Business Eye May June 2016

Issue 161 May/June 2016 £2.50 Voted best Business Magazine in Ireland 2005 and Magazine of the Year for Northern Ireland

ANNE CLYDESDALE Shortlisted Magazines Ireland Awards 2011

WILLIAM J CLINTON LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE LEADS THE WAY

Business To Business Magazine of the Year

Features: 05

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Chris Conway... Vision For A Transport Future

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

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Richard Caldwell... New Man At Danske’s Business Helm

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Exporting... Can We Raise Our Game?

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CONTENTS

May/June 2016 ISSUE 161

Transport Infrastructure

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Chris Conway... Vision For A Transport Future

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Reactive Recruitment....The Secret Is Simplicity

The Translink Chief Executive is a man who lives and breathes public transport. So it’s no surprise that he chose to be interviewed on a train somewhere between Belfast & Portadown.

Chris Conway talks about the grand plan for Northern Ireland’s public transport future.

Paul Armstrong firmly believes that there’s too much science painted into the recruitment industry. At its heart, he says, it’s a very simple process. And its that recipe for simplicity and straightforward thinking that lies behind Belfast-based Reactive Recruitment.

4c Executive... Growth Story Continues

Cover Story

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Anne Clydesdale... Clinton Institute & A Growing Global Reputation

Gary Irvine and Claire Reid take up the story of the latest chapter in 4c Executive Recruitment’s growth into one of the market leaders in the top-level recruitment sector here in Northern Ireland.

The Business Eye First Trust Bank Small Business Awards have a new name. They’ve become known as the BEFTA’s, the they were awarded for the second year recently at a memorable awards ceremony staged at La Mon Hotel & Country Club outside Belfast. We look back on the night and its key winners.

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UTV Business Eye Awards 2016... New Sponsor, New Venue

Richard Caldwell didn’t have a lot of time to celebrate his 20-year milestone with Danske Bank during May. He’s been marking the anniversary by getting stuck into the challenges of his new role as Managing Director of Business Banking.

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Capitalflow... New Force In Business Funding

The UTV Business Eye Awards have been launched for 2016, the 10th anniversary year of Northern Ireland’s leading business awards scheme. And the Awards will have a brand new look this time around. Global brand Emirates is on board as the new lead sponsor, and the awards finale on Thursday, 24th November, 2016 will be taking place at the spectacular Belfast Waterfront.

One of the best-known personalities in the commercial finance marketplace has made a high impact return to the local marketplace. Harry Parkinson, who formerly led both Close Invoice Finance and Northern Bank’s invoice finance operations in Belfast, is steering the highly successful launch of the Capitalflow Commercial Finance brand on the island of Ireland.

Innov8 Celebrate In Style

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Exporting Small Business & Exporting... How Can We Raise Our Game?

Office interior specialists Innov8 celebrates 10 years in business in style with a memorable Pop Up At The Palace gala evening in a specially erected marquee in the grounds of Hillsborough Castle.

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114

Top Chef Driven By Local Flavours

Business Eye joined forces with Bank of Ireland to stage a Round Table Discussion on small business exporting held at the Bank’s boardroom in Donegall Square South. An influential panel from business, business organisations and the university sector joined bank representatives to look in detail at the challenges... and opportunities.

Sam Butler talks to Danni Barry, Head Chef at Michael Deane’s Michelin star EIPIC restaurant in Belfast about her passion for local food.

NI’s Craft Sector... Making It On The International Stage

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Northern Ireland’s growing craft sector has been developing an international reputation, with increased interest in the high quality contemporary products being created in this diverse sector.

Eye on Education

14

Eye on Human Resources

58

Eye on Giving

111

Eye on Travel

32

Eye on Communication

74

Eye on Events

112

Eye on Finance

50

Eye on IT

84

Eye on Internet

116

Eye on Planning

54

Eye on Food & Drink

92

Eye on Motoring

127

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

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Richard Caldwell... New Man At Danske’s Business Helm

Business Success

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BEFTA’s 2016... Oh, What A Night

Anne Clydesdale hasn’t looked back since swapping a successful business career for the Chief Executive role at the William J Clinton Management Institute at Queen’s University. She talks to Business Eye about the Institute’s growing international reputation and how it aims to remain relevant to businesses here.

Regulars

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

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The announcement of a major re-brand and ambitious strategy by Catalyst Inc was just the kind of boost Northern Richard Buckley Ireland needed in the dead days EDITOR running up to the EU Referendum.

Irish Magazine Editor of the Year 2005

Comment

“Whatever the result of the EU Referendum, we’re going to need more of the kind of drive and ambition being demonstrated at Catalyst Inc.”

Sponsored by

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B

oth sides on the EU argument did a lot of talking about fear, accusing one another of employing the ‘fear factor’ in their messages to voters. Truth being told, both sides were guilty of the charge. But what engendered more fear than anything else was the referendum itself.

Ask a random sample of business people from different sectors in Northern Ireland and many will agree that a lot of decisions were being put on hold until the people had spoken. There’s little doubt that the pre-election period wasn’t good for the economy as a whole.

But, whatever happens, we have to get on with it and we have to get on with it as a region. And there is always cause for a measure of optimism.

We can all be cynical about our Stormont power-sharing government, and there are good reasons for that cynicism, but the new post-election regime has got off to a promising start. The coalition seems to be a bit more coherent than it used to be, and the opposition system has real potential to make the system sharper and more effective.

We’ve criticised Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt in the past, but his decision (in common with Colum Eastwood) to go into opposition seems to have been both a principled one and an effective one.

But back to Catalyst Inc, the new name (in case you hadn’t realised) for the Northern Ireland Science Park. The re-launched organisation has just unveiled its new identity alongside an ambitious 10-year plan targeting £100 million worth of investment, an increase from 400,000 to one million square feet of space and 5,000 high-quality jobs.

That’s ambitious in anyone’s book, but it’s also achievable according to the Catalyst team. This might sound a little corny, but the Science Park has always been an inspirational place, somewhere where it was possible (in our humble opinion) to actually feel the energy.

Not surprising then that the guys behind the Centre, the likes of Norman Apsley and Steve Orr, talk about Northern Ireland having a ‘community of innovators’.

But they don’t throw phrases like that around in the same way that politicians do. They believe in them.

They also talk about the pace of change in the economic world, and how it’s vital that Northern Ireland keeps up.

But, as with anything in business, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. And the Science Park (or Catalyst) has little to prove. Think of the companies who have found a home there, from multinationals like Citi through to the likes of Novosco, Path XL, 8over8, Taggled and IRP Commerce.

Think also of total assets valued these days at £50 million, the fact that well over 2,500 jobs have been supported to date and that private sector support with £1 million a year is being leveraged. And those are just a few bald figures.

Whatever the result of the EU Referendum, we’re going to need more of the kind of drive and ambition being demonstrated at Catalyst Inc. It was mirrored the day after the catalyst launch by one of its tenant companies. PathXL, the digital pathology specialists, established by Professor Peter Hamilton and serial entrepreneur Des Speed, was acquired by Royal Philips, part of the Dutch electronics and medical technology giant.

And we’re also going to need some real leadership from the top. First Minister Arlene Foster, in our view at least, got it wrong on the run-up to the Referendum, and one can’t help but suspect that she was well aware of how far off the business pace she was.

But it’s time to move on. And the Stormont administration looks capable to doing that.

We never thought we’d have a use for that particular line...!

Note – Thanks to an unfortunate piece of timing, the EU Referendum took place while this edition of Business Eye was in production. We’re hoping that good sense prevailed and that the lunatics won’t be preparing to run the UK asylum... but, at the time of writing, who knows?

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Eye on News

£200M FUND LEADER SPEAKS AT HALO Simon Calver, the former CEO of LOVEFILM and Mothercare, was in Belfast to address the recent Halo dinner at the Waterfront Hall.

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n active angel investor himself, Simon is a director of the UK Business Angels Association and is a founding Partner of BGF Ventures, part of the Business Growth Fund (BGF), which has launched a new £200m early stage venture company. The fund is looking to identify the next “unicorn” businesses – British start-ups set to achieve a billion-dollar valuation and will be investing between £1m and £6m in high potential tech companies across the UK. Speaking to an audience of existing Halo investors and a large number of potential investors who were attending to find out a bit more about angel investing, Simon explained the highs and the pitfalls of being an angel along with the transformation it can provide to early stage high potential companies.

Simon said, “The key to angel investing is it’s not just about the money. Founding a new company is tough and the extra value that experienced angels can add in addition to funding is critical to help these early stage businesses succeed.”

In addition to the £200m BGF Ventures fund and Halo’s own direct angel investors, another important source of funding for fast-growth companies was on display from the British Business Bank – The Angel CoFund.

Tim Mills, Investment Director at the British Business Bank, spoke at the dinner and outlined how the £100m UK-wide Angel CoFund, backed by the British Business Bank and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, invests alongside experienced angel investors. It has already made one significant Northern Ireland investment in Sophia which was also supported by Halo angels.

Tim said “Since its launch at the end of 2011 the Angel CoFund has grown to become one of the most active venture funds in the UK, backing a broad range of high potential and high growth companies. The fund is able to make initial investments of between £100,000 and £1m into UK businesses, following with further investment where appropriate, and operating in partnership with syndicates of business angels.

Tim Mills, Investment Director British Business Bank, Alan Watts Director Halo, Simon Calver Partner BGF Ventures and Chair UK Business Angels Association

Having invested in one Northern Ireland company, Sophia, we are keen to speak to other companies and investors from Northern Ireland who are looking for capital to take them to the next stage.

Key to attracting investment from Angel CoFund is securing support from at least three active angel investors who are willing to commit a significant amount of their own capital to drive the growth of the business.”

Alan Watts, Director of Halo, was the host for the dinner. Halo, which today describes itself as the Angel PLUS Network, has moved on significantly from its start as a conventional business angel network. Today large investment

meetings take second place to a weekly video notification system called the Halo Brief.

Alan said, “Busy investors, and not just in Northern Ireland, receive a short link to a 90 second elevator pitch via e-mail. If this looks interesting, there are various options to quickly see a little more information and ultimately to take part in an investment meeting with the company along with other investors.

Since launching the Halo Brief, we have seen the number of nonNI members of the Halo network double to 30%. This enlarged and very experienced investor group is now set to transform investment in Northern Ireland companies.”

ASGBI Hails Belfast As The Friendliest Host City

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he Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland (ASGBI) hailed Belfast as the friendliest host city at its annual International Surgical Congress held last week in the fantastic new Belfast Waterfront conference centre.

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This year’s conference marked the first time that ASGBI hosted the Chapter of Surgeons of The British Transplant Society (BTS) and the Irish Chapter of the Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons (AUGIS) in running parallel sessions.

Eye on News

George Best Belfast City Airport Named Sixth Most Convenient Airport In The World!

A recent study by The Telegraph has named George Best Belfast City Airport the sixth most convenient airport in the world!

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easured by distance between the airport and city centre, Belfast City Airport was the only airport in the island of Ireland and one of only three UK airports to rank within the top 20.

With a distance of 4.2km from the airport to the city centre itself, Belfast City Airport was the highest ranking UK airport with London City and Edinburgh named 19th and 20th respectively.

Katy Best, Commercial and Marketing Director at the airport, said: “We have always known the airport

is based in an extremely convenient location but by looking at it on a global perspective, it makes our convenience all the more significant. The walk from our car parks to the terminal also remains one of the shortest in Europe which further complements our short distance from the city centre.

“Belfast City Airport ranked higher than airports across America and Europe making our product one Northern Ireland can be really proud of.”

Belfast City Airport has an extensive UK route network catering for both business and leisure passengers, and continues to facilitate Northern Ireland’s sole air connection with London Heathrow.

However, in recent years Belfast City Airport has established a successful and much requested European route network which includes sunshine destinations operated by Aer Lingus in the summer months and year

round services to Amsterdam and Brussels operated by KLM and Brussels Airlines respectively.

Katy continued: “Our connections to Amsterdam and Brussels allow us to offer passengers greater connectivity and access to onward European and international destinations such as the middle East and Asia – such routes which would never be sustainable directly from Northern Ireland.

“We pride ourselves on providing a first class service to our passengers and work closely with all our partners, whether it be airline or commercial, to ensure Belfast City Airport remains a facility of which Northern Ireland can be extremely proud.”

Approximately 2.7 million passengers used Belfast City Airport in 2015 and tenant airlines include Aer Lingus, British Airways, Brussels Airlines, Citywing, Flybe, KLM.

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Eye on Management

FSB… A Collective Business Voice Stephen Magorrian – Horatio Group

“W

e launched the Horatio Group in 2013, and from our Head Office on the Upper Newtownards Road in Belfast we run four venues: Horatio Todd’s in Ballyhackamore; The Northern Whig in the Cathedral Quarter; Molly Brown’s in Newtownards; and Denvir’s Coaching Inn in Downpatrick. This group of thriving businesses provides us with a solid base on which to build in the future. Over the last two years, we have also moved into the Event Bar market, with our most recent outing being the running of 4 busy bars at the Balmoral Show.

Whilst our business is continuously evolving, the challenges we face are constant: maximising turnover and margins whilst minimising cost without impacting on service. One of the things that has made this a little more difficult is the introduction of the Living Wage, which I support in principle but which has resulted in increased costs for virtually all of our employees: either through direct pay rises or subsequent increases to differentiated pay scales. It simply wasn’t possible to fully absorb those costs and, whilst we looked to make savings elsewhere, like many others in our industry we’ve had to adjust prices to enable us to maintain margins.

Another challenge we face in the hospitality industry is our Licensing Laws, which need to be modernised. Some of the regulations governing our

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activities are laudable, but does it really make sense to restrict our capacity to trade at Easter, during the first big tourism opportunity of the year, or to restrict local brewers from selling their products to visitors when they come to their sites? The laws around minors in licensed premises after 9.30pm is also an issue, particularly for large family occasions in hotels, or in sporting stadiums. We’ve talked about these things for too long and we need change now.

I am, however, pleased to see the marketplace improving, albeit at a slower rate than we would all

“ I know FSB will continue to lobby at all levels of government, calling for reforms in rating policy, planning permission and other regulations, to promote and protect the interests of small businesses like mine.” desire, and to see the increased confidence evident in consumer choices as people place greater value on quality and on certain brands. Having invested heavily in the refurbishment at The Northern Whig, we are confident that the combination of a smart new look and a top quality food and drink menu will meet, and exceed, our customers’ expectations.

At Horatio Todd’s, we’re looking at the possibility of converting

our current office space into a function room and developing the beer garden. We’re continuing to grow the Event Bar arm of the business, and we know this is something our team really enjoy working on. The most exciting aspect for us is a new restaurant concept that we’ve been working on for some time, and I hope to be in a position to share more news about that later this year.

All of the above will inevitably

bring their own challenges, and the nature of our business now means that we will employ between 130 and 150 staff at any one time. That makes us large enough to face a range of issues including human resource management, but not so big that we have our own internal experts to deal with them. The advice and guidance we get from FSB is, therefore, invaluable to us, as they provide a team of experts that we can rely on to be there when we need them, and the confidence of knowing that they will support us when things go wrong. I also know FSB will continue to lobby at all levels of government, calling for reforms in rating policy, planning permission and other regulations, to promote and protect the interests of small businesses like mine.”

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Eye on News

Sheppard Is New IOD Chairman The Institute of Directors Northern Ireland has appointed Ian Sheppard as its 23rd Chairman following its AGM.

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r Sheppard, who is Regional Director NI, Business and Corporate Banking at Bank of Ireland, succeeds Paul Terrington in the role.

In his first address to members, ahead of a lively and informative Brexit debate at IoD headquarters in Riddel Hall, Mr Sheppard said: “IoD is not a lobbying organisation as such, but given the diversity of our growing membership we are able to give a practical perspective on the challenges Northern Ireland leaders face.

“Whilst the IoD remains neutral on the Brexit debate, recent surveys of our membership highlighted

that a majority wished for the UK to remain within the EU. “However, with national polls revealing the closeness of the vote, Northern Ireland may yet have a decisive role to play in the EU referendum.

“Tonight’s Brexit debate aims to provide our membership with the knowledge to make an informed business decision.

“While almost 50% of our membership have discussed the potential implications of Brexit at board level, I would encourage all directors to discuss it for purposes of risk assessment, planning and preparation.”

Mr Sheppard thanked outgoing IoD Chairman Paul Terrington

for his significant achievements over the last three years.

He said: “Paul has ensured the IoD voice is heard at the highest levels of local government and in boardrooms across Northern Ireland.

“We have a growing and engaged membership with a clear focus on building leadership skills for a stronger local economy and an

increasing awareness that good corporate governance benefits Northern Ireland businesses.

“2017 will see the IoD celebrate 60 years in Northern Ireland; I plan to build on Paul’s foundations and continue promoting the strengths of the Institute as a vibrant organisation at the forefront of director development and building better boards.”

Trevor Annon Honoured At Janus Awards Trevor Annon, the founder and chairman of Mount Charles, Ireland’s largest independently owned foodservice and outsourced business support organisation, has been awarded the Outstanding Contribution award at the 2016 Janus Awards.

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rganised by the Institute of Hospitality in Northern Ireland and known in the industry as the ‘Hospitality Oscars’, the Janus Awards celebrate the very best in professionalism throughout the entire spectrum of hospitality businesses.

Regarded as having changed the face of contract catering in Northern Ireland and as one of the country’s most successful entrepreneurs, Trevor Annon formed Mount Charles back in 1988.

He had realised that a gap existed for a locally owned contract caterer to compete with the large UK-wide corporate catering organisations, concentrating on promoting local ownerships, local food and creating local employment opportunities.

Under Trevor’s leadership in the past 28 years Mount Charles has grown from an employee base of one

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to almost 2,000 employees across the UK & Ireland, and has diversified from being solely a contract caterer to a multiservice organisation with a turnover in excess of £30m, offering both contract and retail catering, cleaning, vending and security services.

Moving from the role of Managing Director to that of Chairman in 2013, Trevor remains an integral part of the business and is still fully involved on a daily basis with employees, clients and contracts alike.

His work has helped to develop the Group to the point where it is now a market leader with a client portfolio which includes many blue chip companies and organisations including Ulster University, Belfast Metropolitan College, South East Regional College, NI Science Park, Western Health Trust, Translink, Allen & Overy, Moy

Michael Cafolla, Institute of Hospitality and Trevor Annon, Chairman of Mount Charles with event hosts and Q Radio breakfast presenters Stephen Clements and Cate Conway.

Park , Bombardier, Laganside Court, Titanic Belfast, Belfast International Airport, City of Derry Airport, Exeter International Airport, to name but a few.

Upon receiving the award, Trevor Annon said: “The Outstanding Contribution Award was the last of the evening. When the Chair of The Institute of Hospitality (NI) was explaining the criteria used by the panel to make this award, I was sitting at our table chatting to my colleagues. He then started to describe the background and credentials of this year’s appointee and it was only then it started to dawn on me who he was referring to. Glaring eyes and smiling faces started to look in my direction and eventually my name was announced. At

this point my hands quite literally started to shake with disbelief and surprise.

The next thing I remember was walking towards the stage to collect the award thinking ‘I did not see that coming, what am I going to say’; for anyone who knows me, I am not usually left short for words!

“I have been privileged to collect numerous awards on behalf of the company, but this was the first occasion in my career when I have been the recipient of an award. For the panel to honour me was a humbling experience, but I felt so proud that my peers within the industry considered me to be worthy of the award. It was also great that I could receive the award in the company of my colleagues and my wife Kate.”

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Chris Conway...

A Vision For A Transport Future 12

Eye on Transport What better way to interview Translink’s Chief Executive than on board one of the forms of transport that make up his wide-ranging empire?

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hris Conway does seem to live and breathe public transport. He travels to work in the city centre by public transport and he reckons that he’s seen most aspects of the network here since he took the top job less than a year ago.

We meet up on the concourse at Belfast’s Central Station, rattle off part of the interview over a coffee in the Enterprise Plus carriage of the Belfast-Dublin Enterprise and finish things off on a local train heading back east from Portadown back to the city.

The Translink chief is keen to show off the new Enterprise Plus part of the Dublin train. Due to be officially unveiled this Summer, the refurbishment of all four Enterprise trains represents a £12.2 million investment, funded by the EU through the Special European Union Programmes Body and by both governments.

“It’s a mid-life refurbishment for the trains and it extends their life by 10 to 15 years,” he explains. “It’s also an important investment in the Enterprise service which is an important one to the island as a whole.

“It has been a large project for us as a company, and it’s one that we delivered ourselves.” The refurbishment work on all four trains was carried out by NI Railways own teams at its York Road Engineering Depot.

There are new interiors, new seats, carpets, lighting, air conditioning, upgraded wi fi, seatside power points and an improved on-board catering service.

Now that the new-look trains are back on track, the Enterprise service is back on schedule....but will take a while to win back its regular users. During the year or so that the Enterprise trains were out of action, quite a few regular commuters switched to travelling by road.

“But we’re confident that we can win them back. The Enterprise is a really comfortable way to travel between the two cities,” says Conway.

The train’s operators have taken some flak over the two hours plus journey time, but Chris Conway reckons that it’s about more than that. “It’s about how you spend your time. Travel by train and you can work, read, relax, enjoy breakfast, lunch dinner, a coffee or a glass of wine. You can’t do that when you’re driving down or up the M1.”

An engineering graduate, Chris

Conway started his career with Shorts moving on to STC in Monkstown and then Nortel where, by early 2000, he was running the Canadian-owned company’s supply chain operations across Europe. He parted company with Nortel in 2007 to take a senior post with Tata Steel before landing the Translink job eight months ago.

“I’m enjoying the role,” he says simply. “It has its challenges, of course. This is a big organisation and a multi-faceted operation. But it also has a political aspect to it with government as the main shareholder and funder. In some ways, the business bit is the easiest part of the job.

“Don’t forget that this is an organisation that is firmly rooted in the local community. Think about the importance of bus stations to towns all over Northern Ireland and the role that they play in the fabric of life.

“And, as an organisation, Translink hits the media just about every day of the week.....if there’s a problem on a bus or train service, for example. But it’s a challenge that we have to face up to, and it’s one that we can make the most of.”

Chris Conway has a clear vision for the future of Translink....and the future of public transport here. “I want public transport to be your first choice for travel here in Northern Ireland....simple as that,” he says. “Our challenge is to get people out of cars and onto our services, and that means that we have to transform it and make sure it works for everyone.

“It’s about connecting people and places and it’s about creating a transport system that delivers for its users and reduces congestion on our roads at the same time.”

Conway even has a tipping point identified. He reckons that a swing of 20-30% of car users onto public transport would be enough to swing the momentum in favour of transport systems.

Another current priority for Translink is the development of the Belfast Rapid Transit system. Initial preparatory road works are underway on the first rapid transit route which will run from Dundonald into the city centre via the Newtownards Road and then out to Colin Glen in the west. It’s likely to be the tail end of 2018, though, before the first high capacity vehicles

capable of carrying 100 passengers each will be shuttling across the city.

Translink has to face up to a continuous programme of investment. Conway is well aware that some of those investments might cost a lot of money but be almost invisible. The millions spent on the DerryColeraine railway line (creating a passing loop at Bellarena) is a good case in point.

Then there’s a creation of the new Belfast Transport Hub on the Great Victoria Street/Glengall Street site.

While it is already a joint rail/bus station complex, this transport led regeneration project will deliver a bigger fully integrated hub with a full range of ancillary, retail and catering facilities to enhance the overall travel experience for the public as well as help to regenerate the area in which it sits.

“We’re talking about a £150 million facility that will handle over 10 million passengers a year. That’s more than Belfast’s two airports put together,” says Conway. “And it will be right in the heart of Belfast.”

Once up and running, the new hub would act at the departure point for the Enterprise cross-border train service as well as all of the Goldline express coach network, which is also currently being given something of a transformation with the introduction of new-look vehicles.

“We already need to buy around 85 new buses every year and that’s just to stand still,” he adds. He’s talking about a sizeable network that covers some 44 million miles a year in total and stretches from the longer-distance Goldline services to mainstream Ulsterbus routes, local routes and a comprehensive school bus programme.

Chris Conway has become well versed in the Translink network. He regularly leaves his desk at Great Victoria Street to hop on a bus or train to one of

the many outposts of the Translink network, talking to staff from on board conductors and drivers to station personnel along the way about how they view transport operations and issues.

“The staff we have are very passionate about Translink and very committed to what they do and the service that they provide,” he says. “We’ve all read about service above and beyond the call of duty by Translink drivers and others, and I really do think that the people we have are exceptional.”

Those people operate some 12,500 individual services by bus or train every day spanning short city bus routes to inter-city services. “And we’ve all got to provide those services on time and as reliably as we possibly can,” adds Conway. “If something goes wrong, it’s all over social media in minutes, so we have to stay on our toes!”

But Translink’s Group Chief Executive remains focused on the vision of an integrated transport future.

“Our job as an organisation is to provide transport in its widest sense,” he says. “We have to aim for the very best transport system that can be achieved here in Northern Ireland and one that will persuade more and more people to use the network.

“It requires large-scale investment but it also requires the support of government, of the politicians and of the travelling public. As a starting point, we’re hoping that public transport will be prioritised when the Programme for Government is finalised.

“We’ve done our bit by cutting down on costs wherever we can, including a reduction in management overheads. But now we need the backing of government to deliver on the targets that we’ve set ourselves to create a state of the art public transport network here.”

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Eye on Education

Ulster University Graduates To Play Leading Role In Creative Industries Northern Ireland’s creative industries are to benefit from a new pipeline of highly skilled talent with the first cohort of animation students graduating from Ulster University this summer.

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he creative industries continue to make a significant contribution to the local economy both in terms of GDP and employment with an estimated 2,500 businesses, employing approximately 34,600 people in Northern Ireland. Ulster University launched the BSc Animation degree in 2012 to produce graduates who are equipped with the creative flair and technical knowledge to thrive in this growing sector.

Course director, Professor Greg Maguire said: “Animation is an integral part of the film, television, games and design industries and the field has experienced unprecedented growth in recent years. To meet demand from employers in the creative industries, the University created

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the undergraduate animation course that would combine teaching excellence in the arts and STEM to produce industry-ready graduates.

“Northern Ireland has become a location of choice for international film and TV production companies such as Universal Pictures and HBO, and repeatedly we hear the quality of our graduates cited as one of the key attractions. With a talented pool of new Ulster University animation graduates entering the job market, international and indigenous creative businesses that are either operating in NI or exporting abroad can be further guaranteed access to skills locally to enhance their competitive edge.

“This spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship is at the core of Ulster University’s animation degree and work placements play an integral role in the development of our graduates. The new animation course gives students the opportunity to spend a year in industry to hone their creative abilities but also their business acumen.

“Our students undertake placements both locally and internationally with companies including HBO Game of Thrones, Sixteen South, Encycle Studios Enter Yes and FlickerPix. Some of our students have already experienced international successes with two students being honoured by the Television Academy and taking home an Emmy for their contribution to outstanding visual effects on the hit series Game of Thrones.

“Graduates from this course have secured employment in a range of roles, everything from character animator and modeller to visual FX and concept artists. It’s not only our animation graduates who are playing a leading role in the creative industries, we are also developing graduate talent in a range of disciplines from fashion and costume design to cinematic arts and music.

“Ulster University graduates are having a powerful impact on the creative industries and their skills are underpinning the sector’s growth and global competitiveness.”

Eye on Awards

WINNERS CELEBRATE AT THE FOOD HEARTLAND AWARDS

The first Food Heartland Awards in association with NFU Mutual, led by Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council has taken place at Craigavon Civic and Conference Centre. Over 60 businesses competed across the 12 award categories showcasing the borough’s local produce, the people behind the thriving agri-food sector as well as highlighting the sector’s potential for growth and positive impact on the local economy.

Chief Executive Roger Wilson Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council presents the Best Licensed Eating Establishment Award to Sean and Ramune Farnan, The Moody Boar

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oger Wilson, Chief Executive of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council commented: “The Food Heartland Awards in association with NFU Mutual has provided a fantastic opportunity for this sector to showcase their excellence and innovation and I would like to congratulate all of our winners as well as commend

all our finalists. Everyone who has taken part in the awards has helped to champion this important industry as well as help position us as a top foodie destination. We hope that everyone will continue to play a part of our on-going strategic commitment to grow the local economy and the agri-food sector”.

Libby Morgan, from NFU Mutual, Associate

Cllr Seamus Doyle presents The Best Independent Retail Food Business Award to Glenda and Jonathan Ruddell, High Street Harvest

Sponsor of the Food Heartland Awards said: “On behalf of NFU Mutual we are delighted to be the associate sponsor for the First Food Heartland Awards. This has been a fantastic, vibrant and innovative evening which has showcased the very best that the borough has to offer especially in agri-food sector.

We congratulate all of the winners as well as everyone who has been shortlisted and we very much look forward to watching the borough develop and grow as a top food and drink destination.”

For further details visit www.foodheartland.com or e-mail foodheartland@ ndevents.com. Follow Food Heartland Awards on Facebook Food Heartland and twitter@ FoodHeartlandNI #FHLAwards16.

Eye on Awards The categories, sponsors and winners were: Best New Start Award

Sustainability Award

Best Licensed Eating Establishment Award

sponsored by JPH Law

sponsored by Farming Life, Lurgan Mail, Portadown Times

sponsored by Armagh City, Banbridge &

Burren Balsamics

Harnett’s Oil

Craigavon Borough Council

Best Growth Business Award

Best Dish Using Local Ingredients Award

sponsored by Armagh Business Centre,

sponsored by Armagh City, Banbridge &

Best Non-Licensed Eating Establishment Award

Banbridge District Enterprise, CIDO

Craigavon Borough Council

sponsored by Armagh City, Banbridge &

Armagh Cider Company

Newforge House

Craigavon Borough Council

Best Export Business Award

Best Use of a PGI Product in a Dish Award

sponsored by InterTradeIreland

sponsored by Tourism Northern Ireland

Best Independent Retail Food Business Award

Moy Park

The Moody Boar

sponsored by Armagh City, Banbridge &

Best Marketing Initiative Award

Best Use of a PGI Product Award

sponsored by U105

sponsored by Tourism Northern Ireland

Irwin’s Bakery

Long Meadow Cider

Innovation Award

Rising Star Award

sponsored by Avondale Foods

sponsored Southern Regional College

Kestrel Foods

Kevin McCann - P McCann & Sons

The Moody Boar

Yellow Door (Portadown)

Craigavon Borough Council High Street Harvest Industry Ambassador Award sponsored by NFU Mutual Irwin’s Bakery

Cllr Paul Greenfield Vice Chair of Economic Development and Regeneration Committee, presents the Best Non Licensed Eating Establishment Award to Simon Dougan, The Yellow Door Deli

Raymond Sloane, Southern Regional College, presents The Rising Star Award to Kevin McCann, P. McCann & Sons

Dawn Cann, Avondale Foods presents the Innovation Award to Ann Woods Kestrel Foods Ltd

Libby Morgan from NFU Mutual presents the Industry Ambassador Award to Brian Irwin, Irwin’s Bakery

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Eye on Communications

The Stage is set for Lyric Theatre’s IT Support Ciaran McAuley, Chief Operating Officer at The Lyric and Andrew Higgs, IT Services Manager at Barclay Communications explain why the theatre chose Barclay Communications as their IT Service provider.

About The Lyric Theatre: Premiering the works of playwrights such as Stewart Parker, Martin Lynch, Marie Jones and Christina Reid, and employing some of Northern Ireland’s finest actors, including Adrian Dunbar, Dan Gordon, Conleth Hill, Ciaran Hinds, Stella McCusker, Frances Tomelty and the Theatre’s patron, Liam Neeson, its mission is to produce high-quality professional theatre that is alive to the complex cultural experience and diverse traditions of the community, and to use the power of live theatre to empower, inspire, engage and educate.

What were The Lyric looking for?

Ciaran: “Our IT support had been outsourced for many years with another provider. With the launch of the new Lyric building several years ago, we needed a modern IT support service that was flexible and able to meet the demands of our business.”

Andy: “After meeting Ciaran and discussing the Lyric’s needs, it was clear they needed a more flexible, reliable and cost-effective IT support solution. Talking with companies, we’ve found that many organisations can be locked into lengthy contracts or long support hours with other providers that they simply do not need. It’s money down the drain. We were able to offer our flexible IT support service, Barclay Bytes as a solution. The Bytes service lets customer purchase the support hours they need and lets them use them at any time with no contracts or expiry dates.”

Why did you choose Barclay Communications?

Ciaran: “Barclay’s IT Service manager, Andrew Higgs met with

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us and highlighted the Barclay Bytes IT support service that Barclay Communications offered.

The Barclay Bytes service means we can buy hourly chunks of IT support as and when we need it, allowing us to control and save on our IT support costs. We opted to purchase a set amount of hours for the Lyric. This is greatly beneficial to us as there is no expiry date or lengthy contracts with Barclay Bytes. Our contract ends when we use up our support hours and we have the option to purchase more hours when we run out. “ Experienced IT Support Andy: “We offered The Lyric Theatre a complete solution that would reduce their IT support costs and allow them to manage a more flexible solution with Barclay

Bytes. The IT support team at Barclay Communications consists of experienced engineers who follow industry best practices. The team are also local Microsoft Certified professionals which means our IT support customers can be rest assured that they are getting the very best IT support service.”

What do you find unique about Barclay Communications’ offering?

Ciaran: “The Barclay Bytes IT support services allows us to have a more flexible, costeffective and responsive IT support system in place that will deliver us excellent support while lowering our monthly support costs. The attention to detail and transition from our previous provider has been flawless.

Andy and the team have met with us on several occasions at our theatre now, taking the time to tour our facilities and understand our needs as a theatre company. It’s this attention to detail and service that we expect from our IT support service and we are very happy that Barclay Communications will be providing us that service.”

To find out more about flexible, cost-effective IT support for your business call the Barclay Communications team on 02890 960366 or e-mail digitalservices@barclaycomms. com

Eye on Cover Story

ANNE CLYDESDALE

WILLIAM J CLINTON LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE LEADS THE WAY Anne Clydesdale hasn’t looked back since she swapped a successful business career for the job of running Northern Ireland’s very first dedicated leadership institute.

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he William J Clinton Leadership Institute forms part of Queen’s University Belfast but the fact that it carries the name of the former US President sets it apart from similar establishments the world over.

“This is an establishment with a worldwide reputation,” says Anne. “We’re working more and more with organisations outside of Northern Ireland and we’ve forged close links with some of the biggest university and business school names globally, including both Cranfield and the European Business School.”

And there’s a good reason, by the way, why the Institute, based at the spectacular Riddel Hall at Stranmillis, bears the full name of the former US President.

“It’s not the most user friendly name, but it’s like that for a reason. The Clinton family hopes that William J Clinton won’t be the last Clinton to occupy The White House...!”

Since its establishment, the Clinton Institute at Queen’s University has trained some 2000 business leaders in Northern Ireland, and it’s been involved in one way or another with more than 600 different organisations in the private and public sectors.

“We’ve dealt with companies of all sizes and across every sector, including a few high profile examples in technology, food & drink and manufacturing. We’ve worked with quite a number of MLA’s and we’ve provided bespoke training for management teams at all of the new local councils here in Northern Ireland,” she adds.

There’s an approximate 35:65% split between open programmes (open to all participants)

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and bespoke programmes delivered specifically for private and public sector customers.

“I think that the growth that we’ve seen here at the Institute is a clear sign of the fact that the importance of leadership capabilities is now recognised by more and more people and organisations and they’re increasingly prepared to invest in stepping up leadership skills.

“We concentrate on short, time effective, intensive programmes which are designed to work well for adult learners,” she says. “And we apply that learning in a business environment, whether it is here at Riddel Hall or, more often that not, out at customer premises.

“The other distinct trend at the moment for us is the move towards more and more technologyled learning, webinars and the like, and it’s this kind of technology that allows us to stay in touch with our delegates and continue the learning outside the formal classroom setting.”

The courses available from the Institute cover the business career lifespan – ranging from courses for first time managers to emerging leaders and from department heads to CEO’s and even Board Chairpersons.

“These are all available as open programmes and anyone who meets the criteria for each course can apply,” Anne Clydesdale explains.

“Our bespoke programmes, as their name suggests, are all about working with the customer to tailor the learning and the format that will best suit their business needs.” Amongst the customers who’ve worked with the Clinton Institute on tailored courses are law firm Herbert Smith Freehills, Axiom, First Trust Bank, Devenish Foods as well as Allstate, on a global as well as local basis.

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Eye on Cover Story Pictured last month at the graduation of the Corporate Leadership Programme – all senior executives from private and public sector.

“Allstate has three key operating sites in Belfast, Chicago and Bangalore, and we’ve worked with managers from all three geographies.”

A 12-strong team at the William J Clinton Leadership Institute is responsible for the Institute’s impressive output, with the front line delivery team backed up by a team providing the design and production of course materials, quality management and research.

As an integral part of Queen’s University and linked closely to the university’s Management School, the Institute will play its part in working towards the university’s 2020 Vision. Led by Vice Chancellor Professor Paddy Johnston, the strategy sets out ambitious targets on research income as well as postgraduate and overseas student numbers.

“We’re well placed to contribute to the continued internationalisation of the university as a whole, and we’ll

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also be working closely with the Management School and other faculties throughout the university to extend our reach, bringing best practice back to Northern Ireland from all over the world.

“We’ve had personnel in Brussels, India, the USA, the Middle East and just recently in China delivering training services and spreading the word about the leadership courses that we’re able to deliver.”

Back on home turf, the Institute continues to work with InterTrade Ireland on the Fusion Programme and more recently won a contract to train leaders at the Big Lottery Fund in England.

The Institute has also come up with an exciting new Mini MBA Programme. This is an intensive one-week course delivered over the summer and designed for middle and senior managers and directors who want to network, gain important business skills and

understand the latest business trends to help them become more impactful leaders in the organisations they serve.

“Also this summer, we’ve our second leadership programme for PhD students in Queen’s as they embark on careers in the world of business. When you’ve been immersed in academia for a long time, as PhD students have, it’s invaluable to be able to take their research and specialism and learn to apply it effectively within a business environment.”

“But we know as well as anyone that our reputation is based on the last piece of work we did,” says Anne Clydesdale. “So there’s certainly no room for complacency.

We have to keep innovating and we have to keep driving growth.

“We’re convinced that experiential learning is being recognised by more and more business leaders and by businesses themselves. They can see and experience the return

on their investment as delegates return from each module ready to apply the learning in their working environment. It is all about reinforcing the learning and embedding best practice so that positive change happens and is sustained over time.

“We’ve heard back from companies who’ve seen significant increases in turnover, and who have reported a wide range of other business benefits such as improved productivity, effective communications, enhanced staff engagement to name but a few.

“And it’s not all about formal learning. What we’re told all the time is that the people our participants meet throughout the programme, the cross fertilisation of ideas and shared learning between participants, is just as important and just as beneficial.

“Now we’re moving on to the next phase of the William J Clinton Leadership Institute story.”

Eye on Recruitment

Reactive Recruitment...

Keeping It Simple Paul Armstrong doesn’t believe in over-hyping the business of recruitment.

“I

love this business,” he says simply. “But it’s a lot simpler than some people would have you believe. I’ve seen all sorts of nonsense written about the science of recruitment. As I see it, our job is to understand what our clients need and then find the right people, or the right jobs, for them.

“Here at Reactive Recruitment, we scale back the process and we concentrate on the results.... finding people for the business, or finding jobs for people. Yes, there might be lots of different parts involved in the process, but that’s our job. There’s no point in over egging things.

“The client, at the end of the day, doesn’t care about the process. They care about the results. In the employment market these days, there’s a very simple rule of thumb. Go with what is available, and

don’t get hung up on what you think you want.”

Lisburn Road-based Reactive Recruitment ranks as one of the newest players in a highly competitive recruitment marketplace here.

The firm was set up just over two years ago by Armstrong, a former senior manager with one of the market-leading firms here, and Max Mackin, MD and Owner of Reactive Recruitment who cut his teeth in the business over in London.

But this is a firm on a fast-growth curve. The team has grown to 10 people, and there’s more expansion on the horizon. “We’ve been growing within our own means and we’re growing on the solid foundations that we’ve laid down. A solid business plan is something that we believe in,” adds Paul Armstrong.

“We even managed to make a small profit

in our first year of business, and that’s pretty remarkable in a sector like this one.

“We’re already working with about half of Northern Ireland’s top 100 companies, and that’s quite an achievement for a company just over two years old. We’re proud of that. But it is a very competitive marketplace and we’re aware of that.”

Reactive Recruitment has built its team by recruiting from a variety of different backgrounds. “People who are good in this business have it in their DNA, the specific skills can be learnt in the training process,” he says. “So we’ll continue to grow organically.

“Our people enjoy doing what they’re doing, they value the role that they have.....so we’ve got a great atmosphere here in the office.”

Like most recruitment agencies, Reactive works for companies and organisations but also for individuals. “We’ve been achieving salary increases for a lot of our clients,” says Armstrong.

“It’s really satisfying when we can find better jobs for people, and improve their quality of life.

“Whether we’re working for individual clients, or for organisations, our aim has to be the same. That’s to provide our customers with the best possible service. And that service doesn’t end when we fill a vacancy or find a job for someone. It goes a lot further than that.”

Reactive Recruitment works across most sectors of Northern Ireland business, and key areas of experience include manufacturing, engineering, food and pharmaceuticals. “What’s crucial for us is to identify exactly what our client companies want and need as far as people are concerned.

We can’t tell companies what they want. So, if it’s not a partnership approach, it doesn’t work.”

If the firm achieves its own targets and doubles in size over the coming year or two, a move from its current Lisburn Road offices will be on the cards.

“There’s no doubt that standards vary in this industry. There are recruitment firms out there where it’s all about head counts and numbers. And there are others who aim to do things the professional way.

“But the bottom line is that this really isn’t a complex business. It’s about finding people, it’s about finding jobs for people, and it’s about making sure that customers get the level of service and personal attention that they deserve.”

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Eye on Awards For more info or to enter, please visit: utvawards.businesseye.co.uk

TEN YEARS ON...

UTV BUSINESS EYE AWARDS HIT NEW HEIGHTS Northern Ireland’s premier business awards, the annual UTV Business Eye Awards, will be staged for their 10th anniversary year in 2016 with a brand new awards venue and a world class new lead sponsor on board.

Michael Wilson, Managing Director of UTV Televison UTV, Brenda Buckley, Commercial Director, Business Eye and Enda Corneille, Country Manager (Ireland) for Emirates launch the UTV Business Eye Awards 2016.

B

usiness Eye has once again joined forces with UTV for the tenth consecutive year to launch the UTV Business Eye Awards 2016 in association for the first time with Emirates.

As in 2015, the Awards will be televised by UTV for an hour-long special programme which will air shortly after awards night.

The UTV Business Eye Awards in association with Emirates will be held on Thursday, 24th November, 2016, at the brand new Belfast Waterfront, the city’s newest, largest and most spectacular venue.

As in previous years, hundreds of entries are anticipated across a provisional line-up of 16 different categories and the winners in each case will be chosen by a panel of judges and will receive their trophies in late November at Belfast Waterfront.

Last year’s awards ceremony named Henderson Group as Northern Ireland’s

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Company of the Year, with other key winners on the night including Mark Regan of 3FiveTwo Medical Group (Business Personality of the Year); M&M Contractors (SME Award); BA Components (International Award) and Professor Marie McHugh (Lifetime Achievement Award).

The closing date for entries will be Friday, 21st October, 2016 and judging will take place shortly afterwards.

Companies can enter online by visiting utvawards.businesseye.co.uk.

Richard Buckley, Editor of Business Eye says: “We’re delighted that the UTV Business Eye Awards have reached their tenth anniversary. Over the past ten years, they’ve grown to become by far the biggest and most important business awards on the local stage.

“We’re also delighted to have one of the world’s most recognised travel brand, Emirates, as our new main sponsors.

“With the help of Emirates and UTV, we’re moving up a gear for 2016 and we’re really looking forward to

welcoming a bigger audience than ever before to the Belfast Waterfront on the 24th of November.

“Once again we’ll be honouring the best businesses and the best business leaders here in Northern Ireland and we can promise a night to remember.”

Michael Wilson, Managing Director UTV says: “As we mark the 10th year, UTV has been privileged to have been associated with the Business Eye Awards since the beginning. The commitment of the Business Eye team to continually refreshing the awards and attracting some of the biggest names in business to enter and attend has made them the most respected and sought after within the Northern Ireland business sector.

“UTV is delighted to once again partner with Business Eye and we extend a very warm welcome to the new sponsor, Emirates. We look forward to featuring the nominees and winners on UTV Live, and in another dedicated

one-hour special programme to be broadcast soon after the awards evening.

Last year UTV televised the awards for the first time attracting a peak audience of over 100,000 viewers.”

Enda Corneille, Country Manager (Ireland) for Emirates, comments: “As a global brand that connects business people around the world, the UTV Business Eye Awards is a natural fit for Emirates. Our aim for our business and corporate customers is to make doing international business easier with double daily direct flights to Dubai and great onward connections to markets such as the Middle East, Asia and Australasia.

“To be a part of something that recognises and rewards Northern Ireland’s most successful, innovative and hard-working business leaders is really exciting for us. With a dedicated presence here and now with this new sponsorship, we feel very much an integral part of the business community in what is a really important market to Emirates.

Eye on Awards For more info or to enter, please visit: utvawards.businesseye.co.uk (1)

(2)

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(1) Sheila Davidson, Emeritus Communications, Barry Donaghy & Celine McLarnon, ISL Waste Management. (2) Paul Clark, UTV addresses the audience. (3) Marc Mallett & Vicki Hawthorne, UTV with Cllr Paul Greenfield Deputy Lord, Mayor Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon Borough Council. (4) Patrick Dobbin & Damian Hughes, Fleet Financial (5) Tom Doran, Chartered Management Institute & Sarah-Jane Macdonald, Armagh, Banbridge & Craigavon Borough Council (6) Marc Mallett, UTV Anne McMullan, Visit Belfast, Brenda Buckley, Business Eye &Trevor Jordan, UTV.

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Eye on Awards For more info or to enter, please visit: utvawards.businesseye.co.uk (7)

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(7) Chris Hagan, Marc Mallett & Vicki Hawthorne, UTV (8) Richard Buckley, Business Eye addresses the audience. (9) Seona McGrath & Catherine Agnew, Smarts Communicate (10) Louise & Barry Smyth, MCS Group (11) Barry Smith, MCS Group (12) Gillian Rea & Keith Liggett, Legacy Wealth.

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Eye on Awards For more info or to enter, please visit: utvawards.businesseye.co.uk (13)

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(13) Johnny Carroll, UTV, Glenda McStravick & Gareth Walls, A&L Goodbody (14) Michael Wilson, UTV addresses the audience. (15) Barry Smyth, MCS Group, Nick McCafferty, Upstream Positive and Barry Donaghy, ISL Waste Management (16) Anne McMullan, Visit Belfast & Jamie Delargy, UTV (17) Richard Buckley, Business Eye, Enda Corneille, Emirates & Michael Wilson, UTV (18) Ciara Donnelly, Business Eye, Treena Clarke, Harbinson Mulholland and Joanne McNeill, McNeill Communications.

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Eye on Awards For more info or to enter, please visit: utvawards.businesseye.co.uk (19)

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(19) Brenda Buckley, Business Eye, Roisin Hackett, First Trust Bank, Michael Wilson, UTV & Paula Mahoney, First Trust Bank (20) Enda Corneille, Emirates addresses the audience. (21) Mark Thompson, A&L Goodbody, Enda Corneille, Emirates, Mark Regan, Kingsbridge Private Hospital, Michael Wilson, UTV (22) David McKeown, Engage & Geoff Fenlon, Waterfront Hall (23) Siofra Healy, NI Hospice, Sheila Davidson, Emeritus Communications, Barry Donaghy, ISL & Leo Callow, FAB Events (24) Richard Buckley, Business Eye & Michael Wilson, UTV.

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Eye on Awards For more info or to enter, please visit: utvawards.businesseye.co.uk (25)

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(25) Michael Wilson, UTV, Brenda Buckley, Business Eye & Enda Corneille, Emirates (26) Geoff Fenlon, Waterfront Hall, Brenda Buckley, Business Eye & Michael Wilson, UTV (27) David McKeown, Engage & Tom Doran, Chartered Management Institute (28) Richard Buckley, Business Eye & Paul Clarke, UTV (29) Brenda Buckley, Business Eye, Sophie Regan & Mark Regan, Kingsbridge Private Hospital (30) Ciara Donnelly, Business Eye, Cllr Paul Greenfield, Deputy Lord, Mayor Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon Borough Council & Brenda Buckley, Business Eye.

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Eye on Executive Search

The 4c Story Continues…

4c Executive Search tells Business Eye about the next chapter in what has been a hugely successful growth story to date…

I

n just over two and a half years, Belfastbased 4c has grown to a team of 10 people and is fast approaching its 100th assignment – no mean feat in what is a highly competitive market place in Northern Ireland. But founder and managing director Gary Irvine was adamant that, from day one, 4c would be ‘different’ to other players in the market and this has ultimately led the firm to where it is today, he says.

“Since our inception we have always focused on our USPs and stayed true to what we set out to be: that is, to be the only true executive search and selection firm in Northern Ireland,” he comments. “We don’t dabble in the contingency type recruitment offered by a traditional recruitment agency, as is often the case with other similar firms. If we can’t help at 4c or believe that executive search and selection is not what the client truly needs, we will be upfront and honest about that.”

Irvine explains that the need in Northern Ireland for excellent business leaders has played a key role in driving such a high demand for 4c’s professional executive search services.

“We are working with a large portfolio of Top 100 companies and SMEs across Northern Ireland, all of whom are brilliant at what they do and really understand the importance of having outstanding leaders at the helm of their businesses. This is where we add real value to our clients, since we specialise in recruiting people at a senior level to fill business-critical roles within an organisation.”

This need for solid leadership applies to the 4c business as well, he says. Having been involved in the recruitment industry for over 25 years – including holding the post of Chair of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation [the official industry body for the £30bn recruitment industry in the UK] –Irvine is a strong ambassador for the adage that people are a company’s greatest asset.

“I cannot stress enough how important it is to grow a brilliant team and commit to recruiting only brilliant people,” he says. “From the outset, at 4c we have strategically grown a carefully balanced

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team of established, industry-leading talent who can boast an impressive portfolio of experience and expertise in the executive search and recruitment industry, alongside ambitious new, home-grown talent that can be developed and nurtured.

“With 4c having grown so rapidly in its first two years, I took the decision to invest in bringing someone senior on board who could not only work closely alongside me to drive our business growth strategy going forward, but principally focus on overseeing each of our client assignments from start to finish.

This led to the appointment of Claire Reid, who has joined 4c as Head of Delivery.”

With over 16 years’ experience in the recruitment industry, Claire Reid has a Masters in Human Resources, is a Chartered Member of CIPD and a Member of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation.

Prior to joining 4c, she held a number of senior consultancy roles, including a project manager role at Capita, where she led on the implementation of a multi-millionpound project from start to finish. She also previously held a number of roles at one of the Ireland’s largest recruitment groups, where she specialised in managing large corporate accounts – including leading on an outsourced recruitment solution to recruit new staff for the Police Service of Northern Ireland [PSNI].

Irvine continues: “Ultimately every assignment we undertake at 4c for a client is a project that needs managing meticulously from start to finish and this is an area in which Claire has vast experience at a very senior level.

“We are now six months into her tenure and she has already proved to be a phenomenal asset to 4c. She has fitted into the team seamlessly and has made an excellent impression on our clients, who quickly recognise that she is a highly accomplished expert in her field and is very much a safe pair of hands.”

Reid says that she was immediately struck by the quality of team at 4c when she joined.

“Despite operating in an extremely fastpaced, high pressure environment, every

single member of the 4c team really excels in what they do,” she says. “This means that, collectively, we exceed our clients’ expectations day in, day out. We have a product and service that we truly believe in and we are passionate about delivering that to an exceptionally high standard.

“Each member of our team is proud to be a brand ambassador for 4c because they are proud of the new standards we have set, the quality we maintain, the results we achieve and the outstanding reputation we have earned in the local market place.”

Reid says that she has also found the firm’s approach to driving business growth refreshing. “Whilst there is no doubt that 4c has been extremely successful from day one and has clearly made its mark in Northern Ireland, there isn’t this sense of complacency that so often permeates in successful firms,” she explains.

Eye on Executive Search

“We don’t rest on our laurels by any means.

We understand all too well that, in order to maintain our position as ‘the best’ and leaders in our field, we must always seek ways to better ourselves and continually raise the bar.

“We regularly stop to take stock of the local market and strive to develop our business proposition in response to an everevolving market. This means that we are relevant, that we can respond to the needs of new and existing clients and that we are always one step ahead of the game.”

So what’s next for 4c? Irvine says that Reid’s appointment has enabled him to step back and look at the business and put a plan in place to grow 4c even further.

“Since our inception in 2013 we have really focused on embedding ourselves into the local business community and have established ourselves as the leading executive search company in Northern Ireland by far. Going

forward, we have ambitious plans for further growth in the next 12-18 months and the focus now is about putting in place the structure and investment to enable us to achieve that.

“In recent months we have seen a growing demand for our service from the public and third sectors, so we have taken the decision to invest in developing a new, supplementary service that will focus specifically on these sectors, as well as recruiting for non-executive director roles. We have brought a new member into the team, Gareth Hanna, who will lead this side of the business and will be launching this service to the market in the next month or two.

“Furthermore, whilst the majority of our clients tend to be NI-based, or at least headquartered in Northern Ireland, many of them have needs elsewhere and this has seen us take on an increasing number of assignments in GB and Ireland. We see real potential for 4c in those markets in the future.”

He concludes: “4c has been on a steady upward trajectory every month since its inception, exceeding all business targets along the way. The outlook for the coming months is very promising and we are confident that this trend will continue for the foreseeable future.

“We will continue to raise the bar higher and higher in terms of the standards we expect and the service we want to deliver for our clients, and, led by Claire and myself, I am 100% confident in every one of our people that they will rise to the challenge.”

For more information about 4c Executive Search visit www.4cexecutive.com or call 028 9043 4343

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Eye on Travel

BELFAST CITY AIRPORT BACKS HEATHROW EXPANSION CAMPAIGN George Best Belfast City Airport has voiced its support for the London Heathrow expansion campaign which proposes to build an additional runway at the UK’s only hub airport. In a letter to the Minister of State Department for Transport, the Chief Executive of Belfast City Airport, Brian Ambrose (pictured) declared full backing for the campaign, highlighting the importance of mid to long-haul connectivity for passengers in Northern Ireland.

George Best Belfast City Airport has voiced its support for the London Heathrow expansion campaign which proposes to build an additional runway at the UK’s only hub airport.

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n a letter to the Minister of State Department for Transport, the Rt Hon Robert Goodwill MP, the Chief Executive of Belfast City Airport, Brian Ambrose, declared full backing for the campaign, highlighting the importance of mid to long-haul connectivity for passengers in Northern Ireland.

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Belfast City Airport is among 38 airports throughout the UK, including Glasgow, Aberdeen, Inverness, Liverpool and Newcastle, to openly pledge support for the Heathrow expansion.

Mr Ambrose commented: “An expansion at Heathrow Airport would bring huge

benefits to Northern Ireland’s business and leisure sectors.

“Last year, 132,000 passengers transferred through Heathrow from Belfast and we believe that this number would only increase with expansion at Heathrow, which is set to create 40 additional long-haul routes.

“Heathrow already serves 75 destinations which aren’t operated from any other UK airport and in order to continue growth within the local economy, maintaining this connectivity, particularly with international markets such as China, is key.

“The expansion would also serve to make Northern Ireland accessible to an increasing number of business and leisure passengers across the world, which would build further on the growth the region has already experienced to date.”

Mr Ambrose continued: “We are adding our voice to an already extensive list of UK airports in support of the expansion and hope that the Department for

Transport reaches a conclusion that will benefit, not just the people of Northern Ireland, but regional airports across the UK.” Belfast City Airport remains the only airport in Northern Ireland to serve the London Heathrow route which is operated up to ten times daily by both Aer Lingus and British Airways.

Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said: “An expanded Heathrow will help grow Northern Ireland’s competitive advantage and make it a magnet for investment, a spring board for exporters and a hotspot for tourism.

“I am very grateful for the support businesses in Northern Ireland have given us in our fight for Heathrow expansion. Even when it was unfashionable to say “we back Heathrow”, they were saying it. It was Northern Irish businesses and MPs that made their voices heard.

“And now I’m delighted to have the support of Belfast City Airport who are making our case in Whitehall, perhaps more passionately and more succinctly than I ever could.”

2016

Eye on Awards

ENGINEERING FIRM TAKES TOP AWARD

WINNER

Des Moore, First Trust Bank.

SMALL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD Gareth and Noel Loye of M&M Contractors receive the coveted Small Business of the Year Award from Des Moore, First Trust Bank. Also pictured is Brenda Buckley, Business Eye.

A Belfast engineering business with a 35-year old Chief Executive delivering a world-leading transatlantic communications construction project has been named as Northern Ireland’s top small business.

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&M Contractors took the top award at the second annual Business Eye First Trust Bank Small Business Awards, held on Thursday, 2nd June at La Mon Hotel & Country Club.

The Awards, organised by Business Eye magazine and sponsored by First Trust Bank, awarded top small business performers across 12 different categories. They were open to all businesses in Northern Ireland with less than 50 employees.

The Manufacturing Business of the Year Award went to composites specialists IPC Mouldings based in Carrickfergus, while online payment firm IRP Commerce came out on top in the Technology Business of the Year category.

Glenarm Organic Salmon lifted the Agri-Food Business Award with the innovative Environmental Street Furniture taking the Exporter of the Year title..

The award for Customer Focus went to Newry-based accident management

company Crash Services while a pair of Spar retail outlets in North Belfast took the Community Contribution title.

Head of First Trust Bank, Des Moore, said that both the quantity and quality of the entries had surpassed expectations in the second year of the Small Business Awards.

“At First Trust Bank, we’re committed to supporting the small business sector here in Northern Ireland because we know that those businesses are critically important to driving the economy forward. We believe that we need to do more to celebrate business success here and wanted to shine a light on our many excellent small businesses to hold them up as role models for their peers. The standard, diversity, innovation and entrepreneurial drive were not only exciting but really

encouraging for the local economy and we want to congratulate all of the entrants and winners.”

Brenda Buckley, Publisher of Business Eye, said: “We were delighted with the success of the Small Business Awards in their first year, and we’re even more pleased with how they’ve grown year on year. We received a really strong entry from a wide variety of companies based right across Northern Ireland.

“They are already an integral part of the business calendar here, and we’ve every reason to believe that they will go from strength to strength.”

The 360-strong audience were treated to memorable night’s entertainment provided by the Sligobased Drumming Waiters, a trio of singing stars from London’s West End and local band Ambition.

Full List of Winners – Business Eye First Trust Bank Small Business Awards AGRI FOOD BUSINESS OF THE YEAR

HEALTHCARE BUSINESS OF THE YEAR

START-UP BUSINESS OF THE YEAR

EXPORTER OF THE YEAR AWARD

SPONSORED BY LOCKTON

SPONSORED BY BAKER TILLY MOONEY MOORE

SPONSORED BY SCOTTISH PROVIDENT BUILDING

SPONSORED BY ULSTER UNIVERSITY BUSINESS SCHOOL

WINNER: GLENARM ORGANIC SALMON

WINNER: PENINSULA CARE SERVICES

WINNER: CLINISHARE

WINNER: ENVIRONMENTAL STREET FURNITURE

HIGHLY COMMENDED: CLANDEBOYE YOGHURT

HIGHLY COMMENDED: ARC-NET

HIGHLY COMMENDED: LIGNUM INTERIORS

MANUFACTURING BUSINESS OF THE YEAR

TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS OF THE YEAR

HIGHLY COMMENDED: TITANIC CREATIVE MANAGEMENT

SPONSORED BY FORDE MAY CONSULTING

SPONSORED BY ARMAGH CITY BANBRIDGE & CRAIGAVON BC

CUSTOMER FOCUS AWARD

SPONSORED BY INNOV8

WINNER: IPC MOULDINGS HIGHLY COMMENDED: LIGNUM INTERIORS

WINNER: IRP COMMERCE HIGHLY COMMENDED: ADVANCED ELECTRONIC SOLUTIONS & TASCOMI

SPONSORED BY CMI

WINNER: AC AUTOMATION

WINNER: CRASH SERVICES

HIGHLY COMMENDED LAVA GROUP & SEPHA SMALL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR

SMALL BUSINESS MARKETING AWARD

HIGHLY COMMENDED: PENINSULA CARE SERVICES & MCS GROUP

SPONSORED BY TOURISM NORTHERN IRELAND

SPONSORED BY FEDERATION OF SMALL BUSINESSES

COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTION AWARD

WINNER: BELFAST FOOD TOURS & CRUMLIN RD GAOL

WINNER: WOMEN IN BUSINESS

SPONSORED BY PHOENIX NATURAL GAS

HIGHLY COMMENDED: THE WEE TRAM

HIGHLY COMMENDED: I3 DIGITAL

SPAR ARDOYNE & SPAR LANDSCAPE

HOSPITALITY & TOURISM BUSINESS OF THE YEAR

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INNOVATIVE BUSINESS OF THE YEAR

SPONSORED BY FIRST TRUST WINNER: M&M CONTRACTORS HIGHLY COMMENDED: MCS GROUP & ENGAGE

Eye on Awards

HIGHLY COMMENDED AGRI FOOD BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD Bryan Boggs from Clandeboye Yoghurt receives a highly commended certificate in Agri Food Business of the Year category from Gary Ennis of sponsors Lockton.

WINNER AGRI FOOD BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD Brenda Buckley receives the Agri Food Business of the Year Award on behalf of Glenarm Organic Salmon from Gary Ennis of category sponsors Lockton.

HIGHLY COMMENDED MANUFACTURING BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD Ciaran McMenamin & Simon McAllister, Lignum Interiors receive the a highly commended award in the Manufacturi,ng Business of the Year from Gerry May of category sponsors Forde May Consulting.

WINNER MANUFACTURING BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD Gerry May, Forde May Consulting, presents the Manufacturing Business of the Year Award, to Warren Hanley and Jacqui Gray, Joanne Liddle and James Williamson of IPC Mouldings.

HIGHLY COMMENDED HOSPITALITY & TOURISM BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD Aine Kearney, from Tourism Northern Ireland (category sponsors) presents a Highly Commended Award in the Hospitality & Tourism Business of the Year category to Chris and Susan Bennett of The Wee Tram.

WINNER HOSPITALITY & TOURISM BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD Caroline Wilson of Belfast Food Tours, receives the Hospitality and Tourism Business of the Year Award from Aine Kearney of category spondors Tourism Northern Ireland.

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Eye on Awards

WINNER HOSPITALITY & TOURISM BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD Ciaran and Edel Quinn from Crumlin Road Gaol receive the Hospitality and Tourism Business of the Year Award from Aine Kearney of category sponsors Tourism Northern Ireland.

HIGHLY COMMENDED HEALTHCARE BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD John O’Rourke from Baker Tilly Mooney Moore presents Healthcare Business of the Year Award to Brendan Crossey from Arc-Net.

WINNER HEALTHCARE BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD Doreen Bingham, Johnny Cooke and Rosemary Watson from Peninsula Care Services pick up Healthcare Business of the Year Award from John O’Rourke of category sponsors Baker Tilly Mooney Moore.

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HIGHLY COMMENDED TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD Alderman Jim Speers from Armagh City Banbridge & Craigavon Borough Council (sponsor) presents a Highly Commended Award in the Technology Business of the Year category to Paul and Marie Creighton of Advanced Electronic Solutions.

HIGHLY COMMENDED TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD Roison Murray and Michael Simpson from Tascomi receives the Highly Commended Award in the Technology Business of the Year category from Alderman Jim Speers from Armagh City Banbridge & Craigavon Borough Council.

WINNER TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD William Bailie, Grainne McGarvey, Alistair Mitchell and Andrew Kirkpatrick from IRP Commerce receiev the Technology Business of the Year Award from Alderman Jim Speers, Armagh City Banbridge & Craigavon Borough Council.

Eye on Awards

HIGHLY COMMENDED SMALL BUSINESS MARKETING AWARD Adrian Bradley, i3 Digital picks up a highly commended certificate in the Small Business Marketing category from sponsor John Friel, FSB.

WINNER SMALL BUSINESS MARKETING AWARD John Friel, FSB presents the Small Business Marketing Award to Roseanne Kelly, Winner Women in Business.

HIGHLY COMMENDED START-UP BUSINESS OF THE YEAR Chris Johnston from Scottish Provident Building (category sponsor) presents a highly commended award in the Start-Up Business of the Year category to Erika Clark and Nuala Campbell, Titanic Creative Management.

WINNER START-UP BUSINESS OF THE YEAR Andrew Crawford and Alison Young from Clinishare collect the Start Up Business of the Year Award from Chris Johnston of sponsors Scottish Provident Building.

HIGHLY COMMENDED CUSTOMER FOCUS AWARD Ken Roulston of CMI (sponsor) presents a highly commended certificate in the Customer Focus category to Johnny Cooke, Chloe Stevenson & Melissa Shaw from Peninsula Care Services.

HIGHLY COMMENDED CUSTOMER FOCUS AWARD Louise Smyth and Karl Webb, MCS Group receive a highly commended certificate in the Customer Focus category from Ken Roulston of sponsors CMI.

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Eye on Awards

WINNER CUSTOMER FOCUS AWARD Jonathan McKeown, Crash Services receives the Customer Focus Award from Ken Roulston of sponsors CMI.

WINNER COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTION AWARD Jonathan Martindale of Phoenix Natural Gas, sponsors of the Community Contribution Award presents the Community Contribution Award to Gavin Wall & Paul Kelly from Spar Ardoyne & Spar Landscape.

HIGHLY COMMENDED EXPORTER OF THE YEAR AWARD Ciaran McMenamin & Simon McAllister from Lignum Interiors collect a highly commended award in the Exporter of the Year category from Michael McQuillin, Ulster University Business School (sponsor).

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WINNER EXPORTER OF THE YEAR AWARD Michael McQuillin, Ulster University Business School (sponsor) presents the Exporter of the Year Award to Alan Lowry from Environmental Street Furniture.

HIGHLY COMMENDED INNOVATIVE BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD Stephen Cairns of Innov8 Office Interiors presents a highly commended award in the Innovative Business of the Year category to Emma Rafferty and Lee Vennard, The Lava Group.

HIGHLY COMMENDED INNOVATIVE BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD Sarah Lamont & Philip Cooper, Sepha receive a highly commended award in the Innovative Business of the Year category from sponsor Steven Cairns, Innov8 Office Interiors.

Eye on Awards

Warren Hanley, Jacqui Gray, Joanne Liddle and James Williamson.

WINNER INNOVATIVE BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD Gary Callaghan, AC Automation receives the Innovative Business of the Year Award from Stephen Cairns, Innov8 Office Interiors (sponsor).

Colm Campbell, Denise Campbell, Eamonn Campbell, Joanne Campbell-Avendt, Cathal Campbell, Aileen Hughes - Glenfort Timber Enginering.

HIGHLY COMMENDED SMALL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD Louise Smyth & Karl Webb, MCS Group collect a highly commended award in the Small Business of the Year category from Des Moore, Head of First Trust Bank (lead sponsor) & Brenda Buckley, Business Eye.

Gillian Johnston, Terrie Jennings Julie Roulston, Ken Roulston and Malachi Gribbin.

HIGHLY COMMENDED SMALL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD Stephen Leathem, Engage receives a highly commended award in the Small Business of the Year category from Des Moore, Head of First Trust Bank (lead sponsor) & Brenda Buckley, Business Eye.

Derek Wilson, Denise Black, Gary McMurray and Kelly Miscandlon.

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Eye on Awards

Debby and Philip McLorinan.

James Kielt and Eve Mathewson.

Richard Ennis, Naomi McMullan and Gary McDonald.

Amy Black and Alan Black.

Thomas Fagan, Megan Beverland and Jonathan Martingale.

TWEET WATCH Janet Mactavish @TravelMagellan

Great evening as Best Entrepreneur Finalists Take Awards @LaMonHotel

TWEET WATCH Nancy Brown @NancyABrown

#BringItOn #grease #medley who knew #awards could b so #fun #BEFTA2016 Des Moore, First Trust Bank addresses the audience.

Reuben Taylor, Jane O’Donoghue, Brenda Buckley and Richard Buckley.

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Chris Johnston, Sara McKeown, Colin Rimmer, Donna Linehan and Ciara Donnelly.

Eye on Awards

Jane Watson and Paula Mahoney.

TWEET WATCH Naked PR @Naked_PR

A great night! Delighted for all the winners, especially the fabulous @IPCMouldings! #BEFTA2016 Des Moore, Brenda Buckley Ciara Donnelly and Richard Buckley.

TWEET WATCH Katie Crudden @Crudden86

Raise the roof!! highlight of the night West end entertainers u rock!!! #BEFTA2016

Grainne Diamond, Leah Holland and Sharon Dundee.

Erika Clark and Nuala Campbell.

Ruth Mathewson, Martin Caldwell, Debby Wilson, Siobhan Matthewson, Brenda Buckley, Ciara Donnelly, Jane O’Donohue, Eve Matthewson.

Ciara & Paul Donnelly.

Michael and Debby Wilson.

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Eye on Awards

West End entertainment.

Russell and Donna Moore.

Brenda and Richard Buckley.

Ruth McGuinness, Ciaran McCaughley and Victoria Boyle.

TWEET WATCH Morrow Comms @MorrowComms

Now that’s what I call drumming up business @BusinessEyeNI @FirstTrustBank #BEFTA2016 awards @LaMonHotel Roseanne Kelly, Liguori Dobbin, Nora Smith, Michael McQuillan, Michael Holden, Steve Pollard, Mervyn Whyte, Judith Totten.

Drumming Waiters.

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Anthem.

Eye on Awards

Guests from Peninsula Care Services.

TWEET WATCH Tascomi @Tascomi

What an excellent night.!! #BEFTA2016 did not disappoint!! Thanks to @BusinessEyeNI & @LaMonHotel #rollon2017 Peninsula Care Services: Rosemary Watson, Administrator, Victoria Burke, Care at Home Support, Doreen Bingham, Registered Nurse Manager, Matthew Wylie, Recruitment Support, Pauline Lowes, Assistant Manager, Chloe Stevenson and Melissa Shaw, Community Care Workers, Jonny Cook, Director.

Reuben Taylor and Jane O’Donoghue,

TWEET WATCH The Signature Works @SignatureWorks

Congratulations to all the winners at #BEFTA2016 & a huge thank you to @ BusinessEyeNI @FirstTrustBank & @ LaMonHotel Laura Corr, Denise Creaney, Colette Toman and Ciara Judge.

Janine Rutledge, Katy Tweed and Hannah Fox.

John and Marie Bushell.

Wilfred Mitchell, Des Moore and Roger Pollen.

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Eye on Awards TWEET WATCH Gary Callaghan @GaryWindrose

What a night! AC Automation win “Innovative Business of the Year” Award @BusinessEyeNI @FirstTrustBank #BEFTA2016

TWEET WATCH MCS Group @MCSGroupBelfast

Don’t know about anyone else but how about a big hand for @BusinessEyeNI and @FirstTrustBank for a brilliant event.

Oh and @LaMonHotel - stunning!

Lisa Jess and Lisa Wright.

Alison Esler, Judith Gill and Kerry McIlwaine.

Conor Cahalane, John O’Rourke and Darren Bowman.

Una Quinn and Grainne McGarvey.

Simon and Fiona McAllister, Lisa and Ciaran McMenamin.

Compere Marc Mallett.

TWEET WATCH Ann Rodgers Hampton @AnnRodgersPBC

Yum yum yum... Delicious menu and tasty dishes... Now the dishy Mark Mallet...

West End entertainment.

Derek Wilson, Denise Black and Des Moore.

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Back row: David McCrisken, Michael Lavery, Tighearnan McConnell. Front row: Jeannine Rutledge, Louise Quinn, Katie Tweed, Scarlett Jeffers, Louise Smyth, Hannah Fox, Michael Michalak.

Sara Allen, Stephen Cairns and Angela Cairns.

Hazel Thompson, Craig Thompson and Nancy Brown.

The Recruitment Consultancy who find people jobs they love!

Belfast’s Premiere Recruitment Consultancy Celebrating our 2nd anniversary this month.

Reactive Recruitment has over 35 years experience within the recruitment arena. We specialise in pairing professional people with their next employer by matching their skills and their career goals, with the most suited employment opportunities across the Province.

Reactive Recruitment 100 Lisburn Road Belfast BT9 6AG Tel: 028 9009 9211 Email: info@reactiverecruitment.com Web: http://www.reactiverecruitment.com

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Eye on Finance

Richard Caldwell...

New Man At Danske’s Business Helm Richard Caldwell didn’t have a lot of time to celebrate his 20-year milestone with Danske Bank during May. He’s been marking the anniversary by getting stuck into the challenges of his new role as Managing Director of Business Banking.

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aldwell and Shaun McAnee, as MD of Corporate Banking, have stepped into two new roles created when Kevin Kingston made the move upstairs at Donegall Square West to succeed the departing Gerry Mallon as Chief Executive.

With the economy steadily improving, and business banking as busy as it has been for some years, it hasn’t been a bad time for Richard Caldwell to take over the business reins An agriculture graduate, Caldwell spent the early years of his professional career with the NI Civil Service before the switch to banking in 1996 to support front line managers on agri lending decisions. Moving on from agriculture, he went on to become Head of the bank’s Belfast Finance Centre and the newly-formed Business Acquisition Team before becoming a District Manager in Branch Banking and later Head of Private Banking.

He took over his new role at the start of December last year, and it’s a job that puts him in nominal charge of some 40,000 customers ranging from sole traders and small businesses up to mid-sized SME’s with turnover of £15 million. Customers are managed in branches, centrally in Business Plus or face to face by a relationship team based in Finance Centres across Northern Ireland.

In the office next to Caldwell’s, Shaun McAnee is responsible for the top business customers on Danske’s books, the big guns of the local business community.

“The change in structure following Kevin’s move to CEO was seamless,” says Richard Caldwell.

“We have a tight management team here at Danske, so it wasn’t difficult to come up with a solution that works.

“What’s our main challenge? It’s to maintain our market-leading position in business banking here in Northern Ireland....simple as that. We’ve got a really strong business banking reputation to build on with a strong focus on supporting our customers and a dedicated Business Acquisition team to attract new customers.

Despite our position, we are not at all complacent and work hard every day to ensure we deliver a quality service right across the customer base.’

Richard Caldwell says that Danske’s offering to business customers is as good now as it has ever been. “It’s something we look closely at all the time,” he says. “We have the capital, the money to lend.

But business banking goes a whole lot further than that.

We have to have a broad range of products and services on offer to our customers, and a level of service to match.”

Increasingly aggressive in its marketing to both personal and business customers, Danske is currently offering £500 cash back to start-ups and small business customers making the switch to the bank... an offer which is normally the preserve of the personal banking marketplace coupled with a new and slick online application process.

“We’ve also just launched a unique small business hub as part of our online services,” he goes on to add. “We’re keen to support and guide small businesses through the start-up, seed and growth phases and our hub is a great reference point for businesses on that journey.”

Since the start of Quarter 1, business banking drawdowns are up 52% year on year.....a very positive indicator of growth. “It shows increasing confidence in the marketplace,” comments Richard Caldwell. “But it also reflects the fact that we continue to acquire customers from other banks. There is clearly a bit of pent-up demand out there.”

That growth, it seems, is across the board. Business lending is clearly on the up, but so are business deposits. “And that’s due to the fact that there are still uncertainties affecting the economy here, not least the Brexit question,” he adds.

“What we’re seeing is that companies are investing again.

It might start with equipment, it might be in cars or vans, but many are also now investing in premises and requiring additional working capital to fund growing order books. It’s a marked change

from where a lot of businesses would have been a few years ago. And there are smaller scale acquisitions and other deals happening on a regular basis too.”

The bank has also increased its activities, he says, in the commercial property marketplace... something of a no-go area for all of the banks not too long ago.

Richard Caldwell stresses the fact that, within his team, credit decisions are made locally and quickly.

“Whether our customers engage with us through our branch network, online, by phone, or face to face, we do our very best to understand their needs, find out what they want from us and explain how we can help them.

“Banking has changed a lot.

Customers expect to be able to engage on a Sunday morning, or late on a Tuesday night.We have to be the bank that our customers expect us to be. That’s how technology has changed things.

“If you’ve got a smart phone in your hand, you can do your banking. From our perspective, we have to continue to deliver high quality front line support across the board to our business customers, and consistently add value.”

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Eye on Security

Protecting Your Business, Always “ Netwatch has prevented in excess of 40,000 crimes worldwide. We detect unauthorised activity before the damage is done, we are in a position to stop a crime from taking place.”

Background In 2015 Netwatch announced a major investment which saw the company establish operations in Newry.

Netwatch is headquartered in Carlow and specialises in providing business continuity, risk management and security services to clients across the globe. The Newry investment created employment to 15 people initially, and Netwatch plan to grow this figure to 50 people over the next two years.

Netwatch currently employs 160 people at its global headquarters in Carlow, and sales offices in,UK and the USA. Netwatch System Ltd in Northern Ireland is the first Communications Hub to be established by the company outside of its global HQ. The monitoring and disaster recovery hub will deploy the most advanced protection technologies to protect individuals, assets and premises across the world.

Wendy Hamilton, Chief Operations Officer, Netwatch Ireland said: “Netwatch is providing mission critical services to companies around the globe. They depend on Netwatch to ensure they are protected against major incidents, such as a terror attack

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and more importantly that they can continue to operate their businesses in the event of a major incident whether accidental or as a result of a deliberate act against the company.

Establishing a second operations hub means that we can support an expanding client base across the globe and we can ensure continuous monitoring of their property”.

Managed Service The Netwatch Managed Service is our unique security solution. We eliminate all security worries from your mind, taking care of everything from start to finish. We design, install, monitor, maintain and guarantee; this method holds them fully accountable for ensuring that their clients premises’ are as secure as possible at all times.

Research and Development – Netwatch Visual Labs At Netwatch we are passionate about using emerging technologies to continuously improve our service offering and maintain our competitive edge. We actively invest in research and development in order to achieve, and surpass, customer expectations.

Our R&D department, Netwatch Visual Labs, have developed a suite of products specifically designed to create the most effective detection and transmission products on the market. Our proprietary software is specifically designed to filter out repetition and false positives, thus, providing an exceptionally rapid response to real intrusions.

With the Netwatch Managed Service you get: • A clear, fixed daily fee • No capital cost • A service proven to be more effective than manned security and passive CCTV together • End to end service solution • Software updates are provided as they become available keeping your security current • Peace of mind that your site and equipment are always safe • More time to focus on your business Regardless of which sector they fall under, each and every Netwatch client aspires for the same objective; the peace

of mind that their assets, business, home or family is securely protected.

Netwatch has prevented in excess of 40,000 crimes worldwide. The principle behind the Netwatch System is crime prevention. We detect unauthorised activity before the damage is done, we are in a position to stop a crime from taking place. When Niall Kelly and David Walsh started Netwatch back in 2003, it was with a goal to create a fearless environment for their customers. This is a purpose that they, and every single member of Netwatch staff, still stands for today.

Darren Mc Kinney has recently joined the Netwatch team as Regional Sales Manager in Northern Ireland. Darren, who is based in Belfast, has 12 years’ business development experience. As part of the Netwatch service Darren is available to visit your site, conduct a no obligation site survey and propose a solution suited to your individual security requirements.

Contact Netwatch now on 0800 917 9909 or admin@netwatchsystem.com

Eye on Finance

Capitalflow Commercial Finance...

New Force In Business Funding

Capitalflow’s leadership team. (L-R) Marc Hawthorne, Harry Parkinson & Diane McGregor

One of the best-known personalities in the commercial finance marketplace has made a high impact return to the local marketplace.

H

arry Parkinson, who formerly led both Close Invoice Finance and Northern Bank’s (now Danske Bank) invoice finance operations in Belfast, is steering the highly successful launch of the Capitalflow Commercial Finance brand on the island of Ireland.

The company, based in Belfast and with an office in Dublin, is off to a flying start. It has already booked more than £10 million

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worth of business in its first few weeks of trading and is already working with over 150 customers across the business spectrum.

“Capitalflow Commercial Finance has been really well received in the marketplace both north and south and that’s a reflection of a couple of factors.....our competitive product offering along with the strength and breadth of the experience we have on our team,” says Harry Parkinson.

The new Irish-based company certainly has a solid funding base. Its main funders are Pollen Street Capital, the London-based equity fund specialists led by Lindsey McMurray. Pollen Street Capital is a major investor in Shawbrook Bank which is a major UK challenger bank specialising in corporate finance for SME’s.

“Pollen Street Capital see our company as a major opportunity to break into the Irish commercial finance marketplace, and they’re fully supportive of what we’re doing,” adds Parkinson.

He leads a 22-strong team which includes a number of experienced executives with

significant experience working with banks and finance providers.

Most relevant to the Northern Ireland market are Diane McGregor (nee Woodside) and Marc Hawthorne, both of whom have extensive experience in corporate and commercial lending.

The team specialise in three key product areas initially: Receivables Funding (better known as Invoice Finance), Asset Finance and Asset-Based Lending, although ambitious plans are in place to extend the product range into other finance areas as Capitalflow Commercial Finance develops its operations in Ireland.

“Our focus is firmly on invoice and asset finance, however, we’ll lend directly against property and inventory as part of our asset-based lending product which is unique to this market,” Harry Parkinson points out. “What also sets us apart is the speed of our decision-making. We’re promising quick turnarounds on all credit decisions.

“What’s important to us is our relationships with our customers.

Our aim is to tailor flexible financing solutions to the specific requirements of the companies we are working with, whether they are small businesses or mid to large corporates.

“The amount of new business we’ve managed to achieve in the first weeks of Capitalflow Commercial Finance shows that we’re approaching the marketplace with plenty of energy, and with products which are proving attractive to Managing Directors and Finance Directors.”

For further details, visit www.capitalflow.ie

Big Offer for Small Business

£500 CASHBACK

• First £250 paid after 10 transactions • Second £250 paid after 12 months active banking

Offer available to Start Ups and Switchers who open and maintain: 3 Small Business Current Account 3 MasterCard Business Debit Card 3 Business eBanking

Reward your Business: visit danskebank.co.uk/smallbusiness

To qualify for the cashback, you must be either a new to bank Start Up trading less than 6 months or complete a full switch of your business banking from another financial provider using the Current Account Switch Service. To qualify for the first instalment you must complete 10 eligible transactions on your Danske Small Business Current Account or Danske Small Business Digital Current Account. The first payment of £250 will be credited to your account in the subsequent month.

To qualify for the second instalment you must maintain an active banking relationship for 12 months. This means you must complete an average of at least 10 transactions per month during the 12 consecutive months from the date the account is opened (which equates to at least 120 transactions). The Bank reserves the right to vary or withdraw these terms and conditions at any time. You can get details of fees, service charges, interest rates and terms and conditions that may apply to our products from all our branches and on our website at www.danskebank.co.uk. Danske Bank is a trading name of Northern Bank Limited. Registered in Northern Ireland R568. Registered Office: Donegall Square West, Belfast BT1 6JS. Northern Bank Limited is a member of the Danske Bank Group. COM2681

Belfast Waterfront Oh what a venue!

The newly extended Belfast Waterfront has attracted high praise for its fantastic facilities since opening just over a month ago.

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he 7,000m2 conference and entertainment venue, which promised to deliver a brand new event experience for up to 5,000 delegates is wowing audiences far and wide. During May the team rolled out the red carpet for almost 16,000 guests attending gala dinners, conferences, business briefings, exhibitions and entertainment events. Guests found its amazing setting, sheer scale, outstanding service, fabulous food and stunning riverside views truly awe-inspiring.

For the first time, the city has purposebuilt event space to host spectacular banquets for up to 1,000 guests. So it comes as no surprise that many more banquets and award ceremonies are heading for the stunning riverside venue. Belfast Waterfront has already

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welcomed the NI Chamber Champions Dinner, RSUA Design Awards, Halo NI Awareness Dinner, CBI Northern Ireland Annual Dinner and the NI Responsible Business Awards Gala Dinner.

Richard Willis, Business Services Manager at Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry commented: “Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Having this state-of-the-art facility in the city has given us the ability to deliver a truly spectacular and memorable evening for our members, and the largest event staged by the chamber in its 233-year history.”

There’s no denying Belfast Waterfront has raised the bar for the local events industry, but also internationally.

Already regarded as one of the world’s best convention centres, the £29.5m investment programme has successfully transformed Belfast Waterfront into a state-of-the-art facility, enabling the city to attract larger international conferences.

It is expected the investment by Belfast City Council, Tourism Northern Ireland and the European Regional Development

Image: TODD Architects

Fund, through the European Sustainable Competitiveness Programme for Northern Ireland, will bring in £100 million for the local economy over the next five years.

Doubling the venue’s event space to 7,000m2 has attracted new events as well as seen the return of many, especially organisations which had previously outgrown the existing facilities.

Without the addition of two adjoining multipurpose halls spanning over 2,500m2, the annual International Surgical Congress of the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland (ASGBI) could not have returned to the city after 35years, and generated 3,300 delegate days and £1.6m for the local economy. In particular, Hall 1 provided ample space to house almost 50 exhibition stands, e-poster screens, as well as numerous catering and coffee points within a single space.

Bhavnita Patel, General Manager at ASGBI praised the venue for its wonderful facilities and unique riverside location, adding: “The integration between the new and existing facility is seamless and the entire venue is fantastic. Feedback from delegates has been extremely positive in particular the friendliness and helpfulness

of the front of house team. Staff went to great lengths to ensure delegates had everything that they needed.

“Our members also remarked on the stunning views. The venue’s design cleverly brings the outside into the building. Whatever floor you’re on, you can enjoy beautiful views and plenty of natural light. At registration, during lunchtime and even when picking up their luggage, delegates enjoyed stunning views across the River Lagan.”

This is only the beginning, over 30 international and national events are heading to the new venue including BBC Good Food Show, the World Credit Union Conference and the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Annual Congress. Watch this space!

If you would like to learn more about Belfast Waterfront’s new facilities or to book an event, contact the sales team on 028 9033 4400 or email conference@waterfront.co.uk W: waterfront.co.uk @BelWaterfront #BelfastWaterfront

We’re great networkers Making our courses relevant to the world of work Our constant networking with industry ensures that our courses and curricula are consistently related to business needs. As industry adapts, so do we – designing our teaching to suit the pace of change.

Over 90% of our graduates find themselves in work or further study six months after leaving. Not to mention, with 2000+ students on career-related work placements every year, we have one of the largest work-based programmes of any UK university.

Shaping the future ulster.ac.uk/goingplaces

Eye on Planning

Planning reform is producing higher quality development but not faster planning decisions David Kerr from Planning Consultants, Strategic Planning, says Planning reform has not improved turnaround times for Council planning decisions yet, but their experience is that it’s creating better development proposals, raising design and planning standards.

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s the Northern Ireland property market emerges from the worst crash we will hopefully see in our lifetimes, all the signs are that confidence is returning. External investors have been in the market for the past few years but crucially we are now seeing, through our clients, that the local banks want to lend and support projects again.

For the first time since the crash, the property market is bullish, but with a sobriety and perspective that only comes after a major bust. So, as we enter a new era of growth, we are often asked, is the Planning System ready for it?

Council’s Planning performance Planning powers were devolved to the new Councils in April 2015.

The latest figures published by the Department of Environment (now Infrastructure) in April 2016 outlined that between October-December 2015: • Only 3 of the 11 Councils met the 15 week decision making target for processing smaller or ‘local’ development applications.

The average processing time for small applications across all the Councils was 20.6 weeks.

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• Only 2 of the 11 Councils met the 30 week decision making target for determining ‘major’ applications. The average processing time for major applications across all Councils was 47.6 weeks.

Council Planning Committees have had ample time to bed in with local Councillors and Planning officers. In fairness to Belfast City Council, under the leadership of Suzanne Wylie and Phil Williams, it has made significant progress and has worked through a large backlog of legacy applications transferred to them from DOE. Some Councils, however, are struggling and the threat of a ‘no confidence’ motion from Councillors in one particular area, due to perceived poor service levels, is evidence of that.

So the challenge for the new Minister for Infrastructure and all the Council Chief Executives, is to sit down as early as possible in this new Assembly term to put in place the necessary resources and training to dramatically improve performance across all of Northern Ireland. There cannot be a tolerable level of poor performance in any Council area because the economy of that area will suffer as a result.

David Kerr

Pre-Application Community Consultation (PACC) So, where are the big positives in the Planning Reform story? For us, the introduction of the statutory requirement for Pre-Application Community Consultation, ahead of the submission of major planning applications, is the biggest step forward – but not the only one.

PACC has forced everyone involved in major projects to take the issue of engagement and design consultation much more seriously.

From that, we are seeing everyone raising their game, creating better schemes along with more satisfied communities, planners and clients.

We have championed early and pro-active community engagement for over 10 years and this formalisation of the

process has created more focus and attention to detail than we have ever seen before - and that’s good for everyone involved.

PACC can be taken forward through a range of methods and is dependent on issues such as the proposal itself as well as the individuals or groups to be consulted. Importantly, if your project qualifies as a major planning application you must undertake the minimum 12 week PACC process before you can submit the application.

If the PACC process is not carried out properly the relevant Planning Authority will simply refuse to determine the application or refuse it altogether. To date, we have found that planners have demonstrated a willingness to

Eye on Planning

CGI image of the proposed Kilmona Holdings £60m Grade A office and retail scheme at East Bridge Street, Belfast. Image courtesy of Coogan & Co Architects

SONI Pre Application Community Consultation event for Brockaghboy Line

work proactively with applicants in this area and set out any additional consultation actions required at an early stage.

The majority of ‘major’ planning applications we have managed in the past year have been for Grade A office developments, but others including residential schemes, mixed use retail, and electricity grid infrastructure, have all benefitted from PACC. Projects we have managed of note in the past year have included new electricity transmission projects at Curraghamulkin in County Tyrone and Brockaghboy in

Counties Antrim and Londonderry for the System Operator for Northern Ireland (SONI).

We have also managed PACC for some of the most important office development projects in Belfast in recent years, including the proposed £60million Kilmona development at East Bridge Street in Belfast, where we have worked closely with residents and key stakeholders.

Many clients, architects, planners and community groups were sceptical about PACC but our experience and feedback suggests that practitioners like it and communities embrace it.

Developer Contributions – another positive step for Planning The other major development of note in Planning reform, relatively unnoticed at the moment, is the area of Developer Contributions.

Put simply, the Planning authority can seek to compel a developer to deliver infrastructure contributions through planning agreements.

Those living in the vicinity of the development can also request the developer provides community benefit which can be in the form of funding for community facilities.

Under section 76 of the Planning Act (Northern Ireland) 2011, Planning Authorities can enter into planning agreements, which can include contributions to be paid by the developer. However, there is currently no set framework to give certainty to the scope of what these agreements should include.

Belfast City Council is currently preparing an Interim Framework document to cover the issue in advance of a new Area Plan. We expect other Councils will do the same in advance of preparing their own new Area Plans.

We expect Developer Contributions to form a central part of many major projects in the coming years. Our clients have embraced the concept and sought to work with the Planning authorities. As with PACC, this can only improve the quality of development proposals and further reassure affected communities that their interests are being addressed.

So for the new Minister for Infrastructure and the new Council Planning authorities, there is much to review one year after the devolution of planning powers to Councils.

Whilst its always easy to focus on the negatives, significant progress is being made and I’ve no doubt we’re on the right path.

David Kerr is Director of Public Affairs, Stakeholder & Community Engagement at Strategic Planning E: dkerr@strategicplanning. uk.com T: @davidwkerr

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Eye on Company Profile

ISL Waste Management – Investing £1million in what we throw away

By Richard Buckley

It’s hard not to trot out the old adage ‘where there’s muck there’s brass’ but emptying the bins has certainly become big business in Northern Ireland and the cost to companies large and small is no longer just a blip on the balance sheet.

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actor in the difference in cost from what can be recycled, what duties have to be paid and new legislation which means food waste has to have a separate collection and all of a sudden it becomes a science as well as a service.

ISL Waste Management is one of the largest and most experienced independent companies servicing the local market.

The family run business has been around for almost fifteen years and it is their philosophy of putting customer service first that they believe has elevated them head and shoulders above the competition.

With clients ranging from Ikea, Tesco,

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M&S, Sainsbury’s, FG Wilson, Michelin, and Ulster Bank to the local partnership with Spar which resulted in them winning the UK High Street Recycler of the Year in letsrecycle.com, they know exactly what is required to be part of a winning team.

Managing Director, Barry Donaghy has a very clean and simple approach to the partnerships ISL Waste Management bring to their clients.

“I always say don’t be surprised if after booking a consultation with ISL for waste disposal, we come up with a proposal that includes free of charge solutions. We love being set challenges on how we can make any current waste management system become more efficient and cost effective.

“The new food waste legislation is a major issue for many of our clients and we applied our consultation process to a new client Bob McCoubrey of the Mourne Seafood Bar. He ended up saving £4000 on his existing annual waste bill which was a 40% reduction on his previous cost and is totally compliant with the legislation.

“Waste is only a waste if it ends up in a hole in the ground. The ‘ISL Zero Waste Approach’ means we look at the earliest point in your process to actually prevent waste then we can show you how and when your ‘waste’ can actually become someone else’s ‘resource’.

“Helping create genuine integrated waste management systems is a challenge we love to embrace and we have been responsible for sourcing many unique re-use solutions for clients.

“Essentially we not only physically remove your waste we act as consultants who provide a quality service that not only makes sense to your bottom line, we actively contribute to your corporate social responsibility targets and we provide essential reporting data that takes the strain off your facilities management resource,” he explains.

That pride in the job extends to the cleanliness of the immaculate blue and orange vehicles that cover the whole of Northern Ireland and into the south of Ireland.

Eye on Company Profile

“ We may look after some of the biggest names in Northern Ireland but I am passionate about making sure we provide exactly the same quality of service to a small local business as we do to a multi-national.”

It is a high profile fleet that will be added significantly to this summer with a major £1million investment in plant machinery, vehicles and an extension of their central base in Mallusk.

Celine McLarnon, the owner of ISL Waste Management Ltd is a formidable business woman and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants who worked with Rank Hovis McDougall in London before coming

home to set up the family business.

That business has grown from a small recycling plant in Magherafelt in 2003 to a 100,000 sq ft Material Recycling Facility in Mallusk employing 65 people full time and up to 100 people seasonally.

“We may look after some of the biggest names in Northern Ireland but I am passionate about making sure we provide exactly the same quality of service to a small local business as we do to a multi-national.

“I got into this business because as a working mother I am passionate about our environment and the need to educate our children that if we have to throw something away that we treat it as a resource.

“As an accountant I know all about managing down cost in any business, but the lesson I learned from the most

successful businesses out there is to treat customers with professionalism and respect. I also believe that the only way to make sure that that is our customer experience is to treat our employees the same way,” she explains.

“That’s why our people raised almost £15,000 for the Pink Ladies Breast Cancer group and the Macmillan Cancer Fund in our own Malin to Mizen cycle ride. I have to confess my role consisted of moral support, handing out the sandwiches and of course picking up the waste!

“We are not interested in growth for its own sake because that is the point at which you cut corners and quality suffers. Our growth is organic and based on our ability to deliver a cost effective, reliable and efficient service.

We think and act like market leaders and that is what has driven our success.”

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Eye on News

WORKING MUMS-TO-BE: WHAT EMPLOYERS NEED TO KNOW

By Dr Alan Black, Director of Blackwell Associates Ltd

Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, employers have a legal and moral obligation to ensure that all pregnant employees are safeguarded from occupational risks that may pose a threat to their health and/or the unborn baby’s.

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n the interest of reducing health and safety hazards for all employees, businesses need to conduct risk assessments to identify which occupational factors, if any, may cause a negative impact on the physical and mental well-being of staff.

In advance of an employee formally notifying the HR department of her pregnancy (preferably at the earliest convenience) special consideration needs to be taken into how certain processes and working conditions may influence her health under the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992.

Common risks include work-

related stress, long working hours, heavy lifting, excessive noise levels, handling chemical material, extreme temperatures, and posture.

If a risk is identified, employers must inform the employee in question and take the necessary steps to resolve the issue upon the advice of an occupational health physician. This may include altering the employee’s shift pattern, job responsibilities, or workstation.

If it proves impossible to remove the risk entirely, the employee may need to be suspended on full pay until further notice in order to protect the health and safety of her and the baby.

If a pregnant employee has any health concerns relating to their place of work, they should report them immediately to their line manager and designated occupational health professional.

In addition to a confidential health assessment, the occupational health physician may visit the work environment to evaluate the employee’s exposure to occupational hazards and advise the HR department accordingly.

Finally, employers must allow paid time off for a pregnant employee to attend antenatal appointments as a statutory right.

With the exception of the first appointment, senior management is entitled to ask for evidence of antenatal appointments and make consideration for travel time to and from consultations.

To find out more about Blackwell Associates, visit blackwellassociates.co.uk or call 028 9065 6131 Blackwell Associates can also be followed on Twitter @BwellAssociates

Hamilton Unveils Foundation Stone At New Queen’s School Of Biological Sciences Economy Minister, Simon Hamilton has helped unveil the foundation stone at the new Queen’s University School of Biological Sciences.

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he £39million development which includes £10million funding from the Department for the Economy will consolidate the School of Biological Sciences onto one location with the benefits of a single identity for the School. This will in turn create expansion space for other Schools within the University.

Speaking at Queen’s the Minister said: “It is essential that all stakeholders including local government, business and institutions of learning and other skills providers, work together to ensure the growth of the local economy. The key drivers of this outcome include innovation, research

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and development and improving the skills and employability of young people and individuals.

“The investment by the Department for the Economy in the consolidation of the School of Biological Sciences helps to support Queen’s University in providing modern up to date facilities and will enhance the wider infrastructure within higher education.

Due to open in late 2018, the building will be home to globally recognised experts in areas right across the biological sciences with research focus on key global challenges.

“This development is a key part of the University’s long-term vision to create

Pictured are (L-R): Minister for the Economy, Simon Hamilton; Queen’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Patrick Johnston and Wendy Galbraith, Queen’s Director of Finance and Professor Aaron Maule, Head of Queen’s School of Biological Sciences.

state-of-the-art facilities and will support research and education into the next decade and beyond. Promoting the growth of our knowledge economy is a key aim of my Department and it is vital we create an environment

for students to gain confidence, develop their skills and reach their full potential. It is through nurturing creativity and innovation we are able to support future economic development and employment opportunities.”

Eye on Export

Eye on Round Table

SMALL BUSINESS & EXPORTING... HOW CAN WE RAISE OUR GAME? The Participants

Ann McGregor, Chief Executive, NI Chamber of Commerce & Industry

Aidan Gough, Director of Strategy & Policy, InterTradeIreland

Michael McQuillan, Director, Small Business Institute, Ulster University Business School

Rowan Black, President, NI Independent Retail Trade Association

Sean Sheehan, NI Regional Director, Consumer & Small Business, Bank of Ireland UK

Henry Cleary, Senior Manager, Global Markets, Bank of Ireland

Barry Smyth, Managing Director, MCS Group

John Mellon, Managing Director, Nitronica

Connor Dunlop, Sales Director, Bathshack

Richard Buckley, Editor and Chair

Business Eye and Bank of Ireland UK kick started the bank’s 13th Enterprise Week with a Small Business Round Table Discussion event held at Bank of Ireland’s Donegall Square South boardroom.

The discussion focused on Northern Ireland’s export performance, the export activities of smaller businesses and the support necessary to encourage the ambition of growth.

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RB – Are we export-orientated enough for the size of our region?

AM – There are not enough companies exporting, it’s as simple as that. We’re behind the rest of the UK. As a Chamber, we do try to monitor exports. And there’s no doubt that Northern Ireland’s total exports are dominated by a relatively small number of companies at the top of the business scale here.

AG – The NI economy trundles along at 2% growth or so. It never really hits the heights that other regions hit. The only real way to drive growth is through innovation to increase exports.

So it is critical and government does recognise that.

MM – I don’t think it is ambitious enough. It’s important that we look at tradeable services, as well as manufacturing. It’s about a behavioural change and that can be confidence which can be lacking here in Northern Ireland.

SS – Am I right in thinking that around 15% of businesses here are exporting? The DETI Export Matters document talks about getting to 20 or 25%. Is that ambitious enough?

AM – It’s ambition too. Prerecession, even some of our bigger companies didn’t go outside GB because they were getting enough business locally.

Eye on Round Table

BS – But how do we change the mindset? We all know about the BMW culture, as it’s known, but what can we do to move it along?

AM – Business education at schools level is erratic and ad hoc. Young Enterprise does a brilliant job but it can only work with a proportion of schools here. Then, when it comes to A levels and degrees, we’re still choosing the traditional routes, aren’t we? High achieving kids are encouraged to be doctors, dentists and lawyers.....not business people and entrepreneurs.

RB – John, you are an exporter?

What do we need to do?

JM – I understand how companies can concentrate on domestic markets and not get involved in exporting. It is a hassle. But once you start doing it successfully, there is no turning back. We export up to 25% of our output, and to be honest, most of it has been opportunistic rather than planned.

AM – But I’d say most people start exporting in an opportunistic way.

The problem can be that they’ll use their existing sales staff rather than export specialists.

JM – Yes, channel to market is key.

You have to think about how you represent your company abroad.

Is it going to be via distributors, agents or a direct sales force?

MM – This is why we have to get the eco system right. That means a really serious approach to business, entrepreneurship and all that it entails. It starts at primary school level and spans all of the agencies. The universities aren’t part of the DETI export plan but that’s wrong. They’re a powerful resource on the export front.

BS – Ann is right about schools and driving kids down traditional career routes. It hasn’t changed at all. There has to be a real shift if we’re going to change the mind set.

Countries around the world are looking at technology as a global market. We’re not even driving our young people towards it.

MM – We talk about a skills gap.

Yes, there is a skills gap, but there’s also an attitudes gap that starts with our schools. So, if we’re really serious about creating the right economy, we’ve got to get the educators involved and tied in.

AM – It starts with the fundamentals. Most schools don’t even have proper careers staff, just teachers who take on the role as a side line to teaching another subject.

AG – We’ve a lot to do to hit the 80% export increase target set

by DETI, and education plays a part, but we’ve got to start turning opportunistic exporters into strategic exporters. That’s about engagement with the supports that are available. Those supports, in general, are under utilised.

RB – Do we feel that the right support is there but simply isn’t being used?

AG – There needs to be better alignment and a more consistent message from the agencies and I think the Export Matters document does recognise that.

AM – There’s an argument that businesses shouldn’t wait for support. They should get on with it.

AG – Yes, but smaller businesses might not have the skills and the infrastructure to go after export business strategically.

That’s where support comes in although you’re right that ambition has to be there too.

Rowan B – Although NIIRTA is closely aligned to the retail sector, we have a few members on the supply side who have done very well on the export front, companies like Mash Direct.

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Eye on Round Table AM – That’s a message we’ve been focusing on getting across to businesses here. There are some excellent stories out there.

MM – It’s how we take these companies and support them to scale. It’s easy for our agencies to help the more established businesses, but we need to remember the start-ups and the entrepreneurs. Hubs are a great concept....entrepreneurial hubs offering shared facilities for smaller agri-food start-ups for example. Or pick, pack and post hubs for online companies selling digitally to help them to focus their efforts.

One step they have taken is to bring in non-executive directors with significant experience and support in exporting.

RB – We’ve talked about the fear factor. What other impediments are there, as businesses see them?

MM – It’s important that the support structure is there, well signposted and ready to swing into action. But I think we need to tweak it. Instead of bringing them to the fish on trade missions and the like, we need to teach them the fundamental skills of fishing for themselves and becoming sustainable, international businesses.

CD – It’s the unknowns. It’s not all about financial aid.

It’s more about knowledge.

We’re not a manufacturer, in fact we’re bringing product in and sending it out again. But we’ve still needed help and advice on how to deal with the everyday aspects of selling outside of Northern Ireland.

AM – One of the problems with trade missions is that people go out, come back and get caught up in the business and don’t follow up.

SS – Sometimes that kind of thing is the result of a leadership gap for example, a leader who is a technical expert isn’t always the best person to lead the business internationally. Certainly, we work with companies who are superb across the board but perhaps lacking in global business experience.

MM – There are different ways to internationalise your business. You can develop alliances overseas, you can establish operations abroad or you can franchise your business. The mechanics should be better known. It’s not all about actual exporting.

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SS – I can understand. There are a lot of questions that companies have around payments, foreign currencies and nuts and bolts of doing business overseas. There are questions of confidence and also questions of capacity, and finding the time to understand foreign markets and the support available. A lot of companies here are very small and exporting counts as a massive ask. Against that, sometimes it might just be a question of mind set.

AG – We’ve talked a lot this morning about barriers. But it’s important that we also talk about opportunities for exporting companies. If a company does want to grow and grow sustainably, then it has to export. There are small companies here who are active exporters and probably growing at three or four times the rate of companies who aren’t.

SS – It’s an interesting concept and you see a lot of it in technology. But you see it less in some other sectors.

RB – What support do companies expect and need from banks?

CD – Guidance on exchange rates is one obvious area. That’s a big thing for us. But, having back up available on all aspects of financial management is key.

JM – We’ll talk to dealers here at Bank of Ireland and we’ll get the everyday help we need on foreign exchange. Likewise, buying forward and selling forward. The bank gives us the guidance we need and they’ve come up with some innovative ways of funding investments and acquisitions that have been important to our business.

BS – When you’ve only operated here, you need solid guidance on simple things like euro bank accounts. Having a good bank in the background does add a level of confidence for most businessmen and women.

MM – I think the banks have been through a tough time but it’s important now that they don’t just get back to lending but they get back to innovative lending and to working closely with their business customers. It’s in the bank’s interest to have business customers who are ambitious and who want to achieve.

AM – Bank of Ireland are working with us on an all-island Meet The Buyer event and things like that are important for the wider picture. How to make a pitch, how to present, etc. These skills can’t be underestimated.

RB – Can I ask Sean & Henry?

What kind of advice are you asked for? How do you help?

HC – At the outset, we’ll not hide the fact that there are risks in any external trade. But there are options available to help mitigate those risks. We deal with experienced exporters and we deal with those new to exporting. It is important to get the housekeeping in order first – the right bank accounts, working capital, etc.

The key for everyone is getting paid, and we’ve a lot of expertise on that front. When I first joined Global Markets, some companies

Eye on Round Table imported from China. Now we’re dealing with a lot of companies who are exporting to China. Our guidance is to minimise the risk to yourself and push as much risk as you can to the other side. The other central issue is volatility in the currency markets, often driven by global and political issues. The key is to tackle foreign exchange in advance....not after the event.

SS – There are a lot of sources of funds available and there is lots of guidance available from the banks and other sources of funding.

We’ve about a hundred business managers/experts available in NI to our customers, with experts in Commercial Finance, Trade Finance and Global Markets, around exchange rates and we’ve stayed local. We’ve business advisers in all of our branches, and small business is just as important for us as large business. Now we’re devoting a lot of time to sectors and what is right for those sectors and the companies within those sectors.

We can differentiate ourselves by leveraging those assets.

AG – There has been a big change in small business finance over recent years. The banks themselves have changed. Far too many businesses have relied in the past on overdrafts or loans, but that’s not always the right funding for their growth strategy.

Private equity has grown, the angel network has grown, and bank portfolios have grown too.

HC – I’ve taken part in quite a few business event with the Chamber and other organisations. The advice of experts is important, but often the real benefit comes from businesses feeding off one another.

MM – Yes, there are best practitioners across Northern Ireland and they’re not all big companies. Sharing that kind of best practice is very important.

SS – We run Enterprise Week twice a year and it’s amazing the impact that customer stories can have. People associate with real business experiences.

RB – We’re going to wrap up soon.... What about the role of

Government, from DETI strategies to the First & Deputy First Ministers travelling the world?

SS – It’s positive to see what the Government has tried to do in terms of putting economy at the heart of the Programme of Government. We can all argue about some aspects of what they do and how they do it, but any government commitment to the economy is to be welcomed.

It has to be aligned, it has to be communicated properly and it has to be driven forward by all of us.

MM – I agree that what we’ve heard and seen is positive.

Connectivity is crucial, and we need to tie education into the wider picture as we discussed earlier. As for senior politicians being ambassadors, long may it continue.

BS – We talked earlier about signposting. So, when there is government support available, let’s work towards centralising it. There is a lot available but in too many different places.

AM – As an organisation, we’re very aware of that. We are working towards gathering all of the information, or links to the information, on one hub.

AG – The key for government, surely, is to make it as easy as possible and the Export Strategy recognises that improvements

are needed in the provision of information to small businesses on the export front. Let’s concentrate on the escalator approach. In short, that means that small businesses can start with the obvious first step..... trading with the Republic.

AM – I think there is an onus on business support organisations, banks and others to adopt a more collegiate approach.

SS – That said, look at the DETI document and the banks aren’t mentioned. It’s an oversight.

Finance is an important part of the picture for companies.

MM – Yes, the eco system is bigger than it is being portrayed to be. Connectivity needs to be as wide as possible. If we simply keep doing what we’ve been doing, we’ll get the same results.

Banks need to be part of the picture and so do the universities.

Rowan B – Government has a responsibility to help keep the costs of businesses down as much as possible.

RB – I’d like to thank Bank of Ireland for supporting this discussion today, I think we can all agree that growing our export base will remain a strategic imperative for the region, with a collegiate approach required to tackle whatever challenges lie ahead.

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Eye on Export

Exporting As the world becomes more interconnected, international trade continues to increase in importance. Greater global competition means greater choice with potentially less margin, meaning it’s not enough to continue to play it safe in ‘your own back garden’. All businesses, regardless of size, need to rise to the challenges of the global marketplace.

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n order to grow, local businesses can no longer stand still. Exportled growth is essential to the development of the Northern Ireland economy, with overseas trade holding the key to growth for many businesses. Business owners must be innovative and proactive in developing their business, making sure their offering meets their customer needs whilst taking initiatives to maximise new markets and opportunities.

According to the recent Export Matters report*, Northern Ireland is not producing as much wealth per worker as most other UK regions, yet exporting could be part of the solution to this issue. According to the report, research has shown that there are positive relationships between exporting and higher levels of innovation and skills, with exporters tending to be larger, more innovative, more productive and able to pay higher salaries for skilled staff.

Exporting opens up opportunities to increase turnover, reduce unit costs through increased volume and product life cycles. It provides an opportunity to spread the risk of a small, potentially saturated customer base by opening up into new marketplaces.

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*March 2016, DETI

Yet with exporting come challenges.

It can be complex setting up in nondomestic markets. The continued evolution of technology means markets are more accessible to customers and competitors. In essence this can lead to businesses having to compete to meet more aggressive targets with less resources, time and experience. If businesses have not fully researched new markets, they may not be ready to address regulatory, financial and commercial barriers or challenges with culture and language that may not apply when operating in their domestic marketplace.

We can help.

At CavanaghKelly, we actively support and encourage our clients to grow and develop their business both locally and internationally.

Getting access to finance and funding, particularly for export, can prove challenging to businesses regardless of size and what stage of growth they are at. Many sources of funding for export are available. Our dedicated team has the knowledge and experience

to assist businesses to raise appropriate finance, helping them to grow and explore new markets.

We provide support to tackle the most common financial barriers including access to working capital, risk of non-payment and availability of funding for overseas buyers. We support businesses with job costings and ongoing reviews of jobs versus budget, helping to ensure clients know the margins, can identify billable over-runs and ensure business is performing as expected.

A business strategy with a clear export focus is essential. We assist clients with their export strategy from development to implementation, addressing the complex and challenging conditions that come with moving into new markets. We stay close to the changing market conditions and we work with exporters in Northern Ireland to ensure they have the export finance advice they need.

Our experienced team of Chartered Tax Advisors have extensive expertise and experience of international business issues such as exchange rates, duties and levies raised on goods and services exported, rate of VAT. The import and export of goods and services can give rise to financial and other issues, but can also create opportunities to reduce the overall tax within an international structure.

Talk to our team for a free initial consultation and we will engage with you to identify and understand the options available to you and your business.

Catherine Martin, CavanaghKelly

CavanaghKelly is one of Northern Ireland’s leading Professional Advisory Firms.

With a heritage dating back 25 years, we have developed a strong reputation and track record for our work in Advisory, Accounts & Audit and Tax. From our offices in Dungannon, Belfast, Enniskillen and Omagh, we advise a large number of clients across a range of sectors throughout Northern Ireland and beyond.

Contact us: T: 028 8775 2990 E: catherine.martin@cavanaghkelly. com W: cavanaghkelly.com

Eye on Export

The Changing Face of Northern Ireland Exporting The business benefits of exporting are compelling.

Government research has shown that exporters are on average more productive, innovative and resilient to economic downturns.

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recent report issued

by HSBC highlights the growing opportunities for Northern Irish and other UK businesses to trade abroad.

The pace of trade liberalisation, extension of free trade and harmonisation of regulations are identified as ‘catalyst’ opportunities for business.

Trade also benefits from the digital revolution – more sophisticated operating models make businesses more resilient.

The Q4 2015 HMRC Regional Trade Statistics report helps to highlight a number of positive outcomes for Northern Ireland.

It also demonstrates that the shape of export trade from Northern Ireland is significantly different to the rest of the UK. Northern Ireland is fast becoming a centre for excellence in manufacturing and engineering

goods. In contrast to this, the growth in export of services for the wider UK economy continues to increase.

Despite bucking the service export trend, demand remains high for Northern Ireland’s goods. Both England and Northern Ireland saw an increase in the value of exports in 2015 compared to 2014. The HMRC report identifies machinery and transport equipment as Northern Ireland’s most exported goods, at 35.5% of the total. This exceeds chemicals and related products by some distance, at 18.5%, which are key exports for Scotland. 2014-2015 also saw demand rise for Northern Irish goods in the USA and South Korea.

In contrast, exports of UK services have grown by 14% since the turn of the millennium taking the total volume to 44%. The UK is now poised to be the first major advanced economy to export more services than goods in the next ten years.

These trends reveal Northern Ireland’s economy to be growing with specific needs in relation to the export of goods, despite wider trends within our political and sterling based economy.

Brands from Northern Ireland

are loved and respected around the world for their quality and innovation. Awareness is, however, only half the battle - action is a critical part of encouraging overseas trade. Exporting may seem second nature for medium sized and large business, however for smaller organisations the prospect of overseas trade can seem daunting.

International business can seem complex. Our research shows that would-be exporters are discouraged from international trade as they believe their product or service is not suitable for export.

HSBC Northern Ireland is assisting companies overcome this hurdle of misperception by providing as much information on exporting as possible.

It’s imperative that we find new ways to give all businesses the confidence and tools to see exporting as a credible way of finding future business growth.

We will be holding Trade Finance & International Cash Management information sessions in Belfast in the coming months to help assist those businesses seeking to take their initial steps on the export ladder.

The International Festival for Business, taking place in Liverpool from 13 June to 1 July, is another

example of events the Northern Irish business community should be engaging with.

Its location is irrelevant when it comes to the size of the opportunity. The first Festival took place in 2014 and saw 600 UK companies win export sales worth in excess of £80m. Those figures are only increasing. For Northern Irish SMEs, trading as far afield as the Middle East could start as close to home as Liverpool.

In Northern Ireland, our relationship team are the first, and main, touchpoint to an international capability – having a local bank like HSBC in Northern Ireland offers business of all sizes a global banking proposition. We offer business the unique model of local management across a Global Business Network spanning 66 territories and all our local banks have a trade finance offering.

If you are as a business owner and are thinking “international”, think HSBC.

Nial Douglas is an Area Director of HSBC in Northern Ireland.

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Eye on Export

Sharing Export Success in Northern Ireland Anne McSorley, Senior Manager Business & Corporate Banking, First Trust Bank

Every day we support local businesses of all sizes across a broad range of industries.

We know first-hand how the global marketplace is becoming increasingly competitive, and the importance of this to NI’s growth targets.

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e work with a range of exporting companies and increasingly see the economic benefits that come from developing export know-how, researching export markets, developing your unique offering in response to changing environments and embedding leadership and skills in your organisation.

As a region, we are getting better about our success stories, but we are not shouting nearly loud enough. Northern Ireland stands above the UK average for R&D investment – and as we all know,

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R&D is crucial to innovation. We lead the way for FDI project growth and we trail only England in terms of the percentage of businesses turning over £1 million. Recent

“ Recent figures from InterTradeIreland and the University of Ulster’s Economic Policy Centre (UUEPC) report that of the companies that expect growth, 50% class themselves as exporters.” figures from InterTradeIreland and the University of Ulster’s Economic Policy Centre (UUEPC) report that of the companies that expect growth, 50% class themselves as exporters.

When reviewing the latest report from the Department for the Economy sales to markets outside of NI grew by 2.1% in 2014 with export sales standing at £9.8 billion. Despite this challenges still exist in relation to managing costs, new competitors and a general knowledge gap in navigating the export landscape.

In order to overcome these issues getting help from organisations like InvestNI or availing of support from financial partners, is just a snippet of the advice on offer from some of our most successful export customers. Sharing export success and advice is key to equipping other companies with the confidence to begin their own export journeys.

The bespoke joinery manufacturer the Deluxe Group, blind specialist, Bloc Blinds and Downpatrick based Ardglass Sea Products are three very different companies each with their own unique stories to tell about how they have successfully entered the export market.

Eye on Export Cormac Diamond - Bloc Blinds

Despite a busy marketplace, Cormac Diamond established Bloc Blinds in 2005 after spotting the need for a simple, interchangeable roller blind system. Now designing and manufacturing a host of shading products, Bloc Blinds recently announced a £4 million expansion at its premises in Magherafelt which will create 93 new jobs and allow the firm to respond to export demand.

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o be a good exporter, you need a good team. From sales executives, to marketing and production staff, a talented team of people all embracing a company’s ambition counts for a lot. Patience is also an attribute businesses need to have when looking to export. It takes time to establish and build relationships with foreign partners. The key is not to be disheartened and to take on board feedback where you can. Some products that we thought would perform well abroad received mixed responses, but this allowed us to go back to the drawing board and adapt and amend our offering to ensure new markets were receiving exactly what they needed.

2016 has been a year of change for Bloc Blinds. We have been settling in to our new, purpose built facilities and have welcomed new employees to the firm – bringing our workforce up to 115 people with more set to join over the coming years. It’s an exciting time for the business as we continue with our innovative product development that initially helped put the company on the map.

The blind market is a saturated one. Our

unique selling point is that customers can change the fabric of their blind whenever they want and this has really resonated with consumers; so much so that we successfully introduced seasonal fabric for special occasions such as Christmas. Our products are also suited to the novice DIY-er as our blinds come with drill free brackets. Innovation and R&D are hugely important elements of our business. Currently we have 13 product patents pending, four patents that have been confirmed, and we are gearing up to launch two truly game changing products later this year. One of these – a unique solar powered skylight – will be particularly suited to our export markets while the other, a cordless blind, responds to a real need for shading products that also ensure child safety.

As well as exporting across the UK and RoI – we export to further afield in Europe including Holland, France and Germany and plan to grow our export potential further over the coming years in line with our expansion plans. There are many benefits that come with being an exporter. Firstly, you spread your risk and are better able to navigate

market fluctuations if you are operating across a few different markets. Exporting also helps you lift the performance of your business to a higher level. If you are sending product further away, you are going to make sure it’s fit for purpose to minimise any follow up and you find that this attitude results in better performance right across the board.

Northern Ireland is a great place to export from. Organisations like InvestNI are dedicated to supporting export potential here and helped us by facilitating meetings and trade visits which have directly led to orders. We’re uniquely placed too with a ‘double hop’ export market open to us – into RoI and the GB market. An issue that is always on the mind of exporters is how product flows and how trade relations are sustained. Otherwise though, a key selling point NI businesses having going for them, is our talented people. As a region, we have a great pool of educated and committed professionals on our doorstep. Knowing how key our team has been to Bloc Blinds, I can’t emphasise the importance of this enough.

While we are an exporting company we also work with a host of local companies who support that drive. From our bank, First Trust Bank who have believed in our vision to a host of fabric designers and aluminium suppliers who ensure we remain innovative and competitive. This has shown us the breadth of talented businesses and people which exist in Northern Ireland and proves we can compete with the best in the world.”

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Eye on Export David Milligan - Ardglass Sea Products Ltd

From its base on the east coast of Co Down, Ardglass Sea Products Ltd exports fresh and frozen fish products all over the world as well as supplying local restaurants, businesses and wholesalers across NI through its successful retail division. A family run business, the company was established by brothers Seamus and Philip Milligan and is now run by Seamus’ son, David Milligan.

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t seems obvious, but in order to be a successful exporter, you must have a deep understanding of the markets you are operating in, or plan to operate in. Cultural and societal factors are important, as are logistics issues such as currency, payment and import structures. By understanding the nuances of each market, you can build a tailored and effective operating model.

Ardglass Sea Products starting exporting almost 30 years ago. While my father and uncle may not have envisaged us exporting to locations as far afield as Cameroon, they recognised the opportunity to penetrate emerging markets brought about by increased globalisation. As a result, we now have a wide client base across the EU, Africa and Asia as well as experience in the Russian market.

At Ardglass, we sell pelagic fish. Often referred to as the ‘chicken of the sea’; it’s known for its high protein value, and low cost. We can bring our catch in from the Irish Sea to our well-equipped factory, and within hours the produce can be exported

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to our customers. It’s a product that is in high demand by consumers, but 2016 has been a tricky year for the fishing industry as a whole, with the sector suffering from poor sales in Europe and a lack of exportable currency in Africa (USD).

These market and sectoral fluctuations make product quality and customer experience all the more important. We maintain a close understanding of our customers’ ever changing needs. This helps us implement changes which benefit our clients and our business, and allows us to add value to our products through good communication and excellent service. We pride ourselves on these relationships and building trust and reputation with your clients can be just as important as knowing your export market. This is why, despite increased competition we have been doing business with some of our customers for nearly 20 years.

Geographically speaking, Northern Ireland is an excellent base for exporters.

We benefit from good shipping links from Dublin - a particularly crucial factor for our

business - and as a region we are focused on growing our economy. This means that organisations and local authorities, as we found in our dealing with Invest NI and Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, are very supportive in helping you achieve your ambition. Being an exporter also allows you to continue to grow your business. By working across a number of regions you aren’t wholly reliant on one economy or one market, but instead can scope out additional opportunities if a particular marketplace goes into decline or stagnates.

Challenges do of course exist. In our business, we have found that some aspects of NI infrastructure have prohibited our growth plans. Recently we experienced difficulty in securing adequate electricity supply to power our facilities and setbacks of this type can adversely affect businesses growth ambitions. We have been committed to modernising our operations over the last number of years, and at the start of 2016 we completed a large expansion project which modernised our freezing and cold storage capabilities. Having completed this part of our growth programme, we are now looking forward to installing new processing equipment which will further improve our efficiency and outputs and allow us to reach new customers.

As with other many other businesses operating within the agri-food sector, ‘Brexit’ is a hot topic. For fishing companies it’s of particular relevance given the stringent quotas placed on the industry.

This has been restrictive to our growth plans, so we will continue to observe the debate and vote with interest.”

Eye on Export Colm O’Farrell - The Deluxe Group

The Deluxe Group’s Managing Director Colm O’Farrell is currently in Dubai leading the company’s Dubai office - Deluxe Theme Turnkey Projects - which opened in December 2014. Headquartered in Portadown, the Deluxe Group started out as painting and decorating firm in 1969 but evolved its service offering in line with changing markets and is now probably best known as a bespoke joinery manufacturer and theming company.

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y advice to anyone considering exporting is to make sure that your offering is original.

Diversifying your operations opens your business up to a host of niche opportunities, whereas going in to a new market with price as your differentiator can lead to tough challenges as you deal with competitors and fluctuations in overheads and demand.

The Deluxe Group is now mainly an exporting company. Although the NI and RoI market is currently quiet for us, we export to a host of European countries including England, France, the Netherlands, and further afield to the UAE where there is a huge demand for our theming specialism. We very much see ourselves as an international company - open to exporting anywhere and everywhere.

The company’s current activity spans high end joinery in the luxury hospitality and residential sector in London to creative fabrication for theme park attractions in Dubai where they have just opened an office following the award of five themed attractions at Motiongate, Dubai’s largest movie based theme park opening later this year.

I think the evolution of our business, the emphasis we put on quality and talent coupled with our attention to detail - both in our products and business decisions – helps to explain our export success. Our offering has continually developed to respond to gaps in the market; moving from painting and decorating in the 70s and 80s to specialist finishes in the 90s, to bespoke joinery and outfitting in the 00s. We saw a huge upturn in business from 2012 onwards and almost vertical growth last year as our theming division expanded.

One element of our business that attracts attention and contributes to our growing reputation is our ability to offer end to end service delivery. As well as creating the sets, props and special effects for attractions such as Hotel Transylvania; Ghostbusters; Zombieland; The Green Hornet and Underworld at Motiongate in Dubai, we manage the entire artistic process and commit to delivering projects on time and to budget.

The joiners who work at Deluxe are learning a new way of doing carpentry. Key to our success is our talented workforce, so we invest in factory and in-house training – equipping our team with the skills they need to be master carpenters. It’s a great environment to work in. When people think of fit-out or joinery, they typically envisage furniture design but in our workshops you come face to face with all manner of builds, from witches’ carts to gargoyles! By combining the latest in technological design and production, equipment with woodworking craftsmanship and artistic talent, we can create sets that make people feel as if they have been transported to a different world.

2016 got off to a phenomenal start for us, and we have plenty in store for the rest of the year and beyond with orders lined up for the next 2 – 3 years. We have one of the biggest supply packages for Dubai Parks and Resorts where we are working to bring to life the five Sony Pictures attractions. We are making great inroads into the luxury fit-out market in London working on private members hotels such as The Devonshire Club which is a growing trend in the London hospitality market.

Key to making sure exporting is the right –

and a successful – option for your business is to avail of the great support networks available. If it wasn’t for the support of Invest NI, the Department of Trade and Industry and our bank First Trust Bank, we wouldn’t be where we are today. The Invest NI team in Dubai helped us team up with a local sponsor and have been a great support mechanism to help us navigate the local business industry in UAE. Looking to Northern Ireland, I’m optimistic about our economic prospects as there is a sense of upturn both north and south of the border – despite the Brexit question. While daunting, exporting doesn’t have to be difficult. We haven’t encountered any logistical problems and just recently transferred 70 containers to our new office in Dubai with no issue.

As long as you are responding to a market demand and have something unique and original to offer, exporting is a rewarding endeavour. With a host of partners and organisations hoping to grow Northern Ireland’s export potential, getting the support and knowledge you need has never been easier.”

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Eye on Export

The Business of Sport When Leicester City were recently crowned Premier League champions, much of the excitement centered on the sheer unlikeliness of their success. In an era when professional sports can seem elite and rarified, this was a timely reminder that Davids can still outmaneuver Goliaths, and that the magic of sport lies in its ability to create moments where courage, skill and inspiration become the stuff of legend.

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hile the central place of football, rugby and Gaelic games in Northern Ireland’s culture goes without saying, the true diversity, as well as the economic and social value, of sports and outdoor pursuits is often under appreciated. However, it rewards close attention: a 2008 report found that £688m was spent annually by consumers on sport-related goods and services in Northern Ireland that year, supporting 17,900 jobs in the process. This figure represented an extraordinary 54% increase in expenditure in just four years, and built on levels of participation in outdoor sports that had grown by over 150% between 1995 and 2008. Meanwhile, a 2013 study on outdoor recreation in Northern Ireland painted an equally positive picture. It found employment generated by outdoor recreation in Northern Ireland to be almost equal to the combined figures for the creative arts and entertainment, travel agencies and tour operators, and the gambling sector.

If, as this data suggests, our sporting economy is in rude good health, the questions remains as to whether we are building sufficiently on its potential. In 2013, the World Police & Fire Games showcased Northern Ireland’s ability to host major international sporting events and, equally importantly, to ensure that public expenditure is rewarded by income generated. Since then, however, it could be argued

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we have been resting on our laurels. Much of our attention has, of course, been absorbed by the pleasurable sight of Northern Ireland progressing to the European Championships for the first time. As we move ever closer to Euro 2016, the value of sporting events to the local hospitality sector will undoubtedly receive coverage.

This also makes it an opportune time to consider the broader question of how Northern Ireland’s appeal as a sporting location can be developed and enhanced, as well as how we can better utilise the resources we have to ensure our love of sport brings more revenue and more jobs to the region.

For all the millions earned at the upper echelons of sport, funding and investment at local level will always be a challenge.

This isn’t just a question for Northern Ireland, but as part of a broader conversation on sport we should consider how we can nurture and reward volunteer and grassroots work, and enhance the value it brings to personal and community development, particularly among young people.

BDO Northern Ireland also believes in paying more than lip service to the role sport plays at various levels of our society.

We are sponsors of the Malone Mini Rugby Club for their 2016 and 2017 seasons. Malone Mini Rugby like us, believe in developing the skills and talents of our future leaders with over 156 children aged 4-12 from all different backgrounds involved

Brian Murphy and Laura Jackson; BD NI Partners teeing off with Ross Oliver; Galgorm Castle Golf Club. Picture: Elaine Hill

in the club. Through the time dedicated by the Malone Mini team of coaches and staff, they ensure that the sport thrives within the local community.

We at BDO have also recently confirmed sponsorship for the Northern Ireland Open for the next three years. With over 40,000 visitors expected to the tournament this year alone, this is one of the events that will allow the local community to prosper including many surrounding businesses.

The metrics by which we value sport and sporting achievements go far beyond the monetary (ask any Leicester City fan) but it is time for fresh consideration as to how we can better monetise and grow the business of sport, so that it provides the basis for many future success stories both on and off the pitch.

Eye on Events

Discovering Powerful Connections at Northern Ireland – Poland Conference Belfast 2016

The High Sheriff of Belfast, Alderman Jim Rodgers OBE; Jerome Mullen, Honorary Consul of the Republic of Poland in Northern Ireland with His Excellency Witold Sobków Ambassador of Poland in London.

Titanic Belfast was the location for the inaugural Northern Ireland – Poland Conference, Belfast 2016.

The event which took place on 02 June 2016 brought together experts in the fields of politics, economics and business to foster business connections between both countries and develop bi-lateral business links already worth more than £200 million a year.

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he Trade and Investment Promotion Section of the Polish Embassy in London organised the conference in partnership with the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Poland in Northern Ireland, Mr Jerome Mullen. Jerome said: “The Northern Ireland - Poland Business Conference brought together eminent experts in the fields of politics, economics and business from Poland and Northern Ireland, in the one space, for the first time. It provided local businesses and entrepreneurs with an excellent opportunity to get an insight into the economic growth of the Central European markets and to make valuable connections with businesses, political leaders, market experts, major enterprises and regional chambers of commerce.

“More than a dozen Northern Ireland companies, including the likes of Kainos and Delta Packaging, already have a strong foothold in Poland. A significant

section of the conference was dedicated to the “Discover Powerful Connections” session which promoted the most attractive Polish investment regions and presented the benefits of the ‘Special Economic Zones’ policy in Poland.

“We were also delighted to welcome His Excellency Witold Sobków Ambassador of Poland as the guest of honour.”

Event speaker, Terry Cross OBE, founder of Belfast based Delta Print and Packaging which has just been acquired

by Huhtamaki, provided an overview of what delegates could expect: “I gave delegates an insight into the recent investment that Delta Packaging embarked on which resulted in the development of a 100,000 square foot production facility in Gliwice to expand the company’s European supply chain network. The new site allows the team to further develop existing relationships with our client base, while realising the full economic potential and incentives of exporting to the international market.

“The company’s success in recent years has attracted the success of Huhtamaki which recently acquired the Delta Print and Packaging sites in both Belfast and Poland. The company is now known as Huhtamaki Foodservice Delta and with forces combined, Huhtamaki will strengthen its position within the European foodservice packaging market and be able to expand its offering of fiber based packaging to packaged food and retail customers throughout Europe.”

Further insights on successful cooperation between Northern Ireland and Poland were shared by Kainos

Group, a fast-growing provider of IT services. Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Belfast, Kainos specialises in the development of digital technology solutions.

Kainos customers include large global organisations such as Netflix and Diageo, as well as public sector clients in government and healthcare. Many of these organisations are experiencing long-term structural change, and are working with Kainos to develop digital solutions that help them address new and emerging business challenges.

Kainos employs almost 800 staff in eight offices in various parts of Europe and the USA. Over 200 of these work from a flagship development hub in the centre of Gdansk, the historic trading capital of Pomerania in northern Poland. Kainos selected this location in 2007 as its first mainland European centre, primarily because of the high quality of the local work force. Since then, the Kainos development hub in Gdansk has grown rapidly, and now forms a central part of the company’s development activities and growth plans.

Kainos Polish employees lead the development of the company’s innovative software products, and also work side by side with colleagues from other Kainos locations on client sites in the UK and Ireland.

For further information please email jeromemullen@polishconsulateni.org

Simon Huntley, Santander Corporate and Commercial Banking; Alicia Ferrero Vega, Santander Corporate and Commercial Banking and Leszek Banaszak, Counsellor, Trade and Investment Promotion Section Embassy of the Republic of Poland in London.

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Eye on Innovation

CATALYST INC...

NEW NAME, NEW BEGINNING

Catalyst Inc is the new name for the Northern Ireland Science Park and its associated companies, but the re-brand goes a lot deeper than a new name.

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he organisation has launched an ambitious 10-year strategy targeting £100 million worth of investment, an additional one million square feet of space and 5,000 high quality jobs. And it’s a strategy built on the firm foundations laid by the former Science Park’s achievement so far.

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Created in 1999 to support the vision for a vibrant new knowledge economy in Northern Ireland, and backed by the NI Executive to the tune of £22 million, the Science Park has exceeded all of its targets and growth expectations. It has supported the creation of 2,600 jobs, the development of

400,000 sq.ft. of workspace and leveraged private sector support worth £1 million annually.

“When I came back home to take on this role, I had high hopes for what we could achieve here,” says Catalyst Inc Chief Executive Dr. Norman Apsley.

“It’s been a testament to the vision of quite a few people here in Northern Ireland, and the achievements have surpassed what we had hoped for.

“We genuinely believe that Northern Ireland is a community of innovators, and that’s why we’ve

decided to take this next step. We could choose to sit back on what we’ve achieved, but we think it’s time to be ambitious and drive this forward. The world is changing, and as a region and an economy, we have to change with it.”

“We’re confident that this exciting phase of our development will accelerate the attraction of international companies to Northern Ireland, whether they are coming here to invest or to acquire, and it will also step up the support available to indigenous firms.”

Eye on Innovation

Already home to 160 companies in science, technology and knowledge-based industries and with campuses in Belfast, Derry, Letterkenny and Ballymena, Catalyst Inc contributes an estimated £125 million gross value to the local economy per annum. Current tenants include Citi, Novosco, Path XL, 8over8, Taggled and IRP Commerce.

“The diversity of the companies we have here is the key to the success of our business model,” says Dr. Norman Apsley. “And it’s important to emphasise

that the companies based here have an average 30% growth rate per annum.”

“Catalyst Inc is built upon our belief that we really do have a community for innovators here.

All we do is to provide a home, networks and understanding to support this talent and ambition.

“Everyone talks about the need to grow the economy and drive our expertise and skills in technology. What we’ve done is to provide the right environment for that ambition to take hold and to prosper. Our target now

is to accelerate the process.”

The re-launch of Catalyst Inc was revealed recently to tenants, staff and leaders of the local business community at an event held in the Centre.

“Our stakeholders are vital to us,” Apsley continues. “We work closely with both universities nd with government, the public and private sectors.

“When we first established the Northern Ireland Science Park, we based what we were doing around the international science park concept. But I think over time we’ve managed to achieve a lot more than quite a few of the science parks that we modelled ourselves on.

“Key to that is the fact that we have established deep roots in the regional economy that we serve, and the fact that we play host to a really exciting range of different companies at the leading edge of science and technology.”

Regular communication with stakeholders was fundamental to the decision to re-brand as Catalyst Inc. “The feedback we receive is largely very positive,” says Apsley. “But one message we were getting was that there were too many brands within our family – Halo, Connect and our Real Estate division, for example.

“So we decided that a bold decision was needed, a decision to bring the whole lot under one over-arching brand name.

We’ve no doubt it’s the right way ahead and we’ve no doubt that we’re in this for the long haul.”

It’s commonly accepted that a fast-growing Knowledge Economy is vital when it comes to the re-balancing of the wider local economy. Higher productivity sectors can generate wealth from outside of the region and sustain highly paid jobs.

“Catalyst Inc is an active force, a catalyst accelerating positive change that can benefit the wider economy here in Northern Ireland.

“But, as an organisation, we’re also about one other thing. We’re about creating serendipity.”

It’s a nice way of putting it......

And that name? Dr. Norman Apsley might be proud physicist. But he’s adept enough at chemistry to explain why it was chosen.

As most of you will remember from your days in the chemistry lab at school, a catalyst is a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without itself undergoing any permanent chemical change.

It says it all.

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Eye on Communications

What started out as a bad-taste prank by computer geeks in the early days of the internet, has become a millionpound business. Viruses, worms and trojan horses have now been replaced by sophisticated spyware, adware, and other forms of malicious programs, designed for profit.

Malvertising Puts Online Security Under The Spotlight

By Stuart Carson, Rainbow Communications

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alware is intrusive software that spreads viruses and spyware. At its most basic level, malvertising refers to fraudulent online advertising with the purpose of spreading malware.

With the growing sophistication of technology, and hackers, it has become increasingly difficult to distinguish fraudulent ads from genuine online advertising. Typically, malware targets websites that attract a lot of traffic, or popular, widely-used apps in order to reach as wide an ‘audience’ as possible.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise then that 90% of malware attacks are launched via legitimate sites, making publishers unwittingly complicit, as well as advertisers and ad tech providers. Malware piggybacks on third-party data and targets its victims on a large scale.

Unfortunately the malware can install without the website visitor actively clicking on the advert. That

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is why more than 9 million British web users say they now block ads, which stops the malvertisments infecting your machine. The Internet Advertising Bureau’s latest snapshot of adblocking shows that 22% of British web users over 18 years old are currently using software to strip ads from digital content, up from the 18% last year.

Other precautions against malvertising include firewalls which can be either a hardware based or a software based network security tool. Firewalls basically match all incoming and outgoing data packets with the ones in the database in order to figure out whether they are harmful or not, if they are, the firewall automatically blocks the harmful data packet.

Provide maximum security

60 000 new pieces of malware created daily As well as blocking ads at source, anti-virus software can also help mitigate malvertising by providing a program to search for and remove software viruses. The choice can be daunting however with antivirus companies updating their detection tools constantly to deal with the more than 60,000 new pieces of malware created daily, it pays to choose a provider to protect your systems.

If you want to take your online security to the next level then a Unified Threat Management Appliance (UTM) is a much more powerful security tool, compared to a standard firewall. A UTM appliance is only available as a hardware based option. It needs to be connected to the main network and works in order to provide maximum security against all incoming viruses. However, whereas the firewall is mainly concerned with the flow of

data packets, a UTM appliance has a more diverse range of functions and provides multiple layers of additional security.

The market for UTM appliances now exceeds the billion pound mark and is growing fast as the rise of malvertising continues relentlessly.

Rather than installing a number of different security systems in order to provide a range of different options, most companies and organizations generally prefer to making use of an UTM appliance, which provides them with complete protection against a host of incoming threats. Whatever solution you choose, make sure you keep it under constant review, the scammers and hackers certainly do!

Rainbow Communications info@rainbowcomms.com 0800 018 8082 www.rainbowcomms.com.

Weeknights at 10.30pm

Eye on Insurance

Hughes...

Meet the Team Hughes Insurance is one of the longest established insurance brands in Northern Ireland.

Founded nearly four decades ago, its longevity has seen it firmly established as one of Northern Ireland’s most recognisable insurance providers and it has every intention of remaining that way.

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Eye on Insurance

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urrently employing over 250 staff across its five regional branches and the company headquarters in Newtownards, as Hughes approaches its 40th birthday next year, it’s evident that it has no plans of slowing down anytime soon. The company was acquired by Liberty Mutual insurance in 2014, although operates independently in the NI market. Hughes is out in force with not only a new refreshed brand and advertising campaign which has adorned outdoor billboards, buses and our TV screens since it launched last month, but behind the brand lies a new core executive team under the leadership of their CEO Brian McDowell.

Brian who has been with Hughes Insurance since 2010 originally as the Sales and Marketing Director, took up the post of CEO in June last year, “I feel very proud to be leading a company which has been around for nearly four decades and am committed to ensuring that the next 40 years are every bit as successful.” The major rebrand, says Brian, is just the beginning of Hughes’ ambitious plans for the future.

“The rebrand recognises a significant milestone for Hughes, just a year shy of our 40th year in business, we’ve obviously been around a long time but we’re constantly looking at how we can evolve and continue to provide the best service and quality insurance cover to our customers. The longevity of a business is testament to its ability to adapt, innovate and constantly look at how you can do things better and that’s something we’ll continually do at Hughes.

“Our refreshed brand identity reflects our ambitions and five year vision for growth and I believe helps to set us apart from our competition.

We see ourselves as a trusted provider, dedicated to providing quality cover, not just the cheapest cover and we hope our customers see that too. The peace of mind that comes from knowing what’s important is protected is priceless - whether

it’s your family, your home, your car, your holidays, or your business. As we grow and adapt to our customers’ needs, our priority remains doing what we do best – protecting what matters to our customers.”

Gareth Brady, is the company’s former Chief Executive, he held the position of CEO for eight years before he stepped up to Chairman last year. Gareth managed Hughes through its acquisition with Liberty Mutual and now oversees the delivery of the strategic direction of the company and continues to support the relationship between Hughes and Liberty: “Northern Ireland is a unique market, and the team at Hughes is uniquely positioned to service this market, with Liberty on board we can maximise our local credentials whilst leveraging the strategic insight a global provider brings to the table.”

Don Brennan, Head of Marketing Strategy and Pricing for Hughes, joined the company in November last year. Don’s career originated with BT, where he worked in senior management roles in Belfast and London, he is responsible for the personal lines and marketing divisions at Hughes and led the recent rebrand of the company.

“Hughes has built up a very loyal customer base some of which have been coming to us for years. It’s only on careful analysis of those customer relationships and behaviours that we effectively learn about what we need to do better, what we need to maintain and what we need to change.

One of the key things that was evident when I started this role was that the brand didn’t seem to reflect what Hughes really stands for and our ethos as a company. Looking after our customers and ensuring they are getting the service they need to protect what matters to them lies at the very heart of Hughes – it was obvious the entire team has a passion for protecting our customers and I wanted this to be an integral part of our identity.

“At the minute we’re currently offering new customers free

gap insurance on their vehicle when they purchase their car insurance. As cars depreciate over time, many insurance policies only cover you for the price of the car’s value at the time of accident or theft – not what you bought it for. Gap insurance ensures you claim the same amount back as you paid for it. Again exclusive offers like these are testament to our priority to provide quality cover to our customers.”

Service development is evidently crucial to the company which has invested £1m into e commerce following a review which highlighted that almost all of their customers were now transacting online. Iain Heap, Head of Operations has clearly a critical part to play in the evolution of Hughes.

With over 25 years of service development and delivery expertise with 17 of those spent managing, implementing and operating eCommerce throughout North America and Globally, Iain’s role at Hughes is to manage the transition from traditional communications to e commerce channels.

“Technology and advancement of online enables us to reach customers through a variety of touchpoints. Although our roots are very much established and embedded in Northern Ireland, our knowledge of insurance and our customer service is world class. Our customers are increasingly spending time online and our aim over the next five years is to continue to develop our online platform and offerings.”

Although much of the focus in their strategy is on their customers, having the correct workforce in place is something which Hughes’ considers hugely important. Hughes’ Senior HR and Learning and Development Manager, Sarah Billingsley works on a strategic and operational level, partnering with the key leadership team to deliver results through their people and culture. “People and talent are the company’s biggest assets.

Failure to hire and perhaps most importantly, to nurture your employees and their

skillset is hugely detrimental to a business. I’m passionate about finding the right people at Hughes and providing them with excellent training and development. Investing time in staff empowers people to do their jobs well and provides a happy high functioning working environment.”

Also sitting on the Executive team is Commercial Insurance Director Derek Quinn who is one of the longest serving employees in Hughes having been with the company for 25 years. Derek lives and breathes the insurance industry and has arguably unparalleled knowledge of the commercial insurance landscape. Derek’s role is to not only offer the best available premiums with best service but to bring clients with whom he has built a relationship with over the past 25 years on the journey of Hughes new direction with him. “We tailor our commercial insurance products to support the backbone of the NI economy – SMEs – and are committed to leading the charge and investing in building online as a key channel of choice for the SME community. At Hughes we have an extensive network of insurance providers and a team of Business Development Executives who tailor our product to support our customer.

In 2016 and beyond our online offering will become a crucial part of how we facilitate our customers business in order to support their needs.”

For more information on Hughes Insurance visit www.hughesinsurance.co.uk

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Eye on Insurance

Brian McDowell

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G

Derek Quinn

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rian, the company’s CEO, joined Hughes in 2010 as Sales and Marketing Director and was instrumental in the company’s acquisition by Liberty Mutual Insurance Group.

Brian’s expertise, borne from nearly 20 years’ experience in blue chip financial services institutions, was integral in expanding the Hughes Insurance book to cater for £70m premium to over 160,000 customers and almost 20% market share in key segments.

Brian became CEO in June 2015.

areth has built a number of successful insurance distribution businesses throughout the UK. He has over 15 years CEO experience in the insurance sector, including eight years as CEO of Hughes Insurance before stepping up to Chairman. He is a Chartered Accountant, having started his career with EY.

erek has recently completed 25 years with the company and has held the post of Commercial Insurance Director for the last 10 years. He started his insurance career with Zurich he is ACII qualified and a Chartered Insurance Broker.

Iain Heap

Don Brennan

Sarah Billingsley

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ain has over 25 years of service development and delivery expertise, spanning the telecommunications, banking and insurance sectors, both locally and internationally.

Prior to joining the Hughes executive team in 2015, Iain spent 17 years managing, implementing and operating eCommerce and Contact Centre process and system solutions throughout North America and Globally.

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Gareth Brady

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s a highly experienced sales, marketing and strategy specialist, Don’s career originated with BT, including senior roles in Belfast and London. He was appointed to run the personal lines and marketing divisions at Hughes Insurance and has led the recent rebrand of the company

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ith over ten years’ experience working in the HR field, Sarah is an experienced and commercially focused HR professional. Sarah’s role within Hughes strategically links people practices and initiatives to the overall business goals with the vision of driving success through people and culture.

Eye on Accountancy It’s been a busy time at one of Northern Ireland’s leading accountancy firms, ASM Chartered Accountants. Within the last month they have held three very successful Brexit debates around the province and they have also announced that Belfast based accountancy practice, Crawford Sedgwick, will be merging with ASM’s Belfast office. We caught up with Brian Clerkin, one of the firm’s directors, to find out more details.

Pictured is John Sedgwick alongside Brian Clerkin and Drew Crawford, celebrating the recent merger.

Busy Times at ASM T

he idea for the Brexit debates was something that came from our clients because it was the one issue that came up again and again when we met with clients. For business people the issue was twofold.

Firstly, it was about finding out information to inform the individual’s vote but it was also about allowing our clients to start thinking about the practical implications for their business in the event of a Brexit.

The events were a big success with full venues in Belfast, Newry and Cookstown. We were very lucky in that we were able to secure panelists who were both knowledgeable and passionate about their positions.

Bill Wolsey (for staying) and Jeffrey Peel (for leaving) were particularly articulate and really caught the audience’s attention.

Perhaps the most surprising thing to come out of the events was the extent to which our clients were pro-staying in Europe. During each of the events, chaired by the

BBC’s Wendy Austin, a straw poll was taken of the guests from a range of industries including retail, farming, hospitality, professional services and trade & export, and in each of the venues less than 10% of the audience was proBrexit with, on average, a further 10% undecided on their vote.

However, regardless of the voting intentions of the business community it was also clear that a Brexit would have far reaching implications for businesses here whether in terms of the potential negative impact on the economy, the impact of the exchange rate or on the question of free access to both markets and labour.

Referring to the merger with Crawford Sedgwick Brian Clerkin spoke of the work that he and his colleagues have been doing with Drew Crawford and John Sedgwick to get the merger agreed and to make sure that the process was as seamless as possible.

We knew that Crawford Sedgwick, which was established in 1976 by

ASM’s Brexit Seminar held at The Merchant Hotel

Drew Crawford and John Sedgwick, was one of Belfast’s longestrunning and most respected accountancy practices and that the Hill Street based practice had a range of specialisms and related skills that included: audit and accounting, internal audit, consultancy services and taxation.

We were therefore delighted to be able to bring our discussions to a successful conclusion which will see all of Crawford Sedgwick’s staff integrated within our Belfast-based (Rosemary Street) office and which will strengthen our audit, tax and accountancy offering and add a housing association specialism.

We been looking for merger opportunities for some time and this one came up at a very opportune stage for our business.

For us, it is an excellent fit in terms of Crawford Sedgwick’s client base, the size of their firm, their reputation and excellent skill set, which we feel is a perfect fit with our own client base and ethos.

The merger also fits in with our longstanding approach of growing both organically but also through mergers. Our 1999 merger with mid-Ulster firm, Robinson & Company and our 2005 merger with RJ Sutton & Co helped to grow our Dungannon office which, alongside our Magherafelt office gives us a very strong presence in mid-Ulster and the more northerly counties.

We also expanded into the Republic of Ireland in 2009, through our merger with O’Hare

Finnegan, with both directors, Michael O’Hare and Ian Finnegan remaining with the firm to head up the Dundalk and Newry offices.

We believe this recent merger gives us an ability to provide additional services to Crawford Sedgwick’s clients in terms of tax consultancy and financial services and further strengthens our position as one of the largest accounting and management consultancy firms in Ireland. We have been fortunate to have been able to grow consistently since our launch in 1995 to a stage where today we have offices in Belfast, Dublin, Dundalk, Dungannon, Magherafelt and Newry and a 170 strong team.

This recent merger, which took effect from June 1st, will provide us with a platform for further growth.

We feel that today our local presence across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, which is unrivalled in terms of number of offices and locally based staff, has been one of the key factors in our success. This merger will allows us to continue to consistently offer more senior and experienced staff than our competitors, an approach which has enabled us to obtain a market leading reputation in our key disciplines.

We are constantly looking for ways to innovate in order to improve our offering to clients and will be on the look out for further mergers like this in the future.

To contact Brian Clerkin or any of the ASM Chartered Accountants’ team visit www.asmaccountants.com

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Eye on Sustainability

Bank staff shine to help cancer charities. Sean Murphy (left) and Richard Donnan (right) from Ulster Bank pictured with Downtown Radio presenter Trevor Campbell (centre) and Darren Fowler (kneeling) from Cash for Kids, perfect their car washing skills, ahead of this year’s ‘One Week in June’ staff charity campaign. Also backing the Bank’s fundraising efforts are team mascots Courage the Cat and Henry Hippo.

INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO SUSTAINABILITY PAYS DIVIDENDS FOR ULSTER BANK St Patrick’s Academy Year 9 pupil, Rachael Flynn discusses the new Sentinus programme ‘Digital You’ with Ulster Bank Lisburn Branch manager, Mark Tumilty.

In its recently launched Sustainable Banking Report, How We Make a Difference (published online May 2016), Ulster Bank outlined ‘a clear purpose and ambition to be the number one bank for customer service, trust and advocacy’ and highlighted that fundamental to achieving that ambition was ‘running our business in a responsible and sustainable way.’

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lster Bank has a high profile backing major community events in Northern Ireland including the Balmoral Show as well as its support for grass roots rugby via the Ulster Bank League.

Through an extensive and wide reaching community programme, the Bank each year puts into practice its well-known strapline ‘Help for what matters’ across a range of community, customer and staff initiatives, aligning with

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RBS and NatWest’s approach to sustainability.

Key initiatives include financial capability schools and colleges programme MoneySense, the Skills & Opportunities Fund which supports projects in disadvantaged communities across the island of Ireland and the bank’s annual staff and customer charity focus, ‘One Week in June’ which sees thousands of staff take part in traditional, wacky and unusual events to raise much needed cash for their chosen charities.

Eye on Sustainability

Bright Future: Pictured celebrating Co-operation Ireland’s Ulster Bank Skills & Opportunities Fund award in December 2015, are from left: Sean Murphy (Regional Managing Director Branch and Private Banking Ulster Bank) with students, Curtis Irvine, Rhys Irvine, Lauren Stewart, Jordan McKeag, Amy Cairns and Chantelle Shields.

“Ulster Bank views sustainability as a core part of its business model,” explained Richard Donnan, Head of Northern Ireland, Ulster Bank. “Sustainable banking means serving our customers exceptionally well, motivating and engaging our people to deliver that service and making a difference to the communities we serve.”

Ulster Bank’s sustainability achievements in 2015 were recognised by a number of prestigious CSR awards including the Chambers Ireland overall Award for Outstanding Achievement in CSR, the Chambers Community Volunteering Award and the Irish Institute of Training and Development’s Best Overall Learning and Development Organisation Award.

In 2015 included One Week in June raised a record breaking £312,000. Staff ran, walked or cycled more than 12,000km and raised cash for seven local charities.

Ballybeen Women’s Centre and Lenadoon Community Forum secured important funding from Ulster Bank’s Skills & Opportunities Fund in August 2015 to implement its educational and employability programmes. In December 2015 the Fund also boosted local enterprise education charity, Young Enterprise and Co-operation Ireland, - enabling both to roll out youth specific business and training projects across many areas of Northern Ireland.

Free online financial and literacy initiative MoneySense marked its 21st birthday in 2015.

Ulster Bank is now the only bank offering free financial education content designed

for the full range of primary and secondary students aged 5 to 18. New resources were added to the programme in October 2015 and during the year Ulster Bank staff volunteers delivered 604 money management lessons in schools throughout the island of Ireland.

Further enhancements have taken place in 2016 including extensive content created for Key Stage 1 pupils aged 5-8.

This element of the programme was launched at the end of May at Old Warren Primary School in Lisburn as part of the school’s annual Financial Capability Week.

Sean Campbell, Principal at Old Warren PS said, “As a school we’re delighted to be part of Ulster Bank’s MoneySense programme of activities and avail of the staff volunteer support and online resource material to augment and enhance the in-school teaching and learning.”

This year’s ‘One Week in June’ charity initiative is themed ‘Help for the fight against cancer’ and takes place from 20 to 24 June. This year the bank has partnered with Downtown Radio/Cool FM charity Cash for Kids as well as Marie Curie in Northern Ireland. Over the past three years ‘One Week in June’ has raised £896,000 for over 20 charities and community groups.

Winners of Round 1 of Ulster Bank’s 2016 Skills & Opportunities Fund were revealed in late May and taking the honours were Coleraine based community jobs regeneration group West Bann Development and Sentinus in Lisburn which supports primary, post

primary and third level colleges with a wide range of digital based programmes.

First launched in 2015 the Skills & Opportunities Fund aims to support projects in disadvantaged communities to help people access the skills and opportunities to get into work, learn new skills or set up their own business. So far the Fund has awarded grants worth £247,000 to support these projects.

Eugene McFeely, West Bann Development manager said, “Ulster Bank’s Skills & Opportunities Fund £20K award will enable us to provide more in depth courses and training support to a wider reach of people.”

Sentinus Lisburn will use its £7500 Ulster Bank award to roll out a brand new programme to NI schools called ‘Digital You’ supporting 14-16 year olds in disadvantaged communities offering ‘ in school’ support and training in a full range of digital skills including coding and App development set within a business context.

The next round of funding will open for applications from 22 August until 9 September. For details visit http:// skillsandopportunitiesfund.ulsterbank.com/ Looking to the future, Richard Donnan said, “At Ulster Bank we are very proud of our progress in building a sustainable business. But we’re not complacent and are committed to keeping our focus on excellent service to customers, as well as making a difference to our communities and investing in our people through continuous learning and development.”

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Eye on Cross Border Trade

MEETING THE BUYER – SME’S FLOCK TO BELFAST EVENT

More than 600 local SME’s attended InterTradeIreland’s Meet The Buyer event at Belfast’s Ramada Plaza Hotel recently to learn more about how to tap into the lucrative public procurement market worth an estimated £2.8 billion in Northern Ireland and €12 billion in the South.

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ublic sector bodies from across the island at the event included 11 local councils, NI Water, Translink and ESB Networks.

InterTrade’s Meet The Buyer events aim to raise awareness and promote opportunities for SME’s to compete for Government contracts and to inform SME’s about Government buyers in both parts of the island.

The Belfast event was held in partnership with the Central Procurement Directorate, Invest NI, Strategic Investment Board, the Office

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of Government Procurement and Enterprise Ireland.

Businesses had the opportunity to meet with government representatives at Buyer stands and information on current funding opportunities and business support was also made available.

Eye on Cross Border Trade

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Eye on IT

First-Class Cloud Computing Solution Delivered for Europarts/ National Windscreens By partnering with Xperience IT Solutions for their cloud computing needs, Europarts now benefit from guaranteed 24/7 business continuity with built in disaster recovery. By having a more resilient platform, they can ensure high performance and improved workforce productivity.

The white-label headache The Europarts Group have an exceptional track record in the distribution of automotive parts and wholesale glass, from the world’s foremost leading brands.

Following problems with a succession of cloud providers, Europarts made the decision to partner with Xperience in 2015 for their cloud computing needs. The now secure and robust platform ensures business continuity, which is critical to delivering exceptional customer service its customers expect.

Gareth Leslie, IT Manager at Europarts explains, “We’d been through several cloud providers, experiencing all manner of issues. Our previous supplier was a ‘white-label’ provider, which meant they were simply ‘middlemen’, and didn’t own their own hardware…Because Xperience own their own kit, they are directly responsible for it and can deal with all support queries directly. You also have the added advantage that they don’t have the price mark-up of a

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white-label provider, so there are distinct cost savings for us, too.”

Patrick Leggett, Sales Director at Xperience IT Solutions, remarks, “After meeting with Europarts it was clear that they were having both performance and trust issues with their cloud platform. After we performed a detailed audit we were able to highlight the issues and provide a clear resolution path.”

Pain free migration Xperience worked in partnership with Europarts to devise a detailed implementation plan spanning eight weeks, to ensure a smooth and pain free transition.

Patrick Leggett comments, “With any Cloud migration, business continuity is paramount. End users need to have a positive experience of any new system so they have confidence in its stability and capability going forward. I am delighted our deployment methodology ensured a seamless transition for all the management and staff at Europarts, never missing a beat! “

IT Manager Gareth adds “after speaking with the team at Xperience, we haven’t looked back- we have a more robust and resilient system that costs us less to run. As for the switchover itself, it went so smoothly. I only wish we’d done it sooner!”

Next level productivity As well as offering stability and resilience, the cloud solution provided by Xperience has enhanced productivity amongst the workforce, enabling members of staff to work more effectively.

For example the distribution team can operate remotely through a desktop client on their Smartphones, giving them access to the information and systems they need anytime, anywhere.

Gareth Leslie concludes “I would urge any business to talk to

Xperience about moving to cloud computing. Don’t feel like you are locked in with your current provider or that switching will be a hassle. Get Xperience in to see what they can do for you.”

To find out more about Xperience IT Solutions - visit www.xperienceitsolutions.co.uk or call 028 9267 7533.

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Eye on News

NEW PARTNERS AT A&L GOODBODY Corporate law firm A&L Goodbody has announced the appointment of two new partners in its Belfast office.

Pictured are: New partners Micaela Diver [L] and Tracey Schofield [R] with Mark Thompson, Head of Office, A&L Goodbody Belfast.

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racey Schofield, previously a Partner in another commercial law firm, has joined A&L Goodbody as Partner in the Commercial Property team, whilst Micaela Diver has been promoted to Partner in the

firm’s Litigation department. This brings the total number of partners in the firm’s Belfast office to 13, with 87 partners in total across the firm’s Belfast, Dublin, London, New York, San Francisco and Palo Alto offices.

The firm also announced the appointment of two new associates in its Belfast office, with Sarah Sistern being promoted to Associate in the Corporate department and Aisling Owens being promoted to Associate in the Banking and Finance department.

Commenting on these appointments, Mark Thompson, Head of A&L Goodbody’s Belfast office, said: “The appointment of these new partners and associates reflects the success and growth of the firm over the last 12 months and the confidence we have that this will continue in the future.

It’s also a measure of the strength in depth of talent we have across our practice groups in Belfast and in our other locations. As well as technical expertise, our clients demand energy, fresh thinking and savvy business sense from our senior lawyers, and Tracey and Micaela certainly fit the bill in this regard.”

Including Tracey and Micaela and the two new associates, A&L Goodbody has appointed five new partners and 25 new associates in total so

far this year in its Dublin, Belfast, London and New York offices.

Tracey Schofield has over 12 years’ experience working in the commercial property sector in Northern Ireland, advising clients on the acquisition, development and management of their property assets. She is one of nine lawyers in Northern Ireland individually named by global legal directory The Legal 500 (2015 and 2016) as outstanding in their field of expertise (commercial property).

Micaela Diver has over eight years’ experience in Public & Regulatory law, advising clients on a broad range of public and administrative law issues relating to procurement, competition and merger control, EU, State aid, regulatory and compliance. She advises clients on complex, high profile contentious cases and is recognised as a Leading Individual in EU & Competition by The Legal 500 and is ranked in Chambers UK (2016) in four areas: Public & Administrative, Public Procurement, EU & Competition and Social Housing.

GLOBAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIST PROVIDES INSIGHT ON GLOBAL MARKET IN 2016 AND BEYOND Barclays’ clients in Belfast were given the opportunity to hear a senior investment specialist give his views on global investment trends and opportunities and risks in 2016 and beyond at an exclusive event held recently at The Merchant Hotel, Belfast.

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he event saw over 90 clients come together to listen to Henk Potts, Director of Global Research and Investments, Barclays Wealth and Investment Management, who gave his expert views on the global and UK economy in 2016, before conducting a Q&A with guests.

Key points covered at the event included the recent financial market turmoil, the outlook for the UK, European and US economies as well as where the most attractive investment opportunities lie. Mr Potts gave his views on issues

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likely to affect future economic stability as well as discussing the future diversification of investment portfolios.

Mr Potts discussed his thoughts on a future global economic recession, saying he did not think another one was imminent. He said that investors are still best served by staying diversified across asset classes and geographies, but leaning that diversified investment portfolio towards equities both tactically and strategically.

Jonathan Dobbin, Head of Barclays Wealth and Investment Management,

Henk Potts with Jonathan Dobbin, Head of Barclays Wealth & Investment in Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland, said: “After a disruptive start to the year for capital markets, it was hugely valuable for our local clients to have the opportunity to listen to Henk’s thoughts on how clients should look to re-evaluate and position their investment portfolio in 2016.

“Henk’s economic insights were very well received by local clients and sparked some interesting conversations and debates. We have witnessed a growing appetite among our clients for this kind of insight, and this event forms part of a wider series that the Barclays Wealth and Investment Management team

are organising across our UK offices in the coming months. We are committed to providing our clients in Belfast with global expertise tailored for a local audience, and so we were thrilled to be able to welcome Henk here. The event gave our clients the opportunity to hear insight from the head of research and investment who is at the coalface of our economic strategy as a bank.”

During his visit Mr Potts also hosted a briefing for a group of postgrad/ PhD students from the Finance Faculty at Queen’s University during his visit to Belfast.

EXPECT VISION

2 0 Y E A R S I N N O RT H E R N I R E L A N D

In 2016, Arthur Cox is celebrating 20 years in the Northern Ireland market.

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Eye on Events

Magners Ulster Derby 2016 At Down Royal The annual Magners Ulster Derby meeting at Down Royal, the highlight of the local flat racing season, once again drew a capacity crowd to the venue outside Lisburn.

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s in previous years, corporate guests in the Beef Or Salmon, Rainbow Communications & Moscow Flyer suites (as well as the corporate boxes) mingled with

racegoers around the parade ring and along the finishing straight.

The feature race, the Magners Ulster Derby, was won by Stellar Mass, trained by Jim Bolger and ridden by Kevin Manning.

Willie Jack with colleagues from Down Royal and Hamilton Kirk.

Mary Jane Byrne, Anne Mangrove and Kathryn Forde.

Pamela Ballantine and Willie Jack.

Tina O’Brien, Margaret McGillion and Carol McLaughlin.

Roy and Liz McKee with Geoffrey and Gail Hagan.

Emma Cooper, Victoria O’Hara and Tracey Flannigan.

Eye on Events

Liz and Rory Buchanan.

Kirsty McFarlane, Herry Walsh and Tara Mathews.

Gemma Owens, Catherine Yeates and Aislinn McGuckian.

Geoff Greenaway, Lisa Greenaway, Paul McCleary and Karen McCleary.

Laura Russell, Michelle Nicholas, Zara Beggs and Pamela Ballantine.

Stephen Smith and staff from Lighthouse Communications.

Mary Kim Doherty, Brigid O’Donnell, Brenda Quinn and Donia Reynolds.

Heather and George Maxwell.

Patricia Majury, Lee-Anne Stewart, Rebecca Robinson and Ronan Marshall.

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Eye on Events

Pictured at the Lisburn Castlereagh at Westminster event on St. Patrick’s Day are Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council’s Chairman of the Development Committee, Alderman Allan Ewart; Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Vernon Coaker MP; Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council’s Chief Executive, Dr. Theresa Donaldson and Lagan Valley MP, Jeffrey Donaldson.

LOCAL BUSINESSES NETWORK IN WESTMINSTER Over 100 leading business representatives from the Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council area, along with key business contacts from across the UK, investment representatives and senior politicians descended on Westminster in March to champion the Council area as one of Northern Ireland’s premier investment locations.

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egarded as the most business friendly and the best-connected city in Northern Ireland by companies already located there, the City has experienced strong growth in business investment from the high tech sector and is home to some of Northern Ireland’s most important local success stories and dynamic start-ups.

The Rt. Hon Jeffrey Donaldson MP hosted this high profile networking event in order to showcase investment opportunities across the Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council area.

The theme of the event was ‘The Missing Piece’, which highlights

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how the Council area is the missing piece for successful growth for businesses either established or looking to become established in the Lisburn and Castlereagh area.

Speaking at the event Jeffrey Donaldson said: “There is a proven track record of a successful entrepreneurial attitude within the Council area, and this is a proud trait for the area. The aim of this event was to raise the profile of Lisburn and Castlereagh as an excellent location for inward investment by international, national and local companies.

“The City is a business friendly, best

connected location with its strong infrastructure, fast broadband speeds and competitive business rates for commercial premises. It has always welcomed new investors but we want to go further – helping new investors integrate into the Lisburn and Castlereagh business community and the Council is committed to working with the companies already here.”

Alderman Allan Ewart, Chairman of the Council’s Economic Development Committee, added: “It was fantastic to see such a vast array of local businesses showcased at this prestigious event. It is a real demonstration of their commitment to the future growth of our City and an endorsement of the work, which the Council is undertaking.

“Lisburn over recent years has experienced a strong growth in business investment from the high tech sector and is home to some of Northern Ireland’s most important local success stories and dynamic start-ups.

“It is good to see old friends and new including a number of you whom we met in October at MIPIM UK. We have been delighted with the results from the MIPIM event and the interest in Lisburn Castlereagh; we were the only Council from Northern Ireland present, many of you have already followed up with a visit and we look forward to working with you all in the future.

“The Council promotes its area as a business-friendly city and is working to increase inward investment from businesses relocating to the City whilst offering assistance and advice to both established and new businesses.

Opportunities such as this networking event at Westminster are testament to the Council’s commitment to the business sector and local economy,” concluded Alderman Ewart.

Local businesses and their key contacts present in Westminster included Assa Abloy, Rocklyn Engineering, Xperience, McAdam Design and Praetor Energy Ltd.

Eye on Events (1)

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(3)

(5)

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(6)

(1) Vice-Chairman of Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council’s Development Committee, Alderman Jim Dillon; Anthony Reid, Spanwall; Hazel King, Economic Development Manager; Richard Bell, Spanwall and Tim Andrew, Andrew Ingredients. (2) Charlotte Newman, UK Israel Business; Aisling Owens, Lisburn Enterprise Organisation; Tom Elliot, MP; Vice-Chairman of Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council’s Development Committee, Alderman Jim Dillon and Hugo Bieber, UK Israel Business. (3) Jeff Edwards MBE OSTJ JP; Sergey Budnikov, Praetor Energy Ltd; The Rt. Hon. Jeffrey Donaldson MP; Daniel Mulhall, Embassy of Ireland; Alderman Jim Dillon MBE, Vice-Chair of the Council’s Development Committee and Alderman Allan Ewart, Chairman of the Council’s Development Committee. (4) Terence Brannigan, Maze Long Kesh Development Corporation; Linda Fu, HBJ Gateley and Kyle Alexander, Maze Long Kesh Development Corporation. (5) Camilla Toogood, Whip’s Office Manager, DUP ; Chairman of Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council’s Development Committee, Alderman Allan Ewart; Samantha Beggs, Whip’s Office, DUP; Mrs Jennifer Morrow and Lord Maurice Morrow MLA. (6) Peter & Belinda O’Neill, Bank of Ireland; Brenda Hale MLA and Brian Sofley, Assay Abloy.

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Eye on Food & Drink

DIAGEO AND THE YEAR OF FOOD AND DRINK 2016 2016 is the Year of Food and Drink in Northern Ireland. A fitting recognition for the food and drink sector which is Northern Ireland’s biggest manufacturer, contributing £5billion to the economy, generating sales abroad in excess of £4billion and providing employment for around 100,000 people across an extensive supply chain.

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iageo NI is one of the major exporters in this food and beverage sector with the company employing over 300 people across three sites including the global Baileys’ facility at Mallusk, a bottling and packaging plant in Marshalls Road, East Belfast and the corporate headquarters in Belfast City Centre.

The Mallusk facility currently produces around 70% of all Baileys sold worldwide with over 97% of Baileys produced on the site being exported. Over 80% of the ingredients and materials are sourced from local suppliers, including Encirc glass for bottles (Fermanagh); Smurfit Kappa in Lurgan for crates and boxes and McBurneys transport (Ballymena). Cream is supplied

by Glanbia, which sources milk from farms in Northern Ireland.

The Marshalls Road site is responsible for the bottling, canning and packaging of Guinness, Harp, Smithwick’s, Budweiser, Carlsberg, Tuborg and other beers. Record volumes were produced in the last financial year with some 60% of output suppling the local markets in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, while 40% is loaded onto boats to supply the rest of the UK, US, Europe and Korea.

Jorge Lopes, Country Director

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of Diageo NI, said; “As a key player in the food and beverage sector in Northern Ireland, we’re delighted to lend our support to the Year of Food and Drink 2016.

Given our close partnership with Visit Belfast, we understand how food and drink experiences have become increasingly important

to tourism here – in fact, about one third of what tourists spend is on food and drink.

We want to encourage our customers to use this platform both to attract tourists into our pubs, hotels and restaurants but also to give us all the opportunity to try new food and

drink experiences right on our doorstep. As such, we have put together a food pairing guide for our beers that we hope will prompt some new ideas for our customer to cross-sell and capture additional revenue while supporting the NI economy and the Year of Food and Drink.”

Eye on Food & Drink

Guinness® Draught

Hop House 13 Lager

• Initial malt and caramel flavours, Guinness Draught finishes with a dry roasted bitterness

• Crisp double-hopped lager, with aromas of apricot & peach.

• Robust taste of Guinness is best accompanied by foods with an equally strong flavour

• The fruity aroma from the hops is balanced wonderfully by the strong malt and biscuit base from the crystal malt used in the brewing process.

• GUINNESS® is excellent with seafood, particularly oysters; delicate, salty flavours being enhanced by strong, roasted, bitter flavours.

• The light, crisp, sharpness of the high level of hops in Guinness also makes it a perfect balance for sharp cheeses and rich, hearty dishes like stews or casseroles.

• Hop House excels at lighter game (duck on baby gem with some red & yellow peppers) or even citrus dessert (mango pavlova/lemon meringue pie). Fragrant Asian dishes are a strong point.

• The hints of coffee and chocolate evident in GUINNESS® provide a delightful accompaniment to rich, dark desserts.

• Stick to similar dishes as Golden Ale but don’t be afraid to put a bit more punch in the dish, and Hop House will come out singing.

Guinness Golden Ale

Smithwick’s

• Subtle malty biscuit flavours and a crisp finish. Mild hop aroma, lightly carbonated.

• A refreshing Ale with a gentle balance of bitterness, sweet malty notes and a hint of roasted barley

• Pair like a lager. Great for herb roasted chicken, white fish and pork.

• Golden Ale has a delicate body but is great for contrast and lifting the more subtle flavours in food. Tarragon and sage on chicken soar when they’re given a push from the sweet, malty bite in Golden Ale. • Stick to white meats and bready dishes (crackers and cheddar) for a safe bet.

• 7 times gold medal winner of the Monde Selection Quality Award • Roasted flavours of coffee, caramel, toffee • Works well with salty foods such as corned beef and bacon ribs; cheeses – especially strong blue cheeses; game & roasted meats

Guinness West Indies Porter

Smithwick’s Blonde Ale

• Rich & characterful with hints of toffee & chocolate. Notes include caramel, coffee, butterscotch.

• An alternative to lager, brewed with Polaris hops to create a delicate, refreshing tasting ale with a smooth finish and a subtle, fruit aroma

• Goes perfectly with dishes of strong game (venison or lamb work), cured meat & fish (scallops), some Thai dishes, creole cuisine.

• Ale delivers a ton on flavour - a complex balance of fruit and biscuits this is one versatile ale

• West Indies is bursting with flavour, so challenge it! Game is great for that sweet, meaty flavour.

• Non spicy foods/American style foods – Pizza, BBQ etc;

• The fragrant citrus, spicy character in Thai is great for balance and a nod to its original market for creole cuisine (slow cooked meats and beans with rice) is always good.

• Pair like a lager. Great with chicken, fish and pork

• Creamy foods/dressings – light bitterness of beer cuts through any buttery notes and cleanses palate i.e. Caesar dressing, cheese

Guinness Dublin Porter

Smithwick’s Pale Ale

• Sweet and smooth with malt & caramel notes. Mild carbonation.

• A Grand Gold winner of the 2015 Monde Selection award

• Goes great with BBQ, smoked salmon, mushroom risotto/ hearty soup (root veg).

• Pale Ale is brewed with aromatic Amarillo hops for a fruitier, fuller flavour

• Dublin Porter has a mild flavour akin to a full bodied ale, so it’s important to play on the smoother texture on the palette by pairing it with lighter fare with an earthy flavour to make those toasted malts shine.

• Clean, fruit aroma and full bodied taste with a long finish • Works well with seafood and shellfish and saltiness of bacon; spicy food such as curry - bitter hoppy notes cut through the spiciness; soft cheese – cuts through the fat

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Eye on Retail

EUROSPAR REACHES 50TH STORE MILESTONE AHEAD OF SCHEDULE

Paddy Doody, Sales and Marketing Director, Henderson Wholesale

Retail brand now largest by store numbers in NI, with five more due to open by end of 2016.

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ocal retailer Henderson Group has announced it has reached the 50th store milestone for its EUROSPAR brand in Northern Ireland, months ahead of schedule.

The retailer has also announced that a further five stores will open before the end of 2016.

As the 50th EUROSPAR opened in Fintona, Co. Tyrone on 02 June, it marked the brand achieving the largest number of stores from any supermarket brand in Northern Ireland.

The niche conveniencesupermarket brand is owned by the Henderson Group and has operated in Northern Ireland

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since 2000. The company has invested a total of £70M in the brand over the past 16 years.

In September 2015, the Group celebrated 15 years of the brand successfully operating in Northern Ireland and projected the opening of the 50th store by the end of 2016. With this landmark surpassed already, Paddy Doody, Sales and Marketing Director at Henderson Wholesale looks ahead to further openings this year.

Mr Doody commented; “The strength of the EUROSPAR brand in Northern Ireland shows that the way people are shopping is changing. Consumers no longer want to take time out of their busy lives to visit a multiple for a ‘big shop’, they are looking for convenience and value but with the choice of a multiple, and that is where the EUROSPAR brand delivers.

Just a matter of months ago, we were planning to open eight more stores here in 2016, surpassing the 50th store milestone, and we have already done this, with a further five planned to open by the end of the year.

Investment in this brand has reached over £70m and we will continue to invest to bring a better and more convenient way of every day shopping throughout Northern Ireland.”

Through the 20 company-owned EUROSPARs here, Henderson Group directly employ over 600 members of staff, with over 1,000 more employed through the rest of the independentlyowned EUROSPAR network.

Mr Doody continued; “As we continue to recruit retailers and open supermarkets within communities, we are providing vital employment opportunities, and

also enabling local suppliers and farmers to get their products on our shelves. Over 75% of our fresh product is sourced here including the new enjoy local range which is made up of 144 products from 25 local suppliers, while many EUROSPARs provide the local butcher, bakery and post office services for the community.”

The new stores will also have the opportunity to provide life-saving equipment for their area with the installation of a new, state-ofthe-art defibrillator that will be accessible to the public 24/7.

The first two EUROSPARs opened in Bangor and Warrenpoint in 2000. The 50th store, EUROSPAR Fintona opens Thursday 02 June 2016.

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*by store numbers

Eye on News

Bank of Ireland UK cook up a storm for Enterprise Week 2016 to support Belfast’s homeless charity

Eight chefs from famous restaurants across Belfast came together to add some spice and a pinch of salt to Enterprise Week 2016 for the Bank of Ireland UK’s ultimate omelette challenge with all funds raised going towards the Welcome Centre, Belfast. The well-known local chefs each cooked an omelette using their creative flare and personal choice of ingredients while under the watchful eye of the award winning Michelin star chef, Michael Deane, owner of Deane’s Restaurant, the popular James McGinn, Europe Hotel General Manager and Ruth McClurg, University Road Commercial Branch Manager, Bank of Ireland UK. Time was of the essence as each chef cooked against the clock and had three minutes to perfect their masterpiece before being judged on cooking technique, taste and presentation. The cheering crowd’s funds raised were matched by Bank of Ireland UK for the Welcome Centre, a charity supporting the homeless in Belfast.

(Pictured L-R) Vincent Granier, Chef at Fitzwilliam Hotel, Shaun Overt, Chef at Malone Lodge, Michael McCavana, Chef at Deanes Love Fish, Phillip Rooney, Chef at Madisons Hotel, Ruth McClurg, University Road Commercial Branch Manager, Bank of Ireland UK, James McGinn, Europe Hotel General Manager, James Devine, Chef at Deanes Eipic, Michelin star chef, Michael Deane, owner of Deane’s Restaurant, Julian O’Neill, Chef at CoCo and Paul Abraham, Chef at Europa.

BT YOUNG SCIENTIST COMPETITION LAUNCHED

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op illusionist David Meade joined students from Ballymena Academy and St Patrick’s High School, Keady pictured (l-r) Cathal Rice, Susanna Crabbe, Rachel Brown, Ryan McKee, Ellen McAuley and Edward Gaffney in the dome at Victoria Square to launch the 2017 BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition.

Proving that science is not just lab coats and Bunsen burners, David helped students take their learning to new heights by hosting a science lesson 148ft high in a bid to encourage young people to ‘Dream it, Do it’ and enter this year’s competition. For more information on the exhibition and for details on how to enter, log onto www.btyoungscientist.com.

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Eye on News

Local Hospitality Group Announce £500k Investment A

s Hillsborough’s iconic Plough Group of bars and restaurants approaches its 36th year of business in July, brothers William, Richard and Derek Patterson, who currently employ 220 people locally, are gearing up for the launch of their newest venture, The Vintage Rooms, which will open later this month at The Plough.

Marking an investment of £500,000 and the creation of 15 new full and part-time roles, The Vintage Rooms will serve as the only lounge bar experience in Hillsborough and is sure to attract foodies from near and far looking for that something different for lunch or a night out.

Situated at the former Bar Retro site, The Vintage Rooms will add another unique offering from the Patterson family who have continued to evolve their business over the years to include the popular Plough Inn which also includes The Bistro and Simply Seafood; The Pheasant, Annahilt, and The Tannery, Moira as part of their portfolio.

With The Vintage Rooms, the Patterson’s wanted to offer something a little different, Derek Patterson explains, “The Vintage Rooms will provide a one stop shop for a great night out and we envisage it to be a real social hub for Hillsborough. Key features will include a Spirit and Wine Library and Whiskey Cellar which will showcase the global offering of wines, spirits and cocktails on offer for all tastes to enjoy in an intimate setting. Adding to the uniqueness of the new bar, customers will also have the option to buy their drinks by-the-bottle, and will be provided with an exclusive locker to stow their personally labelled spirits until their next visit.”

The focus of The Vintage Rooms won’t be all about the drinks offering, however. The new bar and restaurant in addition to offering a sit down lunchtime deli offering, will include a takeaway option for customers to enjoy the famous high-quality and innovative dishes

(L-R) William, Derek and Richard Patterson from The Plough Group.

from The Plough Group on-the-go.

“We recognise that customers are becoming more and more busy these days and don’t always have the time to sit down in a restaurant to enjoy their lunch,” said Derek Patterson. “Our new offering at The Vintage Rooms will feature delicious take-away options from our new deli including salads, wraps, and sandwiches made with the usual quality ingredients which The Plough has become synonymous for. We expect a huge increase in our afternoon custom as a result of the new approach we’re taking to lunchtime trade.”

In addition to a boost in lunchtime trade and the exclusive drinks offerings on-site at The Vintage Rooms, the restaurant will also offer daily afternoon tea and casual dining in the form of sharing plates in the early evening from Wednesday to Saturday.

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Eye on News

WORLD TRAVEL CENTRE & SELECTIVE TRAVEL MANAGEMENT RECOGNISED AS AN INVESTOR IN PEOPLE World Travel Centre and Selective Travel Management, Northern Ireland’s largest independent travel company has been awarded accreditation against the Investors in People Standard, demonstrating their commitment to high performance through good people management.

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orld Travel Centre and Selective Travel Management is based in the restored Murray’s Exchange building in the heart of Belfast. In 2012 Selective Travel Management merged with the World Travel Centre and since then the organisation has grown to become one of the leading Travel Management Companies in the UK & Ireland. It has a team of over 100 people providing business travel for a range of industry sectors from blue chip companies, government departments, to SMEs as well as educational establishments and leisure customers extending across the whole of the UK and Ireland.

Investors in People is the international standard for people management, defining what it

takes to lead, support and manage people effectively to achieve sustainable results. Underpinning the Standard is the Investors in People framework, reflecting the latest workplace trends, essential skills and effective structures required to outperform in any industry. Investors in People enables organisations to benchmark against the best in the business on an international scale.

Paul Devoy, Head of Investors in People, said: “We’d like to congratulate World Travel Centre and Selective Travel Management, Investors in People accreditation is the sign of a great employer, an outperforming place to work and a clear commitment to success. World Travel Centre and Selective Travel Management should be extremely

Angela McKay General Manager and Keith Graham Managing Director Selective Travel Management are pictured at the presentation of their World Travel Centre and Selective Travel Management Investors in People Awards.

proud of their achievement.”

Commenting on the award, Keith Graham Managing Director Selective Travel Management said: “Our commitment to the Investors In People accreditation is a key facet of our ongoing investment in the training and development of our employees. We firmly believe

that our people are the ‘Unique selling Point’ of our business and it is their capacity to deliver high customer service, coupled with industry expertise which is enabling us to tender for and win large multi-million pound national contracts. For us, investing in our people means investing in success.”

Hillsborough International Oyster Festival returns for 2016

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ow in its 24th year and supported by principal sponsors Turkish Airlines, Phoenix Natural Gas and Quilter Cheviot, this important event in the Northern Ireland Tourism calendar attracts over 14,000 visitors annually from across

the world and this year boasts a packed programme of popular events and activities. Ticket prices vary, based on events running throughout the Festival. For further information on all events taking place and to book tickets visit www. hillsboroughoysterfestival.com.

(L-R) Alistair Pollock, Business Development Manager, Phoenix Natural Gas, Sarah Waugh, Hillsborough International Oyster Festival committee member, Julienne Marie Curran, Ireland Corporate Sales Manager, Turkish Airlines, and Nigel Crawford, Executive Director, Quilter Cheviot celebrate toast the launch of the world-famous Hillsborough International Oyster Festival which will return on Tuesday 30th August to Sunday 4th September 2016, with a spectacular showcase of the best in hospitality, local produce, arts and entertainment.

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Eye on News

New Cash Reward Account Hits The Market

Tony Wilcox (left) with John French

A brand new current account is available for Northern Ireland consumers from this month.

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ast month Danske Bank announced plans to launch a new reward-based personal

current account that offers customers the chance to get £7 per month cash back. The account is available

from today and is the first such account to be launched by one of Northern Ireland’s four main banks.

The Danske Cash Reward account will have an annual fee of £24 (£2 per month), with customers able to claim a full year cash reward of £84 (£7 per month). The account will also offer a £100 interest and fee free overdraft facility.

Tony Wilcox, Managing Director of Personal Banking at Danske Bank, said: “We have a strong focus on improving customer experience at Danske Bank, and this new account will provide our customers with the additional choice and value that many of them have told us they would like to see. It will add to an already attractive overall customer offering that includes a range of competitive products, a large local branch presence, flexible opening hours, a strong focus on service and

market leading digital platforms.”

John French, Chief Executive of the Consumer Council, added: “The Consumer Council continues to encourage all consumers in Northern Ireland to shop around for a bank account that is right for their needs and provides them with the best overall deal. Danske Bank’s new reward current account provides consumers with additional choice.

“Switching bank accounts is quick and hassle-free. Consumers can get a copy of our guide to switching their bank account at www.consumercouncil. org.uk, by contacting us on 0800 121 6022 or via Facebook or Twitter.”

To be eligible for the reward, customers must log on to eBanking each month, have three direct debits per month from the account and lodge a minimum of £1,200 per month into it.

of local people and in our contribution to the local economy. We can now look forward to the next fifty years of care for our customers with confidence.”

Mr Roberts was joined at the celebratory event in the Europa Hotel by Marco Pagni, Executive Vice President, Global Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc.; Anne Higgins, Head of Customer Experience for Northern Ireland at Boots UK and Marie Smith, Country Pharmacy Manager in Northern Ireland for Boots UK. Representatives from business organisations, the

health sector, current and former colleagues as well as elected representatives also attended.

Boots first bought its distinctive blue and white logo to its first store in Cornmarket in 1966, then steadily growing its presence by opening new stores and through acquisitions, bringing both new pharmacy services to NI as well as introducing Boot brands such as No7, Boots Soltan and SEVENTEEN. In 1998 Boots acquired Connors adding 25 pharmacies to the portfolio with a further 45 stores added seven years later through the purchase of the former Bairds Chemists.

Boots UK Celebrates 50 Years of Care in Northern Ireland In 1966, the year that David Jones became Bowie, Cassius Clay defeated Henry Cooper, Seamus Heaney published his first poetry collection ‘Death of a Naturalist’ and mini-skirts were the height of fashion, Boots opened its first store in Northern Ireland at Belfast’s Cornmarket.

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his year, pharmacy-led health and beauty retailer, Boots is marking a milestone, celebrating 50 years of helping customers feel good in Northern Ireland, through its 84 stores and 1,600 colleagues working in the heart of communities right across the province.

Simon Roberts, Executive Vice President of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. and President of Boots was in Belfast this week to lead the celebrations. “We are very proud of the evolution of Boots in Northern Ireland from that single pharmacy in Cornmarket to having a major

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presence in towns and cities across the country. Delivering healthcare is at the heart of what we do and our team of over 210 PSNI registered pharmacists make us one of the largest employers of pharmacists.

“Supporting the local community is also very important to us and I would like to pay tribute to our teams who do much to support local organisations, charities and patient groups, and also their dedication and hard work to provide care for our customers and patients every day. For the last fifty years, Boots has played an integral role both in the health, beauty and wellbeing

Eye on News

£32M Medical Research Institute In Belfast Named Building Project Of The Year A Queen’s University research facility has been named Project of the Year at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Awards 2016, Northern Ireland.

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he Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine, situated in the grounds of Belfast City Hospital, won the Design through Innovation award before being crowned Project of the Year at the annual awards, which showcase and reward projects from across Northern Ireland.

The £32m Institute is the latest phase in the configuration of the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences and has been designed to enhance its internationally recognised excellence in education and research.

The 9,000 square metre building provides accommodation for some 330 members of staff specialising in research into finding cures for eye diseases and diabetes, and the development of a global programme to aid understanding of the genetics of complex chronic diseases.

Alan Stitt, Director of the Centre for Experimental Medicine commented “… the open and free-flow design of the building offers a positive change in the working environment, which enhances the development of cross-disciplinary collaborations and interactions between peer research groups.”

The project’s design team consisted of Ostick & Williams architects in association with Stantec architects, Turner & Townsend Cost Management Surveyors, Albert Fry Associates as the structural and civil consultants, Services & BREEAM Consultants White Young Green, O’Hare & McGovern as the Main Contractor and Harvey Group as the MEP Contractor.

Judges said “This is a high-quality building housing laboratories, offices and meeting rooms for this international research organisation… Innovatively, the building has been designed on an ‘inside-out’ basis… conducive to collaborative working. The building is finished to a very high standard and the achievement of a BREEAM Excellent certification is laudable.”

The RICS Awards are made up of eight categories from Building Conservation to Tourism & Leisure and Infrastructure, and some of the country’s most popular new builds and recent restorations were in the spotlight at the ceremony at La Mon on Friday night (06 May).

The Lagan Weir Footbridge won the award for Infrastructure, while the SPACE (Shared Process and Community Engagement) People’s Park in Portadown took home the Regeneration and Community Benefit awards. Galgorm Resort & Spa won the Tourism & Leisure category, while City Quays 1, Belfast won the Commercial category, Mount Stewart’s recent restoration won the Building Conservation category and an eyecatching family home in Portrush, Blacksmith’s Cottage, took home the top prize in the Residential category. (Full list of winners and highly commended projects in notes to editors.)

Ben Collins, RICS Director, Northern Ireland said; “The positive impact that innovative buildings, regenerated shared spaces and world-class tourist facilities have on the local economy and society cannot be overstated.

Once again, we have seen some of the best new builds, infrastructure projects, community schemes, and restoration initiatives from the last few years take the spotlight at our annual awards, and we are delighted to be

able to highlight the exceptional work of the surveyors and other property professionals behind the projects.”

RICS Awards Judging Chairman, Alistair Dunn added; “This was a competitive year for the RICS Awards in Northern Ireland. Our judges were blown away by the standard of the entries from stately homes to family homes, cross-community projects to buildings that are making a difference in education, medicine and culture.

“The Wellcome-Wolfson Institute is a worthy winner for its breakthrough in innovation, helping emphasise Northern Ireland’s credentials as a hub for critical medical research.”

The Wellcome-Wolfson Institute and the other winners from the evening will now progress as finalists from the Northern Ireland region at the national RICS Awards gala evening in London later in the year.

Further information about the RICS Awards is available at www.rics.org/awards

Baroness Michelle Mone OBE crowns NI Young Leader of the Year

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aroness Mone of Mayfair, was in Belfast to speak at the fifth annual Young Leaders NI ‘Take The Leader’ Conference at Riddel Hall, Belfast and to present the Herbert Smith Freehills Young Leader of the Year award. The winner was Chris McVeigh, Head of Business Banking at the Ulster Bank who demonstrated outstanding qualities reflective of the attributes needed to be an exceptional leader. The other shortlisted leaders were Gareth Macklin, Director of Macklin Group and Deborah O’Donnell, Proprietor of Deborah O’Donnell Chartered Accountants.

This hugely popular conference is aimed at encouraging and inspiring the leaders of tomorrow across industry and the professional services in Northern Ireland – through education, sharing ideas and creating personal development opportunities.

Sponsored by Herbert Smith Freehills and associate sponsors Abacus Professional Recruitment, Ulster Bank and PwC. Baroness Michelle Mone OBE headed up a comprehensive line-up of speakers that included, Meraid Griffin, Michael Corbidge and Gareth Dunlop, with David Meade returning as compere.

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Eye on Events

Innov8

Celebrate 10 Years In Style This summer Innov8 Office Interiors turns 10 years old, and they celebrated this incredible milestone with a “PopUp at the Palace”.

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nnov8 began life as a small office furniture provider based in Belfast, and has quickly grown into one of Northern Irelands leading designers and providers of world class offie space throughout Ireland!

Along the way Innov8 has built up an impressive client base, designing and supplying office space for companies such as The Northern

Ireland Science Park, Cayan, The Scottish Provident Building, Henderson Group, Almac and Concentrix. The relationship with Concentrix has even enables them to expand their reach into Europe, designing and fitting out office spaces in Spain, Portugal, Slovakia and Bulgaria, and more recently Arizona in the USA. Innov8’s anniversary dinner was housed at The Royal Palace of Hillsborough in a one-of-akind marquee. The event had representatives from Innov8’s client base, along with some of their key relationships and partners in the EU, UK and Ireland. The evening was thoroughly enjoyed by all, and has cemented Innov8’s status as Irelands most innovative business.

Innov8’s design director, Steve Cairns, had this to say’ “we are truly humbled by the incredible support we have had in the last 10 years, and our anniversary has helped to reinforce these relationships and prove once again that Innov8 are not only in the business of creating incredible

office space, but also building and maintaining relationships with everyone we do business with. We are excited to see where we go from here!”

Eye on Events (1)

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(1) Guests arriving at the PopUp at the Palace. (2) Karen Hamilton, Karen Best (Banner), Darragh Milligen and his partner Deirdre (Concentrix) with Stephen and Angela Cairns (Innov8). (3) Jessica Sampson, Rachek Cairns and Bronagh Massey from Innov8. (4) Stephen and Steve Cairns with Hugh Black (chamber of commerce). (5) Manukahhunney providing the entertainment. (6) David Meade lends a hand at the auction. (7) All the Innov8 staff.

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Eye on News

Budget Energy ‘Dragon’ Donates £10k to Women in Business Budget Energy, Northern Ireland’s best value for money electricity supplier, has donated £10,000 to Women in Business, the largest local business network for female business leaders and entrepreneurs.

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leanor McEvoy, founder of Budget Energy and a new Dragon on RTE’s Dragon’s Den, which started airing in April, presented a cheque to Roseann Kelly, Chief Executive of WIB. “As a female entrepreneur, I am

delighted to support other aspiring business women,” said Eleanor. “It’s still a man’s world out there, particularly in business, but I have shown that with determination and support, women can achieve their ambitions.”

Serial entrepreneur Eleanor has

previously successfully built and sold two companies, Pembroke Distributors and Phonecard Warehouse, and has twice been a finalist in the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.

Roseann Kelly is Chief Executive of WIB, which helps local women

grow develop and achieve their business ambitions. She said: “We are delighted to receive this donation from Eleanor, who is an inspiration to all aspiring female entrepreneurs.

The money will be used to support WIB in “Creating a New Economy.”

RESULTS STEM FROM HARD WORK The Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Collaborative Network (AMECN), which includes companies like DuPont, Seagate and NuPrint, has just presented its first phase report which investigated the skills issues constraining the engineering and manufacturing sectors in Derry~Londonderry.

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ne of the members of AMECN, Paul Kirkpatrick from DuPont, said: “We wanted to develop a framework for engagement between businesses and F&HEIs and schools in the region and to develop a plan of action that would allow us to properly deal with any issues as well as fostering better collaboration between all stakeholders.”

The AMECN emerged from conversations between engineering and manufacturing businesses in and around Derry~Londonderry, the Further and Higher Education Institutes (F&HEIs) in the region and those sponsoring the Education and Skills Implementation Group which emerged from the One Plan Regeneration process.

Paul continued: “As a group, we want to provide a long term, sustainable solution to the skill

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shortages constraining the growth of the engineering and manufacturing sectors in the region. This solution would include up-skilling, the promotion of careers in the sector and ensuring the curriculum required to support that excellence is readily available.”

The AMECN has a core of 14 active members whose plans is to build a foundation for the region to become a champion for the Engineering and Maths elements within the national focus on STEM. Paul said: “One of our main objectives is to advance manufacturing and engineering in the region and, in doing so, addressing the lack of critical mass of manufacturing and engineering in the North West.

“The priority issues for us are building a strong and sustainable skills infrastructure,

Mayor of Derry & Strabane, Elisha McCallion, with Paul Kirkpatrick of Du Pont and apprentices Terence Duddy & Hayley McCready.

addressing the skills shortages, increasing access to and the recognition of innovation, shifting perceptions of manufacturing and engineering and building the network,” concluded Paul.

AMECN member, Gavin Killeen, Managing Director, NuPrint, said: “It has been incredibly useful to gather like-minded individuals and companies together in this way to discuss the skills shortage in the engineering sector. Together, in conjunction with the Ulster University and the NW Regional College, we have developed a

foundation degree - higher level apprenticeship programme in mechanical engineering - which currently has 14 apprentices.

This is a significant development and one which we want to build on over the coming years.

“We will continue to work towards our common goal of plugging the skills gap in engineering and hopefully dispel some myths along the way, like an engineer is a messy job or that it’s just a job for males, in the hope of encouraging more young people to choose a career in this field.”

Eye on News

Grafton Wins Most Effective Recruitment Strategy Grafton Recruitment has been awarded ‘Most Effective Recruitment Strategy’ 2016 by CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development) Northern Ireland.

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he award was given for the recruitment sourcing campaign for OneSource Virtual (OSV), a leading Texan based Business Process Outsourcing provider, who decided to open a European Hub to service and develop their European offering in Derry/Londonderry in late 2015.

As the exclusive recruitment partner, Grafton created a recruitment sourcing strategy that was collaborative and innovative, the solution reflected the culture and employer branding aspirations in the local market and this proved effective with the target audience. By understanding Gen Y’s preference for use of social media they maximised the opportunity to interact with prospective candidates right along the recruitment value chain.

Grafton delivered a high quality and commercially focussed solution within extremely tight deadlines and to an exacting specification from a knowledgeable client. Pete Feldman, Managing Director commented “We created the recruitment

campaign within a tight timescale and delivered beyond the original specification.

So successful was our “attract” proposition for OneSource Virtual that we managed to secure an additional pipeline of prospective candidates for OneSource Virtual over and above that which was originally targeted.”

The initial recruitment campaign resulted in 50 job offers, attracting people to return to working in the city of Derry/Londonderry where historically they would have had to travel to Belfast or even further afield to get skilled employment with the level of salaries

Pictured left to right. Back row; Ryan Calvert, HR Specialist, Grafton; Richard McFarland, Business Manager, Grafton; Mark Sexton, Enterprise Sales Manager, Core HR (Award Sponsor) Front row; Pamela Ballentine, Gala Host; Julie Cordner, Marketing Manager, Grafton; & Pete Feldman, MD, Grafton.

offered. The employment opportunity has already brought an additional £1.63M in salaries per annum to the City of Derry/Londonderry economy and over the three year recruitment period it is estimated to bring in excess of £12M.

Flogas To Help Slim’s Healthy Kitchen Trim Its Energy Bills Belfast’s leading healthy restaurant, Slim’s Healthy Kitchen, is set reduce its energy gas bills following its move to Flogas Natural Gas, which will now be supplying natural gas to three of their four restaurants located in Dundonald Omnipark, Belmont Road and Lisburn Road.

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ffering businesses the chance to make savings of up to 10% on their natural gas bills, the Flogas natural gas offer is available to all commercial customers in the Greater Belfast and Ten Towns area.

Kate Magill, marketing manager, Slim’s Healthy Kitchen, said, “Our restaurants are open from early morning serving breakfast and throughout the day until late evening,

so naturally we consume a significant amount of energy. We welcomed the switch of provider to Flogas helping to reduce our operating costs”.

Since entering the Northern Ireland natural gas market, other notable signings have included James Street South, AM:PM, Rascals Day Nurseries and a range of other businesses across a number of commercial sectors.

Pictured at the announcement that Slim’s Healthy Kitchen has moved to Flogas Natural Gas are Kate Magill, marketing manager, Slim’s Healthy Kitchen and Paul Crosbie, senior sales consultant, Flogas Natural Gas.

Flogas Natural Gas is the leading supplier of natural gas to the commercial and residential sectors in Ireland. It already serves thousands of business enterprises located on

the natural gas pipeline in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford, including McDonalds Restaurants and the Musgrave Group as well as the Radisson and Jury Hotel chains.

BT BUSINESS INNOVATION BREAKFAST

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eading business people from across Northern Ireland attended the 8th BT Business Innovation Breakfast which took place at Riddel Hall, Belfast, on Friday 27th May. The breakfast threw a spotlight on the ‘Internet of Things’ and the importance that Smart Cities bring to building a smart connected economy for Northern Ireland which will drive business opportunity,

regeneration and innovation for people and businesses.

Pictured at the event is host Peter Russell, General Manager BT Business NI, along with guest speakers: Mike Blackburn, Vice President, Strategy & Planning BT; Graham Sutherland, CEO BT Business; Dan Byles, Chairman of Smarter UK; Deborah Colville, Smart City Portfolio Manager, Belfast City Council; and Geoff Snelson, Director of Strategy, Milton Keynes Council.

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Eye on Events

Discovering Powerful Connections at Northern Ireland – Poland Conference Belfast 2016

The High Sheriff of Belfast, Alderman Jim Rodgers OBE; Jerome Mullen, Honorary Consul of the Republic of Poland in Northern Ireland with His Excellency Witold Sobków Ambassador of Poland in London.

Titanic Belfast was the location for the inaugural Northern Ireland – Poland Conference, Belfast 2016.

The event which took place on 02 June 2016 brought together experts in the fields of politics, economics and business to foster business connections between both countries and develop bi-lateral business links already worth more than £200 million a year.

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he Trade and Investment Promotion Section of the Polish Embassy in London organised the conference in partnership with the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Poland in Northern Ireland, Mr Jerome Mullen. Jerome said: “The Northern Ireland - Poland Business Conference brought together eminent experts in the fields of politics, economics and business from Poland and Northern Ireland, in the one space, for the first time. It provided local businesses and entrepreneurs with an excellent opportunity to get an insight into the economic growth of the Central European markets and to make valuable connections with businesses, political leaders, market experts, major enterprises and regional chambers of commerce.

“More than a dozen Northern Ireland companies, including the likes of Kainos and Delta Packaging, already have a strong foothold in Poland. A significant

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section of the conference was dedicated to the “Discover Powerful Connections” session which promoted the most attractive Polish investment regions and presented the benefits of the ‘Special Economic Zones’ policy in Poland.

“We were also delighted to welcome His Excellency Witold Sobków Ambassador of Poland as the guest of honour.”

Event speaker, Terry Cross OBE, founder of Belfast based Delta Print and Packaging which has just been acquired

by Huhtamaki, provided an overview of what delegates could expect: “I gave delegates an insight into the recent investment that Delta Packaging embarked on which resulted in the development of a 100,000 square foot production facility in Gliwice to expand the company’s European supply chain network. The new site allows the team to further develop existing relationships with our client base, while realising the full economic potential and incentives of exporting to the international market.

“The company’s success in recent years has attracted the success of Huhtamaki which recently acquired the Delta Print and Packaging sites in both Belfast and Poland. The company is now known as Huhtamaki Foodservice Delta and with forces combined, Huhtamaki will strengthen its position within the European foodservice packaging market and be able to expand its offering of fiber based packaging to packaged food and retail customers throughout Europe.”

Further insights on successful cooperation between Northern Ireland and Poland were shared by Kainos

Group, a fast-growing provider of IT services. Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Belfast, Kainos specialises in the development of digital technology solutions.

Kainos customers include large global organisations such as Netflix and Diageo, as well as public sector clients in government and healthcare. Many of these organisations are experiencing long-term structural change, and are working with Kainos to develop digital solutions that help them address new and emerging business challenges.

Kainos employs almost 800 staff in eight offices in various parts of Europe and the USA. Over 200 of these work from a flagship development hub in the centre of Gdansk, the historic trading capital of Pomerania in northern Poland. Kainos selected this location in 2007 as its first mainland European centre, primarily because of the high quality of the local work force. Since then, the Kainos development hub in Gdansk has grown rapidly, and now forms a central part of the company’s development activities and growth plans.

Kainos Polish employees lead the development of the company’s innovative software products, and also work side by side with colleagues from other Kainos locations on client sites in the UK and Ireland.

For further information please email jeromemullen@polishconsulateni.org

Simon Huntley, Santander Corporate and Commercial Banking; Alicia Ferrero Vega, Santander Corporate and Commercial Banking and Leszek Banaszak, Counsellor, Trade and Investment Promotion Section Embassy of the Republic of Poland in London.

Eye on Drinks Industry

Further string to the Mount Charles bow with launch of drinks division Business Eye talks to Cathal Geoghegan, Managing Director of Mount Charles about the company’s growth trajectory and more specifically, about the launch of another new division to the rapidly diversifying company.

Fermanagh road racer Lee Johnston pictured at the 2016 Northwest 200 with Chairman of Mount Charles Trevor Annon.

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reland’s largest indigenous foodservice and business support organisation has announced the launch of yet another new division, Mount Charles ‘Drink’, which will service bar & beverage contracts for external events.

The news comes on the back of a record year of growth for the outsourcing giant, with contract wins totalling more than £7 million in the past 12 months, and a turnover up from £25.5 million in 2014 to £28.1 million in 2015.

Mount Charles has also recently announced job creation of 130 posts in the last year, with more than 200 jobs still to come in 2016, down to the official launch of the Drink division and a number of new contracts across the business.

Cathal Geoghegan, Managing Director of Mount Charles says that the decision to create the new division was an easy one.

“We were awarded the contract to operate the bars at the Kingspan Stadium at the beginning of the

2013/4 rugby season. We took on six bars plus the hospitality suites and lounges and with the volume of fans on match night being what it is, I’ll admit there was a learning curve.

“We’re pretty proud of what we’ve been able to achieve since taking on that contract. We have anywhere from 140 to 180 staff deployed for each home match, servicing up to 18,000 spectators and selling up to a massive 25,000 pints per match!

“Since taking over that contract we’ve been able to improve productivity and make cost savings through the development of reporting systems that analyse market trends, such as the queuing and purchasing habits of spectators.

This then allows us to make key decisions about placement of both staff and products quickly, leading to much improved queuing times and an all-round more efficient service.”

It was earlier this year that Mount Charles decided to harness the experience gained at the home of Ulster Rugby to

actively target other large-scale events with requirements for a beverage and bar partner.

“After undertaking some market research we knew it made sense to form a dedicated Drink division to service external events and we envisage a lot of growth in this area for us, not only in Northern Ireland but in the Republic too.

“We became aware of an

opportunity to tender for a contract with one of, if not the largest, outdoor events in Northern Ireland, the NorthWest 200.

“We were successful in our bid and for us, winning the contract to supply a bar service at such a high profile event is testament to the quality of service and competitive offering we have in place.”

Mount Charles is clearly taking the development of this new division seriously, with plans in place for rapid growth.

“We know what we need to do to make this new division work and have earmarked around £150,000 for investment. Northern Ireland has plenty to offer in terms of outside events; be it concerts, sport events and other festivals and we are more than ready to take a bite out of this blossoming market.

“The strategy over the last number of years at Mount Charles has been growth by diversification and we’ve been doing that very successfully, with cleaning, vending, retail catering and security divisions all contributing nicely to our bottom line.

“Long gone are the days when we solely offered contract catering – it’s still a massive focus for us but there are many other strings to our bow now. Really it’s a peoplebased outsourcing business – we are experts in getting the right people to do the right jobs, at the right time and the right cost for our customers,” Mr Geoghegan added.

John Weir, General Manager of the Drink division at Mount Charles at the Kingspan Stadium.

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Eye on Employment

HENDERSON GROUP

Academy of Excellence Training and development is an essential cog in the wheels of any company, but no more so than for Henderson Group.

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he Henderson Group employs over 2900 staff across a number of divisions and, like any large organisation, relies heavily on an effective and efficient training department.

That’s where the Henderson Academy comes in, helping train employees throughout the company and beyond.

It carries out everything from induction for new staff to customer service, manual handling, merchandising and management development training on a daily basis.

Justine McGreevey heads up the five-strong unit and is kept busy in the department.

“We’re responsible for delivering learning and development solutions across the group of companies and to around 250 customers, some of whom are completely external to the Group. It’s a broad and very exciting remit.”

Not only are Justine and her team busy, but the people they are training are busy, a factor which has meant coming up with some innovative solutions for delivery.

For instance, it’s often difficult for parts of the business to release staff to attend training programmes so the Academy has come up with e-learning solutions to help provide a range of retail skills to customers’ employees.

Justine explained, “The platform we’re using is very engaging, it provides a consistent message to all learners and there is a built in assessment process so retailers are assured of the standard of knowledge.”

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E-learning was launched with the company owned stores and there are now a number of independent retailers engaged with the learning tool.

Such an innovative approach has resulted in a Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development award for Learning and Development for the business simulation ‘SPAR Wars’, which challenges learners to run a store for a four-month trading period. The second phase of this training ‘SPAR Wars 2 - May the Fork Be with You’, was developed to focus on commercial awareness around product mix and Food to Go. The trainees have to make a number of decisions based on business dilemmas. It’s challenging, competitive and also raises a smile. It addresses a vital component of any training programme; to spark interest in the subject.

And the Academy is keen to promote on-the-job training.

It actively promotes vocational training programmes and currently has about 100 employees who are enrolled on the apprenticeship framework, completing programmes in retail, customer service, food service, financial services and administration.

Meanwhile, it also runs leadership and management programmes to develop management capability for the group of companies and for retail customers.

These include ‘Inspire!’ and the very successful ‘Inspire! The Residential’. This was launched in Northern Ireland in November 2015 and was attended by

14 delegates from across the UK. The programme really benefitted from the opportunity delegates had to network with colleagues at a national level.

The Academy also carries out driver training including CPC modules and HGV class C and C+E. This has grown to be a major part of our commercial work, hence the investment by the company last year in two specific training vehicles.

In all it’s quite a programme, and one which Justine believes is vital.

“Training is embraced throughout our organisation.

I’ve worked here for 18 years and it’s always been at the heart of what we’ve done.

“As a team we’re flat out all year and we’re highly valued by all parts of the organisation.”

And it’s not just within Henderson Group which the academy operates.

It also provides external training to the likes of Clements Coffee, Bryson House and Wineflair to help them grow their business.

“We operate commercially, we have our own website, engage in various social media channels and have a sales target,” Justine said. “The training we can bring to companies is helping them grow their businesses on a day-to-day basis.”

There’s no doubt the Academy, under Justine’s direction, is doing just that, not just for external customers but for Henderson Group’s growing business.

Eye on Hospitality

Some Ulster Derby Timeline Highlights: 1936 - The first Ulster Derby was run at Down Royal on 18th July.

The trophy was gifted by Lord Derby whose forefather’s created the most famous race in the world of racing.

Lord Derby had two entries in the race, Inistore and Battles. Notably several American owners had entries including William Woodward’s Orangemen, Jock Whitney’s Buckaroo and Marshall Field’s Signature.

Black Domino ridden by Joe Canty and trained in Newmarket by Captain Cecil Boyd-Rochfort, won the race. Captain Cecil Boyd-Rochfort was Henry Cecil’s Stepfather.

Pictured launching the Magners Derby, the Summer Festival of Racing’s flagship race, are Mike Todd, General Manager of Down Royal Racecourse, and Julia Galbraith, Magners Brand Manager with Tennent’s NI.

Down Royal and Magners Mark Derby’s 80th Straight from the horse’s mouth: 2016 marks the 80th anniversary of the Ulster Derby.

Taking place at Down Royal on Saturday 18th June, the Magners Derby is the biggest and richest flat race of the season in Northern Ireland, the undoubted highlight of the two-day Summer Festival of Racing at Down Royal.

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housands of spectators will be at Down Royal to take in the excitement of the €100,000 contest, an annual highlight of Northern Ireland’s social, as well as its sporting, calendar.

It’s also a race with more than its share of heritage, great sporting stories and a unique place in local affections. One man with great memories of the event is three times Magners Derby winner Chris Hayes who took time out from training to help launch the 2016 challenge alongside sponsor Julia Galbraith, Magners Brand Manager.

Looking forward to the big day, she said, “This is a race meet like no other, blending sporting challenge in pursuit of a €100,000 prize pot, with a unique sociability.

Magners is a brand that is always at the heart of social occasions, so this muchloved event is an obvious fit. This year we’ll have an extra touch of style to mark

the anniversary, with Magners Forbidden Flavours sponsoring the event’s fabulous Best Dressed competition with an amazing prize trip to Las Vegas on offer to the winner!

“The links between the Province’s Number One Cider and the Number One race meet of the year is set to be a winner for the two favourites. Like Magners, which last year celebrated 80 years since William Magner started to make his own cider, we’re delighted to discover that this race we sponsor is as old as our brand’s heritage! The brands have both come a long way in eighty years, by staying true to their respective roots.”

Looking forward to another fabulous Summer Festival of Racing, Mike Todd, General Manager of Down Royal, said, “The Magners Derby has long been the flagship flat race in Northern Ireland, attracting many names and top horses to Down Royal.

“Down Royal enjoys working with Magners on this race, and we’ve worked hard over the years to continue to introduce new, younger, audiences to the sport in general, enhancing the racing experience with fantastic facilities and a real sense of occasion. We are proud of the venue we offer today for both racing and socialising, and are particularly looking forward to the Magners Derby Day of this year’s Summer Festival of Racing.“

1949 - Lord Glentoran, who had been instrumental in the creation of the race won with Owen Cuts.

1954 - Winston Churchill won the Ulster Derby with Red Winter 1967 - Lester Piggott Rode the winner Dan Kano.

1979 - The Bart won the race and in 1981 he was just beaten by a short head by John Henry in the first million dollar race in the world at Arlington. A statue of the two horses commemorates this historical race at Arlington Park, Chicago.

1991 - The Kentucky Kid Steve Cauthen won the race on Sheikh Momammed’s Dowland.

1999 - Gary Stevens at one time the most successful jockey in the world with over 5,000 winners rode Nash House for Lord Weinstock in the Derby.

2000 - Media Puzzle trained by Dermot Weld followed up his Ulster Derby win by winning the 2002 Melbourne Cup “The race that stops Australia” 2013 - Chris Hayes won the Magners Derby for the third time on Sir Ector, having previously won in 2010 (Celtic Dane) and 2007 (Temlett).

2009 - Changingoftheguard – finished second in the Tote Ebor in his subsequent run.

2015 - When Botany Bay, owned by the late Mrs Jacqueline O’Brien and trained by son Charles, sped to victory in last year’s race a new chapter was added to Derby history, for Mrs O’Brien’s late husband, the legendary trainer Vincent, had already won the Derby on seven occasions and their son David won it as a trainer in 1986.

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Eye on News

Danske Bank To Launch New Reward Account Danske Bank has confirmed that this summer it plans to launch a reward-based personal current account that offers customers the chance to get £7 per month cash back. It becomes the first of the four main local Northern Ireland banks to announce such an account to the marketplace.

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he Danske Cash Reward account will have an annual fee of £24 (£2 per month), with customers able to claim a full year cash reward of £84 (£7 per month).

The account will also offer a £100 interest and fee free overdraft facility.

Tony Wilcox, Managing Director of Personal Banking at Danske Bank, said: “We have a strong focus on improving customer experience at Danske Bank, and this new account will provide our customers with the additional choice and

value that many of them have told us they would like to see. It will add to an already attractive overall customer offering that includes a range of competitive products, a large local branch presence, flexible opening hours, a strong focus on service and market leading digital platforms.”

Further to a briefing from the Bank, John French, Chief Executive of the Consumer Council, said: “The Consumer Council continues to encourage all consumers in Northern Ireland to shop around for a bank

Tony Wilcox (Danske Bank) announces the Bank’s new cash reward account alongside John French (Consumer Council).

account that is right for their needs and provides them with the best overall deal. Danske Bank’s new reward current account provides consumers with additional choice. Switching bank accounts is quick and hassle-free.”

To be eligible for the reward,

customers must log on to eBanking each month, have three direct debits per month from the account and lodge a minimum of £1,200 per month into it. Consumers are able to register their interest for the account by visiting danskebank.co.uk/danskecashreward.

Deloitte Commits To Increased Recruitment Targets In Belfast Deloitte has committed to growing its workforce in Belfast to 1,000 by 2020 after revealing it is significantly ahead of previous recruitment targets.

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he announcement was made

by Deloitte’s UK chief executive David Sproul and chairman Nick Owen following a meeting with Northern Ireland’s First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness in Belfast.

In September 2014, Deloitte said it would create 338 jobs over the following five years as part of the second phase of its growth plans at its Belfast Delivery Centre, in an investment of £30m that was backed by a financial package of £2.6m from Invest NI. The new roles in technology, pensions, actuarial consulting and finance aimed to increase its local workforce to 700 by 2019.

However, Deloitte is already ahead of schedule to deliver on those commitments, with more than 200 new staff hired since the start of the current recruitment campaign. The firm now has a total of 460 employees in

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Northern Ireland with another 43 young people set to join Deloitte in Belfast through its award-winning BrightStart Apprenticeship Scheme in September The firm anticipates that many of the additional jobs it will create in the next four years will build on the strong expertise already established in its Technology Studio, in areas such as data science and analytics, cyber security and digital engineering. Deloitte will also continue to grow its human capital, actuarial, tax and audit practices.

Following the recruitment drive, Belfast will be Deloitte’s largest office outside of London.

Nick Owen, chairman of Deloitte in the UK, said: “By 2020, Deloitte in Belfast will be the firm’s largest office outside London. That is testament to the success that the team here has enjoyed since announcing significant expansion plans and the breadth of

Pictured (l to r) at a meeting at Stormont Castle today are Brendan Jennings, Managing Partner of Deloitte Ireland, deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, Deloitte NI senior partner Jackie Henry, First Minister Arlene Foster, Deloitte’s UK chief executive David Sproul and Deloitte’s UK chairman Nick Owen.

expertise within the business. This commitment by Deloitte reflects the confidence we have in Belfast as a great place to do business and a hotbed of talent, particularly for graduates and school-leavers. It also demonstrates our continued commitment to social mobility as a core part of our talent strategy and our desire to continue to further deliver on this commitment in Northern Ireland.

“We were grateful to the First and Deputy First Minister for taking the time to outline their economic priorities today and giving us the assurances necessary to proceed with this investment.”

Welcoming Deloitte’s decision to raise its recruitment targets, Northern Ireland’s First Minister, Arlene Foster said: “I welcome this announcement by Deloitte, one of the biggest professional services firms in the world. Deloitte’s decision to increase its workforce to 1,000 by 2020 is a strong endorsement of Northern Ireland’s dynamic economy.

Deloitte is making this commitment based on the talent and quality of staff in Belfast and it is a clear indicator of the confidence that the firm has in Northern Ireland as a business friendly economy that will continue to grow and attract investment.”

Eye on Giving

Charitable Giving....

The Importance of Being Local Keith Willett, Head of Business: Regional Manager, St. James’s Place Wealth Management 1. What are your thoughts, in general, on charitable giving?

I believe it is essential for those that can help through charitable giving to do so. I believe one of the best things we can do within our society is to help each other and charitable giving, whether by giving time or money, is very important 2. Is your giving personal or corporate or a combination of both?

It is a combination of both, corporately we have our own Foundation within St. James’s Place whereby we allocate funds to local charities focusing on young people and young adults with charities such as SOS Bus. We also provide funding across all of the UK and indeed further afield and allocating one third of the money raised to support UK charities operating overseas. On a personal level I contribute to the St. James’s Place Foundation and also support local charities that I have identified through events organised by Giving Northern Ireland. e.g. their crowd funding events which I have found to be a fantastic way of giving to smaller charities.

3. How do you give to charity: monetarily, your own time as a volunteer or your specialist skills?

Monetarily both personally and corporately, I am currently looking at supporting charities with my time and Giving Northern Ireland are helping me identify charities that I could support as a volunteer with my experience in business.

4. What types of causes do you favour and why?

I believe it’s absolutely imperative that we do all we can for the young people in our society, as we must ensure they are giving every opportunity to grow, develop and realise their potential.

Therefore all the charities supported personally and corporately have that ethos in mind, for disadvantaged or vulnerable young people to give them the best opportunities to grow and develop as citizens. St. James’s Place has a Foundation Representative for NI who welcomes applications for any registered charity in NI that fits within the Foundation criteria ie., charities that do work on behalf of young people and adults.

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

I give regularly to the St James’ Place Foundation and in addition on an ad hoc basis to other Charities that I encounter.

I look to support Charities that work with young people primarily and in particular those that offer help and support to disadvantaged young people.

6. Do you believe that companies and individuals have a duty to help others? If yes, why?

I absolutely believe we all have a responsibility when we can to give of ourselves to financially benefit those that need help, the St. James’s Place Foundation has been at the absolute core of our business

for the last 24 years and charitable giving is something we actively encourage with our employees and all those affiliated to St. James’s Place, I firmly believe all companies should have charitable giving as part of their culture.

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

Quite simply you really do need to get involved, not just for the charities but I can assure you, you will get a lot out of it personally.

Thankfully there is a wealth of support available for those that want to get involved but lack the experience and I personally have benefitted from the expertise of Giving Northern Ireland.

8. Giving Northern Ireland was set up to champion Philanthropy. Why do you think it is important that

there is an organisation that helps businesses and individuals think more strategically about giving?

Companies like Giving Northern Ireland are absolutely essential when it comes to helping businesses and individuals. The first step for any individual or business is to make the decision to get involved but how they actually make that happen can be very challenging.

Giving Northern Ireland can provide those individuals and businesses with clear steps as to what to do and therefore the confidence to make the charitable giving a reality.

I have been amazed to see just how many charities there are locally in need of help and also how many individuals/corporations are willing to help, however in my experience what is essential is somebody or someone like Giving Northern Ireland to act as the conduit to open up these conversations.

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Celebrating life, every day, everywhere

DRINK RESPONSIBLY The BAILEYS, GORDON’S, CAPTAIN MORGAN, SMIRNOFF, GUINNESS, SMITHWICKS, CARLSBERG and HARP words and associated logos are trade marks © Diageo 2015.

Eye on Events

BUCKINGHAM PALACE DATE FOR MUKESH

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ukesh Sharma, MBE, DL, Managing Director of Selective Travel Management, is pictured with his MBE which was presented to him by the HRH

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge at Buckingham Palace. Mukesh was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List for services to the Northern Ireland Travel Industry.

MERCHANT MARKS 10 YEARS

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elfast’s only 5-star hotel and Northern Ireland’s only five AA red star property, The Merchant Hotel celebrated ‘A Decade of Decadence’ recently as the landmark hotel marked its 10th anniversary. At a special gala event, held in the hotel’s Rita Duffy Suite, invited guests celebrated the anniversary with free-flowing champagne, cocktails

and culinary creations. At the event, staff that have been with the hotel for 10 years were awarded with a long-service pin, commissioned to mark the 10th anniversary. Owners Bill & Petra Wolsey are pictured with staff who received bespoke Merchant Hotel long-service pins, commissioned to celebrate the 10th anniversary.

Celebrating life, every day, everywhere

DRINK RESPONSIBLY The BAILEYS, GORDON’S, CAPTAIN MORGAN, SMIRNOFF, GUINNESS, SMITHWICKS, CARLSBERG and HARP words and associated logos are trade marks © Diageo 2015.

Eye on Events

TEMPLETON ROBINSON IN CHARITY LINK UP

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empleton Robinson have teamed up with global charity Habitat for Humanity, working on key projects in Northern Ireland, Africa and Eastern Europe. The new partnership will harness Templeton Robinson’s many contacts within the local construction industry, as well as the company’s wide client base across all five offices.

Since 1994, Habitat for Humanity Northern Ireland’s local work has focused on reconciliation and building strong communities in which everyone can reach their full potential. More than 28,000 volunteers from across Northern Ireland have engaged in practical projects, locally and

globally, which break down barriers and help build a shared future. Key projects that Templeton Robinson will assist on include encouraging contractors on new builds to donate leftover materials to support Habitat for Humanity’s social enterprise, Habitat ReStore, as well as raising awareness of the Kitchen Rescue service which allows purchasers who want to install a new kitchen to have the old one taken out by Habitat ReStore, enabling low-income families to improve their home for less.

Beth Robinson from Templeton Robinson is pictured with Habitat for Humanity Chief Executive Jenny Williams.

LLOYDS BANK INVEST IN CHARITY PARTNERSHIP

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loyds Banking Group has raised over £3,000 for charity partner, Action Mental Health (AMH), to help educate school children about the importance of positive well-being and looking after their mental health.

The year-long partnership concluded on a high note with a grand total of £3,716.65 being donated towards AMH. The funds

raised will go towards Action Mental Health’s ‘Healthy Me’ project which promotes social and emotional wellbeing in children through prevention and self-help. To find out more information on Action Mental Health and the services it offers, please visit www.amh.org.uk. Pictured is Martin Meighan, Lloyds; Tricia Browne, AMH and Darryl Northrop, Lloyds.

TAX MEDAL AWARDED IN MEMORY OF PAT CULLINAN

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ary Anne Heron from Belfast accountancy firm Goldblatt McGuigan has been awarded the Chartered Institute of Taxation’s KPMG Pat Cullinan Memorial Medal for achieving the highest mark of all Northern Ireland candidates in the Chartered Institute of Taxation’s final exams in 2015. Mary Anne is a former pupil of St Catherine’s College, Armagh and studied Accountancy

at Queen’s University Belfast.

Pat Cullinan, a native of Co. Tyrone and a tax partner with accountancy firm KPMG, was killed in the tragic air accident which also claimed five other lives at Cork Airport on 10 February 2011.

Pictured with Mary Anne are Pat’s brother Aidan Cullinan (L) and Johnny Hanna, Head of Tax at KPMG in Northern Ireland (R).

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Eye on Agri Food

Top Chef Danni Driven By Local Flavours Sam Butler talked to Danni Barry, Head Chef at Michael Deane’s Michelin star EIPIC restaurant in Belfast about her passion for local food.

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ward winning chef Danni Barry regularly spends her time off scouring the coastline around Dundrum, Co Down for wild garlic, herbs, sloe berries and sea vegetables for the bold and delicious dishes that led to her standing as only the second female chef in Ireland ever to gain a coveted Michelin star. She’s also starred on BBC’s Great British Menu and been lauded as the Best Chef in Antrim in last year’s prestigious Irish Restaurant Awards.

Foraging the coastline for ingredients reflects Danni’s passion for the freshest of seasonal produce for her inventive menus at EIPIC, the Michelin star restaurant in Belfast’s Howard Street, part of the group established by talented chef/restaurateur and shrewd businessman Michael Deane, where Danni (29) is now Head Chef. EIPIC was also recently named among the UK’s top 100 restaurants by the influential Restaurant magazine.

“We’ve so many marvellous ingredients to work with in Northern Ireland. While we all know about the quality of our Glenarm beef, Mourne lamb, Lough Neagh eels and pollen, Kilkeel seafood and dairy we can also source exceptional vegetables, herbs, wild garlic, sea kale and samphire especially in spring and early summer.

“We sometimes forget just how good our ‘greens’ really are and how they can be used to create outstandingly tasty dishes,” she says.

Her love of local ingredients was fired on the family farm near Mayobridge in Co. Down. Danni helped father Dan on the beef and potato farm after school and during the holidays. She watched her mother create delicious meals

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for the family and also “washed pots” in a local restaurant. The buzz and camaraderie of working in the restaurant kitchen led to her to forgo thoughts of a university place and to enrol for a culinary course at what is now the Southern Ireland Regional College in Newry. The course included work experience in the kitchen of Shank’s, the highly regarded restaurant of the late Robbie Millar at Clandeboye, near Bangor.

The first contact with Michael Deane came in 2003 when, aged just 17, she boldly asked him for a job in the kitchen of his original high-end restaurant upstairs above a gift shop in Howard Street. She washed dishes and undertook other menial tasks in the kitchen with one of Northern Ireland’s most successful and enterprising chefs for four years. “It was tremendous experience and I learned a huge amount about cooking and menu preparation during this time on the staff there,” she remembers.

But a desire to see the world saw Danni quit and head off by herself on her travels to South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and mainland Europe, adding to her experience and knowledge working in quality restaurants along the way.

She returned to England four years later and found a role as a chef at Simon Rogan’s Michelin starred L’Enclume, in Cumbria, among the most respected restaurants in the UK. Her skills and ideas led to her promotion to head up the kitchen team at his Rogan and Co restaurant at nearby Cartmel.

Then Deane, who had spotted her passion for quality food during her time in Belfast, persuaded her to come back to Belfast and to take over the kitchen at EIPIC, part of a £500,000 refurbishment project on the Howard Street site that also includes Love Fish and The Meat Locker. That was in 2014.

“My stint with Simon Rogan taught me the importance of flavour and making food that is great to eat,” she says. “It gave me a grounding in what it takes to achieve and retain a Michelin star,” she adds.

This was the exacting challenge Deane set Danni. He wanted to recover a Michelin star for his investment in fine dining.

He had held a coveted ‘star’ from 1997 until 2010 and was determined to recover the prestigious accolade for the restaurant group and for Belfast.

Danni’s approach is based firmly in a conviction that “great meals are all about provenance and

flavour”. “ I am convinced that we need to use more of what’s actually grown here, ingredients with great provenance and flavour,” she says. “Our soil is rich and fertile and capable of growing a broad range of wonderful vegetables and herbs. We’ve also a pristine coastline that provides superb shellfish, prawns, mussels, scallops and oysters.

“Top restaurants are increasingly recognising the quality of out food. During a trip to Stockholm, for example, I found a restaurant using kelp from Rathlin Island!

There’s a tremendous opportunity to use our food to create a distinctive Northern Irish cuisine that will appeal to local diners and visitors alike. Northern Ireland has what it takes to become a globally acclaimed food destination.”

It’s no surprise then that Danni describes her cooking as “driven by flavour”.” I like to use modern techniques and my experience gained working in kitchens here and abroad to bring out the best in local ingredients. At Deanes EIPIC, we have a seasonal tasting menu based on the best produce available to us which we use to create balanced, refined and flavourful dishes,” she adds. It’s the way ahead for Northern Ireland cuisine.”

Eye on Agri Food

Farm Business Is A Food Pioneer Sam Butler talked to Michael and Jane Harnett of Waringstown’s award winning Harnett’s Oils about the innovation-led company’s future plans including Duvillaun Fine Foods, an exciting new business venture.

J

ane Harnett chose the Food NI Food Pavilion at the recent RUAS show at Balmoral Park to launch the latest innovation by a family business with a successful track record of smart ideas for the agri-food industry here.

The new product is a pure, natural sea salt from a remote and uninhabited island, Duvillaun, the Black Island, in the Atlantic now owned by the Waringstown-based business of Jane, her father Michael, mother Anne and brother William on a 250-acre estate in the town.

Michael, an engineer, developed the technology for cold-pressing culinary oils, launched in 2007 by the farm-based enterprise. He has also been at the forefront of renewables technology.

Duvillaun Fine Foods is the name of the new business they’ve established to harvest and market the sea salt and develop other artisan products, including lamb, being planned by the entrepreneurial family on the small island. They’ve a flock of small, rugged Hebridean sheep to be transported there soon.

Harnett’s has a longstanding reputation in pioneering award winning cold-pressed food oils such as hemp and rapeseed which are highly rated by leading chefs. The eatate, in fact, has been growing GM-free oilseeds here, mostly from local crops, since the 17th century.

A graduate in Rural Resource Management with a Masters in Rural Environmental and Land Management from Harper Adams University in England, Jane continues: “We hand-harvest the sea water from around the island known for the cleanest waters in the world and a protected

area. At present the seawater is processed and packaged in Waringstown. The culinary salt is probably from the purest water on the planet,” she says.

At the heart of the sprawling and picturesque estate is a stunning 17th century home, a Grade A listed building and the oldest unfortified mansion house in Ireland, which Michael is also busy restoring. The family’s ancestors have lived in the house since it was completed in 1667 by ‘soldier of fortune’ William Waring.

It was while trying to heat the huge house that Michael decided to buy the press that led eventually to the development of award winning functional food oils.

Michael set out to produce biodegradeable oil to run engines off crops from the estate and was working on a combined heat and power plant to try and generate biofuel and electricity to provide power and heat for the house farm business.

The entrepreneurial family is carrying forward the heritage of innovation of Waringstown, once a driving force in linen production especially the highest quality damask cloth. The Waring family also made a huge contribution to the emergence of Belfast as a commercial hub and developed the port at Warrenpoint.

“The family has farmed land here from 1600 and then started to grow flax for linen. The sort of market and production challenges for farming haven’t changed much over the centuries.

We are still grappling with energy, other costs and market conditions,” Michael adds.

“We’ve been growing linseed, for instance, since then and more

Jane Harnett of Harnett’s Oils in Waringstown with the new Duvillaun Pure Sea Salt.

recently crops such as oilseed rape. You learn how to develop the quality of a product, then wait until people to get used to it and it is successful. Then the technology improves, markets change, competitors enter the market and it’s the same circle all over again.

“You’ve always got to be looking at ways to produce something different that will capture the attention of consumers. Duvillaun Fine Foods is another step for us in that direction,” he adds.

It was Jane who saw the potential to create a culinary oil business using crops from the estate. Her enterprise led to a portfolio of oils, especially rapeseed, which have produced awards including Great Taste Awards, gold for the oil in Blas na hEireann, Irish National Food and Drink Awards, runner-up in the Great British Farm Produce Awards with the oil. It remains Ireland’s only producer of hemp oil.

A combination of climate, location, pure air, fertile soil and, of course, expertise all work together to make Northern Ireland the ‘Champagne’ area for

oilseeds in Europe, she says.

The family business now supplies restaurants and retailers throughout Northern Ireland as well as in the Republic and parts of Europe.

“We have now diversified our core product range to include vinaigrettes and flavour-infused oils, and we have seen a significant rise in sales,” continues Jane. She has grown the range to include four main flavoured oils and three vinaigrettes, as well as dressings.

“Infusing the oils with different flavours helps make it easier for people to use it in their cooking, I do it all myself,” adds Jane.

The family has also begun to develop Duvillaun, once a 6th century monastic retreat off the coast of Co Mayo, by building a small jetty for a unique landing craft that was once used by Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan, the award winning movie.

“We’re really exciting about Duvillaun’s potential, which is located within a preservation area, especially in terms of natural food products,” Jane says.

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Eye on Internet

Designing digitally with direction

By Gareth Dunlop, Fathom.

In the world of experience design, it is difficult to think of a design influence more important than context of use. Context provides many of the essential clues about the type of experience which the product user desires and thus how the elements of design can best be constructed.

C

onsider the contrasting experience offered by the following three eating establishments: James Street South (a popular high-class restaurant in Belfast); O’Brien’s (a successful Irish-owned chain of sandwich bars); and McDonald’s (requires no further explanation).

James Street South is an ideal way to spend an evening with a loved one or loved ones to celebrate a special occasion such as a birthday or anniversary. Attentive waiter service over two or three hours and three or four courses allows the diners to enjoy each other’s company and to briefly forget about the pressures, stresses and busyness of life.

Each aspect of the experience is designed around diners who are taking time out and for once don’t wish to think about time.

Hard-working under-pressure business people will often meet in O’Brien’s for lunch because their experience desires are based around the need for consistency and speed. Typically they will have an hour for soup and a sandwich and if the restaurant is speedy enough, they might well order a coffee to finish their meal. Consistency of product and speed of service are built into how O’Brien’s do things, for those reasons.

The context of use for McDonald’s is much more straightforward. Adults go to McDonald’s for one reason only – to try to cure their hangover – and so McDonald’s and the diner want the same thing: for the customer to be in and back out as quickly, easily and effortlessly as possible. The experience is thus built around effortless self-service, speed and efficiency.

In each case, the three restaurants offer the same base products, namely food, drink and shelter, however, the experiences differ because the contexts differ. If James Street South fed and watered their diners within

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ten minutes they would never come back and if McDonald’s took three hours to serve food they’d quickly close down. And the reason is because the context allows the restaurant manager to prioritise (and, as a corollary, de-prioritise) aspects of experience around the desired context for the user.

Or to re-state this using productdesign speak, each of the three types of restaurants is solving different problems.

This was starkly illustrated through our involvement in a recent app project. Working with one of the premier alcohol clinicians in Ireland, Fathom designed an app to assist alcoholics during the recovery process. The app was sensitive to the mindset of the patient at any given time and provided an experience for that context. There were a variety of important contexts of use, but for the sake of brevity I’ll focus on two.

The first experience was a thorough “on-boarding” experience for an alcoholic who was close to rock bottom and recognised the need for change. The experience was designed for a clinician’s office, with up to an hour required to sign up and register thoroughly on the system; deeply personal information was elicited from the patient, such as worst experience with alcohol and the names of friends and family negatively impacted by the addiction.

The second experience was the polar opposite of this. It was the provision of immediate content for times when the patient was facing temptation, such as passing an off-licence on a Friday night, or at a wedding or other social gathering. In such contexts, the app provided a simple “panic button” to give the patient the intervention required to give them the very best chance of avoiding the temptation. This button immediately brought up a picture of, or a message from,

a loved one (or a related piece of content).

In both cases the experience was heavily driven by the context, to assist the patient in their different environments.

It is the commitment to context and the focus on problem-solving which protects the marketer from the worst excesses of design indulgence. When the digital product focuses on the problem it solves, all of a sudden there simply isn’t space for the banner ad, the needless Twitter feed, the cluttered menu, the irrelevant piece of vanity content, or the latest coolest content format. The tail stops wagging the dog as every design decision demands to know 1) what problem is the user trying to solve, 2) what content does she need to solve it, 3) in what order can the system best provide the content and functionality required to do so and 4) how can we learn from behaviour to constantly improve system performance over time.

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 UX strategy, usability testing and customer journey planning, web accessibility and integrated online marketing. Clients include Three, Ordnance Survey Ireland, PSNI, Permanent TSB and Tesco Mobile.

Visit Fathom online at fathom.pro.

Eye on Travel

EXCITING ROAD AHEAD FOR MCCOMB’S COACH TRAVEL McComb’s Coach Travel is one of Northern Ireland’s leading, family-owned coach tour operators. Last year, they carried approximately 130,000 passengers - 60,000 of them visited the Giant’s Causeway, 10,000 took a Game of Thrones tour and their Kildare Village shopping trip has proved so popular with NI consumers they had to increase the number of coaches to meet the demand.

F

ollowing a £1m investment recently, which enabled McComb’s to purchase four more top-of-the-range custom-made coaches, Caroline McComb, Director of McComb’s Coach Travel is excited about the new phase in their development.

“This is our 20th year in business and we’ve noticed that as Northern Ireland has grown in confidence as a tourist destination, the numbers of visitors has increased and our business growth reflects that. Slow and steady growth has proven to be a perfectl fit for our business model.”

Caroline continued: “Our recent investment has enabled us to increase the numbers of passengers we can carry by 40,000 and in turn creating ten new jobs.”

The success of the Giant’s Causeway tour has undoubtedly played a big part in the company’s success but Northern Ireland has even more to offer, explained Caroline.

“Our Causeway tour has paved the way for us to be more creative and we recently launched two brand new products - Spa Thursday’s and the Grub Crawl.

“We teamed up with Hastings Europa Hotel and the Slieve Donard Resort and Spa to create a lovely trip which showcases some of Northern Ireland’s finest hospitality providers.

“And as this is the Northern Ireland Year of Food and Drink 2016 we decided that we would speak to some of the finest food and drink artisans including Abernethy Butter, The Poacher’s Pocket, Mourne

Seafood Bar, Echlinville Distillery and Kilmegan Cider to create a special tour called the Grub Crawl.

“These new tours take a lot of hard work to get off the ground and I’m so pleased with the calibre and passion of the people involved.

As with any new product, there is always a risk but we want to keep things moving and continue to showcase our beautiful country but also to put our talented people and their unique stories centre stage, for all to enjoy.”

Most of McComb’s customers are from outside of Northern Ireland but their domestic business is catching up.

Caroline continued: “A lot of our customers come from outside Northern Ireland - mainly from America, China, Australia and Britain - but our exchangerate-friendly trips to an outlet shopping village south of the border, in Kildare, is almost exclusively used by locals. And our Spa Thursday and Grub Crawl products are following this trend.

“We have an established and loyal private coach hire customer base in Northern Ireland including the Irish Football Association, Hastings Hotels and schools with whom we have worked for many years. We also transport Game of

Thrones actors and senior personnel and when any major events take place, like the MTV awards, or other filming projects, such as the recent City of Z, our bookings increase significantly. We’ve had many famous faces in our luxury vehicles over the years but we would never divulge their identities in order to respect their privacy.

“The small luxury coach side of our business is also flourishing with golfers leading the way and following the news that The Open is due to take place in 2019, and with four Irish Opens in between, we see the golf tourism sector as a real growth area for us,” said Caroline.

Reflecting on the changes in the tourism sector since the mid-1990s, Caroline said: “Tourism has changed dramatically in Northern Ireland. In the early days, McComb’s was just a people carrier taking journalists, researchers, and the odd thrill seeker from America, Australia and Britain, on tours of Belfast and the so-called no-go areas.

“Today, it’s all about Titanic Belfast, the Giant’s Causeway and screen tourism. People are looking forward, not back, and I believe the infrastructure in Northern Ireland and the positive economic changes, albeit small, are setting the scene for a boom time in tourism.”

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Eye on Craft Industry

Craft Designers Making It Internationally Northern Ireland’s growing craft sector has been developing an international reputation, with increased interest in the high quality contemporary products being created in this diverse sector.

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his vital part of the creative industries has seen makers’ work sold in top stores and galleries around the world, featured in the best hotels and used by international interior designers, as well as making it on screen in the burgeoning film and television sector as craftspeople are commissioned to create props for production companies.

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Ceramicists, glassblowers, jewellers, wood workers, textile artists and blacksmiths are some of the growing tribe of artisans producing high quality products that are in demand around the world.

Craft NI supports local artists in the design-led craft and applied arts sector, encouraging makers here to establish connections around the world. By running programmes such

as making it, a business incubation programme funded by Invest NI and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, as well as on-going export and business development programmes, they’ve seen these artists grow their businesses and develop great connections internationally.

In the run up to August Craft Month, Business Eye takes a look at four makers.

Jude Cassidy Jude Cassidy’s elegant handwoven textiles grace some of the finest hotels around the world, including two new five star hotels opening this year in the UK as well as a recently opened Christian Dior shop.

Since 2010, she’s grown her business quickly and now employs six people in her studio in Saintfield and exports approximately 80% of her work to the United States, working with interior designers and providing bespoke fabric specially made for her clients.

She’s also just launched a new line of upholstery and at the prestigious ICFF – a high end trade fair in New York which aims to showcase global design – she won best textiles in show.

She feels there’s a great buzz now around Northern Irish design. “There so much creativity here and a real feel-good factor at the moment from makers and the international clients that we deal with. It’s an exciting time to be involved in making,” she said. www.judecassidy.com

Eye on Craft Industry

Derek Wilson

Rebecca Killen

Stephen Farnan

Ceramicist Derek Wilson’s work is highly sought after on an international level, with commissions coming from around the world and sold in 17 prestigious shops in locations including London, Zurich, Paris and Japan.

From his studio in Portview on the Newtownards Road, Derek continues to move forward with his new online shop derekwilsonceramics.com - selling a specially created range which will change seasonally.

“It’s important to me to be able to offer a full range of products. The pieces that I sell through galleries are different from what is on my online store – this is work created specifically in small batches,” he said.

He is also developing a new more affordable range of pieces that could be produced faster and he hopes to employ people to assist with the production of these pieces.

Working from her studio in County Down, Rebecca Killen creates beautiful white bone china products for the interiors and giftware markets. Just four years after university, she is already finding success in Great Britain, Ireland and most recently Japan.

She learned quickly that marketing her products was essential for success. In 2014 she made her first trip to London to show her work and came home with orders that she was able to fill and then reach out to others. Freshly returned from her second visit to the British Craft Trade Fair in Harrogate with a group of other makers organised by Craft NI, she is delighted with the long list of orders from prestigious galleries and shops in England.

“As a group of makers from Northern Ireland, we were really well received by the buyers at the trade fair. We had something different to offer,” she explains.

Ceramicist Stephen Farnan’s career changed dramatically two years ago when he moved from running a pottery studio in the tiny Co Tyrone village of Benburb to a large unit in Townsend Enterprise Park in Belfast.

He changed his business model, began to develop his distinctive drawings in conjunction with his ceramics and targeted high profile craft trade fairs. He currently employs three part-time skilled makers and is planning to increase the workforce as his business grows.

He said: “We export 80% of what we are making in the studio including my drawings of Irish scenes which are transferred on to porcelain. They are sold in shops and galleries across Ireland from big names such as Brown Thomas and Avoca to small craft shops. We are exporting to quite a few places in the US that specifically sell Irish products and also in England, Germany and Belgium.”

derekwilsonceramics.com

www.rebeccakillenceramics.com

www.stephenfarnan.com

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Eye on Philanthropy

Local Businessman Backs Youth And Philanthropy Initiative Thousands of schoolchildren will continue to learn about the need to look after disadvantaged people thanks to the support of a leading Northern Irish businessman.

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eil McKibbin, owner of Mercedes-Benz Truck and Van, was so impressed by the skills and awareness his daughter Kathryn had developed during her involvement in the project that he stepped in to give his financial backing to the programme.

The Youth and Philanthropy Initiative Northern Ireland (YPI NI) works with secondary schools throughout Northern Ireland, raising awareness amongst young people about philanthropy and their local community through a programme of teamwork, research and presentations.

Groups within each school compete to decide which charity should receive a £3,000 donation funded by YPI NI. This year, a total of 15 schools took part, with £45,000 donated to their selected charities.

When Neil heard that funding was due to end for the initiative, he immediately took action

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and put up 50% of the funds needed to keep the organisation going for another three years.

Neil said: “When I was informed that the programme was finishing I said we couldn’t allow that to happen and there must be some way to save this invaluable work.

We put the funding in place to keep it going with the existing schools, set up a Northern Ireland board and recruited the staff to deliver the programme.”

He is appealing to other businesses to get involved to help increase the number of participating schools.

He said: “At the moment 1600 pupils are benefiting from this innovative programme. I would love to see it rise to 25 schools next year which means a further 1,000 young people dealing with real issues that affect their society. This programme meets a real need and allows business people the opportunity to become donors to support these young people and help society.”

Neil is looking to the example of YPI Scotland as a means of developing the programme in Northern Ireland.

He said: “In Scotland there are almost 200 participating schools. I feel we should be able to deliver 50 to 60 schools but it would require Northern Ireland’s business community to get behind it.”

The cost of sponsoring a school to take part in the programme is approximately £3,500 with £3,000 of that going directly to the chosen charity.

Neil added: “This provides a different type of learning for an average of 100 children per year whilst addressing social needs.

The children and the schools are very responsible and take their roles very seriously.”

“We have a huge culture and background of generosity in Northern Ireland, giving both time and money to charities. This programme benefits the children taking part and the charities. Last year, a youth club in Ballymoney won charity of the year and the £3,000 was able to buy new furniture, redecorate and extend

hours of its after schools club.

The money can go a long way in the hands of local charities.

“I feel passionately about this programme. My business is in a very tough and competitive sector so I don’t make a financial commitment like this lightly. The programme goes across social strata with children from different religious, political and cultural backgrounds coming together.

“If we can attract more donors we could give more children the opportunity to participate in the programme. They could all share the same experience and become aware of the difference they can make to our society. ”

For more information about Youth and Philanthropy Initiative NI contact Programme Manager, Lauren Lamberton on lauren@ypini.org or Tel: 07725 588255

Eye on Tourism

QUARTER OF A CENTURY MILESTONE FOR NI ‘TRAVEL OSCARS’ Northern Ireland Travel and Tourism Awards celebrate Silver Anniversary

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lot has changed in Northern Ireland over the past quarter of a century and in no area of business is this more evident than in travel and tourism.

However, one institution has remained constant during all of this time and that is the Northern Ireland Travel and Tourism Awards which celebrates its Silver Anniversary this year.

When the province’s ‘Travel Oscars’ were first launched back in 1992, the landscape in the local travel industry was very different indeed.

The ‘90s might still feel like yesterday to many of us, but in the early part of that decade, there was no such thing as booking your holiday or travel online, few people had a mobile phone, email was yet to become the preferred method of communication and information sharing for businesses, and social media wasn’t even on the radar of a seven-year-old Mark Zuckerberg.

The travel industry in Northern Ireland, however, was thriving and the Northern Ireland Travel and Tourism Awards were born in October 1992.

The brainchild of Jonathan Adair and Brian Ogle, publishers of long-running travel publication Northern Ireland Travel News, the awards were created to celebrate all that was good in local travel and tourism.

The first event, hosted by a young Eamon Holmes, took place at the Slieve Donard Hotel (now the Slieve Donard Resort and Spa) in Newcastle, County Down – and the venue has remained home to the Awards ever since, serving up more than 10,000 meals to winners, nominees and guests over the years.

Holmes hosted the annual event for the first three years and, since then, hosts have included the likes of Linda Bryans, Mark Robson, Roy Walker, Craig Doyle and Gerry Kelly.

However, the gala event is most associated with Angela Rippon who was on the podium no fewer than 13 times. VIP guests over the years have included Patrick Kielty, Suranne Jones, Frank Bough, Les Dennis and the late great Frank Carson to name just a few.

Speaking at a well-attended launch of this year’s milestone Blue Insurance Northern Ireland Travel and Tourism Awards, which will take place once again at the Slieve Donard on Friday, October 21, co-founder Jonathan Adair said: “When we launched the Awards in 1992, the travel and tourism industry was very, very different to what it is today. Mobile phones, computer technology and the way companies communicate with each other and sell holidays was nothing like today’s high-tech and ultra-competitive industry.

“Over the years we have tried to set the bar higher and higher, continually moulding the Awards ceremony to reflect the changing industry, and we will continue to move with the times,” he added.

“To celebrate our 25th anniversary, this year’s Awards gala will definitely be an event in keeping with such a special occasion. There will certainly be a ‘wow factor’ in almost every aspect of the evening. We don’t want to give too much away at this stage but there will be surprises, innovations and changes that will make the event a really magical and memorable evening. We are intent on making the 25th gala a really, really special occasion that will long be remembered by anyone lucky enough to be there.”

The continued success of the Northern Ireland Travel and Tourism Awards is reflected by the fact that this year, for the first time, the Awards gala is a sell-out before the tickets have even officially gone on sale, as Northern Ireland Travel News editor Brian Ogle explained.

“This is the first time there are no

Brian Ogle & Jonathan Adair

tickets left at the time of the Awards launch,” said Brian.

“The demand to be at the 25th has been unprecedented. That is not to say there won’t be a few cancellations or drop-outs nearer the time, but almost six months away from the gala all the seats have already gone.

This demonstrates more than anything what a success the Awards have become.”

(1)

(2)

(1) Blast from the past... Valerie Abbott, Jonathan Adair, Chris Morgan, Alan Cross, Angela Rippon & Brenda Morgan (now NI Regional Manager for British Airways) at the Slieve Donard Hotel.

(2) Nicholas Parsons, Maureen Ledwith, Paul Hamilton and a very young Eamonn Holmes back in 1992.

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PARTNERSHIP.EXPERIENCE.IMPACT.

Banking & Finance | Technology

32 years connecting talent and opportunity

Engineering & Manufacturing | HR

www.graftonrecruitment.com

Sales & Marketing

Eye on Moving On Ardmore Advertising has announced a 1 series of appointments. Ellen McLean has been appointed as Digital Marketing Executive. Ellen moves from her role as Programming Assistant and Producer for a Northern Ireland radio station.

2 Jacky Sheridan joins as Studio Administration Assistant. An Ulster University graduate in Graphic Design and Illustration, Jacky has worked as a junior designer and freelance illustrator and was the Artist in Residence at Ulster University Belfast campus where she was involved in teaching, hosting workshops and exhibiting her artwork.

1 Ellen McLean

2 Jacky Sheridan

3 Ruth Jackson

3 Ruth Jackson has been appointed Senior Copywriter. Ruth moves from her role in a Belfast-based advertising agency, with three years’ experience in copywriting. She will work across a range of clients, including Translink, Stena Line and Phoenix Natural Gas. 4 Claire Cleland joins as Junior Designer.

Claire is an architecture graduate from Queens University Belfast and gained a post graduate degree in Digital Communications from Ulster University.

4 Claire Cleland

5 Oran Kane

6 Steven Hayes

5 And Oran Kane has been appointed as Junior Designer at Ardmore Advertising. A Graphic Design graduate from Plymouth College of Art and Graduate Member of the Institute of Designers Ireland, Oran gained two years’ experience at Scottish Rugby as a junior designer and has previously worked with Ulster Rugby as a marketing intern during his studies.

6 Steven Hayes has been appointed as a Financial Analyst at Whiterock Capital Partners.

He has an Honours degree from Queens University Belfast in Accounting & Economics and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in April 2016. In his new role he is responsible for due diligence on potential investments, analysis on investment transactions and portfolio management of investments made.

7 Andrew Givan

8 Andrew Mearns

9 David Horisk

7 Andrew Givan has been appointed senior surveyor of property management at Lambert Smith Hampton. He commenced employment with Lambert Smith Hampton in 2013 and manages a mixed portfolio of assets throughout the UK. Joining him as a senior 8 surveyor is Andrew Mearns. He has spent 18 months with Lambert Smith Hampton in Northern Ireland covering valuation of all property classes including going concern and investment valuations as well as development 9 appraisals. David Horisk has been appointed Head of Building Consultancy. He has over 13 years of commercial building consultancy experience and has been involved in the delivery of building surveying and project 10 management services. And Steven McKee has been appointed associate director.

Steven joined Lambert Smith Hampton in 2008, when he commenced employment within the Property Management Division.

11 Karen Hoey joins Happening Conferences and Events as Senior Events Manager. She has more than 15 years experience working in the events industry and is a member of the Association of British Professional Conference Organisers.

10 Steven McKee

11 Karen Hoey

12 Amy McGuckian

12 Amy McGuckian has been appointed Account Manager at NakedPR. She has over 10 years’ experience of working in PR, communications and marketing roles.

13 And Ciara McCoy has been appointed Account Executive at NakedPR. She is an experienced marketing professional having worked in the tourism, media and business sectors.

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PARTNERSHIP.EXPERIENCE.IMPACT.

Banking & Finance | Technology

32 years connecting talent and opportunity

Engineering & Manufacturing | HR

www.graftonrecruitment.com

Sales & Marketing

Eye on Moving xxx On 14 David Rogan has been appointed a Solicitor in the Company Commercial Department at Cleaver Fulton Rankin. David studied Law at Queen’s University graduating in 2010 before qualifying as a Solicitor in 2013 from the Institute of Professional Legal Studies.

Prior to joining Cleaver Fulton Rankin, David worked for a major accountancy and auditing firm in its Financial Services team.

13 Ciara McCoy

14 David Rogan

15 Paul Prenter

15 Paul Prenter, formerly of KPMG and more recently Staffline Group PLC, has joined Keenan CF as Director. With more than 10 years experience in the field, he will lead and grow the Corporate Advisory Team, providing expert advice to those clients engaging in corporate transactions such as acquisitions, disposals, and fundraising.

Commercial property specialists CBRE have 16 announced four new appointments. Lisa McAteer is appointed as a Director in the agency department. She joined the firm in 2011 17 having previously worked for McConnells. Julie McClelland becomes Associate Director in Professional & Consultancy Services. She joined CBRE from Colliers in 2012. Also appointed 18 as Associate Directors are Eamon Butler 19 and Paddy Henry. Both are members of the Asset Services team at the Belfast office.

16 Lisa McAteer

17 Julie McClelland

18 Eamon Butler

20 Now in his 20th year with HSBC, Marty Colvin moves into the Corporate Team as Relationship Director where he will manage a portfolio of Corporate customers, in addition to developing the HSBC franchise in NI. Also 21 HSBC’s Lauren Hughes has recently been promoted to Relationship Manager for NI SMEs. Lauren joined HSBC 8 years ago, as a graduate of Business from Ulster University.

22 Richard Henderson has been appointed Head of Agriculture at Autoline Insurance. Richard has worked in the agri-insurance sector for over 16 years and will be responsible for the strategic direction and growth of Autoline’s Agricultural Division, encompassing insurer relationships and performance management of the team to support Autoline’s overall growth strategy.

19 Paddy Henry

20 Marty Colvin

21 Lauren Hughes

23 Ciara Gribbin has been appointed Personal Lines Branch Manager at Autoline Insurance, Ballymena. Ciara has worked in Personal Lines Insurance for over 25 years and will be responsible for the already well-established Ballymena branch. She will ensure that customers continue to receive a first-class service by providing individually tailored insurance products to meet their needs and expectations, and by maintaining long-lasting relationships.

24 Sharon Dougall has been appointed Broking Manager at Autoline Insurance, Newry.

Sharon has worked in commercial insurance for nine years and will be overseeing and managing insurer relations, liaising with sales and broking teams across all the branches to continue growing the commercial account.

22 Richard Henderson

23 Ciara Gribbin

24 Sharon Dougall

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Eye on Profile

Suzanne Lea Image Zoo Ltd

Tell us about yourself and your company.

I am managing director of Image Zoo Ltd. We are a creative media company with an extensive portfolio of innovative, out-of-home advertising opportunities across Ireland.

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What was your first job?

After graduating with a degree in 3D Design, I decided it wasn’t to be a jeweller’s life for me and moved into sales and marketing.

I first worked in retail for 6 months then in print advertising with the Newsletter. Both jobs gave me experience in different selling techniques.

What do you attribute to your success?

Personally, I have a strong work ethic, a positive attitude, and the ability to think laterally.

Above all I pride myself on always paying meticulous attention to detail, which is why, at Image Zoo we have developed our own dedicated media planning and accountability database system – iPLAN which classifies all our media according to over 30 separate marketing intelligence criteria.

This advanced consumer and venue segmentation delivers for highly-targeted, value for money campaigns.

Do you have a typical working day?

No! But that is what I love about my job, that every day is different.

I am very lucky to have a dedicated team, who all contribute to the planning, execution and the success of our campaigns.

The day can bring everything from the challenges of floating a 30 metre hash tag up the Liffey for a blue-chip client, to planning a local poster network for a public health campaign.

Who do you look up to in business?

I admire Sir Martin Sorrell because, over 30 years, he turned a small wire basket maker into WPP, an advertising giant with a market capitalisation of £20.5 billion. I also hold Anita Roddick in high regard, not only did she develop a new retail concept into a highly successful global business but she was also a human rights activist and environmental campaigner.

What was the best bit of business advice you have ever received?

It came from one of my tutors at the University of Ulster Belfast - Joe McWilliams - who told me: “Persistence pays”. I have learned the value of that over the years, particularly when bringing new media formats to market.

What advice would you give to someone starting out in business?

Make sure you have a product or service that you really believe in, and that you work in an industry that you love. Don’t be afraid to take risks and fail. And if you are a small company; your staff really are your most important asset.

What’s the most enjoyable part of your job?

I have a genuine love for the industry and I am proud of the direction Image Zoo has taken over the last 18 years. I enjoy working with our energetic, creative team on a wide variety of projects. We work with some amazing Agencies and clients who challenge our thinking on a daily basis.

Who/what has inspired you?

I am inspired by the world around me. I love travelling and every country I visit gives me new ideas. Sound is a big advertising medium in Japan, and helps cut through the neon and ‘visual noise’. In Buenos Aires, niche bars and clubs utilise bar media very well. In Namibia the roadside cafes advertise their presence with huge sculptures that look like something left behind by Mad Max, all targeted, all memorable.

What’s next?

We are always looking at new media and innovative ways to deliver messages to market. The economy is starting to pick up and we are currently expanding our Washroom Network to take advantage of an upsurge in business.

I’m heading soon to New York to meet some ambient media companies, and to absorb the landscape of art, culture, design and media. And try some new cocktails of course.

Supplying cars and vans to the business community

call us on 02890 734222

Examples of Latest Offers at DFC BMW 3 Series Diesel Saloon 320d Sport 4 Door

£239

From plus vat/month

CO2 Emissions 111 g/km Cobined Cycle of 67.3 mpg

All Rentals Include: RAC Telematics

Vauxhall Insignia Diesel Hatchback 1.6 CDTi Sri VX Line

Breakdown Cover Accident Management Road Tax For Contract Duration

£199

From plus vat/month

CO2 Emissions 109 g/km Cobined Cycle of 68.9 mpg

All makes, models and mileage parameters to suit your individual requirements

Renault Kadjar 1.5 dCi Dynamique S Nav

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O2 Emissions 103 g/km Cobined Cycle of 72.4 mpg

To request your personal quotation please call us on 028 9073 4222 or email sales@dfcbelfast.co.uk or visit dfcbelfast.co.uk

Eye on News

CIMA Report on CEO DecisionMaking Skills welcomed by Local Business Leaders

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ictured [L-R] speakers Jason Sherlow, Financial Controller, SHS Group; Roger Acton, Head of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) in Ireland and Gavin Boyd, Chief Executive of the Education Authority at the recent ‘Joining the Dots’ Seminar in Belfast on senior executive decisionmaking. The event was held in association with the Chief Executive’s

Forum and was attended by a broad cross section of senior business leaders from both public and private sector organisations. Thanking the speakers, Roger Acton said “the event had helped to convey a local perspective on the research into the challenges facing business leaders today and to highlight the skills needed for better decisionmaking in today’s complex and everchanging organisational environment.”

Leading Ad Agency Hires Creative Talent Belfast-based marketing and creative advertising agency RLA has bolstered its presence in the local market with two key senior hirings.

M

ichael Keenan and Colin Maguire arrive at RLA with over 40 years of combined experience in the advertising industry.

Their remit will be to help grow the award-winning agency’s portfolio in Northern Ireland, as well as supporting the creative offering in RLA Bournemouth.

Both hires are in line with the executive team’s plan to power up the agency’s creative offering by recruiting the brightest in the industry for its clients.

Managing Director Stephen Roycroft commented; “It’s great to add to our recent successes and team of big thinkers here with such seasoned campaigners; it’s another

big step in our plans for Ireland.”

Keenan and Maguire have looked after and produced campaigns for some of the biggest local and national brands including Phoenix Natural Gas, Dale Farm, Portfolio of Fine Diamonds, Translink, Tayto, Stena Line, SPAR UK, PSNI, Invest NI, Forest Feast, Simon Community and Crimestoppers.

news that they have cancer. For their families the future is uncertain and worrying as they face physical, emotional and financial challenges.

Cancer Fund for Children provide a range of wrap-around services including one to one and group support from therapeutic specialists, short breaks at Daisy Lodge, residential weekends at Narnia and financial grants. The charity also provides support through the ‘Young Shoulders

Programme’ to young people who are living with a parent who has cancer.

SDC Trailers, which manufactured 9,500 trailers in 2015 alone has 3 state of the art production facilities in Northern Ireland and one in Mansfield, England. The company is one of Northern Ireland’s largest employers with positions ranging from welders, fitters, painters, joiners, mechanical engineers, accountants, sales and administration.

SDC TRAILERS RAISE OVER £100K FOR CANCER FUND FOR CHILDREN!

T

he UK and Ireland’s largest trailer manufacturer, SDC Trailers based in Toomebridge has announced that the company has raised over £102,000 to help the Cancer Fund for Children. The company has had CFC as its charity partner since 2014, with each member of staff contributing through payroll giving, as well as raising money through a series of fundraising events such as the 2014 and 2015 Belfast marathon, a charity cycle event, and a donation from SDC. This payroll giving drive has included all of the staff at SDC and sister company MDF Engineering in Antrim.

Managing Director Mark Cuskeran, praised the staff and the charity

126

itself for their success.

“We chose CFC for the truly fantastic work the charity is doing in the local community. I am delighted that our staff here at SDC Trailers and MDF Engineering have been so generous in donating to the CFC charity. A number of management and staff have visited CFC’s Daisy Lodge centre and been overwhelmed by the services that they provide to affected children and families. With this in mind, the board of directors decided to add a further £20,000 on top of staff contributions for such a worthy cause.”

Every week in Northern Ireland, three more children and young adults (aged 0-24 years) hear the devastating

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Eye on Motoring

dfcbelfast.co.uk Motoring with Derek Black dbmotoring@btinternet.com

KIA PUTS ITS TOP-SELLING SPORTAGE THROUGH FINISHING SCHOOL! The Sportage has been a big hit for Kia in the UK, accounting for nearly a third of sales. So what have they done to improve the recently-launched fourth generation? Quite a lot as it turns out!

M

y test car was a First Edition special, a £30k version loaded with almost all you could expect. What are they thinking, I asked myself - aren’t Kia a brand that sells mostly on price (and that 7-year warranty)? Times, it would seem, are changing for Korean cars.

I had not gone far before it became apparent that this is a higher quality car. Quiet and refined, there is only a distant thrum from the 2.0-litre turbo diesel engine. With new subframes supporting the suspension the car feels more solid, on or off the road.

Okay, this is no sports car, but it sits better on the road and you always feel in control. There is

better steering response and - even on the 19 inch alloys of the First Edition - the ride was remarkably good over our bumpy back roads.

Unlike some SUVs, I could drive this one happily on a daily basis.

It has the lot, from leather seats to an auto opening and closing tailgate on the roomy luggage bay. A parking aid steers it into the slot at the touch of a button.

There’s a rear-view camera and a large screen for sat nav and the rest. It flashes up speed limit reminders and can even charge your smart phone wirelessly.

The 2.0-litre engine, uprated to 182bhp, makes for effortless driving with bundles of torque.

With a six-speed auto gearbox,

it is good for 62mph in just over 9 seconds. It returns 44.8mpg combined and emits 166g/km - not bad for this size of vehicle though I only got 27mpg with short, mostly town, journeys.

Much cheaper models with a 1.7 turbo diesel with manual gearbox may appeal more the the company accountant and even the second grade up comes with sat nav and costs £9k less……

The 1.6 DDiS engine appeals to the bottom line with 62mpg rating on the combined cycle - a tribute to the efficiency of both the auto gearbox and the all-wheel drive system. Emissions are rated 118g/ km putting the top model into the 20% business tax bracket.

With all that kit and the full SZ5 trim level the S-cross is

priced at £25k but I am sure discounts would be available. If you settle for lower grades and just front-wheel drive you can buy an S Cross from as little as £13,999 with a 1.6 petrol engine.

The diesel choices - which are nicer to drive as well as being much more frugal - start from £19,999.

SUZUKI GETS SERIOUS WITH ITS S CROSS DIESEL SUV! You could say that the Suzuki brand has literally grown up in recent years. They have always been good with small cars like the Swift but now they have two decently sized SUV cross-overs in the chunky shapes of the Vitara and this, the SX4 S Cross.

T

he boot on the S Cross could rival many bigger cars and I found it a pleasing car to live with. As well as upsizing, Suzuki has upgraded its technology closer to ‘state of the art’. For a reasonably priced car you get plenty of kit.

Fitted with a Fiat-sourced diesel engine and a new twinclutch six-speed automated gearbox it certainly does the business. The strong torque at

low revs makes it feel sharper than the 0-62mph figure of 13 seconds would suggest. It is light and easy to drive and corners well for this type of vehicle.

Extra insulation under the bonnet subdues the sound of the diesel engine. My car had the optional Alldrive - a simplified all-wheel drive system that is lighter and only cuts in when required. It has various settings for differing terrains.

127

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Eye on Motoring

Fact or Fiction – Can DFC/RAC Telematics Improve the Way You Manage Company Vehicles?

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The better you understand your business, the better equipped you will be to manage it. This is especially true when it comes to managing company vehicles, where knowing how your vehicles are being used will help you make informed decisions and in turn reduce your overheads. This can be vital in giving your business that all important competitive edge.

ith DFC/RAC Telematics managing your company vehicles can become a far more streamlined process. It provides real-time updates on your fleet’s location using GPS and delivers other benefits, like setting vehicle parameters and getting data and information on your fleet activity that ultimately put you in control of how your business performs on and off the road.

While your fleet was previously beyond your control once it hit the road, you now have a wealth of information at your fingertips. From a vehicle’s current status and location, to their speed and behaviour (such as harsh braking or acceleration using risk and efficiency scores). This allows you to make fully informed decisions on the running of your fleet. For example, giving you the ability to identify drivers that may require retraining in a specific area, or the insight that certain vehicles are no longer cost effective.

DFC/RAC Telematics can give you the information to be able to make better decisions about your fleet and therefore improve your operational efficiency.

This allows you to be more proactive in the way you manage your vehicles.

The option to view traffic feeds allows you to amend your routes and alter plans at short notice when unforeseen circumstances arise. Similarly, real time vehicle updates means you can provide customers with accurate and up to date

Local Company Local People Local Service

ETA’s, enhancing customer service and productivity. This also allows you to be more efficient when selecting the nearest driver for a job, giving you the capabilities to react quicker to changing circumstances.

Fleet managers will also benefit from the use of geo-fencing. This also allows you to set geographical boundaries and help restrict a vehicles use to certain times or places. With this in place, you will receive bespoke reports and alerts should a boundary or curfew be broken. It can be particularly effective to help reduce the use of personal journeys on your time and money.

DFC/RAC Telematics with the incorporation of breakdown cover and accident management provides a comprehensive fleet management solution that works for businesses of all sizes. Whether you’re running a small fleet or a large operation, DFC/ RAC Telematics provides you with complete control at your convenience.

Speak with Pauline Nelmes our dedicated Telematics Account Manager on 07775 773 806 or email pauline@dfctelematics.co.uk to see how this system can improve the way you manage company vehicles.

T: 028 9073 4222

DFC is Northern Ireland’s only major independent locally owned Vehicle Management Company.

For over 25 years DFC have supplied, funded and managed cars and vans.

We are confident we can provide a cost effective solution for your business or individual needs.

Call us today for more information on our car and van offers on 028 9073 4222 or email sales@dfcbelfast.co.uk

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Eye on Motoring

Motoring with Derek Black dbmotoring@btinternet.com

VOLVO XC90 POWERS TO THE TOP OF THE PREMIUM SUV CLASS! Sometimes a car turns out to be better than you expect. Take Volvo’s flagship XC90 for example. I used to think it was a good performer but a tad frumpy. It has now morphed into one of the best quality SUVs in terms of style, comfort and efficiency.

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y car had the D5 turbo diesel engine - they have kept the label as homage to the thumping old fivecylinder. But this is now powered by one of Volvo’s rather refined, 2.0-litre, four cylinder engines that combine power with economy.

The 225bhp D5 has twin turbos and can dash to 62mph in 7.8 seconds and has a potential top speed of 137mph. Yet it is rated at 48mpg on the combined cycle and emits 152g/ km - creditable for such a large

all-wheel drive machine.

Despite its bulk, the XC90 handles well and can absorb bad road surfaces without ruffling its occupants. New to Volvo’s armoury of safety features is the world’s first auto braking, if the driver tries to turn in front of an oncoming vehicle at a junction.

The XC90 is also offered with the ‘Twin Engine T8’ hybrid power train. - this uses a twolitre, four-cylinder supercharged and turbocharged engine that powers the front wheels and

an 80 bhp electric motor that drives the rear wheels.

Its combined output is around 400 bhp and it takes just 5.6 seconds to reach 62mph! Yet it delivers a theoretical 134mpg on the combined cycles and has emissions rated at a meagre 49g/ km putting it into the very low 7% company car tax bracket!

The cockpit is classy with superb instrumentation including a big iPad style vertical screen in the

A SMOOTHER LOOK FOR THE GO-ANYWHERE DISCO SPORT!

centre of the fascia. The interior is the most luxurious ever made by Volvo with a clean Scandanavian look and feel. There are optional Contour seats that give support from shoulder to thigh and also generate more space in the second and third rows.

The D4 and D5 diesels , priced from £46,105, are likely to be the best sellers but the T8 hybrid may tempt business leaders at £60,455

The new Discovery Sport seems to have lost some of its angular profile in favour of softer, more curvaceous lines. It looks less of the workhorse and more of a junior Range Rover - or a grown-up Evoque.

Either way, it is very easy on the eye.

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rice-wise, it lines up against the BMW X3 or the Audi Q5 but it has the distinction of being available with seven seats. While they say seven, it is more like 5 plus 2 as the third row of seats is more suitable for children than adults.

Described as a replacement for the Freelander, it is nothing of the sort as it is in a higher league in terms of performance, quality and refinement. All models come with the much praised Ingenium 2.0-litre turbo diesel engine and four-wheel drive. The British-built unit comes with outputs of 150bhp or 180bhp in the case of my top line test car.

Compared with the previous 2.2-litre diesel, this engine is more powerful, quieter and more refined. The 150bhp engine comes in the least expensive models but the 180bhp puts

some real spring into its step and would be the driver’s choice.

With the familiar Jaguar ninespeed automatic gearbox, the Discovery Sport is good to drive and comfortable to be driven in.

It has excellent off-road ability in the Land Rover tradition.

Inside it is beautifully finished just like the Evoque and with those extra seats folded down it is a capacious load carrier.

Prices start from £35,795 for the 5-seater with the less powerful 150 engine - it claims 57mpg on the combined cycle. The sumptuous HSE Luxury 7-seat model that I drove starts from £43k before options and returns 53mpg combined. It looks fair value against its rivals from BMW and Audi but there are cheaper seven seaters from Kia and Hyundai which are getting better all the time.

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Eye on Motoring

WILL THIS BE THE ALFA TO BREAK INTO THE BUSINESS MARKET? Alfa Romeo cars are renowned for their style, flair and performance but would rarely have been considered as company cars. That may well change with the latest Giulietta hatchback as it ticks a lot of boxes on economy, value and convenience.

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ts styling is similar to the larger Giulia saloon with an eye-catching black honeycomb V grille and the traditional offset front number plate. There are LED running light clusters, fore and aft, and an updated version of the famous Alfa badge.

The car I drove had the combination of a 1.6 turbo diesel engine with a new twin-clutch TCT automatic gearbox.

This made the best use of the available

120bhp to give perky everyday performance and fast, seamless changes with option of ‘manual’ changes using the steering wheel flaps.

Strong torque from low speeds gave the car a pleasing sense of urgency.

A ‘DNA’ selector lets you pick one of three driving modes from dynamic to economy with the car reacting appropriately. The improved 1.6 JTD diesel with the TCT box should

appeal to business users as it returns 74mpg on the official combined cycle and emits just 99g/km which will keep down company car tax.

In terms of roadholding and handling, the Giulietta offers a good compromise between comfort and response to the steering. There is loads of high tech equipment including stability control and an infotainment system that works with smartphones to let

you log onto Twitter or Facebook on navigation-equipped models.

My car had the optional Lusso pack which added striking twin tone leather upholstery, voiceactivate navigation, 17-inch alloys and other sporty touches. Giulietta prices start from £18,450 for the 1.4 turbo with the 1.6 diesel starting from £19,780 for manual and £21,050 with the TCT auto.

WHOLE LIFE COST LEADER . †

YES, IT’S AN ASTRA SPORTS TOURER.

P11D FROM £16,530 | CO 2 FROM 89G/KM | UP TO 83.1MPG LOADSPACE UP TO 1,630 LITRES

SEARCH NEW ASTRA BUSINESS

Official Government Test Environmental Data. New Astra Sports Tourer range fuel consumption figures mpg (litres/100km): Urban: 35.3 (8.0)-74.3 (3.8), Extra-urban: 55.4 (5.1)-91.1 (3.1), Combined: 45.6 (6.2)-83.1 (3.4). CO2 emissions: 142-89g/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. General Motors UK Limited, 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. All figures quoted correct at time of going to press (May 2016). † = Whole Life Cost leadership compares the following vehicles: New Astra SRi Sports Tourer 1.6CDTi 110PS ecoFLEX 92g/km, Focus Zetec S estate 1.5 TDCi 120PS 99g/km, Golf SE estate 1.6DTI 110PS 110g/km. New Astra Sports Tourer SRi model shown above is for illustrative purposes only and features 18” alloy wheels (£395), Dark-tinted rear windows (£275), Keyless entry and start (£395) and LED tail lights (£195) with P11D from £19,830, CO2 from 92g/km and fuel consumption up to 80.7mpg.

business offers from volvo Cars in northern ireland

Model shown is XC60 D4 SE

Model shown is V40 D2 R-Design

Business Contract Hire

Initial rental

Month agreement

Annual mileage

Excess mileage (per mile)

BHP

BIK%

CO2

P11d

V40 T2 R Design from

£1,194 + VAT

36

10,000

9.75p + VAT

122

22%

127g

£22,290.00

£199 per month* + VAT

S60 D2 Business Edition from

£209 per month* + VAT

£1,254 + VAT

36

10,000

9.75p + VAT

120

19%

99g

£22,340.00

V60 D2 Business Edition from

£209 per month* + VAT

£1,254 + VAT

36

10,000

10.35p + VAT

120

19%

98g

£23,540.00

V40 D2 R Design from

£229 per month

+ VAT

£1,374 + VAT

36

10,000

10.5p + VAT

120

18%

89g

£23,590.00

XC60 D4 SE Nav from

£269 per month* + VAT

£1,614 + VAT

36

10,000

14.45p + VAT

190

23%

117g

£32,630.00

£2,934 + VAT

36

10,000

20.7p + VAT

235

29%

149g

£46,650.00

*

XC90 D5 Powerpulse from

£489 per month* + VAT

VAT payable at 20%

Stanley Motor Works (SMW) Greers of Antrim & Coleraine

Volvo Business Centre

028 9068 6000 www.volvocarsbelfast.co.uk

028 9446 0066 www.volvocarsantrim.co.uk

Fuel consumption and CO2 figures for the Volvo Range in mpg (I/100 km): Urban 68.9 (4.1) – 19.1 (14.8), Extra Urban 85.6 (3.3) – 37.7 (7.5), Combined 155.2 (1.8) – 27.7 (10.2). CO2 emissions 237 – 48g/km. MPG figures are obtained from laboratory testing intended for comparisons between vehicles and may not reflect real driving results. *Important Information. Business users only. Subject to status. Vehicle must be returned in good condition to avoid further charges. Subject to availability at participating dealers for vehicles registered 01/04/16 to 30/06/16. Not available with other promotions. Provided by Lex Autolease Ltd trading as Volvo Car Leasing, SK3 0RB.