has a very strong family heritage and long-

established, loyal customer base, so it was important that any changes we made to the premises during our refurbishment did not in any way affect its strong sense of culture and ambience. Incremental change was no longer enough – the refurbishment this time had to be significant, but to maintain the heritage look and feel it was always our intention to make alterations as sympathetic as possible.”

As well as making significant changes to the overall layout of the premises, the company refurbished its bathroom facilities and kitchen and upgraded its communications infrastructure, including amplifying

Daniele Delahunt, Business Manager, Danske Bank with Robert Bell, Managing Director, SD Bell’s.

the free wi-fi network. With live music a popular feature at SD Bell’s, the stage has been moved to give the musicians more prominence and opening hours have been extended to offer live music into the evenings during the week.

Given that SD Bell’s is right next door to a branch of Danske Bank,

it’s appropriate that the bank supported the recent investment.

Daniele Delahunt, Business Manager, Danske Bank, said: “SD Bell’s has a strong understanding of the local market and, having been trading for over 125 years, had the confidence to invest in its business to improve its customer offering and maximise opportunities for growth”.

Arleen Elliott, the Law Society’s new President with Richard Palmer, Senior Vice President, John Guerin, Junior Vice President and Alan Hunter, the Society’s Chief Executive.

NEW PRESIDENT FOR LAW SOCIETY The Law Society of Northern Ireland has announced Arleen Elliott as its new President.

S 028 9027 9540

he is a partner at the Elliott-Trainor Partnership in Newry, where she specialises in conveyancing, family and litigation work.

The new President was elected to the Council of the Law Society IN 2006 and has served as Chair of the Family Law Committee, Client Complaints

Committee, Contentious Committee and Access to Justice Committee.

She is the second generation of her family to serve as President as her mother, Margaret Elliott, served as President of the Law Society in 1990. They are the first mother and daughter to serve as President of a Law Society in the British Isles.

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Eye on Events

INNOVATION FIRST FOR NEWRY SOLICITOR

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ewry based Solicitor’s firm Rafferty & Co. has just launched the first of its kind business apps to assist clients in the event of an accident, incident or if they need to seek legal advice. Customers will be able to gather evidence in certain circumstances with guidance on creating an incident report as well as

having the capability to time, date and location code photos which can be sent directly to a solicitor. It is one of the first Northern Ireland based business apps to offer assistance in Irish and Polish as well as English. Pictured launching the app is Ciaran Rafferty, Siobhan Gorman, Bernie Rafferty and Eilis McGreevy from Rafferty & Co.

NEW ERA FOR HOSPICE

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riscilla Roche, whose son was cared for by NI Hospice last year, joins Lord Mayor of Belfast Nichola Mallon and Gary McKeown from construction company H&J Martin at the Somerton Road Hospice site as the charity reaches a major milestone in its journey to rebuild the adult Hospice in North Belfast. Construction work on the new

state-of-the-art £13m facility began in March 2014 and is now entering the next phase of development. The ground-breaking adult hospice, which is due to open its doors in late 2015, has been designed to meet the end of life care needs for the next generation and will be the first dementia friendly hospice in the UK and Ireland. For further information or to make a donation visit nihospice.org or call the fundraising team on 028 9078 1836.

Eye on Events

SAY CHEESE....

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ulie & Kevin Hickey of Tamnagh Foods, based at Park in the Sperrin Mountains, have just won an award at the prestigious World Cheese Awards, which were held during the BBC Good Food Show in London. The cheese competition, the largest in the world, had over 2,600 entries for the 2014 awards. They had only

just released their new cheese Dart Mountain Dusk onto the market in October. The cheese maker, Julie Hickey said ‘We are absolutely over the moon with this bronze award. We have only just released this, our second cheese, in early October, after aging it for four months in special rooms to mature and develop its unique flavour.’

LAMBERT SMITH HAMPTON LEADS RETAIL SECTOR DISCUSSION

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ommercial property agent Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) recently held its annual centre management conference where centre managers from leading retail outlets across the UK and Ireland came together at Titanic Belfast to receive motivational training and discuss the current retail market.

Welcomed by Patricia Dorrity, head of property management, LSH, and Sean Brew, head of the London

office, LSH, participants heard from Pete Boyle, founder of Argento; motivational speaker and former Managing Director of Hamilton Osborne King, Paul McNeive; and Philip Bain, co-owner of Shred-Bank.

Pictured (L-R) at the event is Patricia Dorrity, head of property management, Lambert Smith Hampton, Sean Brew, head of London office, Lambert Smith Hampton, and Paul McNeive, motivational speaker.

MARKETING AWARD FOR DERRY’S FOOD EVENT

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erry City Council has landed a top award for the marketing campaign for the LegenDerry Food Festival at the prestigious Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) in Ireland Marketing Excellence Awards, which took place in Belfast City Hall.

As well as securing the Marketing with Impact Public Sector award for the LegenDerry Festival, the Council was also Commended in the Marketing with Impact

in the Leisure and Tourism category, while the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race 2014 campaign was shortlisted under Best Marketing Campaign for an Event.

Pictured at the ceremony were (l-r) Abbi Lammas Director of Learning & Innovation CIM UK; Sharon O’Connor Town Clerk & Chief Executive Derry City Council; Mary Blake Head of Tourism Derry City Council; Cllr Brenda Stevenson Mayor of Derry.

LOCAL TEEN’S INTERNATIONAL JUMP

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bit outside out normal subject matter, but it’s worth recording that 16 year old Chris Megahey has won the Emerald International Puissance at the End of Year Irish Masters Show, clearing 2.05m at his second ever puissance (a form of high jump for horses....).

Proudly supported by Barclay Communications, the Co Antrim teen and his gelding, Seapatrick Cruise

Cavalier were the only combination to clear the red wall and take home the €3,000 (winner takes all) prize fund.

During the competition’s four rounds Chris – the son of Barclay Communications chief Britt Megahey - kept experienced puissance riders at bay including the international team of Gerard Clarke and Zanzibar V, plus former Dublin Horse Show puissance winner Liam O’Meara and Cicero.

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Eye on Economic Viewpoint

What’s Going On In The Euro Area?

The euro economy was reported to have expanded during Quarter 3 by 0.2 per cent and year on year the region has grown by 0.8 per cent. Although the Q3 data was not as disappointing as some had predicted, the growth was nonetheless weak and expectations for Q4 are not high.

So what’s behind this shattered growth performance in the euro area?

Knowing the answer to this is important for helping us understand whether the poor performance will continue or whether 2014 was another swing of the pendulum towards pessimism, only to swing back in 2015. To answer this question, several important observations need to be made.

1) Low and declining inflation is not to blame for the poor performance. On the contrary, it has been a factor mitigating the slowdown. As the majority of the decline has been driven by lower commodity prices, it has led to a significant increase in real wage growth, which in turn has given strong support to euro consumers. Therefore, the slowdown has happened despite robust consumption.

Indeed private demand also seemed to be the only source of moderate strength in the recently published Quarter 3 GDP data.

2) Russian exports have declined more than 20 per cent year on year but overall exports have done okay. The best place to see the division of external versus domestic sector performance is in German factory orders. Although foreign orders have stopped growing, they have not fallen sharply either. As a result, it seems that

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the direct impact of the decline in Russian exports has been compensated for by stronger exports to other regions.

3) The real weakness has actually been in domestic investment and in orders for intermediate goods.

And so, although consumer spending has held up and exports have not taken a major hit; euro companies seem to have stepped on the brakes over the summer. Investment plans have been scaled back and the decline in intermediate goods orders probably reflects an aim to reduce inventories.

Ukraine crisis has driven companies to step on the brakes: Consequently, it appears that the most likely cause of the weak performance is a sharp rise in uncertainty among European companies about the economic outlook. Business sentiment has dropped due to the escalation of the Ukraine crisis and possible new sanctions that could hamper growth. With managers having crisis management in very clear memory, it did not take long to change strategy from becoming offensive to being defensive again. The Ukraine crisis hit in spring and this was when companies started to hit the brakes. As a result, industrial production slowed and business surveys painted a

bleaker picture of expectations.

Hence, although the direct impact of the Ukraine crisis does not seem to explain the extent of the weakness, the indirect effect of hampering sentiment has been underestimated.

Yet there are some positive trends: However, underneath the current euro zone slowdown, some positive trends are taking place. As mentioned earlier, consumers have kept faith so far and there are also signs that credit flows are improving as banks are slowly easing credit standards. In addition, the renewed easing from the ECB and the pick-up in M1 money supply should support businesses next year. Furthermore, the sharp depreciation of the euro will also benefit euro exporters.

When will short-term weakness abate?

When we will actually see an underlying improvement

is dependent on several issues. First - when will the inventory adjustment be over?

Unfortunately, the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) orderinventory balance still suggests there could be more downside in production in the short term. A second issue is how the Ukraine crisis evolves; it seems far from contained. Finally, an increased spillover to consumers – through sentiment or employment – could also prolong the slowdown.

Our Danske Bank models suggest that we will see further decline in euro PMI and that euro growth will stay subdued in Q4.

However, our baseline scenario is that in Quarter 1 we will see signs of bottoming and that a gradual recovery should take place from Q2 2015 onwards as the ‘shock’ from the Ukraine crisis abates and the inventory cycle has run its course.

Eye on News

GCD Technologies Opens New Headquarters at Loughview GCD Technologies Limited, the apps to mobile software development company, has relocated to new headquarters at Loughview, nr. Lurgan, at Junction 10 on the M1.

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he company was founded in 1999 by two former Portadown College students Andrew Gough and Andrew Cuthbert while studying at Queen’s University, Belfast.

Today the company employs 30 people and specialises in the latest web design technologies, app development and software

solutions for mobile and web.

The business has expanded rapidly in recent years and outgrew its former location based at Lisburn. It also has offices in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter.

Among GCD’s client base includes global giants Michelin Tyres and Hellenic Coca Cola and local companies Independent News &

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Pictured at the GCD opening are L-R Andrew Gough, Managing Director GCD, Mayor of Craigavon Cllr. Colin McCusker and Andrew Cuthbert, Technical Director GCD.

Media plc (Belfast Telegraph) and Fane Valley. Also the company works closely with successful start-ups GoReport (www.goreport.net ) and PlotBox ( www.plotbox.io ).

GCD is the creator of the hugely successful Omega Church® and Omega Charity® – the complete management and administration software solution for churches and charities.

At the official opening of the new HQ on Monday 1st December 2014 the Mayor of Craigavon, Cllr. Colin McCusker said, “I am delighted that such a high profile and successful

company as GCD Technologies has chosen to locate to Craigavon. It is a vote of confidence in the Borough and shows that our strategy to attract higher salaried jobs to the area, especially in IT, is working.”

Andrew Gough, Managing Director at GCD, said, “We are very pleased at the quality of premises and accessibility of the new location just down the M1 from Belfast.”

He added, “GCD Technologies has plans for further growth and we expect to be making announcements in this regard in the near future”

In an independent survey 91% of our clients have recommended Sales Placement to another company.

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Eye on News

Wilson’s Country Making Potatoes as easy as Rice and Pasta As consumers continue to change the way they shop and reducing the amount they purchase within the potato category Wilson’s Country have provided the answer to this with the launch of the new convenient You Say Potato brand – launched earlier this year.

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iving the potato category a fresh look ‘You Say Potato’ aims to make potatoes modern, quirky and edgy with its bold colours and branding. The packs which are in smaller 1-2 portion sizes delivers a ‘no fuss- no waste’ concept with the range including 4 pack bakers, mash and roast and baby potatoes. The main aim of this concept is to bring convenience into the category and removing waste. With over 300,000 tonnes of potatoes wasted ever year in the UK this allows consumers to purchase smaller, convenient bags more frequently.

The range offers a solution to a fresh, healthy and convenient meal every time. They have a

handle, stand up on their own and are resealable. You Say Potato makes preparing a fresh dinner that bit easier by selecting the best varieties for the time of year and showing consumers how to cook flawless potatoes quickly and easily, every time. There are three products in the range: Baby Potatoes, lovely little spuds that need very little effort. These are perfectly sized and already washed and can be cooked in the bag in the microwave in just 8 minutes. Mash or Roast, hand selected perfectly sized floury spuds for evenly cooked crispy roasties or smooth creamy mash. Jacket potatoes, size does matter! Carefully picked for their generous proportions

these will help make the best baked potatoes. Consumers are changing and we have to change how we sell potatoes too. These are not just potatoes but convenience, inspiration and reassurance in small handy packs.

This innovation has been well received in the market place and continues to grow. The business achievement was recently acknowledged when the company won the UTV Business Award in the Agri-Food Innovation category.

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Eye on Cover Story

LAMBERT SMITH HAMPTON...

EXCITING TIMES FOR PROPERTY MARKET Today’s property professionals might be same people as the property professionals of 2006 and 2007....but there’s little doubt that all of them are a little older and a lot wiser, helping them to navigate their clients through an ever changing marketplace.

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here’s good reason for that, of course.

Northern Ireland’s property downturn was every bit as acute as anyone else’s. And, while the market has been moving again for some time, those who inhabit it weren’t rushing to shout about recovery until they were sure of their facts.

What makes for a recovery in property terms is money, investment and transactions. On that basis, there is more money around, investors are investing and the deals are being done.....so recovery, it seems, can be talked about.

The newly-restructured Capital Markets Team at Lambert Smith Hampton’s Belfast office is well placed to look in depth at the property market here.

This has included the introduction of a dedicated capital management and property finance service.

“The economy in NI is well into recovery mode with significant employment growth in the private sector offsetting the recently announced public sector cuts.

In addition consumer confidence is growing which is being reflected in increasing retail spend and an improving housing market”, says Martin McCloy, a Senior Surveyor within the new Capital Markets team.

“There’s no doubt that the investment market is in recovery as well, and that is marked by the return of UK institutional investors as well as new

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entrants from across Europe and the USA and a new breed of locally-based investors. They have been coming to Northern Ireland in increasing numbers and they like what they see when they get here.

“In fact, the past 12 months has seen the highest volume of investment transactions since 2007 as banks have continued the process of deleveraging and more opportunities have come to the market. We expect more than £400 million to have been transacted by the time 2014 draws to a close.....and that’s more than double the £180 million total for the whole of 2013.”

On the institutional investment side, McCloy and Neil McShane, a Director on the Capital Markets team, point to deals involving AFG Properties in partnership with Kildare Partners (acquiring both Forestside and Foyleside Centres), New River Retail (new owners of the Abbey Centre), Marathon Asset Management (buyers of the Obel Building as well as the Cityside and Shane Retail Parks) and Threadneedle Investments (Clandeboye Retail Park in Bangor, as well as James House in Belfast’s Gasworks) as prime examples of leading investors taking a fresh interest in Northern Ireland as an investment region.

“We’ve also noticed a very strong appetite these days from local investors,” adds Neil McShane. “We’re talking largely about a group of investors who are frustrated by the low return from cash on deposit and are keen to deliver a better return by investing in commercial property here in NI. This is particularly noticeable in the smaller lot range up to £2m. As a result, we are frequently securing new clients who are instructing us to identify opportunities to suit their specific requirements, provide advice on value, strategy and of course any issues associated with a particular property investment.

Lambert Smith Hampton’s senior management team outside the Belfast office

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Eye on Cover Story “The recent flurry of good quality small lot size investment opportunities, with attractive tenant covenants, has meant that we have been able to satisfy many of our client’s requirements, however we still have an ongoing challenge with the lack of good quality stock”.

“Demand for investment property at the moment is far outstripping supply and bidding is competitive”, adds McCloy. “We simply do not have enough opportunities to satisfy our ongoing client requirements.

“I would stress that a lot of these people aren’t professional property investors. Most of them are successful businessmen and women who see bricks and mortar as a secure long term investment and are attracted by the returns compared to other asset classes.”

“They come to us for the professional help and guidance that they need. It’s not an easy marketplace to delve into without robust commercial property advice, and we’re finding ourselves working with longstanding clients of LSH as well as new, first-time property investors.”

The Capital Markets team at Lambert Smith Hampton is able to tap into specialist expertise available elsewhere in the firm’s Belfast office, for instance a number of experienced professionals specialising in the retail sector here.

“In recent years we have seen some very well known names disappear from our High Streets and Shopping Centres with the emergence of more convenience stores, discount retailers and other new retailers taking up the vacant space. It was hard to keep track of at the time and we relied on our retail agency team who are well in tune with the key market indicators like market rents, take-up by size, sector and quality; availability by size and quality; known requirements; and current development pipeline.

At LSH we are fortunate to have experienced surveyors across all sectors including; office, industrial, and retail – and it is this foundation that allows our capital markets team to deliver a high quality service to existing and new clients.”

The Lambert Smith Hampton professionals believe that the market will continue to improve through 2015 when it is expected that more opportunities will come

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to the market but there will be a different buyer sentiment than was the case pre-recession.

“We’re talking about a very different type of investor today than an investor in the mid-2000’s.

Then we had a lot of investors providing 5% or 10% equity with the bank providing debt for the balance. Far more frequently now, we have clients with no requirement or indeed appetite for debt, and as you would expect, they are typically more risk averse as a result,” says Neil McShane.

Martin McCloy adds: “Buyers are now typically more cautious but as the market continues to recover, if investors seek the right advice and ensure that the underlying property fundamentals are strong, there is an opportunity to take advantage of this very important point in the property cycle.”

THE UK NATIONAL PICTURE At a national level, Lambert Smith Hampton’s Chief Executive Ezra Nahome paints a similarly optimistic picture, as well he might considering the level of business being transacted in London at present.

“We continue to see high levels of competition among investors for UK commercial property, which looks set to enjoy a record year in terms of returns and investment volumes. Investment during the first three quarters of 2014 has already hit £39.1bn and is on track to break through the £50bn mark before the end of the year. That’s a significant milestone when you consider that annual investment inflows barely reached £30bn as recently as 2012,” says Nahome.

“London continues to perform strongly and will remain the most important market for some investors. However, capital continues to flow back into the regions in a meaningful way as improving confidence and the price of assets in London prompts investors to look beyond the capital. In addition, the returns being offered in some of the secondary markets remain attractive to investors wishing to take advantage of the higher yields and positive occupier sentiment.”

Martin McCloy (left) and Neil McShane.

2014 – The Key Deals To Date in Northern Ireland Connswater Shopping Centre, Belfast Richmond Centre, Derry High Street Mall, Portadown Diamond Centre, Coleraine Tesco, Castlereagh Road, Belfast Foyleside Shopping Centre, Derry Forestside Shopping Centre, Belfast AbbeyCentre, Belfast Obel Building, Belfast Victoria House, Belfast Premier Inn site, Titanic Quarter Cityside Retail Park, Belfast Shane Retail Park, Belfast

£26 million (asking price) £21 million (asking price) £2.8 million (asking price) £2.25 million (asking price) £27.4 million £75 million £60 million £64.4 million £20 million £8.70 million £6 million £23.5 million £27 million

Eye on News

ADVENTURE CENTRE EXPANSION TO CREATE 50 NEW JOBS Belfast-based adventure centre We Are Vertigo, plans to create 50 new jobs with the opening of the largest trampoline park in Europe.

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e Are Vertigo is the creation of owners Gareth and Lorna Murphy who opened the business in October 2013. The centre is the first of its kind in Northern Ireland and offers activities for all ages including two indoor ski slopes, climbing walls, a 100ft mobile zip line, high wire rope course, a soft play area, two cafes and a spa which will open in early 2015.

“We want to be a unique, innovative entertainment centre that has something for everyone. In October we celebrated our first year of business with over 250,000 visitors

in the 12 month period - some coming from as far away as Limerick and Dublin,” said Mr Murphy.

The newest addition to the adventure centre is the trampoline park which is due to open later this month. The park measures 12,000 square ft. and includes three basketball lanes, a stunt pit, a 3D dodgeball court and trampolines that are built into the floor and walls. The trampoline park will also feature an additional café, games area and viewing platform which will overlook the park.

“The opening of the new trampoline

Gareth and Lorraine Murphy with Danske Bank’s Ian Beattie

park will allow for the creation of 50 new jobs which will bring our staff numbers to 100 and as we expand there will be further job creation,” he said.

Mr Murphy also said the support of Danske Bank had been important to the success of the centre: “Danske Bank have been incredibly supportive throughout the expansion process.

They are very supportive of our vision for the future and have been

instrumental in the business being able to offer greater facilities.”

Ian Beatty, Business Acquisition Manager at Danske Bank, commented: “We are Vertigo is an excellent example of an indigenous company which has come up with an extremely innovative concept and is reaping the rewards as a result, with great potential for expansion into other markets in the coming months.”

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Eye on Events

HSBC Welcomes Chief Economist Mark Berrisford-Smith To Belfast Headquarters

Marty Colvin - HSBC, Stephen Donnelly - Goudsmit Magnetics Ltd and Fintan Kelly - Bubblebum Ltd.

Michael Nixon - ASM Howarth, Mark Berrisford-Smith - HSBC and Johnny Boyle - Hannon Transport Ltd.

Stanley Edgar - SERE Motors Ltd and Chris McQuay - HSBC.

Michael Salt - Saltmarine, Bill Rowe - Saltmarine and Dermot Brooks - Andras House.

James Kennedy and Colm Warren - Natural World Products Ltd.

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Alastair Hayes - Hayes Fuels, Simon George - HSBC and Herbie Goode - Bedeck Ltd.

James Chestnutt - Chestnutt Animal Feeds Ltd and Nigel Young - HSBC.

To find out how Arthur Cox can help you, call us on: +000 (0)0 000 0000

Eye on Round Table

THE NORTHERN IRELAND HOUSING MARKETPLACE....

RECOVERY & THE WAY AHEAD The Participants:-

Darina Armstrong, Chief Executive, Progressive Building Society

Michael Boyd, Deputy CE/ Financial Director, Progressive Building Society

Richard Palmer, Law Society for Northern Ireland

Samuel Dickey, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors

Sonia Miller, National Association of Estate Agents

Business Eye joined forces with Progressive Building Society to stage a Round Table Discussion event in Progressive’s board room at its Wellington Place headquarters.

Professor Neil Gibson, Professor of Economic Policy, University of Ulster and Director, NI Centre for Economic Policy

John Armstrong, Chief Executive, Construction Employers Federation

RB – We’re here to discuss recovery in the Northern Ireland housing market. Can we start with your broad brush views on where the market has been and where it is today from each of your perspectives?

DA – It has been a very good year for us at Progressive and we are seeing signs of recovery in the housing sector although it has to be added that the recovery doesn’t apply to every sector, nor does it apply to every geographical region here in Northern Ireland.

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The discussion, chaired by Business Eye’s Richard Buckley, looked at housing market conditions and prospects from a number of different perspectives.

NG – It is looking positive and there are reasons for this. We’re seeing growth in employment and there is evidence that people have learnt to live within their means.

There are some clouds on the horizon which we’ll talk about but this year is much more positive than the six we had before.

SD – From a RICS perspective, we’ve seen 17 months of positivity contained in our regular survey of members. We are at the early stages of recovery but I think it shows that we’re in a sustainable period of growth.

SM – Our members’ views would reflect that. In general, estate agents are saying that they are very busy and there is also evidence of bidding on properties which is a very encouraging development.

RP – I wouldn’t say anything to disagree with what we’ve heard so far. The legal profession here in Northern Ireland provides professional services to the housing sector and it is clear that the level of work has been on the increase. It’s clear to

all of us that there is more growth out there than there has been for some time.

JA – I think it is important to differentiate between house sales and house building.

There are indications that house sales are beginning to improve although that appears to be mostly in the east of the Province in the North Down, Belfast and Lisburn areas. In contrast, house building is in decline.

This is a major concern from a broader economic perspective.

Eye on Round Table

MB – This year, we’re expecting to see a 20% increase on the amount of lending we did last year.

What’s more, all of the indices that we’re seeing are pointing towards some house price inflation, but we’ll not be going back to the silly numbers that we saw in 2007.

RB – Coming back to the east/ west split that John mentioned, it this a real concern?

DA – I certainly think it is very noticeable. The further you go away from Greater Belfast, prices are more static and there doesn’t seem to be the same number of buyers in evidence.

That could be related to the fact that outlying areas don’t have the same employment prospects as Belfast undoubtedly has.

SM – The market is still very area-focused. BT9, for example, is in a league of its own.

SD – The average house price in Belfast is around the £130,000 mark, and in North Down that rises to £176,000. But, if you go up to the North West, it is £96,000.... which is close to half the North Down level. Even within Belfast,

the south is at £188,000 and other areas are lower. Often much lower. So, yes, the market is still very location specific. The positive story for us is that there are more transactions now than for a number of years and there are a lot of cash buyers in the market. We don’t want to see a bubble, but I think with the responsible lending we’re seeing nowadays and the fact that surveyors aren’t scared to knock values back if people overbid, the market is much more sustainable.

RP – Do you think, though, that there is still a fair amount of distressed stock coming on to the marketplace?

SD – Yes, I agree, but I think it is a good thing in some ways. It stimulates activity. We were in a crisis and it does take a long time for everyone to accept a fall in value of the scale that we witnessed. Back in 2010, we had a stalemate where vendors wouldn’t accept lower prices and there were no buyers around in any case. We’re well past that now and repossessions and auctions helped to clear the logjam. Repossessions reached a peak last year and now

we’re back at 2010 levels, but they will continue to punctuate the marketplace into next year.

RB – How important is consumer confidence in all of this?

NG – Consumer confidence is hugely important but it can be part of the problem so responsible lending is also important to avoid what happened before. Add increasing confidence to a limited supply and you could have a lot of bidding pressure and fast growing prices. That has to be avoided.

What Sam said about surveyors turning down valuations if they feel they are too high is the right way to go. In a market with six years of pent up demand, very little building and limited supply, you could see spikes occurring without a responsible approach from lenders and industry professionals.

RB – How closely do you watch market sentiments from a Progressive perspective?

DA – Of course we watch it very closely, and we’ve seen evidence of some properties reaching the kind of price levels we haven’t seen in quite some time.

NG – But there remains some value in the market, and investors can see that judging by what we’ve seen at the various property auctions which have shown that the buy to let market is back in good health.

RP – Yes, I think that is a good sign. But, if I could echo Neil’s sentiments, it is crucially important that we all take a responsible approach to lending and to the advice that we provide to our clients in order to avoid any overheating of the marketplace.

That’s the last thing we need.

MB – On responsible lending, we’ve talked about property valuation points. But there are other factors as we look at it. Loan to income is one and we’re well below the kind of levels the Bank of England mentions at a national level.

DA – Negative equity is still a significant problem here in Northern Ireland but we are seeing debt being brought down. It might be a slow process, but it is happening and that has to be good news.

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Eye on Round Table JA – Government figures suggest we should be building approximately 11,000 houses a year. We are building just over half that number at present. If supply does not meet demand that potentially we are building up another housing bubble for the future.

RB – Are developers starting to come back into the market?

JA – Yes, they are. But they’re tending to stick with smaller sites.

They’ve had their fingers burnt in the past, so not surprisingly there is caution out there.

NG – Negative equity is holding back parts of the market, and expectations take a long time to correct. Back in the day, people used to multiply their income by a round figure to work out what kind of house they could afford.

We’re in a different market and a different world now. Some people are scared of house purchase, so it’s important to put negative equity into context.

The risk of buying a property today and ending up in negative equity is small. We cannot have a fear of responsible debt.

SM – I do think building societies and banks need to support those who are locked in negative equity. They need to be treated as special cases and not have the same criteria applied to them. A different approach would help them and help boost the market further.

RB – Can the building societies and banks do anything to help?

DA – We definitely can, but the customer needs to be willing to commit to monthly payments to reduce their loan. Given our ethos, we also lean towards those who’ve had a little bit of savings put away. Each case will be looked at individually.

NG – Some consumers may have had unfavourable experiences with particular lenders but there are choices in the market now.

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And it’s important to start a conversation with your bank or building society earlier rather than later. I suspect there is more understanding than meets the eye. Too many people just assume that the lenders won’t be interested in talking to them - we need to support those that we can support.

DA – Also, there is a bigger social picture out there. It’s certainly not just about negative equity. But I’d repeat the simple mantra – backed up by the government nowadays – that the debt shouldn’t come before the savings.

SM – Another possible problem we have is that companies and groups from outside Northern Ireland are buying up rental properties for cash and the feeling in some communities – rightly or wrongly – is that they might not be good landlords.

RP – They’re not finding it very easy. Banks talk the talk, but as far as property developers are concerned, they don’t always walk the walk. So you’re right, there is a natural caution on their part.

JA – I’d go further than that.

Some banks simply don’t want to touch loans to developers, a hangover from the crisis.

NG – That level of under supply is dangerous. One slight move away from responsible lending and you have a problem. The economic conditions could be there for a bubble – value in the market, lack of supply and willing lenders. That said, I don’t think it will happen because of the safeguards we now have in place.

JA – Another issue is that there aren’t too many house builders left in the market with the capacity to build larger schemes.

DA – And there is a serious skills shortage, something I encountered at a personal level recently. We

had to wait for good tradesmen to become available. That’s another result of the property crisis, I suppose. A lack of work turned good people away from the trades.

NG – There is work to be done within the education sector to help fill that gap by encouraging more young people to consider trades. It is a very big challenge for both policy makers and educators going forward.

Economies don’t function on STEM graduates and nothing else.

SD – There is some progress being made, with some good work going on under the auspices of DEL on shared apprenticeships.

RP – We mentioned the rental market earlier. It seems to be absolutely booming as I understand it.

SM – Yes, it is an area we specialise in and it is very strong. We’re seeing a different type of renter now, with a lot more professional people in evidence. Good properties in good locations are commanding very strong rental values.

RP – Is that a temporary thing or will it change when people realise that they may be able to get a mortgage?

SM – I don’t see it as a temporary thing. I think that too many people still can’t get onto the ladder, and there are others who are simply frightened of house purchase and what they see as its risks.

RB – And this feeds into the buy to let market that we’ve talked about?

SM – Yes, that’s true. I think it is all looking good for landlords at the moment, particularly those with a good portfolio of properties.

NG – It’s helped, too, by the amount of firms we have coming in at the moment employing graduates from here and elsewhere who have rental requirements. The nature of the modern economy will drive more people towards rentals, I think. I’ve surveyed students I work with, and getting a mortgage is just nowhere on their radar. It might have been ten years ago.

Eye on Round Table JA – There is currently no joined up process for approving the construction of houses. Builders have to liaise and negotiate with a wide range of o government organisations over which there is little co-ordination. The result is that the approval of housing schemes takes far too long relative to other jurisdictions.

SD – The Bank of England has done a good job to date but if it does increase interest rates, the effect will be much greater here than in the south east of England, for example.

SD – I think Sonia makes a good point on confidence. A lot of people are holding back because of what happened in recent years, and the likelihood that interest rates will go up.

NG – There is also a knowledge gap at play here. There’s no doubt that a lot of younger, potential home owners just don’t understand how the finance side of things works.

NG – We need to look at what sort of society we want. If we want one with landlords owning large numbers of properties and people renting from them, that’s fine. But, if we’re wedded to home ownership, then we have to do different things.

I’m not advocating either of those, but choices do need to be made. It’s a market where there is clear potential to get rid of some of the obstacles that stand in the way.

RB – What about interest rates?

NG – I think they are more than likely to increase. I really wouldn’t be surprised to see the MPC test the water relatively soon during next year. But I certainly don’t see any rapid rises on the horizon. Do I think we’ll get one next year? Yes. Can we cope with one? Yes.

RP – As Darina has said, people have to prepare, do their sums and work out what is best for them.

RB – Finally, can we go around the table once more for your views on what you think is going to happen in the next year or so?

government here in Northern Ireland does what it is there to do.

RP – We need to see more volume now across the board and I think that will come.

We’re getting close to where we should be and responsible lending remains critical.

DA – I think we’ll see more positivity out there and more growth in the housing marketplace, with the possible exception of some pockets around Northern Ireland.

MB – I think Progressive is of a size where we can react and that’s what we’ll continue to do, and we’ll continue to work very closely with our customers.

SD – I would agree. We’ve returned to growth, we’re in recovery and I think that slow and steady is the right way to move forward. It has to be sustainable.

NG – With pent up demand and value in the market, people need to be drawn back into the market. We have to get past the negativity.

SM – I think that house prices will continue in the direction they’re going and I hope that

SD – That’s true. Maybe we should look at bringing financial education into schools at an earlier age so that younger people can learn more about borrowing, about mortgages and the products involved.

RB – Is there anything central or local government can do to help the marketplace, do we think?

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Eye on Agri Food

Make Sure The Label Is Legal As Northern Ireland agri-food businesses get to grips with new Food Labelling Regulation, Sam Butler speaks to Micaela Diver, an associate at law firm A&L Goodbody in Belfast, about what this legislation means for local food and drink firms.

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ew EU Food Labelling Regulation (the regulation), which comes into operation in December is an excellent example of why Northern Ireland businesses need to keep a close eye on decisions taken in Europe. The regulation has far-reaching implications for local agri-food companies, applying to food business operators at all stages of the food chain where their activities concern the provision of food information to consumers.

Importers of food and alcohol products in particular should pay close attention to changes and how they will impact upon their operations.

What are the key changes?

Micaela Diver, the A&L Goodbody expert in Belfast says the changes are designed to improve the level of consumer information and protection. “The key changes contained within the new legislation expand on the ways in which food information could be considered misleading in respect of characteristics, properties and/or effect on food and alcohol products.

“For example, the regulation requires mandatory nutritional information which must be included on all food labelling – including data on processed foods and origin labelling of unprocessed meat from pig,

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sheep, goats and poultry – as well as indicating a minimum text size on labels to ensure increased legibility. Producers are also required to highlight allergens such as peanuts or milk in the list of ingredients.”

She urges businesses to get to grips with the changes to ensure they don’t fall foul of the exacting regulation. “Businesses must be prudent and implement the necessary measures to ensure that they adhere to the changes within the regulation by the relevant deadline (generally speaking the 13 December 2014). In particular, businesses should be considering next steps in terms of label artwork and printing mechanisms given the changes that will occur.

Businesses also need to consider carefully how they intend to manage the rundown of existing stock and the replenishment of new compliant stock.”

In Northern Ireland labelling and advertising standards are the responsibility of the Food Standards Agency and enforcement is carried out by local authority officers.

“For the first time the regulation provides the enforcement tool of improvement notices in respect of food labelling and advertising breaches which do not affect public safety. Improvement notices will outline the nature and

Micaela Diver, Associate, A&L Goodbody.

circumstances of the breach and will stipulate what measures must be taken in order to remedy the breach (and by what date these measures must be in place).”

Where a breach has been made in relation to allergens, she adds, this will be considered a criminal offence and an enforcement officer may decide to prosecute.

“While there is no draft bill yet we expect that Northern Ireland will follow the English legislation and it is hoped that any enforcement will be proportionate and evidencebased. Enforcement officers may choose a low-level intervention such as a written warning or more formal action depending upon the nature and public health implications of non-compliance.

“EU food legislation is intrinsically linked and as such, it is important for businesses to remember that other

offences may also apply. For example, where a ‘use by’ date is exceeded enforcement officers may prosecute on the basis of the food being considered ‘unsafe’ pursuant to the General Food Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004.”

Whilst the penalties can be significant in the event of noncompliance, businesses should view the new regulation as an opportunity to develop new designs and reinvent current packaging. In any event, the EU legislation on food labelling can be a complex web of requirements and it is essential that businesses seek legal advice to ensure compliance with all aspects of the new regulation.

Northern Ireland s first choice for news www.u.tv

Eye on Communications

Is Your Internet Optimised for your Business Demands?

The importance of the Internet has increased tremendously for businesses in Northern Ireland.

When we look at the trend of applications and data moving to the Internet and the cloud, all signs point to one conclusion. The Internet is growing in strategic importance to every business in the region.

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hat does that mean for your organisation? If the Internet is critical to your core business, you should already be using a dedicated fibre connection. But making the right decision doesn’t stop there. As you examine your business priorities for 2015 and beyond, it might be useful to ask these questions: 1) How would you manage the impact on your business, if your access to e-mail, web and all cloud-based applications were interrupted?

2) Is your need for Internet bandwidth outgrowing your current connection’s capabilities?

3) Does your company experience a slowdown at ‘peak times’ when more people use the Internet in your organisation or in the area?

4) How confident are you that your organisation is protected against unauthorised access?

Having the right managed Internet service will help address all these issues, leaving you free to focus on your core business.

Is a managed Internet service really necessary?

The benefits of a managed Internet service might not instantly be obvious, until you realise that it’s akin to purchasing business insurance. It protects you against the failure or instability of your Internet link by having it proactively monitored 24x7. It also frees up your organisation from worrying about areas which may not be part of your core skill set. With a customised Service Level Agreement and the added reassurance of hardware maintenance and upgrade, you can be confident that you’ve protected the performance of this valuable business asset – protection that can save you time, money and resources in the long-term.

Flexible bandwidth for busy periods Have you considered a service where bandwidth can be turned up or down as your needs dictate?

Many retail businesses, for

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example, may see a doubling or even trebling of bandwidth requirements at busy times, during which it may be useful to have the facility to turn a 30Mb per second Internet link up to 100Mb per second.

Don’t forget to examine, also, whether you’re using an uncontended, symmetric service: “uncontended” so you are not sharing your bandwidth allocation with anyone else, “symmetric” so your upload speeds are just as fast as downloads, saving you precious time, especially when trying to meet customer deadlines.

Securing your first line of defence How are you protecting your Internet security? Managed firewall services provide additional protection at the perimeter where your business meets the Internet, and other web content security services -- such as blacklisting and access control – can help enforce company policy, such as controlling access to leisure websites.

Treating Internet connectivity as a strategic asset When thinking about your business Internet connectivity and security, you may come to the conclusion that many other organisations have: Internet availability and performance have a measurable financial value, yet they aren’t your core business.

By partnering with eircom Business Solutions NI, Arthur Cox enjoys a consistent, highperforming fibre Internet connection to their Belfast office with the added reassurance that our

engineers continuously monitor the network. A vital factor is our local expert team in Belfast. According to Mark McGugan, Finance and Operations Manager at Arthur Cox, “What stood out for us with eircom NI was the local support. We have direct access to their technical expertise when we need them, which is a real benefit and lets us focus on what we do best.”

A managed Internet service partner allows you to focus on what you do best – serving your customers – while leveraging the resources of specialists who can keep the Internet working as you need it to work: continuously and securely.

Shane Haslem is Head of Network Enabled Design, eircom Business Solutions Northern Ireland. Contact Shane at uk.linkedin.com/in/ shanehaslem to talk about how a managed internet service can help your business, or contact eircom business solutions NI at: Forsyth House, Cromac Square, Belfast, BT2 8LA Tel: 0800 039 2000 www.eircom.co.uk twitter.com/eircomUK linkedin.com/company/ eircom-ni

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Eye on Giving

ON THE CSR FRONT LINE...

Mary Trainor-Nagele, Chief Executive of Arts & Business NI (A&B NI) 1. What are your thoughts in general on charitable giving?

I would see giving being much broader than a monetary gift.

Giving time, support and skills can be just as valuable, particularly to the charity sector at this time. In NI we are a very generous nation in relation to unplanned one-off gifts however we don’t have a culture of sustained strategic giving. In A&B NI our focus is on encouraging increased cultural philanthropy.

We need to build confidence and skill with the arts in terms of asking for that philanthropic support, and indeed raise the profile of the value of the arts in terms of the economy, Foreign Direct Investment, health and wellbeing and community cohesion.

2. Is your giving personal or corporate or a combination of both? How do you give to charity: monetarily, your own time as a volunteer or your specialist skills?

It would definitely be a combination of both. On a personal level my passion is very much with the arts and a desire to sustain and grow the rich cultural offer that we have.

I am also a member of a women’s Giving Circle which seeks to support women in need. From an A&B NI perspective we do a lot of work in supporting cultural organisations via our own advice and skills development in fundraising and governance but also in supporting private sector individuals to give their time and skills to the arts.

3. Are there specific charities or causes that you give to regularly? How do you choose which to support?

In my experience people give to things that they are personally passionate about or have real meaning and value to them. For myself that is the arts and some health charities that have made a real difference within my own family. However I have also seen the value in stepping outside your

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circle of interest. As part of my own leadership development I have been doing some coaching training which has required me to work with leaders within a different sector. This has been a really rich experience for me as it has widened my network and encouraged me to think differently within my own role and sector. This cross sector collaboration and skills exchange is something we could encourage and develop further within NI. 4. Do you believe that companies and individuals have a duty to help others? If yes, why?

Yes absolutely, I think we all have a responsibility to support the communities in which we work and live. I feel we need to do more to encourage a culture of increased philanthropy. It has mutual benefits, for example the business people A&B NI engage with who give their time by joining a cultural board speak of the value they too gain from the experience. They bring the creativity and freshness of ideas

they see in the arts back into their own organisations. At a time when all businesses need to think innovatively, this has real value.

5. What is your message to business people who may be thinking about becoming more involved in strategic philanthropy?

Making a regular donation, which can also be gift aided by the charity, allows the organisation more assured stability and longer term planning. It doesn’t always have to be a large donation, small regular donations can also make a huge difference.

I would encourage business people to think how they could support arts charities by giving services in-kind or sharing skills. At A&B NI, through our Board Bank and Young Professionals programmes, we match business people who have valuable skills and expertise, with a cultural organisation that has a specific skills gap on their board. Skills Bank facilitates a shorter term skills exchange between a private sector individual and a cultural organisation.

6. Giving Northern Ireland was set up last year to champion philanthropy. Why to do think it is important that there is an organisation that helps businesses and individuals think more strategically about giving?

I think Giving NI has an important role in championing and encouraging an increased culture of philanthropy. Giving is a very private and personal issue here and for fundraisers it is therefore very difficult to access donors and understand motivations for giving and potential barriers.

Giving NI creates a safe space for philanthropists to discuss their giving and these issues.

At A&B NI we are working with Giving NI and the local investment management firm Cunningham Coates Stockbrokers on increasing Cultural Philanthropy. There are already some major gifts to cultural organisations however we do need to inspire others to give to the Arts and help sustain the rich cultural heritage that we can be proud of in NI.

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Eye on Banking

Ian Jordan,

Head of Business Direct, Ulster Bank With the economy growing more robustly, and economic indicators such as the Ulster Bank Purchasing Managers’ Index pointing in the right direction, we’re looking at even more ways that we can stimulate local enterprise. We want to ensure that targeted support reaches the many great SMEs that make up the majority of private sector activity in Northern Ireland.

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ust as we’ve been saying ‘Yes’ to nine out of ten mortgage applications and assisting first-time-buyers, so we’re also helping new and existing businesses to grow and succeed. As a bank that started out 178 years ago as one of the original Northern Ireland startups helping local merchants, support for entrepreneurship and export is a long-standing part of our culture.

As part of our commitment to the start-up sector, we recently sponsored the Best Start-Up category at the Enterprise Northern Ireland awards – a great night that celebrated a wealth of business talent. The network of local enterprise agencies that make up Enterprise Northern Ireland stretches across the region. These agencies are closely aligned to what we’re doing – listening locally and applying in-depth knowledge to the services that are offered. It’s the approach we’ve taken with our branchbased business development managers, who complement our online and telephone banking, and are there to assist many growing businesses.

This is important, because we recognise that good businesses

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don’t spring out fully formed – they all start out as an idea that evolves and develops organically, taking on new characteristics as the people behind it gain experience and solve challenges that are unique to their sector.

Of course the banking products available are important - we offer, for example, two-years of transaction fee-free banking for start-ups – but our belief is that we need to take a holistic approach to supporting start-ups – providing practical help and expertise as well as finance. That’s why we invest significantly in supporting Small Business Can, an online network which provides an extensive range of advice and tips, so that users can learn from other SMEs. With approximately 1.5 million hits per month, over 20,000 members and around 45 new articles every month, it’s proving to be a vibrant resource.

We’ve also introduced specialist

training for our staff including, for example, agri-certification which meant that members of our business banking team were the first in Ireland to receive a Certificate in Agricultural Finance, awarded by Chartered Banker as part of an industryaccredited programme.

To continue our support in 2015, we’re also planning to participate in the RBS Entrepreneurial Spark initiative – this will provide an accelerator hub for local entrepreneurs: offering them workspace, a chance to collaborate with others starting out and access to the experience of a new entrepreneur in residence.

They will also have the opportunity to go on to pitch to potential investors and we plan to introduce ‘Growth awards’ for businesses, offering cash injections to companies when they need it most.

This approach to celebrating

start-up success means that our “Business Start Up Award” category in the Ulster Bank Business Achievers Awards is one of our most hotly-contested categories. This award, for businesses that have been in existence for less than three years, was won this year by Arklu, from Donegal, a children’s entertainment company, specialising in dolls. Having launched their doll brand ‘Lottie’ in August 2012 they are now selling in 30 countries via a network of 16 distribution partners. It’s a great example of how a simple but strong idea, married to sheer determination, can succeed on an international scale. At Ulster Bank, we want to help even more customers achieve similar success. Our most recent set of results saw us approving over 90% of business lending applications – we look forward to seeing a great many more in the year to come.

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Eye on News

Cloughbane Lands Tesco Deal A Co Tyrone food company has undertaken an expansion project after securing a significant new listing with Tesco. Cloughbane Farm Shop, based outside Pomeroy, has just extended its cook room to enable it to produce more ready meal dinners. The expansion comes after Cloughbane secured a listing with Tesco Northern Ireland for a raft of new products.

The products are roast chicken, roast beef, turkey and ham and roast gammon ready meal dinners along with lasagne plus individual and family chicken and broccoli bakes and cottage pies.

The company’s Managing Director, Lorna Robinson, explained: “The extension to the cook room facilities has increased

the overall size of our main factory building by more than 30%. This extension was built solely for ready meal dinners which are available within Tesco NI stores.”

Cloughbane, which won five UK Great Taste Awards this year, handcrafts all its products – and it uses the finest local ingredients. All meat is sourced within a 50-mile radius of the company’s farm, and pork and poultry products are UK or Irish farmed. The company, which employs 40 and has been in business for 11 years, first started to supply Tesco in Northern Ireland back in December 2012. The leading retailer initially stocked four of its products, but now the product count has grown to 11.

Tesco’s Gerarda O’Connor and Richard Robinson from Cloughbane Farm Shop sample some tasty cottage pie, just one of the new Cloughbane products now available in Tesco stores across Northern Ireland

Prestigious Music Award And Bursary - Last Call For Entries

Pictured at the launch is Terry McCrudden, Head of Branches East, Bank of Ireland UK with Abigail McDonagh, winner of the award in 2014.

The Bank of Ireland Catherine Judge Memorial Award 2015 has launched its final call for entries.

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he award, which aims to support a new generation of musical talent on the island of Ireland, is seeking applications from talented young musicians

who would like to continue their music education at third level. Applicants must be solo musicians and have achieved a Grade 8 Standard in their chosen instrument.

The 2015 winner will receive a bursary of £5,000 towards their musical studies and, for the first time in the history of the award, their nominated school or society will receive £1,000.

Shortlisted entrants will have the opportunity to perform for some of Ireland’s leading musicians in the wonderful setting of the Great Hall at Queens University, Belfast at the Grand Final in April, 2015.

The award was created as a lasting tribute to Catherine Judge, an employee of Bank of Ireland UK, who passed away in August 2005. Catherine had a great love of music and loved to see young people get opportunities to grow and develop.

Terry McCrudden, Head of Branches - East, Bank of Ireland UK said: “This Award is one of the most exciting opportunities for young musicians on the island of Ireland. It provides young students with a chance to showcase their talents to a new audience and I’m really looking forward to celebrating and enjoying the wealth of musical talent that is out there.”

Abigail McDonagh, winner of the award in 2014 said: “The Bank of Ireland Catherine Judge Memorial Award is a unique competition set apart from any other as it offers an invaluable musical experience and considerable financial support for young musicians.

As well as providing a goal and a performance platform, it creates opportunities which otherwise would not be possible for young music students.”

The closing date for entries is January 12th, 2015.

Eye on Employment Law

Changes to Holiday Pay What Does It All Mean?

Andrea McCann, Partner and Employment Lawyer at John McKee Solicitors looks at the recent ruling and changes to holiday pay and highlights its importance and what it means to business owners and employers.

What is the ruling?

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) gave its judgment in the cases of Bear Scotland Ltd v Fulton and Baxter; Hertel (Uk) Ltd v Wood and other and Amec Group Limited v Law ad Others. A number of employees brought unlawful deduction from wages claims against their various employers on the basis that their holiday pay did not include overtime and other payments. This meant that they received considerably less money when on annual leave than they would when in work.

The key points from the ruling are as follows1. Payments for overtime which a worker is required to carry out even where such overtime is not guaranteed should be included in calculating holiday pay. This includes situations where employees are contractually obliged to undertake overtime (if and when requested); 2. It only applies to the basic 4 weeks’ leave provided for under the Working Time Directive, and not the additional 1.6 weeks provided for under regulation 13A of the Working Time Regulations; 3. Additional taxable remuneration above basic pay that can be linked to the duties a worker is required to carry out should also

be included when calculating holiday pay (such as travel time payments, shift payments); 4. Employees have the right to make retrospective claims to recover underpaid holiday pay in the format of an unlawful deduction from wages claim provided that such claim is made no more than 3 months following an uninterrupted series of deductions; 5. Retrospective claims for holiday pay underpaid may be deemed out of time (and cannot be brought in the Employment Tribunal) if there has been a gap of 3 months or more between sequential underpayments.

This will offer some limitation to the risk for employers; 6. There is a risk that employees caught by the above restriction could in the alternative pursue an action for breach of contract with a claim for back pay going back as far as 6 years.

The Risks and Next Steps The ruling undoubtedly has the potential to cause a detrimental impact on businesses, particularly smaller businesses for the following reasons1. Liability for historic underpayments 2. Increased cost of future holiday pay 3. Management time and cost dealing with the issue

Employers should now assess their potential exposure by auditing pay structures, the workforce awareness of the issue and holiday pay records.

As for possible strategies for an employer – 1. Do nothing and wait for further legal developments – this is good for employers willing to take a high risk approach and where the cost is significant and/or limited holiday records available to calculate historic liability; 2. Break the chain of historic underpayment – this is very high risk and not recommended; 3. Pay correctly going forward – this is good for employers with a small risk of historic claims or where the cost of changing future calculation is low;

4. Settle now and pay correctly going forward – this is good for risk adverse employers and/or employers whose overall liabilities are low or for employers who can negotiate a discounted settlement on the basis of the finding about historic liability The rules can be complex so if you are an employer or employee with issues arising from the calculation of holiday pay entitlement, of if you have any other employment law related issue, then please contact Andrea McCann, Partner at John McKee Solicitors email amccann@jmckee.co.uk or telephone 028 9023 2303.

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Eye on Round Table

STATE OF THE ECONOMY...

A DUAL PERSPECTIVE Business Eye joined forces with HSBC to stage a cross table debate featuring leading economists from both sides of the Irish Sea for a full and frank discussion of the UK economy, wider economic factors and the economy here in Northern Ireland.

Mark Berrisford-Smith is Head of Economics for HSBC’s Commercial Banking Business in the UK, based in London. He is responsible for advising the bank in the UK and its business customers on developments in the British and global economies, and he’s also a regular speaker at business events all over the country.

MN – Let’s kick off with your views on the UK economy.

What’s the state of play?

MBS – This has been the UK’s year – the fastest-growing of any of the major G7 economies. It’s been the best year since 2006.

And not just in growth terms. With the unemployment rate back down to 6%, and still falling, You can’t call the UK a high unemployment economy any more. The pace of job creation during the past few years has been nothing short of astonishing even if it is now

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Professor Neil Gibson is Director of the NI Centre for Economic Policy and Professor of Economic Policy at the University of Ulster. He is a Special Adviser to Oxford Economics and to EY in Ireland and also a regular speaker at business events around the region.

slowing. Globally, things are looking more difficult, with negligible growth in the Eurozone, Japan back in recession, the Russia/Ukraine crisis unresolved, and some of the large emerging economies finding the going a good deal tougher than they did a few years ago.

MN – And what about the next two to three years?

MBS – If the global environment doesn’t sour too much, I see reasonable growth. There are a couple of caveats. One is

The debate was chaired by Michael Neill, a Partner with A&L Goodbody in Belfast. A specialist in business recovery, he advises local and national insolvency practitioners, banks and directors, and is widely acknowledged as a leader in his field.

that business has to remain confident. Then there is consumer confidence. If that takes a dip, it can have an immediate effect. Exports are a bit of a problem. I seem to meet people all the time who are doing well at exporting, yet the official numbers are abysmal.

MN – Neil, give us your views from a local perspective.

NG – On the UK first, job growth has been remarkable but the broad sectoral reach of the recovery

has also been very positive. I remember a time when the decline of manufacturing and agriculture were irrefutable facts. That has changed. There is a lot of comfort in the short-term data. 2015 looks good, but I’d be a bit concerned looking further forward. Here’s another caveat – what Government does. That’s crucial for a region like Northern Ireland. If you look at the underpinnings of growth.... the consumer, government, business and exports......the last one is terrible, government is committed to spending less so all eyes are

Eye on Round Table

on business and the consumer.

Business will sit on cash if there is any nervousness. Can the consumer continue to spend? Will jobs growth continue? We’re not so sure and we think things will be more difficult in 16/17. Export trade is a concern, and I’m not sure the consumer can continue to provide the boost we need.

MN – So are you concerned that consumer confidence will wane? Will rising interest rates be part of that?

NG – Yes. It is a concern but I don’t think interest rates will go up by very much if they do in the short run. And they’ll only go up because the economy is growing strongly so that will mean more competition and better deals. The sort of interest rate environment we’re looking at will be manageable for the consumer. We’ve got job growth here in Northern Ireland too, but the consumer here is more dependent on the government here than anywhere else in UK. The real challenge is the public sector one. There haven’t been any public sector cuts yet, but the shadow of cuts looms over every water cooler conversation in public offices at the moment....and that has an effect.

MN – If you take that one step further, what would you suggest if the government came to you for advice?

MN – What is the government in the Republic doing better in terms of communicating with the electorate?

NG – A couple of things. I would change the narrative about what cuts look like into a much more proactive reform agenda and I’d make everything was on the table with regard to reform,. The NI Executive has never looked at public sector pay. Instead of 4% less police officers, the existing staff could take 4% less pay. Or we could look at water charges or unfreezing rates, for example.

In the private sector, you look at waste in the system and then you look at pay and how you can make savings. It’s as simple as that. Also, we have to get the public more informed and better able to respond to the debate and the tough choices, for instance around welfare reform. Almost no one knows what this welfare reform we all talk about actually means. Then there’s the external image. I’m not sure that flying Americans in to sort out are remaining political problems out gives a good impression of this part of the world and where we’re at.

NG – We have to remember the history here and the fact that we have voting patterns. So a manifesto will have certain commitments before it gets to matters like the economy. There is none of that in the Republic.... the parties are all about taxes, the economy and services. These things are second order issues here in Northern Ireland. We could persuade our politicians to be a bit braver when it comes to policy. In some areas, they’ll get elected in any case. On the public side, let’s have more considered media work. Let’s have media debate, not sound bites. I think there is an appetite for this now.

We’ve moved on a bit. The public are more information hungry than we give them credit for.

MN – Mark, what’s your view of the Northern Ireland economy?

MBS – At a national level, there is still a lot of focus on the politics of cuts. That’s fuelled by the politicians, particularly the opposition. But I think there

is often a disconnect between the picture they paint and how the public views things.

Northern Ireland is a very different region, but in UK terms, it suffers like others from the North-South gap. There is also the spectre of negative equity here and that’s a problem.

MN – The property overhang is deeper here. I can see that in my own field. Before we talk about corporation tax, can we look at sectoral analysis. Which sectors can we be optimistic about?

NG – Northern Ireland now has an eclectic mix of success stories. At present, it’s harder to pick out the sectors that aren’t doing well. We’ve got agri food doing really well. We’ve also got notable strengths in pockets of manufacturing. The so called demise of manufacturing was actually the demise of textiles.

Food processing, packaging, transport, pharmaceuticals, quarrying equipment and others are all doing well. Then, in Belfast alone, we can talk about back office finance, high value professional services, software, film and TV, etc, all of which are graduate hungry. We’ve had huge

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Eye on Round Table inward investment. You could walk around many towns and cities in England which have had none in recent years. Yes, we’ve got to embrace the knowledge economy but not everyone can work in that sector. So it’s really good that we have this spread of growth sectors right across the board... a patchwork quilt of success.

MN – It’s a good point. We hear a lot about closures and much less about success across different sectors.

MBS – When you do a media search on a region before going there, as I always do, it’s the job losses that dominate the headlines. That’s unfortunate.

The Gallaher closure was a major story not long ago.

NG – We compete with other regions, of course, but even that has changed. Other regions have their own challenges, on working practices and conditions, for instance. And more people now, it seems, want to buy on quality as well as on price. We’ve arrested the rush towards the cheapest locations worldwide.

MBS – Yes, the outsourcing rush has eased off. There aren’t so many companies running off to China now. They’ve realised that it’s not as easy as it seems, it’s difficult to get your money out and you might just lose your IP while you’re at it. The global cost base has changed a lot over recent years.

NG – Fifteen years ago or so, you could have summed up the choice

for manufacturers on a post-it note. Location was about the cost of the factory and the cost of labour. That was it. Now it’s a much more sophisticated and nuanced process, and it’s a choice which the UK is starting to win much more often. Consistency is something we can trade on as a location and we now have a much broader range of potential candidates.... not just the ones we’re getting at the moment. We can move on from concentrating on the two or three core sectors that we’re good at.

MBS – There is evidence of some of the textile companies coming back. I don’t think we’ll be making tee shirts again, but don’t give up on sectors that have gone.

They might come back. Look at the car sector in the UK, which has been transformed by the Japanese and, more recently, Tata.

NG – Energy is a bit of a problem.

We’re very vociferous here on fracking and, all the while, the energy differential with the US is widening. We’ve been very sluggish on embracing the energy revolution and it might be a missed opportunity.

MBS – Can we move on to the corporation tax issue. Will the power be devolved? If it is devolved, what will the Executive do with it? And will it deliver the step change for the economy that has been suggested?

(Editor’s Note – This debate was recorded several weeks before production of this edition. At the time of going to press, an announcement on

the devolution of corporation tax powers to Northern Ireland was confidently expected from the Prime Minster in advance of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement on 3rd December) NG – I think it will be devolved with caveats. I don’t think the Executive will do anything with it because it may prove to be too expensive. And, yes, if we were able to get it through then I think it would make a big difference.

The UK Government won’t want to hear about special needs any more. Given the background noise, not just from Scotland but from other UK regions, the Treasury has to extract the maximum value from any such move. The Government has to placate GB voters that Northern Ireland is paying a fair and equitable price for all of this. But, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to get some powers and, even if we don’t use it initially, it’s much better to get it than not. On the final point, of course it would make a difference.

Our private sector is too small and we need to grow it. Lower tax would attract new firms.

There’s no doubt about that.

MN – I’m concerned about being given the power and doing nothing with it. What’s your view, Mark?

MBS – I’m not totally convinced that you’ll get the powers because I think it is a toxic issue across the Irish Sea. The days when

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English MP’s would sit back and let powers be devolved are gone and I think the whole Scottish process brought those issues to the fore.

NG – It’s an interesting one. In the work I did on this, we pushed hard for a decision on this way before the Scottish Referendum and that was for the reasons that Mark highlights. Back then, the English taxpayer wasn’t tuned into the amount of money flowing into regions like Scotland and Northern Ireland. Now they are. That said, they have to stick to their Scottish pledge and that makes it a difficult one. The only way to refuse Northern Ireland would be to hang it on political failures and a lack of political maturity. But I don’t think that will happen. The price could be very high, though.

MBS – The debate back in England has reached the stage where some are talking about a new ‘Trans Pennine’ region for the North, stretching northwards from a line between Merseyside and Hull. So I think there are all sorts of challenges going forward for the UK government.

MN – Moving on to another issue.

Export-led growth is a priority here, but you view that as weak.

MBS – It’s appalling. I wouldn’t be surprised if some shame-faced statistician told us that there had been a massive processing error. The figures look so awful.

Eye on Round Table

MN – So what is the underlying problem?

MBS – Just very weak global trade.

The Eurozone has its problems, China has slowed a bit and we also need some further liberalisation.

It’s just not happening.

NG – There has been a re-birth of nationalism in a lot of ways and that impacts on a desire (or lack of it) to import and on global trade as a whole. A region of our size must bring in money from outside.

But a sale is a sale at the end of the day. Is a sale to London less

important than a sale to Dublin because one is an export and other isn’t? And when you have a lot of young, fast growing firms, you do take a risk when you concentrate on trade missions to far-flung parts of the world. In some cases, they’ll buy and sell your IP back to you before you’re on the flight home. But that’s not to diminish an export strategy for Northern Ireland. It is important and we have some wonderful exportorientated firms. But it does come down to this – what do you make and where can you sell it?

MN – But do you think that export-led growth should be a priority for Northern Ireland?

NG – Yes, but I would include the rest of the UK in that. Don’t forget that we have some very big firms indeed and their volume of sales is enormous. Then there are niche areas – like the fact that a significant proportion of the world’s heavy quarrying machinery is made in County Tyrone. We have a very small business base outside of the big companies. But are these smaller firms profitable? Would they be more profitable by getting into export markets? The answer in some cases is not necessarily.

And another point on the big firms here is that there is a danger that economic policy becomes beholden to a small group of very big companies. They’re considered too big to fail....a bit like a bank. But it does make business support a bit difficult.

MN – Moving on, Invest NI’s corporate plan talked about exports, job creating and innovation. But we’re bottom of the league in terms of innovation.

MBS – It’s something I’m not too concerned about. I think we lay too much emphasis on it. And I think the view now is that it’s better to have more people in work than to have fewer people in work at more innovative companies. Three decades ago there was huge concern that unemployment would forever be stuck at over three million.

But in fact we did manage to find jobs for most of them, and to cope with rapid population growth. So I don’t worry too much about entrepreneurship and innovation because we’ve got jobs, which suggests that we must have been reasonably good at those things.

NG – I see why it forms a key plank of Invest NI’s plan. If you’re going to give public money to firms, you want them to be innovative. You’ve got to consider new revenue streams and new opportunities.

We’re better at R&D spend and innovation than we used to be. We’re in the pack and we’re no longer being lapped. And it is hard to measure. I often suspect that lots of firms are doing it but it’s not on the radar.

But I’m with Mark. Jobs are the most important thing here.

MN – To close with both of you, I get the sense that you’re both positive going into 2015.

Reel forward to this time next year. Will you be as positive?

MBS – It depends on the global picture. The global economic skies have got a bit darker of late. So I’m not sure I would be as optimistic. If we get through next year with a solid growth rate, I’d say that’s a good result. I hope that some of the issues globally will sort themselves out but Europe is in a bit of a mess. It’s hard to know what can be done there.

NG – I think there is every chance that this year will be the high water mark of this recovery but I would be worried about global conditions. I think we’ll see a different response to the Eurozone’s challenges now than we did when the crisis started. And I hope next year we’ll have a more strategic view of public sector reform here in Northern Ireland. Let’s really get that process going to create a modern public service that is affordable for the longer term and will provide a much better service. So, if I was here next year, I’d be downbeat if we hadn’t done something about the Eurozone and something about public sector reform locally. But, if we had made progress on those fronts, I’d be much more upbeat.

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Eye on Travel

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Eye on Travel

MUKESH SHARMA & WORLD TRAVEL CENTRE...

NEW NAME, TRUSTED BRANDS World Travel Centre might be a new name to the business travel marketplace both here in Northern Ireland and beyond, but it’s a name which incorporates four of the best-known brands in the business around these parts.

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hriftway Travel has its roots in Belfast of the late 1970’s and early 80’s. Selective Travel, meanwhile, became one of the leading High Street travel agency brands in addition to specialising in business travel for a range of clients. McNeill Rigby is a third agency with a strong reputation in the local marketplace.

Finally, Corporate Travel, an agency in Glengormley has a strong corporate and agency background.

The man behind the move to a new brand name and a dedicated 70-strong team operating from the impressive Murray Exchange building on Belfast’s Sandy Row is Mukesh Sharma. He’s been instrumental in leading the travel company from humble roots as a small-time airline ticket reseller to a large-scale business which looks after corporate clients all over the British Isles.

Not only does it rank as a major partner for airlines such as United, Emirates, Etihad and British Airways, it’s also EasyJet’s and Flybe’s biggest ticket agent here.

“Yes, we’ve come a long way from the early days,” says Mukesh Sharma.

“It’s been a gradual learning curve in a travel business that has changed beyond recognition from the one we ran back in the 1980’s and 90’s.

“Back then, we worked with the travelling public as our customers.

Nowadays, our customers are big businesses, universities, government departments as well as the public

and the travel trade itself. We have teams here in Belfast working with a wide range of end customers.”

The history of the business is a fascinating story in itself. Mukesh Sharma’s parents came to England from India in the 1950’s and he was born in Wolverhampton where they had settled. In 1968, a family wedding brought them to Belfast and an acquaintance of his father’s asked him if he was interested in buying the shirt factory he ran on Great Victoria Street.

“Back in those days, there was no due diligence or anything like that.

Business was done on a handshake and by looking someone in the eye. So my father did the deal and we moved over to Belfast.”

The factory went on to produce knitwear and shirts(for Ben Sherman, Burton & John Collier amongst others) for sale to customers in the Middle East and even Africa, meaning that Mukesh’s father had to travel extensively, both to sell and to source raw materials from Asia.

“By the end of the 70’s and early 80’s, things had changed in the clothing industry. The business was importing garments from the Far East and elsewhere, and then exporting them again to its customers around the world.

The advent of cheaper retail stores was starting to bite.”

Enter a Belfast character by the name of Arthur Silver. Silver ran Druker Furs in the city, but in a back room off the shop, he had a nice little sideline going.....selling long-haul airline tickets to popular destinations like Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

“Effectively, he bought them off big bucket shops in England, added his cut and sold them on to customers.....still at a better price than they could get elsewhere.”

With his own passion for travel, and plenty of experience of it, Sharma senior decided to buy over the company and its brand name – Thriftway Travel – moving it into the family premises at Great Victoria Street and later into a retail unit on the same street.

Mukesh Sharma gave up his engineering studies to join his father in the travel business thinking... “I’ll support my dad in this new venture for a year and then go back to the engineering, my brother joined me in the business, we established the agency in Great Victoria Street and we grew it from that point,” he says…”Thirtytwo years later, I’m still here!”

In 2009, came a change of direction for the company when World Travel Centre Ireland’s Northern subsidiary, McNeill Worldwide merged with Thriftway.

In 2011, this growth continued with the acquisition of Selective Travel and in 2014, this march gained further momentum with the takeover of Corporate Travel.

In five years the company has grown from employing thirteen staff to almost seventy and the turnover has grown by a similar factor. “We found ourselves with four different brand names trading under World Travel Centre Ltd. each of them well established and trusted – and that was never going to work as one business,” says Mukesh Sharma. “So we decided to bring them under one trading name and the Selective Travel brand is an excellent one.

“We’ve already established our team of 70 or so in the Murray Exchange offices and we’ll be expanding to occupy two more floors” he adds.

“Our target market is GB as much as Northern Ireland,” he explains. “We’ve managed to secure contracts with a number of

organisations across the Irish Sea, particularly in the university sector.

Our customer base also includes some public sector organisations and we supply the travel trade extensively.”

Air fares still account for the bulk of the business, although Mukesh is keen to emphasise that his team is also well placed to offer deals and corporate rates for hotels, rail and car hire. The increased demand for 24/7 service means that the out of hours team is continually growing. “Customers do need help with rebooking flights, cancelling flights or organising onward and last minute travel.

We must respond to these needs effectively irrespective of the time.

What makes us a Travel Management Company rather than a travel agent is that we take ownership of our client’s travel needs. We provide reports of their trends and spends. Providing Carbon footprint data and cost saving analysis are all part of our service.

This applies equally to flights, hotels, car hire or any part of a journey.

Away from the world of travel, Mukesh Sharma is a local businessman with strong community roots and with interests well outside the world of work.

He’s been quick to forge links with the local community in the Sandy Row area, the new home for his business, but he’s also a leading light in the Ethnic arts and cultural sector here in Northern Ireland and one of the driving forces behind ArtsEkta, the organisation behind the hugely successful annual Belfast Mela Festival, held in Botanic Gardens.

He’s even been known to pick up one of a couple of different Indian instruments he’s able to play.....and that’s something many of the local business community isn’t aware of!

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LESLIE HUGHES...

STEPPING DOWN AFTER 38 YEARS Leslie Hughes with the Lifetime Achievement Award he recently received at the prestigious 2014 UK Broker Awards in London

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Eye on Profile Leslie Hughes’ business story has been told before, but it’s worth recounting the fact that he started Hughes Insurance on 1st March, 1977, from a spare bedroom in his new home in Newtownards, Co. Down.

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hirty seven years later, he steps down on 1st July next year from his current role as Chairman of the company which he built up from scratch to an operation employing more than 300 people at its impressive Newtownards headquarters and at 11 regional branches.

In June of this year, Leslie Hughes gathered those 300 or so staff members at the Culloden Hotel to tell them that the company that bears his name was being acquired

by Liberty Insurance, part of the US-based giant Liberty Mutual.

“It was a very emotional day for me and it’s hard not to be a bit apprehensive about retirement,” he smiles. “I suppose it’s the thought of getting up in the morning and not having an office to go to.

Your office, and lots of people will agree with this, becomes your bolt hole in a lot of ways.

“That said, Jackie (his wife of 42 years) and I are looking forward to indulging in our passion for travel, and we’ve got a lovely house down in Quinta do Lago in Portugal,” he says. “And I’m going to be doing a lot more work on the charity front.”

He’s already one of Northern Ireland’s most philanthropic business leaders when it comes to local charities, and he’s helped to raise many thousands of pounds over the years at sporting and business events (as well as those combining the two).

He’ll be missed, though, from business circles. Leslie Hughes is one of the gentlemen of business in Northern Ireland.

Always immaculately dressed and always with a ready smile, he’s popular and well respected for good reason.....something that his wide circle of friends here and elsewhere stands testament to.

He actually started work in 1965 and still has the letter offering him his first job with General Accident on the princely salary of £440 per annum. “That was

£20 a year more than I’d have earned as a trainee accountant back then, so I decided to go into insurance,” he says. “I think it turned out to be the right decision.”

Leslie Hughes will remain with Hughes Insurance until the 1st of July next year when the Liberty Insurance acquisition formally completes – and he will be leaving the company in very good hands.

“Together with my colleagues on the board we have built a very strong and stable management structure in this company. I take immense pride in the fact that the team at Hughes Insurance are not only the best in Northern Ireland – but also the best in class. It is one of the reasons cited by Liberty Insurance when they came to the table.”

Talking about the acquisition Leslie simply states that from first meeting to last it was clear that there was a natural fit between the two companies. “Once we shook on it - there has been no going back, no difficulties and no changes of mind,” he says. “And because we’ve always worked hard to ensure that Hughes Insurance is a well-managed company, the due diligence process took no time at all.

Liberty were clearly impressed and this is a company which is serious about the Ireland marketplace with a worldwide presence and a global strength.” The process since that initial handshake has

taken some time of course, but Hughes has been impressed by the Americans’ no-nonsense way of doing business.

The move by Liberty Insurance for Hughes Insurance seems logical. Hughes had some £60 million in gross written premiums at the last count, and holds a very healthy 20% market share of the motor insurance market in Northern Ireland.

The new owners recognise that Hughes Insurance has a distinct Northern Ireland identity, and have a track record in international markets in integrating with local culture and communities – so the brand looks to be in safe hands.

“What’s most important for me is that the excellent staff we have at this company are going to be looked after,” says Hughes. “In fact, I think the fact that this company is now part of a world-wide group will open up opportunities for some of them.

“We have people who’ve been with us for 10, 20, even 30 years and we can’t lose sight of the fact that we’re a very significant employer here in Newtownards.”

The company is part of the community in the County Down town, where it has sponsored local sports teams and events.

And it is also a major sponsor of Ulster Rugby. The Family Stand at the Kingspan Stadium (formerly Ravenhill) now bears the Hughes

Insurance name....another sign of how well established the Hughes Insurance brand is in this market.

Reservations are natural, but Leslie Hughes concludes that he’s ready to take things a bit easier after 38 years spent establishing, building and running his company.

He’s looking forward, apart from Portugal and more distant travel, to spending more time with his three grandchildren. The third, Jacob Hughes, was born at around the same time as the Liberty acquisition was announced last summer......ensuring that the Hughes name will be carried on into another generation.

Does he have any advice for those left to run the business (and others, for that matter)?

“Yes, don’t lose sight of how to communicate person to person,” he says simply. “The way a lot of us work these days means that we rely totally and completely on technology for communication.

“My best piece of advice is to maintain the art of human contact. Pick up the phone if something needs sorted out, don’t rely on sending an email.

Better still, get out there and talk to people face to face.”

It’s something he’s always been good at throughout his 38 years at the helm of Hughes Insurance.

And Leslie Hughes won’t be giving it up when he retires next summer.

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Eye on News

RENEWABLES AWARDS LAUNCHED FOR 2015

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elebrating seven years of promoting sustainable energy through the Action Renewables Association Awards, Northern Ireland’s leading group of renewables experts has teamed up with Tughans Solicitors and renewable electricity supplier Vayu, to announce the launch of their 2015 awards.

Set to take place at the historic Belfast Harbour Commissioner’s Office on Friday 27th March 2015, the 2015 Action Renewables Association Awards luncheon is planned to be the best yet for the event. “We have assembled an incredible panel of judges with a wealth of knowledge of the renewables sector in Northern Ireland and internationally,” said Nicola Branagh. “We are delighted to have such a high calibre of judges on board to help us choose the leading examples of renewables in practice locally. ” “Tughans has been supporting these prestigious awards since their inception and we have been pleased to see the event grow from strength to strength each year. As a company we work closely

with the Renewable Energy sector locally and these awards enable us to demonstrate our support to local businesses that are showcasing excellence within the sector,” said James Pringle, Partner, Tughans.

The awards will also be opened up to new applicants this year, with additional categories including Most Environmentally Sustainable Construction Project, Most Successful Renewable Heat Installation and Most Successful Renewable Electricity Installation added to the existing list of Best Renewables Installation within the Education, Healthcare and Public Sector, Best Community Renewable Energy Project, Best Planning for Renewable Energy Project and Best Promotion of Sustainable Transport announced for March.

The deadline for entry to the 2015 Action Renewables Awards is Friday 13th February 2015, with winners announced at the flagship industry awards event held at the Belfast Harbour Commissioner’s Office on Friday 27th March in advance of a gourmet lunch and afternoon networking event.

Nicola Branagh, Business Development Manager, Action Renewables (centre) is pictured at the launch with event sponsors James Pringle, Partner, Tughans (left) and Ross McConnell, Renewable Energy Manager at Vayu.

Titanic Belfast Facilities Award Titanic Belfast has scooped a major industry award in recognition of the unique visitor attraction’s complex facilities systems.

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itanic Belfast opened in March 2012. Part of a £97m Titanic Quarter project, the iconic building has welcomed more than 1.8 million visitors from more than 140 countries, making it one of Ireland’s top tourist attractions.

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The Ireland region of the British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM) has now hailed Titanic Belfast’s Facilities Management staff as Team of the Year.

The BIFM awards are designed to celebrate excellence and recognise

outstanding achievements and projects; and teams and individuals who have made a significant contribution to the development of the Facilities Management industry in Ireland.

Jim Christian, Titanic Belfast’s Facilities Manager said: “Titanic Belfast is one of a kind in Ireland, a visitor attraction with bespoke facilities that include a complex in-car ride experience, modern technology throughout nine galleries and

provisions for more than 100 staff.

“Winning this award is great recognition of the team that manages these facilities daily, catering for thousands of visitors and clients, and Titanic Belfast employees.”

Facilities management remains one of the fastest growing professions in the UK and Ireland. Valued at over £106 billion, this important industry has a pivotal role to play in supporting businesses.

No rest for the wicked It’s been a vintage year for Whitenoise, the multi-award winning agency, as we continue to deliver brand development, advertising and design for all forms of print, and with Whitenoise Digital, video production, motion graphics and CGI for broadcast, business and events.

Whitenoise... those who can, do.

For fresh ideas in visual communications, talk to Whitenoise.

The Ideas Factory, Portside Business Park, Airport Road West, Belfast, BT3 9ED Tel: 028 9073 0999 www.whitenoisestudios.com

IDI Awards 2014 Winner: Digital Animation Arts & Business NI: Amazing Together Highly Commended: Digital Animation BBC Tech of WWI Highly Commended: Digital Animation Nerve Centre: Creative Centenaries

DANI Awards 2014 PANI Awards 2014 Winner: Best Use of Outdoor Media RUAS Balmoral Show

Winner: Best E-Learning Project Nerve Centre: Creative Centenaries Winner: Best Animation Whitenoise: Welcome to the Ideas Factory Highly Commended: Agency of the Year Whitenoise

ON-SITE SHREDDING IS FOR YOUR EYES ONLY.

OUT OF SITE SHREDDING IS FOR THEIR EYES TOO!

Eye on Interiors

Record Winning Year For The Alpha Group The Alpha Group, Northern Ireland’s leading independent supplier of office furniture and interior design solutions, is set to achieve a significant milestone this year, as its turnover will go through the £15m barrier for the first time in the company’s history.

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he Alpha Group has been trading in Northern Ireland for 43 years and while it has experienced many years of steady organic growth, the recession was a testing time for the company.

“We were at a point where the company was a very strong business but then in 2006 and 2007 in particular, the world fell apart,” says Paul Black, the CEO of the Alpha Group. “The office furniture market in the Republic of Ireland collapsed by 45% inside six months because companies were not investing cash in office furniture anymore and were making do with what they had. Our business was forced into looking very closely at itself and we carried out two mergers – one in the Republic of Ireland and one in Northern Ireland. The combination of these really changed the dynamics of how this business now works.

“The mergers equipped the Alpha Group with the ability to win projects that in the past we would have only dreamt of.

The key strengths of the Group are that we are multi-faceted. We are probably the only company in our industry that covers all the different market sectors from public sector to education to dealer networks to blue-chip fit-outs. It is a huge strength for the business that we have got so many strings to our bow.”

Paul points to the quality and experience of the Alpha Group team as a driver of growth over the lifetime of the company.

“I am very proud that more than 50% of the company’s workforce (which is 90 people in total), has been with the company for 15 years or more. The combined knowledge of all of our staff is what delivers the ultimate success for the business and for our customers because this business is all about the skills and expertise of every member of staff. That is really what the Alpha Group is about - I passionately believe that it’s our people that work in the business that differentiates us. We are a fairly flexible organisation that likes to work with our employees but we also have a very strong ethos of customer satisfaction.

Virtually the whole company is entirely customer facing and customer focused.”

“The Alpha Group has seen growth in the Further and Higher Education University market as well as on the contract and fitout side of the business.

There’s a more positive degree of economic confidence out there in the market. We are delighted to be on the framework contract for the Scottish Universities and Colleges for the next four years.”

The company has recently developed a new product range of entry-level desking which is being piloted in England through a new distribution facility located in Telford, outside Birmingham.

“We are looking forward to seeing how that business develops and we have recruited two new people in Northern Ireland to help with that and we’re hoping that we will be able to recruit more going forward.”

The turnover for 2014 will go through the £15m barrier for the first time in the company’s history and Paul is confident about the prospects for 2015.

“The Alpha Group has seen growth in the Further and Higher Education University market as well as on the contract and fitout side of the business. There’s a more positive degree of economic confidence out there in the market. We are delighted to be on the framework contract for the Scottish Universities and Colleges for the next four years. Being on the framework is very significant for us, particularly with the imminent delivery of the new Strathclyde University Technology & Innovation Centre (TIC) building which is the largest job in the company’s history.”

For more information on the Alpha Group, their showroom is located at Alpha House, 53 Dargan Road, Belfast, BT3 9JU or you can request more information by calling 028 9078 1531.

EVENT is our BUSINESS YOUR

From small-scale seminars to gala ceremonies the Stormont Hotel sets the standard in Northern Ireland for business events. With 15 conference suites and the purpose-built Confex Centre it is the perfect location.

Relax; you’re in safe hands with the Stormont.

Call our conference team on 028 9065 1066 hastingshotels.com

Eye on Technology

It’s Time To Move To Toward Best-In-Class Workforce Management Organisations today are operating in a period of breath taking technological change and integration. Technologies that were viewed as ground breaking only five or 10 years ago are now deemed almost out of date. From separate devices such as the iPod, GPS units, and digital cameras, we’ve seen the emergence of the iPhone and tablets that contain all of that functionality — and more — in a single device. Users have become accustomed to an unprecedented level of ease and access with regard to the information they need in their personal lives, and this trend is driving expectations in business applications and communications.

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he result is a new generation of workforce management solutions from specialist companies, the likes of Kronos for today’s modern workforce. With access to technologies that are easy to use, personalised, and intuitive, employees are happier, more productive, and require little, if any training on how to operate these new tools. I see little evidence of training manuals on how to use the new ‘tap’ technology found in the new Visa cards or how to use your mobile phone to board an ‘EasyJet’ rather than printing off a boarding card. This is all

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leading to a fundamental shift in the ways in which organisations manage the workforce.

Along with the recognition that solutions must adapt to the modern workforce, organisations are learning that the way they implement workforce management solutions can play a critical role in success. Recent research presents compelling evidence that the integration and automation of time and attendance with key workforce management processes is a true driver of performance.

By integrating time and attendance with other workforce management functions, companies can support organisation-wide and global initiatives and take advantage of emerging technology trends such as easy-to-use consumer-oriented user interfaces and dashboards, cloud services, and mobile access.

Technology products have made tremendous advancements in recent years. Our expectations for how we interact with these devices have also changed. Just a few years ago it was common to use a laptop to work remotely and access the Internet. Mobile phones were ubiquitous and smartphones were increasing in popularity. Digital cameras made it easy to share photos online.

Portable game systems offered high-definition graphics. We carried

portable CD players and copied music to MP3 players and iPods.

GPS navigation systems were becoming more widely used.

Some organisations that are still using simple time and attendance solutions, or worse, relying on manual, semi-automated, or disparate systems could be falling behind the times. By automating and integrating workforce management processes, you can increase visibility and control of labour costs and mitigate compliance risk.

The lack of integration with other systems, such as payroll, HR, absence manage¬ment, and scheduling, makes it almost impossible to get a single, trusted view of data, forcing managers to make decisions based on incomplete, inaccurate, and often anecdotal information. This lack of visibility and control hampers the organisation’s ability to respond quickly to changing business conditions. Other challenges include difficulties operating across a global environment and increased challenges with legal, union, and regulatory compliance.

Integrating your time and attendance with payroll, HR, scheduling, and absence management is critical to your ability to drive performance.

This integration empowers selfsufficiency through access to

timesheets, schedules, and HR information, improving employee engagement, manager productivity, and accuracy. And with full visibility into time and attendance data, you can use business intelligence tools to plan for growth, innovate, and foster continuous improvement.

As our organisations moves toward best-in-class workforce management, IT can be a proactive business partner in driving growth and innovation. Emerging trends such as ease of use, mobile access, and cloud computing are helping organisations increase responsiveness to user and business requirements and speed reaction times for greater competitiveness.

Trevor Bingham, Business Development Manager, FUEL High Performance IT editorial@itfuel.com www.itfuel.com @ITFuel

Eye on Retail

CHRISTINE GRANT & THE SCIENCE OF SHOPPING Ever wondered who decides where the crisps, soft drinks or canned soups are located in your local convenience store... and why the staple items are so far apart from each other?

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hristine Grant is a woman with some of the answers.

She might hide behind the title of Propositions Development Manager at Henderson Group (operators of the SPAR, EUROSPAR, VIVOXTRA, VIVO and VIVO Essentials retail brands in Northern Ireland), but what that means is that she plays a key role in the decision making of how they are shopped, and laid out.

And she’s someone with a clear passion for retailing. She readily admits that she can’t walk into any store (not just one of the Henderson Group’s) without looking around her with a professional eye!

“We look at how our customers want to shop and how we lay out our stores to suit them,” she says simply. “We look at each site individually.....we examine what we call the metrics – sales, busiest and least busiest times, best days of the week, how each category of product sells, average spends and at a lot of other measures.

“We also look at what sort of store it is – a community-based one, for example, or maybe an in transit store located on a busy route. We’ll also consider whether it is a ‘wet site’ (that’s a filling station with a shop) or not. From all of that, we work out how a store is being shopped and what the opportunities are to make it better, and more productive.”

And the evidence of the work

that Grant and her team do from Henderson Group’s Mallusk HQ can be seen in how SPAR and EUROSPAR stores are evolving, particularly with a clear added emphasis on fresh food products.

They’ve got a lot to think about.

The convenience store sector is a complex one by any measure. There are all the traditional categories to think about – the likes of butchery, dairy, fresh produce, etc – and then there are categories such as pre-pack, serve over, ambient and quite a number of others. It’s a business with its own terms and, to an extent, its own language.

And that’s before the planners get into customers and customer types – from busy mums to white van men and everything else in between.

Christine Grant has had to learn the language. A graduate of the Communications, Advertising & Marketing degree course at the University of Ulster, she spent a good chunk of her career in marketing, in the drinks industry and with a competitor retail group, before joining Henderson Group.... where she reckoned it was time for a change and moved into Propositions Development.

“There is a strong element of marketing in what we do,” she says. “But there is a lot more to it as well. We’ve got to be retail psychologists and we’ve got to be space planners and that’s just two elements of what we do.

Christine Grant, Propositions Development Manager, Henderson Group.

“Each store has to make money, of course, but it also has to work for our customers. It’s in our interests if a customer in a hurry can come in and find what he or she is looking for quickly, pay and get back out.

“Equally, though, we want to create an environment that suits those who want to take their time, maybe choosing enough for meals over the next couple of days. And we have to back that up with the right kind of stock.”

Research backs up Christine Grant’s view that the dreaded largescale weekly shop is on the decline.

“There’s no doubt that more and more of us prefer to shop every couple of days, or even for just 10 minutes or so every day. That’s what lies behind our aim to make it easy for customers to drop into one of our outlets for that day’s evening meal and whatever else they’re likely to need on a day-to-day basis.”

Henderson Retail, not surprisingly, conducts some pretty comprehensive customer research, and keeps a close eye (through organisations such as IGD and Nielsen) on what its retail competitors are up to.

Its new emphasis on fresh food – ranging from fruit and vegetables through to pre-packed fresh meat and meal solutions – is part of a clear expansion from

traditional convenience store staples through to a range of stock much more suited to the daily shoppers mentioned above.

“Those customers can’t be expected to rely on the traditional tinned foods and ready meals. They want to have as much choice as possible but within a convenience and easy to manage site. And the secret is to make it as customer friendly as we possibly can.”

One current innovation is the continued development – where possible – of a clear and distinct ‘landing zone’ in each store. In short, that’s a clear space at the entrance to give customers the chance to orientate themselves before starting to shop. And, if you consider your own shopping behaviour, it makes sense.

Henderson Group is already one of Northern Ireland’s largest companies and biggest employers. But the expansion of its retail network continues.

The current SPAR TV advertising campaign sums up the brand rather nicely for Christine. “Our stores can act as a beacon in their areas.

They are a focal point and they are places that customers can come to for just about everything they need on a daily basis. There may be a lot of science and psychology behind what we do. But it’s simple really.”

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www.investlisburn.com

Eye on Investment

Pictured at the launch of Lisburn City Council’s Inward Investment Programme with Alderman Allan Ewart, Chairman of the Council’s Economic Development Committee are: (l-r) the Mayor of Lisburn, Councillor Andrew Ewing; Rory Kerr, Plant Manager, Coca-Cola Hellenic NI; the Rt. Hon. Jeffrey Donaldson MP and Graeme Waring, Operations Director, P2V Systems.

LISBURN LAUNCHES INWARD INVESTMENT PROGRAMME The Council was delighted to launch its new Inward Investment Programme at the state of the art Coca-Cola facility in Lisburn recently. This new programme promotes ‘Business Friendly Lisburn’ as a place that businesses can invest and grow successfully.

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lderman Allan Ewart, Chairman of the Council’s Economic Development Committee, speaking at the launch, said: “I am delighted that Coca-Cola, one of the City’s successful multinational businesses, has hosted this launch.

Over the past year, the Council has been working hard to develop this latest programme that will meet the needs of all businesses that establish a base in the Lisburn area. It is very important to the Council that all businesses are aware of how great

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a place Lisburn is to do business from; and it has worked with existing businesses to develop this programme.

“There are a number of elements to this programme including a Soft Landing Programme, an Aftercare Programme and a new Invest Lisburn website, www.investlisburn.com that highlights all the benefits of this business-friendly city. The Soft Landing Programme is unique in Northern Ireland and it involves local professional businesses offering free advice to companies setting up in the City. The Council has the support of banks, law firms, estate agents, recruitment agencies, accountants, IT specialists and the local further education college for this programme.

“In terms of aftercare the Council will maintain close contact with key investors, and will liaise with Invest Northern Ireland to assist with the company’s supply chain development and accessing international trade missions. Lisburn City Council looks forward to working with businesses new to the area and helping established businesses grow. In

the New Year the Council will also be looking at establishing a Lisburn Ambassadors Network; and in the spring it will present the Invest Lisburn programmes to an audience at Westminster,” said Alderman Ewart.

There are five main sectors that this programme will benefit – Advanced Engineering, Food and Drink, Renewable Engineering and Energy, High Technology and ICT and Business and Professional Services.

The Rt. Hon. Jeffrey Donaldson MP closing the official proceedings at the launch event, added: “It is a pleasure to hear about the Council’s latest investment plans and it should be commended on its commitment to promoting Lisburn as a place for investment. Lisburn has a proven track record for business, from being the centre of the world’s linen industry and now home to multinational and fast growing local businesses; I welcome further investment opportunities throughout the area.

“To be able to partner with an international company such as Coca-Cola which has invested

heavily in its relocation is fantastic for both Lisburn and the Council. In developing this Inward Investment Programme, the Council is ahead of the game; and the Programme will allow it to inform companies of all the advantages Lisburn has to offer as a business location and investment opportunity. Working with Invest NI we can be confident that any business introduced to Lisburn will get a truly ‘Business Friendly Lisburn’ welcome. Through this programme the Council will be looking for small to medium sized enterprises, new technology companies and manufacturing companies to establish in Lisburn and alongside retailers continue to improve the local economy, skill set and supply chains,” concluded Jeffrey Donaldson MP.

For further information on Lisburn, the business-friendly city log on to www.investlisburn.com or telephone 028 9250 9484

www.investlisburn.com

Eye on Investment

Delegates attending the launch of the Lisburn Inward Investment Programme at Coca-Cola HBC.

KEY SECTORS FOR LISBURN INWARD INVESTMENT PROGRAMME Throughout the Lisburn area, there are a wide variety of businesses including multi-nationals such as CocaCola HBC, ASSA ABLOY, Bombardier and Montupet and small IT companies such as P2V Systems and Helios.

Through this new innovative investment programme, the Council in partnership with local organisations would like to attract companies from the following sectors that can avail of the detailed benefits.

Advanced Engineering

Food and Drink

t *OUFSOBUJPOBM BOE MPDBM DPNQBOJFT like Assa Abloy and Boomer, deliver high specification products at competitive prices, and on time delivery across the UK and Internationally. t -JTCVSO IBT BO FYDFMMFOU TVQQMZ of business parks with fast links to road and rail across the island of Ireland and is a short distance from two main airports and sea ports. t -JTCVSO IBT B IJHI TLJMMFE workforce and offers competitive operating costs that are amongst the lowest in the UK and Europe.

t -JTCVSO IBT B TJHOJGJDBOU NBSLFU on its doorstep allowing the food and drink sector the potential for significant growth. t 5IF NBSLFU PQQPSUVOJUZ GPS OFX investors is highly attractive.

Lisburn’s road and rail connections allow fast access across Ireland and it is located critically close to airports and seaports for distribution to the UK and beyond.

Renewable Engineering & Energy t -JTCVSO T IJHI RVBMJUZ QSFDJTJPO engineering and composites expertise hold significant potential for this sector. t 5IF FOHJOFFSJOH UFDIOPMPHJDBM and construction expertise makes Lisburn the ideal location for businesses with an intention to work within the renewables and energy supply chain.

Business and Professional Services t #VTJOFTT BOE QSPGFTTJPOBM TFSWJDF companies locating in Lisburn have access to well-educated people who have a professional attitude and strong work ethic. t -JTCVSO JT B IJHIMZ BUUSBDUJWF opportunity for small and medium sized facilities with a pro-business support programme and new property options coming forward. t -JTCVSO T JOOPWBUJWF A4PGU -BOEJOH programme involves local professional firms, the Chamber of Commerce and Lisburn City Council working with incoming businesses to provide free advice and help them integrate into the local business community. t 0VS QFPQMF BSF UIF LFZ BUUSBDUJPO The local college has extensive experience of supporting the training and recruitment requirements of small and large professional and business services companies.

High Technology and ICT t -JTCVSO T HSPXUI BT B DFOUSF for high tech/ICT businesses is driven by access to high speed broadband, a skilled workforce and excellent connections to customers across the UK and Europe. t 'BTU HSPXJOH UFDIOPMPHZ businesses like P2V and Helios are relocating to Lisburn, which is ranked as one of the best-connected cities in the UK for broadband provision.

“Why Choose Lisburn?

Access to people, lower property and wage costs, less congestion and excellent broadband.�

57

Eye on Design

WHITENOISE‌ Two Marks And A Passion For Design

Mark Case (L) and Mark Mulholland (R) plotting their next daring design escapade

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Eye on Design

...more than just a mission statement

It takes a bit of courage to call your Belfast studio ‘The Ideas Factory’… with the upshot that clients coming through the doors will expect to be given a few (ideas, that is). But that’s not something that worries either Mark Mulholland or Mark Case.

T

he Two Marks™ are the founders and directors of Whitenoise, arguably the design, brand and digital agency that’s packed the biggest creative punch in Northern Ireland (and beyond their home turf) over the past decade or so.

Go to Whitenoise these days for a pitch or presentation, and you’re likely to be handed a branded bucket of popcorn and ushered into the agency’s very own 12-seater cinema... complete with real cinema seats imported from Barcelona. It’s another sign of the confidence they have in the abilities of their 16-strong team.

The agency has a client list to prove its mettle. Longstanding clients like Translink, Sliderobes, Danske Bank and Survitec Group are joined by organisations as diverse as Drinks Inc., Arts & Business NI, Moy Park, Beggs and Partners, RNIB, Xperience Group, the Grand Opera House, Kainos, Heartsine Technologies and the Balmoral Show.

But it’s a large volume of work for another key client, BBC Northern Ireland, which has helped pave the way in recent years for a new direction for Whitenoise.

“A few years ago we became one

of only three agencies to be added to the approved supplier list for BBC NI and our relationship with them has gone from strength to strength since then,” says Mark M. “Keeping us busy right now is an animation project for their online history series on the First World War. In fact, animation and VFX now account for most of the work that we do for the BBC and we’re now operating at a national level and not just for BBC NI.” The agency has its roots in print design, and still produces a fair amount of print work, but it has grown and evolved since its inception in direct response to client needs and the changing environment and now produces much more film, animation and VFX work.

Whitenoise was established by the two Marks 15 years ago. The pair met while working for PR and design consultancy Weber Shandwick and decided after four years working together to branch off on their own.

“Back then, it was all about print – brochures, annual reports and that kind of thing,” says Mark C. “We couldn’t have imagined the direction we would end up going in.”

In those early days, the duo’s renowned fearless creativity landed some impressive clients, the likes of Orange, PSNI, the Lyric Theatre and Northbrook Technology (nowadays Allstate NI) amongst them.

“Around 2007 the economic downturn started to bite and clients were becoming cautious and less inclined to take creative risks,” he adds. “Thankfully with the wider

economy now in better shape, things are back on track and, as is often the case, from challenging times the most creative work comes.”

In keeping with general economic trends, the bulk of the studio’s client list these days is from the private sector, which goes against the perceived wisdom (now outdated) that most design agencies survived on public sector budgets.

Whitenoise now intends to make a bit more of a racket about what it can do for clients. That ambition has been spurred on by a series of recent

something like this for ourselves, we had a great response from clients who wanted us to do the same sort of thing for them,” says Mark M. “It’s a bit of an elevator pitch, but done in our own quirky style and it shows off our capabilities. We have a lot of fun when we do this type of work and I think that will come across in the new film.”

And those capabilities are becoming known well beyond the confines of Northern Ireland. Not only does Whitenoise work with the BBC across the UK, but the team has also produced a new suite of digital products for global giants Survitec Group. This is the latest chapter in a relationship spanning back to 2001 that has grown from print to online to ePublishing.

Within the Ideas Factory, Whitenoise is structured around three teams, brand, digital and production, who manage workflow and the all important accounts.

“We’ve continued to invest in the business through the years and we’re still at it,” adds Mark C, pointing to a piece of camera equipment just purchased for a cool £18,000 or so. “Investment in technology is something that’s vital in this business.

“What our clients want from us has changed over the years. They might still want promotional literature, for instance, but they’ll want to offer it in different formats such as iBooks or apps on their tablet devices, probably

“What our clients want from us has changed over the years. They might still want promotional literature, for instance, but they’ll want to offer it in different formats such as iBooks or apps on their tablet devices, probably with a bit of video or interactivity thrown in for good measure.” award wins. They kicked off a string of successes last summer with two wins and a Highly Commended (for Digital Agency of the Year) at the Digital Advertising NI Awards, following that up with no less than six awards at the IDI (Irish Design Institute) annual bash in Dublin and then picking up a further award (gold no less) at the more recent PANI (Publicity Association for NI) Awards back in Belfast for their work with the Balmoral Show.

To help get the message out there the digital team are creating a new promo film, which will be launched soon. “The last time we produced

with a bit of video or interactivity thrown in for good measure.

Mark M ends with: “We’re excited to keep growing and evolving, we’ve never been afraid to change direction, so who knows where we will be in the next ten years.” While Mark C concludes with the thought: “When we sat down on a Friday afternoon in the summer of 2000 with a list of possible names for the business, we couldn’t have foreseen how prescient a name like ‘Whitenoise’ was – but whether it’s ink on paper or pixels on a screen, it’s always been about creativity and communication.”

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Eye on Finance

Pictured is the Asset Finance team at Close Brothers Commercial Finance (Ireland) (L-R): Cecil Doherty, Tony Neill, Emma Blair, Adrian Madden, Gary Coburn and Harry Parkinson.

Financing The Future For Northern Ireland Harry Parkinson, Managing Director of Close Brothers Commercial Finance talks to us about the evolution of Northern Ireland’s business landscape and how companies with large-scale ambitions can find the funds to invest.

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ooking back on 2014, Northern Ireland finally appears to be getting the recognition it deserves from the international business community.

Major investment from three

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of the ‘big four’ professional services firms, Deloitte, EY and PwC has underlined our growing appeal as a commercial hub, while the world’s largest law firm Baker & McKenzie, also brought their new global services centre to our shores.

Throughout this year thousands of jobs have been created and millions of pounds have been pledged, as Northern Ireland becomes a much larger target on the radar of big business.

Our infrastructure, transport

links and talent pool have attracted attention and while I’ve included just a few selected headlines, they provide a snapshot of our growing regeneration and presence on the international stage.

Even when we look beyond the multi-national brands, the outlook for smaller businesses and our homegrown firms appears equally positive.

The latest Close Brothers Business Barometer, an independent quarterly survey of SME owners and managers

from a range of sectors, found that confidence is high among firms in Northern Ireland.

Over three quarters of businesses believe that the worst of the economic downturn is behind us and as they prepare for a stronger financial climate the focus for many is to build a strategy for development and growth.

A number have already outlined their ambitions; 56 per cent of SMEs aim to recruit permanent or temporary staff in the next 12 months and over

Eye on Finance a fifth plan to raise finance for equipment or property.

Businesses of all sizes are now trying to capitalise on the growing strength of our economy.

Finding the finance internally to facilitate growth can be a challenge if the business has a poor cash flow or cash reserves, and it can be equally difficult when seeking external support.

“Regardless of our improving climate, companies with large funding requirements can still find it difficult to obtain finance.

It is therefore vital for business owners and entrepreneurs to be aware of the alternative sources of funding available to them, and it’s also one reason why outside investment has become so important to our local firms.”

Traditional lenders are often reluctant to offer finance if they perceive too high a risk, leaving many businesses relying on overdrafts which can be costly and inflexible.

Often the overdraft won’t even cover the full cost of the personnel, equipment or property they required and will leave the business facing substantial fixed payments.

CASE STUDY Business type: Engineering Business requirement: Funding for MBI Product solution: Asset finance

Challenge A prominent engineering firm, located in Derry~Londonderry, needed to purchase a majority stake in the business but required additional funding to finance part of the transaction and to reinvest in the company.

Factor in the 28% of businesses surveyed in the Business Barometer that said it is now more difficult to access finance than 12 months ago and we can see the uncertainty firms in Northern Ireland are facing.

Regardless of our improving climate, companies with large funding requirements can still find it difficult to obtain finance.

It is therefore vital for business owners and entrepreneurs to be aware of the alternative sources of funding available to them, and it’s also one reason why outside investment has become so important to our local firms.

Venture capitalists, private equity houses and investment groups can breathe new life into start-ups and existing companies that have high potential, but lack funding and at Close Brothers Commercial Finance we regularly work alongside this community on large-scale events such as mergers and acquisitions, buy-outs and buy-ins.

Many intermediaries approach us to provide appropriate finance for their clients, often investment firms, and ask us to create facilities that allow them to complete their transactions.

The case study below illustrates how Close Brothers Commercial Finance worked closely with a leading investment group to support the management buy-in (MBI)

of an engineering firm.

To facilitate the deal we provided creative, flexible finance against the value of the engineering company’s existing machinery, developing a funding package that wouldn’t have been possible through a traditional lending route.

The investors were subsequently able to help the company’s management complete their purchase and reinvest in the business, creating 40 new jobs in the local area.

Among the services we offer to firms in Northern Ireland are asset finance and invoice finance. Asset finance is a form of funding that enables your business to purchase equipment, technology or vehicles with repayments structured to match the income generated from your assets.

In contrast to a bank overdraft, which can fluctuate with interest rates, asset finance can support your cash flow through regular payments over an agreed period of time and our specialist team has experience of working with businesses across a wide range of sectors.

Invoice finance is different as it allows firms to access the cash tied up in their unpaid invoices.

Firms send their invoices to their finance provider and they receive an advance percentage of the outstanding payment.

The remaining balance is then

paid, minus an agreed amount, upon customer payment.

The third option, Asset based lending (ABL), is a blend of the two, combining both invoice and asset finance to create tailored packages that focus on the collateral a business has as well as their financials.

ABL can be used tap into a strong sales book or fixed assets and release funds, which can then be reinvested in growth.

Together, these financial products allow us to provide tailored packages to businesses across the country. Where ‘traditional’ lenders may shy away from large-scale investment we want to ensure firms can take advantage of the optimism that is felt throughout our economy.

One of the biggest stumbling blocks is that many firms simply don’t realise how their existing assets could be working harder for them, so for businesses looking forward I would urge them to look inwardly first.

You might find that there is significant value to be unlocked in your business.

Solution A private equity firm were introduced to the opportunity and approached Close Brothers Commercial Finance to assess the financial solutions available to their client.

Gary Coburn, Regional Sales Director (Asset Finance) at Close Brothers Commercial Finance said: “They chose us as we have enjoyed a longstanding and successful relationship, completing a number of similar transactions in the past.

“We are highly experienced in providing the type of finance they required and

the engineering company owned a significant amount of equipment and machinery that Close Brothers Commercial Finance specialise in providing finance for.

“Together we developed a refinance facility that was quickly put in place to provide funding against the value of their existing assets, that could then be used to leverage the takeover.”

business to complete their MBI. The finance was a critical factor in the investment and led to wider benefits for both the company and the local area, as it enabled the creation of 40 further jobs at the firm.

“The business now has plans for significant growth in the coming years as it seeks to increase capacity and broaden its customer base.

Close Brothers Commercial Finance are proud to support them and we look forward to working with both companies in the future,” added Gary.

Result The funding provided a vital cash injection of approximately £1 million to the business and allowed the engineering

For more information on Close Brothers Commercial Finance and how we could help your business, please visit www.closecommercialfinance.com or call our local sales team on 028 9517 0406

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Eye on Enterprise

In Ballymena, Bank of Ireland UK hosted a Leadership Masterclass. Jan Young, Commercial Branch Manager of Bank of Ireland UK, Ballymena (pictured centre) welcomed a host of guest speakers to the event that included from left: Sean Sheehan, Regional Director, NI Consumer and Small Business, Bank of Ireland UK, Shane Logan, Chief Executive, Ulster Rugby, Mark Johnston, Chief Financial Officer Wrights Group and Ian Sheppard, Head of Business & Corporate Banking Northern Ireland Bank of Ireland UK.

Let’s Connect with Bank of Ireland UK, Northern Ireland’s Enterprise Bank Five years ago, Bank of Ireland UK pioneered its unique Enterprise Week initiative as a means of connecting local businesses with a wealth of practical advice and support that would help them in their pursuit of growth and success.

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ive years on and Bank of Ireland UK recently hosted its tenth such event which took place from November 14th – 21st with a packed programme of networking events, seminars and clinics across the region.

Let’s Connect was the theme of the week, and to launch it, the bank announced new credit approvals of £456m for Northern Ireland businesses in the first nine months of 2014, an increase of 59% on the same period last year.

Ian Sheppard, Head of Business & Corporate Banking Northern Ireland, said: “We are seeing clear signs of economic recovery and growth which is evidenced by a growing demand for credit. Bank of

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Ireland has approved loans worth £456m between January and September this year for businesses of all sizes in Northern Ireland, up 59% on the same period last year, and we expect to end the year well ahead of last year’s total of £500m in approvals.

“Small business and agri lending is particularly strong and we are approving 93% of all credit applications from businesses in Northern Ireland.”

To get Enterprise Week underway, Bank of Ireland UK joined with the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry to host ‘Meet the Buyer’, a major cross-border networking event as part of the Connecting for Growth Programme, which is designed to help increase business between companies from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

The event was the third in a series of four and brought to 600 the total number of local businesses who have taken part in the programme to date, with more than 350 Buyers having facilitated one-to-one appointments with suppliers to discuss potential business opportunities.

With cross-border trading and exports firmly in mind, Newry hosted a ‘Let’s Connect Globally’ business breakfast for local businesses with ambitions to expand into new markets. Among the guest speakers was Frank O’Connor, Financial Controller, First Derivatives who provided an insight into how the financial software company has grown in recent years from a local business start-up to a global player.

The bank’s branch network was once again put at the disposal of the highly popular and successful Show Your Business events so that customers and non-customers could promote their goods and services to raise their profile and help win new orders.

Samantha Bogle of Lily Annabella, a new venture based in Castlederg specialises in personalising vintage farm items. Since taking part in Show Your Business last November the business has grown with the development of new lines and services including personalised items, she has moved into permanent premises in GB

Eye on Enterprise

Meet the Buyer proved popular with more than 100 businesses taking part.

Landscapes Garden Centre in Castlederg and is now trading online through a newly developed e-commerce website.

Samantha took part in Show Your Business at Bank of Ireland UK’s University Road branch in Belfast and, to help her break into the Republic of Ireland market, she also took part in the initiative at the bank’s largest bank branch at College Green in Dublin as well as Galway, Letterkenny and Donegal Town.

She said: “Show Your Business has been a game changer for my business. I’ve made some great contacts with local retailers interested in stocking my products. Looking ahead to 2015 I want to grow my retail space in Northern Ireland and establish a foothold in the Republic of Ireland. I have my sights set on breaking into the States too. I would definitely advise any business to take part in Show Your Business.”

Portadown saw the return of its pop-up branch in the High Street Mall Shopping

In Newry, Bank of Ireland UK hosted a business breakfast. Pictured from left are: Henry Cleary, Senior Manager, Global Markets, Bank of Ireland UK; Geraldine O’Hagan, Commercial Branch Manager, Bank of Ireland UK, Newry; Sean Sheehan, Regional Director, NI Consumer and Small Business, Bank of Ireland UK and Frank O’Connor, Financial Controller, First Derivatives.

Centre, which for three days was home to an array of local businesses seeking to raise their profile and boost sales.

Among the businesses that took part was Glass Art Ireland, based in Moyallen which specialises in kiln formed glass and etching. Keith Sheppard, the artist and owner didn’t hesitate to take part as the venture had proved so successful in securing sales for the business last year.

Sean Sheehan, Northern Ireland Regional Director for Consumer & Small Business said: “Bank of Ireland UK is helping businesses of all sizes to grow – from small start-ups to major employers, and across all sectors of industry and commerce. We’re committed to supporting businesses right across Northern Ireland and we are delivering on that by having business advisers in all 36 branches and local specialists to build relationships and provide speedy decision-making.”

“Our tenth Enterprise Week has helped small businesses make connections that will

offer growth opportunities. This initiative has grown in popularity of the past five years precisely because we are able to provide businesses with practical, on-theground help with their growth plans.”

In the five years since Enterprise Week was created, Bank of Ireland UK has hosted more than 100 events, over ten Enterprise Weeks, involving around 6,000 businesses, including 2,500 which have promoted their goods and services in bank branches through Show Your Business to help win new orders.

Sean said: “Enterprise Week connects business to new expertise, new opportunities and new customers. As we reflect on five years of running this event we are rightly proud of what has been achieved. Enterprise Week is the blueprint for engaging with SMEs and continues to offer a means of connecting this vital sector with practical and relevant support and delivering real benefits to businesses who take part. I am looking forward to the next event in May.”

In Portadown the pop-up branch returned to the High Street Mall. Pictured at the opening are from left: Gareth Williamson, Branch Manager, Bank of Ireland UK, Portadown; Tracey Jackson, Manager, High Street Mall Portadown; Councillor Colin McCusker, Mayor of Craigavon Borough Council; Louise Lavery, Customer Service Manager, Bank of Ireland UK, Portadown and Keith Sheppard, Glass Artist, Glass Art Ireland.

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Eye on Awards

Business Awards Celebrate The Best of Newtownabbey The award winners were: Excellence in customer Service (Retail) – Sponsored by Newtownabbey Borough Council Nesbitt’s Quality Meats Excellence in customer service (Non-retail) – Sponsored

by Theatre @ the Mill Arlene’s Hair & Beauty Best tourism & hospitality provider – Sponsored by Newtownabbey Times Dunamoy Cottages & Spa Best Business Premises Award – Sponsored by Newtownabbey Borough Council Philip Tweedie Estate Agents Best new business – Sponsored

by Dermot Murphy Photography Environmental Street Furniture Best small business – Sponsored by Ingenuity Armstrong Solicitors Best growth business – Sponsored

The Newtownabbey Business Awards 2014 celebrated the success and achievements of firms in Newtownabbey, with a stunning black tie event in Mossley Mill on 14 November. Local businesses scooped up 10 awards, with categories ranging from Excellence in Customer service to Best Small Business and Business Person of the Year.

by Invest Northern Ireland Environmental Street Furniture Young Entrepreneur of the Year – Sponsored by Canyon Europe Daniel Harvey – Daniels @ The Five Corners Tess Cooke - Indigo Ivy

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ayor of Newtownabbey, Council with the support of Full Circle Alderman Thomas Hogg said: Management Solutions. Simon Devlin, “We are delighted to the firm’s Managing Director said: recognise the dedication of our “The judges were impressed with entrepreneurs and commitment to both the calibre and breadth of the growth that local Newtownabbey firms applications received – from fledgling have demonstrated over recent years. businesses to much longer established I would commend all who entered companies across a whole range of the awards for their determination to market sectors. What really struck succeed and congratulate the worthy the judges was the entrepreneurial winners. The Council is delighted spirit that clearly exists in the Borough at the level of sponsorship that has of Newtownabbey – having gone been committed to the awards, both through so much pain due to the from large and small companies economic downturn, owner-managers as well as the public sector”. of small businesses in the area have The Business Awards were had to diversify and take risks to at The Mill organised by Newtownabbey Borough survive, consolidate and grow”.

Theatre

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Involvement in the Community Award – Sponsored by Henderson Group Laurelview Equestrian Centre Business Person of the Year – Sponsored by Full Circle Management Solutions Simon Devlin of Full Circle Management Solutions and Shelly Taylor of Taylored Workwear

Shelly Taylor, Taylored Workwear

As this was the last Newtownabbey Business Awards before the Council merges with Antrim Borough Council in April 2015, the Council presented awards to Ballyclare Chamber of Trade, Glengormley Chamber & Traders’ Association and Mallusk Enterprise Park for their Outstanding Contribution to economic life in Newtownabbey.

For more information please visit – www.newtownabbey.gov.uk/business

Eye on Awards

Councillor Robert Hill & Philip Tweedie Estate Agents

Mayor Alderman Thomas Hogg & Nesbitt’s Quality Meats

Dermot Murphy Photography and Environmental Street Furniture

Alderman Billy DeCourcy and Arlene’s Hair & Beauty

Alderman Pat McCudden and Dunamoy Cottages & Spa

Ian Laverty of Ingenuity and Armstrong Solicitors

Moira Loughran of Invest Northern Ireland and Environmental Street Furniture

Peter Johnston of Canyon Europe presenting awards to reps from Indigo Ivy on behalf of Tess Cooke and Daniel Harvey of Daniels @ Five Corners

Bronagh Luke of Henderson Group and Laurelview Equestrian Centre

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Eye on Retail

Enjoy a traditional Christmas with a little help from Tesco Showing off just some of the local produce which will be in Tesco stores across Northern Ireland this Christmas are Angus Wilson from Wilson’s Country, William Gilpin of Gilfresh, Tesco NI marketing manager Caoimhe Mannion and Kevin McCann of McCann’s.

Tesco is working with local suppliers closer than ever this year to ensure Northern Ireland has a wonderful Christmas.

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he leading retailer, which has 50-plus stores here, spends nearly £600million on Northern Ireland products each year. And it has more than 90 local suppliers and stocks more than 1,200 local products.

The run-up to Christmas is a particularly busy period for many of those suppliers.

Caoimhe Mannion, Marketing Manager for Tesco in Northern Ireland, said: “Our objective is to give Northern Ireland a lovely traditional Christmas as far as we can.

“Families are important in Northern Ireland and we are aiming to provide everything needed for a lovely family Christmas.

“Because we are part of the fabric of Northern Ireland, and have been since 1997, we believe we are most in tune with the local psyche in relation to Christmas – whether it’s our ranges, our efforts to make shopping easier, our staff’s warmth and personality, the atmosphere in our stores or our products and promotions. We strive to help everyone to enjoy a traditional Christmas.”

One local supplier which will be playing a key role during this festive

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season is Primacy Farm Butchers, a traditional family butchers based in Bangor which now runs the meat counters in nine Tesco stores here.

Primacy, which has been in partnership with Tesco for three years, has its own farm in the Craigantlet Hills which rears beef, lamb and turkey and it also sources produce from farmers and suppliers right across Northern Ireland.

Nicola Bowman, a director with the company, explained: “Traditionally reared and full of good old-fashioned flavour, our turkeys are reared on the family farm or by other local farmers who share our commitment to producing top-class turkeys.

Consumers will taste the difference.”

And she added: “All our turkeys come with a pop-up timer to help with cooking and a leaflet to provide storage instructions, cooking instructions and recipe ideas for leftovers.”

Apart from turkey, the company will also be offering a range of festive meat products and services which consumers would expect from a traditional local butcher. Primacy even offers Christmas hampers which provide everything needed for the perfect Christmas dinner.

Back in the autumn Primacy was

named as the latest winner of the quarterly Growing With Tesco Award, which recognises outstanding work by Tesco Northern Ireland’s suppliers.

A previous winner of that award, Gilfresh Produce, will also be a star in Tesco stores here this Christmas.

Loughgall-based Gilfresh, a family business dedicated to the growing, packing and processing of a wide range of vegetables, supplies products under the Gilfresh brand and Tesco own-label.

The company, which has been supplying Tesco in Northern Ireland since 1997, employs 130 people and is supported by 18 growers throughout Northern Ireland.

The Co Armagh business provides Tesco with a full range of fresh vegetables - brassicas, roots and salad crops. These include broccoli, cabbages, cauliflower and also carrots, swedes and lettuce/celery crops.

And it also supplies six Gilfresh branded prepared vegetable lines, including sliced carrots, diced turnip and shredded cabbage to a select number of Tesco stores.

Back in the autumn Gilfresh joined forces with two other companies in the Craigavon area, potato firm Wilson’s Country and apple company McCann’s, to celebrate the Harvest in Tesco stores. And like Gilfresh, both Wilson’s and McCann’s will be supplying an abundance of

fresh produce this Christmas.

In fact local produce supplied to Tesco in an average week by these three producers alone makes impressive reading: potatoes – over 1 million supplied each week; carrots – 140,000; swedes – 20,000; cabbages – 4,000; lettuces – 15,000 approx; celery sticks – 12,000 approx and apples – 50,000 (Bramleys and eating apples).

And, naturally, Gilfresh will be supplying that old festive fave Brussels sprouts this year, too.

Primacy Farm Butchers director Nicola Bowman receives the Growing With Tesco Award from Brendan Guidera, Tesco NI’s operations director.

CALLING NORTHERN IRELAND’S BRIGHTEST MANAGERS Enter the CMI National Management & Leadership Awards

Eye on Events

10 Years of Legal Success at Hunt Solicitors

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olywood’s largest legal practice, Hunt Solicitors celebrated ten years in business this October. Based on Holywood’s bustling High Street, Hunt Solicitors serve clients in Holywood, Bangor, Newtownards, East Belfast and further afield with an expansive range of legal services.

Senior Partner, Patrick Hunt founded the practice in 2004 with assistance from Darren Rainey, who became a Partner in 2006.

Now celebrating ten years in business, the practice has grown from strength to strength with six solicitors and just under 20 employees in total, providing clients with expert advice and assistance in all areas of law including conveyancing, wills & probate, family matters, claims, immigration, criminal and employment.

Patrick Hunt, Senior Partner at Hunt Solicitors, remarked on the tenth anniversary, saying: “It is with great pride that we have reached our tenth anniversary and I would like to take this opportunity to reach out and thank the many clients and supporters who we have worked with over the last decade.

The biggest thanks of all must go to the fantastic team of staff we have at Hunt Solicitors - their ongoing loyalty and dedication to our clients and the practice as a whole has contributed in no small way to our success. Here’s to the next decade!”

Partner, Darren Rainey also expressed his thanks and attributed Hunt Solicitors’ success to the hard work of staff and a continual drive to introduce the most up to date technology and business practises, saying: “At Hunt Solicitors we have worked continuously to build the practice to what it is now and we look forward to continuing to build on our hard work to date. Our ongoing investment into Lexcel Accreditation, a practice standard only awarded to solicitors who meet the highest management and customer care standards, as well as additional training, marketing and a planned refurbishment of our offices in Holywood in the not too distant future, are all contributing factors to our current and future achievements.”

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Niall Campbell, Laura McManus, Una McGettrick and Victoria Nelson of Hunt Solicitors

Darren and Kate Rainey, Charmaine and Patrick Hunt

John Minnis of John Minnis Estate Agents and Marianne McCall of Jerry O’Connor Estate Agents

Judith Gilchrist of Templeton Robinson Estate Agents, Stephen McClean of John Minnis Estate Agents and Paul Quinn of Templeton Robinson Estate Agents

John Dowse and Gilbert Yates of Aspen Northern Ireland with architect Eddie Weir

Kirsty Scott, Lorraine Tierney and Sharron Andrews of Hunt Solicitors

Eye on News

GRANT THORNTON ANNOUNCES PARTNERS TO DRIVE EXPANSION IN NORTHERN IRELAND Leading business advisory firm Grant Thornton has announced the appointment of three partners who will lead the company within Northern Ireland.

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ouise Kelly (Audit), Peter Legge (Tax) and Richard Gillan (Advisory) will spearhead significant expansion plans over the coming years.

Grant Thornton, which operates in 130 countries globally, employs 300 staff in Belfast.

Louise Kelly will lead the Audit team in Northern Ireland. Having joined Grant Thornton in 2000, she has experience working with public and privately owned companies, particularly within the construction, education, motor retail and manufacturing sectors. She is the author of Advanced Auditing and Assurance, the text book used

by Chartered Accountants Ireland.

Tax partner Peter Legge has almost 20 years’ experience in providing tax advice to individuals and businesses. He joined Grant Thornton in 2005 and specialises in advising owner managed businesses on tax matters. His clients include those from the food and beverage, property and construction, technology and media and retail sectors.

Richard Gillan joins Grant Thornton from the private sector to lead the Advisory team. Having trained as a Chartered Accountant he has spent the last decade acquiring a number of businesses, restructuring and expanding them in advance of successful exits. He is uniquely

placed in the Northern Irish market to advise on acquisitions, disposals, corporate strategy and financing.

In welcoming the new partners, Paul McCann, Managing Partner of Grant Thornton, Ireland, said: “These appointments not only represent a new dawn for Grant Thornton in Northern Ireland but also recognise the vast experience and knowledge that all three partners possess.

“Grant Thornton has been the fastest growing firm in Ireland over the past decade and the new partners have ambitious plans to grow the business in Northern Ireland by expanding its portfolio of specialist advice.

“I’m delighted that all three are Northern Irish natives and know the nuances and challenges for companies and individuals when operating in both a local and global marketplace.

“While Louise and Peter have been with Grant Thornton for many years and each is vastly experienced and respected, Richard Gillan joins the firm from the private sector.

He has purchased and successfully exited a number of businesses and his skills will be unrivalled as he leads the Advisory team.”

Grant Thornton in Ireland comprises over 600 partners and staff operating from offices in Belfast, Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Kildare.

Tesco Helps Limavady Onion Company To ‘Gro’ A small Co Londonderry company which quite literally knows its onions is the latest addition to Tesco’s growing portfolio of Northern Ireland suppliers.

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imavady-based Milgro has just secured its first listing with the leading retailer, which is now stocking its crispy tobacco onions and crispy chilli onions.

Northern Ireland’s only commercial onion grower, Milgro has been in the onion business since 1989.

The company grows its onions in the Roe Valley on land which has been farmed for several generations by the Miller family, which owns the business.

Its first listing with Tesco has led Milgro to expand its

premises and add two extra staff to its 10-strong team.

Gerald Miller from Milgro explained: “The fertile soil on our land makes it ideal for growing tasty, delicious onions.

“Our son Ian came into the family business after university and wanted to expand our range by producing crispy onions.

“And it’s these crispy onions, in traditional tobacco style and chilli flavour, which are now being stocked in 15 Tesco stores across Northern Ireland. We are delighted with the listing, which enables us to bring our

Ian Miller and Gerald Miller from Limavady-based Milgro show Michael Creighton, manager of Tesco’s Limavady store, some of the tonnes of onions they grow each year in the Roe Valley.

crispy onions to many more consumers, and we look forward to stocking in all Tesco stores.”

Sandra Weir from Tesco said: “These products prove that you don’t have to go further afield to find amazing onions.

They really are first class and are already selling well.”

Milgro has recently undertaken a re-branding project to highlight the fact its products are made with onions from Northern Ireland.

Tesco spends nearly £600million on Northern Ireland products each year, it has more than 90 local suppliers and it stocks more than 1,200 local products.

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Eye on Technology

Belfast IT firm Leaf finish 2014 with a new round of recruitment.

Pictured with Managing Director Steven Goldblatt (second from right) is Paul King, Eddie Gorman, Darryl Heanen and David Patterson.

It’s been a busy year for ICT managed services provider, Leaf.

The Belfast headquartered firm has opened new offices in Dublin, won Microsoft Ireland’s Partner of the Year (2014) for the third year running, listed in the Deloitte Fast 50 awards for the 5th year running and has now completed their most recent round of recruitment.

J

oining Leaf as Client Services Director is David Patterson and Enterprise Infrastructure Specialist Eddie Gorman, both formally of Capita MITS. David has over 25 years’ experience within the NI ICT sector and will be responsible for selling the Leaf portfolio of products and services to key clients in the commercial

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enterprise space including selling Microsoft Cloud solutions based on private, public and hybrid solutions and associated professional services to the clients.

As a previous Client Services Director for Northgate and Capita, David has maintained strong relationships with clients, many of which he has personally developed and managed for over 20 years.

David will be working alongside Leaf’s commercial enterprise clients as well as developing the commercial enterprise side of Leaf’s business further.

With over 25 years’ experience working as an IT Manager for Nevada and more recently as a Technical Team Lead at Capital MITS, Eddie will be responsible for designing enterprise network architecture as well as the successful deployment of projects to Leaf’s enterprise clients.

Leaf Managing Director, Steven Goldblatt recently announced the latest round of recruitment

adding, “The commitment to our SMB and Enterprise clients has only strengthened further this year with this latest round of recruitment. Leaf has undergone massive growth in the last 12 months, winning Microsoft Ireland’s Partner of the Year for the third year running and winning at the Deloitte Fast 50 awards for the 5th year running as well as expanding our operations into the Dublin market. I am delighted to announce the addition of David and Eddie to our team who will help develop and strengthen Leaf’s position as the preferred partner choice for businesses across the island of Ireland.”

With the addition of new faces to bolster the Leaf ranks, the company has also underwent a brand facelift with the first release of the new brand earlier this month. Steven Goldblatt explained, “The rebrand is to incorporate modern IT focuses such as cloud technologies which

is conveyed in our new logo.

However not all IT is focused on Cloud, therefore we have added the Computers and Clouds tagline to project our message that we are an all-encompassing, trusted provider that can audit, plan, deploy and manage the entire ICT ecosystem for our clients.

As we progress into 2015, the new brand will become more noticeable across our online and offline channels, strengthening our value proposition to current and prospective clients alike.”

Leaf are Microsoft Ireland’s award winning Cloud partner and ICT managed services provider, winning Microsoft Partner of the Year for SMB 2013 and 2014.

Leaf are expert technology providers of Microsoft Cloud solutions and Office 365 as well as ICT infrastructure experts to both the private and public sectors. Further details can be found on Leaf’s website www. computersandclouds.com

Eye on News

ULSTER GAA ANNOUNCES UNIQUE HEALTHCARE PARTNERSHIP WITH 3FIVETWO Ulster GAA has announced a historic healthcare partnership which will see top Northern Ireland private medical group 3fivetwo provide a range of health services for 90,000 players and 250,000 members across nine counties.

I

t’s the first deal between a healthcare provider and a governing body like the GAA, which is the largest sports organisation in the province, and ensures that players and members are appropriately supported both on and off the pitch.

3fivetwo will offer private casualty, scans, physiotherapy, surgery, dental and physiotherapy services through Kingsbridge Private Hospital – just 1.5 miles from Casement Park in Belfast – attended by sports injury specialists.

“This is a very good agreement,” said Danny Murphy, Ulster GAA CEO. “Our medical costs are significant and this partnership gives players the best possible healthcare package for spend with the added bonus of supporting a local business.

“On a practical basis, it means an injured player can click on www.

gaahealthhub.com for the options available to them or go straight to casualty at Kingsbridge for diagnosis by a top specialist, speedily followed up by whatever treatment or surgery is required.

“This is not an exclusive deal - Clubs and Counties can still go to whoever they wish- however, this is a competitive option with fixed costs for all procedures from a company which supports the GAA with an exclusive reduction on their services list, sponsorship for Ulster GAA’s health and Players Academy programmes, and a set rate first aid and defibrillation courses.”

Mark Regan, Development Director of 3fivetwo Group, said: “Having been the home of the National Sports Clinic in Ireland for the last 18 months, this deal offers us the opportunity to align the ethos of the GAA welfare with medical rehabilitation services.

“Our doctors at Kingsbridge can assess and diagnose a wide variety of sports related injuries and, in conjunction with our state-of-the-art diagnostics network, offer appropriate solutions onsite or at the home club, providing seamless integration of medical expertise from acute care through to surgery and rehabilitation.

“Should surgical intervention be required, we can also refer them to the relevant consultant at our own five star hospital here in Belfast, where

they can be operated on very promptly in one of our fully equipped theatres and, if required, stay overnight in one of our 16 contemporary ensuite rooms with TV’s and Wifi access.

“Alternatively, if it is a day procedure, they will be treated in the state of the art day procedure suite, which is furnished with the latest in C-arm x-ray technology allowing guided injection of analgesics (pain killers) into troublesome joints such as the knee shoulder or spine.”

But it’s not just Belfast bellies who are set to benefit from Fratelli - the Company has created 35 new jobs for the city and completely rejuvenated the site at 60 Great Victoria Street.

Speaking at today’s official opening, Project Manager Colin Johnston said: “Fratelli has certainly enjoyed a ‘Big Belfast Welcome’ since opening to

the public. We’ve been delighted and overwhelmed with the support and indeed the bookings already being made. We are going to keep doing what Fratelli does best - providing delicious food, a fabulous warm friendly atmosphere and a great family experience - all the way from Galgorm to Great Victoria Street.”

Fratelli Launch Brings ‘Pizza’ Galgorm To Great Victoria Street Italian for Brothers, ‘Fratelli’ has opened in Belfast’s Great Victoria Street and the siblings behind this latest gourmet venture certainly know their onions...and their pasta, pizza and gelato.

T

he ‘bambino’ of Paul and Nicholas Hill, owners of one of Northern Ireland’s best loved hotels and wedding venues, Galgorm Resort and Spa in Ballymena, Fratelli promises to bring a slice of the Galgorm Fratelli experience to Belfast city centre.

The venture represents a £500,000 investment from the brothers’ company Tullymore House Limited, and alongside their recent acquisition

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of the Scottish Mutual building which will be converted into a luxury boutique hotel, brings their contribution to the city’s economy to almost £13million.

Belfast’s glitterati were out in force to toast Fratelli’s future success at the launch. And with more than 3000 fans on facebook, the Hill brothers’ recipe for a family friendly, quality and good value Italian dining experience seems to have wowed diners already.

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Eye on Agri Food

Sam Butler talks to Martin Symington, managing director of Pure Roast Coffee in Lisburn about the company’s new investment in Britain.

Stirring Up The Coffee Business In Britain

P

ure Roast Coffee, Lisburn’s multiaward winning coffee company, has recently set up an operation in Britain to grow its pod and capsule business in the country’s dynamic foodservice sector. It’s the first local coffee company to invest in a base in Britain.

The new operation, based in Bolton, is designed to support the ambitious coffee business that’s headed by Martin Symington as it seeks to build sales of its coffee to leading restaurant chains and equipment manufacturers across Britain.

Encouraged by a record haul of 14 gold stars for 10 coffee blends in the recent UK Great Taste Awards, the annual competition run by the Guild of Fine Food, Symington is confident that the new Bolton base will prove to be a springboard for greater growth in one of the markets he has targeted as part of an ambitious new business plan.

Four of the company’s blends, in fact, each gained two stars in the Great Taste Awards including its Signature product and Decaf Espresso Beans. The other awards were coffee products supplied to existing UK customers such as Coffee Merchants and the Bespoke Coffee Company.

Pure Roast Coffee is now an industry leader in the development, manufacture and supply of the tiny easy serve coffee pods being used increasingly by restaurants, cafes, canteens and coffee

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machine manufacturers to ensure consistently high quality gourmet coffee.

The Lisburn enterprise is now a specialist in convection roasting that eliminates any bitterness when ground coffee burns.

Symington has built the coffee business through a dedication to sales outside Northern Ireland. Selling is in his DNA. “There’s not much I haven’t sold in a lengthy career in the food industry,” he says. “I began my career selling meat in a butchery business in east Belfast and then moved on to senior posts in food services with major companies including managing director of O’Kane Food Service.

Selling is something I’ve always been good at and have enjoyed over the years.

It really is what business is all about.”

He was at the forefront of the coffee culture as it developed in Northern Ireland, launching Java Blu, a convection roaster supplying ground coffee to cafes and restaurants, with O’Kane. The success of this business led him to set up his own coffee roasting operation in 2009. A year later, his focus on selling abroad led to a substantial contract to supply coffee for the business lounges operated by the quality conscious Emirates Airline in Dubai, the commercial hub of the United Arab Emirates. He’s sold coffee across the Middle East/ “Winning business with Emirates was a huge endorsement of our strategic focus

on driving growth by investing the time and other resources on markets outside Northern Ireland. It was tremendously encouraging for a small company from Lisburn to sign up one of the world’s most successful and respected airline,” he adds.

And travelling on business is an activity he clearly enjoys. He thinks nothing of hopping on to an aircraft in Dublin and flying to Milan for a business meeting and returning the same day.

“I’ve discovered over the years that we can compete successfully in markets as diverse as Germany, Italy and the Middle East,” he says. He’s a skilled and highly experienced negotiator, a genuine dealmaker. And he’s always been adept at spotting market trends early and responding fast to opportunities. A good example of this market-led approach is the development of easy serve pods for foodservice operators and caterers seeking a quick and quality way of providing Barista-style coffee. It’s led to very substantial business from several of the biggest restaurant chains in Britain.

His success and professionalism have also attracted backing from Invest Northern Ireland and the Growth Loan Fund, support that has led to investment in the latest production technology and more extensive marketing.

The decision to set up in Lancashire, a location within easy reach of Northern

Ireland, is the latest stage in the growth of this enterprising small business.

“We’d been considering a sales and marketing operation in Britain for some considerable time and decided that there’s no time like the present. Bolton is very well placed to supply existing and new customers quickly with our portfolio of coffee products. Our business there is growing very strongly across all sectors especially our own easy serve pods and capsules which are now preferred by machine manufacturers and foodservice outlets. Setting up in Bolton makes really good business sense for us.

“Coffee from our pods, I believe, is as good as, is certainly quicker to produce and probably better in terms of consistent taste, than is being served in some coffee houses.”

The Bolton operation will carry the new Pure Gusto brand that’s being developed by the company to give it a sharper image in the marketplace “In 2013 we decided to focus on creating a brand, Pure Gusto (Pure Taste in Italian). We believe we have exceeded our expectations in terms of the distinctively rich taste of all our coffees.”

In addition to easy serve pods and capsules, the company’s portfolio also includes double espresso pods, Senseo coffee pods, coffee beans and filter coffee and a complete range of auxiliary products.

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Eye on Retail

An Ethical Approach To Retailing Jonny Finch, owner of four retail stores across Northern Ireland, talks about the importance of business ethics and the benefits of partnering up with retail Symbol Group, Henderson Group.

What made you decide to go into business?

I was brought up surrounded by people who operated their own business and therefore from an early age I developed a desire to work for myself.

When I left University, I qualified as a chartered surveyor, however I soon realised that I was not cut out to work for other people and craved the freedom of working for myself.

The opportunity arose when I and my two business partners Andrew Hutchinson and Leslie Ross decided to go into a property venture together.

How and when did you start the business?

The Retail business was started approximately 7 years ago. The property market had changed dramatically and we had a few filling stations within our portfolio and in order to support ourselves and with the help of some family members we dived head first into the world of convenience retailing. My Grandfather had been Grocery Manager of the Co-op in Northern Ireland and therefore it was a business that I had a bit of exposure to, however there have been many times that I have wished my Grandfather had still been here for advice.

How difficult was it to become established initially?

It was very difficult to get established.

I was entering into a market which was new to me and was very different to what I had been involved with before but it was exciting and enjoyable. However, the advice that my grandfather gave me…

‘You will never be able to sell anything if you can’t first sell yourself’ … stood me in good stead. As you would expect, starting any new business is difficult.

The biggest difference between retail and property is numbers. The property

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market at that stage was all about big numbers and big margins. Retail is all about small margins and it took a while for me to understand that small changes in your margin could have a large affect on your bottom line. So I had to develop a much greater understanding of the accounts side of the business.

However, on the whole if you stick to the same basic business principles you can adapt them to any business.

What are the benefits of becoming a retailer with Henderson Group?

It is my opinion, to operate in the convenience retail world you have to be linked with a symbol group and I feel that Henderson Group, owners of the SPAR brand, are certainly the strongest in the market place.

Business can be a very lonely place at times and Henderson Group have always been there with support and advice and have been a constant source of information and guidance.

The expansion of the Henderson Group’s fresh range has been fantastic.

Our shoppers are looking to shop little and often, picking up tonight’s tea and tomorrow’s lunch. Thanks to the Henderson Group’s focus on fresh and 24 hour delivery service,

Jonny Finch.

we have a wide range of fresh and local produce available every day.

The Henderson Group have been crucial in the development of all our retail stores and I see our relationship continuing for years to come.

What qualities would you say you need to be a successful business man/woman?

There are a number of qualities I feel that a successful business person should have.

The majority of people are employed because being self employed is hard work. I certainly didn’t realise how hard running your own business was going to be, therefore being determined is a very definite quality that you must possess.

Focus and self belief are a must although at times self belief must be tempered to avoid it coming across as arrogance.

Business, as I have said before is a very lonely place and therefore the ability to deal with stress and loneliness must also be part of the makeup of a successful business person.

The final quality which you must have is fairness, remember that you own the business and you will work harder than anyone else in that business and this is the way it should be. Therefore treat your employees and indeed your suppliers with the fairness that they deserve.

What practical advice would you give to a young budding entrepreneur?

My advice to a budding entrepreneur would be first and foremost to consider carefully the venture that you are about to embark on. Be sure that it is what you want to do for the path that you have chosen will inevitably involve sacrifice and commitment. Always, question everything until you are sure you have got the correct answer, even if this is not the answer you were looking for. Do not let negativity develop on any part of your business.

Surround yourself with good people and spend time training them properly for this will pay dividends.

Henderson Group provide various training courses and opportunities for your staff which is a great support.

I have found to remain successful a support network is crucial. This can range from my family, store staff and the Henderson Group. The Sales and Marketing support I’ve received from the Henderson Group has been second to none, they continue to provide the necessary motivation and creativity to ensure my business is a success as well as making sure I make the most of any new opportunities.

The most important piece of advice which I received was it’s not what you are earning, it’s what you are learning. This is so important; do not go out looking for your fortune, quick fortunes usually disappear as quickly as they are gained. Absorb everything around you, learning everything you possibly can, get involved in every aspect of your business and understand how it works.

Eye on Corporate Responsibility

Michelle Hatfield from Belfast City Airport with Edenderry Nursery pupils, Leon and Laurie.

CITY AIRPORT’S MICHELLE HATFIELD... LEADING THE WAY ON CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY When Michelle Hatfield was named Leader of the Year in Corporate Responsibility at the recent IOD UK Director of the Year Awards, the judging panel made it clear that they’d singled her out for her clear passion for CR and all that it entails.

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nd the same might be said of the judges behind the IOD Northern Ireland Director of the Year Awards, the Belfast Business Top 50 Awards and the Sieff Future Leaders Award for 2014....all of which produced successes for Michelle over the past year or two.

Meeting up with Michelle at Belfast City Airport, it’s easy to see why she’s been honoured for her achievements over a relatively short space of time and why she is becoming something of a sought-after ambassador for CR in the business community. She has an infectious enthusiasm for forging links between business and the community.

“In our case here at the airport it is a local community in the city that surrounds us,” she says.

“For other, often much larger,

businesses it might mean a much broader community. Either way, corporate responsibility works for the community, it works for the business and it works for its people.”

Michelle Hatfield is Belfast City Airport’s Director of HR and Corporate Responsibility, dividing her time between the two roles.

An HR professional by training, she worked in telecoms, retail and manufacturing before landing at the airport eight years ago.

“The corporate responsibility role attracted me from the start and it didn’t take me too long to get into that role,” says Michelle, who is quick to pay tribute to City Airport CEO Brian Ambrose’s personal commitment to the importance of CR. “Brian doesn’t let very much get in the way of CR and what we’re working to achieve,” she adds.

“That has helped to give impetus to what we’ve been doing.”

And they’ve been doing a lot.

The highest profile initiative is the George Best Belfast City Airport Community Fund which was established in 2009 and since then has provided more than £170,000 worth of financial support to a wide range of community projects across the city and in North Down.

Uniquely, the initiative is funded through fines charged by the airport to operating airlines whose flights are forced to arrive or depart after the 9.30 pm curfew imposed on it by Government.

Michelle Hatfield is quick to add that such flights only account for some 1% of services operating to and from the airport..... but that’s enough to provide some decent income for the Community Fund, which now

attracts plenty of applications from community organisations in the airport’s catchment area.

“That area used to be East Belfast and North Down – which are the areas most impacted by our flight paths – but we are a City Airport so we’ve extended our scope to cover the whole of the city.”

The Airport also backs and runs an Adopted Schools Programme.

Through this, schools are given tours of the airport; school choirs entertain passengers on the run up to Christmas; and airport staff give up their spare time to visit schools to talk to pupils.

In fact, some 2,000 BCA salaried hours have been dedicated to volunteering in the local community and adopted schools.

And there is a successful High Fliers Apprenticeship Scheme which provides ten young people with the opportunity to gain workplace experience at the airport – across disciplines including human resources, customer service, hospitality and catering.

It’s an impressive programme of activities and one which has won the airport itself a series of awards from Business in the Community and the annual Irish News Workplace Awards amongst others.

“We’re delighted to get that kind of recognition,” says Michelle, “especially when we’re often being compared to much larger, national organisations with dedicated, full-time CR departments. All of us in CR here at the airport have our ‘day jobs’ to look after as well....”

When she first took the job, Michelle Hatfield headed out into the East Belfast community in particular (she also lives there) to talk to community groups, community leaders and local politicians before working to structure the airport’s CR activities in detail.

“We’re all too aware that we are a city airport and that means that our passengers can be in the city centre 15 minutes after touching down here. But there is a flip side to that passenger convenience and that is potential noise and disturbance for those who live around the airport and below the flight paths. We can’t ignore or forget about that.

“So we square up to it, we’re open and transparent and we get down and dirty and work hard with the communities that surround our site.”

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Promoted by Business Eye and it’s sister publication, Fleet Industry Magazine - the two day Fleet and Motor Show will give fleet buyers, company car drivers and members of the public the chance to see, discuss and drive a wide range of vehicles.

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Eye on Manufacturing

STRENGTH LIES IN NUMBERS BUT JOBS IN MANUFACTURING ARE DWINDLING Roger Gilpin, Managing Partner of Gilpin Executive Search, offers his professional insight into the state of the manufacturing job market in Northern Ireland and discusses its impact on the local economy.

I

n recent months the jobs market has been gaining considerable momentum thanks to the creation of 10,800 jobs by Invest NI. According to a number of sources, the Northern Ireland economy is strengthening.

In the last five years employment levels have grown by 8.3% (PwC’s UK Economic Outlook) with nearly half of manufacturers now operating at full capacity compared to just 15% two years prior (NI Chamber and BDO Quarterly Economic Survey).

Furthermore, at the end of the third quarter, 90% of businesses questioned

by InterTradeIreland expressed signs of stabilisation, with an additional 12% expanding their workforce.

Such figures can tempt us into thinking that the local economy has clawed its way back out of recession and is now on the straight and narrow path towards recovery. However, on closer inspection, one really has to ask - are we there yet?

Despite encouraging signs of accumulating job creations, announcements of large scale redundancies from high profile companies such as Bombardier and JTI Gallaher, indicate that manufacturers are still struggling to overcome challenges that threaten the careers of many.

In the last decade alone there has been a considerable decline in the number of large manufacturing brands in Northern Ireland. As well as those previously stated, institutions such as Tyco, Seagate Limavady and Nortel have all suffered closure in Northern Ireland due to unfavourable circumstances such as high corporation tax, increased automated services, relocation to low-cost countries and rising energy costs.

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These vacancies are often hard to replace due to lack of inward investment from companies specialising in the manufacturing sector, with traditional industries (such as tobacco production) unable to escape the pressures of limited customer demand and restrictive government legislation.

So exactly how can we protect the 80,000 manufacturing jobs here whilst retaining company stabilisation and promoting future growth?

The question posed by senior business analysts regarding the devolution of Northern Ireland’s corporation tax is a significant one. InterTradeIreland’s Business Monitor results show that companies in the Republic of Ireland who pay a lower corporate tax of 12.5% have experienced a much faster rate of growth in the last quarter (+18%) compared to those in Northern Ireland (+4%).

With that said, calls to reduce corporation tax in Northern Ireland will undoubtedly make the region a much more desirable location for investors to revisit and inject some much needed capital into local businesses wanting to expand their workforce and grow.

However, this alone is not enough to fix the problem.

Local, professional talent remains a huge economic driver in Northern Ireland and if we do not nourish and retain that very talent, then the future of our economic climate will remain bleak.

Despite Northern Ireland being the second best performing region in the UK for overall employment growth, there is still a concern for the number of 18-24 year olds who remain out of work.

According to the Labour Force Survey, a worrying one in five young people in Northern

Ireland are unemployed compared to the UK average of 15.1%. Mix this with the fact that 1,100 university places may be lost as a direct result of DEL funding cuts, then Northern Ireland is at serious risk of increasing levels of youth unemployment even further and draining itself of skilled indigenous talent.

As illustrated by NI Chamber’s and BDO’s Quarterly Economic Survey, already two-thirds of the manufacturing sector is experiencing difficulties in recruiting the right people for the number of jobs advertised, particularly for managerial positions (47%) and skilled manual workers (24%) due to lack of talent available.

Downsizing businesses should work closely with outplacement companies and higher education institutions to reskill redundant staff. By doing so this will better facilitate the transfer of expertise, fill any skills gaps with existing employers, and ensure employment for those affected.

Ultimately, the days of joining an organisation and having a job for life are long gone, so employees need to take ownership of their careers and prioritise their ambitions accordingly. To do this, people need to look at the professional and organisational trends that are appropriate to them and set a plan to ensure that they are occupationally nimble and employable.

For further information about Gilpin Executive Search and career advice, please visit www.gilpinesd.com

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Eye on News

GROUND GIVES TESCO A LITTLE BIT EXTRA The newest and biggest Tesco Extra store in Northern Ireland is set for a further boost with the addition of local independent coffee chain Ground Espresso Bars.

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he team behind the fastgrowing coffee brand will create up to 10 jobs in the new Banbridge store, which will further boost Tesco’s offering in this their 55th branch.

With significant investment in the 1,800sq ft coffee shop, the new Ground Espresso Bar will offer a welcome respite to busy shoppers

looking for a break, as well as provide a sizeable kid’s play area packed with the latest must-have toys, alongside an area to park prams.

This is the latest venture for the family-owned business, which has gone from strength to strength by providing locally sourced quality food, high-quality coffee and exceptional customer service.

Tesco’s Stephen Magill with Csilla Bertok of Ground Espress Bar

Ground Espresso Bars, a family owned and operated business, was established in 2001 in Coleraine.

Employing over 120 staff across 11 stand-alone stores and concessions in Northern Ireland, Ground Espresso Bars’ mission is to provide a haven for customers where comfort, friendship,

happiness, quality and ethics become synonymous with their name.

The new Tesco Extra store at Bridgewater Park in Banbridge opened earlier this month bringing 252 new jobs to the area and potentially boosting cross-border trade.

Allen & Overy Recruits 19 Law Graduates Jane Townsend (centre) welcomes 19 new law graduates to Allen & Overy’s Belfastbased Legal Services Centre (LSC). The recruitment is one of the largest intakes of legal graduates in Northern Ireland this year and follows recent confirmation of the firm’s plans to create 100 new jobs in the local market over the next five years.

SALES SUPPORT AT ITS BEST World Travel Centre (WTC), a consolidator servicing trade clients across the UK and Ireland from its base in Belfast, has won one of the most prestigious categories of the 2014 Northern Ireland Travel and Tourism Awards.

T

he award for ‘Best Sales Support Team’ , conferred at what is recognized as Northern Ireland’s travel trade ‘Oscars’, is welcome recognition of outstanding achievement and consistent excellence from the WTC team.

Mukesh Sharma, Managing Director of World Travel Centre, Belfast said: “It is a great honour for our team to have been singled

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out for this award by respected peers within the travel sector.

The award for the ‘Best Sales Support Team to the Northern Ireland Travel Trade’ reflects the hard work and professionalism of our superb workforce. Their skills and dedication have contributed to establishing our business as a high quality, cost effective consolidator supplying the travel trade across the UK and Ireland.

David Taylor (left) World Travel Centre is pictured with members of his team collecting the prestigious ‘Best Sales Support Team’ 2014 at this year’s NI Travel Awards.

“In recent years we have substantially invested in staff training as well as state-of-the-art technology to enable us to fulfill our trade clients’ requirements in the most

cost-effective and efficient way. For us, this will be an ongoing process and our task now is not to rest on our laurels, but to use this latest accolade as a spur to further achievement.”

Est. 1984

Improving Your Cash Flow

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Celebrating

30 Years

1984-2014

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Sole Irish Member of

ASTRA 1.6 CDTi

WELCOME TO THE QUIET REVOLUTION Whispering diesels are now powering Vauxhall’s quiet revolution.

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Official Government Test Environmental Data. Fuel consumption figures mpg (litres/100km) and CO2 Combined – 67.3 (4.2)-76.3 (3.7). CO2 emissions 110-97g/km.

† = Official EU-regulated test data are provided for comparison purposes and actual performance will depend on driving style, road conditions and other non-technical factors. * = 2014-15 tax year. General Motors UK Limited, charges; parking and speeding fines and the £250 insurance excess (if applicable). 3 Day Test Drive vehicles are subject to availability and terms and conditions apply. Please refer to www.3daytestdrive.co.uk for full terms

FROM

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CO2 97g/km† FROM

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UP TO

MPG 76.3mpg†

emissions m(g/km). Astra 1.6 CDTi: Urban – 58.9 (4.8)-72.4 (3.9). Extra-urban – 74.3 (3.8)-80.7 (3.5). trading as Vauxhall Motors, does not offer tax advice and recommends that all Company Car Drivers consult their own accountant with regards to their particular tax position. ** = Excludes fuel and lubricants; congestion and conditions. Drivers must be 25 years or older and is available for Mainland UK only. All figures quoted correct at time of publication (December 2014).

Eye on News

Grant-making partnership awards £1million to Northern Ireland BT, the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) and the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland (CFNI) today celebrated 25 years of a grant-making partnership which has distributed over £1 million to grassroots community organisations across Northern Ireland.

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t an event at BT Riverside Tower in Belfast, the Telecommunity Fund launched a new information leaflet and announced five special grants worth £5,000 each.

Established in 1989 with joint funding from BT Northern Ireland,

the BT Union Committee (CWU) and CFNI, the Telecommunity Fund provides financial support for small, locally-based projects for teenagers, older people and people with a disability from all sections of the community.

Andrew McCracken, CEO,

CFNI said: “We are delighted to welcome everyone here today to not only recognise the work that has gone into making the Telecommunity Fund so successful over the past 25 years but to hear first-hand the difference the grants awarded have made to the beneficiaries of the Fund.

“The Community Foundation is proud of its long-standing relationship with BT and the CWU and it clearly demonstrates that when a passion-driven charity meets a company with a strong

corporate social responsibility ethos, the benefits to the local community are outstanding.

“The Fund has provided invaluable support across a wide range of areas including community education, communication and leadership skills training, creativity and self-expression through the arts and numerous local initiatives to improve community resources and facilities. We are very much looking forward to continuing our work with BT and those most vulnerable in our community.”

REMUS UOMO MEET THE PLAYERS Ulster Rugby Stars Jared Payne, Iain Henderson and Andrew Trimble answer questions from Season Ticket Holders at an exclusive Remus Uomo ‘Meet the Players’ event. As the Official Clothing Partner of Ulster Rugby, Remus Uomo invited 25 lucky Season Ticket Holders to an exclusive event in their flagship store in Victoria Square. Season Ticket Holders enjoyed Italian themed canapés and drinks, followed by an intimate Q&A session with the high profile Ulster Rugby stars hosted by Cool FM’s Pete Snodden. Guests also had the opportunity to meet the players for photographs and autographs

BELFAST SHARES THE MAGIC FOR CHRISTMAS

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nne McMullan from Visit Belfast is joined by Paul McMahon from the Belfast Chamber of Trade and Commerce and Norman Maynes from Translink to promote one of Belfast’s biggest-ever festive marketing campaigns which is aimed at encouraging more visitors from across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to sample the city’s charms in the run-up to Christmas.

The new ‘Christmas in Belfast - Share the Magic’ campaign, rolled out across TV, radio, press, digital and PR channels over the festive period, was developed in partnership with Visit Belfast, which markets the city locally

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and internationally, and Belfast Chamber of Trade and Commerce, responsible for promoting local business interests. It also had the full support of Belfast City Council as well as Visit Belfast’s strategic partners Translink, Value Cabs and Diageo.

The £200,000 partnership marketing campaign aimed to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors to the city’s shops, restaurants, bars, attractions and events. Last year’s Christmas campaign generated 353,000 trips, generating an estimated £26 million for the city, and expectations are high that this year’s Christmas will be its best yet.

Innovation Through Collaboration For years people have strived to achieve the open plan office, removing divides and promoting team communication. Recently, however, we have seen a new trend emerge.

In todays office environment, we are seeing a real value on staff happiness; a happy employee is an effective employee. The Google’s and Facebook’s realised this early on. But the reality is that we still need our own space, and a time that we can break away and concentrate in a more relaxed and personal way.

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Eye on Internet

If You Have To Explain You’ve Already Lost

By Gareth Dunlop, Fathom.

It’s nearly two decades since we first witnessed the horror of the “You look like you’re trying to write a letter” message from the paper clip on our Microsoft Word screens, however the cold sweats it gave us remain as sharp in the mind as ever. Even in the days before the focus on user experience, we knew intuitively that an annoying looking paper clip with Groucho Marx eyebrows telling us what to do was always going to be a poor substitute for a piece of software which simply allowed us to do it in the first place.

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erhaps Clippy should just have gone open-book and admitted “my author hasn’t spent enough time thinking about you and your needs, so I’m here to rub salt in the wounds”. Old-fashioned decorum and a good upbringing forbids me the luxury of suggesting some responses to Clippy, however The Smithsonian spoke for us all when it summarised him as “one of the worst software design blunders in the annals of computing.”

What was it about Clippy’s wellintentioned interventions which enraged us so effortlessly?

The Venn diagram illustrating usercentred communication within an interactive context and organisationfocused marketing within a presentational environment has only a small amount of overlap, with one public relations principle sitting squarely in the intersection.

It put the ambitious web executive in the same boat as the disgraced politician, the oil executive left holding the baby after the major spillage and the celebrity whose former partner has publicly demanded a DNA test because he’s not holding the baby.

It is the truism that if you have to explain you’ve already lost.

Web users behave like men travelling somewhere for the first time or setting up a new piece of electronic equipment.

The map or the instruction manual are viewed strictly as a last resort.

The well-designed website or online application makes use intuitive.

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At a local coffee shop there an overly-fancy tap in the gents toilets, with a hand written sticker above it boasting instructions on how to use it. The notice was stuck to the mirror because of the number of customers forced to ask staff how to work the tap.

Post-comfort-break I have one simple task I wish to fulfill which is to achieve the right flow of hot and cold water to wash and rinse my hands. The tap represents a triumph of form over function, where the pursuit of creativity has been allowed to compete against, rather than support, the task the customer wishes to fulfill.

As a slight aside, this tap may (only just) be justifiable in a home where it might enjoy frequent use by a small set of users and thus they learn how to use it, but in a public environment where most use is first time it is simply wrong.

Too many websites fall into the posh tap trap, replacing intuitive design with instructions and intrusions, often-well meaning but intrusions nonetheless.

Guidance notes deliver important value in a user’s experience, but must never replace user-focus in the heart of the product. In particular, the two interaction design pillars of menu systems and form completion are areas where increased user-centred thinking and research gleans significant results.

As a general principle, menu systems cannot be too sober. Their language and layout must be plain to the point of being boring. They do not represent the place for creative thinking. The statistics in this regard

certainly focus the mind, reminding us that if a user pursues a piece of information from a global menu link, and can’t find it, only half of users will return to the home page and give the site a second chance.

Forms should be laid out according to well-established form theory, in particular where form labels should sit and matching form controls with the type of information they are designed to capture. Validation, inline help and progress indication should all follow identified best-practise. Error messages should be calm, measured and instructive. Calls-to-action should focus on customer-language, avoid using “click here” (not least because it’s not possible to click on a smartphone or tablet) and be plain and self-evident.

If you have to explain you are potentially wasting the precious time of your impatient, twitchy user. Commit that crime too regularly and you may as well pack up and go home.

Gareth Dunlop owns and runs Fathom, a user-experience consultancy which helps ambitious organisations get the most from their website and internet marketing by viewing the world from the perspective of their customers. Specialist areas include user-testing, usability and customer journey planning, web accessibility and integrated online marketing. Clients include Invest NI, Power NI, 3 Mobile, Ordnance Survey Ireland, and Independent News and Media. Visit Fathom online at fathom.pro.

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Eye on Moving On

1 Lauren MacLean

2 Siobhan Kearney

3 Susan Campbell

1 Lauren MacLean joins Cleaver Fulton Rankin’s Litigation department having completed the Diploma in Professional Legal Studies, and training at the firm. As well as being a Queens’ University graduate, she also gained professional international qualifications at in university in 2 Minnesota. Siobhan Kearney also joins the Litigation Department having completed the Certificate of Professional Legal Studies in June 2014. Her main focuses are on commercial property litigation, product liability and contentious banking disputes. She also assists the lead advisor to a range of developers and contractors in respect of large scale construction projects throughout 3 Northern Ireland. Susan Campbell will work in the company commercial department specialising in perfection of banking security for several of the main high street lenders. She has in the past focused on start-up businesses and SMEs, and 4 more recently in the banking sector. Benjamin Matson will advise companies and charities on a range of commercial issues and also acts on behalf of banks and other institutions in relation to lending and taking security. He also has a LLM in Environmental Law and Sustainable Development.

5 Siobhan Nugent has been appointed Public Sector Business Manager at Bank of Ireland UK. Siobhan is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI) and has worked for some of Northern Ireland’s leading accountancy firms.

4 Benjamin Matson

5 Siobhan Nugent

6 Lorraine McGoran

6 Lorraine McGoran joins Visit Belfast to take on the role of developing and implementing the organisations marketing and promotions campaign strategy across NI, ROI, GB and Europe. Lorraine previously worked as the Marketing manager at the Odyssey Arena for 10 years and most recently as Marketing and Communications Manager at the 7 Lyric Theatre. Jaimé Bennett joins Visit Belfast’s conference and events team where she will be responsible for destination and event management and will provide support to national and international conference organisers hosting events in Belfast. Jaimé has over ten years experience within the conference and events industry having worked across the UK, Ireland and internationally.

8 Paula Gibson joins Cleaver Fulton Rankin as a Solicitor in the firm’s Private Client Department.

A law graduate from Queen’s University Belfast she worked as a solicitor in a family practice in Belfast before joining Cleaver Fulton Rankin.

7 Jaimé Bennett

8 Paula Gibson

9 Laura Gilmour

9 P&O Ferries has appointed Laura Gilmour as Port Manager at The Port of Larne. Laura will lead a team of 75 and will be responsible for coordinating the safe and efficient delivery of shipping operations for the business. She has been with the company for 27 years, most recently as Customer Operations Manager.

10 Also within P&O, Roger Armson becomes General Manager of Larne Harbour Ltd and Head of Operations at P&O Ferries and and its terminals at Larne, Cairnryan, Troon, Liverpool and Dublin. A former navigating officer in the Merchant Navy, he has a wealth of experience from deep sea RoRo and Container shipping.

11 Andrew McCormick has been appointed to the provision as Sales Director by Traction Finance. In his role, he is responsible for managing business development in Northern Ireland and GB.

10 Roger Armson

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11 Andrew McCormick

12 Karl Wilkinson

12 Karl Wilkinson has been appointed Franchisee Consultant at McDonald’s Restaurants. Karl began working for McDonald’s in 1992 when franchisee Des Lamph opened the first Drive Thru in Northern Ireland, and continued to work in the restaurant during school and university.

Under his new role Karl will be responsible for managing a number of restaurants in Des’s group and is looking forward to the challenge.

IT’S IT’S A A

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Eye on News

M&S takes platinum award for ‘green’ credentials

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arks & Spencer in Northern Ireland has achieved a Platinum Award in the Northern Ireland Environmental Benchmarking Survey.

Now in its sixteenth year, the Survey, generated by Business in the Community’s ARENA Network campaign and supported by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency and Charles Hurst Fleet Financial, annually assesses top businesses in Northern Ireland

on environmental management, performance and assurance.

Led by M&S Newtownbreda store Plan A Champion, Annika Campton, the team from M&S was the highest scoring business from the retail sector achieving above 90% to win the Platinum award. Annika is pictured with (l-r) Philip Miley, Charles Hurt Fleet Financial, Peter Phillips, Marks & Spencer and Edward Wright, Business in the Community ARENA Network.

Inaugural NI Science Festival

L-R: Chris McCreery, Director of the Northern Ireland Science Festival; Lynsey McNerlin, from Northern Ireland Science Festival; and Minister for Employment and Learning Dr Stephen Farry.

Employment and Learning Minister Dr Stephen Farry is supporting the inaugural Northern Ireland Science Festival – an inspirational 11-day celebration of science taking place throughout the region next year.

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he NI Science Festival, the first large-scale festival celebrating the wonders of science, technology, engineering and maths in Northern Ireland – is

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due to take place from February 19th to March 1st next year.

The extravaganza, which is open to all, will comprise over 70 entertaining and informative

events, internationally recognised speakers and will also witness a science-themed Guinness Book of World Record attempt in the Odyssey Arena.

According to NI Science Festival Director Chris McCreery the region’s “rich heritage in the fields of science, technology and engineering are the equal of any on the world stage” and worthy of recognition.

“We aim to celebrate, educate and engage our next generation of scientists and technology professionals,” he said.

“Northern Ireland is the home of a whole host of innovations across engineering, physics, aeronautics and health – this festival is all about taking pride in our contribution to science and creating a really engaging celebration suitable for folks of all ages and levels of knowledge.”

According to the recent NISP Connect 2014 Knowledge Economic Index report, Northern Ireland has one of the fastest growing knowledge economies in the UK - growing at a rate of 33% over the past five years.

According to the Minister for Employment and Learning Dr Stephen Farry “skills in science,

technology, engineering and maths (STEM) will be key drivers behind Northern Ireland’s economy in the 21st century.”

Dr Farry said: “In order to grow an innovative and competitive economy, it is vital that we enthuse our young people to study and pursue a career in STEM in Northern Ireland. I am pleased to support the first ever Science Festival in Northern Ireland which will showcase STEM skills, careers, initiatives and talent from Northern Ireland and beyond to a wide ranging audience.

“This is another innovative collaboration between Government, employers, academia and our local STEM representatives. My Department has also arranged for several international STEM speakers to deliver presentations and I look forward to these events and the wider festival in February next year.”

For further information about the Northern Ireland Science Festival log on to www.nisciencefestival.com

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Eye on News

Marcon helps launch new froyo brand in Belfast

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Harry Wang and Katie Waddell, owners of new froyo sensation Spoon Street, with Ross Mullan from Marcon Fit-Out.

ntrim based fit-out specialist Marcon Fit-Out is celebrating the completion of Northern Ireland’s first frozen yogurt shop.

Spoon Street is a new concept froyo bar inspired by the frozen yogurt craze that is sweeping America.

The new brand is the brainchild of Harry Wang and Katie Waddell who have chosen Ballyhackamore in Belfast as the location for their first outlet. The couple are planning to introduce several more Spoon Street shops in various locations across the city.

The Spoon Street concept is already a hit with customers who get to pour their own froyo from a selection of 16 different flavours and choose from more than 40 different toppings. Frozen yogurt has grown in popularity as a healthy alternative to ice-cream.

The owners’ vision for Spoon Street is to provide a real “experience” for their customers.

Katie Waddell explained: “We wanted to make

sure that we created a stunning and creative interior for Spoon Street that has a fun and friendly atmosphere. The personal service from our staff and the quality and variety of our frozen yogurt means that there is something for everyone.”

Harry Wang added: “We spent a lot of time researching frozen yogurt shops right across the USA to ensure that we would be bringing something new and exciting to Northern Ireland. It was vital that we had a leading fit-out partner that would help us realise our vision and we certainly had that in Marcon, who went above and beyond.”

The unit in Ballyhackamore which houses Spoon Street had to be stripped back to its shell and a complete interior fit-out undertaken over a four-week period.

Marcon Fit-Out’s specialist joinery workshop in Antrim manufactured the bespoke items within the shop which included the counters, seating and a curved ceiling which is one of the many exciting features of Spoon Street.

TOURISM IRELAND Montupet (UK) Ltd LOOKS INTO 2015 celebrates 25 years

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ourism Ireland has launched details of its marketing plans to promote Northern Ireland overseas in 2015, at an event attended by tourism industry leaders from around Northern Ireland. The organisation aims to build on this year’s growth in overseas tourism and to welcome almost 1.9 million visitors to

Northern Ireland in 2015. This figure will represent growth of +6% over 2014 and deliver £552 million to the Northern Ireland economy (+9%) next year. Pictured are Tourism Ireland CEO, Niall Gibbons, NITB Chairman, Howard Hastings and Brian Ambrose, Tourism Ireland’s Chairman and Chief Executive of Belfast City Airport.

Pictured at the Montupet event are Managing Director Jim Burke and Therese McGuckin.

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unmurry based manufacturing company Montupet (UK) Ltd celebrated with their staff and their partners 25 years of doing business in Northern Ireland at a gala dinner in Titanic Belfast recently. Employing over 600 people, Montupet manufactures cylinder heads for the automotive industry.

Speaking at the event, Montupet’s Northern Ireland managing director Jim Burke said “we are delighted to have reached the 25 year milestone of doing business in Northern Ireland,

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and tonight we are celebrating the hard work and dedication of our team who have created the success that is our Dunmurry base. We are also recognising the achievements of a number of staff who have been with Montupet for 25 years, and who have contributed greatly to the growth of the business.”

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Eye on Motoring

dfcbelfast.co.uk Motoring with Derek Black dbmotoring@btinternet.com

DID YOU HEAR THE ONE ABOUT THE HOT HATCH HYBRID? Audi may be a late entry in the hybrid stakes but they have come up with a convincing and refined solution in the shape of the A3 Sportback e-tron. This can function as an electric car, a plug-in hybrid or a petrol car depending on your requirements.

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he 1.4-litre turbo petrol engine combines with an electric motor to turn out a joint output of just over 200bhp.

With 0-62mph taking just 7.6 seconds and 138mph top speed, this is verging on GTi performance.

To complete the mood, it has a six-speed dual clutch automatic gearbox with steering wheel paddles for lightning changes.

I enjoyed driving the e-tron

more than I expected. There is a great surge of power from low speeds. The extra weight of the batteries - situated below the rear seats - seems to improve the handling and balance on the bends. So there are no penalties in driving pleasure.

If you have a short commute then the e-tron can manage 30miles on a charge and deliver zero emission motoring in town.

(It can be recharged in 2 hours and 15 minutes.) But there is no range anxiety here as the car switches to petrol - with just a slight hesitation - when it is needed.

The new Audi hybrid is engineered to excel on the official figures. It returns 176mpg on the combined cycle and emits just 37g/km of carbon dioxide.

(This is provided you don’t drive it like a hot hatch!) This is

good enough for zero VED, no congestion charge if you are in London and a minimal 5% BIK tax for company drivers.

All this also qualifies the e-tron for the £5000 government e-grant bringing the price down to £29,950 before you dip into the Audi options menu. This is still almost £5K more than the excellent 2.0 TDi, so how many companies will go for it?

BUZZY AYGO SCORES ON LOOKS AND RUNNING COSTS! I was once told that a 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol engine was the optimal configuration for economy so it is no surprise that Toyota has stuck to this for its second generation Aygo city car. But they have added some X-factor in terms of fun styling.

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or once, the Toyota version of this little car stands out from its two clones - the plainer-looking Citroen C1 and the Peugeot 108 though the French companies do have a 1.2-litre four-cylinder engine option. The Japanese car comes only with the 1.0 litre engine but this makes up for its smaller size in sheer attitude. The Aygo will buzz readily right up to 6,000rpm

The 68bhp engine comes with either a slick five-speed manual gearbox or x-shift, an automated gearbox which is not so nice. Acceleration to 62mph takes just over 14 seconds and top speed is 99mph.

Bottom line figures are impressive at almost 69mpg on the combined cycle and emissions of just 95g/km with the manual gearbox. This means zero VED and just 12% BIK.

From behind the steering wheel, the Aygo feels like a bigger car.

Actually, it is a shade longer than before and the main gain is to be found in the boot size. A ‘bubble’ roof design means that front headroom is better. But there are bigger city cars out there.

An option is Toyota’s new multimedia system. This has a built-in touch screen to control the sound system, the phone and trip

computer. Keeping in touch with the modern cyber world is easy as it can even send and receive texts. The screen also works with the rearview camera - unusual in a small car.

The Aygo comes with three or five doors at prices from £8,595.

There are three trims - x, x-play and x-pression. This would make an economical staff runabout and could strike the right image for some companies.

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Eye on Motoring

Top 10 Winter Driving Tips Whilst we have been enjoying unseasonably mild weather, temperatures will inevitably drop and we can expect the usual wintery showers and hail.

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inter always brings a degree of uncertainty about the weather and of course there is always the chance of snow. With temperatures dropping below zero motorists need to be prepared.

Here are our top tips 1. Always carry a survival pack in the car, including food, water and a blanket. This should include extra warm clothes.

2. Ensure your phone battery is fully charged and you have an in-car charger.

3. Put a shovel in your boot – in case you need to dig yourself out of trouble.

4. Consider fitting winter tyres, but even if you don’t, have your summer tyres checked.

Winter driving means that tyres should have no less than 3mm remaining tread.

5. Have your battery checked.

Batteries have to work extra hard in the cold and are more likely to fail.

6. Make sure your windscreen washer fluid is topped up with the correct concentration of screen wash. Windscreens get

particularly dirty in the winter months and screen wash will help prevent the liquid from freezing.

7. Have your coolant checked – the antifreeze needs to protect your engine against the lowest of temperatures.

8. Have your air-con system serviced. It’s not just for summer – an effective air-con system will demist windscreens much more quickly, helping visibility.

9. Adjust your driving style to the conditions – be sensible in the rain, snow and ice.

10. Above all, in bad conditions consider whether your journey is really necessary.

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Eye on Motoring

dfcbelfast.co.uk Motoring with Derek Black dbmotoring@btinternet.com

ROOMY CIVIC TOURER SCORES ON RUNNING COSTS AND RESIDUALS Turning the Civic into what we used to call an estate car has made it a much more pleasing machine. It looks longer and cleaner, has a big luggage area and - best of all - has lost that silly spoiler that blocks the view out of the rear window of its sister hatchback.

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nside, you still get that slightly eccentric ‘two-tier’ instrument panel and headroom is a little tight for those of six foot or more.

Still, the low slung wedge look of the Civic Tourer is part of its driver appeal and makes it more interesting to look at than its more conventional rival estates. Another touch is the rear door handle fitted into the window in Alfa style.

At the heart of the appeal of any Honda is its engine. In this case you can have a 140bhp petrol or the 118bhp diesel that I tried. This is one of the best 1.6 diesels out there with plenty of urge. Only when pushed does it make its presence heard.

For some reason the Tourer seems to ride better than the hatchback and this gives it a more

civilised feel on the road. There is adaptive suspension that can be set for comfort or dynamic driving.

The diesel blunts the steering a little but not to an annoying degree.

The efficient diesel is good for 0-62mph in just over 10 seconds yet has a bottom line appeal to the company accountant. It is rated at 74mpg combined and has emissions of just 99g/km

in manual form. That puts it in a fairly modest 15% BIK grouping.

Listed from £23,375 in diesel form, the Civic Tourer is a premium compact estate with keen running costs that make it a sound company car choice.

Diesels cost around £1,000 more than petrol models but are much more economical and should have higher resale values.

nav and in-car entertainment can take a bit of mastering.

This is a hugely practical vehicle. You seat seven people or fold down the back two rows to provide a cavernous load bay accessible through the split opening tailgate. Short of the Range Rover, there is nothing quite like it as a luxury load carrier.

However, all of this comes at a price. The starter GS is listed from 40K and the top line HSE

that I drove with leather, rear television screens and all the bells and whistles does not leave much change out of 60K. Mind you, some might say it is worth it for the joy on the face of little passengers.

Nor is it a cheap vehicle to run with 35mpg combined and ‘naughty’ emissions of 213g/ km putting it in the stiffish 35% BIK group. In short, the Discovery still offers a lot but you do have to pay for it all.

GO-ANYWHERE DISCOVERY GETS A NEW LOOK AND MORE REFINEMENTS The Disco has long been admired for its package of style, luxury and practicality. A new nose job involving LED running lights, grille and bumper, together with Discovery lettering on the leading edge of the bonnet, give it a more modern look.

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nside, it is still the wellappointed mobile conservatory that people love. There is only one engine option - the 3.0 turbo-diesel six that has been honed to a great blend of power, smoothness and refinement. The sensitive eight-speed automatic box is controlled by a similar round chrome selector knob that first appeared on the Jaguar XF. On the road, the Discovery has

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plenty of urge. Off road, there is loads of ground clearance and electronic aids to cope with the worst - including a wading depth indicator. There is a fair degree of body roll on the bends but the ride comfort is great - and it can hop over speed ramps with ease.

On the downside, there is a fair bit of road noise on some surfaces and the touchscreen controls for the sat

Lateral thinking

Being on the ground in more locations than any other commercial property agency, it’s fair to say we know the market inside out.

With 27 offices across the UK and Ireland, we provide our clients with properly researched, independent advice and insight into every part of the commercial property market.

Our team of 75 in Belfast offers specialist services from retail consultancy to asset management, building surveys to property management, rating to valuation, auctions to corporate recovery, business space agency to capital markets.

With our blend of national prominence and local knowledge, Lambert Smith Hampton is ideally placed to offer best advice on all aspects of commercial property.

Making commercial sense

Lambert Smith Hampton Clarence House, 4-10 May Street, Belfast BT1 4NJ +44 (0)28 9032 7954

LAND IN LONDON. ACTUAL LONDON. We fly from Belfast City Airport to London City Airport.

Not to Gatwick or Heathrow.

On sale now from ÂŁ39.99 one way.

Available for travel from 27.10.14 to 28.03.15. Fares are one way including taxes and charges, only available on Flybe.com, subject to availability. No debit card fees apply. Bookings made by credit card will incur a fee of 3% of the total transaction value, with a minimum charge of ÂŁ5.00 per booking. Information correct at time of going to print.