Ulster Business June 2022

ULSTER BUSINESS

JUNE 2022 Price £2.30 (€2.60)

IN FOCUS Gym firm Hench eyeing five locations

GOVERNMENT Business and our message is ‘get back to work’

Data and digitalisation shaping our energy network Andrew Cupples of NIE Networks on preparing for increased power demands and net zero JUNE 2022

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Contents 08 News

45 77 Education, training & skills Motoring

The latest news and exclusives from across the world of Northern Ireland business

Emma Deighan looks at the staff shortages impacting some of our biggest industries

Our motoring man Pat Burns takes on an Alpine and checks out a King of Leons

18 Cover story

51 Investment & wealth management

84 Photocall

Andrew Cupples of NIE Networks on using data and digitalisation to shape our future

Two experts on the investment landscape

A look at what’s been happening across the world of Northern Ireland business and beyond

22 In Focus

59 IT & technology

92 Review

John Mulgrew speaks to Rory Girvan about plans for up to five new Hench gyms here

Ulster Business looks at the rise of AI and automation across the world of IT

John Mulgrew spends some time with the Tissot PRX and sees why it’s become a classic

37 Engineering & manufacturing

69 Local government

96 Technology

It’s time to stop the games... we need a new Executive and we need it now

As Elon Musk makes the move to buy Twitter Adrian Weckler says problems have just begun

Stephen Kelly on the Protocol and wider sector

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JUNE 2022

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EDITOR’S COMMENTS

Now is the time to form an Executive

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bet when the people of Lagan Valley put their first preference down beside one candidate’s name, they didn’t expect in a matter of days they’d have an entirely different person representing them.

And so our post-election stasis rumbles on after the May 5 election. This is correct at the time of writing, and I’d very much hope to be wrong on this occasion if it means seeing a return to government here.

political spectrum, and myself is very clear – get back to Stormont and form an Executive. Now is not the time for political stunts. You owe it to the electorate.

We’ve had to deal with political uncertainty on and off for years but, as every business is acutely aware, uncertainty and instability are two words no one wants to hear, especially potential foreign direct investors.

There’s a lot more from the business community and I in this edition of the magazine in relation to a self-inflicted suspension of fully operational devolved politics here.

While the mechanics of the NI Protocol are dealt with at a UK and EU level, getting back to setting a long-term budget and addressing the realities of the challenges of 9% inflation, record high gas and oil prices and thus, a cost of living crisis, is key. You were elected to govern, so govern.

But the message from business, the wider

Welcome to this June edition of Ulster

Business. We feature Andrew Cupples of NIE Networks on the cover, chatting about how it’s utilising data and digitalisation to craft a modern power network, and one ready for the demands as we move towards increased electrification and net zero.

There’s also a host of features, interviews, exclusive news, profiles and analysis inside.

We’re now working on our big summer Top 100 edition. It charts the success stories of Northern Ireland’s largest companies from right across the sectors, and has been a key guide for more than 30 years.

I hope you enjoy this edition of the magazine, and we’ll catch up soon. ■ John Mulgrew

Publisher Ulster Business c/o Mediahuis UK Ltd Belfast Telegraph House, 33 Clarendon Road, Clarendon Dock, Belfast BT1 3BG

Editor John Mulgrew

Printer W&G Baird Greystone Press, Caulside Drive, Antrim BT41 2RS www.wgbaird.com

Graphic design Susan McClean, Mediahuis Ireland Design Studio

www.ulsterbusiness.com

Sales executives Sarah-Ann Gamble, s.gamble@mediahuis.co.uk Martin Elliman, m.elliman@mediahuis.co.uk

Cover photo Elaine Hill

@ulsterbusiness

Ulster Business Magazine

Mediahuis UK Ltd © 2022. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of Mediahuis.

JUNE 2022

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NEWS

month IN The time to form an numbers Executive is now A

£58m

The value of a new Global Innovation Institute at Queen’s University’s Institute of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology, due to open in 2025.

9%

The UK rate of inflation in the 12 months to March. It’s now at its highest level in 40 years.

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The number of new jobs being created by Newry ship fit-out firm MJM Marine, which was badly hit by the worldwide slump in the cruise liner industry during the Covid-19 pandemic.

3.4%

The average rise in the cost of a house here between the end of 2021 and start of 2022. It now stands at £164,590.

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orthern Ireland’s political parties must form a new Executive immediately in order to address key needs across society and business, leaders of industry and this magazine have said.

Business leaders, groups and the wider political spectrum, along with Ulster Business, are calling for parties to return to the Assembly and form an Executive.

The DUP has said it will not return to government here while its concerns over the NI Protocol remain.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has confirmed she intends to introduce legislation “in the coming weeks” to make changes to the Northern Ireland Protocol.

However, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson did not confirm if his party would return to Stormont following the intervention by Ms Truss and said the party wanted to see progress in “days and weeks” and “not months”.

Speaking in this edition of the magazine, Stephen Kelly, chief executive of Manufacturing NI, said: “It (the Executive) should have been formed the week after the election. There are so many challenges which can only be sorted with local politicians making local decisions. There is money on the table that needs to go to families and businesses.”

Ann McGregor, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry said party politics must be put aside to “deliver the certainty and stability that businesses, their employees and everyone in Northern Ireland deserves”.

“Right now companies are being tested like never before. Their resilience is being pushed by a myriad of challenges from soaring costs, labour, and skills shortages, to supply chain issues and uncertainty around the NI Protocol.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson with some of newly-elected MLAs

“Such a challenging environment requires a functioning Executive. It is therefore critical that the new Executive is formed without delay and that all ministers commit to seeing through a full mandate, delivering on the issues that matter.”

Ulster Business editor, John Mulgrew, said: “Following outbursts of sporadic violence at the end of last year – leading to us landing on the front pages of papers around the world for all the wrong reasons once again – we cannot be in another position where we are painting such a negative picture on the world stage while still failing to properly govern the people of Northern Ireland.”

Simon Hamilton, a former DUP minister and now chief executive of Belfast Chamber has said “we need to get the Executive back as quickly as possible”.

“What businesses and society want are ministers around the Executive table, taking collective decisions to deal with the full range of problems companies are grappling with right now.”

Read the full feature on page 69-72

NEWS

Gym owner eyeing five locations

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personal coaching business owner says he’s eyeing up to five gyms in Belfast and beyond, Ulster Business can reveal.

Rory Girvan

Rory Girvan set up his strength and gym business Hench in 2012. He’s now expanded to a larger location at Cromac Street in Belfast as part of a £250,000 expansion.

But he’s now planning to expand that unit further, and add up to an additional four gyms over the next few years.

“Realistically, three to five sites,” he says. “That is what we are aiming for. We would be looking at three sites in the next two to three years, and depending on how that goes take a decision to add sites in city or look further in Northern Ireland.”

Rory says he’s invested £250,000 and plans to add an additional £250,000 as the business looks for other sites to set up in the city.

“We are at the stage where we have a finished site at Cromac and are now selecting other sites across city.

vacant unit we would hope to get – there are also different areas in the city.”

“The next stage, if all goes well, is expanding the existing site. There is a

Read the full interview on page 22-23

JUNE 2022

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NEWS

Quotes THE month OF

“It should have been formed the week after the election. There are so many challenges which can only be sorted with local politicians making local decisions. There is money on the table that needs to go to families and businesses.”

Stephen Kelly of Manufacturing NI speaking about the need for an Executive.

Staff crisis ‘forcing restaurants to reduce opening times’

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staffing crisis across some of our hospitality sector is seeing leading businesses here having to significantly reduce opening times due to shortages, one leading chef has told Ulster Business.

Many of Belfast and beyond’s leading restaurants are now shutting during the start of the week due to a combination of demand and in particular a lack of staff.

Niall McKenna, chef and proprietor of restaurants James Street and Hadskis and Waterman House cookery school, said following the pandemic, staffing has been one of his biggest challenges.

“The last thing they want is further uncertainty in trading arrangements amid global supply chain challenges.”

CBI NI director Angela McGowan speaking following the UK Government’s statement on the NI Protocol and its next steps.

He said getting people to commit to the industry after time off was a struggle while a “lethargy” around getting existing staff into work mode compounded issues.

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Northern Ireland Hotels Federation (NIHF) chief executive Janice Gault said the pandemic and Brexit have intensified skills shortages in the hospitality sector.

Read the full feature on page 45-48

Mark Spence

here.

The agreement with the Construction Employer’s Federation (CEF) will see budgetfriendly business connectivity for CEF members across Northern Ireland that are regularly commuting to London, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh, as well as the provision of commercial discount on airport services and facilities.

Mark Spence, managing director, CEF said: The CEF is delighted to welcome City of Derry Airport as a commercial partner at a time when the construction industry is looking at time and cost-effective connections to sites across the UK. It brings significant additional route choice and the door-to-door time times of this regional airport compares very favourably with the larger airports.”

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“James Street is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and that’s purely due to demand and staffing. It’s all a numbers game,” he says.

Derry Airport forms partnership with construction body ity of Derry Airport has formed a new partnership with the construction sector’s industry body

“Despite record skills shortages, employers are continuing to increase their staffing levels.

Having briefly dipped below 70% last year, Northern Ireland’s employment rate hit 72.2% in quarter one 2022.”

Ulster Bank chief economist Richard Ramsey speaking about the latest labour force figures.

He has opened some of his venues on reduced hours and has pumped more money into his own training academy to mitigate staffing challenges.

And Steve Frazer, managing director at City of Derry Airport said: “We are absolutely delighted to partner with the CEF and offer their extensive community of members the opportunity to fly local with us.

“We work with our airline partners Loganair and Ryanair, to provide daily connections to the UK, as well as NI award-winning tour operator, Travel Solutions, to offer holiday packages to Spain and Portugal.”

Niall McKenna

NEWS

Fresh bid to turn former UTV studio Havelock House site into apartments

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Havelock House on the Ormeau Road in south Belfast

resh plans are under way to turn the former home of UTV into an apartment development, Ulster Business can reveal.

A new application on behalf of Locka Ltd, a subsidiary of Olympian Homes, wants to knock down Havelock House on the Ormeau Road and build a residential apartment block.

The new proposal of application notice – which is normally filed before a full planning application on larger schemes – comes after the developer was refused permission for a 270 apartment scheme on the site in 2020.

A year later the Planning Appeals Commission rejected an appeal from developer to overturn planning refusal decision.

company Locka Ltd submitted a planning application to knock down the building and replace it with a 271-unit build-to-rent apartment scheme.

The plans attracted dozens of objections, many due to the cultural and historical importance of the site, and the size of the proposed building – eight storeys.

Details of the new application have not yet been revealed.

The building was the home of UTV from 1959 until 2018, when the broadcaster relocated to City Quays. Developer Olympian Homes bought the building in October 2018 and the following year its subsidiary

JUNE 2022

Belfast City Council planners recommended the application for approval, but it was rejected by members of the council’s planning committee.

It was first refused permission in November 2020.

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NEWS

New retail chief sets out stall

By John Mulgrew

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ackling the challenges of the Protocol, spiralling costs and getting retail back to where it was before the pandemic will be among key issues for the newly appointed head of one major industry group, Ulster Business can reveal.

And Kerry Curran says she has “big shoes to fill” in taking up the role as director of the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium.

Ms Curran was previously acting director of strategy and policy with cross-border trade organisation InterTradeIreland.

economic science to the role,” she says.

“Using that knowledge with really good research to positively impact policy part in relation to tax in the sector, moving forward.

new post. “It absolutely will be. I have done a lot of research for InterTradeIreland on supply chain issues, the Protocol and how we trade in and out of it.

“My job will be to look at the actions and policy areas. When we get (local government) up and going as quick as possible, it gives us that structure to make changes in order to recover more strongly.”

“… it isn’t the only show in town and there are a lot of things impacting (business). The rising costs of overheads, general inflationary pressure and access to skills – these are the challenges businesses are dealing with today.”

She says the NI Protocol and Brexit will “absolutely” be part of her focus when she takes up her

Ms Curran is taking over the reins from Aodhán Michael Connolly, who was a popular sight across local and international media over the last few years, arguing the position of local business groups seeking changes to the Brexit protocol, which included a wider role as chairman NI Business Brexit Working Group.

“I have been following the work of the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium for a long time,” Ms Curran said.

“The work they are doing, looking at the impact of the changing trading relationships.

It’s very much intertwined. It’s really big shoes to fill in terms of Aodhan, who really brought light to the retail sector and how it impacted people on the street.”

Mr Connolly has now taken up a new post as director of the Brussels office of the Stormont Executive.

Ms Curran has a long history working in policy, with a focus on cross-border trading relationships, given her role in all-island business body InterTradeIreland.

Ms Curran also boasts a masters degree in business administration, one in economics, and a post-graduate diploma.

Kerry Curran

“I want to bring that really sound

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NEWS

IRP Commerce hosts industry event

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RP Commerce, the provider of e-commerce solutions for some of the UK and Ireland’s most successful and ambitious merchants, welcomed companies from across the island of Ireland to an event celebrating Belfast as the centre of Europe’s e-commerce innovation.

The event in Belfast’s Fitzwilliam Hotel gave IRP merchants including DV8, Fishing Tackle and Bait, Johnston Prams, Jonzara, KWM Wines and Spirits and Old Mill Saddlery the chance to meet with companies from the e-commerce industry to collaborate and share strategies for success.

Mark Irwin Ardmore Advertising & Marketing with Philip Macartney, IRP Commerce

Ardmore, which recently acquired BFG Digital, partnered with IRP Commerce on the event and used the opportunity to discuss the global growth ambitions now available to merchants on IRP’s Commerce Cloud trading platform.

Daniel Loughlin, IRP Commerce, Mark Irwin, Ardmore Advertising & Marketing and Caroline Greer, IRP Commerce

JUNE 2022

This event came hot on the heels of the eComm Live Conference, which IRP Commerce has been title sponsor for the event since its inception in 2019. IRP Commerce chief commercial officer Philip Macartney used his keynote presentation to highlight the importance of merchant net profit as the true metric of e-commerce success.

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RECRUITMENT

As drive to attract talent intensifies firms must focus on employee value proposition

By John Moore, managing director, Hays NI

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mployers in many sectors of our economy won’t have been surprised by the recent headlines about the number of job vacancies in the UK being higher than the number of unemployed people for the first time ever.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said job openings rose to a high of 1.3 million at the same time the unemployment rate fell to 3.7% at the start of this year, its lowest level for almost 50 years.

We know the jobs market is complex and with the rising cost of living which all of us are currently experiencing, high employment numbers don’t necessarily mean things are entirely rosy – in fact the ONS itself said that the statistics painted a mixed picture.

One interesting number recorded, however, was the record high number of people moving from job to job, through resignation rather than redundancy. In fact, over the past three quarters around three million people in the UK have moved job, leading one of my colleagues to dub the current situation in the jobs market the “great reshuffle” rather than the great resignation.

In a professional setting, we have known for some time that there is huge competition for talent in a lot of sectors, which has led employers to increase salaries, improve benefits packages and adopt new flexible working offers as a means of attracting those with in-demand skills to join them.

What has become clear over the course of the past year is that employers need to focus just as much energy on retaining their brightest and best, as it is very likely those staff members are high on the target list of competitors and other employers in fast-growing industries.

The first step to doing this is to review whether your employee value proposition is clearly articulated, not only to those you are trying to hire but those you already have on board. An employee value proposition (EVP) tells a candidate what they’ll get in return for working from you and defines what you offer, so should help attract people who are a good fit to your organisation.

Here’s the crucial thing for staff you are trying to retain – what you say your EVP is has to match up with their experience. To gauge this and get greater insight into what your competitive advantage is, run anonymous surveys, focus groups or one to one interviews about what’s important to employees, what engages them and why the remain with your organisation. What are their perceptions of culture, values, goals, career

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progression opportunities, quality of leadership, support offered, and salaries and benefits.

As the cost of living rises, so too has wage inflation, but the intangible experience and rewards that staff value remain hugely important.

Flexibility, hybrid working, wellbeing and work-life balance remain high on the list of things candidates want, so it is really interesting to see some employers reversing their position on flexible working and assuming that if they pay people more, they will be happy to be in an office most of the time. This isn’t reflected in the conversations we have with candidates, so if you are thinking of changing your working arrangements, you need to have an honest conversation with your people.

Values and purpose are also really important. Employees want to know that their job matters and the company they work for makes a positive impact. Are your people able to see you taking action on the societal, environmental and cultural issues you say you champion and participate in this work?

Your EVP should be more than just descriptive sentences. It needs to be based in truth and should represent the sum of the experience of working at your organisation.

If you are listening to what your employees want and living up to the EVP that they bought in to when they joined, you stand a far greater chance of keeping your best people. ■

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PROFILE

Abbeyfield Belfast launches new concept retirement facility

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bbeyfield Belfast, a leading notfor-profit provider of supported living for older people who have worked within the local community for over 60 years, has officially announced the opening of Harberton Hall, a high-end 38,750 sq ft luxury facility in south Belfast.

A new concept in elderly supported living, Harberton Hall provides supported sheltered accommodation for older people and is an ideal choice for those who no longer wish to live alone, offering a blend of assistance where required and encouraging residents to embrace their independence into their later life.

The ambitious project took two years to complete and was closely managed by Niki Molloy, chief executive with Abbeyfield Belfast.

“Harberton Hall, like our other four ‘houses’, has been inspired by the Abbeyfield ethos of making time for older people,” she says.

“Our new facility is the direct result of talking to residents and delivering a purpose-built ideal living environment where they can thrive in a supportive and engaging atmosphere.”

The Harberton Hall development is the first of its kind in Northern Ireland, modelled closely after the ‘retirement communities’ which are popular on the UK mainland and in America, and marks a step-change in the provision of care for older people. Providing both comfort and security, Harberton Hall boasts 32 one and

Niki Molloy chief executive with Abbeyfield Belfast is pictured with Louise Tiffney, relationship director, Barclays Corporate Banking Northern Ireland

two bedroomed self-contained apartments, a restaurant, hair salon, reading gallery, arts and crafts room, exercise studio and landscaped gardens and has already secured over 60% occupancy levels.

“Loneliness and isolation are very common problems for older people living in their own homes and this has been exacerbated with the Covid-19 pandemic,” Niki says “Our residents will have the best of both worlds – a fully equipped luxury apartment where they can entertain or just enjoy their privacy, alongside a local community of peers with whom they can engage whenever they wish.

“A chef-prepared meal is served every evening in the restaurant and our in-house staff take care of laundry and cleaning, leaving residents little to do but socialise in our communal areas and indulge in the things they enjoy. We do believe that this kind of facility is the way forward for supported living for older people.”

A funding package of £4m was provided

by Barclays, Abbeyfield Belfast’s corporate banking partner, to support the development

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and the charity’s day-to-day operational requirements.

Louise Tiffney, relationship director, Barclays Corporate Banking in Northern Ireland, said: “We are delighted to be supporting Abbeyfield Belfast in the provision of their long-term corporate banking requirements.

Our relationship model, which brings industry expertise, has added value to the Harberton Hall project by exploring the project’s digital potential for both staff and residents, as well as recognising Abbeyfield’s commercial approach combined with a value-based proposition.

Harberton Hall is futureproofing the Abbeyfield brand for many years to come.” ■ For more information on Harberton Hall visit www.harbertonhall.org

COVER STORY

Data and digitalisation helping shape our future energy network As we all head towards a net zero future, NIE Networks is ensuring it is prepared for increasing energy demands as we transition to a low carbon economy. Andrew Cupples, network development manager, speaks to Ulster Business about that continued journey with a focus on data, smart solutions and digitalisation, to help ensure a strong and stable energy future for all

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ndrew Cupples and the rest of the network development team are focused on what they want to achieve to ensure Northern Ireland’s electricity network is at the forefront of technology and ready for future burgeoning demands as we transition to net zero.

His role includes network planning with a focus on the integration of low carbon technologies and renewable power generation across the network.

For NIE Networks, it’s focusing on moving towards low-carbon technology, and dealing with a rise in network demands as we move away from fossil fuels and towards the electrification of our homes, cars and public transport.

“It’s being able to cope with the increased demands on the network. Particularly, the driver for that at the moment includes the electrification of heat and transport, along with the connection of renewable generation as well.”

Andrew Cupples is now network development manager and has been a stalwart with NIE Networks for just over 12 years, operating across a range of roles – starting out as a graduate in electrical engineering and moving his way up to his current post.

NIE Networks is in the process of developing its new business plan to 2030 – influenced not only by Stormont’s new Energy Strategy, but also engagement with experts and customers, to help strengthen and shape the network in the years to come. And a key focus of

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“The key focus is to target network investment in a timely and efficient manner,” Andrew tells Ulster Business.

that is the use of smart solutions, data and digitalisation.

“This role encompasses our innovation team and also our whole systems team, where we are seeking to collaborate across the entire energy sector,” Andrew says.

“It also includes the network planning function and looking towards low-carbon technologies uptake, where we are focused on forecasting future demands on the network and investing to facilitate those demands connecting onto the network.

“The key is collaboration – both internally across NIE Networks and across different utilities and industry – to ensure there is a joined-up approach on the decarbonisation journey.

“We are working on the innovations that

COVER STORY

Andrew Cupples pictured at Belfast City Council’s Royal Avenue cultural hub

are required to facilitate further renewable generation connections at the lowest cost, while ensuring a continued safe and reliable supply for all customers.

customers reduce their energy bills, but they also allow us to monitor the network and identify issues or constraints. Where we see an issue, we can then resolve it,” Andrew says.

smart meters for example, being really crucial to helping identify constraints in close to real-time and being able to respond to those in the most efficient way.”

“We are also very mindful that every decision is taken with every customer in mind. As we go through the energy transition and adopt innovations, we must ensure that it’s a fair and just transition and that we don’t leave any customer behind, particularly the most vulnerable.”

“Historically our options would have included larger transformers and bigger cables, but now we are exploring smart solutions where we manage the network more actively, along with using flexible solutions from customers.”

NIE Networks has its own plan and strategy out to 2024, but Andrew says planning is currently well underway for the next stage which reaches to 2030.

NIE Networks is implementing six innovation projects which will help to create additional capacity on the distribution network at a lower cost than traditional reinforcement solutions.

One area in which it is focusing on for households and businesses, is the use of smart meters and receiving close to real-time data across its network. “Smart meters can help

JUNE 2022

That includes customers being able to increase or decrease their demand at the appropriate time to help manage the network, and in some cases receiving a financial incentive for doing so.

“One of the key things in managing the network more accurately is around data and digitalising the network.

“That’s where we see network monitors, and

“We’ve been closely involved in the development of the Department for the Economy’s new Energy Strategy which is a key driver for our upcoming business plan as well as the growth of the electrification of the energy sector,” he says.

“As we develop the next business plan we will launch a consultation for customers and stakeholders later this year to be able to feed their views into our plan also,” Andrew says. >

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COVER STORY

Andrew Cupples

“We are also keen to collaborate further with academia and other utilities – including water and gas – in terms of developing solutions regarding decarbonisation and where we can take a joined-up approach or learn from each other.

“We will then look at forecasting and modelling to see where on the network the growth is most likely to occur and then how we deal with that in the most cost-effective way.

“Net zero by 2050 is the ultimate goal driving a lot of our agenda and plans, and how the network can then accommodate the likely hundreds of thousands of electric vehicles and heat pumps which will be connecting to it over the next decade.”

NIE Networks is also firmly on its own clear journey to achieving net zero. “Within NIE Networks we are also looking at how we can decarbonise our own fleet and our own buildings,” Andrew says And he says the 2050 target is achievable, given Northern Ireland’s current rate of renewable generation.

“Northern Ireland was hitting almost 50% in terms of renewable generation over recent years and by 2030 that is likely to be at least 70%.”

But there needs to be continued investment

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in the grid to facilitate both on-shore and development of new offshore technology, to ensure Northern Ireland meets its net zero targets.

“That investment exists to help accommodate growth in load, connections to renewables and the replacement of older assets to maintain a safe and secure network,” Andrew says.

In 2021, NIE Networks launched two significant research reports in relation to reaching a net zero economy.

“We expect that to ramp up during the coming years due to the substantial increase in the number of electric vehicles which will be connecting to the network.” And while key investment in traditional infrastructure, such as substations, will continue, Andrew says there remains a renewed focus in the move towards a digitalised energy system.

The first, Networks for Net Zero, sets out options and pathways for decarbonisation in Northern Ireland and how electrification can play a significant role, while the second sets out how the electrification of heating and transport systems would be transformative for both our economy and environment, creating around 5,000 jobs, reducing the spend on imported fossil fuels by £1.4bn a year and playing a significant role in putting Northern Ireland on the pathway to an 82% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

And investment is required at each stage of the way. NIE Networks currently spends around £100m a year in maintaining and upgrading the electricity transmission and distribution network, transporting electricity to over 895,000 customers including homes, businesses and farms.

And through the employment of 1,200 employees and payments to local businesses and authorities, the company contributed over £160m to the Northern Ireland economy in 2021.

The pivotal role electricity will play in the decarbonisation of heat and transport as we move towards a net zero economy will place significant pressure on an electricity network infrastructure that was originally designed to manage a different level and type of demand.

The role of NIE Networks is to directly facilitate the energy transition and decarbonisation of energy production, while supporting the electrification of heat and transport.

“We are positive and we believe that electrification will be key in the decarbonisation of every sector and touch point across our society,” Andrew says.

“Further investment will be required to facilitate that, but, we believe as well as having the technological solutions, we also have the key innovation, people and skills within NIE Networks to drive that forward.” ■

NEWS

Bushmills Inn sold to Co Down investor

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he Bushmills Inn has been sold to a firm run by Co Down property investor BJ Eastwood, it has emerged.

17th century, into the 41 bedroom hotel it is today. It includes an AA Rosette restaurant, a cinema, conference facilities, the courtyard patio and even a helipad.

Wirefox, a Holywood-based investment company, acquired The Bushmills Inn Hotel and restaurant, through its Marram Hotel Partners entity. The property was acquired from owners Alan and Zoe Dunlop for an undisclosed sum.

A former coaching inn, dating back to 1608, which in more recent years has been extensively restored and extended, this historic property is seen as one of Northern Ireland’s best-known tourism assets

The property will continue to operate in its current form with the existing team. The AA 4 Star hotel and restaurant was opened in 1987 as a 10-bedroom establishment in the centre of Bushmills.

After many years under the ownership of Roy Bolton, it was taken over by the Dunlops in 2007.

But two multi-million pound refits turned the old coach house, which dates back to the

JUNE 2022

Located on Dunluce Road in Bushmills, Co Antrim, the property is located within the Causeway Coast and Glens, an area of outstanding beauty just 2.5 miles from the Giant’s Causeway, Northern Ireland’s only UNESCO World Heritage site.

“We are delighted to welcome this fantastic team and impressive property to our growing portfolio of interests and look forward to acting as custodian of such an iconic asset in the months and years ahead,” Kathryn Robinson, investment director at Wirefox, said.

“The Bushmills Inn Hotel is one of Northern Ireland’s best-known luxury hotel destinations, renowned for its warm hospitality and awardwinning restaurant. The hotel is in an enviable location and surrounded by many of Northern Ireland’s most important tourism assets.”

Previous owner Alan Dunlop, who has been managing director of The Bushmills Inn Hotel for more than three decades, said: “The Bushmills Inn Hotel has played an important role in Northern Ireland’s tourism development for generations and we’re proud of the role we have played in supporting its success and in creating value, jobs and economic wealth for the community and region.

“We’re really pleased that, at this juncture, we are transferring ownership to leading investment company Wirefox. We are delighted by the exciting, visionary plans it has for its future which will ensure it will remain a major tourism focal point for the region to be enjoyed by visitors for many years ahead.” ■

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IN FOCUS

From battling mental health issues to eyeing a five gym empire Private coaching gym Hench is a decade old, but founder Rory Girvan now has his sights set on expanding to around five locations in Belfast and beyond. He speaks to John Mulgrew about his own mental and physical health battle, investing £500,000 in his strength and fitness business and why it’s important to do what you love

R

ory Girvan has his sights set on expanding his gym business to include up to five locations across Belfast and beyond.

But while his fitness and strength business Hench is going through an ambitious growth phase, it hasn’t always been as plain sailing for the champion power-lifter.

Rory’s battled his own mental health issues over the years, including a battle with his weight, and a pandemic which could have put an end to his business, livelihood and further aspirations for growth and expansion.

“We had the lockdown, which hit everyone, but our industry particularly hard,” he told Ulster Business. “We were faced with closing

22

Rory Girvan

our doors at one stage. But instead we went all in.

“We were quite introspective and looking at ways of innovating, and emerging from Covid.

We had a bucket list in terms of delivering jawdropping service going forward.”

The business started a decade ago as a oneman band. “It was just me and we had a small space on the top floor of our building alongside other people, such as artists,” Rory says.

The business then expanded into a larger unit in 2013 and it began coaching people in small groups. “It was trying to team them about how to do strength training properly, and get results.”

Hench currently has its main base at a large unit at Cromac Street in Belfast city centre, close to St George’s Market. And Rory says he has plans to expand further still into a neighbouring property.

“Re-opening was a bit of quantum leap forward,” Rory says. “The unit had been vacant for a few years – we’ve injected a bit of vibrancy into it.

“Our mission is to help people become stronger for life. For me personally it’s a very important thing. I’ve been training for 23 years. I have achieved pretty much all goals in strength training, mentally and physically reaching rock bottom over the years, and then

IN FOCUS

Hench’s first location at Cromac Street in Belfast

being on an upwards trajectory upwards – rebuilding mind and body.”

Rory says he’s invested £250,000 and plans to add an additional £250,000 as the business looks for other sites to set up in the city.

“We are at the stage where we have a finished site at Cromac and are now selecting other sites across city.

“The next stage, if all goes well, is expanding the existing site. There is a vacant unit we would hope to get – there are also different areas in the city.”

Asked about his target for new locations and expansion, he says it could include up to five gyms.

“Realistically, three to five sites. That is what we are aiming for. We would be looking at three sites in the next two to three years, and depending on how that goes take a decision to add sites in the city or look further in Northern Ireland.”

While Rory’s fitness and sports journey has taken him to the top on many occasions, he’s battled his own issues along the way, including with his mental health, and his own physical health.

JUNE 2022

“There was a time at university when I’d put on around 60lbs of weight. At the start of my career, I overworked myself so much that I got shingles.

him go, Rory then joined the government-run Steps to Work programme in a bid to seek out a new career.

“During each of those times what helped me to get to the next chapter was training, and focusing on that and rebuilding things.

“I had tried to do things I didn’t love,” he said.

“I had been training for close to 15-20 years.

That was something I loved and was good at.

Within about four months Hench was born.”

“(Over the last 10 years) we’ve learned what works and we know what people need – there is sometimes a problem with fitness where it is led by wants and people are misled.

Rory’s own strength and fitness career has seen him named Ireland’s number one in powerlifting, as well as going on to represent Ireland in the US. He then turned his attention to mixed martial arts.

“We have invested pretty heavily – a gym within a gym. People don’t share equipment and they have their own personal coach and follow-on programme.”

He said the gym model here hasn’t changed for a long time, with some trying to get as many people as possible signed up, many of whom may not use the facilities on a regular basis.

It was a background in strength training alongside a degree in biomedical science, following by sports and exercise science, which paved the way for Rory’s journey with Hench.

“Unless you had a PhD in (an area of sports science) it wasn’t much of a livelihood,” he says. “I lost my first graduate job due to mental health (issues).”

Despite trying to appeal that decision to let

“For us, we want people to turn up and learn new concepts, techniques and principles. We want them to understand what they are doing – achieving their goals, building character and building their self-worth.” ■

Anyone in need of confidential emotional support can call Samaritans free on 116 123 or by emailing jo@samaritans.org or visiting Samaritans.org.

23

BUSINESS SHOWCASE WITH ULSTER BANK

Meeting the home-working demands amid Covid As the pandemic struck and the majority of us moved to working from home, Robert Eadie saw demand for his Garden Rooms NI business take off. What started as a supplementary income alongside house-building quickly became his day-today business

R

obert Eadie saw first hand the initial impact of Covid-19 as he and his team worked at Craigavon Area Hospital just as the pandemic hit.

Robert Eadie

He’s the founder of Garden Rooms NI – a business which has seen demand for home offices, home gyms and other outdoor buildings soar in the last couple of years, amid the move towards home-working.

At one stage it was one a month, then one a week. But with the demand created as a result of the pandemic, that’s increased to two a week, with a team of nine.

Robert’s business started in 2010 following the property crash amid falling demand for homes, a lack of lending and a market contraction.

“We were essentially house builders at the time,” he says. “We came back from England and had land – you weren’t able to build or do anything. So this was the introduction of a new revenue stream.

“It was born out of necessity. We had seen the idea in England, in luxury magazines people were offering similar services. But the term garden rooms hadn’t arrived yet.”

Things started off initially to gauge interest in what was a new product on the market, with Robert putting one of his garden rooms on the back of a trailer and taking it to shows.

When the housing market picked up and building returned, Robert says he was using the garden rooms end of business to supplement income.

“Year two or three it was about one a month,”

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Robert says. “Then things started to take off – it was up to 30 a year.

“We were up to 50 a year pre-Covid. That was about one a week, while we were still building houses.

“Then Covid hit and we were building a quiet room in Craigavon hospital when it happened.

It was nasty. You were on the ground and seeing people going down the corridor on a stretchers. You didn’t know what was going on.”

Neill Boyd

BUSINESS SHOWCASE WITH ULSTER BANK

Ulster Bank has a long history of providing support for the leisure and tourism sector and it’s an industry we are focusing heavily on right now.

We understand the needs of these customers and have the tools and expertise needed to help leisure businesses fulfil their growth ambitions.

A key part of our proposition is that we live and work in the environment and have the local knowledge need to better understand the challenges our customers face. We can present insights and add value to your business as well as offering you carefully tailored products, put in place to meet the direct needs of your business.

Room to grow for Northern Ireland’s tourism industry

By Neill Boyd, business development manager, Ulster Bank

D

emand for domestic gateways or staycations rose dramatically during the pandemic years but even now with borders reopened and foreign travel back on the cards, the appetite for holidays at home shows no signs of slowing down.

People are wakening up to the beauty and variety of leisure attractions here and when you can access these without the stress of a busy airport, then everyone is a winner.

The tourism industry here has been experiencing a significant boom recently. We no longer limit our holiday areas to the surrounds of the north coast or county down and this is largely down to the fantastic job local tourism bodies have done to promote the whole of Northern Ireland as a destination for your next getaway.

Of course it’s also down to the huge surge in availability of accommodation options. Companies like Garden Rooms NI have positioned themselves perfectly to react to the increased demand for staycations and by providing ‘glamping’ pods or cabins, have helped businesses unlock the untapped potential of an area’s natural beauty.

Robert says he was brought back in as an essential service to do additional work.

The business was then facing a challenge in getting materials, with supply lines drying up as the pandemic hit and swept across the globe.

“Production of sheet materials stopped. But we used what money we could, if there was a piece of wood, we bought it, and ordered doors in advance, so we didn’t have to go searching for them.”

JUNE 2022

With staffing bills and a constant need to pay suppliers, hotels, restaurants and other such leisure facilities all have a reliance on a strong, reliable cashflow. We can provide support by way of loans and overdrafts to maintain your cash flow and will work closely with you to put the right option in place.

As well as focusing on the short-term needs of our customers, we also like to look further ahead and have plans in place to protect their interests and encourage longer term growth. One of the ways we do this today is by providing climate support. Adopting green practices is important for all businesses but often we overlook the fact that it can also help your company become more efficient and gain positive recognition from customers and investors.

Making the transition to a low-carbon economy requires collaboration from all areas of society and Ulster Bank is committed to playing our part in this. Through our parent group NatWest, we have committed £100bn of climate and sustainable funding by 2025 to accelerate this transition and our green loans and green asset financing can help your company become more sustainable.

Wherever you escape to this summer, I hope you get the chance to explore the beauty that is right on your doorstep and the welcome boost for the tourism and hospitality industry is sustained. If you want to have a chat about how Ulster Bank can help your business then contact the business banking hub where you will find all the information need to connect with your local business manager and access the support you need.

And with the majority of Northern Ireland’s workforce moving to home-working, that drove the demand in people investing in additional space for their properties.

building houses and we are now doing two garden rooms a week.”

“The awareness of garden rooms as a product was out there… once Covid hit there a spike.

Everyone needed a home office.

Robert’s garden rooms range from around £11,000 up to £30,000 – the latter including extras such as kitchens or bathrooms. “We work really well as a team and everyone knows what they are doing.”

“Home schooling and two people working at home wasn’t working, so people wanted a home office. Demand went through the roof, supply of materials came down. We stopped

And he’s worked alongside Ulster Bank for the last two generations, using the bank for funding over the years for house-building and other developments. ■

25

HOMEGROWN BUSINESS

HM Homegrown: showcasing Northern Ireland’s leading SMEs Harbinson Mulholland has launched this year’s HM Homegrown Top 50, a showcase of some of Northern Ireland’s leading SMEs and a chance to shine a light on the strength of locally-owned and family-run firms

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hether it’s something in the soil or maybe just the mindset of the people, Northern Ireland is home to its fair share of homegrown businesses.

Hard work, entrepreneurship and knowledge has helped these businesses grow into respected local and internationally acclaimed organisations which have maintained a commitment to Northern Ireland and its people.

the radar and just get on with doing business.

This year’s list was compiled by employee numbers.

Harbinson Mulholland hosted a major launch event for the 2022 campaign at Ulster University’s Jordanstown campus at the end of April. The HM Homegrown list has been published alongside Ulster University Business School, with the research carried out by the University’s Economic Policy Centre.

There’s a very clear and understated strand that runs through the economic foundation of Northern Ireland fuelled by the often unheard of multi-generational success stories of our SMEs.

Northern Ireland’s SMEs continue to flourish right across the sector. Manufacturing, for example, showcases a host of giants of industry across fields such as agri-business, while there are a slew of top producers right across the sector making this year’s list.

The HM Homegrown Top 50 is another fresh look at the strength of locally-owned and family-run businesses, many of which fly under

SMEs are typically defined as those businesses with up to 250 employees and a turnover of £50m.

Sian Farrell from StimOxyGen and Catagen’s Andrew Woods

This year’s Homegrown list shows the firms employ a total of more than 10,000 people, with overall total turnover of £925m and profits of £50m.

Family-run firms and SMEs as a whole remain key components and a firm bedrock for Northern Ireland, providing a significant opportunity to make a great impact Harbinson Mulholland has helped cultivate the Homegrown initiative as it encapsulates all it stands for as a firm.

For almost 25 years it has been at the root of Northern Ireland business providing business advice and helping SMEs grow in all conditions.

Darren McDowell with Dr Judith Woods and Dr Ian Smyth, Ulster University

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The crop of 2022 includes businesses from across NI including AG, CFM NI, Deli Lites, Denroy Group, Irwin M&E Ltd, Kane Group, Kingsbridge Healthcare Group, Mash Direct, Manor Healthcare Ltd, Milestone Rathfriland, Mooney Hotel Group, Newell Stores, Re-Gen Group, Roe Park Resort and SMF Toytown, along with others which will be profiled later in the campaign.

HOMEGROWN BUSINESS

Some of the family firms at the launch of the HM Homegrown event at Ulster University

shared the stories of their businesses, changing the face of emissions testing in the global automotive industry and therapeutic systems in cancer treatment.

TOP 50 Supporting Northern Ireland’s Homegrown Businesses

broader Business Sectors

locations by county DERRY

8

RETAIL

13

ANTRIM

16

TYRONE

7

MANUFACTURING

12

FERMANAGH

1

ARMAGH

5

DOWN

13

HOSPITALITY

9 HEALTHCARE

5 HAULAGE

FAMILY BUSINESSES

43

NON-FAMILY

7

PEOPLE EMPLOYED OVER

4

“The Harbinson Mulholland Homegrown initiative helps to shine a light on these businesses who make a huge contribution to our economy and communities,” Darren McDowell, senior partner, Harbinson Mulholland said.

Andrew Woods of Catagen said the “ability to spot opportunities and act quickly is a key benefit of being an SME”. “Customers need to feel the personality of the company,” he said.

10,000 CONSTRUCTION

4 DISTRIBUTION

TOTAL TURNOVER

£925m

TOTAL PROFITS

2

£50m RECYCLING

1

WAGES AND SALARIES PAID

£205m

A panel discussion at the launch event featured academics from Ulster University, Darren McDowell of host Harbinson Mulholland, along with two of Northern Ireland’s newest home-grown businesses.

That included Dr Andrew Woods from Catagen, a burgeoning net zero technologies business, and Sian Farrell from StimOxyGen, a cancer treatment technology start-up, who

JUNE 2022

Judith Woods of Ulster University said: “We need to be better about shouting about what we do. SMEs can benefit from collaborating for mutual benefit and exchange.”

Food on offer at the event included produce from some of Northern Ireland’s leading highend artisan producers.

That included Monto Chocolates, Corndale Farm, Broighter Gold rapeseed oils and Irish Black Butter, with its founder, Alastair Bell, on hand to share recipes with guests for his innovative butter and fudge products.

There are more than 77,000 VAT/PAYE registered businesses in Northern Ireland,

according to the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. And of those, just 2% of those businesses employ more than 50 staff.

Based on that, in the room on the event day, there were just over 3,000 employees represented with £260m of around turnover.

That’s a huge contribution to the overall Northern Ireland economy, providing income for families, key input into a host of local communities and helping provide important opportunities.

The overarching theme of the morning was the importance of the Homegrown businesses to the economy, nurturing talent and bringing forth opportunities.

Celebrating the wide breadth of talent and innovation across our private sector is something we should all embrace.

The Homegrown campaign will run throughout the rest of 2022 to support and profile these businesses who are the largest employers within our SME sector. ■ If you are interested in hearing news and updates about the campaign and events we are hosting please email Treena Clarke to be included tclarke@harbinson-mulholland.com.

You can also follow the social media updates on Twitter @harbinsonmul or LinkedIn @ harbinsonmulholland.

27

ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY

How can advanced digital technologies grow your business?

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ompanies today are rushing headlong to become more digital.

But what does digital really mean?

Richard Philips

For many, it’s about technology. For others, digital is a new way of engaging with customers. And for others still, it represents an entirely new way of doing business. However, many have the misconception that digital is solely about selling online, social media, website development and/or other e-commerce solutions. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Have you considered advanced technology?

The Digital Surge Programme is a fully funded advanced technologies mentoring programme for enterprises across Northern Ireland.

Mentors will provide the support you need to discover how to fundamentally change how you operate and deliver value to your customers by using technologies such as robotics, the internet of things, blockchain, artificial intelligence/ machine learning, big data, and immersive tech (AR/VR).

This fully-funded programme is for eligible organisations from any sector including manufacturing, tradeable services, retail, tourism, hospitality, agriculture, construction, and social enterprises. You just need to open your mind on how advanced technologies can pivot your business model.

Speaking on why his organisation chose to sign up to the Digital Surge Programme, Richard Philips, principal software engineer at Acksen,

Innovation and the Fundamentals of Digital Transformation schedule: • June 7 and 14 – 9.30am- 1.30pm online Advance Technology Masterclasses schedule: • The Internet of Things – June 1, 9.30am – 4.30pm, Catalyst, Belfast • Blockchain – June 1, 9.30am – 4.30pm, Catalyst, Belfast • Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning – June 15, 9.30am – 4.30pm, Catalyst, Belfast

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which designs and manufactures a range of portable electrical voltage and current recorders, says: “We are keen to expand into new markets as well as offer improvements to how we operate or produce products for our customer.

We can see a number of new challenges arising with limited solutions available to our target audiences.

“We have a number of concepts in the pipeline that we want to make a reality but are keen to see what technology is accessible to us in order to streamline our business model. By taking part in the Digital Surge Programme we hope to gain a deep knowledge around the various technologies and how these could be integrated cost effectively into our current and future processes.

“We are on a journey, and by improving our knowledge now we can, through the help of the programme, put in place a route to travel.

We want to use this programme to focus on the technologies that will be most suitable for us now and in the future.”

To join an organisation must be a trading enterprise or social enterprise based in Northern Ireland and have less than 50 full time employees.

For details on all eligibility criteria and to register now for mentoring, sign up now at https://bit. ly/digitalsurgeprogramme

(The programme does not cover website and e-commerce development; social media strategies; mobile marketing, paid advertising, blogging and content creation; search engine optimisation, customer relationship management.)

As part of the programme, we’re running Innovation Workshops and Advanced Technology Masterclasses – everyone is welcome to attend these to get a flavour for the programme if you’re curious and want to find out more. ■ The Programme is part funded by Invest Northern Ireland, the European Regional Development Fund under the Investment for Growth & Jobs Northern Ireland (20142020) Programme and all 11 councils.

Book your place now on the workshops and masterclasses by visiting https://bit.ly/3ynttvC

INTERVIEW

‘There’s such a growing number of languages being used in NI’ Paolina Hawthorne, managing director of translation service Diversity, speaks to Emma Deighan about growing her company, her journey and how Northern Ireland has changed over the last decade and more

P

aolina Hawthorne arrived in Belfast in 2007 to experience a new life.

She could have gone to France or Germany, where she could also speak the languages, but a connection to a property here sealed the deal.

began as a one-woman band.

diverse here,” she says.

“At the beginning that worked out because there wasn’t a lot of demand, so it was very manageable for one person. I began working from the nursery room in my house,” she says.

“I remember back in 2007 I had to take two buses to go to my little job and I remember I never heard different accents on the bus and I never saw different faces.

While the Bulgarian mother-of-two’s arrival may have only been 15 years ago, she says the growth of her business, translating and interpreting company Diversity, set up in 2010, is a true reflection of how this place has changed.

A major contract for the Education Authority followed, much to Paolina’s surprise, opening the door to many more customers and growth for Diversity.

“At one point I thought I was the only Bulgarian in the whole of Northern Ireland. I did find out that there was a community soon after, but it has definitely changed here and it’s wonderful to see.

“I grew up in Bulgaria and when I was 24 I decided I wanted to experience new things,” she says.

“I met with a company at home who had a property here and I came over for 10 days to look for a job, and within seven days I got a job at a call centre.

“I absolutely loved it because it helped me so much to practise English and it helped me deal with different accents. It was a brilliant way to train.”

Paolina excelled in her role, surpassing sales targets, but legislation only allowed Bulgarian nationals to live and work here if they were self-employed.

After qualifying in interpreting at home and working in translation services, Paolina aimed to achieve her DPSI Level 6 qualification, which is widely regarded as the gold standard for interpreters.

She then set up her translation business, which

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“I completed that tender never believing I would get it. I applied for the experience and never once considered that I would win,” she says.

Soon she needed to hire more staff, and then she began offering the DPSI Level 6 qualification for likeminded interpreters here, with intakes of up 20 people at a time.

To date she has trained some 300 people.

Fast-forward to 2022 and Diversity is one of largest local accredited interpreting and translation companies with 700 interpreters and translators.

“Many different nationalities are coming here, and they’ve done so incredibly well. Diversity has recently begun offering free training to English-speaking Ukrainians who have fled the war.

“I wanted to offer something more specialised and unique. I could always give money and support that way, but what we’re doing is setting up 15 places for Ukrainian speakers that could support their community in interpretation.

Its private client base has surged, alongside its public sector presence.

“It’s a good thing, supporting them through the process of their qualification, and then they will be available to provide interpreting services to us.”

The company’s selling point is its ability to offer so many languages, 75 in total, some of them lesser known like Telugu, Nuer, and Tigrinya, to support an increasingly diverse local community.

The company took a hit during the pandemic.

Face-to-face translation and interpreting services completely stopped, but the silver lining of fast-tracking of virtual forms of communication is now being felt.

It also has a bank of Tetum, Dari and Pashto interpreters, which are growing in demand.

“We are 100% becoming more culturally

“We just kept going to stay alive,” she says.

“Covid was very challenging for us at the beginning, and we woke up suddenly to

INTERVIEW

hundreds of cancellations. The volume from some agencies is not quite back, but it is coming back.

“For us, there is no language off limits and our service is extremely quick. We can have an interpreter for you within 60 seconds remotely. Face-to-face is not off limits either, and it’s slowly coming back, but we do have a fab translation management team and they’re doing a fabulous job for the customers.”

As a result of the pandemic Paolina had to downsize her team from 14 to nine. “It is never fun losing people. We had to make hard decisions to survive, and no one knew if or when we would come out the other side. We’re still here, and kudos to everyone else who came through the pandemic.”

Asked if she anticipates a long-term hit on services from Brexit, she says: “That’s a big unknown for us and that makes it a challenge. We don’t know what way Brexit will affect the people here. A lot of foreign nationals went back home, so we shall see.”

Despite something of a foreign national exodus to the EU when Brexit hit, Paolina says local talent in languages is huge, despite a perception that it’s not. “There is a statistic that in the EU, per head of population, the most linguists are in Northern Ireland. There are some fabulous people coming out of our universities and we are good at languages,” she says. ■

JUNE 2022

Paolina Hawthorne

31

LEADERSHIP

Adapting to lead at Danske Bank The world of hybrid work has created new challenges for leaders at all levels of business. Danske Bank’s head of organisational effectiveness Aileen McAvoy looks at how the bank is addressing these challenges by combining leadership development with a focus on connecting its people and improving wellbeing

W

hen anyone talks about or writes about leadership, most of us immediately think what’s being discussed will only apply to those at the very top of organisations.

But in reality, organisations have leaders at every level, so it makes sense than some of the most successful global businesses focus on developing a coherent approach to leadership throughout their organisations.

That’s exactly what Danske Bank in Northern Ireland has been doing, driven by the belief that adapting to the new ways of working that have emerged out of the pandemic requires leaders to have new and different skills to the ones needed pre-Covid.

Danske Bank has created an Adaptive Leadership programme for all its people managers, whether they are managing a very small team or an entire business unit.

Working alongside world leading business school Hult Ashridge, the programme is built around the themes of purpose, people and pivot.

As Danske Bank’s head of organisational effectiveness, Aileen McAvoy has responsibility for learning and development, resourcing and wellbeing.

“The name Adaptive Leadership reflects that we want our leaders to be flexible and agile as our business and context continues to evolve, it encapsulates what we’re trying to achieve,” Aileen says.

“We already have some amazing leaders at Danske Bank but like many organisations what we have learned through the pandemic is that we have to be able to change and adapt to be successful. Leadership will continue to evolve, so we need to invest in the skills for this future world of work,” she says.

Danske has identified that if it wants to continue to be ranked as one of the UK’s ‘Best Places to Work’ then colleagues need to feel they are empowered and valued, which Aileen McAvoy

32

LEADERSHIP

means equipping its leaders to manage people based on much more than just performance of their job.

career trajectories are no longer always linear, and that more people are embracing the idea of a “squiggly” career.

“The focus for many people when they talk about leadership is how to elicit performance and manage talent, which is of course important. But today, leadership also has to be about giving people a sense of value, creating connections and prioritising their wellbeing. A much more holistic approach.

“A lot of people have transferable skills and when they ask themselves ‘what is my passion’ and ‘what do I draw my energy from’, there can be a realisation that it’s not always about a vertical move – sideways is very often a good opportunity. We have seen many fantastic leaders emerging after moves like this and I expect this type of squiggly career to become even more common in future.”

“It’s about how you get people to be the best version of themselves, creating an atmosphere of psychological safety, but marrying that with clear and coherent organisational goals. That’s a recipe for good leadership and will ultimately drive sustainable commercial success.”

The programme has largely been delivered virtually and began with two hackathons during which participants crowdsourced solutions to the biggest challenges people leaders said they faced. Those were followed by three workshops and action learning groups where smaller groups could challenge and coach one another.

CONNECTING AND BELONGING As hybrid and flexible working continues to evolve, the bank has also identified that people have different views about what work will look like in the future. By being very clear on its commitment to flexibility, the bank has been able to source and attract talented people who might otherwise have been put off by distance and geography.

“To be an employer of choice, we have learned we need to meet people where they are not where we might want them to be,” Aileen says.

“We’ve learned people value flexibility, they value being part of a team and they value when their work has consequences.”

Aileen says that since the pandemic first hit, Danske has had more than 300 movers into new roles, both new hires and changes of job, and she believes this has created opportunities at all levels.

This movement of people has emphasised that

JUNE 2022

In the new world of hybrid work, making sure people are connected to the organisation’s purpose has become a key focus for the bank.

“People’s expectations of work have changed, it’s not just about having a job. People draw energy from having a purpose and knowing that their work makes a difference and a contribution beyond the role they do,” Aileen says.

In the current recruitment market, for certain roles Danske Bank finds it’s competing for the same talent that firms in Dublin or London are targeting, which has put the onus on identifying what makes the bank different as an employer.

“We believe that it is our culture which makes us special. We work hard to make everyone feels they have a place, that they belong, that they are valued. We regularly ask our colleagues what would make working at Danske Bank better, and respond as best we can,” Aileen says.

“When people from different teams are brought together for a reason – for example to volunteer in the local community – it creates energy and a connection that goes beyond the event itself.

“What people care about, matters. For some that will be our partnerships with charities like AWARE, for others it is having diversity and affinity groups and for others it will be because of our commitment to helping tackle climate change. It’s evidence of our principles in action, which speaks louder than words.” ■

33

ANALYSIS

Inflation slowing growth across NI economy

By Margaret Canning Richard Ramsey

G

rowth in the economy has slowed as inflation pushed businesses to raise their prices at the fastest rate in two decades, according to one report.

Soaring inflation is hitting output and new orders, while the pace of job creation was also slowing, according to the Ulster Bank purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for April.

And inflationary pressures were affecting Northern Ireland firms more than those around the UK, according to Ulster Bank chief economist Richard Ramsey.

Energy costs were causing the biggest problems, and output prices were going up fastest in manufacturing and retail.

Mr Ramsey said: “Lockdowns across China and the war in Ukraine, caused economic forecasts to be slashed globally.

“Slower rates of growth and higher rates of inflation are par for the course across the PMI surveys in April too.

“Northern Ireland was no exception with firms reporting slower rates of growth in output, new orders and employment.

“Conversely, input costs rose at their second highest rate on record while firms raised the prices of their goods and services at the fastest pace since the survey began almost 20 years ago.

And the rate of hiring new people for manufacturing jobs fell to a 14-month low as the struggle to find staff intensified.

“Lengthening supplier delivery times are adding to these difficulties.”

However, the services sector – which includes businesses like estate agents and law firms – did report faster rates of growth in new orders and employment.

He said such backlogs would keep growth strong in the sector. However, the cost-of-living crisis was bearing down on retailers, who were the least optimistic of all retailers about the year ahead.

But the news wasn’t as good for construction, with firms suffering a fall in output and a steep drop in incoming orders.

The challenges would leave business more in need than ever of help from a new Executive following the election, Mr Ramsey said.

There were deep-rooted problems, Mr Ramsey said – even in the services sector.

“Indeed, inflationary pressures continue to be more intense in Northern Ireland than in all other UK regions.”

“Manufacturing and services are running into capacity constraints. Skills shortages, coupled with strong demand have resulted in backlogs mounting at rapid rates.

“With the economy set to deteriorate in the second half of the year, the business community will be hoping for a quick formation of a Northern Ireland Executive to help deal with short term challenges and to progress much needed long-term reforms and investment.”

Although the manufacturing sector was on the up, the rate of growth in output and new orders had slowed substantially.

“Services firms are seeing outstanding workloads rise at their fastest paces since 2013.

Business activity rose at its softest rate since January during April, the PMI said. But the rising cost of living was hitting demand. ■

34

HOSPITALITY

The Drawing Office at Titanic Hotel Belfast

Lord Pirrie’s Office

Titanic Hotel Belfast: impress your delegates at this unique city venue

A

s in-person meetings and events return, businesses are seeking unique yet functional venues to host their guests and delegates.

Titanic Hotel Belfast, located in the historic former headquarters of Harland and Wolff and four time-winner of ‘Northern Ireland’s Leading Hotel’ at the World Travel Awards, ticks all the boxes, being a unique, spectacular, accessible, and affordable venues for corporate events that Belfast has to offer.

Top of the priority list for event organisers is of course the smooth running of an event with seamless and integrated technology in impressive surroundings. Delicious catering is also very important.

Complementary car parking for delegates is an extra advantage particularly for a city venue.

Titanic Hotel Belfast offers all these benefits, with the bonus of a convenient, central location, situated just minutes from the city centre and M3 motorway. To further impress, attendees can also experience a heritage tour of the hotel and indulge in Titanic themed and corporate branded coffee breaks, enhancing the delegate experience to create an unforgettable event.

Adrian McNally, general manager of Titanic Hotel Belfast, said: “We are getting more and more enquiries every day about hosting meetings and events at Titanic Hotel Belfast.

In the past two years, businesses have not had the opportunity to welcome their clients and

JUNE 2022

The Boardroom

delegates to in person events, so now more than ever they are really committed to giving them the wow factor.

“Titanic Hotel Belfast can certainly exceed in that expectation. Business leaders are buoyed by the prospect of impressing their delegates in the world-renowned Drawing Office One or in one of our legendary heritage meeting rooms.

“Event organisers are keen to push the boat out and explore the opportunity of giving their delegates a day to remember, in a venue that can’t be compared with anything else in the city. They are all too aware that their event could be the first one their delegates have attended since lockdown, so it needs to be memorable for all the right reasons.”

Titanic Hotel Belfast is well equipped to manage every aspect of corporate meetings and events, from the smallest of intimate boardroom meetings to medium sized conferences and the largest of company away days, managed by a team of trained staff including dedicated meeting planners who ensure every requirement is catered for.

Titanic Hotel Belfast corporate day delegate rates start at only £39 per person including car parking. And 24-hour delegate rates, bespoke dinner and event packages and overnight accommodation options are also available. ■ For more information and to view the hotel, please visit www.titanichotelbelfast.com

35

SUSTAINABILITY

Get sussed on sustainability: making the environment our business

I

nternational Synergies is the go-to for organisation which wants to make the transition to being green, low carbon, impactful and above all else resilient in our changing climate.

We hear a lot of talk about the green growth, clean technologies, environmental social governance (ESG), a low carbon economy and balancing profit with purpose, but the reality is that people simply either don’t know what to do or lack the resources and tools to become sustainable.

The solution With small sustainable actions, steering business leaders toward a clear green vision for the future and providing understanding of the impact they can truly make (without hindering their current operations), we are seeing businesses thrive. We are supporting them in their journey along the way.

A call for action It really is the way businesses must go, and we cannot wait for another energy crisis, changes in policy, green leadership or reliance on industry to provide the necessary tools to make the change. We are the change and every person in an organisation must take responsibility for the role they play in any given business, to ensure a fair, thriving and sustainable future for our planet and the generations who come after us.

Our impact over 10 years - Delivered cost savings of over £35m - Generated over £24m additional sales - Created 120 jobs - Reduced over 500,000 Tonnes of CO2 - Diverted over 600,000 tonnes of waste from landfill Exciting projects International Synergies has a host of exciting projects from collection of face masks that go into PVC window manufacturing and working with fish factories to scope out the feasibility of substituting concrete mixes with crushed shells.

The potential We see global market trends centred on more environmentally friendly materials, products and an overall commitment to the climate change agenda right across the supply chain, so this is a real call for action for all our businesses to get on board the green journey. International Synergies is aligned with government strategy as NI launches its first Circularity Gap report.

Sustainability strategy The organisation rolled out a green growth program in 2021 with local authorities and business in the region, developing a bespoke sustainability strategy and action plan across seven sustainability themes: leadership, biodiversity, carbon, wate, water, procurement, and transport.

“This strategy is a powerful tool,” one client says. “We will use this to educate our board and staff on what sustainability is and is a real working document that has flagged up so many quick wins and actions that will be easy to make with a positive outcome”.

Jacqueline Gibson

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Jacqueline Gibson, director, International Synergies, says: “Many businesses want to do the right thing, save money, retain and attract new customers, ensure a steady supply of their raw materials and ultimately do so with the least damage to our natural world; everything

International Synergies has facilitated two Industrial Symbiosis Resource Matching Workshops already this year, and will be running five more across the region

that being a sustainable business encapsulates.

“We are finding they just don’t know where to start when it comes to making the transition to a low carbon economy. Many lack the right people in post, knowledge and support to make transformational change to ensure business practices are sustainable, both socially and environmentally.”

Let us do the work If you would like one of our sustainability advisors to conduct a free site visit (either in person or virtually), get in touch. This is fully funded through Invest NI and provides you with cost savings, introductions to new markets for waste leaving your site and supplies coming in and gets your team on board on the green journey. The firm is also an expert in sustainability strategy development, ESG, compressed air, waste legislation and offer carbon literacy training.

By helping companies reduce their overall carbon footprint and in turn address the climate crisis, they are saving on costs and meeting green market demands. It really is a win win.

Engineering & manufacturing

ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING

‘Firms want a lighter touch with NI Protocol… but they have moved onto issues of 2022’ As Northern Ireland remains in a post-election political deadlock, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson now saying the Protocol will remain but be amended, John Mulgrew speaks to Manufacturing NI chief executive Stephen Kelly about what the sector is now prioritising in 2022, why business continues to be strong across the sector, why we need a government up-and-running and why businesses aren’t seeing the same thing are some of our politicians

‘T

he impression I get is the NI Protocol was a problem in 2021, but companies are dealing the issues of 2022 now,’ Stephen Kelly of Manufacturing NI tells me.

It comes following Manufacturing Month – a time to showcase the best of the sector, with around 150 top leaders flocking to Galgorm Resort & Spa outside Ballymena for this year’s summit.

We now find ourselves in an odd situation, one in which we hear something of a booming voice putting some in an invidious position.

But Stephen says the Protocol is far from the leading issue on the agenda for its members and the wider economy.

Calls for the scrapping of the NI Protocol continue from some, leading to an unwillingness to form a working Executive with the newly elected Assembly, until issues are dealt with.

“The surprising thing for me is the NI Protocol was not really mentioned at all,” he says.

And while manufacturing has had to deal with challenges brought forward by the NI Protocol, it has dealt with many of the issues and pivoted.

According to Stephen Kelly, the few issues that truly do remain exist with the GB supply chain – many unwilling or wishing to avoid the complexities or any increased costs in working with Northern Ireland firms.

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“Covid has shifted things. People recognise that they need to be there, with other leaders, be inspired and challenged in terms of their own leadership. That was the big message.

They are moving into a different place.

“The event challenged them around business strategy but also the need to think differently.

That was quite enlightening.

“It’s about how you become more productive as a business, how you digitise and modernise your business, learning from people who have

been on this journey.”

He says, backed by its recent survey alongside Tughans and carried out by Perceptive Insight, the majority of firms here are “getting on and making the most of it” in terms of adapting to the arrangements the Protocol has introduced. “(Many are saying) ‘my phone is still ringing and ringing off the hook and I can’t meet demand’. As long as the orders keep coming through the front door, those things behind it are not as important.

“The critical thing is that sales are incredibly strong.”

He said one reference to Brexit and the NI Protocol during the recent summit centred around a large business changing how they operate, and pivoting.

That’s something which firms such as Hannon Transport have done, moving away from their GB business and focusing on the Republic and wider European marketplace.

ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING

Stephen Kelly

There are some issues with the Protocol and manufacturers here, though.

are expecting a fall in profit margins over the coming year.

“Businesses would like the NI Protocol to have a lighter touch,” Stephen says. “More simplified, taking out some of the nonsense around capturing customer data for things which don’t have impact or risk the EU market.”

It showed firms are expecting to see increasing exports to EU markets (39%), with 40% expected to expand UK sales also.

But he says the description of challenges aired by some political representatives is “hugely damaging to economy”. “It isn’t reflected in what businesses see,” he says.

It says that “while GB suppliers’ unpreparedness and unwillingness to adopt the new Brexit regulations remain a significant barrier to trading, the top four most prevalent concerns include rising energy costs, cost of doing business, availability of raw materials and the recruitment of skilled workers”.

The latest survey from Manufacturing NI shows two-thirds of companies here say are in growth mode. However, it also shows almost half

Around a third of firms believe their GB suppliers remain unprepared for the new requirements.

JUNE 2022

“There is no doubt about it when it comes to cost, and the supply chain from GB,” Stephen says. “We continue to have GB suppliers unwilling to send stuff to NI. That is the single biggest challenge – an unwillingness to engage.

“There’s the admin which adds to the cost. My estimate is £175m to 195m for the industry as a whole. That’s based on the cost to get third party people to do the customs work.

“But you don’t have any in the EU supply chain. For us, it is about radically transforming the volume of administration required to free up the GB supply chain.

“Fundamentally, it makes Northern Ireland

>

39

ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING

Stephen Kelly, Manufacturing NI, Maureen Treacy Perceptive Insight and James Donnelly, Tughans

look confused, legally – (we need) an effort to get GB suppliers to make it easier to supply to NI.

local politicians making local decisions. There is money on the table that needs to go to families and businesses.

“But if that’s done in a chaotic way, which is what the UK Government is signalling, all those GB suppliers won’t start sending things the next day. All those suppliers who have done this would have wasted all the time and effort and money (pivoting and making changes).”

“We have issues such as a (lack of) a threeyear budget, our health service and waiting lists – those people are our workers and our family members.

The manufacturing sector, like the bulk of Northern Ireland’s business community and civic society, is firmly behind the immediate creation of a new Executive, and a return to power-sharing.

“It should have been formed the week after the election,” Stephen says. “There are so many challenges which can only be sorted with

40

“We need this sorted. We are going to go backwards pretty quickly.

“I’ve heard from a couple of people that they are embarrassed by a lack of government. They have to reassure suppliers and customers that things are going on in Northern Ireland, and that it is still a good place to invest.

“If you are investing tens or hundreds of millions, you want to know that money is

safe. This negative news travels and makes its way to boardrooms across the world.”

It comes as Trade NI, an alliance of Manufacturing NI, Retail NI and Hospitality Ulster, took their message to Westminster at the end of May – showcasing the best we have to offer, and bringing together politicians and representatives from around 50 embassies.

“It’s about showcasing the breadth and vibrancy that is NI as a place to invest,” Stephen says.

“We also have around 50 embassies that are based in London that don’t know much about NI, about what a great place it is. There were MPs and Lords invited, some known to us and some who wanted to know a bit more and learn about Northern Ireland. It’s a positive pitch for NI as a place to invest and enjoy.” ■

NEWS

Northern Ireland families suffer fall of £20 a week in disposable income

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amilies across Northern Ireland are seeing their disposable income levels falling dramatically with the region continuing to perform among the worst in the UK, according to new figures.

The discretionary spending power of the average Northern Ireland family dropped to £127 a week in the first quarter of 2022.

That’s a fall of 13.3%, or almost £20 a week, less than the same period a year earlier. It’s also £108 below the UK average of £235.

The figures are revealed in Asda’s latest Income Tracker report (March 2022) which is independently compiled by Cebr.

“The 13.3% drop highlights how Northern Ireland has suffered the largest contraction in spending power of any region across the UK,” it says.

JUNE 2022

It’s another stark indicator of how households are continuing to be squeezed amid rising prices and soaring energy costs here, with inflation now at 9%.

“Although its decline is most dramatic, the NI figures reflect the overall UK trend where the annual contraction of 6.5% in March resulted in families having £16.19 less in weekly discretionary income compared to the same period last year,” the report says.

“As the UK’s worst performing region, it means the average family in NI has only £127 per week at its disposal once all taxes, essential items and bills have been paid.”

The data reflects the labour market composition with NI having a larger share of public sector workers – a sector which has suffered from lagging wage growth in recent months.

“When it comes to comparing spending power, the North East of England is the closest region to NI at £152 a week, contrasting sharply with Wales at £198 and Scotland at £236, while families living in London have £298 a week at their disposal – the only region to show no change since the previous quarter.

“The latest Income Tracker report highlights the financial strain being placed on households amidst the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. Though spending power is down almost across the board, those in Northern Ireland have been particularly impacted, with inflation spiralling and wage growth overall falling behind.

“These trends are set to continue over the coming months, meaning households could find themselves in an even more precarious position.” ■

41

Vicky Davies

Danske Bank profits rise to £16.7m and mortgage book bolstered

D

anske Bank has posted pre-tax profits of £16.7m for the first three months of the year, it has emerged.

And speaking about the wider economy, the bank’s chief says Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “has introduced additional economic uncertainty”, in addition to existing challenges such as the pandemic and Brexit.

The latest accounts show profits were up around 6% on the same period a year earlier.

Vicky Davies, chief executive, says mortgage lending approvals are up 25% year-on-year.

The figures also show deposits have now reached £10.39bn.

“I am pleased to announce an improving set of results, as the Northern Ireland economy continues to grow,” Ms Davies said.

“The housing market has remained buoyant in 2022 and successive Bank of England rate rises have not impacted transaction levels.

42

Mortgage lending approvals at Danske Bank in Northern Ireland are up 25% year-on-year and in quarter one 2022 88% of customers opted for a fixed rate product – providing certainty around future payments.

“More small to medium-sized businesses have entered 2022 with increased confidence to invest in growth plans, having previously delayed these during the worst of the pandemic.

“Lending in this segment, excluding the government supported Bounce Back Loan Scheme, is up 36% year-on-year. Lending to larger businesses has, however, continued to be subdued due to many continuing to carry excess liquidity.

“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has introduced additional economic uncertainty – adding to existing challenges associated with the pandemic, Brexit, supply chain constraints and rising inflation.

“We continue to monitor these factors closely,

in particular how our personal customers are being impacted by rising costs of living, and heightened cost burdens for business customers.”

Danske Bank says it has now launched a new home energy saving tool on its website in a bid to help its customers improve the energy efficiency of their homes.

“We also remain focused on supporting the climate change agenda,” Ms Davies said.

“We have the largest team of corporate and business banking relationship managers in Northern Ireland, and in quarter one 2022 they all completed carbon literacy training accredited by the Carbon Literacy project.

“This upskilling complements our work to help business customers become more carbon literate through the Climate Action Programme we co-developed with Business in the Community. We have committed to supporting 60 local businesses through this programme by the end of the year.” ■

ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING

Innovation soars at Collins Aerospace in Kilkeel

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ollins Aerospace is regarded as a leader in the global aviation seating market, and its facility in Kilkeel, although recognised globally, is putting Northern Ireland firmly on the map for its innovation and manufacturing excellence.

Stuart McKee, managing director of Collins Aerospace in Kilkeel

For over five decades, Collins Aerospace in Kilkeel has been making a significant contribution to the region’s thriving aerospace sector, and with the recent introduction of a range of innovative processes, the company’s growth is expected to continue.

Stuart McKee, managing director at Collins Aerospace in Kilkeel, said: “Pre-pandemic, the industry was set to maintain the growth profile that we had seen in the previous years, and we had plans to develop the business in line with that growth. What we didn’t anticipate was the onset of the global pandemic. However as always, our team approached challenges that the downturn in the industry presented as an opportunity to improve our business by making our processes leaner and removing cost. We’re now fully focused on the future growth of the industry and getting back to pre-pandemic levels.”

One such process includes the development of a new fit-for-purpose 21st century hub that will see the relocation, streamlining and centralisation of the company’s entire logistics department, which was spread across 13 warehouses, into one location.

In 2019, the company began the task of completely redesigning all processes within its logistics department, which included the relocation of over 35,000 part numbers and 120 team members to this new location known as ‘The Hub’.

Under the control of logistics director, Laura O’Hare and her team, and with some perseverance, along with maximising the efficiency of employees it was a great success.

Results show a significant reduction in warehouse costs and inventory, improved stock

JUNE 2022

accuracy and an increase in health and safety standards across the facility.

With sustainability at the forefront of many organisations’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategies, Collins Aerospace in Kilkeel is no exception. As part of the company’s commitment to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, it has implemented a range of ‘industry 4.0’ processes including the creation of a complete circular economy for plastic waste from its manufacturing processes.

While waste from thermoformed plastic sheets is often discarded, Kilkeel’s operations modernisation team explored the feasibility of using additive manufacturing across the whole production site, using plastic waste as feedstock to 3D print non-critical manufacturing jigs and fixtures. This proved to be a success and as a result, the company established the segregation of waste plastics; the conversion of waste into pellets as a feedstock for additive manufacturing and piloting; and the validation of its 3D printing capability, achieving 72% carbon dioxide equivalent savings.

Collins Aerospace in Kilkeel is also leading the way in research and development for new

technology within the sector. The company participated in a European-wide research programme within the EU Horizon 2020 SuCoHS project, developing sustainable and cost-effective composite structures for nextgeneration aircraft interiors. The programme included collaboration with many leading experts across Europe, with the Kilkeel team leading the design and development of composite structures, and the industrial validation of the technology.

Speaking about the company’s innovation and sustainability, Stuart said: “In a sector that’s continually evolving, we’re proud to be at the forefront of this evolution and making a real difference to our product, as well as our people and planet. Our team’s expertise is unrivalled and that’s why we continue to attract a high calibre of engineers and talent.

We will continue to look at innovative ways to support our customers and the needs of the sector going forward.”

Collins Aerospace in Kilkeel is also widely recognised as a centre of excellence for the launch of new products and platforms within the commercial aerospace business. It delivers innovative product solutions to most of the world’s major airlines, including British Airways, Etihad, Finnair, Air France and KLM. ■

43

WORKPLACE

More than half of NI employees ‘want four day working week’

M

ore than half of employees here would want to move to a four-day working week, new research shows.

to 10 years (25% in NI), 27% thought it could come in within two to five years (29% in NI) and 17% expected a move within one to two years (16% in NI).

Hays revealed that over half (53%) of UK workers would be tempted to move to an organisation that offers a four-day working week.

John Moore, managing director of Hays in Northern Ireland, said: “We’re certainly seeing companies getting more creative in what they can offer prospective staff when trying to recruit in a competitive market.

And of the 9,000 respondents surveyed as part of the Hays Quarterly Insights survey, those living in Northern Ireland would be most tempted to switch employers for a fourday working week – with 62% saying they’d be attracted by the offer.

However, it says employers here “are not convinced the change in working hours would work in practice”.

Among the employees surveyed by Hays, 35% said they don’t believe a four-day week will ever become a reality (30% in NI), but 21% said it might be introduced within five

44

“However, if employers don’t get the basics right such as offering competitive salaries along with flexible and hybrid working – the majority of professionals will look elsewhere to employers who have got the fundamentals right.

“From our experience, there’s still only a handful of companies offering a four-day week so, while it is an attractive offering, there are still lots of other ways for companies to stand out from the crowd with an offering that focuses on purpose and wellbeing.”

When asked what a four-day week would have the most beneficial impact on, employees in NI overwhelmingly identified improved mental health and wellbeing (75%), followed by a smaller number who cited organisational productivity (7%), talent attraction (7%) and talent retention (4%).

And some 59% of employers also pointed to the mental health benefits but 13% hoped it would increase productivity, 12% thought it would help them retain talent and 11% believed it would attract talent.

But just 3% of employers in Northern Ireland said they had introduced a four-day working week and 2% are trialling it.

In the survey 16% of employers said they are considering implementing it but 53% were clear they aren’t considering such a move, and 26% said they can’t consider it due to the demands of their business or sector. ■

Education, training & skills

Education, training & skills

EDUCATION, TRAINING & SKILLS

‘Sorry, we’re closed today’: Dealing with an industry wide staffing crisis Businesses in sectors such as hospitality and construction are struggling to get workers, with many of our restaurants and bars not opening their doors as often due to the shortage. Emma Deighan looks at the impact it is having and the buffers in place to boost the talent pipeline

‘W

e’re closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and that’s purely due to demand and staffing,’ says one of our leading chefs and restauranteurs.

Niall McKenna of James Street, speaking about it above, and Hadskis is one of the giants of hospitality who, like others in the sector, is facing the post-lockdown impact of huge staffing woes.

It’s arguably the hardest hit sector here amid the pandemic and the dual hit of Brexit, but it’s not alone.

The latest Ulster Bank’s latest purchasing managers’ index showed mounting backlogs in the manufacturing and services sectors.

While that report, produced for the bank by S&P Global, illustrates that there is higher demand, the backlogs are also due to skills shortages, it said.

Ulster Bank chief economist Richard Ramsey said backlogs should guarantee relatively strong rates of growth in business activity, but the reality is the struggles, including staff shortages, are impacting optimism.

And with no functioning Executive, skill deficits are becoming a job for those in the firing line.

Hospitality has been one of the hardest hit

46

sectors, forcing some venue owners to operate on reduced opening hours.

over the years we’ve turned out some amazing young talent. It’s something we’re really proud of as a business.”

Niall McKenna, chef and proprietor of restaurants James Street and Hadskis and Waterman House cookery school, said after the pandemic staffing has been one of his biggest challenges.

Northern Ireland Hotels Federation (NIHF) chief executive Janice Gault said the pandemic and Brexit have intensified skills shortages in the hospitality sector.

He said getting people to commit to the industry after time off was a struggle while a “lethargy” around getting existing staff into work mode compounded issues.

She said a poll by the NIHF following the reopening of hospitality in May 2021 revealed 100% of those polled had vacancies equating to over 1,400 jobs in hotels alone.

He has opened some of his venues on reduced hours and has pumped more money into his own training academy to mitigate staffing challenges.

“Brexit is part of the issue as hotels relied on several European countries for staff,” she says. “This people pool also replenished roles as vacancies arose due to connections built up with employees. This source has now dried up completely due to Brexit immigration and job visa requirements.

Another factor has been that many Europeans headed home over the course of Covid-19 and have opted not to return – a real loss of talent for the industry overall.”

“James Street is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and that’s purely due to demand and staffing. It’s all a numbers game,” Niall says.

His own apprenticeship programme has been running for nine years. “And from my point of view it’s the best way to grow new talent. For creative industries and places like hospitality, there’s nothing like getting hands-on experience and learning from people who are working day in, day out in the field you want to get in to.

“And it’s not just in the kitchen either, we’ve got apprenticeships front of house too and

Janice says an exodus of hospitality staff into other industries because of uncertainty around job security during the pandemic became another issue while “others have reassessed their work-life balance and opted to either leave the job market or reduce their hours”.

Now businesses face increased pressure she

EDUCATION, TRAINING & SKILLS

Niall McKenna

said, “having to limit trade in line with staffing levels”.

A free training and upskilling programme from a new Tourism NI collaborative network called Hospitality and Tourism Skills (HATS) has been set up to support staff challenges. Janice says a continuation of this with education and training providers is crucial to safeguard talent.

“The NIHF would be keen to see a more flexible approach to unlock support and hopes that the careers campaign can continue.”

Roisin McKee, project director at HATS Network, said she would like to see more

JUNE 2022

support for training in the industry.

“Building a skilled and sustainable workforce is critical to tourism’s recovery. While progress is being made, there’s still much more to do,” she said.

“To inspire future generations to enter the industry and retain those already working in the industry, we need to encourage investment in talent and skills. But this investment needs to be better co-ordinated across public and private sector to minimise duplication and deliver meaningful impact.

“Apprenticeships need to be positioned as

a prestigious choice with support for all ages, seamless progression routes need to be in place from school level upwards and we need to re-skill career changers and the economically inactive for employment opportunities in the sector.

“In all of this, collaboration is key. With innovative partnerships and strong government support we can transform perceptions of the industry together.”

The Executive has a Skills Strategy in place in a response to staffing shortages. It is, however, geared more towards STEM industries. >

47

EDUCATION, TRAINING & SKILLS

Janice Gault

The Skills for a 10X Economy was launched recently by Economy Minister Gordon Lyons to “support more people to improve their job prospects and fulfil their economic potential”.

The Strategy plans to increase further education qualifications in technical and professional skills and rebalancing higher education towards science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM).

The minister said: “As we look to accelerate the economic recovery, our vision is to make Northern Ireland one of the world’s elite small economies. The skills of our workforce are central to achieving this goal.

“Our local workforce is already talented, but it is important that we capitalise and build on that foundation. Access to skills and talent is the number one issue for business right across all sectors of our economy.”

Elsewhere in the workforce, construction is struggling with staffing levels according to the RICS and Tughans Construction and Infrastructure Monitor for quarter one.

It said construction workloads fell in the

48

first quarter of 2022 in what may be due to continued skills shortages as well as ongoing rises in the cost of materials.

Many colleges here are working alongside local businesses to co-ordinate their offering to accommodate needs.

The report added that 55% of Northern Ireland construction-related respondents recorded a shortage of skills. Around two thirds said that they were experiencing a shortage of quantity surveyors and a 57% said that they were experiencing a shortage of other construction professionals.

Southern Regional College (SRC), which covers the Newry area, is just one.

The RICS has called on the NI Executive to recognise, encourage and invest in the upskilling of built environment professionals.

“With a strong business development team engaging with our local business sector daily, we are very aware of the needs of our businesses, and we quickly pick up on common issues and skills gaps within industry sectors which we address immediately by developing appropriate solutions which are delivered flexibly to suit business needs.”

Jim Sammon, RICS NI construction spokesman, said: “There are clear concerns around the skills shortage and lack of labour in the market. A big challenge for the sector is the new-found ability to work from home and many construction professionals finding better paying jobs outside of NI. “It is clear that there is a significant skills gap, which may be a factor in construction workloads falling flat, and in order to meet the future needs of communities we need to attract and retain a larger and more diverse workforce.”

Tracy Rice, head of business engagement said SRC carries out audits with each client “to ascertain their needs to ensure we can tailor our skills programmes to their needs”.

Janice Gault said: “The real point is that we are not alone, and we will have to work hard to resolve the situation. Construction, manufacturing, and service industries are all in the same boat. This means we are competing for the same staff which has led to real wage inflation and significant turmoil in the labour market.” ■

HOUSING

House sale volumes ‘expected to rise in coming months’

T

he volume of home sales is expected to rise in the next three months despite a cost of living crisis and a lack of supply in the market, new research has shown.

A greater number of surveyors (+25%) are expecting the number of properties sold between May and July to increase. That’s up considerably on the previous month’s Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and Ulster Bank Residential Market Survey for March.

However, the report says the prevailing issues between demand and supply “have continued into the second quarter of the year”.

And while inquiries for new buyers were up, there was a fall in the number of people wanting to sell their properties.

“It’s encouraging to see that surveyors are expecting an increase in sales over the next number of months albeit we are still

JUNE 2022

experiencing an imbalance between demand and supply,” Samuel Dickey, RICS Northern Ireland residential property spokesman, says.

“The lack of stock has been apparent for many months and as such we’re seeing this drive prices up across all categories, with expectations this will continue in the next three months. The expectation that sales will rise over the next quarter could be an indication that more stock may be expected to come onto the market.”

And “despite growing macro headwinds in the form of cost-of-living pressures and higher interest rates, the residential market continues to see modestly positive trends in new buyer enquiries”, according to RICS economist, Tarrant Parsons.

“For the time being at least, even though there is a lot of caution about the future economic landscape, it seems that limited supply available on the market, coupled with steady demand growth, are still the overriding drivers of house prices.

“As such, there is little evidence at this stage of house price inflation losing much momentum, while expectations for the coming twelve months have only moderated slightly from recent highs.”

And Terry Robb, head of personal banking at Ulster Bank, said: “At Ulster Bank we are continuing to see good mortgage demand.

We also know that consumers are very keen to make energy efficiency savings in their homes, therefore increasing their environmental sustainability.

“Our green mortgage is one way that we can help consumers save money by being more energy efficient.

“We’ve put climate change at the heart of our strategy to be a purpose-led bank here at Ulster Bank. It’s therefore important that we support our customers on the transition to net zero.

We can help them understand and reduce their climate impact and deal with the escalating costs of energy bills.” ■

49

EVENT

Positive Life launches new corporate scheme Northern Ireland Buyers Club

P

ositive Life, Northern Ireland’s only charity dedicated to supporting people impacted by HIV, has launched a new corporate partnership initiative at an event at the Europa Hotel in Belfast.

Known as the ‘Northern Ireland Buyers Club’, the project will see Positive Life collaborating with business leaders, supportive organisations, and philanthropic individuals to support its long-term strategic objectives.

The organisation has its sights set on achieving ambitious new targets, namely the reduction of HIV stigma levels in Northern Ireland, and through the launch of the club will now be in a position to commission new research, projects, and a focused education campaign.

Over 100 invited guests at the event held in May heard from founding members of the Northern Ireland Buyers Club including Mark Regan, chief executive of Kingsbridge Healthcare Group and Ciaran Moynagh, partner at Phoenix Law, as well as the former Lord Mayor of Belfast, now MLA, Kate Nicholl and the chief executive of Positive Life, Jacquie Richardson.

Ciaran Moynagh, Phoenix Law, Jacquie Richardson, Positive Life, Kate Nicholl MLA, former Lord Mayor of Belfast, and Mark Regan, Kingsbridge Private Hospital

The launch sees Positive Life engaging in a rolling engagement campaign to rapidly grow membership and deliver lasting social impact.

Newly elected MLA Kate Nicholl

Spearheaded by chief executive, Jacquie Richardson, the Buyers Club will see Positive Life re-thinking its funding model by

Dozens of guests attended the Positive Life event at The Europa Hotel in Belfast

embedding collaboration with the business world. Looking beyond traditional sources, Positive Life will diversify its income and enhance its long-term financial sustainability post-pandemic. ■ To find out more about the Northern Ireland Buyers Club visit www.positivelifeni.com/ TheNIBuyersClub. To discuss membership opportunities, contact TheNIBuyersClub@ positivelifeni.com or call 07429 562429.

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Investment & wealth management

INVESTMENT & WEALTH MANAGEMENT

The investment landscape in 2022 As some of Northern Ireland’s companies and individuals look out from the pandemic, Ulster Business speaks to the experts about the current financial landscape, options to grow your money, and the challenges ahead as the UK sees the highest inflation levels in four decades

Jonathan Dobbin, head of UK regions, Julius Baer

“I

s cash king? Well in a portfolio context, at least, it is not. The current spike in inflation makes cash a suboptimal investment in terms of wealth preservation going forward – especially if you hold too much of it.

“Financial markets may seem fragile to some – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine hit the markets amid a global adjustment to monetary policy normalisation and almost every inflation print

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surprising to the upside. It is no surprise that investors’ cash allocations have spiked since the beginning of the year.

performance, while taking into consideration their individual investment horizon and overall risk appetite.

“Inflation matters – it is especially harsh on cash and cash-like investments. Thus, although markets do not exactly look like a safe haven now, we believe that investors with excess cash should remain disciplined and consider rebalancing towards investment solutions with potential to make a positive contribution to

“Inflation in the US increased to 7.5% yearon-year in January – the highest inflation rate since 1982. It is clear we have all become inflation-watchers by now, as it was the fifth time in six months that inflation exceeded expectations. Our economists still believe that the inflation spike is transitory, and that

INVESTMENT & WEALTH MANAGEMENT

Our economists still believe that the inflation spike is transitory, and that readings will lower in the second half of the year readings will lower in the second half of the year. Nevertheless, we expect inflation for 2022 to average 4% in the US and 3.1% in the eurozone. These figures are by no means low and they show the true cost of holding cash in major currencies, as interest rates remain well below this year’s inflation rates.

“While these high inflation readings eat up cash in the short term, inflation has an even greater effect in the long run. In the US for example, goods and services that cost one dollar in 1975 would cost five dollars today.

“Pondering this phenomenon, cash-rich investors may ask themselves whether now is really a good time to invest, with many markets experiencing strong volatility amid geopolitical and interest-rate/inflation uncertainties.

“Our strategists believe that the secular bull market that started following the great financial crisis is still intact. They do not expect a severe bear market as experienced in the first decade of this century, even as markets have been weak in the first months of this year. The market has cycles, there are good times and adverse times, and a balanced portfolio aims at protecting you against that by definition.

“The old adage comes to mind: ‘It’s not about timing the market, but about time in the market’. Investors often miss a great part of the market’s longer-term ascent because they are waiting for lower price levels to invest – an approach which hardly ever pays off. This does not mean that all the excess cash should be invested in one go, but rather that investors should have a deliberate strategy to put their excess cash to work commensurately with their return expectations and risk tolerance. This can be seen as part of an overall wealth planning strategy to preserve and grow one’s wealth over time.”

JUNE 2022

Ross Boyd, director at RB+ Chartered Accountants

“A

lthough the current recessionary pressures driven by inflation of costs, staff shortages and increasing taxes may seem like a negative, they can also act as a catalyst for businesses to increase their wealth.

“Any change to the economic environment presents an opportunity for business owners and investors to be positive, step up and take action. Creating wealth is about getting a

Great business leaders reassess, and revise plans regularly to maintain growth momentum in ever changing times

return on your investments and taking the right risks with these will drive growth and positive financial returns.

“To do this business owners and investors need a process. In today’s agile environment, this must be quick, easy and repeatable. At RB+ Chartered Accountants, we prefer the strategic ‘ready, aim and fire’ approach and would suggest that businesses implement this by assessing their investments and setting goals with clear actions, then executing them.

“Great business leaders reassess, and revise plans regularly to maintain growth momentum in ever changing times. With Covid and Brexit seemingly behind us, now is the time for local businesses to re-examine their business models and supply chains, and to explore green market opportunities.

It is also a good time to consider investing in research and development.” ■

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ANALYSIS

M

uch was said by the main protagonists in the Northern Ireland Protocol row. And some of it was fairly predictable posturing.

However, of all the comments made by the likes of Jeffrey Donaldson, Boris Johnson or Liz Truss, the one that was most worrying came from an unlikely quarter.

EU Commissioner Maros Sefcovic was responding to comments made by UK Brexit secretary Liz Truss, who was insisting on the UK’s right to unilaterally set aside sections of the protocol if the EU did not show the “requisite flexibility”.

Hers was not the language of co-operation, compromise, or negotiation.

But Sefcovic’s response should be somewhat troubling for everyone living south of the border.

He said such unilateral action would be unacceptable and it would undermine Northern Ireland’s continued access to the EU single market. He did not say it would undermine the wider UK’s access to the single market under the terms of the Brexit deal.

Anything that might undermine Northern Ireland’s access to the single market moves things one step closer to an actual border, with some kind of checks on the island of Ireland.

Sefcovic’s colleague and fellow EU Commissioner Mairead McGuinness said a border on the island of Ireland “cannot happen and will not happen”. Fair enough.

If Northern Ireland loses access to the single market agreed under the protocol and there cannot be a border on the island of Ireland, then there would have to be some kind of check on goods coming into continental Europe emanating from Ireland.

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Johnson’s stance may leave us with a stark Brexit choice Prime Minister Boris Johnson couldn’t give a fiddler’s about EU politicians who insist the UK should keep its word, writes Richard Curran

In other words, our access to our own EU single market would be undermined by administrative checks taking place at the likes of French ports.

This is precisely what the Irish Government has sought to avoid throughout the Brexit process.

If the UK Government persists and breaks the international agreement it signed up to, the EU could well force Ireland’s hand by saying: ‘No border in Ireland, but securing the integrity of the single market will mean checks on goods arriving from the island.’

This would be a huge blow and would feel like a betrayal. Everything should be done to prevent this from happening. However, the EU could take the view that it has done everything it can to prevent border checks here – but given the attitude taken by the British government, its hands are tied.

There is no sign of the protocol issue going away. Boris Johnson has used Brexit and the protocol in particular to distract from his own political failures at home – whether it was how he managed the Covid crisis or the economic

ANALYSIS

Prime Minister Boris Johnson

troubles now setting in.

Whenever there is bad news in Britain, rhetoric on the protocol and the EU gets ratcheted up. The EU is the Brexiters’ bogeyman, just as the Irish Government is the same for the DUP. The EU is more than capable of taking retaliatory action against the UK, should Johnson decide to ditch sections of an international treaty. But that means a form of trade war.

JUNE 2022

EU officials can beat their breasts about adhering to agreements, especially at a time when there is so much uncertainty around Russia’s intentions and the future of Ukraine.

But Boris Johnson couldn’t give a fiddler’s about comments like that from EU politicians.

If anything, the Ukraine crisis has brought about an opportunity for him to drive an even harder bargain on the protocol – and at the same time, distract the UK electorate

from real issues affecting their lives.

But fatigue is a problem. The mandarins in Brussels and senior politicians in Paris, Berlin, Madrid and Rome are up to their necks in other problems right now.

Our Government has to be really careful that these senior figures in the EU don’t just get fed up with the Northern Ireland Protocol and present Dublin with a very stark choice – checks on the border or checks on the continent. ■

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INTERVIEW

‘I taught in a private school in England before building a cafe business’ Owning an upmarket clothes shop in Leeds is also on Colin McClean’s CV as well as growing his coffee shop business, where rising costs are pushing up prices of delicacies like croissants, writes Margaret Canning

I

t could be Northern Ireland’s retort to the divisive English practice of serving baked beans with a fry.

But Bob & Berts co-owner Colin McClean is really proud of exporting Northern Ireland customs like pancakes with a fry into branches of the cafe in Great Britain.

The business, which was founded by Colin in 2013, has expanded to 25 units, with 15 in NI and the rest in England and Scotland. All but one of the stores are company-owned and run.

The expansion was fuelled by a £2m equity investment in the business in 2017 by investment company BGF. The business now has around 630 staff.

Colin detects differences between the coffee business in NI compared to GB, where he thinks nationwide and international chains like Costa Coffee and Starbucks are more “knitted” into the high street than they are here.

likes of Tayto crisps,” Colin says.

In Northern Ireland, Bob & Berts has stores in places like Stranmillis in Belfast, Belfast city centre, Ballymoney, Coleraine, Ballymena, and its latest NI opening, Cookstown.

The city centre branch is busy, he says. But a marked aspect of its success has been its spread around small towns, an approach it has applied in England and Scotland.

The chain buys its bakery items from French Village in Belfast and Graham’s near Banbridge but makes other food like its salads and paninis on site.

Like anyone else in the trade, they’re being hit by rising prices.“I’ve never seen the likes of it in hospitality. Wages are going up as there’s a supply issue because it’s difficult to recruit and food prices are going up for various reasons.

He and co-owner David Ferguson believe they’re exporting the cosier ideal of a Northern Ireland independent coffee shop.

“Brexit had an impact, Covid has had an impact and the war in Ukraine is having an impact. The cost of electricity and gas for some sites has actually doubled. That’s becoming a major concern. When you have 25 sites, the costs become colossal.”

“We’ve taken our entire, very Northern Ireland menu over with us, and it’s gotten a great reception.

Some items have jumped in price so much they’ve had to stop stocking them as the price increases required would put off customers.

“So in our newest store in Bury, you’ll get the likes of soda bread, potato bread and pancakes, which in a fry or a breakfast in England is quite uncommon. We also sell the

For other items, the menu is being rejigged.

“We’re looking at different portion sizes or having add-ons in the menu of things that would be normally included, say a burger and

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fries, so the burger might be separated out so that it’s £5 and the side will be £3.”

But he knows that simultaneously, customers are already being clobbered by rising prices, leaving them sensitive to being asking to pay more.

“We see Bob & Berts as being that everyday go-to coffee shop. But we’re concerned that if we put up our prices by what’s required, that might be off-putting and therefore people might see us more as a treat rather than the everyday, go-to shop.”

It’s another big challenge for the business after coming successfully through the worst of the pandemic. He remembers the nail-biting early days, before furlough support came through from the government.

It availed of cheaper government-backed lending by taking out a CBILS loan, though it’s been in the fortunate position of not having to draw down on it.

In fact, it has expanded its stores by five since the pandemic. “We’ve managed to expand the business quite significantly.”

That gets him onto the vexed subject of the planning system in Northern Ireland, which he finds torturously slow compared to Great Britain.

“To put it in perspective, it would take us approximately nine months to a year to get through the planning process in Northern

INTERVIEW

Colin McClean

Ireland, whereas in England, there is no such red tape, you sign a lease and start the following day.

“We’ve opened four stores on the mainland over the last year and only one in NI and that’s mainly down to the planning – that was Cookstown and it had existing planning in place for hot food which enabled us to open it straight away.”

More expansion in Great Britain is on the way, with a new store due to open in Perth in Scotland at the end of June. After that, new units are planned for Carlisle, Southport, Blackpool and Glasgow. He would like to see political stability in Northern Ireland.

“A working Executive is obviously good for local laws around planning etc, and it can make a difference there.

“It is much better to have that stability in place… we operate across Scotland and England and it is quite nice to have that

JUNE 2022

stability there. If we’re looking for sites across the water there is always that stigma attached to a Northern Ireland business, that it comes from a dysfunctional place.

“It’s always in the background. We’ve come from 30 years of Troubles to having an Executive that is opening and closing quite a lot.

“I think there’s a lot of: ‘What’s going on in that little place?’ It’s hard for the English or Scottish to understand Northern Ireland, it really is. It’s very rare to have a good news story coming out of NI around politics and the Executive and I think the mainland press paint a picture that’s quite dysfunctional.”

He lived away from Northern Ireland for long enough to develop a wide perspective, while doing a few different things, including running an upmarket menswear shop in Leeds. Colin studied geography in Northumbria University, then did teacher training in Newcastle University.

“I was a teacher for five years in a Quaker private boarding school in West Yorkshire called Ackworth.

“While I was teaching I opened a clothes shop – a bit random – in Leeds. Eden Park has a franchise on Lisburn Road, so I opened a franchise of that in Leeds.

“I came back to the north coast at Easter time and was blown away at how lovely it was, I was on the promenade in Portstewart looking at the sea. I said to my wife: “Now’s the opportunity to come back to NI and do something.”

They came home and Colin opened a bakery in Portstewart, before expanding out into three other coffee shops. He brought together the whole package in Bob & Berts.

“I loved teaching and I loved the holidays as well which is one of the biggest things I miss about it as my summers are now spent being very busy in the Portrush and Portstewart stores.” ■

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CONSUMER

Rising prices and inflation dent NI consumer confidence

S

oaring prices and rising inflation has seen consumer confidence toppling here, according to one new survey.

Conor Lambe

It declined sharply in the first quarter of this year as high inflation put pressure on household finances, according to analysis from Danske Bank.

More than a third of people here said the impact of higher prices on their household finances had dented confidence.

This was followed by 18% of people who pointed to global risks, including the war in Ukraine, as a factor that made them feel less confident, while 15% pointed to the post-Brexit trading arrangements in Northern Ireland.

The Danske Bank Northern Ireland Consumer Confidence Index decreased to a reading of 117 in the first quarter of 2022, down from 134 in the fourth quarter of last year, and also below the reading of 137 posted in the first quarter of 2021.

But compared with the previous quarter, respondents to Danske Bank’s survey in March reported feeling less confident about their current finances, future finances, and their expected spending on expensive items. But confidence around job security increased slightly.

And when asked what had the largest positive impact on their confidence levels, 34% of people highlighted the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine programme and 27% of those who responded cited the easing of coronavirus restrictions as having a positive impact on them.

In the latest survey, 42% of people felt their financial position had deteriorated over the previous 12 months, with 21% saying their finances were in a better position.

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Asked about their future finances, 43% of those surveyed expected their financial position to worsen over the next year, compared with 18% who believed their finances would be in a better position in 12 months’ time.

Conor Lambe, Danske Bank chief economist, said: “In Northern Ireland and the wider UK, consumer spending accounts for a considerable proportion of economic activity and is therefore an important driver of economic growth.

“In terms of spending, 38% of respondents said they expected to spend less on expensive items over the next year, compared with 26% who anticipated spending more,” it says.

“Inflation has already increased sharply and is likely to rise even higher in the months ahead, exerting a further squeeze on consumer spending.

“Expectations around job security were slightly more positive as 13% of people expected to become more secure in their jobs, 61% expected no change in job security and only 8% thought their job security would worsen.”

“Economic output is still expected to grow this year but it’s important to recognise that there are significant headwinds, including high inflation and lower confidence levels, currently facing the Northern Ireland economy.” ■

IT & technology Sponsored by

IT & TECHNOLOGY

AI: changing the way we think and operate From the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation across sectors such as health, finance, insurance, IT and beyond, the burgeoning technology is changing and improving the way we work. Ulster Business looks at some of those firms utilising AI and what positive impact it could have on Northern Ireland’s economy

T

he predictions of what the use of AI and automation could have on Northern Ireland’s economy look pretty positive.

from automation of routine tasks.

According to research from PwC, Northern Ireland’s GDP could see a sizeable £2.6bn boost by 2030 due to the impact of AI across UK’s industrial and commercial activities.

Co Tyrone woman Naomh McElhatton is now heading up university spin-out Stimul.ai. It has designed a tool which can model and work out how to streamline and minimise hospital waiting lists – which continue to worsen here.

That’s an equivalent of an annual £1,900 extra spending power for each Northern Ireland household, with the improvements coming from gains in productivity, new business investment and product improvement, the report says.

And there are firms both created and those operating here which are utilising a raft of both AI and automation in order to improve efficiencies, accuracy and the overall performance of business and society as a whole.

AI refers to computer systems that can sense their environment, think, learn and then take action as a result. This ability to respond to the environment sets artificial intelligence apart

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Health is one such area in which a local firm is hoping to make improvements in.

The company is aiming to help cut hospital waiting lists using artificial intelligence software.

She said the company is seeking initial seed funding of around £500,000, and wants to hire between 15-20 staff across a range of areas. The business will have bases in Belfast and Cork.

Stimul.ai has been founded by Ms McElhatton, formerly a director at recruitment giant Staffline, and Professor Barry O’Sullivan of University College Cork, who is now chief artificial intelligence officer.

“They have been able to design a model which

almost predicts the future, based on historic data.

“Using artificial intelligence, with machine learning built-in, it gives hospital departments a number of scenarios to enable them to make evidence-based decisions on how they can strategically plan their clinics.”

And elsewhere in medicine, the use of AI in surgery is driving a medical revolution where surgical errors are being reduced and patient outcomes improved by its ability to analyse

IT & TECHNOLOGY

recorded video data from thousands of past operations around the world.

That includes the ability to harness the surgical experience of thousands of surgeons around the world, to help surgeons anticipate mistakes and make better decisions while operating.

That scenario is made possible by AI, according Dr Ozanan Meireles, co-founder and director of the Surgical Artificial Intelligence and Innovation Laboratory at the Massachusetts General Hospital at Harvard Medical School,

JUNE 2022

who spoke recently at the Royal College of Surgeons (RCSI) in Dublin, the Irish Independent reported.

In Belfast, Tribe Technology Group is reaping the benefits of automation within the mining equipment manufacturing sector.

And the use of AI in surgery is a transformative moment in the history of surgery, Dr Meireles told his medical peers at the RCSI Johnson and Johnson Charter Meeting.

Based in Mallusk, and Perth, Australia, the Tribe Technology business is led by a team of mechanical, electrical and mechatronic engineers and has developed the world’s first completely autonomous reverse circulation drill rig, which is designed to improve safety and increase efficiency in the mining sector, with a focus initially on iron ore. >

The surgical areas already seeing the benefits from AI are those that are relatively straightforward, minimally invasive, involving relatively few incisions.

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IT & TECHNOLOGY

Pictured outside Deloitte’s new offices in Belfast are Martin Goss, director of Etain, Danny McConnell, lead consulting partner for Deloitte in Northern Ireland, and Peter Shields, director of Etain

Founder Charlie King, who is originally from Northern Ireland, established the company’s headquarters in Mallusk in 2021 in part due to the availability of its highly skilled workforce, the region’s strong track record in the manufacturing sector and economies of scale compared to more expensive locations.

Its innovative products use artificial intelligence and automation to increase safety and productivity in the mining sector.

“Automation is one of the toughest challenges facing several key industries and we believe we have the expertise to find some of the solutions,” he said.

Overall UK GDP could be 10.3% higher in 2030 as a result of AI, the equivalent of an additional £232bn, according to the recent PwC study.

Northern Ireland’s GDP could increase by around 5.4%: that’s less than the other UK regions, largely due to the region’s smaller global export activity.

Meanwhile, professional services giant Deloitte has added another string to its bow here in terms of AI and data transformation.

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It has taken on Etain, one of the UK and Ireland’s leading data and digital transformation specialists.

The acquisition creates Northern Ireland’s largest AI and data practice and doubles the headcount of Deloitte’s AI and data solutions practice in Belfast.

The acquisition of Etain grows Deloitte’s Consulting practice to a team of more than 800 people in Belfast. Overall, Deloitte’s Belfast practice employs more than 1,000 people and approximately 3,000 people across the island of Ireland.

Some of Etain’s technology includes helping protect against advanced persistent threats and malicious attacks using machine learning, behavioural analytics, and deterministic detections.

Around 70 employees from Etain join Deloitte, bringing a wide range of expertise including in data engineering, cloud development and technical solution architecture.

“Welcoming Etain, one of the UK and Ireland’s leading data and digital

transformation specialists, through the doors of our Belfast office is an amazing day for our Northern Ireland practice,” Danny McConnell of Deloitte said.

“The technology industry has rejuvenated the city, with organisations around the world now turning to Belfast and Deloitte for world-class digital expertise.”

Such is the prevalence of both indigenous and international firms utilising AI here that the Artificial Intelligence NI (AINI) network was established.

The organisation holds events that target a wide range of demographics including companies, students and academia.

It says events include presentations, workshops and panel discussions designed to educate and stimulate discussion “but more importantly highlight the amazing Northern Ireland AI community”.

Among those involved with the network is Austin Tanney. He’s a co-founder who has spent the last 20 years in the commercial sector, working across life sciences, health and technology, and is head of AI at Kainos. ■

IT & TECHNOLOGY

Professor Mark Lawler, Scott Rutherford, Professor Máire O’Neill, Finance Minister Conor Murphy, Professor Chris Johnson and Dr Godfrey Gaston

£58m tech and innovation hub ‘to open doors by 2025’

A

new £58m technology and innovation hub could open its doors by 2025, it has been revealed.

The Global Innovation Institute is an expansion of Queen’s University’s Institute of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology (ECIT) and will house more than 550 experts at its Titanic Quarter site.

The plans form part of the overall Belfast Region City Deal initiative – an overall £1bn worth of investment across Belfast and five other local councils.

“Over the last 10 years, Queen’s University has helped to put Northern Ireland on the map for digital innovation,” Professor Maire O’Neill, director of ECIT, says.

“Over the next decade, we have ambitious plans as we begin our evolution to a Global Innovation Institute as part of the Belfast Region City Deal. This is a huge opportunity for the people of Northern Ireland and all of our industry partners.

JUNE 2022

“The £58m investment will see an expansion of our existing ECIT building and we will have more than 550 researchers based at the Institute. This will be a mix of researchers who are already based at ECIT, as well as new posts and others who will be co-locating from a wide range of companies and external partners.

“This team of researchers will build on our core expertise across cyber-security, advanced wireless technologies, data science/analytics.

In a multi-disciplinary environment, our skilled workforce will include experts from many sectors who will be developing research in areas such as health data, agri-food and fintech.”

The fresh announcement was made during the Secure Connected Intelligence Summit 2022 at ECIT. Addressing the event, Finance Minister, Conor Murphy said: “This new £58m Global Innovation Institute is a significant boost to the local economy.

“The innovation centre will create jobs and enhance our reputation as a centre of

excellence. This project demonstrates how collaboration between government, local councils, universities and industry can be transformative and bring greater prosperity and opportunities.”

And Economy Minister, Gordon Lyons, said: “My Department’s 10X Economic Vision sets an ambition to see Northern Ireland amongst the most competitive and innovative small economies in the world. We have an incredibly rich heritage of innovation, and this innovation, including the multidisciplinary research which is strongly demonstrated here at ECIT, is key to Northern Ireland’s prosperity as it is a fundamental driver of productivity and competitiveness.

“I am pleased to note ECIT’s evolution in becoming the Global Innovation Institute, a £58m project funded under the Belfast Region City Deal and Queen’s University Belfast. The Global Innovation Institute will build on the capability that has been developed in ECIT through nearly £10m of funding from Invest Northern Ireland which has, in turn, leveraged a further £68.5m in funding since 2010.” ■

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IT & TECHNOLOGY

Vyta acquires IT disposal company FGD after receiving £11m investment from MML

V

yta Group, Ireland’s leading secure IT recycling company, has announced the acquisition of Essex-based IT disposal company FGD, following an £11m investment from MML Growth Capital Partners Ireland (MML).

The investment from MML will give it a minority shareholding in the Vyta Group, under which FGD will be rebranded. Its 37 employees, including co-founders Leigh Medhurst and Daniel Elson, have now joined the group, bringing the Vyta team to more than 120 people across its expanded network of offices in Belfast, Dublin and Essex.

As well as making Vyta one of the largest IT asset disposal companies in Ireland and the UK, this move will also accelerate its ambitious growth plans. In fact, Vyta estimates that the addressable market for its services in Ireland and the UK is in excess of £300m, with further opportunities in Europe.

Moreover, the organisation expects its revenues to reach £16m by the end of its financial year ending May 31, 2022, up from £7m in the previous financial year. By May 2026, it expects to reach revenues of £30m.

The FGD acquisition is the first in Vyta’s market consolidation strategy, as it aims to increase its market share, and will prove vital for expanding its geographical reach as a premium IT asset disposition (ITAD) provider.

It also complements Vyta’s existing services, with a strong focus on customer service, sustainability and security. FGD customers across all sectors will benefit from the extended scale and range of services in a market where growth is driven by increasingly stringent data regulations and sustainability obligations.

Vyta is one of the most accredited ITAD

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Neil McGowan, partner and co-head of investments, MML with Philip McMichael, chief executive and founder, Vyta Group

providers in Ireland and the UK, holding the R2 certification and the highest possible accreditation (a distinction with honours) from the global IT disposal standards body, ADISA. Helping to consolidate Vyta’s position in the market are its two subsidiary brands: DiskShred, providing secure on-site hard drive and media shredding; and RefreshedByUs. com, a premium reseller of refurbished IT equipment.

Philip McMichael, founder and chief executive, Vyta Group, said: “This is an exciting period of growth for Vyta Group, and this acquisition makes us a stronger company in a highly competitive market. The funding from MML, along with its knowledge and experience,

will be vital as we embark on our strategy to consolidate the UK and Europe’s ITAD market.

“Our newly expanded team will also be immensely valuable to us as we pursue this ambitious growth plan and absolutely crucial to our continued commitment to delivering the best customer service in our industry. It is their dedication, belief and hard work that puts us in a very strong position as we aim to become the best-in-class ITAD services provider in Europe.” ■

NEWS

MJM Marine puts A pandemic behind it as it begins new recruitment drive

Newry firm, which was badly hit by the worldwide slump in the cruise liner industry during the Covid-19 pandemic, has bounced back announcing its intention to create 50 new jobs.

MJM Marine specialises in fitting out the interiors of luxury vessels, and has refurbished ships belonging to many operators, including the world’s biggest cruise liner, Royal Caribbean’s Wonder of the Seas which made its maiden voyage in March.

Newry cruise ship fit-out firm hiring 50 new people as it picks up from a slump in the sector in the Covid crisis, writes Mark Devenport 66

When the pandemic struck in February 2020 TV viewers watched images of liners like the Diamond Princess being held in quarantine on the high seas. Around the world, ports began closing to passing cruise liners and the entire tourism sector slumped.

NEWS

advances, the industry is adapting and moving forward and we are delighted to be a part of that journey.”

In May, Mr Annett attended the Seatrade Cruise Global conference in Miami which brings together hundreds of firms involved in the industry.

He said there was an upbeat mood there.

“It has been great to watch our order book refilling back up again and we are in the position to begin recruiting again for many key roles within the organisation as we line up significant new projects for the company to undertake.”

During the pandemic, MJM diversified developing a partnership with Vyv, a company which makes antimicrobial lighting used to ensure hygiene in medical facilities onboard ships.

That project recently secured MJM a Collaboration Award at the Cruise Ship Interiors Expo in London. The company was recently named as the Manufacturer of the Year (over £25m) at the Made in Northern Ireland Awards. MJM’s Third Year Apprentice Joiner Shea Rooney took the prize for Apprentice of the Year at the same event.

MJM Marine’s chief executive Gary Annett recalls one extraordinarily difficult afternoon on March 12, 2020, when the firm’s order book dwindled as clients put their plans on ice.

around the world. The firm made a significant number of redundancies, only being able to avail of the furlough scheme at a later point in the pandemic.

“We were approaching £120m in orders, and that one afternoon cut nearly 95% of that away very quickly.

But now business is picking up, enabling the Newry firm to start hiring again. The new roles it wants to fill include jobs as designers, technical engineers, contracts managers, assistant contracts managers, project planners and other support roles.

“It was difficult, but I think our team realised the enormity of the task we faced. At that stage we were thinking this might be for four to six weeks, but as we all know it became years rather than weeks or months.”

MJM Marine had to arrange for several hundred skilled workers employed on international projects to fly home.

It also needed to retrieve materials stored

JUNE 2022

All the new employees will be based at the company headquarters in Carnbane Business Park, Newry.

Gary Annett describes the last two years as “challenging for the whole cruise industry”, but says that “as things continue to recover with vaccinations and new technological

Despite the current concentration on the controversial trade protocol, the main Brexit issue for MJM has been its inability to hire staff from across Europe, an area in which it traditionally competed for skilled employees with other marine suppliers in countries like Italy.

As part of its international expansion, MJM has now opened up an office in the Polish shipbuilding city of Gdansk. But it is also keen to add to its local workforce in Newry.

MJM’s human resources director, Elizabeth O’Connor, said the company is “looking forward to seeing ambitious and talented people joining our team over the next few months as we continue to grow and expand at an exponential rate”. ■

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PAUL CUNNINGHAM MOURNE LARDER How is business?

We are coming to the end of the first year in business of my new foodie venture, Mourne Larder, and it is going from strength-tostrength after receiving support from the Go For It programme in association with Newry, Mourne and Down District Council.

There has been a lot of interest in the series of events, pop up nights, food tours and secret dining experiences that we have been doing are looking for more of an experience now.

We have also launched a range of natural seasonings such as dulse salt, smoked heather, and sea truffle salt, as well as infused vinegars, brines and rubs for meats, and supplying them to other chefs, delis and specialist food stores around the country. With Mourne Larder, I’m on a mission to utilise and promote our local produce. There are serious things going on in the Mournes and the feedback has been great so far.

How did you get started in the industry?

I started in food preparation as a kitchen porter and dishwasher in a Dundrum restaurant at the age of 12 at weekends and during the school holidays. I then started cooking at 14 and fell in love with it instantly. It was my grandfather who taught me the way of the land, how to grow and forage. He instilled his passion for foraging and making use of the most local of ingredients. He took me out all the time down to the beach to get whelks and cockles or going across the fields to get mushrooms and honeysuckles, whatever it may be. He also had a garden centre at the house, and he taught me a lot about sustainability before it was a thing – zero waste, using plants to make your own fertilisers, I just loved it.

Typically, who are your clients or customers?

Our customer base can vary, whether it’s a booking for a special occasion or a secret dining event where foodies who are looking for an experience that’s a bit different will jump at the chance to buy a ticket. As well as that we have a lot of customers interested in reconnecting with nature and will book onto our foraging tours and wild cooking.

We are also supplying our specialist dried sea vegetables and wild herbs as healthy ingredients to specialist delis and artisan food

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Entrepreneur of the Month markets for home cooks and other professional chefs. The Go For It programme business plan has helped provide with a really good foundation and I’m hoping to build on this and do more tours, pop ups and more private dining.

Do you enjoy what you do, and what in particular?

I absolutely love what I do. I’m genuinely passionate about foraging for seaweed and wild herbs and have been using in my dishes for years. I can usually be found exploring the coastline and fields around Dundrum and Newcastle for edible ingredients every weekend to enable me to create different and original flavours. Every week is different with Mourne Larder, getting to cook at some beautiful locations and teaching people about the amazing tastes and flavours is a real pleasure.

What is the most difficult part of your job?

That’s a hard question to answer because I really do enjoy every aspect of it. Utilising the best of local produce in stunning locations, what’s not to like.

What are the challenges facing your sector, and the economy in general?

The biggest challenges are staffing and price increases. There is a serious lack of staff across the whole sector on all levels. The opportunities within the hospitality industry needs to be talked about and promoted more within schools.

Price increases are affecting every business now, which makes our margins even tighter, but it also means customers have less money to spend on luxuries. We must ensure our experiences are unique and exciting but also good value for money.

Local government

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Sinn Fein

DUP

Alliance

UUP

SDLP

Independent/ other

27

25

17

9

8

4

We need a fully working Executive now… it’s time to stop the games Business is clear on what needs to happen next – a fully-functioning Executive must now be formed. But just a few weeks after Northern Ireland went to the polls, the DUP says it will not return to Stormont until the UK Government takes action on what it sees as an Irish Sea border. John Mulgrew looks where we’re at, what got us here and why the restoration of local government is essential for our economic and societal futures

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lengthy mission statement in the Belfast Telegraph, we are little the wiser as to what his amendments to the Protocol could look like.

It may have been a night to remember for Naomi Long’s Alliance during a record election performance while Sinn Fein’s topping of the polls hit front pages across the globe, as the two days finished, the reality of any lack of progress of the formation of a new Executive once again came to the fore.

Mr Johnson said his plan to legislate to rip up Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit trading arrangements was an “insurance” policy if a fresh deal could not be reached with the European Union although he remains frustrated that talks with Brussels to resolve the protocol problems have not made sufficient progress.

And as we sit now, following Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s visit to Northern Ireland and

Writing in the Belfast Telegraph, Mr Johnson said that “in today’s debates about Brexit and

he relative elation, tension and feverish atmosphere of the count centres just a few of weeks ago soon fell away and back to reverse gear when the dust finally settled.

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the Protocol, let us embrace that hybridity. Let us make it work”.

He’s indicated the Northern Ireland Protocol will not be scrapped – thus falling short of the DUP’s ultimate caveat of the removal of any checks at the Irish Sea border between GB and NI. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has confirmed she intends to introduce legislation “in the coming weeks” to make changes to the Northern Ireland Protocol.

But while DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said it was a good start, he’s not said his party

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson with newlyelected MLAs at Stormont

will return to Stormont and form an Executive.

And with some of the messaging from London, we appear to be entering a fresh round of semantics.

Business has had a lot to deal with in the months and years since the vote for Brexit in 2016.

And while sectors have spent millions adapting and pulling themselves out of a fiscal hole created by an unprecedented pandemic, the blockage is now one which is largely selfmade.

In an echo back to the build-up to EU referendum, business is shouting as a loud as it can – largely unified. “Get back to work,” one leading company chief says. I imagine others would choose more colourful language.

While there were cheers and roars as members across the political spectrum were elected

JUNE 2022

during two days of counting in May, in the hours and days following we were left feeling significantly less elated.

It’s glaringly obviously that an overwhelming majority of businesses of all shapes and sizes want parties to get to work, and get to work now.

The voice of business is as clear as it was in the run-up to the vote. And a protest at a devolved level of government – which cannot in and of itself shape international policy or legislation around the UK’s position post-EU – is not the way to do it.

Caretaker ministers will not suffice. We need power-sharing returned and a full Executive appointed following an election.

Following comments from Boris Johnson regarding whether MLAs should be able to take a full salary or not, it seems some believe a reduction is an option.

However, at this stage it’s one group holding the Executive to ransom.

Businesses and lobby groups probably feel like they are suffering from déjà vu when it comes to calls for the DUP to work to form an Executive with the rest of the parties.

It was firmly behind remaining in the EU and largely backs a modified version of the Protocol which is in place to secure Northern Ireland’s own relationship and access to the single market.

A former party stalwart – ex-Economy and Health Minister – Simon Hamilton said his message in his current role as chief executive of Belfast Chamber is “pretty clear”.

“We need to get the Executive back as quickly as possible,” he said.

“What businesses and society want are ministers around the Executive table, taking >

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LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Alliance Party leader Naomi Long leads out her new MLAs to talk to the press in the Great Hall at Parliament Buildings

collective decisions to deal with the full range of problems companies are grappling with right now.”

And Ann McGregor, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry said party politics must be put aside to “deliver the certainty and stability that businesses, their employees and everyone in Northern Ireland deserves”.

“Right now companies are being tested like never before. Their resilience is being pushed by a myriad of challenges from soaring costs, labour, and skills shortages, to supply chain issues and uncertainty around the NI Protocol.

“Such a challenging environment requires a functioning Executive. It is therefore critical that the new Executive is formed without delay and that all ministers commit to seeing through a full mandate, delivering on the issues that matter.”

Speaking in this edition of the magazine, Stephen Kelly, chief executive of Manufacturing NI, said: “It should have been formed the week after the election. There are

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so many challenges which can only be sorted with local politicians making local decisions.

There is money on the table that needs to go to families and businesses.”

We’ve been going round the merry-go-round for days and weeks now.

And musical chairs continues. At the Lagan Valley count, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson MP told me the party’s position remained the same, and that the UK Government must act on its NI Protocol woes.

Party colleague, Ian Paisley MP told me – more firmly – that the party would not form a new Executive if the situation around the NI Protocol remained the same.

Since then, Sir Jeffrey has resigned his seat as an MLA, co-opting former MP Emma Pengelly into the role in Lagan Valley.

The potential prospect of another election the coming months is not the direction of travel we want to take.

Instability and uncertainty may sound like

buzzwords rolled out when politicians or the business community wants to make a point, but they are very real.

Companies looking to these shores to invest will take what is happening around us very seriously. There’s no three year budget, for example. Any financial assistance you were earmarked for in potentially moving here, is that all still on the cards for example?

Following outbursts of sporadic violence at the end of last year – leading to us landing on the front pages of papers around the world for all the wrong reasons once again – we cannot be in another position where we are painting such a negative picture on the world stage while still failing to properly govern the people of Northern Ireland.

Some of those stopping progress need to rein in any ego and look at the wider landscape.

Businesses here are the ones fuelling our economy – creating jobs, selling and producing world-beating products, contributing to the economy and ensuring Northern Ireland is as prosperous a place as it can be. You are here to govern. So govern. ■

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Assembly election results: How Stormont has changed since last vote in 2017 In one of the most interesting and important Assembly elections in years, we look at how the spread of the vote changed between now and 2017

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he Northern Ireland election of 2022 has been described as “historic” by many commentators, with Sinn Fein officially becoming the largest party.

Sinn Fein had the biggest first preference vote share in Northern Ireland across the 18 constituencies, with 29.02%, with DUP coming in behind in second with 21.33%.

The “Alliance surge” saw the party come in third place, with 13.53% of first preference votes.

Of the remaining main big five parties at Stormont, the Ulster Unionists came in fourth with 11.17%, SDLP fifth with 9.07% and TUV increased its first preference vote share to 7.63%.

Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill with her recently elected MLAs

Three parties managed to increase their first preference vote shared when compared to the last Stormont election in 2017.

however this still only returned one TUV MLA to Stormont, leader Jim Allister.

increase, with 4.4% and Sinn Fein increased by 1.3%.

The TUV increased its vote share by a huge 5%,

The Alliance Party had the second biggest

The DUP was the biggest loser in first preference votes, with a decrease of 6.8%. The disappointing election for the SDLP saw the nationalist party drop 2.8% and the UUP lost 1.7%.

The Alliance Party was the biggest winner in terms of increasing the number of seats since the last election, with the party going from eight to 17. The DUP, who won 28 seats in 2017, now has 25.

The biggest loser in number of seats was the SDLP, going from 12 to eight.

SDLP MLAs at Parliament Buildings following the election

JUNE 2022

Sinn Fein, now the biggest party in Northern Ireland, actually returned the same number of seats, 27. ■

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NEWS

Agri-firm Fane Valley reports jump in profits and turnover Co-op Fane Valley says it is facing challenges from war in Ukraine though planned investment will go ahead, writes Margaret Canning

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orthern Ireland agri-food giant Fane Valley has reported a 10% jump in group turnover to £209.9m for the year ending September 2021.

Pre-tax profits at the group, which is led by chief executive Trevor Lockhart, hit £18.8m, which was up £4.5m on the year before.

Net assets of the group advanced by 14.5% to £124.5m, which the group said reflected its

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on-going positive trading performance.

The Moira-based group includes porridge oats maker White’s in Tandragee, Fane Valley Feeds in Omagh and Newry, and Smyths Daleside in Co Donegal.

The annual report was presented to members of the co-op at the annual general meeting in Craigavon on Wednesday. Mr Lockhart said it was a “very strong performance”.

But the group commented that there had been challenges during the year, although it had managed the difficulties of Covid-19 and readjusted to trading under the NI Protocol.

However, there had been a series of events beyond its control, including outbreaks of avian influenza at its Silver Hill Duck business in Co Monaghan, and a fire at Smyths Daleside.

It had also faced problems with recruiting

Trevor Lockhart

NEWS

of these price increases alongside existing contracts which were in place since before the current crisis to minimise the negative impacts on customers.”

Post-year end, the co-op had snapped up a 50% interest in Drummonds, a grain, seed and feed merchant in Co Meath with nine sites in the Republic’s’ north east.

And the group said it had readjusted to the demands of the NI Protocol, and that “access to our key markets, both in Great Britain and the EU, continued largely uninterrupted”.

“However, the movement of some goods required within our business from GB to Northern Ireland remains unnecessarily costly and cumbersome.”

But the group said it hoped that talks between the EU and UK over resolving the protocol – which have been suspended – would ultimately be successful and lead to “pragmatic, riskbased solutions”.

And in general, the existence of “fundamental” terms of trade following Brexit had allowed the business to consider further strategies for the future.

Among the group’s subsidiaries, Fane Valley Feeds had experienced a steady 3% rise in sales to £76.9m in the 12 months to September 2021. However, rising prices were affecting the enterprise, the report remarked. workers, resulting in a resolve to introduce more automation.

The group said: “Normal business operations were maintained across the group despite ongoing disruption to global logistics and supply chains which resulted in longer lead times and higher prices.”

In his comments in the report, Mr Lockhart warned of the impact of the war in Ukraine and that there was “great uncertainty and rising geopolitical tensions around the world”.

“The events in Ukraine have had a material impact on commodity prices, with a significant increase in spot markets for cereals, fertiliser and energy,” he said.

“The board will seek to manage the impact

JUNE 2022

“Raw material markets for both grain and protein ingredients have strengthened considerably over recent months which together with increased operational costs has resulted in higher feed costs on-farm. These dynamics seem unlikely to change in the short term.”

The fire at the premises also impacted the business for several weeks. Fane Valley said its stores business also had strong growth, including with the integration of its acquisition, Connon General Merchants near Ballymena. Sales revenue was up 27% to £52.6m with record sales of feed and fertiliser achieved.

Demand for its agronomy and forage services was also up, resulting in sales growing another £3.7m in 2021 to reach £10.8m.

And the feed stores’ online trading platform achieved “record” sales in 2020/21 with revenues 18% higher. A new store had opened in Armagh, and another store was planned for Banbridge.

But while trading in 2021/22 has started very well, levels of inflation in essential products would affect optional activities such as investment in handling equipment.

Inflationary pressures also meant profitability was falling back at Hilton Meat Products, while revenues at White’s were static at £17m.

Sales at Silver Hill Duck were up 7% to 28.8m euros, and the company had come up with a new distribution with UK customers to reduce the impact of Brexit on trade, “aiming to ensure seamless supply of ducks to their key market in the UK”.

“By warehousing stock in a coldstore in the UK and acting as importer and exporter we have successfully managed to minimise the administrative burden on UK customers.”

However, the availability of workers was a problem, and automation would be adopted.

But Mr Lockhart said plans to upscale processing at White’s and Silver Hill Duck would continue.

During the year the co-op also ended its involvement in red meat business Linden Foods. now part of large multi-national ABP. A deal selling Fane Valley’s 50% share was finalised in October.

“Both businesses have the potential to grow further in international markets and offer significant opportunity for further product innovation.”

Animal feed manufacturer Smyths Daleside in Donegal saw turnover increase by 20% to €36.9m. The volatile commodity prices had an adverse effect on the pricing of feed with prices up 12% on the previous year.

More automation was also on the cards at White’s. Chairman Patrick Savage said its new site at Mandeville in Portadown would be “one of Fane Valley’s largest and most ambitious and developments”. ■

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The column with an ear for experience...

How did you start out in your business?

I always had an interest in buildings and architecture which brought me to this career path. I had a cousin who worked as a quantity surveyor and another who was an architect and they both thought I’d be suited to estate management, which I went on to study at Ulster University.

I joined a firm in Edinburgh as a graduate and got a flavour of all disciplines before moving into retail, and I have now worked in the sector for 28 years. It has been a sector I’ve loved since the beginning and I’ve met some really interesting people on both the landlord and tenant sides. I got to know property directors and chief executives of key clients and retailers in both Edinburgh and London and this was a great experience. When I joined, I was one of the first females in the professional side of the business and certainly was the first Irish and non-public school-educated woman to work in that capacity. Times have changed, but there still more capacity for females in senior surveying roles.

What have you found most challenging in your years in business?

I’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly in the property market, including a couple of recessions, but the pandemic was definitely the most challenging of all because of the uncertainty. It was a level playing field, because nobody had experienced Covid before, so we worked really hard to turn the challenges into solutions.

How would you describe your management style?

My management style is to work in a collaborative manner with all of my colleagues.

I like to bring people along, to empower them to reach their full potential. This is the management style that has been embedded

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Name: Criona Collins Position: Head of retail agency, Lambert Smith Hampton in the culture of the Belfast office. We want anyone coming into the business to believe anything is possible.

What would you change if you could go back and do it again?

I don’t have too many regrets, but I’d maybe use surveying as a means to travel and work in other locations. Working in property has afforded me the opportunity to work with entrepreneurial, interesting and dynamic people who invested in developing our cities and towns took real risk in times of adversity creating employment across Northern Ireland and beyond. While there have been times when property has been a difficult sector to work in, mostly it’s been fun. Both my goddaughter and niece are following me into the profession so that is testament to how I have endorsed it as a great career.

Have you got where you are on your own?

I have been fortunate to have some fantastic mentors in my career. When I started out, Ken Ford, who was an executive director at Capital and General, took me under his wing. I have

also learned a huge amount from Keith Shiells, who is a legend in Northern Ireland property.

It’s so important to have the right mentors in life no matter what your job is, people who can help provide a clear vision of where you should be to grasp opportunities in the business.

How would you like your business to be thought of?

The team we have at Clarence House in Belfast is genuinely passionate about delivering exceptional service to our clients. It’s a team that is focused on finding solutions to any challenge our clients are faced with, and which encourages real collaboration between departments.

What piece of advice would you give to a 20-year-old you?

My mother and my maternal grandmother always instilled in me that everything is possible to achieve if you want it enough. I think sometimes people need to be reminded of that. I certainly always tried to be very aware of the opportunities that were afforded to me and didn’t waste them.

Motoring

By Pat Burns

Sponsored by

MOTORING

Kia comes of age

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ia is flying high at the moment – it was the top selling brand in the UK in the first quarter of this year, beating the traditional volume sellers like Ford, Vauxhall and VW. Production issues may have affected the other manufacturers, but it goes to show how strong the Kia brand has become. One of its top selling models, the Sportage SUV has just been redesigned and is sure to keep the Korean manufacturer at the sharp end of the sales charts.

The launch of the new car includes the widest range of powertrains, with customers able to choose from mild hybrid, hybrid, petrol, and diesel. Plug-in hybrid variants will join the lineup shortly. The new Sportage has a brand-new design that gives the new car superb on-road presence. The medium SUV is not only the best-selling Kia model in the UK, but also in Europe and globally.

The packaging of the new car offers greater interior space while maintaining the relatively compact dimensions that make it ideal for our roads. Boot space, head and leg-room are all substantially increased compared to the previous-generation car, with best-in-class legroom for rear seat occupants.

With two high-definition 12.3-inch displays

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available on ‘3’ models and above, they put the driver at the centre of the action. The latest Sportage is fully connected with access to over-the-air software and map updates, while the Kia Connect smartphone app – available on ‘3’ and ‘GT-Line’ grades and higher – allows owners to interact with their car without having to be in it.

The line-up includes a brand new hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) for the first time, with a 1.6-litre T-GDi (Turbocharged-Gasoline Direct injection) engine, developing 226bhp.

This will be joined by a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) alternative offering 261bhp – another first for the Sportage.

A selection of 1.6-litre internal combustion engines complete the range, with both petrol and diesel power on offer, underlining that this Sportage model is the most comprehensive yet.

Available with and without Kia’s 48-volt mild hybrid technology, the latest Sportage is offered with a six-speed manual or sevenspeed automatic dual-clutch transmission. A six-speed automatic transmission is offered on all HEV and PHEV variants.

The previous model was a very popular SUV here in Northern Ireland this new fifth generation model raises the game even higher.

Everything, from its exterior styling to interior

comfort has been moved up a notch and is more than a match for any other SUV on the market. It is a class act.

The line-up begins with the ‘2’ model, with a comprehensive specification and a choice of two powertrains. Firstly, there’s the 1.6-litre T-GDi petrol engine with two-wheel-drive, developing 148bhp and priced from £26,745.

This is joined by a 113bhp 1.6-litre CRDi diesel engine with two-wheel-drive, priced from £27,745. Both are equipped with a six-speed manual transmission.

Adding a sporty flavour to proceedings is the ‘GT-Line’ edition, available with a choice of five powertrains.

As well as 1.6-litre T-GDi petrol and 1.6-litre CRDi diesel choices, there’s the addition of a 148bhp 1.6-litre T-GDi 48-volt mild hybrid petrol powertrain with seven-speed automatic dual-clutch transmission (7DCT). Joining it is a 134bhp 1.6-litre CRDi diesel engine with mild hybrid technology and a seven-speed automatic dual-clutch transmission.

At the pinnacle of the all-new Sportage lineup is ‘GT-Line S’ specification. This is offered with the 148bhp 1.6-litre T-GDi engine with 7DCT and 48-volt mild hybrid technology and all-wheel-drive as standard. In addition, two 226bhp 1.6-litre T-GDi hybrid options are offered, with a choice of two-wheel drive and all-wheel drive. Sportage PHEV ‘GT-Line S’ models, with all-wheel drive, represent the peak of the range, priced from £43,795. ■

MOTORING

Alpine is big on power

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he Alpine A110 is a small car that is big on power, performance, styling and most of all, fun. The lightweight aluminium body has a midengine 1.8 litre turbocharged unit driving the rear wheels through a seven-speed sequential gearbox. It sounds fabulous, looks awesome and the Sports model tops out at 170mph.

Sport seats and guarantees uncompromised driving pleasure.

Alpine is a Dieppe based division of Renault and the range has been completely revised and now consists of the A110, the A110 GT and the A110 S. All three revised versions of the A110 line-up has its own distinctive character and purpose. In their own way, they treat drivers to three kinds of Alpine experience.

The A110 S sits at the top of the revised range, focused on performance with 300hp and a unique Sports chassis. Optional semi-slick tyres and a new custom-made aerodynamic body kit brings enhanced thrills, precision and enjoyment – especially on track. The A110 S delivers on its visual promise with an uncompromising mechanical specification – 300hp, uprated Sports chassis, brakes and exhaust – to deliver an enthusiastic and exhilarating drive on any road, at any speed.

It’s also the first Alpine to have a spoiler fitted.

The entry-level model, the A110 features the Alpine chassis and a 252hp engine offering similar driving characteristics to the original Berlinette – it is light, lively and precise, and delivers an agile and vibrant drive on all roads.

The entry model has been renamed simply as the A110. Its agility and acceleration are unparalleled thanks to a combination of a lightweight and balanced chassis. Its mass has been optimally spread out – 44% at the front, 56% at the rear with the engine in a centralback position – and it is lighter at 1,102kg unladen. It comes with the Alpine chassis and

The A110 GT is the range’s Grand Tourisme sports coupe. With 300hp it strikes a fine balance between performance and comfort.

The A110 GT is a sports car perfectly suited to everyday and long-distance driving, as well as more involved drives on twisty roads.

Each version of the Alpine A110 comes with three driver-selectable modes: Normal, Sport and Track.

Normal mode is geared more towards comfort, while Sport mode is optimised for more dynamic driving and gear shifting – including the capability of shifting gears down and increasing engine revs between shifting up through the transmission.

The throttle and engine response, power

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steering’s sensitivity, gear-shifting rules, and exhaust valve activation all change according to the mode the driver selects. This also applies to the ESC system, which can also be deactivated at the touch of a button.

The GT and S engine’s calibration has been improved to push maximum power to 300hp at higher engine speeds (6,300rpm), add 20Nm (340Nm torque as low as 2,400rpm) and reach top speed in seventh gear, while the automatic gearbox is also engineered to boost performance.

Another all-new feature is found when initialising the launch control procedure, one of the cylinders is temporarily disabled to produce a sportier engine note. The A110 range comes with a new multimedia system including a seven-inch touchscreen, Bluetooth connectivity and two USB outlets.

The controls behind the steering wheel activate voice recognition so that you can control your smartphone’s operating system or run Google Online Search for addresses.

The onboard navigation system provides a wealth of information in real time, including traffic updates and upcoming service stations including fuel prices.

Standard features bring improved comfort and convenience, including Park Assist with front and rear sensors and rear-view camera. The A110 range starts from £49,905. ■

MOTORING

King of Leons I

n a world that seems to be dominated

by SUVs, there is still a strong demand for more traditional hatchbacks, saloons and estates.

advanced driver assistance systems available, including predictive adaptive cruise control and emergency assist 3.0, to make it the safest car that Seat has made to date.

It is this sector of the market that Seat’s Leon excels and the all new model will appeal to a wide variety of customers. There is much more passenger and boot space in an estate than an SUV and it will be faster and more fun to drive as well.

In an ever more connected world, the latest Leon gives occupants greater opportunity to take their digital presence with them. The Leon is the brand’s first fully-connected vehicle. In the car, ‘full link’ offers seamless Android Auto and wireless Apple CarPlay connections. Away from the vehicle, users can access their vehicle’s data remotely through Seat Connect as well as manage the battery charging and control the electronic air conditioning in plug-in hybrid models.

The hatch and estate sector of the market is increasingly competitive, with new entrants and a move towards larger vehicles; however, the all-new Leon, with a strong design, greater practicality, connectivity and efficient, electrified powertrains, meets the challenge.

A range of new powertrain technologies; petrol (TSI), diesel (TDI), mild-hybrid (eTSI), and plug-in hybrid (e-hybrid) means that consumers can choose the vehicle that most closely matches their lifestyle and needs, while at the same time providing the efficiency and performance.

Safety is at the heart of the new Leon.

The VW-derived MQB chassis provides an inherently strong and stiff safety cell and allows the integration of some of the most

JUNE 2022

The company recently added to the Leon’s trophy cabinet by securing the ‘Best Medium Family Car’ award for the Leon Estate at the Parkers New Car Awards along with What Car’s ‘Family Car of the Year’ accolade as well as Caravan and Motorhome Club’s Tow Car of the Year. The vehicle combines an elegant and sporty exterior design with the practicalities of capacious storage and boot capacity (620 litres) that is essential for families and holidaymakers.

The Leon Estate range starts from £22,050 for the SE 1.0 TSI Evo 110PS model, rising to £37,605 for the Xcellence Lux 1.4 e-Hybrid 204PS variant.

The Leon also features Car2X connectivity – a cloud-based technology that enables drivers to receive advanced warning on the status of upcoming traffic lights or an incident on a motorway further up the road, or whether traffic lights are about to turn from green to red, with traffic information appearing in real time on screen.

It combines a competitive P11D and BiK with strong residual values to boast among the most competitive TCO in its class, costing as little as 24.6p per mile over its lifetime. The entry-level Leon SE 1.0 TSI 110 PS combines an impressive array of driving safety and Connected features as standard with a frugal 1.0 110 PS engine, which offers a notable 47.1 - 52.3 mpg.

The Leon has been a cornerstone of the Seat range since 1999, accumulating more than 2.2 million sales globally across three generations of the model, transforming the brand into a key competitor in the UK.

Retaining 41.2% of its value after three years or 60,000 miles contributes to a TCO of just 24.6ppm over its lifetime. The 1.0 TSI 110 PS SE Dynamic is expected to be the most attractive option for fleets. ■

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APPOINTMENTS

Kerry Curran is the new director of the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium. Ms Curran was previously acting director of strategy and policy with cross-border trade organisation InterTradeIreland.

Lorraine McKeown has been appointed as business support manager at Vyta. In her new role she will drive best practice and growth opportunities while implementing customer service processes.

Law firm Eversheds Sutherland has appointed Deborah Archer as banking and finance partner in its Belfast office.

She brings over 20 years’ experience advising local and international financial institutions, industrial and provident societies, and corporate entities and individuals across various sectors.

Keith Dunn has been appointed as an associate in the commercial department at A&L Goodbody’s Belfast office, specialising in commercial contracts, intellectual property and data protection. He has extensive commercial experience having previously worked in-house for several multinational companies.

Jack Taylor has been appointed as retail development manager at Boost Drinks.

His key responsibilities in this role will be leading the charge in building upon the company’s successful retail distribution and retail marketing strategies across the UK. Lucy Marshall has joined Workplus as community manager. She will be working alongside Workplus’ member companies as well as growing the apprentice community in Northern Ireland.

Susan Hill has been appointed head of people and culture at Outsource Group, following roles with Decision Time and Novosco, where she worked for 13 years.

During her tenure with Novosco she played key roles in helping the workforce grow from 35 to 300 people.

Boost Drinks has appointed Amy Ankrah as customer marketing manager. Within her new role she will continue to acquire wholesale insight, develop trade marketing campaigns and execute brand plans with key customers as well as managing all customer facing events.

IT firm b4b Group has appointed David Armstrong as its new chief executive. He joins the Belfast-based company after more than 35 years in the information and communications technology industry including over 25 years within senior management roles in the telecoms sector.

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1. Staff of Hillmount had the honour of visiting with the Air Ambulance NI team to present a donation of more than £4,000 made up from an instore customer collection and personal donation from the Mercer family.

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2. Shoppers at Spar, Eurospar and Vivo stores across Northern Ireland have set a new record for the retailer’s seasonal Tearfund campaign, with the 2021 appeal raising over £500,000. Pictured are Chris Thompson from Tearfund NI and Bronagh Luke, head of corporate marketing at Henderson Group.

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3. Belfast-based private equity firm Cordovan Capital Management Limited has announced a significant growth equity investment into Greenview Group Holdings. Pictured are Daniel Anderson, partner at Cordovan, Sharon Patterson, Greenview, Michael Burke, Greenview and Mike Irvine, Cordovan.

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4. Shopper research across Ireland

by The Foundation has revealed 85% of consumers say that the rising cost of living is impacting how they shop. Pictured are Erin Nixon, commercial director and Brendan Gallen, strategy director of The Foundation.

5. Outsource Group, founded and led by Terry Moore (right), has secured former Novosco boss Patrick McAliskey (left) to head its board as the company gets set to implement a transformational expansion plan.

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6. The Royal Society of Ulster Architects (RSUA) has awarded the Liam McCormick Prize for Northern Ireland’s Building of the Year to Áras Uí Chonghaile, the new James Connolly visitor centre on the Falls Road in west Belfast. Pictured are Donal Mac Randal, Harry Connolly and Colm McGurk.

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7. Global law firm Eversheds Sutherland has appointed Deborah Archer as banking and finance partner in its Belfast office. She is pictured with Alan Connell, managing partner, Eversheds Sutherland Ireland.

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8. IRP Commerce has welcomed companies from across Ireland to an event celebrating Belfast as the centre of Europe’s e-commerce innovation. Pictured are Mark Irwin, managing director of Ardmore Advertising with Philip Macartney, chief commercial officer for IRP Commerce.

9. Belfast’s Colin Glen has announced a fresh recruitment drive ahead of its busiest summer yet, following the launch of Ireland’s longest zipline, River Rapid this Easter.

10. Belfast law firm Carson McDowell has continued its recent expansion with the appointment of four new partners in Belfast and Dublin. Pictured are Carson McDowell partners Richard Dickson, Hilary Griffith, Neasa Quigley, Roger McMillan, Kathleen Byrne and Damian McElholm.

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11. Hydrogen NI has hosted the Minister of State for Northern Ireland, Conor Burns MP (second from left) at a meeting in Belfast to discuss the opportunities a green hydrogen economy offers Northern Ireland. He’s pictured with Judith Tweed, Islandmagee Energy Limited, John Palmer, Shoosmiths, and James Davison, Solo Renewables.

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12. Centra has launched a regionwide community fund to the value of £5,000 as part of its latest marketing campaign. Pictured are Centra ambassador, Pete Snodden, drag star Blu Hydrangea and Desi Derby, marketing director at Centra.

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13. Belfast heart health technology company B-Secur has launched the latest evolution of its innovative HeartKey technology in a significant scaling of global operations. Pictured is Alan Foreman, B-Secur chief executive.

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14. Michael McDonnell, Choice Housing, Mark Gilmore, EHA, with Mairead Burns and Paul Murtagh of Choice Housing as it announces plans to deliver new homes on the former Park Avenue Hotel site in east Belfast.

15. Northern Ireland chef Paul Cunningham (centre), who appeared on the BBC’s Great British Menu, has recently quit his day job to go full time with his new food venture, Mourne Larder. He is pictured with chair of Newry, Mourne and Down District Council Amanda Grehan and business adviser Joan O’Hara.

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16. Visit Belfast is setting a new growth target for 2022, promising an economic return for Belfast of £97m.

Pictured at the launch of its marketing plans are keynote speaker Simon Calder with Visit Belfast chief executive Gerry Lennon and the organisation’s chair, Kathryn Thomson.

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17. Ards and North Down Borough Council has announced a series of events to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee. Pictured are actors and singers that will feature in the ‘Jubilee Jukebox’ production, one of Sea Bangor’s attractions.

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18. The Northern Ireland Children to Lapland Trust has partnered with eight NI companies to provide children’s hospital units with gifts. Pictured are Dr Mark Rollins, Causeway Hospital, Nikki Picken, The Bushmills Inn and chairman, Colin Barkley.

19. Belfast Harbour has partnered with Belfast Photo Festival to create a free outdoor gallery on Belfast’s waterfront. Pictured are Jenni Barkley, communications and corporate responsibility manager at Belfast Harbour and Michael Weir, Belfast Photo Festival.

20. The Royal Ulster Agricultural Society (RUAS) has announced that the Balmoral Show was successful in receiving funding from the Horse Sport Ireland Breeding Grant Initiative.

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21. Kilcooley Women’s Centre’s Ladybird Childcare facility was given a boost as it installed a new outdoor play area thanks to a funding boost from the Energy for Children Charitable Trust.

Pictured are Tracy Harrison, Kilcooley Women’s Centre with June Trimble, Energy for Children Charitable Trust and some of the children at Ladybird Childcare.

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22. Belfast-based start-up Weev is investing £20m in a new public electric vehicle charging network in over 350 locations across Northern Ireland. Pictured are chief commercial officer Thomas O’Hagan, Graeme Thompson, chief finance officer and Philip Rainey, chief executive.

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23. Stuart Anderson has been appointed as head of public affairs at the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He will lead the NI Chamber’s direct interactions with politicians, helping to shape the legislative agenda and supporting elected representatives.

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24. Dalata Hotel Group plc, owner of Maldron Hotels and Clayton Hotels, has hosted its general manager conference at the Clayton Hotel Belfast with managers travelling from across 48 hotels in UK, Ireland and continental Europe.

25. Quinn Estate Agents has made a six-figure investment supported

by Ulster Bank to expand its business and launch an innovative new stop-gap accommodation service for home buyers and vendors. Pictured are managing director Jonathan Quinn and Ulster Bank business development manager Derick Wilson.

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26. The Mac is celebrating a decade of bringing art, culture and all kinds of entertainment and debate to Belfast. Pictured are Ray Hutchinson, Roisin McDonough, Anne McReynolds and Liam Hannaway.

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27. IT provider eir evo has embarked on a new drive for growth in Northern Ireland.

Pictured are Martin Wells, eir evo managing director, Philip O’Meara, eir evo regional director for Northern Ireland and eir chief executive Oliver Loomes.

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28. The female returners programme Press Refresh, delivered by Women in Business in partnership with Belfast Metropolitan College, is celebrating the class of 2022.

Pictured are Roseann Kelly MBE and Graeme Wilkinson alongside Press Refresh graduates Caroline Colgan and Mariclare Kelsall.

29. Outsource Group has appointed Susan Hill as the IT firm’s head of people and culture following roles with Decision Time and Novosco, where she worked for 13 years. She is pictured with Eamonn Bunting, managing director of Outsource Group.

30. The Balmoral Show has welcomed Big White Coach Events, a sensory experience to the 153rd year of the agricultural event, in partnership with Ulster Bank. Pictured are Jenny McNeill, Royal Ulster Agricultural Society, Andy Hazley, Learning Space UK and Gail Walker, Big White Coach Events.

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31. Dr Terry Cross OBE has delivered specialist, sight saving equipment to the Children’s Eye Unit at the Belfast Trust Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH). He is pictured with Linda Hamilton, assistant service manager in paediatric ophthalmology, Eibhlin McLoone, Belfast Trust consultant paediatric ophthalmologist and actor James Nesbitt.

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32. Belfast Chamber called on candidates in the city to support its plans to revitalise Belfast’s economy following the election.

Pictured are Simon Hamilton, Belfast Chamber, Leona Barr, CastleCourt, Zoe Watson, Clover Group, Michael Stewart, Belfast Chamber, Peter McCausland, Value Cabs.

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33. Catalyst has unveiled a new strategy for the next five years which it believes will generate significant economic benefits for Northern Ireland. Pictured are guest speaker Helen McCarthy, pHion Therapeutics, Catalyst chair Ellvena Graham and Catalyst chief executive, Steve Orr.

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34. Creative advertising and marketing agency Ardmore has acquired e-commerce consultancy and digital marketing specialist Built For Growth Digital (BFG Digital). Pictured are BFG Digital’s, Leanne Blair, Ardmore’s Mark Irwin, BFG Digital’s Andrew McComb, and IRP Commerce’s Philip Macartney.

35. Self Help Africa Ambassador Rob Herring (right) joins Denny Elliott, head of Self Help Africa Northern Ireland, as he prepares for the charity’s Camino Walk.

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36. Belfast Health and Social Care Trust’s Fiona Meenan, Sustrans director Caroline Bloomfield, Public Health Agency chief executive Aidan Dawson, Belfast City Council chief executive John Walsh and Translink director Ian Campbell launch The Active Travel Challenge.

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37. Belfast app and digital solutions agency Sugar Rush has won the Digital Transformation In Industry and Infrastructure gong at the 2022 Spider Awards in Dublin.

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38. Belfast-based Titanic Distillers is expanding its spirits portfolio with the introduction of Titanic Distillers Premium Irish Vodka.

Pictured is Titanic Distillers’ director Stephen Symington.

39. Golfers from across Northern Ireland will be teeing up this summer for a chance to win a place in the Grand Final of the inaugural Region of Murcia Masters. Pictured are Northern Ireland football legends Keith Gillespie and Aaron Hughes.

40. Faye Thomas, chief commercial Officer, Vyta, Neil McGowan, partner and co-head of investments, MML, Philip McMichael, chief executive and founder, Vyta and Giles Ward, chief operations officer announce MML’s investment in the Vyta Group which led to the acquisition of FGD.

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REVIEW

Review: Tissot PRX is the vintage sports watch we all need Tissot’s already highly successful PRX series is a nod to the days of the rise of quartz movements in the 1970s and seizes on a soaring demand for watches with integrated bracelets and a hint of sports vintage, writes John Mulgrew

W

ho would have thought a watch harking back to the darker days of the Swiss industry pivoting to quartz would the piece which reverberated around affordable horology.

Tissot first unveiled the PRX model in 1978 – a then smaller quartz offering as watchmakers turned to the cheaper and more accurate movement, which almost brought the mechanical industry to its knees with the proliferation of the Japanese market.

It’s a brand which has remained a steadfast stalwart of the Swiss watch industry, under the umbrella of the Swatch Group, but one which hasn’t rocked the boat in terms of designs and concepts which have gripped the interests of aficionados.

But the new 40mm PRX appears to be that watch. After its release last year, a simple but striking quartz piece at under £300 has gone on to make lists and articles about one of the best bargains in the industry right now.

It’s hard to disagree. It’s a clever piece of design. While Tissot has gone on to release its automatic version with its ever-reliable Powermatic 80 automatic movement, and a new Valjoux-based chronograph, it could be argued that this watch’s natural habit is in its quartz version.

It bears a striking resemblance to Rolex’s Oysterquartz. Yes, Rolex made a quartz watch amid the surge in the 1970s and 1980s. Of course, like essentially every other model, it’s gone on to command bigger prices, due to its collectability and relatively short production period.

The 40mm case is just 10.4mm thick, and sits very snugly on the wrist. The case size belies its

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REVIEW

lug-to-lug dimensions, due to that integrated bracelet. But this sits flush on an average sized wrist.

And let’s talk about that bracelet. On first impressions, and unaware of the brand, you’d think you were wearing something decidedly more expensive. It really is what you’re buying this piece for.

The brushing on the links is smooth and uniform, tapering down from around 24.5mm at the lugs to around 17mm at the butterfly deployant clasp. However, inside each of the solid links there’s bright, polishing, which makes the entire thing pop with any light. It’s classy, subtle, yet jumps out in a room, despite a relatively small size compared with some of the larger wrist monsters out there.

The dials each have their own character. The blue and green have a subtle sunburst, the black is a little flatter while the silver has vertical brushing, similar to that of the case itself.

While some of these ‘week on the wrist’ articles mean sending a review watch back to said company after I’ve experienced it for a few days, this is my own, opting for the silver version.

It spots vertical brushing on the dial, which marries with the case finishing, and lightly rose gold accents on the hands, which are very subtle. I think this model evokes the

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Oysterquartz more than any and from a distance or for those unfamiliar with anything other than the industry stalwarts, has the closest ‘Rolex’ vibe about it.

Tissot has also now extended the already highly-successful range with 35mm variants harking back to the case dimensions of the original, and a growing interest in smaller pieces, along with leather strap versions.

Aside from the obvious Oysterquartz comparisons, Tissot has more generally seized on the soaring demand for Gerald Genta designed, or inspired, sports watches with integrated bracelets.

If you’ve followed the market on some of the higher-end models, then you’ll know prices among the most desirable have skyrocketed – already outside the realms of possibility for most, many have now reached what some may consider the upper limits for a steel piece.

That includes the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak – one of Genta’s iconic designs and arguably the first luxury steel sports watch. Models are going for upwards of £40,000 for steel versions.

Of course, another Genta classic, Patek Philippe’s Nautilus has taken that market surge a step further. You’re unlikely to find a steel version for anything less than six figures.

Other more affordable brands have also gotten

Model: Tissot PRX Case size: 40mm Movement: Swiss ETA F06.115 Retail price: £295

on the bandwagon, including Maurice Lacroix’s Aikon series – certainly a nod to the Royal Oak. There’s often a disconnect between those who have an awareness of the watch world, those with a few quid who buy one high-end piece and that’s the watch they’ll wear forever, and those who have no interest or knowledge at all.

Tissot’s PRX is a watch which can bring those groups all together. It’s a perfect entry into the world of Swiss watches and has the balance and versatility to make it a ‘one watch’ collection, but it would equally sit in the watch boxes of those with a few heavy hitters, or a more modest selection.

The rapid expansion of the range following the release of the initial 40mm quartz options on bracelet is a reflection of how important the PRX is becoming in the Tissot stable. And it’s clear why. ■ For more information on the full Tissot line you can visit www.lunns.com or visit its stores in Belfast and Derry

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TRAVEL

Exploring the riches of history in Granada A visit to the Spanish city offers fantastic food, stunning scenery and a journey back in time, writes Brendan Daly

‘A

t any time on this tour, you can say to me: ‘Pedro, show me a pomegranate’ and I will find one for you.” It’s a bold claim, but then Pedro seems to know his onions, or at least his pomegranates.

He turns behind him to point to the pomegranates that adorn the top of the charcoal grey wrought-iron railing. He points to the images of the fruit engraved into the marble tiles near our feet, and he smiles as he holds between his forefinger and thumb his pomegranate silver earring.

I’m on a walking tour with Pedro in the city of

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Granada in the south of Spain. We’re standing outside the Royal Chapel. In a crypt inside the chapel’s buttermilk-coloured walls lie the remains of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand.

Shortly after Granada fell to their armies in 1492, the pomegranate was added to the city’s coat of arms and it became a symbol of the city. But Granada’s love affair with the sweet fruit goes back much further: the Spanish word for pomegranate is “granada”.

With my travelling companions, Seán and Siubhán, I joined Americans, Indians, and Malaysians on the walking tour. Pedro speaks eloquently about Granada and to emphasise

a point, he stands on his toes. A refrain of the tour is that 1492 was a pivotal year in the history of Granada, Spain, and the world.

After nearly 800 years of war, the Christian reconquest of Spain culminated in 1492 when the Moorish kingdom of Granada surrendered to the Catholic monarchy of Isabella and Ferdinand. This tangled history and its effects are illustrated by our next two stops.

Authorised by the pope in 1492, Granada Cathedral – the fourth largest in the world and nearly two centuries in construction – is built on the site of the city’s mosque. The nearby square, Plaza Bib-Rambla, was the city’s souk,

Sunset over the famous Granada old town

TRAVEL

croquettes to red pepper-diced couscous to Serrano ham with almonds. With its huge wine casks behind the counter and hams hanging from the ceiling, Castaneda feels like a traditional tapas bar.

The next morning we walk under the arch of the Gate of the Pomegranates and up the hill toward Spain’s finest monument. Soaring above Granada and described as a “pearl set in emeralds”, the Alhambra is a dazzling palace complex.

Built on Roman ruins with stone that gives it an apricot hue, the Alhambra was recreated by the Nasrid sultans in the 13th and 14th centuries into the fortress-city we see today.

In 1492, the Alhambra became Isabella and Ferdinand’s royal court and it was nearly destroyed by Napoleon Bonaparte’s forces when they blew up eight of its towers.

Our tour guide here is Guillermo and despite his familiarity with the Alhambra, his awe of this architectural wonderland is undimmed.

Throughout the tour, he stresses how the number eight, representing infinity, and seven, the number of heavens in Islam, are woven into the design.

but shortly after the royals took Granada, the Spanish Inquisition burned whole libraries of books and executed heretics here.

Today, embroidered with linden trees and iron lampposts, Bib-Rambla revolves around a grandiose fountain while its cafes are renowned for their churros: long, eclair-shaped strips of dough fried in olive oil and doused in sugar.

Ours came with a cup of thick hot chocolate.

Mirroring the locals, we dipped the churros into the hot chocolate. It’s a rich and sweet, if slightly mystifying, breakfast tradition.

After the tour, we stop off at Bodegas Castaneda. Granada is among the last Spanish cities that provide free tapas when you order a drink. So far, we’ve had all sorts – from floury

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In the glittering Hall of the Ambassadors, the star-patterned domed ceiling contains 8,017 pieces of cedarwood. Underscoring the international breadth of the Alhambra, the cedarwood is from Lebanon and the ceiling is speckled with a deep-blue pigment made from a precious stone imported from Afghanistan.

At the time, the stone was more expensive than gold.

We walk through a courtyard with a circle of 12 white marble, water-spraying lions and later to the sultans’ summer estate from where we have widescreen views across the city. In Islam, gardens are often metaphors for paradise.

The gardens of the Alhambra’s Hill of the Sun are a latticework of pools and fountains near orange, lemon, and pomegranate trees.

In the stained-glass Comares Tower, Christopher Columbus persuaded Isabella and Ferdinand to grant him the funds for his expedition to find Asia. As Guillermo explains, Spain didn’t exist until the royals’ marriage in 1479 united its disparate kingdoms. But

through its American empire, by 1550, Spain had transformed into one of the most powerful countries in the world.

From the Alhambra we can see the snowcrested Sierra Nevada – our next destination.

We’re going to the mosaic of valleys and gorges along the mountains’ southern edge, the Alpujarras.

After taking a bus along ear-popping hairpin bends, we arrive at Capileira. Every building in the village is white-washed, although today they’re spattered with wet sand because of a Saharan sandstorm, reminding us we’re just 200km from Africa’s north coast.

We can see over the village’s round chimneys and across the Poqueira Gorge from our house’s balcony. The next morning, we climb Capileira’s vertiginously-steep streets (most have handrails) to the village bakery. A little bell rings above the door when we push it open. We choose our aromatic, just-made breads and multi-coloured pastries and then follow a looped hiking trail through the gorge, past goats and over wooden bridges to the milky-white villages of Bubión and then Pampaneira.

In Restaurant Teide in Bubión, the welcoming, pony-tailed waiter brings a coat stand to our table for us to hang our wet gear and we try plato alpujarreno, a sturdy local dish of fried eggs, potatoes, Serrano ham and spicy sausage.

Later in Capileira, we sit beside a big open fire in El Corral del Castano and eat velvety-soft black pudding underneath a cream of roasted apple, pine nuts, and caramelised red peppers followed by a slow-cooked Iberian pork cheek with chestnuts and plum sauce in red wine.

Capileira’s Berber-like, flat-roofed houses are a legacy of the Moors who settled in the Alpujarras after their final defeat in Granada in 1492. It reminds me of Pedro’s insistence during his walking tour that the year was a watershed moment in history.

When we had stopped at the enormous bronze sculpture of Isabella and Columbus in Granada, Pedro presented the prosecution’s coup de grace. ■

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TECHNOLOGY

Elon Musk’s problems are only beginning as tensions over the limits of free speech are set to rage as the billionaire agrees to buy social media giant Twitter, writes Adrian Weckler

Elon Musk’s problems have only just begun N ow that Elon Musk is to buy Twitter, what will the platform look like in a year’s time? Away from populist promises of an ‘edit’ button and fixing spam, one issue looms largest: content moderation.

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Mr Musk says Twitter has become too rigid and restrictive, promising that his reign will prioritise free speech.

But what does this mean? An early end to the exile of Donald Trump? A watering down of

Twitter’s current content moderation rules?

Fewer account suspensions?

How will Mr Musk negotiate his libertarian ambitions with the EU’s recently-passed Digital Services Act, which introduces heftier fines on

TECHNOLOGY

social platforms for hosting disinformation and hate speech?

Or the raft of online safety legislation in countries from Ireland and the UK to Australia and parts of Asia?

The co-founder of Kinzen, and a former head of Twitter in Ireland, Mark Little, thinks that Mr Musk may be in for a rude awakening when he actually takes the helm.

“I think Elon Musk is still living in that first exhilarating wave of all of us Generation Xers who grew up wanting a more democratic form of expression,” he says.

“He has not yet seen that a lot of what he wants to do to protect free speech could actually be undermining free speech, especially if it’s by relieving the amount of content moderation.”

The European Commission has already sent Mr Musk a clear warning on the topic. Speaking after the Musk-Twitter deal was done, internal markets commissioner Thierry Breton was blunt.

“Elon, there are rules,” he told the Financial Times. “You are welcome, but these are our rules. It’s not your rules which will apply here.”

By now, Mr Musk knows which “rules” Mr Breton is referring to. The Digital Services Act will impose fines of up to 6% of a tech giant’s global revenue if they allow hate speech or other banned content to filter through their networks, even if it’s in the name of ‘free speech’.

“The Digital Services Acts raises the bar significantly,” Daragh O’Brien, the chief executive of data protection firm Castlebridge, says.

“It doesn’t matter if Musk has an alternative perspective, or whether he doesn’t like the laws. He has to consider the right not to be harassed as much as the right to free speech.”

Mr O’Brien says that if Mr Musk’s Twitter tries to “push through the EU’s brick wall”, he will get sued.

“As the sole shareholder, Musk would ultimately carry all liability for decisions taken

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in the organisation under EU law. From a GDPR perspective, that includes things like algorithms and machine learning in the platform.”

What are Mr Musk’s options in dealing with what seems like an intractable problem? Some believe he could turn Twitter into something more like infrastructure and leave most of the content moderation choices to separate ‘client’ services.

“If Twitter becomes effectively a wholesale service, and we can choose from a diverse set of recsys [recommender systems], third party clients and experiences, a lot of problems get solved,” Chris Riley, an internet policy activist, says.

This approach, if adopted, could give Mr Musk a get-out clause as umpire-in-chief. It could, for example, outsource some of the most contentious moderation activity to the clients themselves. At the very least, it could streamline some of the technology decisions, which are often close to the centre of moderation rows, for Twitter itself.

Coincidentally, Twitter recently started to welcome back third party developers through a limited developer support program that aims to help the company deal with issues such as harassment online.

But if there’s one thing that could signal Mr Musk’s intent on what he plans for Twitter, it’s whether Donald Trump is allowed back in.

“Whether Trump gets back on again is so much less important than the life or death issues at stake with Twitter in places like India, Kenya or Asia where there are literally genocidal mobs and thugs organising,” he says.

“That’s much more the front line when it comes to issues of safety and free speech and content moderation. Trump is a sideshow.

That’s not to say it wouldn’t be a signal of Elon Musk’s intent, but people have got to realise that it’s not just about US-centric debates.”

Instead, he says, we should be wary of other long-term threats, including the general balkanisation of the internet, sometimes dubbed the ‘splinternet’.

For example, Mr Little points out that Twitter

may now be put under pressure from a new source: China.

Tesla’s second largest market, which does not currently allow western social media platforms to operate resulting in little influence on them from Beijing, is also a key resource for Tesla batteries.

“What happens on day number two, if the Chinese government turns around and says to Elon, ‘no more Tesla in China for you if you don’t do what we need to do on your Twitter platform?’,” Mr Little says.

“This has the capacity to increase the acceleration not just of the weaponisation of the internet, but also its fragmentation.”

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos made the same point. “Did the Chinese government just gain a bit of leverage over the town square?” he tweeted at the end of April.

Because of the scale of the platform, and the lack of balancing measures, Mr Little says that we may be entering a worrying time for international communications.

“This isn’t like Bezos buying The Washington Post or Murdoch having The Wall Street Journal,” he says. “There won’t be any shareholder pressure, or SEC or editor or press council. It’s Elon Musk on his own.

“And so that might mean questions over how much of the free internet is actually left?”

Taken with the closed Chinese internet, increasingly narrow online access in Russia and parts of Asia and the Middle East clamping down on internet freedoms, Mr Little says that forms part of “the biggest crisis we’ve faced in the internet’s history since its formation”.

One person who, somewhat unusually, has given his blessing is Twitter co-founder and two-time chief executive Jack Dorsey. “In principle, I don’t believe anyone should own or run Twitter,” he tweeted at the end of April.

“It wants to be a public good at a protocol level, not a company. Solving for the problem of it being a company however, Elon is the singular solution I trust. I trust his mission to extend the light of consciousness.” ■

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Uncovering the 9-5 NAME: John Kearns POSITION: Senior partner, Mills Selig

7am With both kids safely packed off to university, mornings are no longer as hectic as they used to be, so with coffee and porridge in hand, I go straight into my emails. As senior partner in Mills Selig, my morning commences with a review of queries and actions for the day ahead. I then begin executing appropriate correspondence and documents as needed.

I have a range of clients, some operating globally in the financial markets. I keep a very close eye on the RNS notices, and it is not uncommon for me to have an early morning call with clients.

8am I travel to the Mills Selig office, based in Belfast city centre, from my hometown of Newry.

Once in the office I receive an update from different members of the team on the status of all transactions being managed by Mills Selig.

In the past year alone, we have more than doubled our deal volume in the corporate team and have increased our total deal value by 50%. This is undoubtedly a direct result of how well we work together as one team, across the entire firm.

I then have a morning meeting with Chris Guy, managing partner, Mills Selig, to review, discuss and plan everything from clients matters to our direct business needs. In 2020 I moved from the position of managing partner of Mills Selig to senior partner. As the most senior figure within the firm, the change in role allows me to oversee matters across all 17 practice areas at a strategic level.

10am My mornings are typically filled with client meetings, which is often my favourite part of the day. I really do enjoy getting to know our clients, their specific business needs, and being a key component in bringing about success for

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their business. With my corporate law hat on, we advise clients on a range of matters, from the sales and acquisitions of companies and businesses to joint ventures, private equity and venture capital, corporate reorganisations and demergers as well as management buyouts and buy-ins, and corporate governance.

I also advise clients on all matters of insolvency and restructuring, which we have seen a surge in since the beginning of the pandemic.

We act for insolvency practitioners in company receiverships, liquidations, voluntary arrangements, administrations as well as individual insolvency. Again, we aim for the more desirable and successful outcome for clients, and we make sure we achieve that.

1pm Often, I have a working lunch meeting with the partner group at Mills Selig. We are focused on growing the business in terms of our team and clients and have achieved this year on year since the recession in 2008. We share a common vision for the firm, and that is to remain local and independent, and to be a go-to legal firm in Northern Ireland for high value and complex matters. We recently increased the size of our corporate team with the recruitment of four new lawyers.

We have also added new lawyers to our well-established energy and property teams.

3pm At this time of the day, I sit down with my team to draft and review documents. Every word, every sentence must be read, reviewed, and checked. My rule of thumb, and one that I tell my team often is, never assume. This advice was given to me very early in my career by Ivan Selig, one of the founders of the Mills Selig.

5pm I leave the office and travel back to Newry. En route I can respond to phone calls as needed, but my work doesn’t stop once I arrive home, another quick check on emails means a few responses may be required.

Rarely evenings are spent relaxing. I have always led an active life and thoroughly enjoy using the NordicTrack bike or getting out for a 10k run most evenings. I have also been involved with the GAA all my life and try to contribute to my local club, Carrickcruppen, as much as possible, this includes taking my nephew to his training sessions on weeknights. All in all, it is a great way to finish a working day. ■

ULSTER BUSINESS

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