Ulster Business - March 2014 by Ulster Business

MARCH 2014 Price £2.30 (€3.75)

Going public Britt Megahey on how Barclay Communications is helping the public sector stay in touch

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Creative Industries: Can Northern Ireland be a global star?

ISSN 1363-2507

9 771363 250005

Contents 6 News

24 Start-up Scene

66 Retail

SDC and EE announce new jobs, while Andor’s owners commit to NI

Some of the hottest new start-ups taking part in Invest NI’s Propel Programme

What does the new ‘town centre first’ policy mean for retailers?

14 Cover Story

30 Emerging Business

76 Creative Industries

Barclay Communications on why it’s targeting growth in the public sector

Profile of Bio-tech company SiSaf, which has ambitions to become the next Almac

Can the creative sector playing a starring role in Northern Ireland’s economy?

18 Viscount Awards

50 Travel & Tourism

100 Travel

Previous winner Peter Hannan reveals his company’s strategy for success

Titanic Quarter’s urban sports academy T13 is a social enterprise with a difference

IAG’s Willie Walsh on the potential to start European flights from Belfast

20 Interview

62 John Simpson

102 Gadget Guide

Legendary explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes on teamwork and leadership

Our columnist identifies 32 local businesses crucial to NI’s future

Adam Maguire reviews Canon’s new camcorder and the Mini Boom speaker

20 50

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EDITOR’S COMMENT

Without limits

he economic rhetoric in Northern Ireland often focuses on how badly off we are compared to other parts of the UK, how far we lag behind, how our levels of productivity, wages and jobs are below average. The statistics do back up that attitude – it was estimated recently that 41% of Northern Ireland homeowners are in negative equity compared with a UK average of 8%. But the Bank of England economist Spencer Dale told me this month that while NI is maybe a bit behind, he believes it is travelling in the same direction as the rest of the economy – upwards towards recovery. The businesses succeeding here, the MPC member said, are the same sorts of firms who are succeeding elsewhere – namely the exporters and knowledge-based businesses. With new figures from the Office for National Statistics showing that business investment is rising, there are reasons to hope the recovery, which has until now been largely based on consumer spending, can be sustained.

I also had the chance to interview the explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, in Belfast as a guest of A&L Goodbody. Sir Ranulph, who turns 70 this month, has spent 40 years breaking records but still approaches the world as if its limits are there to be tested. His view is that you have to strive to get to the top of your field and if you want to stay there, keep looking over your shoulder. Perhaps rather than bemoaning the fact that we are lagging behind on so many indicators, we need to throw our weight behind those businesses who are striving to get out in front. They are the ones who are likely to drive the recovery.

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Cover Photo Richard Trainor

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MARCH 2014

In this month’s Ulster Business we have features on companies, sectors and issues that will all feed into that recovery. John Simpson identifies locally-owned businesses central to Northern Ireland’s future; we bring together players in the creative sector to ask what’s next after Game of Thrones; we profile some of our brightest start-ups, and we look at how T13 urban sports academy has created a self-sustaining social enterprise.

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NEWS

In Brief Belfast-based engineering firm Sepha Ltd, has clinched a $1.5m export contract with the world’s largest pharmaceutical company, Pfizer, to supply its proprietary technology, VisionScan, for the seal and leak detection of Pfizer’s blister packs. VisionScan was designed by Sepha’s Product Development team at its Dundonald facility two years ago. It uses high resolution imaging technology and was developed to replace the traditional manual test for leaks in pharmaceutical packaging such as blister packs. Toomebridge based manufacturing company SDC Trailers has announced a £1.25m order from Saudi company the Rezayat Group. The contract comes as SDC also announced the creation of 40 new jobs. The posts will be spread across the engineering, operative and management departments. The contract, for 60 new platform trailers will be manufactured and exported to Saudi Arabia by the end of this year. SpeechStorm Ltd, a local ICT company that specialises in Interactive Voice Response and mobile customer service applications, is creating nine new jobs. The expansion, which will include new executive positions, will bring total employment in the company to 24 and will support its growth plans over the next three years. Invest NI is providing £81,000 of support. Banbridge milk processor Fane Valley Dairies, which specialises in milk powders and butters, has won new business worth more than £40m in China, Indonesia, Algeria, Venezuela, Cuba and Europe. The company, which is the dairy processing division of Armaghbased Fane Valley Co-operative, already exports products to over 25 countries. Belfast-headquartered Novosco has increased its turnover by 50% to over £23m after winning a series of new contract wins in Great Britain. The company is providing IT infrastructure for a new £237m building at Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool as well as being awarded a contract with Bradford College to build the new infrastructure for their £50m headquarters building.

University secures £150m EIB investment

he University of Ulster has secured a £150m loan from the European Investment Bank that will support key campus development works. The announcement was made at Ulster’s Belfast campus by Professor Richard Barnett, Vice Chancellor of the University and Jonathan Taylor, Vice President of the European Investment Bank (pictured with Pro-Vice Chancellor and Provost, Professor Alastair Adair). The main project to benefit from the funding will be the University’s landmark Belfast City campus development, a £250m project that will relocate most of the Jordanstown campus to Belfast City Centre by 2018. The university said it will also invest a further £55m in upgrades at its Magee, Coleraine and Jordanstown campuses. Professor Barnett said: “This commitment from the European Investment Bank is a major vote of confidence in the University, in our ambitious development plans and in the future of Northern Ireland. “As a University that is leading in widening access to higher education, it is important that our students enjoy facilities that match their aspirations. These investments in our campuses will build on our existing strengths, providing a world class learning environment

for our students and an excellent working environment for our staff. The benefit to higher education combined with the wider positive impact on the economy, will ensure the university’s investment leaves a lasting legacy for future generations. The Belfast City campus development alone will create more than 5000 construction and related jobs during the build and fit out period, providing much needed employment and salaries into local communities.” The European Investment Bank is the European Union’s bank. It represents the interests of the European Union Member States and supports projects that make a significant contribution to growth, employment, economic and social cohesion and environmental sustainability in Europe and beyond. The EIB’s Jonathan Taylor added: “Investment in education is essential to ensure Europe’s competitiveness in the global arena and enable future generations of students to innovate and benefit from new opportunities. “The clear vision of the University of Ulster’s scheme will help deliver both educational and economic benefits across Northern Ireland both during construction and in the years to come. We are committed to supporting similar quality investment in key infrastructure in Northern Ireland in the future.”

NEWS

Ulster Bank committed to Ireland

oyal Bank of Scotland has said it is committed to remaining in the island of Ireland despite ongoing heavy losses at its subsidiary Ulster Bank. Ulster Bank made a loss of almost £1.5bn for 2013, while the RBS group announced a pre-tax loss of £8.2bn for the full year, up from £5.2bn, weighed down by impaired loans and charges. Ulster Bank’s operating losses widened compared with 2012, when it registered a loss of just over £1bn. Impairment charges taken on bad loans rose to £1.7bn from £1.4bn in 2012 with some £892m of this related to the creation of its parent company’s new internal bad bank, RBS Capital Resolution (RCR). On the upside, total income increased by £26m to £871m from £845m and the bank said it had seen

a 64% reduction in mortgage impairments and fewer customers in arrears in 2013. Chief Executive Jim Brown said that excluding the charge related to RCR operational performance showed it was making progress toward returning to profitability: “The transfer of non-performing loans to RCR and the associated one-off impairment charge, will enable us to focus on building a really good core bank that serves our customers well. He added: “I welcome RBS Chief Executive Ross McEwan’s comments about Ireland and commitment to providing customers across the island of Ireland with a great everyday banking service. While Ulster Bank will continue to operate across the island of Ireland, in Northern Ireland a closer alignment of our infrastructure with the bank in Britain will bring more efficient service and product improvements to our customers.”

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MARCH 2014

NEWS

Business Books

Andor Technology could expand after acquisition

Brick by Brick by David Robertson and Bill Breen (Random House) LEGO is one of the world’s best-loved and most familiar brands, adored by generations of children. What is less well known, though, is how close this iconic company came to total collapse in 2003. Brick by Brick is the compelling story of a Danish family-owned company that enjoyed decades of success before its inability to keep in step with a rapidly changing market brought it crashing to earth. It’s also the story of an extraordinary recovery. As disaster stared them in the face, the management of LEGO embarked on an audacious and innovative plan to turn their fortunes around, and then painstakingly implemented it. Today, the company is riding high once again, and enjoying results that are the envy of their competitors. Granted unprecedented access to every part of the LEGO Group, David Robertson not only charts each twist in the company’s story but explains precisely what went wrong and how it was fixed.

Thanks for the Feedback by Shelia Heen and Douglas Stone (Penguin) Receiving feedback is an important skill, and the rewards for learning well are substantial. But feedback can be painful, sometimes brutally so. Thanks for the Feedback takes an honest look at why feedback feels so hard, and gives readers the framework and tools needed to metabolise challenging information and use it to fuel real change. Whether in an organisation, on a team, or in a relationship, Thanks for the Feedback teaches readers how to face critiques, evaluations, off-hand comments, and year-end reviews with confidence and how to stand up for themselves while remaining open to real learning.

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he new owners of Andor Technology have confirmed the company will remain in Belfast for the long term and said it could develop new product lines from the company’s headquarters at Springvale Industrial Park. Oxford Instruments, a leading provider of high-technology tools for industry and research, paid £176m to acquire Andor, which makes high performance cameras, microscope systems and software for the physical science and life science industries. Andor will continue to focus on growing their existing core markets and will spearhead Oxford Instruments’ strategic expansion into new ways of using nanotechnology tools in the biological arena, the company said. Jonathan Flint, Chief Executive of Oxford Instruments, said Andor had been on Oxford’s radar for about two years. Joining the group would give Andor increased investment in R&D, the chance to expand its product range and the opportunity to broaden its reach into new markets and applications. “It is business as usual. Andor makes great products, they ship great products that keep customers happy. We will do a gradual integration with the Oxford Instruments branding and maybe some new joint products in the future,” he said.

“We’re certainly committed to Northern Ireland and to the Belfast site. We’re not buying Andor for a cost cutting measure, Andor is not a competitor of Oxford, it brings extra technology to us. We would certainly not look at cutting what we’ve just paid a lot of money for. We are committed to Andor and the Belfast site. This will stay as the head of the Andor part of the business and the centre of excellence for optical technology. I hope in due course we will be able to expand in terms of the facilities, capabilities and indeed jobs.” Oxford Instruments is one of the fastest growing businesses on the London Stock Market with £350m in turnover and 2000 staff across 33 sites. Andor employs over 400 people, around 250 in Northern Ireland. Conor Walsh, who will continue as CEO, said that while the company has been rebranded as Andor – an Oxford Instruments Company, it will retain a “high degree of autonomy” to continue both organic and acquisitive growth. That growth could require further expansion of its Springvale facility in west Belfast, he said: “We have been looking at the site across the road as an expansion site in a joint proposal with Invest NI. That was going to be our overflow because we are starting to burst out at the seams. We have potential to continue that when the time is right. This building can’t continue to absorb growth at the rate we’re seeing.”

NEWS

NISP challenges you to INVENT

mall private sector organisations will for the first time have the chance to enter a competition to find Northern Ireland’s next generation of innovators.

NISP Connect INVENT 2014, formerly known as the 25k Awards, is described as an opportunity for anyone with an innovative idea, from farmyard inventors, to engineers, to dynamic research scientists and our high tech youth with new gaming or app ideas. With direct input and expert advice from some of Northern Ireland’s top business mentors and like-minded entrepreneurs, coupled with a £33,000 prize fund, the INVENT2014 Awards are an opportunity to make an inventive idea become commercial reality. The six prize categories in the revamped awards include engineering, consumer internet, life & health, electronics, enterprise software and agrifood. Previously only opened to research institutions the awards will now be open to any private sector company with less than five full time employees or individuals with a breakthrough invention or concept. And a new prerequisite for entering the competition is that each organisation must have developed a basic digital or physical concept prototype that demonstrates the functionality and feasibility of the technology.

Steve Orr with sponsor Bank of Ireland’s Ian Sheppard.

Applications to www.invent2014.com must be in by April 4. “We want people to release their inner innovation,” said Steve Orr, Director of NISP CONNECT. “Many of the key advances in engineering, health and science originate from this tiny place. It’s in our DNA, that’s why we’re calling out to all innovators and entrepreneurs across Northern Ireland to step forward and bring your innovation to life through INVENT! Our message is simple to everyone out there. If you think you’ve found a solution to an everyday problem, INVENT 2014 is here to help take it to the next stage, so please apply now.”

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MARCH 2014

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NEWS

In Brief Mobile network operator EE is to create 250 customer service jobs in Northern Ireland as part of a move to bring 1,000 jobs back to the UK from overseas service centres. EE – which was formed in 2010 through a merger of major mobile brands Orange and T-Mobile – said the jobs would be put in place over the next two years. EE did not say where the jobs would be based.

Screwfix to build solid base in NI

Belfast based Rainbow Communications is to create 20 jobs linked to the announcement that the mobile phone company EE is to open a customer contact centre in the city. As the only direct business partner of EE in Northern Ireland, Rainbow Communications said it plans to recruit 20 sales advisers bringing the total number employed by the business telecoms provider to over 100. Biomedical and healthcare technology investment group NetScientific has taken a majority stake in ProAxsis, a spinout from Queen’s University which was named one of Northern Ireland’s most promising companies last year by the Northern Ireland Science Park. Queen’s spinout vehicle QUBIS will remain an investor alongside NetScientific. ProAxsis is developing novel medical diagnostic tests to enable routine monitoring of patients with Cystic Fibrosis. Brookvent, the Dunmurry-based manufacturer of innovative window ventilation and heat recovery systems, has won its first business in Hungary. The initial business, valued at a five figure sum, will see Brookvent supplying its systems to a window manufacturer in Hungary for a construction project in nearby Poland. The company used a recent Invest NI trade mission to pinpoint opportunities in both Hungary and Poland. Belfast software company Automated Intelligence is investing £1.2m in research and development and new market development activities, creating 17 high quality jobs in Northern Ireland. The investment is being supported by Invest NI, which has offered £322,000 of assistance.

Andrew Livingston, CEO of Screwfix with Mark Armstrong, store manager at Screwfix in Belfast.

crewfix, the UK’s leading multichannel supplier of trade tools, hardware, DIY supplies, plumbing and electrical equipment, could further expand its presence in Northern Ireland if four new stores opened recently perform well. The retailer opened premises in Ballymena, Belfast, Bangor and Newtownabbey and created 50 new jobs, with all store team members recruited from the local area. The stores are the latest in the company’s increasing network, which has grown to more than 335 stores across the UK over the past nine years. Screwfix director of marketing John Mewett said the company wanted to make a “big first step” into Northern Ireland by opening four stores at once, rather than just one, and more could follow depending on demand. “We have always had customers in Northern Ireland shopping on our website. But we’ve been rapidly opening stores, 335

over nine years, and it is only right we go to Northern Ireland. We were keen to not only open one store to make them convenient for more customers,” he said. “Four stores is a big first step and with the launch having gone well we will now get to know our customers and what they want. We’ve grown significantly in the recession and a lot of that is because we have been clear about what we do and our proposition. It is about having good products, offering good value and having stock available.” Screwfix is one of the fastest growing companies in the UK, and together with its sister firms B&Q and Tradepoint, forms part of the Kingfisher Group, the largest home improvement retailer in the UK, Europe and Asia. The company has an established reputation as the UK’s largest direct and online supplier of trade tools. Stocking thousands of tools, accessories and hardware products under one roof, its customers range from tradesmen to DIY enthusiasts.

NEWS

The Big Picture for NI Exporters By Angela McGowan, Chief Economist, Danske Bank

Darren McDowell

Lack of finance could hamper recovery

survey of more than 250 Chartered Accountants in practice, industry and the public sector shows that Northern Ireland is coming out of recession, but the pace of recovery could be hampered by the lack of available finance. The survey findings from Chartered Accountants Ulster Society were launched at the organisation’s Funding for Recovery 2014 Conference in Belfast, sponsored by Danske Bank. 73% of Chartered Accountants surveyed said that Northern Ireland is coming out of recession, while 24% feel that the region is still in recession and only 3% feel that the recession is over. The Survey shows an improving outlook for Northern Ireland businesses, with 38% of those surveyed viewing prospects as good. Darren McDowell, Chairman of Chartered Accountants Ulster Society, said: “This survey shows that Northern Ireland’s economic recovery is underway. Our members feel that the longest recession in living memory is coming towards an end and there is much greater optimism around business conditions compared to this time last year. There is a need for banks, alternative funders, business advisers such as Chartered Accountants and the business community in general to work together to address the funding challenge to ensure that we nurture a real recovery.” Two thirds of Chartered Accountants feel that the demand for business finance is increasing and the majority (76%) believe that the supply of finance is unchanged or decreasing since last year. 78% of those surveyed believe that viable investment plans are being put on hold by local businesses because of a perceived lack of finance.

MARCH 2014

he exporting environment in recent years has been tough. However, having seen an improved global economy during 2013 and with Danske Bank predicting global growth of 3.9 per cent this year, conditions this year should go a long way to helping NI Plc to achieve its export growth targets going forward. But the global picture is not all plain sailing into recovery territory. Emerging markets are experiencing some financial turmoil at the moment and this combined with the stronger pound could impact upon some Northern Ireland exporters in the year ahead. The current jitters in emerging markets are ironically caused by the improvement in the US’ economic performance. Capital flows are finding their way back to the recovering advanced economies so countries such as Turkey, South Africa, Thailand and even Argentina are experiencing depreciating currencies and falling stock markets. Although emerging markets are now the weak link in the global chain, the countries at risk are mostly small in the grand scheme of things, however, and the financial and trade links are not huge. For emerging markets as a whole we look for gradual recovery in 2014 as exports will benefit from the stronger western consumer demand. The biggest global risk this year is China. Although the central forecast is for a moderate slowdown in 2014 and we don’t expect a ‘hard landing’, there are issues around debt levels in China that need to be monitored carefully. Northern Ireland exporters should seek advice from their bank on ‘the big picture’ globally when considering exporting to foreign markets.

Angela McGowan can be contacted by emailing angela.mcgowan@danskebank.co.uk or telephoning: 028 9004 5000. Twitter: @angela_mcgowan

NEWS

Goliath firms must dance with digital Davids

ig established companies will have to partner with innovative digital start-ups if they are to thrive over the next 20 years, according to one of the UK and Europe’s leading champions for entrepreneurship. Julie Meyer, CEO of Ariadne Capital and founder of the Entrepreneur Country network, was speaking to Ulster Business ahead of her address at the first International Business Women’s Conference, to be hosted by Women in Business NI in May. An American who has lived in Europe since 1988, Meyer founded Ariadne Capital in 2000, and then Entrepreneur Country in 2008, to create a new model for the financing of entrepreneurship. She said: “The really interesting thing that’s happening in the market at the moment is that David and Goliath are dancing. The digital enablers and the mid to large enterprises are co-operating. And the opportunity in that is vast. “Sometimes people ask me when is the UK or Europe going to create the next Facebook or Google, but I don’t think those businesses are going to be created by anyone. I think that time has passed. I think the opportunity is for businesses like Barclays or Tesco, even the NHS, to open themselves up to become platform businesses. To become the highway for these digital cars to travel on. The large Goliath businesses that do that best will create positions for the next 20 years. The ones that fail to get it will literally fail.” She believes success will come down to finding a model of engaging with digital start-ups able to demonstrate they can scale quickly to provide new digital revenue for these large companies. Meyer founded investment firm Ariadne Capital as a platform for successful

their leadership approach,” she said.

entrepreneurs to back the next generation of up and coming innovators. “We have the radical idea that it is about the entrepreneur, we put them first. There is a lot of arrogance in the venture community because they are the money. But the guy who is busting his ass a hundred hours a week, who has triple mortgaged his house, but is about to break through, he is the one who deserves the credit,” she said.

Managing your network means being the real essence of who you are she added: “I think your network is the whole game. If you’re not a deeply connected person I don’t think it works. Every conversation I’ve had today was about who knows who. It’s just being done in a more visible way than it was 90 years ago or even nine years ago.” Visit www.ibwc2014.com for more on the

She identifies financial technology and mobile payments as current hot areas, but sees great potential in a number of fields.

International Business Women’s Conference.

“It is not my job to be the expert, my job is to know the expert and to find entrepreneurs around the world, which is damn difficult to do. It’s damn difficult to know which ones to back. But it is so cool to see the opportunities out there. The quality of entrepreneurs I see is off the charts, there are world class people across the UK and I have to assume in Northern Ireland too,” she said. Ms Meyer also said that being a woman in business is now an advantage, with female professionals able to benefit from more opportunities than ever, particularly those who develop strong networks. “One of the chapters in my book is about how the world is becoming feminine. I think women have a huge advantage, so I kind of worry about men a little bit. The most successful business people and entrepreneurs have what I call feminine leadership qualities. Those are emotional intelligence, transparency, they bring the team with them. I’ve known quite a few men who are feminine in

Julie Meyer

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COVER STORY

Going public Britt Megahey, Managing Director of Barclay Communications, tells Ulster Business why the company has decided to make a concerted push to win the hearts and minds of organisations in the public sector.

elfast-based telecommunications and ICT specialist Barclay Communications has announced a new O2 partnership that will see them bring their local support and O2’s mobile offerings to the public sector. O2 are UK government Public Services Network (PSN) providers, which enables them to supply and maintain low cost and all inclusive mobile services to the public service. The new partnership brings together Barclay Communications’ local and centralised expertise and the best of O2’s mobile, voice and data services with the goal of enabling the Northern Ireland public sector to increase efficiencies and collaboration, save money, support citizen engagement and empower staff through technology. The intention of both Barclay Communications and O2 is to help bring transformation to Northern Ireland’s public sector, by helping to connect staff, citizens, assets, IT systems and communications. Britt Megahey, Managing Director of Barclay Communications, said: “We are delighted to further expand our O2 partnership with a new strategic alliance that will provide local expertise and support for public sector mobile services. We also anticipate that the partnership will generate additional employment within the company over the next 24 months.”

MARCH 2014

Billy D’Arcy, Managing Director, O2 Public Sector, added: “We see Northern Ireland as a crucial public sector market for us. We believe that we can help the public sector in the region make crucial savings – whether through policies and devices to empower staff to work more flexibly, or a mobile app to make it easier for local authorities to engage with communities.

“With this move into the public sector, we see further expansion potential for the firm, which will also create local employment and benefit the economy.” “We are really pleased to be extending our work with Barclay Communications to increase our presence in Northern Ireland. This deal is testament to the excellent quality of service Barclay provides. Barclay is the perfect partner to help us grow our market share in Northern Ireland, supplying our entire range of business-to-business solutions.”

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Northern Ireland government bodies have a unique set of challenges; O2 has partnered Barclay Communications to offer localised support, service and knowledge. Barclay will also work in tandem with O2’s Office of Government and Commerce (OGC) Helpdesk, to offer NI Government both localised and centralised support avenues. Britt Megahey says that due to the lack of direct network presence, many organisations in Northern Ireland who are eligible to purchase off the PSN, don’t know it. This includes charities, schools, tourist boards, local government, health trusts and quangos. Having started life as a small mobile shop in Larne in 1997, Barclay Communications has grown to become Northern Ireland’s only O2 Centre of Excellence. The company has 120 employees – 160 including those in its fixed line business – and has spent 16 years at the forefront of cost effective and tailored business telecommunications. As a result the company has a large, robust and – importantly – local support and management framework which they believe is ideally suited for Northern Ireland’s public sector mobile service needs. “We are well established in Northern Ireland’s mobile industry and have a very successful trading history. As such we believe the company is at a stage where we have the capability to step into the government sector,” said Megahey. ›

One potentially tender winning technology is WorkPal, a robust software product developed by Barclay Communications. This is a complete workflow management solution with a web app for PCs and a smartphone app that instantly synchronises the paperwork of office and field based teams, transforming the distribution, management and time frames of jobs, paperwork and invoicing. When a job arrives the office can use WorkPal to instantly push job sheets to field based teams. It also generates realtime progress reports and job completion data, including pictures, timesheets, notes and even GPS positioning information. “We’ve been developing this offering for three years and we’ve now tested it and are rolling it out to customers. We’re very excited about what this could mean for the company,” said Britt. “We have a very strong IT services offering which has grown substantially. Alongside our mobile and fixed line business this gives us great potential for further growth as more and more customers want to deal with one company for all their communication needs.”

The MD notes that unlike rival networks which have moved their customer services to GB based call centres; Barclay Communications has a large local presence and knowledgeable staff on the ground that are ready to assist government bodies.

“It is all down to customer service. If a customer is happy they will stay with you, it’s as simple as that. As a result, we already have a strong team in place, with the experience and skills needed to support this unique market,” he added.

“With 160 people in our group, there is a great level of customer service which we’re always striving to make better. With this move into the public sector, we see further expansion potential for the firm, which will also create local employment and benefit the Northern Ireland economy,” he said.

“I think it is important that if anybody has a problem they know they can come to a local company and speak to their personal account manager, someone who already knows their business, their local challenges and their requirements.”

TECHNOLOGY Megahey says Barclay Communications’ longevity and its success is down to both its partners and the high level of service it offers customers.

Barclay Communications already engages with the public sector through the technological advancements they have provided their suppliers.

In future, Barclay Communications would like to get government approval to offer their full business app portfolio directly to the public sector, including WorkPal, Office 365 and Mobile Device Management. In the short term, however, its goal is to increase O2’s market share in the public sector four fold in the next 18 months. To achieve this goal it will be employing a five-strong government team to work alongside O2’s OGC helpdesk. Britt Megahey added: “The public sector is different to the private sector in some ways, but many of the communications challenges and the needs of organisations remain the same. With budgets under pressure and public sector bodies looking for new and innovative ways to find efficiencies, we believe that Barclay Communications’ offering will prove very attractive.”

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AER LINGUS VISCOUNT AWARDS

Viscount winner has got a taste for success

past winner of the Aer Lingus Viscount Awards has encouraged Northern Ireland businesses to apply for the awards, saying the recognition from the event helped raise the profile of his business and provided a real boost for staff. Peter Hannan, owner of Hannan Meats in Moira, won the Entrepreneur of the Year title at the 2013 Viscount Awards having previously seen his company named Supreme Champion at the Great Taste Awards for its Moyallon Guanciale, a bacon style product revered by Italians. The company also picked up a number of other food industry accolades last year – winning plaudits for its Himalayan salt-aged beef – and Peter said it all helped raise the profile of the company. “We had a very good year in 2012 with being named supreme champion at the Great Taste Awards. We didn’t think 2013 could surpass that, but it did. Winning the awards, including the Viscount award, was recognition for what we get out of our beds every morning to do,” he said. “We had an incredible year last year with the opportunities that came our way. It really raised the profile of the product and the company and our service. In an age when people are very discerning shoppers and consumers it all helps to be recognised for something you are doing well.” The meat supplier has had the stamp of approval put on its products by renowned retailer Fortnum & Mason, which stocks its Guanciale and the premium beef aged in a unique Himalayan salt chamber in Moira. It is also supplying high end restaurants and top chefs in the UK and Ireland, and has started to sell products into Paris and Lisbon in Portugal to service the Algarve.

“We’ve developed a lovely relationship with Fortnum & Mason and there’s no more high profile shelf in London. Dealing with people like them and the Michelin starred chefs, they keep you sharp. It allows us to put our expertise together with their expertise,” said Peter. Hannan says the raised profile and the increased demand for its meat products, has also enabled it to go back into the Dublin market – which it had previously pulled out of – after being approached by a trusted butcher whose clientele kept asking him for Hannan Meats products. New products are on the way too and Hannan says his team are prepared to fail to hit on other ideas like the ones which have been successful. The company is currently experimenting with salt from a 220 year old salt mine in Portugal. “If you get out of bed every day because you have a passion for good food, you never stop creating new ideas,” he said. “There are about half a dozen things we’re excited about. You have to be prepared to have

nine failures before you get one success. But when you have tasted success before you know it is just around the corner and that helps you to keep being innovative.” The increased profile of Hannan Meats has also had the unintended consequence of moving it into the Farm Shop business. “We opened the Meat Merchant outlet at the factory because we had people showing up at the factory door wanting to buy a dozen of the steaks they had at their favourite restaurants. We started off opening it a day and a half a week but now it’s open five and a half days a week. We had 2,428 people through the shop last week. It’s just crackers. It wasn’t something we anticipated or planned but it just works. We’re making the best food available to people at wholesale prices. We should probably now roll that out elsewhere.” For details about applying for this year’s Aer Lingus Viscount Awards go to viscountawards.ulsterbusiness.com

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INTERVIEW

Pushing the boundaries

sking the man described as the world’s greatest living explorer to draw parallels between his own remarkable, recordbreaking life and the world of business seems a little bit contrived.

He was the first person ever to reach the summit of Everest and cross both polar ice caps; the first to circumnavigate the world along its polar axis; the first to complete an unsupported crossing of the Antarctic Continent.

Sir Ranulph Fiennes – explorer, fundraiser, author and public speaker – is, after all, a man who has lived through countless life-threatening experiences and led numerous expeditions to some of the most hostile places on earth.

But while in Belfast as guest speaker at law firm A&L Goodbody’s annual dinner for 200 corporate clients and staff, he told Ulster Business there were lessons in his story that apply no matter what the audience’s profession.

“If you’re organising expeditions and you’re selecting people to do things where they are going to suffer and they’re not going to be paid a penny for years, it isn’t quite the same as selecting people for business,” he said. “But there is a lot I hope people will take away in terms of planning, teamwork, motivation and leadership.” As with so many great life stories, Sir Ranulph’s decision to embark on a career as an adventurer was born not out of choice but out of necessity in the late 1960s. “I got into it in order to make a living,” he explained. “My wife and I got married and I had been thrown out of the British Army because I hadn’t got A-levels and I hadn’t gone to Sandhurst, and we didn’t have any money. The only thing I had been trained to do in the army which could have an income civilian wise was how to canoe and ski and climb.” And so he and wife Ginnie began plotting record breaking expeditions that would create enough media interest to attract sponsors. Making it his career meant that, unlike some other bankrolled amateur explorers, commercial realities were as much of a consideration as making his mark on history. “This is my job. It doesn’t have to be confined to anything other than what the sponsor will go for. An expedition will

INTERVIEW

get sponsored so long as you have interest from BBC News, or better still ITN News because they don’t mind logos,” he added. Of course his expeditions have also raised millions for charities – around £16m to date – normally cancer or cardiac relate. His first wife Ginnie died of cancer in 2004 and he suffered a massive heart attack himself in 2003. With record breaking expeditions having been his life for more than 40 years, the adventurer has to think when I ask what he considers his greatest challenge. “We spent 26 years looking for a lost city in the biggest, hottest desert in the world in South Oman with eight different expeditions. Eventually we found it in 1992 having first searched for it in 1967. So that one you could say was a nice one to find because it took so long. On the other hand it could be one that only took three months but nobody had managed to do it before and I ended up skeletal and a bit weird, if you look at it from the physical side of it,” he said. “The trans-global expeditions we did in the 1970s and 80s have never been repeated. Nobody has ever been around earth’s surface vertically without flying. That took seven years of unpaid work to mount with 1700 sponsors and that was just because over breakfast one morning my late wife suggested it. The Americans claimed first to the north pole and the Norwegians were first to claim the south pole. My wife said, well you’ve got to be first to get to both poles and cross the Arctic and Antarctic in a single journey. She came up with that at a time when we had no money and we had to recruit a team of 52 people.” One of the other lessons Sir Ranulph believes a corporate audience take from his story is his approach to failure. He admits that over 40 years about 50% of his expeditions have failed, including his first two attempts to climb Mount Everest. “You have to learn your lessons. Before you do the first attempt you read everything there is to read about other people’s lessons, other people’s reasons for failing,” he said. “For Everest, the first time I tried and failed was from Tibet. I then learnt it was much easier to do it from Nepal. Then when I

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got round to Nepal it so happened there wasn’t much snow so a load of bodies reappeared that had previously not been visible, including the father of my Sherpa. That had a bad effect mentally. But on those two attempts from both sides, I learnt what I was doing wrong and therefore on the third attempt it was dead easy.” When he talks about his many expeditions to the extremes of the world he uses “we” more than “I”. That’s not the royal we (although Sir Ranulph Twiselton Wickham Fiennes, 3rd Baronet, OBE is very much of aristocratic stock). It is acknowledgement that a huge group of people have helped make his expeditions possible. “Most of the expeditions haven’t been my idea,” he admits. “Our group, initially my wife and people like Charlie Burton, Oliver Shepherd, Mike Stroud, we come up with 100 ideas and out of them, two or three we go with. We have huge arguments about which ones to do, but once we go with something we really go with it.” There’s another reason for surrounding yourself with a great team of people when you’re in Fiennes’ line of business. “The only time I’ve really come to grief and ended up having amputations has been when I went solo,” he adds, holding up his left hand, which is missing the tips of four fingers, lost to frostbite after his failed attempt to reach the North Pole on his own in 2000. “You should always travel with a doctor.” He may have been crowned the World’s Greatest Living Explorer by The Guinness Book of Records, but Sir Ranulph barely acknowledges the title, shrugging it off without a hint of false modesty. That’s in part due to his sense of history and his belief that he’s simply keeping up the reputation of his family, which has included a long line of notable ancestors, from a renowned knight of the Crusades, to combatants in the battle of Agincourt, to a former treasurer of England. The adventurer has written a book about his own heroes, but at the top of the list are his father and grandfather, both soldiers killed in battle and whom he never met. Fiennes followed in his father’s footsteps in joining the Royal Scots Greys as an officer and later joined the SAS as a demolitions expert.

“The two people I respect most are the ones I use – you might think artificially if you’re cynical – I inveigle them when the expeditions are physically and mentally difficult to provide me with a mental force to deal with the wimpish voice telling me to stop. They are my dad and my granddad. I never actually met either of them because they were killed, but I was brought up on stories of them from my mum. I imagine they are watching me, that they are there,” he reveals. “I’ve watched other people and I’ve observed their motivation. I have to say people with religious faith, it doesn’t matter what religion, that does appear to help. My own beliefs are not strong enough for me to use when I feel under threat.” Despite being 70 this month, Sir Ranulph intends to keep putting himself under threat in new and exciting challenges. One major expedition he’d still like to complete is the first unsupported crossing of Antarctica in winter. With temperatures of minus 50 it is the coldest journey on earth. “To do that in winter, between the equinoxes, which has never been done, we know how to do it. But there is an obstacle we cannot get around which is called the foreign office or more specifically the polar desk. They won’t allow us to go to Antarctica in winter on skis.” That he is still pushing boundaries and looking to break records despite his many accolades, perhaps tells its own story. Fiercely patriotic and competitive, Fiennes says that if there’s one thing the corporate world can learn from his experiences it is that you have to keep striving to be the best. “It might not apply to everyone, but we can only stay at the top of our field against pretty good people like the Norwegians if we break records. That’s how you get sponsorship. You’ve got to stay out in front and not relax,” he said. “You’ve got to be looking over your shoulder. Different companies look in different directions. For us, we look to Scandinavia. We’re ahead of them at the moment. But what is it they say, you’re only as good as your last movie.”

The beating heart of our economy

By Prof Hugh McKenna, University of Ulster

ir Ron Dearing, one time Chancellor of the University of Nottingham and the author of the Dearing Report into Higher Education stated that “In the middle ages, the centre of the community was the medieval castle. In the 18th century, it was the mines and manufacturing industries. Today, it is the university.” In fact, the word University derives from the Latin root meaning ‘community’. We would argue that not only are our universities at the centre of the community, increasingly they are at the very heart of our economy. So what is the value of a university degree? Once all the costs to the public purse are taken into account, it has been calculated that the net benefit of an undergraduate degree is £94,000 – equivalent to a rate of return of 10.8%. We also know that for every £1m spent on higher education, there leverages an additional £2.5m for the local economy. Even in a downturn, this suggests that funding higher education remains an exceptionally good bet and a safe bet for the Assembly. Last year’s Higher Education Business and Community Interaction Survey found that co-operation between Northern Ireland’s universities and businesses continues to have a major positive impact on the local economy, generating over a £100m a year through our links with business and the community. Our scale, local rootedness and community links are such that they are acknowledged to play a key role in local development and economic growth, representing the ‘sticky capital’ that attracts foreign and direct investment and around which economic growth strategies are planned and delivered. We actively encourage the seamless transfer of ideas from the research lab and lecture hall to the marketplace because we recognise that research feeds innovation, that

innovation feeds productivity, which fuels the creation of wealth and economic growth. We are preparing our graduates with transferable skills because we know that in ten years’ time at least 60% of those now entering secondary and grammar schools will work in enterprises, businesses and industries that do not currently exist. After all, 20-30 years ago the internet did not exist – and neither did social media, bioinformatics, sustainability, or the green economy. We future-proof our courses by teaching transferable skills in a culture of innovation because standing still is not an option. The OECD concludes that the primary determinant of growth for developed economies is their level of R&D spending. It goes on to state that it is publicly funded R&D spending that levers in private investment. It is a given that the primary focus of public R&D spending is the University. Private companies locate themselves only where there is both existing competitive

public R&D infrastructure and abundant higher level skills. The latest figures show that public investment in research activity in Northern Ireland’s universities is more than doubled through the attraction of research funding from external sources. Universities have traditionally been regarded as “reservoirs of knowledge” but, in times of crisis, society demands that they act as bridges between the world of knowledge and the world of business. New degree level courses and professional development programmes are constantly coming on stream in response to industry demands and the emerging needs of business and professional life. We ensure that representatives from the relevant business world are involved in our programmes from design to degree. This means that our graduates are not just fit for award, but fit for purpose and fit for practice. Prof Hugh McKenna is University of Ulster Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research and Innovation) and a member of the MATRIX panel.

Flags, firebombs & flashbacks

Business Start-Ups

BUSINESS START-UPS

Rising stars are aiming high Invest NI’s Propel Programme is aimed at developing export focused startups with high growth potential. Since its inception in 2009 the Programme has helped 60 local companies gain over £6.5m of investment and has created 221 new jobs. The figures were announced as 28 local start-ups progressed to the next stage of this year’s Propel. Symon Ross went to The Hub in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter to meet some of the entrepreneurs hoping to make it big with their innovative business ideas.

target the Irish diaspora. For someone in New York to send a bouquet home at the moment is quite cumbersome. It goes through a network in the US then reaches Europe and there are so many middle men that by the time it reaches the front door they are horrible looking. But people can log on to our website sitting in New York and pay the same way as somebody in Dublin.”

Company name: Yours Florally Founder: Mary McKimm What is the business? An online floristry network offering small florists better terms and conditions than the big relay networks. Where did the idea come from? “My background is in accounting with PwC. I took a career break to have a family but was doing some accounts for small businesses, including flower shops. I realised small flower shops were being charged a fortune by the big relay networks like

Interflora. They were making £4 on a £40 bouquet. I spotted a niche in the market where I could compete against the big players. Our website offers the florists better terms and conditions with no membership fee. So far we have 200 florists across Ireland in the network. The florist industry is fragmented and run by couples who don’t have the time to invest in the internet. We offer Software as a Service model, we do the e-commerce side of their business, passing orders on to the florists. 90% of the time the florist knows the person it is going to but the idea was to make it easy for transatlantic orders. Most of our business is from overseas, mainly the US and Australia. We specifically

What’s your big ambition? “These organisations get florists to sign contracts and make them agree to terms and conditions that for example they can’t deliver for another organisation. There’s been a huge rebellion against that. The florists are resigning from Interflora and e-florist and those people and they’re coming to me. I give them better margins. My challenge is to get my brand known. I am actually going through a rebranding exercise now.” What’s the next step? “We recently received a second round of investment from Loughshore Investments. Having used Northern Ireland as a beta test and Ireland was an advanced beta test, if we get it right, the UK is next. The plan is to go to the UK later this year and then take it to Europe. Our real aim is to home in on the personal and emotional side of it. That’s what gets lost in technology and the internet. There are a few ideas I have that will bring the personal side back into it.”

BUSINESS START-UPS

Company: Beans Up Founder: Ross Hamilton What is the business? A platform that allows customers to pre-order and pay for drinks and meals from their smart phone and then lets companies use that data to target offers and specific groups of customers. Where did you get the idea? “My idea came from feeling the pain of the customer, queuing behind someone ordering four sandwiches when all you want is a cup of coffee. Meeting your girlfriend for lunch and spending 15 minutes where one of you is sitting at a table and the other one is in the queue. I’d rather be sitting with her and just order and pay wirelessly from my phone. The exciting part for businesses is that we take all that data about intrinsic customer behaviour – what days they visit, what do they order – and break it down into actionable chunks. A business can then create an offer and we automatically match it to the best customers. There’s no more

Company name: Si-Track Founder: Rory O’Donnell What is the business? An ultra-sonic sensor that goes on top of a bulk feed tank for chickens and software that collects that information to allow users to log on remotely to continuously monitor and more efficiently manage the levels of feed in multiple tanks across multiple farms. Where did you get the idea? “With my other company Infosoft NI we had already designed a tracking platform for another company. The monitoring system gives users control over their supply chain from start to finish with an exact breakdown of how much feed was delivered and used. That exact breakdown will allow you to streamline the haulier process and stop them delivering too much or too little. We

MARCH 2014

blanket marketing, sending an offer out to everyone. We’re really trying to automate the innovation. So you could be walking past a café and your phone goes, you’re already in the App and it’s telling you about the offer.” What’s your big ambition? “From a customer point of view we want to make coffee sociable again! The ultimate goal for Beans Up is that we revolutionise how businesses interact with their customers. We’re focused on the café market at the minute but we are also looking at the bigger picture. We want to be in restaurants and bars. Nobody wants to wait 20 minutes for a cocktail. I want it to be a global business.” What’s the next step? “We have some cafes in Portstewart beta testing the product, as well as some Belfast customers committed to taking the finished product. There are a lot of ePos or Point of Sale systems out there but we complement your existing point of sale system. We provide a tablet inclusive as part of a £15 a week one year subscription. It doesn’t need to integrate with existing systems. We want innovation to be accessible.”

realised there is a gap in the market because the US and German products out there are very expensive. We’ve stripped the cost out of the hardware. An average four tank chicken farm could currently cost £8,000 to £10,000 to install a monitoring system. Our target is going to be £1,000 to £1,500.” What’s your big ambition? “The new CEO of Moy Park said one of her challenges for Moy Park this year is to drive down the increased cost of feed in the supply chain. I liked the sound of that. We’re validating the product in the local market but really we want it to go to Australia and Russia and further afield.” What’s the next step? “We’ve installed some test units onto silos in new a Moy Park farm in Lisburn and we are now validating the data.”

BUSINESS START-UPS

Company name: I’ve Read That Founder: Adam Shamsul What is the business? A new online destination and social network for connecting readers, sharing reviews and recommendations for books. Where did you get the idea? “These sites exist. You’ve got places like Good Reads, which is huge, it has millions of users, but it is falling down on design and is US based and US focused. So it isn’t relevant to people in the UK and Ireland. We identified that gap and the more we developed and worked on feedback, the more we found out people want an environment that feels familiar to them, so they can be a bit more social. It started off with me overhearing someone say, oh I’ve read that – it sounds cliché but it happened, in the office of my previous job. It started

as an idea for a review site, where you could see in a short compact way what people were saying about books. Then we thought we could incorporate more and more elements to it. Effectively now it is a social network.” What’s your big ambition? “I’ve Read That is going to be the new online destination for connected readers. A one stop shop for reviewing, recommending, books news, events, discovery, social interaction, all within this intuitively designed, beautiful environment.” What’s the next step? “We have been working on it intensively for the last eight months. We need to get the site out and will be going into our first round of beta testing this month. Then we want to build partnerships and get investor ready here at Propel. We have two of the big five publishers on board for the pilot. That’s a first for any book based start-up in UK.”

What is the business? “We specialise in payment systems for companies who are migrating to the Single European Payments Area. We’ve developed an API for validating customer data which converts sort codes and account numbers to International Bank Account Numbers (IBAN) which can then be evaluated.”

What’s your big ambition? “The system could be used by anybody that is doing payments with an online presence, anyone using direct debits because we facilitate the capture of consumers’ data. We seem to be doing okay. SEPA is a new world but it is not going to stop here. Saudi Arabia is now looking at developing similar simple payments. Turkey already has the use of IBANs. We’re looking firstly to get out into Europe and then into emerging markets using IBAN.”

Where did you get the idea? “I have worked in the payment sector for eight years, previously with ABN Amro. It is a requirement of SEPA to use the IBAN but the risk of mistakes increases with manual transition of customer details. Customers won’t know IBAN, so provide account numbers. Achta’s system lets a person automatically find the IBAN. With SEPA a lot of companies have thought of the essentials to get over the line. They haven’t thought about how they handle customers. We’ve stumbled upon an area that’s been overlooked.”

What’s the next step? “The product is developed and went live in December. We have a number of clients such as Axa Insurance and Acorn Life on board. We need to build our support team if we’re going to scale the business. The technology is scalable, we just need the people. That’s going to be the challenge. We’re focusing on a niche that is not going into direct competition with some of the big players like Experian and Centennial but we will probably be competing with some of those guys.”

Company name: Achta Ltd Founder: Barry Armstrong

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BUSINESS START-UPS

Catagen moves into the fast lane

elfast-based Catagen Ltd has secured a deal with US automotive firm MAHLE worth $1m for its revolutionary large-scale testing equipment for catalytic converters. This deal for the Maxcat product is the latest in a series of sales secured by Catagen from major automotive companies. The Maxcat is capable of testing four catalyst assemblies at once. It recreates engine exhaust gas composition, flow rates and temperatures to provide safe and clean testing that replicates traditional engine dynamometer-

based testing at significantly lower cost. A spin-out from Queen’s University, the company used its patented technology, developed over several years, to produce two smaller products for the automotive industry – Labcat and Testcat. Invest NI has offered over £374,000 to support the development of the Maxcat. Catagen co-founder and Chief Executive, Dr Andrew Woods said: “Automotive companies need to conduct extensive testing and verification on new and aged catalysts to

verify that emission regulations will be met throughout the typical life of a vehicle. The development of Maxcat is a really significant moment for Catagen and the future of catalyst testing. The industry now has a viable, full size, much more environmentally friendly alternative method to age and test catalysts.” Rose Mary Stalker, Chairman of Catagen added: “This contract with MAHLE Powertrain will help to accelerate the development, prove-out and acceptance of the unique Maxcat capabilities in the North American marketplace.”

Starting up in business Starting your own business should be full of excitement. But there are also practical considerations, as Celia Worthington explains.

f you are thinking of starting your own business make sure you give consideration to the legal structure. The most common are sole trader or partnership (where there are to be more than one owner of the business) or you can form a limited company. The sole trader route has a simple and clear format and tax matters can be dealt with relatively easily. You will be personally liable for the debts of the business which could include rent on any lease of premises. Unless your spouse has provided personal guarantees for the business debts, he or she cannot be held liable for business debts. For tax purposes you will be self employed (so far as this business venture is concerned) and you must register with HMRC. As with a partnership, you will pay tax twice yearly and make national insurance contributions as a self employed individual. In a partnership each partner enjoys self employed tax status and is liable for all the debts of the partnership. If your spouse is also your business partner any interest your spouse has in the family home would be available to creditors. There are no formal legal requirements in setting up a partnership but it is prudent to have a partnership agreement. If you do not have a formal agreement setting out profit split, the law dictates that all profits and losses of the partnership are split equally between the partners. Arguably a limited company is a better option where there are considerable financial risks as

it is a separate legal entity from the individuals running the business. However, invariably personal guarantees are required from banks and landlords which can erode the financial protection afforded by limited liability status. There are formal requirements in establishing the company, annual obligations in relation to filing documents at Companies House and company details, including accounts, are available for public inspection. It is important to check that there are no other businesses, primarily competing businesses, with the same or similar names to the one you intend for your business. Basic checks should be made on the companies house website, on the web generally and local directories. It is wrong to assume that if you are successful in registering a company with the name of your business, that another business with the same or a similar name cannot challenge you. There are laws in place to protect business owners if they can establish that your trading is likely to cause confusion to the public. If you intend to lease premises, consider carefully the terms of any lease. In addition to the usual negotiations on rent free periods for fit out and break clauses, give careful consideration to the repairing clauses. It is not unusual for a tenant to enter into a lease of premises within a building which has not been kept in good repair where the lease includes full repairing obligations on the tenant together, possibly, with an obligation to ensure that the premises comply with current statutory obligations. In addition to

obligations on you during the term of the lease, this would allow the landlord to serve a schedule of dilapidations at the end of the lease attempting to have the building repaired to a better state than it was when you took your lease. If the repairing clause is interior only, ensure that there is an obligation on the landlord to repair the exterior and that the costs are not being passed onto you under another provision in the lease. Celia Worthington, senior partner of the Commercial Department of Worthingtons Solicitors Belfast.

BUSINESS START-UPS

Could SiSaf be Northern Ireland’s next Almac?

Northern Ireland based biotech company has developed new and innovative technology which it believes could prove to be the next big thing in the global drug delivery market. SiSaf Ltd, which is located jointly in the Northern Ireland Science Park and the Irish Innovation Center in San Jose in Silicon Valley, has developed a “smarter” drug delivery system called SiSafe which allows drugs to target affected areas of the body very precisely. Currently many drugs are administered systemically – so a drug used to treat a breast tumour will often be injected into the arm. That drug circulates around the body and only part of it goes where it is supposed to, meaning a much higher dosage is injected to ensure an effective amount of the drug reaches the target area. This can lead to side effects like nausea and a weakened immune system. Drugs also start degrading when introduced to the body. A carrier system means the drug is not released until it gets to the target area, so the dosage needed is considerably lower and the drugs are more stable. “Imagine the delivery system as a bag. You put everything in there so when it is raining you are protecting the material inside. If the carrier is able to handle what’s happening in your body while looking after the drug, the drug hasn’t been affected by your body temperature, by different PH, different enzymes,” explains SiSaf’s CEO and founder Dr Suzanne Saffie-Siebert.

Dr Suzanne Saffie-Siebert

Originally from Iran, educated in England and having worked in Italy, she came to Northern Ireland when her German husband moved here for a job with the BBC. She hit upon

BUSINESS START-UPS

the idea of SiSafe during her 22 year career working in pharmacy and drug delivery when she began to wonder what happened to the carrier systems once they released the drugs. Where SiSaf is innovating is that its delivery system is based on silicon – a material normally found in semiconductors. SiSaf’s process involves grinding down a wafer of the solid material into a powder or nanomaterial, which goes through another process to encapsulate the drug. While it might sound crazy to be putting something apparently metallic into your body, silicon is actually natural to humans, with the average 70kg body containing 1.2 grams of silicon. “What makes SiSafe attractive is firstly safety. Silicon becomes ortho-silicic acid which is good for your bones. You can get silica shampoo and supplements for hair, nails, skin and bones from Holland & Barrett,” explains Suzanne. “We are saying we deliver, we improve the performance of the drug but actually it is also nutrition for the body as well. Your cells will be happy to take in more ortho-silicic acid. If any other technologies can demonstrate the same things, we can close SiSaf. But they can’t.” Dr Saffie-Siebert notes that current delivery systems like capsules and liposomes were first developed over 50 years ago. Unlike them SiSafe is based on a material used by physicists, rather than developed using chemistry, so it does not change the structure of the molecules of either the drug or the carrier. “Polymer is not a solid material and the majority of delivery systems, capsules, are soft polymer. We take these capsules every day thinking they dissolve or metabolise and come out of your body and are safe. But maybe not,” she said. “If you add milk to coffee they mix together to form something new. But the cup stays the same cup. Our carrier is the cup.” For every drug company the proof of the pudding is in human trials and independent safety tests so far have been incredibly

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positive, with no patients having side effects. SiSafe scored the highest percentages possible in the human safety tests, which were carried out in the US and run over a full month, rather than just the 48 hours required, to further strengthen the results. Phase 2 will be to test the efficacy of SiSafe – how well it works. While the system has multiple potential applications, Dr Saffie-Siebert is planning to initially direct the product towards dealing with skin care complaints such as acne and psoriasis. The powder based system is ideal for topical application in creams and the first to be trialed involves a skin hydration application.

“When I brought SiSaf here I said that it is going to be the new Almac in Northern Ireland. I truly believe it can be.” “We are not starting with cancer and people sometimes ask us why. If the technology is so safe, why are you not going for that sort of disease? We were looking for a very unique angle,” says Suzanne. “Actually it is not a life threatening disease but it is such an important and deserving illness in society, particularly in teenagers. When you are a teenager you want to do anything to get rid of it. You are willing to take strong antibiotics, so many horrible products. If you are able to bring in a safe product they can use without the side effects of what the market currently offers, to me this is as important as an anti-cancer drug.” For Sisaf’s investors, it also makes business sense to come from a different angle. The company closed a £500,000 equity-funding round in October 2013 which facilitated the current phase of testing. That funding was provided by a consortium of investors, which included Co-Fund NI, Innovation Ulster Ltd, two angel investors, and the

ITLG’s fund, Silicon Valley Global Ventures. On the back of the successful trials the company plans to launch a large value private equity funding round soon. “For any young company in drug discovery or drug delivery anti-cancer is the obvious area because of the need. We are not denying that. But there are other things that are important for society.” SiSaf’s CEO says the use of its technology in future could extend to scar and wound treatment, anaesthesia applications and other platforms such as animal vaccines. It already has interest from one major pharmaceutical player. “SiSaf is not doing manufacturing production, which helps us keep the cost down. Our business is licensing our technology to the big players. We are undertaking all the clinical trials. By doing that we create a commercial package and that allows us to start dialogue with people in the US and Europe.” SiSaf has made a lot of progress in a short time and its founder says its local and US investors have been hugely supportive. But she believes Northern Ireland needs to build more of a culture of developing biotech and pharmaceutical companies. “There is a lot of money for IT and hi tech because the return is quick and you don’t need so much money. Pharmaceuticals and biotech is completely different. Biotech needs significant amounts of funding as well as time. You can spend millions. But if you get one product, it can pay for the rest. Every year you have iPhone 4, 4S, 5. But we’re still buying the same aspirin developed more than 80 years ago. The product may take longer but you get a big return on it for years and years,” she said. “When I brought SiSaf here I said that it is going to be the new Almac in Northern Ireland. Almac is a great story, it started small and then grew and went into the US. Now Northern Ireland is ready for a new venture and SiSaf has the potential to be the new Almac. I truly believe it can be.”

in association with

BUSINESS START-UPS

A smarter tomorrow on show in Belfast!

ichard Branson, possibly the most famous entrepreneur the world has ever seen, stated, “Innovation is the key to remaining on top”. In the Odyssey Arena on 29-30th May, visit the Smart Business Show and experience ‘Innovation’ first hand. This is a new, unique and highly innovative exhibition to help businesses stay ahead of the competition. In the tough new business environment of today, even just to survive you have to be ‘smart’. The pace of change has never been greater and keeping up with all of the advances in technology, as well as the ‘day job’, is essential. Innovation, knowledge and doing what you do that bit better than anyone else are the keys to success; visiting the Smart Business Show will open many doors. The first of its kind in Ireland or the UK, this B2B event is the brainchild of a creative team based in Saintfield, Co. Down. The Smart Business Show has four key zones: Smart Money – Smart Start, Growth and Management – Smart Information, Communication and Technology – Smart Marketing, each of which has a TalkZone and Zone Clinics. The entire floor area of the Odyssey Arena will be filled with stands and lots of interactive workshops will be available. Visitors can refresh at the Networking Café in the centre, and listen to inspirational business leaders in the Keynote Theatre who will give a glimpse into the future of everything from cloud computing to data privacy, the future of the workplace and communication in a digital age The Keynote Theatre speakers are all from major business names such as PayPal, IBM, Microsoft and the world famous data privacy expert Per Thorsheim who revealed that

LinkedIn was hacked in 2012. Nowhere else can you, just by registering, listen to people of this calibre and expertise for no cost. Add to this the opportunity to acquire new business techniques, gain knowledge from exhibitors and improve business contacts through networking. Make the 29-30th May at the Odyssey Arena essential dates in your diary. To keep up with developments why not subscribe to the Smart Business Brief? www.smartbusinessbrief.com.

Federation of Small Businesses, Law Society of Northern Ireland, Institute of Directors Northern Ireland division, Momentum NI, Northern Ireland Retail Consortium, Sync NI, Business Network International, University of Ulster, Management and Leadership Network, The Sales Institute of Ireland, Northern Ireland Independent Retail Trade Association, Chartered Institute of Marketing and the Chartered Accountants Ireland – and more. The Smart Business Show takes place in

The organisers have signed up the cream of Northern Ireland’s business organisations as Event Partners with a list that includes: Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce,

the Odyssey Arena, Belfast on 29th-30th May. See www.smartbusinessshow.com for further details or tel: 028 9751 0252.

29 & 30 MAY 2014

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• Start Up • Export assistance • Trade missions • Management Consultancy • Recruitment • Human Resources • Training • Outsourcing

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TECHNOLOGY

Do you want to live dangerously?

The Prince’s Trust tackles IT skills gap

eaf have completed hundreds of Windows XP upgrades over the last few months for our clients to ensure minimal business disruption post April 8th 2014.

If you use Windows XP or Office 2003, after April 2014, you’re living dangerously. XP will run, and you can still work with Office 2003 apps, but Microsoft’s support for these systems ends that month. As a result, systems running XP and Office 2003 will be increasingly vulnerable to attack. Microsoft will update anti-malware signatures for Windows XP through to mid-July 2015. But anti-malware updates may not address system or software level flaws. Google will update and secure Chrome on Windows XP until April 2015. Yet using a secure browser on a potentially insecure operating system seems unwise. People using Windows XP and Office 2003 should upgrade. Fortunately, businesses have options. You can choose from at least seven operating systems and five office suites. The path that makes the most sense for you – or your organisation – depends on many factors, including the number of systems and the reason the systems still run XP.

three operating system options Windows 7: Potentially Keep your hardware For large enterprises and many individuals, Windows 7 may be the most obvious upgrade option, since it retains a similar look and feel to Windows XP. In most cases, Windows 7 will run on similar hardware as systems currently running XP. Download Microsoft’s Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor to assess your system. Windows 8.1: Works best with a touch screen Microsoft’s newest operating system provides a touch-friendly, tile-based interface while also offering the ability to run older Windows software. Windows 8 does run on non-touch systems, but I find it best suited for systems with touch screens. OS X: Change platform, with access to apps Individuals or small businesses may choose to move to the Mac. Many major software vendors make applications that run on both platforms. The end of life of XP and Office 2003 offers a chance to rethink the tools you use. The simplest upgrade path is to move to a newer version of Windows and Office and call your task complete. But by doing so, you may miss the opportunity to leverage smartphones, tablets, and web apps – all of which didn’t previously exist as they do today. Please contact sales@leafconsultancy.com or tel: 028 9089 7650 to speak to Kyle Johnston, a member of Leaf’s sales team to arrange a consultation.

new initiative aimed at helping disadvantaged young people make their first steps into training or employment in the IT sector has been launched by The Prince’s Trust, in partnership with private sector organisations. The Trust, supported by Noel Brady of Consult Nb1 Limited, welcomed around 45 market leaders in ICT to the launch of the initiative, which will begin with pilot programme Get Started in Coding. Targeted specifically at young people aged 16 to 25, the introductory training will combine basic confidence building exercises with a practical coding experience. “The purpose of this first strand is to enable young people who may not have the qualifications but do have the necessary aptitude to become inspired and encouraged to explore a career with a ICT theme,” said Noel Brady, “I have been working with the Trust for a number of years and believe that there has never been a better time to address this skills shortage. One way to meet this challenge and help disadvantaged young people get into employment is to have a joined up approach between charities such as The Prince’s Trust and the private sector companies involved in ICT.” Speaking at the launch Ian Jeffers, Director with The Prince’s Trust in Northern Ireland added: ”We are committed to embedding STEM across all of our programmes and welcome the expertise and support that the IT industry in Northern Ireland can provide to help us engage young people with technology, establish partnerships and building skills that are vital in today’s job market.” For more information on how your company can help, contact Arlene Creighton at The Prince’s Trust on 028 9089 5019 or email: arlene.creighton@princes-trust.org.uk

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ICT Quarterly

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ICT QUARTERLY

Augmented reality bites

echnology has advanced to the point where augmented reality apps can be considered more than just another gimmick, according to one of Northern Ireland’s best known digital technology experts. Adrian Bradley (pictured), founder and managing director of i3 Digital in Belfast, said that more and more organisations are realising the potential of integrated web and app services as a means of engaging with their customers – and customers now expect that sort of additional information and interactivity to be available. With a client base that includes organisations in Northern Ireland, the Republic and Great Britain, including Translink, Enterprise Ireland, Visit Mourne Mountains, Tourism Ireland and Bord Gais Energy, Bradley believes that tourism and hospitality businesses in particular can no longer afford not to have a full mobile internet presence. “Augmented reality is starting to come of age,” he said. “This year I think you’ll see

a big common sense approach to using it. It was gimmicky before but you can see now a lot of tourism businesses are embracing it and a lot of environmental, biodiversity organisations are using it.” Bradley says i3 moved into the augmented reality space about a year ago and built a platform that can be applied to a number of different sectors. “It is very good if you are in an area and you want to see all the different food and drink options, all the restaurants around you. Who has the special offers on, is there a video to show me what the restaurant is like, an easy click through for directions and with Google Maps integration it shows you how to walk to the place,” he said. “We have that platform built and we also have a time capsule feature built. So if you walk into a geo targeting hotspot, the system knows you are standing on a spot of historical interest. It then offers you the time capsule feature, gets you to turn around and then gives you an interactive

timeline and lets you go through a whole load of photographs of that place through time, if they are in the database.” Previously Biznet IIS, which was founded in 1997, i3 is one of the longest established independent online strategy and technology companies in Northern Ireland and has 28 employees. Bradley says the market has changed radically since the early days, when potential customers were still more interested in getting fax machines than having a website or engaging in e-business. And while he says Northern Ireland businesses are often not as forward thinking as their counterparts in Dublin (about 70% of i3’s business is in the South) more are realising the need for a digital strategy integrating their web, mobile and social media presence. “Clients are starting to switch on to the fact that mobile devices are different to websites and the information you put on a mobile site shouldn’t always be the same as a website,” he says.

ICT QUARTERLY

“Where people used to engage with businesses using the web from PCs and laptops, they are now on tablets and mobile devices. Most casual surfing of businesses happen on the move, on the train or bus. 25% of all searches are carried out via mobile devices. So you have to be mobile friendly or you lose the opportunity.”

As if by magic, ShopKeep appeared

With the economy becoming increasingly digitised, Bradley says his company is in a strong position to capitalise on the €10bn mobile app market in Europe. Whereas the last few years have seen clients focused solely on social media or apps, it is now all coming back to the web-based cloud platforms, which i3 has, he says, been offering from day one. “Now what we’re seeing is that clients want Apps and they also want the web, and they want them to talk together. They want to be able to manage information in both platforms. We’re finding our experience in the web is enabling us to build these platforms and apps. We’ve reskilled our teams and moved into apps, providing integrated communications and marketing platforms,” he says. “Augmented reality is going to come into play with Google Glass and Google Fieldtrip. We’ve moved into that sort of space with our solutions. I would say you’re going to see even more gadgets tied in to that and how organisations engage with people. If you’re walking past somewhere now there’s nothing to stop organisations targeting people who’ve signed up via their smartphones,” he adds. He notes the often quoted statistic that it took 38 years for radio to reach 50 million users but several apps such as Instagram, Draw Something and Flappy Birds have reached that level in a matter of days over the past few years. “Some businesses in Northern Ireland are switched on. I would say the business mindset needs to shift maybe three years in Northern Ireland about what technology can really do for a business. But it is an exciting time. You can really get into engaging with the clients and see what’s going to work for them.”

MARCH 2014

ew York software company ShopKeep POS has announced it is setting up an office in Belfast that will bring 35 high quality jobs to the city. ShopKeep was founded in 2008 and it is now looking to expand both in the US and internationally. The company is a software provider which has developed an iPad point of sale system for retail shops and restaurants. Its Belfast office will be based on the Ormeau Road. Jason Richelson, Founder and CEO (pictured) said: “We are thrilled to open our first overseas office in Northern Ireland, which will serve as a launch pad to expand our operations into Europe. We considered a number of locations for our European site, but after visiting Northern Ireland I was extremely excited and fell in love with Belfast. We are already building a team of highly skilled developers and graduates and are looking forward to bringing more team members on board.” Invest Northern Ireland has offered £245,000 of support for the investment and it said that 10 of the 35 positions are already in place. Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster said the decision by ShopKeep to open its first European office in Belfast was an endorsement of Northern Ireland’s competitive business environment. “ShopKeep is creating 35 high value jobs that will contribute almost £1.3m annually to the economy. I understand that the company has aggressive growth targets for the next three years and I’m confident that the new Northern Ireland location will play an important role in supporting that growth,” she said. “This is an excellent example of a small business idea that has grown into a highly competitive company. ShopKeep has tripled the business every year for the last three years and the product is now used by more than 10,000 small businesses in the US and Canada.”

ICT QUARTERLY

Aaron vs the world

aron Gibson freely admits he never really liked school. So it could be seen as a surprise that the 21-year-old entrepreneur has chosen to launch a business focused on developing games-based learning tools.

Aaron Gibson

The other way to look at it, however, is that it is people like Aaron, who felt disconnected with the traditional classroombased learning approach currently used in schools, are the ones who should be developing tools to help children learn, and their parents and teachers to stay engaged. Aaron, from Newcastle, set up his games design company YumPod Technologies at 18 and this month launched its first product, You vs the World. The website, which teaches children the dangers of drugs, alcohol and obesity is designed to fit into the school curriculum, and has already been accepted into over 300 schools in England, Scotland and Wales, with plans to roll the game out in Northern Ireland shortly. Gibson, who left school at 16 with no idea what to do, said the careers advice he got at school didn’t present him with any overly ambitious options. Knowing that many start-up entrepreneurs are not academics he investigated how he could get the skills to get into business. But after enrolling in a course at one of the local further education colleges he found he was too impatient to get started to stick it out and didn’t like the attitude some of his fellow students had towards work. “I hated going into the classroom anyway but I realised I wasn’t thinking like a lot of other people who were content to just take the Education Maintenance Allowance and then go on the dole if they didn’t get a job after college,” he said. “I am a

gamer, hacker, developer, whatever you want to call it. I always wanted to start my own business and gaming just clicked with me as the best place for me to do it.” Aaron started networking and took a desk at the Emerald Valley hub in Newry, where he received mentoring support from Eve Earley. By February 2012 he had incorporated Yumpod as a company and a year ago started work on You vs The World. The game has been launched with an additional ‘parents platform’, which allows parents to download the game for kids to use at home, with a specially designed ‘Parents interface’ so they can monitor progress. The Parent program is aimed at educating aspects of pastoral care; from disease control to drug, alcohol and smoking awareness to make sure children can concentrate on being the best they can be. “Every parent worries about the dangers of the big bad world, and naturally you’ll want

to protect your kids from the dangers of drugs and alcohol. You vs the World is a new gamebased way of teaching them lessons which will be valuable to them as they navigate their way through the challenges of growing up, whilst also allowing them to have fun playing the computer games which kids love so much these days,” said Aaron. “You vs The World is designed for children of all ages, the program will alter itself to be as relevant to an 8-year-old as it is to a 15-year-old.” Aaron’s ambitions don’t stop at the launch version of You vs The World. The next phase of his plan is to develop a gamer’s version of the game totally removed from the educational business. He is thinking really big for this element of the YumPod empire and his aspiration ultimately is to create a gaming social network where developers can upload games. From the initial bank of six games, he anticipates adding a new game to the gamers’ version every six weeks and wants to reach the point where developers are coming to them because the network is so popular. “I’m thinking of it as Angry Birds collides with Candy Crush, twitter and facebook,” he said. “There is nobody out there that really connects social to games. I want us to be the one stop gaming social network, the facebook for gamers to follow friends and their scores.” While that might seem like an overly ambitious goal for a business still in its infancy and likely to need additional marketing funding by the end of 2014 , its clear Aaron Gibson is deadly serious in his intentions. “I heard someone say that if you don’t build your dreams someone will hire you to build theirs. I like that attitude,” he said. “By the time I’m 30 I want to have Google and Microsoft phoning me up and offering me jobs because of what we’ve built.”

ICT QUARTERLY

Broadband funding boost (School and Office Supplies) was one of the pilot customers of the Connection Vouchers and said having superfast broadband was a bonus for his business. “Having been plagued for years by connection speeds of around 0.5MBps, the vouchers scheme enabled the SOS Group to gain access to high-speed broadband at an affordable price through a local supplier.

Pictured are (l-r) Chris Ward-Brown, DCMS; Ronan Creggan, Belfast City Council; Councillor Lee Reynolds; Belfast Lord Mayor Máirtín Ó Muilleoir; Michael Jackson, SOS Group and Richard McDowell, Konnect M&E.

mall businesses across Belfast have received a special funding boost to help them get ‘super connected’ through accessing high-speed broadband. Lord Mayor Máirtín Ó Muilleoir officially launched the Belfast Connection Vouchers Scheme at City Hall recently giving SMEs, social enterprises and charities the chance to apply for up to £3,000 grant funding towards the cost of installing faster internet connections. Belfast City Council ran a pilot scheme last year in the city to test trade take-up for Connection Vouchers. Target locations were identified in the Cathedral Quarter, City East, Ormeau Business Park, Ortus, Argyle Business Park, North City Business Centre and the Harbour Estate. The Belfast Connection Vouchers Scheme has now been rolled out to businesses across the city. Super Connected Belfast is one of the council’s key Investment Programme projects. £13.7m of funding has been secured from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Urban Broadband

Fund with additional funding coming from the European Regional Development Fund and from the private sector. The Lord Mayor said: “The Belfast Connection Vouchers Scheme is a super opportunity for our small and medium-sized businesses, charities and social enterprises to reap the rewards from having superfast broadband. “The benefits are enormous from increasing efficiency saving time and resources; reducing the need for business travel; increasing productivity through faster processing times and quicker communications with suppliers and customers. “From our pilot Belfast Connection Vouchers Scheme project last year, we received positive feedback from applicants and telecoms suppliers. Through their applications, businesses have indicated that improving broadband connectivity will be responsible for the creation of at least 300 jobs in the next three years, as well as a potential growth of up to £20m in the local economy,” Councillor Ó Muilleoir added. Michael Jackson of the SOS Group

“As the company has been embarking on a programme to increase its online presence the availability of a quality, stable, internet connection is of paramount importance. It will also allow us to investigate moving our administration on to a cloudbased system which would have been impossible without this connection.” DCMS Communications Minister Ed Vaizey said: “The broadband market is moving at an incredible pace. Today businesses expect and demand faster and faster broadband to compete in the global race. Connection Vouchers will be an important tool for cities in helping to address that demand, and government has now allocated up to £100m to provide a digital boost to super-connected cities like Belfast.” The Belfast Connection Vouchers Scheme is just one strand of the Super Connected Belfast programme. By 2015, the council aims to have improved wireless and wi-fi access across the city, via metro wireless in the city centre and wi-fi hotspots in more public buildings. Businesses who wish to apply for the Vouchers Scheme can find out more on the council website at www.belfastcity.gov.uk/ connectionvouchers. For more information on the council’s support for local business, visit www.belfastcity.gov.uk/business

Businesses – apply for up to £3,000 towards the cost of high-speed broadband installation and reap the benefits: • save time and resources with much faster processing times • transfer large files quickly • enjoy greater reliability • improve your data storage and accessibility

• grow your business through increased competitiveness locally and internationally • improve communications with suppliers, customers and staff

The Belfast Connection Vouchers Scheme is open to SMEs and charities in the Belfast area. To apply go to www.belfastcity.gov.uk/connectionvouchers

www.belfastcity.gov.uk/connectionvouchers

ICT QUARTERLY

A dynamic approach to IT

tephen McCann, Managing Director of P2V Systems in Lisburn, believes some Northern Ireland companies – both large and small – are not getting the best from their IT and should move to new ways of working. Founded six years ago, P2V Systems is now one of the leading providers in the UK and Ireland for SaaS (Software as a Service), IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) and Consultancy Services. Stephen believes that there’s great opportunity for Northern Ireland companies to reap the benefits of the cloud and reduce costs by using web based software and virtual servers.

“We have saved some customers thousands of pounds and increased their productivity and resilience, all through using the cloud. By renting resources and software licensing on a recurring monthly contract our customers no longer have to worry about the large capital expenditure to refresh their software or hardware. They always have access to the latest and greatest version. This allows them to concentrate on running their businesses” P2V Systems has three main strands to its business. The first is managed IT services – essentially acting as an outsourced IT department for companies that can’t justify a full time IT person or supplementing the resource within small IT departments.

The second is in professional services to provide resources for project delivery within small, medium, large and public sector environments. The third is in hosting and backup services; ranging from basic web hosting for small business to enterprise hosting for multi-nationals. P2V has established partnerships with the best hardware and software vendors in these areas in order to help customers evaluate the best solutions for them as they seek to optimise their IT systems. These include big names such as Microsoft, Cisco, Citrix and VMWare and the company calls itself a specialist in Microsoft client / server technologies and web hosting infrastructure.

ICT QUARTERLY

Northern Ireland’s small and medium sized companies should embrace new forms of IT and what it can do for their business, according to one leading IT services provider.

“We will always give the best advice to clients, even if it is detrimental to the value of the piece of work in the short term. We approach our work with integrity because it is in our long term interest to look after our clients. We are not going for the quick win or the cheapest option,” he added. That dynamic approach has appealed to customers in Northern Ireland, but also in London and Dublin. The power of the web means the company has even done work for clients in Zurich, China and Australia. The company is committed to “Green IT” and to helping businesses to reduce their carbon footprint through the implementation of virtualisation and consolidation technologies.

Stephen McCann

Stephen notes that while many small businesses don’t know how to implement new services from these vendors, P2V’s consultants are well versed in developing and delivering cost-effective approaches for them and can engage directly with the vendors to find a solution for their needs. P2V’s nine-strong team already works with clients across the public and private sectors. Its consultants come from a wide range of backgrounds, with experience operating in the public sector, ticketing and entertainment industry, security services, travel and tourism, medical and hedge fund sectors. They are experts, says the MD, not people with “a few years experience

MARCH 2014

of Microsoft Exchange who have dabbled with geographic load balancing”. “P2V Systems was started in 2008 in the middle of a recession. This has been challenging but has given us a fantastic foundation for us to grow our business. Our clients range from insurance companies and accountancy practices to engineering firms, solicitors, ticketing companies and web designers. We help them to embrace IT and because we are small it means we can be quite dynamic in our approach. We don’t like to be rigid with our products and prices, we respond to the customer’s need and their budget. It is all about finding a balance,” he said.

Stephen estimates that 30% of customers who have moved to online services are “reactive” customers who have seen their business damaged by flood, fire or theft and have decided to put the mechanisms in place to ensure it never happens again. That backup is included in the price of hosting, not as an add on cost. “I believe that the biggest risk to companies today is information loss. We continue to hear of customer databases which have been lost on a laptop or a memory stick. In my opinion both large and small companies are not investing enough in preventing that.”

For more information on P2V’s services contact Stephen McCann on 028 9252 8528 or email: sales@p2vsystems.com

ICT QUARTERLY

Closing the gap Justin Edwards from Belfast Metropolitan College outlines how tackling the skills deficit will help move us from recession to recovery

he International Labour Organisation (ILO) reports that we will need to create over 500 million new jobs by 2020 to provide career opportunities for people who are already in jobs, as well as those who have yet to enter the labour market. Speak to any employer in the IT sector however and they will tell you that the challenge isn’t so much creating jobs, as it is filling them. Skills shortages loom large across many key sectors and remain one of the biggest roadblocks to sustained economic growth. In a recent survey of 91,000 employers, the UK Commission for Employment and Skills found more than one in five vacancies were down to a poor skills base. In fact, a total of 146,200 job vacancies (22%) last year were unfilled because of inadequate skills, compared with 91,400 (16%) two years earlier. The skills gap is hitting some industries harder than others and the IT sector in particular is struggling to keep up with the sheer pace and scale of change. Innovations in areas such as Cloud computing, mobile technologies and Big Data (to name but a few) are creating a demand and opening doors of opportunity for the current and next generation of IT employees. But the challenge isn’t simply one of feeding the current demand, it’s also about planning the talent pipeline for the future. The problem is of course too big for just one solution and tackling it requires fresh thinking and flexible approaches. We have seen some excellent initiatives from the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) as part of its Assured Skills programme

Justin Edwards, Employment Minister Stephen Farry and Belfast Met Principal and CEO Marie-Thérèse McGivern.

and Belfast Met is heavily involved in designing and delivering many of these. Programmes such as the Software Testers’ Academy, the ICT Apprenticeship Programme, the Deloitte Data Analytics Academy and, most recently, the Cloud Academy, are working successfully in equipping new workers with high demand skills.

“Skills shortages loom large across many key sectors and remain one of the biggest roadblocks to sustained economic growth.”

To date there have been three groups of Software Testers’ Academy students. The latest cohort finished in December 2013 and 21 of the 27 students went straight into full-time employment in the sector. The Cloud Academy meanwhile provides unemployed graduates with the skills and experience required to take up new opportunities within this exciting new realm of computing. It’s an ongoing academy, which began in September 2013, and which currently involves 14 students, each of whom will complete their training by May 2014. Belfast Met has also worked with DEL and Deloitte in training three cohorts of the Deloitte Analytics Training Academy (Big Data). Again targeting graduates, it involves a

ICT QUARTERLY

nine-week intensive training programme and has provided 17 students with the skills and accredited qualifications identified by Deloitte for new job opportunities in its Belfast Office. Another successful initiative is the DEL Public/Private ICT Apprenticeship scheme. The pilot scheme was launched in August 2012 and resulted in 32 apprentices being recruited and trained for jobs in the sector. The second phase began in August 2013, in response to employer demand, and has led to 42 apprentices coming on board. The Department has also worked with local colleges in developing a Software Professional Course. The course started in early February 2014 and will provide the re-skilling of 250 non-ICT HND or graduates over the next three years.

ICT Apprentices Aimee Jenkins and Jonathan Stewart with Belfast Met Head of Electronic and Computing Technologies Dr Jonathan Heggarty.

These are all exciting ways of supporting a vibrant and critical sector and fit well with Belfast Met’s holistic approach to fostering technology talent, both now and for the future. This holistic approach includes Saturday morning CoderDojo and LEGO MINDSTORMS sessions for younger children as well as the Kainos Code Camp, which ran over the summer and saw 80 young people aged 17 to 19 working closely with mentors to create real apps in a real-world software development environment. One of the FE sector’s big advantages is its ability to react quickly to shifting industry requirements and to train, re-skill and up-skill individuals for a competitive and dynamic work environment. Many young people in education today will have as many as 20 different jobs throughout their lifetime – and these may not be jobs as we know them. The skills needed to generate their own employment are just as important as the skills to become employed by others. Education isn’t something which should suddenly end when employment begins. Workers must continue learning if they want to remain relevant, while companies must be supported to address current skills shortages and encouraged to plan for what’s

MARCH 2014

Employment Minister Farry with Belfast Met’s Marie-Thérèse McGivern, Deloitte’s Garry Carpenter and DATA graduate Julie Hanson.

going to be needed further down the line. The concept of lifelong learning has never been more applicable but simply developing skills in isolation is unlikely to achieve the benefits that we all seek. The skills that we need are the ones that will help businesses grow, to make the best use of new technologies and to adapt to changing markets. The skills that individuals need are the ones that will help them gain and keep jobs and improve their personal circumstances.

This blurring of the lines between industry and education is one of the FE sector’s main strengths and one which will continue to play a big part in bringing the local economy from recession to recovery. Justin Edwards is Assistant Chief Executive and Director of Curriculum at Belfast Metropolitan College. For information on courses call 028 9026 5265 and for business development services 028 9026 5058 or visit www.belfastmet.ac.uk

INTERVIEW

Don’t fear the rate rise Bank of England chief economist Spencer Dale met Symon Ross to discuss interest rates, inflation and the risks of an overheating housing market.

he Bank of England’s chief economist has assured businesses in Northern Ireland that the central bank will be taking no chances with the recovery.

likely to ease they will persist for some time, so the level of interest rates appropriate to keep the economy growing, keep inflation close to target, will be way below that 5% for some time to come,” he added.

Speaking to Ulster Business on a visit to the province, Spencer Dale said the business community need not be fixated on when interest rates would start rising, because when they do they will rise slowly and remain low for some time.

“So don’t fear the interest rate rise, it’s not happening yet and when it does it will be gradual and cautious and interest rates are likely to remain low for some time to come.”

NORTHERN IRELAND

Mr Dale, who also a member of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee, said he “did not have a crystal ball” and so would not be drawn on when the base interest rate would be raised from its historic low of 0.5%, where it has been since March 2009.

Mr Dale, who is responsible for the Monetary Analysis & Statistics Divisions of the Bank of England, said he did not believe Northern Ireland is lagging behind the rest of the UK, noting that the general economic trends in Northern Ireland were much the same as other regions.

“One of the messages I have been stressing, the key message from the MPC to the business community is that we’re not going to take risks with this recovery. What we have said in terms of interest rates is that we think there’s still some spare capacity in the economy, unemployment is still too high, too many people who want to work longer hours can’t. So we want to keep stimulating the economy before we raise interest rates,” he said. “Interest rates will rise at some point, but when we do raise them we will do so gradually and cautiously because we want to keep on nurturing this recovery. The other point to stress is that when we do start to raise interest rates they are likely to remain low relative to what they were historically. Before the financial crisis the interest rate set by the bank averaged about 5% for ten years. Even though some of the headwinds from the financial crisis are

“The broad temperature take is very similar to the UK economy as a whole, which is that this is an economy that’s growing. We’ve had three or four incredibly frustrating years where things were tough but for most of the businesses we’ve spoken to, they’ve turned a corner, things are improving, their order books are growing and their output is growing,” he said. “I don’t think the South East of England is typical of the rest of the UK. If you look at the UK as a whole, my sense is that Northern Ireland is not a million miles away from the others. There are some parts where it is growing less quickly but the broad patterns of recovery are similar,” he added. Mr Dale visited five different businesses and held four meetings with groups of business people while in Northern Ireland, engaging with over 150 business representatives over two days.

“The businesses that are doing well are those with a strong export focus, those who are looking outside the UK particularly if they’re exporting to non-traditional areas, not just to the Euro area but to the Far East, the Middle East. You see that in mainland UK and also here. In that sense some of the perceived difference people here see with the rest of the UK, I see it less so.” The economist cited the ongoing uncertainty in the Euro area as the biggest risk to the economic recovery, although he noted some near term pressures have eased. “The challenges facing them in terms of the need to rebalance, of the competitiveness in peripheral countries relative to the core countries, are big challenges. They are our main trading partner and if that doesnít go as well as hoped that could have a significant impact,” he said.

HOUSING RISKS After a period of stability in the housing market, concerns have been raised in the past few months that house prices have started to rise again too rapidly. That prompted the Bank to announce in November that it was scrapping the part of its Funding-for-Lending scheme that supported mortgage lending. Mr Dale said that while the Bank is conscious of the risk of the housing market overheating, he believes the Bank’s Financial Policy Committee has the necessary tools to keep it under control. “We had a housing market that was flat-lining for several years. House prices were flat, transactions were at a low level. We’ve started to see some warming up of the housing market and

INTERVIEW

that’s good news for UK plc. A healthy housing market is good for our economy. It helps the construction sector, it allows greater labour mobility, it helps consumer confidence. That’s welcome,” he said. “But any of us know that you can go from a healthy housing market to an overheating market very quickly. Our job is to worry and we do worry. The one thing I would stress that is different now from in the past is that we’re better equipped to deal with housing risk than we were in the past,” he added. “Interest rates are a pretty blunt instrument. The FPC have far better instruments to manage those risks. We do worry but I think we’re far better equipped to manage those risks than in the past.” Mr Dale said that while the Bank was conscious of the unique banking challenges in Northern Ireland, he believes that access to finance, which has hindered both the housing market and business growth, is now less of a problem. “My interpretation for Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK is that the ability for companies and households to access credit has improved. One of the reasons the NI housing market has stabilised is that levels of activity in the market have picked up because people’s ability to access mortgages has improved. That’s a good sign, a good news story. The main issue remains around the ability of smaller companies to access credit. My sense is that things are better than they were a few years ago but they still need to improve.”

MOMENTUM The Bank and other economists have also expressed caution about the recovery because it has until now been largely driven by consumer spending. Mr Dale reiterated that it is now up to businesses to start spending to maintain the momentum. “One of the messages when we published our inflation report earlier this month is that the recovery we’ve seen up to now

MARCH 2014

has been heavily driven by increased consumption, households spending more, and also the improving housing market buoying construction. Those two things together have been entirely responsible for the growth we’ve seen in the past year. That’s what you’d expect in the early stages of recovery,” he said.

“What we need to see is that baton of growth handed on from consumers to businesses, so they go out and invest.” “But what we need to see is that baton of growth handed on from consumers to businesses, so they go out and invest. That would support the durability of the recovery going forward. I think there is good reason to think that will happen. The levels of business investment are very low at the moment but many businesses have pretty healthy balance sheets and have held off from making investments in recent years, so they have opportunities if they want to take them. As the economy grows and confidence improves, you’d expect to see that happening.”

With inflation recently falling back to the Bank’s target level of 2% for the first time in years, attention has started to turn to another risk to economic growth – deflation. But Mr Dale believes the focus should be on the positives of low inflation. “The big news story for inflation is that for the past four or five years inflation has been significantly above its target. That has directly affected the quality of the standard of living for many households. Many people haven’t had pay rises and those that have maybe had 1% or 2% at most. That’s squeezing their real income. Nearly every family has suffered a squeeze in their living standard, the good news is inflation has come back down to target. As a result that pressure has fallen. We will keep an eye on that. Our job is to keep inflation close to target and we worry about undershooting it as much as overshooting. But the good news is it is back to target for the first time in years,” he said. “My job is to worry. Our central view is for inflation to remain close to target for the next couple of years. I’m almost certain that our central view won’t transpire, events will happen and it will move away. The risks around that are pretty evenly balanced, so we’ll be wrong, we just don’t know exactly how we’ll be wrong.”

PROFILE

Developing a global outlook Ursula Henderson, Director of HR, Marriott International, is the first student to be profiled in our “Studying Success” series. She is currently studying MSc International Business at the Ulster Business School.

Why did you choose this course? One of the main reasons I embarked on a Masters in International Business was to develop my strategic outlook. Working for Marriott International across three continents in some very diverse environments, I was already comfortable with the international aspects of the career but I hoped to gain a better understanding of how changes in one country can affect business in another. I wanted to be able to make better business decisions. I thought that the Masters offered the right level of education to build on my achievements and prepare me for my future career. The flexible nature of the course was invaluable to me, as my job often requires early starts, late finishes and some weekend work.

Ursula Henderson, Director of HR, Marriott International, MSc International Business, Ulster Business School.

What attracted you to the Ulster Business School? Having obtained a BA Honours in Hotel and Tourism Management at the University of Ulster I was aware of the calibre of learning that would be on offer and I was not disappointed. I had completed on-line courses before but nothing at this level. I wanted the security of a qualification from a well renowned university but I also wanted to be comfortable that the distance learning would still have the same content as a classroom-based course. Both my requirements were wholly fulfilled. What part of the course do you enjoy most? I found the online forum where I could contact the other students to ask questions and read their comments immensely supportive. As a Human Resources professional I know that no question is a bad question and during the course I learnt so much from other students’ comments and queries. The diverse range of people on the course was definitely a positive in helping me study. There were those in full time study, others like myself working full time, and everything in between. Despite that diversity we were on the same wavelength and often others’ questions had answered my own. It was a very inclusive environment.

How will this qualification help in your future career? I have already begun to use the qualification in my job as the company is currently expanding in the UK and Europe, with a huge impact on recruitment and diversity policies. The course has helped me to devise strategies to develop talent to move into international management positions and to work with individual hotels on their diversity and inclusion training so that international transfers are seamless. It has also prepared me for challenges ahead, by teaching me about the need to be flexible as the business environment is changing all the time. I would encourage anyone to take up further study and to investigate distance learning. Who do you admire most in the business world and why? Howard Schultz, Chairman and CEO of Starbucks, originally worked for Starbucks, then a coffee bean roaster and retailer, in marketing in the early 80s. On a trip to Italy he noticed many coffee bars serving espresso and on his return he proposed to the company that they do the same, but he was turned down. He left to start a rival company and only two years later bought out Starbucks, eventually making it the largest coffee company in the world. His story shows the importance of belief in your ability.

Travel, Flags, firebombs & & Tourism flashbacks Hospitality

TRAVEL, TOURISM & HOSPITALITY

Campus of cool The T13 Urban Sports Academy has established itself as a hub for urban culture in Northern Ireland. Symon Ross went to Titanic Quarter to find out more about the social enterprise’s vision for the future.

13, the Urban Sports Academy in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter, isn’t much to look at from the outside. A huge former shipyard shed made of corrugated iron and set on a patch of wasteland, there’s not much to distinguish it from some of the other derelict buildings still standing on the vast regeneration site. Inside, however, it is a different story. On the day I visit it is a bustling hive of activity, vibrant and buzzing with school children and young adults skateboarding over ramps and doing jumps on scooters and bikes. While it is still effectively a huge shed, a massive amount of work and investment has gone into revamping what was a long abandoned building to turn it into a hub for urban culture. For the uninitiated that means the world of BMX, Skateboarding, Kick Scooter, Break Dancing, Parkour, Urban Art, DJing and more. Open since 2010, it has already made a name for itself as a must see stop for adventure sports enthusiasts, graffiti artists and musicians. Touring professionals on the Dew Tour and X-Games circuit from big name teams sponsored by Monster and Relentless are regular visitors, while a breakdance event last year attracted competitors from as far afield as Spain and Lithuania. Rewinding to the start of the story, it’s clear that getting to this point has not been an

easy ride. Liam Lynch leads the team from Square Pit, a collaborative private entity made up of experts from different disciplines such as sports coaching, digital design, video, marketing, engineering, programme delivery and procurement. The team all have a common interest in urban and extreme sports and in the mid-2000s realised that while there were lots of enthusiasts who shared their interests in Ireland, most people didn’t have access to the sports they loved. “We had a fantastic life. We would go round the country producing videos for different companies, extreme sports stuff. Our lifestyle was amazing, whether it was surfing or jumping out of planes. But we realised we needed to share it. So we started the Live It initiative. It is a genuine lifestyle initiative covering sport, music, fashion. A movement of people who are confident in their identity,” he explains. Originally from Australia, Liam specialised in setting up projects in hostile environments, in places like Cambodia, Papua New Guinea and Bali, before coming to Northern Ireland. For him, the attractions of this place were immediately obvious. “I thought this country was amazing. I thought within one hour of travel can do 11 extreme sports to a world class level. I can live here cheaper than anywhere else in the UK, I can buy a house, and I can book an easyjet flight and be in

TRAVEL, TOURISM & HOSPITALITY

another country in an hour. This is the capital of the northern hemisphere.” However, when the Square Pit team started their initiative there were no urban sports parks or skate parks in the north or south of Ireland. “We realised that the urban sports remit was underserved even though there were all these incredible athletes out there. I think Iraq had a permanent skate park before Belfast,” he remembers. “But we also realised it wasn’t just about the sports, it was about the culture. We started with some bmxers and skateboarders, then got some rollerbladers, then parkour, then graffiti guys, then bands and all of a sudden you’ve got this movement of individuals wanting to maximise their time on the planet.” They started by opening the first indoor urban sports facility in Dunmurry and then the first concrete skate park in Northern Ireland in central Belfast (attending 192 council meetings over six years to get it over the line). “We proved we could create a sustainable social enterprise that could tackle the most poignant issues in the community, we could use a product that nobody owned, and we could make money out of it and create employment. We were the only skate park in the UK and Ireland run by enthusiasts,” he said.

cabling for power and it was about a foot deep in bird shit. For the first six months we didn’t even dare come to the back of the building, it was all boarded up, the windows were all smashed. We’ve spent a lot of money on it and it still looks this ghetto.”

PHASE 2 Unfortunately, every time they brought a community group to the 7,000 sq ft Dunmurry skate park, it ran out of room. So in 2009 they decided to upscale the initiative to Phase 2. The team looked at three potential sites including the colossal building that is now T13. When they moved in the following year, it was, says Liam, in pretty bad shape. “When we first came in an engineering firm who are friends of ours just shook their heads and said no way,” he said. “There were holes the size of trucks in the roof, the doors were all concreted shut, there was no

MARCH 2014

Ghetto or not, the building definitely has pulling power. In the first two years 160,000 people came through the doors and it held numerous flagship events – not only sports but art installations, rock concerts, orchestras and theatre performances. “We’re not light, sound or water proof but people are drawn to this building,” adds Liam. T13’s three revenue streams come from the extreme sports and adventure learning (the kids coming through the door and outreach work with schools and community groups); events (it has an entertainment licence for 5,000 people); and production.

So far T13 has enabled 80 productions, hosting everything from horror movies and period dramas to Rihanna pop videos and stunt training for Universal Pictures. With a team of 35 volunteers and professionals offering hundreds of hours a week to T13, Liam says they don’t limit themselves as to what can be accommodated in T13. If they need to build a set, ramps, a stage, they build it. The only paid staff are the young people doing skate workshops and vying for a place on T13’s Ramp Rage team. Ramp Rage goes around the country inspiring young people with bmx, skate and blade demonstrations on big half pipes they make themselves. Thousands of people have seen the show, creating a marketing platform that allows them to work with corporate partners and generate revenue. ›

“What we’ve created is this marketing machine that generates money to put back into the charity, that also gives us exposure and has young people vying to get to the top who want to focus their energy and become athletes by getting on the team,” he says. “It runs on 60% profit purely down to our procurement approach. We stay within the commodity reach of partners, we don’t ask them for money.”

PHASE 3 Liam says they were fortunate in the early stages to meet Titanic Quarter’s Michael Graham, without whom they wouldn’t have progressed to where they are now. He pushed them not only to think what phase 2 would be like, but to put flesh on the bones of what was then a loose idea for a third phase of the Live It initiative and to have a goal to work towards. That goal is a permanent building for urban sports next door to the current T13 site. “It will be the world’s first urban sports academy, a place of employability, a centre of excellence, where the young person off the street can come in and maybe get a job, learn something and maybe become a pro athlete in a sport that didn’t exist previously except on TV and the XGames,” he enthuses.

“It’s going to be like a leisure centre – you come in and swipe your card, you’ve got the gym, the fitness, the spa. But there will also be a great big urban sports hall. It will be the first of its kind in the world. Everything we pilot, every statistic we gather, is all for that aim.” He wants to get to the point where T13 can offer HNDs and HNCs in urban culture and sports and gain academy status. He envisions 40,000 sq ft of extreme sports action space and another 40,000 sq ft of events space. Under the plan the current T13 would be recycled into a creative hub for local digital and animation businesses. Liam says it has all been costed out and they have financial backers interested in getting behind the £14m cost of the new permanent campus, some of which will hopefully come from the Social Investment Fund. “We’ve got a product everyone wants a part of. We’ve got a track record of seven years of delivery and we’ve got a credible business model to make that sustainable just like we operate now as a sustainable social enterprise,” he says. “We’ve created our identity, we know who

we are. We’ve got incredible professionals on board. Now we need to push into the political arena and choreograph support to really put us on the map. This place is for all sides of the community.” Liam believes T13’s experience can also help more social enterprises to stop relying on Government grants and funding. “We engage with other social enterprises and look at how they can get off the drip of funding. How do they stop sucking the country dry. I believe nine out of ten social enterprises could get themselves off funding through pure assessment of what they’ve got to sell, what problem they are solving,” he says. “The reason we wanted to be self sustaining is that we knew if we were reliant on funding to grease the wheels of the operation, we wouldn’t be legit. We needed to legitimise ourselves on a sustainable route so that if we do get procured funding, it is used to engage kids from deprived wards. Not everyone can get to us so any budget we get that way we use to make sure people can get to us. But we make sure the sustainable model works or else we don’t deserve to be here.”

TRAVEL, TOURISM & HOSPITALITY

Odyssey Arena welcomes new partner IES Ltd

dyssey Arena, Northern Ireland’s premier entertainment venue welcomes Integrated Electrical Solutions Limited (IES Ltd) to their ever growing list of Annual Corporate Sponsors. IES Ltd Head of Operations, Paul McDonald explained their decision for choosing Odyssey Arena. “IES is a growing organisation in the UK and Ireland delivering cost effective energy solutions to our clients ranging from SME’s to blue chip companies, we wanted to look at developing further relationships with our expanding client base and secondly develop a unique branding opportunity. With high profile events and footfall that the Odyssey provides this was a perfect fit.” Odyssey Arena’s Commercial Executive Clare Tarbuck continues: “We are delighted to have IES on board this year. We have been able to provide IES with a unique opportunity to grow their business through networking evenings and availing of corporate hospitality at upcoming events. Our annual sponsors value the corporate entertainment aspect that we provide. Treating clients to entertainment at Odyssey Arena is the ideal way to enjoy a memorable night out and have the chance to talk business in a more informal setting.”

Clare Tarbuck, Commercial Executive Odyssey Arena and IES representatives, Stephen Goodall, Paul McDonald, Seth Russell, Colin McCann and Steven Armstrong.

Clare explains what sets Odyssey Arena apart from other corporate hospitality venues: “Many companies have various clients with ranging needs and tastes. Our Annual suite sponsors value the variety that Odyssey Arena provides. With artists from the world of rock, pop and classical music along with comedy and indoor sports, sponsors can entertain clients at a variety of events. Odyssey Arena is enjoying an eventful year with acts such as Robbie Williams, Gary Barlow, Katy Perry and Dolly Parton heading this way there will be plenty to keep everyone entertained!”

CORPORATE HOSPITALITY Wanting to entertain key clients and reward customers... With over 150 events per year Odyssey Arena is just the ticket! Enjoy hospitality at Odyssey Arena in the luxury of a corporate suite. For further details on Annual suite hire and event packages contact the Commercial Department on 028 9076 6000 www.odysseyarena.com

MARCH 2014

NITB aiming to maintain momentum

ith a review of whether the Northern Ireland Tourist Board is fit for purpose currently under way it is perhaps no surprise that the body’s chief executive wants to highlight the industry’s recent achievements. From hosting the MTV awards in 2011 to the opening of Titanic Belfast, the Giant’s Causeway Visitor centre and the Irish Open in 2012, through to the City of Culture, the World Police & Fire Games and the G8 last year, Northern Ireland has enjoyed considerable time in the global spotlight. But while the NITB has undoubtedly helped deliver a positive image of Northern Ireland, Alan Clarke knows it will ultimately be judged on delivering business – higher visitor numbers, improved hotel occupancy and increased spend. “I think the challenge now is to make sure the momentum continues and that the imagination continues. Tourism’s contribution to the economy has increased. In terms of GDP we were 4.9% of the economy in 2010. In 2013 we were 5.2%. That’s good growth but if you compare us to Wales, which has a similar economy to our own, tourism is currently 13%. So even though we’ve done well there is huge potential to make tourism contribute even more to the economy,” he said. “We come into 2014 with a good strong track record, good levels of confidence.

Increasingly tourism is being recognised as being much more mainstream to the economy and a shop window for Northern Ireland. But people shouldn’t think the job is done. We’ve had 30 years of underinvestment. We’ve done really well but all of our competitors are continuing to invest and unless we realise that we will lose ground. The balance needs to move from hard investment in capital projects to soft investment in events, in training, in marketing.”

the bodies with responsibility for driving tourism work together and keep investing: “If you go back to the targets, the £1bn spend by 2020, we’ll only achieve that if there’s more investment in new bedroom stock and if there are more visitors from GB and overseas, staying longer and spending more. The big focus is on the close to home markets but there’s potential to grow longer terms from the US, Europe, Canada. We need new routes coming in,” he said.

This year’s big event, the Big Start of cycling race the Giro d’Italia, will happen in May and Clarke says most people won’t realise how big it is in terms of visitors and profile until it has gone: “I don’t think the Giro would have been here five years ago and even if they were they’d have been going to Dublin. Now Northern Ireland is 90% of its time on the island. That’s a step change. The more you build your credibility the more you can get. The confidence to go for the biggest events is now there because we have experience of working together to deliver them,” he said.

The £28m extension to the Waterfront Hall will also help in bringing more conference business to Belfast, which he expects to boost figures.

“The ambition now is to have at least one major global event every single year. We’re currently working on events right up to 2023 to make sure that happens. MTV was huge, the Irish Open was huge, Giro will be another step on the ladder. We’re negotiating for events to carry that momentum forward.” Clarke believes the targets set out in DETI’s tourism strategy, such as achieving £1bn of spend a year by 2020, are achievable if

“There needs to be more alignment between the sectors Invest NI are targeting for inward investment and the sectors ourselves and Visit Belfast go after for conference business,” said Clarke. “The opportunity is there now to get all the agencies who have a front line role in promoting the image of Northern Ireland to be much more joined up to make sure the messaging going out is consistent.” And as for the review into the NITB, due to be concluded by the end of March, Clarke is upbeat: “We’re pretty optimistic about the review. We’re not looking upon it as a threat because we think the tourist board and the tourism industry have performed well. We think that if that is to be taken to the next level you need a strong delivery organisation that’s committed to tourism. We believe we’re well placed to do more.”

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TRAVEL, TOURISM & HOSPITALITY

The airport you want to be stuck in With BA’s Belfast flights set to move to Heathrow’s terminal 5 later this year, Ulster Business took a tour around the impressive airport facility.

ritish Airways has announced that flights from Belfast City Airport and Dublin will be moving to the airline’s flagship Heathrow home, Terminal 5, from the end of October. It is a move that has been welcomed by regular customers on BA flights, which have been operating into Terminal 1 since the routes started in mid-2012, as it is expected to cut minimum connection times to onward European and international flights from Terminal 5 by 30 minutes to just one hour. Speaking to Ulster Business on a recent visit to Belfast City Airport to open BA’s new lounge, Willie Walsh, Chief Executive of the airline’s parent company IAG, said moving flights to Terminal 5 represented “another big step forward” in its commitment to Northern Ireland. “For people who are connecting it is a big plus. You don’t have that rush from T1 to T5. It is much more convenient,” he explained. “But also for people who are just using the direct service, T5 is the best airport anywhere in the world. It has been voted best airport anywhere in the world for the last two years and I have no doubt it will win it again this year. It is particularly positive for people who want to connect over London. It also makes it easier for us to sell Northern Ireland to our global network. It is much easier for customers and I think creates a much better impression to show that convenient connection from T5.

TRAVEL, TOURISM & HOSPITALITY

”The practicalities of a quicker journey time and smoother connections to over 100 cities worldwide aside, the move also gives business and leisure travellers from Northern Ireland the chance to experience one of the best airport facilities anywhere in the world. The terminal, which BA and Iberia have exclusive use of, opened amid much fanfare in March 2008 and after initial teething problems has quickly established itself as an airport to rival the best of the shiny new travel hubs in Asia and the Middle East. The facility has helped British Airways to achieve record levels of punctuality, baggage performance and the airline’s highest ever customer satisfaction scores. By the end of 2013 more than 144 million customers had used the facilities and the terminal had handled more than one million flights. It typically looks after between 500 and 550 weekday flights and between 70,000 and 75,000 customers on a normal day. The first flight in is at 0450 and last flight out at 2230. However, even accounting for the thousands of check in, operational and cabin crew staff, such is the scale of the Terminal, it never really feels that busy in comparison to other airports. The building is so vast it is possible to fit 50 football pitches over Terminal 5’s five floors, but moving around is designed to be simple. It is all set up to help customers flow through the airport in a logical manner. So, from the moment they walk in to the departures area passengers never have to turn around, they can always walk forward. Over half of all customers have checked in before arriving at the airport and for those that haven’t they can use one of the 96 check-in kiosks in the departures hall and drop bags at one of over 100 desks before moving straight on through security. Thanks to the scale of the terminal and the use of technology, the vast majority of people don’t encounter any queues at check-in. The building itself, which has won a host of architectural awards, is light, airy and ›

MARCH 2014

TRAVEL, TOURISM & HOSPITALITY

modern. More than 30,000 square metres of glass have been used to glaze the 40m high and 396m long main terminal building. Huge industrial beams stretch out to walls and ceilings of tinted glass, and with none of the floors fixed to the wall the sense of space is amplified.

as well as providing rooms for business travellers to sleep, hold meetings and work online. Exclusive spa treatments are also available at the Elemis Travel Spa to all First and Club World passengers as well as Gold Executive Club members flying long-haul.

Even if you don’t have the time or resources to indulge in such luxuries, T5 is still a great airport. Nobody likes spending too much time waiting to get on a flight, but if you do have to, there are few better airports in the world to be stuck in.

Where Terminal 5 is different to most airport buildings is that it is essentially a baggage system with a building built around it. There are no baggage belts blocking people’s movement as cases go down five floors in a cage. Terminal 5 cost £4.3bn to build and £2.5bn of that was spent on the baggage system. Once through security travellers have a chance to indulge in the largest retail offering of any UK airport, with 112 stores as well as some world class restaurants. On top of all the shops you’d expect to find in an airport, like WH Smiths, Boots, Dixons and the duty free shops, there’s a wide representation of high end brands like Bulgari, Burberry, Cartier, Dior, Gucci, Montblanc, Prada, Ted Baker, Thomas Pink and Tiffany & Co. At this “Bond Street” end of the Terminal is a Gordon Ramsey Restaurant called Plane Food, although travellers can also refuel at a range of eateries less pricey such as EAT and Pret a Manger. Where Terminal 5 really comes into its own, however, is in the lounges. Built at a cost of £60m there are six lounges in the terminal: The Concorde Room, The First class lounge, three Club Lounges and an Arrivals Lounge. Collectively the lounges, known as ‘Galleries’, are capable of hosting up to 2,500 people and are the epitome of elegance and luxury for what BA terms “premium” customers. Each embracing a decadent look and feel, the lounges have crystal chandeliers, art installations, mood lighting to reflect the time of day as well as all the complimentary refreshments you’d expect from an airport lounge. As a hub for onward travel and knowing that many of its most frequent flyers spend a lot of time in its lounges, BA has increased the number of showers and bathrooms available,

Five facts about T5 • It is possible to fit 50 football pitches over Terminal 5’s five floors. • The baggage system can handle up to 12,000 bags an hour and has 18km of baggage belts. • Terminal 5 has the largest retail offering of any of the UK airports. • Gates are no more than a six-minute walk from security. • Terminal 5 has the largest ever airport lounge complex with six available for British Airways’ premium customers.

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ust like you, Corick House Hotel is at heart a business, and so they endeavour to provide their corporate clients with an exemplary professional service. Whether your event is large or small, the hotel has the capability to make it exceptional. Centrally located whilst remaining secluded, the venue is ideal for business lunches, conferences, training, team building and residential retreats. The team at Corick House Hotel offer a vast range of experience and will ensure your every need is met. With a variety of seating plans, refreshments and rates which can be tailored to suit individual needs. The hotel is situated in Clogher Valley and showcases how the old and new can blend together effortlessly. Give yourself the chance to escape the hustle and bustle of the business world for a step back in time in this 4*, award winning hotel. For those requiring residential conference facilities the hotel boasts 43 luxurious bedrooms and suites, nine of which are situated in the original Georgian house, and the remainder located in the new wing of the hotel. All rooms have been individually designed and decorated to an exceptional standard, giving a classically luxurious edge, with stunning views of the countryside. Each room is fully equipped to ensure maximum comfort during your stay. For further information or to make a booking please contact the Conferencing and Banqueting Team on 028 8554 8216 or via functions@corickcounrtyhouse.com *Spa facilities are due to open early 2014.

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TRAVEL, TOURISM & HOSPITALITY

Airport retailers get the feel good factor

ince the turn of the year, there has been quiet optimism that Northern Ireland is climbing slowly out of the trough of economic downturn. There’s a cascade of positive data and commentaries that support the view that better times lie ahead. Belfast International Airport can add weight to those feel-good utterances. As well as handling an average of 140 flights a-day, the airport has a thriving shopping ‘mall’ for the 80,000 passengers a-week who use the facility. A significant investment programme of re-modelling and re-shaping the Airside floorspace a few years ago has attracted considerable interest from retailers and that, in its own small way, speaks eloquently about economic confidence and renewal. In total, there are 18 outlets including newsagents, coffee shops, chemist, gift shops, restaurants and bars. All are reporting an uplift in activity. The shopper has choice, a range of competitively priced goods to choose from and, more importantly, is demonstrating a greater interest in buying. Brian Carlin, Director of Commercial Development explains: “It’s only one small barometer of how the wider economy is performing, but it’s nonetheless heartening and reassuring. We may be some way off impressive regional growth figures or a revival that will see an end to negative equity, but there are straws in the wind that suggest to me that better times lie ahead.” And better times mean more jobs at Northern Ireland’s main airport as the myriad businesses that rely on a successful major

enterprise look to embark on expansion and growth. The ‘cluster’ of support enterprises employ about 4,000 people, from the people who deliver foodstuffs to the restaurants to the fuel company that supplies aviation fuel. It all adds up! Brian continues: “Since changing the passenger flow and improving the offer in our airside departures zone we’ve seen a significant increase in business. People heading for their departure gates are stopping to see what’s on offer, but more than browsing, they are actually spending.

There’s a distinct lift in demand for the slightly more luxurious items and that means there’s more confidence out there than this time last year. Long may this trend continue.” So, the pick-up is underway. Some momentum is being established and the airport believes that the next manifestation of that will come in increased demand for the 70 destinations served from the International. It expects growth to return, and is doing all in its power to expand the route network and bring new carriers to the market to expand the choice and range for Northern Ireland.

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

Identifying businesses critical to growth By John Simpson

f the economy is going to grow and keep pace with or do better than the recovery in Great Britain, then a critical feature will be the motivation of locally owned firms to expand their operations, employ and pay more people, and generate better profits for investors. The companies listed below are all potentially important contributors. The list is illustrative, but others could be added. Rebalancing the economy calls for a greater contribution from the private sector to reduce the current perceived imbalance between the contributions of the public and private sectors. Critical to the test is whether there are enough thrusting and successful businesses which are strong enough to show that Northern Ireland is well endowed with entrepreneurial talent which, with the right encouragement, could close the productivity gap with the rest of the UK. Alternatively, are there too few talented entrepreneurs with the ambition to grow the private sector profitably? The distinction is important. Does the private sector include an expanding locally owned group of promising businesses or are the changes in the private sector going to be more reliant on the outcome of investment decisions made by owners, or multinationals, with headquarters outside Northern Ireland? Effectively, in recent years, much of the dynamic of the private sector has come from external investors. Whilst there is no easy measurement yardstick, the evolution of the private sector seems to point to a gradual shrinkage of the number of larger locally owned businesses and their replacement by external owners and investors.

The recent successful take-over of Andor Technology by a larger technology based business from England demonstrates the tension. Local success has attracted external investors. Local investors have earned a handsome reward but, with some long-term anxiety, the initiative for further development has transferred to new owners. In earlier years, the pattern of external owners buying locally owned businesses was well established. In the last 20 years, examples include the sale of Moy Park, Shorts, FG Wilson, and Powerscreen. Thankfully these firms have been regenerated under new owners and continue as important players in the economy. For many businesses, the arrival of new owners has been an important and welcome stimulus. The pattern does provoke the question of whether this is a desirable process leading from initial local development into a stronger business with national or international links. There

remains a degree of concern about whether the number of sales to external owners is effectively a weakness or a strength. Sometimes the state of the locally owned private sector is linked, somewhat illogically, to the relative absence of Stock Exchange quoted companies based in Northern Ireland and the trend over the years for quoted companies to disappear following mergers of take-overs. Northern Ireland, today, has two quoted companies: UTV Media and First Derivatives. The third was Andor, now sold. There is no clear answer to a debate about whether more locally owned businesses should be seeking to secure a Stock Exchange quote. Does the apparent absence of interest suggest a lack of ambition or, alternatively, the existence of businesses which are already adequately capitalised without the formality of seeking a quotation? The latter seems likely when the balance sheets and P&L accounts of some successful local businesses are scrutinised.

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

Nevertheless, one of the critical indicators of how the economy performs will come from the commercial ambitions and results of the strongest locally owned companies. To illustrate the range and expertise of existing locally owned businesses, I have identified 32 from the larger existing trading enterprises. The list excludes some businesses whose interests will remain essentially in the home market. Some large distribution companies are not included either. Without any claim that the 32 firms identified are the only, or best, candidates, nevertheless they do offer a striking variety and most of them have a recent successful trading record. Most of the 32 fall within the largest 100 private sector businesses operating in, or from, Northern Ireland. A reciprocal point can be made. Of NIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 100 largest private sector businesses, nearly 60% are externally owned. If the private sector in Northern Ireland is to play its part in the economic recovery, then not only is there a need to attract external investment (foreign direct investment) but existing external investors must have sufficient confidence to wish to expand their existing businesses. The 32 locally owned businesses can be classified by sector as: Meat processors Other food products Other manufacturers Medical and veterinary Construction & related Hotels and leisure Other services

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Without more careful analysis, the 32 businesses cannot be assessed for their competitive strength. They all seem to be trading with an acceptable level of profitability, although some have come through a testing recession where business was harder to win and retain. Are they in businesses where there is the strength of high valued added per employee? If Northern Ireland is to close the productivity

MARCH 2014

gap in comparison to GB or other European neighbours, value added per employee must increase and increase rather more than the level of capital investment per employee. In the group of 32, the gains in terms of extra value added per employee will expect to be found in firms such as Almac, Randox, First Derivatives, and Eakin Hlds. Many of the firms have a potential to increase their external sales and exports. This group would include those with higher value added per employee but might be joined by Norbrook, Manderley (Tayto), Wrightbus, Foyle Foods, Ulster Carpets, Hilton Meats and Dunbia. One of the interesting sub-groups amongst

the 32 are the firms linked to construction. Interestingly, their continuing success may depend on gaining work and contracts outside Northern Ireland. Their success will share the employment gains between home based employees and employees on-site. Nevertheless, it is a welcome form of contribution to Northern Ireland. Finally, there is a possible late addition to the 32. The recent performance by a renamed local company, Cooneen by Design, is an exciting combination of older textile skills with modern design affecting clothing and other textile products. There will be more. The list of 32 is just a starting point. The question is, how quickly will it grow?

NEWS

Belfast Harbour launches Commissioners’ Programme

Ridgeway assistant manager Neil Killen and Belfast Met apprentice Daryl Letman.

elfast Harbour and Belfast Metropolitan College have joined together in a new-style partnership programme which is already gaining popularity with businesses in the Harbour Estate. The scheme – known as The Commissioners’ Programme – offers Harbour tenants the opportunity to take on a trainee at low or no cost to their business. Established in 1847, Belfast Harbour is Belfast’s port authority and operates the principal maritime gateway on the island of Ireland. The harbour estate covers an area of 2,000 acres and represents 20 per cent of Belfast City area. It is also Northern Ireland’s logistics and distribution hub and home to major businesses including Microsoft, Harland & Wolff, Capita, CitiGroup and Bombardier. Belfast Met is a key advocate of such flexible, high quality, employer-led apprenticeship programmes and is delighted to have the support of Belfast Harbour. Airport West based engineering company Ridgeway is one of the first tenants to come on board. Established in 1969, Ridgeway offers a wide range of niche products and services across key sectors including construction, engineering, manufacturing, infrastructure, energy, social and community. Belfast Met trainee Daryl Letman is Ridgeway’s first apprentice and as assistant manager Neil Killen explains, he is already proving his worth. “Daryl has opened our eyes as to how well apprenticeships can work for an employer. He’s hard-working, quick to learn, fits in well and has a great attitude with customers and staff. Our business is growing and taking on a trainee has definitely been a very positive experience.” Ridgeway is now working with Belfast Met to recruit a second apprentice for its expanding operations. For further information on the Commissioners’ Programme or any aspect of Belfast Met apprenticeships, please contact Heather Hedley at hhedley@belfastmet.ac.uk or telephone: 028 9026 5494.

Helen Fitzpatrick puts the sparkle into Craigavon’s creative sector

he depth of talent amongst the business community in the creative industries throughout Craigavon has been coming to the fore in recent years. Indeed, a new project launched recently by Craigavon Borough Council has seen its economic development team identify the creative industries as one of three sectors with the potential to establish the Borough as an economic hub in Northern Ireland. The ‘Craigavon Means Business’ initiative aims to stimulate growth and competitiveness in the agri-food and health and life sciences sectors as well as the creative industries. With an international CV that includes some of the biggest names in the fashion world, Helen Fitzpatrick Design in Lurgan is one of the leading lights in a burgeoning creative industries sector in Craigavon. Helen’s designs have graced the catwalks of global fashion icons such as Valentino, Prada, Vera Wang, Gucci, Oscar De La Renta, Carolina Herrera, Armani, Bill Blass, Fendi, and Karl Lagerfeld. During her 20-year career Helen has also helped dress some of the world’s most stylish women, including Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell, Elle MacPherson and Princess Diana. Helen commented: “Our elegant mix of classic designs with a unique and contemporary twist are a very popular choice with many couturiers, high-end publications, notable celebrities and even royalty. We specialise in a complete look, excelling at finding the perfect accessories, headpieces, necklaces, earrings, bracelets, cuffs, dress appliques and embellishments for the most elegant gowns. Each piece is formed using an eclectic and unique blend of superior materials, coupled with Helen’s flawless eye for beauty in design, intricate detailing and couture embroidery techniques. Her collections are synonymous with delicacy, subtlety and elegance and are designed to dazzle with a touch of sophistication and tradition for a cosmopolitan woman. A Helen Fitzpatrick purchase is an affordable way for modern-day women to experience the grandeur and wearable artistry of a couture piece.

Helen Fitzpatrick Design is located at Old Kilmore Road, Lurgan, BT67 9LR. For more information, call: 028 3834 6011, email: info@helenfitzpatrick.com or visit www.helenfitzpatrick.com

Flags, firebombs & flashbacks

Retail

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Town Centre First A new policy aimed at protecting and revitalising our high streets by prioritising town centre planning applications is out for consultation. Amanda Ferguson asks if this really is good news for the retail sector.

t is an ambitious idea to rejuvenate ailing high streets across Northern Ireland.

Stormont environment minister Mark Durkan last month announced a 12 week public consultation on the single Strategic Planning Policy Statement (SPPS), which consolidates over 20 separate planning policy statements into one. A new strategic policy on Town Centres and Retailing is also being proposed, with the aim of supporting and sustaining vibrant town centres by adopting a ‘town centre first’ strategy for the location of future retail and other town centre uses. The strategy comes after a long running battle by John Lewis to get planning

permission to build its first store in Northern Ireland at Sprucefield near Lisburn ended in defeat for the British retail giant. The Minister has said that his proposals do not signal a “moratorium on out of town retailing” and he told Ulster Business the new draft town centre and retailing policy is not overall a more restrictive planning policy. “It’s more of a change of emphasis aimed at rebalancing future retail, leisure, commerce and services development in favour of in town and city centre locations,” he said. “The policy is still focused on meeting retail need and providing a diverse retail offer and it does not signal a moratorium on out of town centre retailing.

“Large retailers want certainty, clarity and quick decision making from the planning process. I am confident that the SPPS will help to achieve this but it will also require the business community to play their part and to work positively with the proposed policy framework.” On whether the Minister believes the proposals go far enough to combat the reasons out of town locations are favoured by some firms in the first place – such as accessibility, cheaper rents and available car parking – he acknowledges the issue is complex. “I do not pretend that looking after our cities and town centres is easy or that

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planning policy alone is the answer,” he said. “I have consistently recognised that planning is only one part of the jigsaw. There are many other problems facing our town centres, such as, high rates and rents, and parking and accessibility problems and I am keen to work closely with my Executive Colleagues to sort these problems out. Town and city centres are accessible places. These areas are permeable from a choice of means other than the private car. I recognise more can be done however to improve the accessibility of our town centres, and this is reflected in the objectives of the new retail and town centres policy,” Mr Durkan added. “I do, however, believe that the shift to a town centre first approach will make a significant difference, especially once planning is transferred to councils who can combine the planning approach with other council and government initiatives,” he said. Not all retailers will want to set up in town centres, so if they are restricted from building elsewhere, there is a chance they will not locate to Northern Ireland at all, which currenty seems to be John Lewis’ position. But Minister Durkan says the new policy aims to ensure that retail need is adequately met throughout Northern Ireland. He emphasises that town centre roles are changing and that they are not just a place to shop, but that government and private enterprises have to be ready to respond to the challenges presented by factors such as online shopping. “The town centre is here to stay,” he added. “Yes its role and function is changing but it remains at the heart of our society and is central to civic pride and community. It is not just a hub for shopping, the town centre represents a centre of culture and heritage and a place of entertainment. It connects people with our past, provides a contemporary focus for community interaction and sense of place, and should remain a beacon for future civic stewardship and pride. The role of the town centre is therefore multi faceted. Many of our town

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centres need help to deal with the change process they are undergoing. Their good health is vital to our success. For my part it is time to rebalance our retail offer in favour of town and city centre renewal.” Glyn Roberts, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Independent Retail Trade Association (NIIRTA), welcomed Minister Durkan’s consultation on this matter.

“We have the highest shop vacancy rate in the UK so getting the planning right is vital.” “We have been campaigning for this for years,” he said. “It’s been the top of our agenda, really since the inception of NIIRTA. It is a consultation document so it is important to ensure we get this over the line in terms of

legal protection. There is a lot of work ahead, but it certainly is progress. Our members realise it is a step in the right direction. Mr Roberts added: “There is more to all this than looking at rates and car parking, there has to be a proper joined up approach. We have the highest shop vacancy rate in the UK so getting the planning right is vital. So many out of town shopping developments over the years have contributed to the decline of the High Street so it is great our concerns are being listened to. Now the key is to get it over the line and into law.” But architect Mark Hackett, director for The Forum for Alternative Belfast, a community interest company that campaigns for a better and more equitable built environment questioned the obsession with retail. He said: “The reasons retail started to favour out of town wasn’t just rates and rents, it ›

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part of its use switch from retail to leisure. The proposals include plans for a change of use to accommodate an eight screen cinema complex, a 7,000 sqft children’s indoor play area, two additional restaurants, and a garden centre. The aim of the project – which could be completed by the end of 2015 if planning is granted – is to secure the centre’s existing 500 jobs and to create an additional 200 positions, while reducing the amount of vacant space from about a third to 10%. Last month Tesco announced plans to open a 60,000 sq ft Tesco Extra store at the Outlet Park before the end of 2014 and a separate planning application for a McDonald’s drive-through was submitted in December. The new proposals to attract more customers to the site have raised concerns among some Banbridge traders. was that our population had allowed itself to be suburbanised and this happened only because the car allowed decentralised transport. “Our whole 1960s plans promoted it, and those policies proved handy in the Troubles era when the movement of population kept going out from the centres of towns. So the notion of the town centre as a place to work/shop in only began in 1970s. We forget that before there was a different sense of a town or city. The key again is getting people to live closer and to not rely on the car for everything. The architect further elaborated: “Few people debate that European centralised cities are the greatest places to visit, to shop, to live and to do business – look at the numbers of them that are successful and well known. “Our problem in Northern Ireland and in the UK generally is that we chose to deconstruct our cities, perhaps because many of them were less well built, being thrown up somewhat for industry in 1850-1900. They are not cultural melting pots and crossroads going back centuries as many European cities were. Their locations had a certain logic as

a net of cities and routes in a landmass.” Mr Hackett does not believe putting town centres first is enough to overcome the reasons out of town is favoured by some businesses and while there is a focus on the importance of retailing by some he feels housing, industry, culture and infrastructure “are the bigger players”. He added: “Is it not time to revaluate our viewpoint – we know that Northern Ireland practically makes nothing, innovates and produces little new – and wouldn’t we be better supporting and growing that than subsidising retailers who contribute practically nothing? “An anecdote I often hear from those that are successful exporters is that they do it despite, not because of, any official help. Our retail sector could become more local – as it is in so many better developed large countries that aren’t so weak (in their strategy).” The strategy seems set to put the test sooner rather than later after it was announced that planning approval is being sought for an £8m investment into revamping The Outlet retail park in Banbridge which would see

But Alastair Coulson, Director of Asset Management at property consultants Lotus Group, who will manage the planning application, said visitors “expect a mix and vibrancy of uses” for a family day out. “The proposed changes will ensure that The Outlet’s offer will be different to any current local offering and will attract visitors into Banbridge from a much wider area. It’s expected that the new Omniplex alone will attract over 300,000 visitors annually,” he said. “The Outlet already has excellent links with Banbridge town centre and we are confident that this change of use will inject a new energy into the project which will secure the jobs of 500 local people and create up to 200 more. We have already seen the success that W5 Lite and new restaurants have brought to the centre, and the new proposals will build upon those successes to help safeguard The Outlet’s future.” While such changes bring centres like The Outlet into line with other successful retail parks in Great Britain, it seems likely future proposals of this nature will find it more difficult to get approval under the new planning regime.

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Henderson meat-ing new standards in traceability Over 75% of our products are sourced locally.

our communication that our products were picked, packed and produced locally. This incorporated new packaging and point of sale material. We ran marketing and advertising campaigns to highlight our fresh offering. There is no doubt that the share of our locallysourced meat products experienced a sales increase. The biggest sales gains were seen in those stores with a reputable meat counter or where ‘local hero’ butchers have a concession.

year has now passed since the horse meat controversy of 2013 hit a peak. It started with frozen beef burgers and ready meals, and spread out across retail chains from large multiples to small convenience outlets. It felt like no retailer was unaffected, and calls were made for much tighter regulations of the supply chain. But what difference has the past year made? Steven Kennedy, Meat and Protein Trading Manager in Henderson Group’s Fresh Food Division, says the wholesaler is aiming to lead the industry standard in traceability: “The events of early 2013 almost completely eroded customer confidence. It was up to retailers, suppliers and producers to try to build that bridge once again by being completely transparent about where their fresh food was coming from. “The multiples mounted an apology campaign – a promise to make food provenance a priority – and began a huge local campaign roll out across Northern Ireland. While the

supermarkets were doing everything they could to show how they were changing their practices for sourcing, the Henderson Group’s message remained the same – we always have and always will source from local farms. “The Henderson Group is a local, familyowned company. We own 76 SPAR, EUROSPAR, VIVO and VIVOXTRA stores in Northern Ireland and supply to a further 400 here. Fresh Foods is showing great growth in recent years and with those dynamic sales comes an increased responsibility. We are constantly striving to bring the best quality, fresh products to retailers’ shelves for their customers. This ranges from SPAR and VIVO own brand meat and vegetables, to local suppliers such as Mash Direct and McAtamney Butchers. “This is not to say we didn’t feel the effects of the horse meat crisis. There was still information to be communicated to our customers, and it didn’t help that the general perception was that convenience means lower quality. We acted quickly, up weighting

“In partnership with local suppliers such as Dunbia and highlighting the farm quality assured process we will enhance the trust between shoppers and retailers. We have invested heavily into the Fresh Foods Division over the past year to further benefit our retailers who trust us to deliver on our pledges to source locally and ensure shoppers get premium quality at affordable prices. Traceability isn’t just about saying a product is supplied locally, but also about bringing the story of the product and its supply chain out in the open. Sharing our local farmers and growers’ information with the customers is also of vital importance. We are putting together regular in store communication that will create more transparency about where in Northern Ireland products have come from, detailing its story from farm to fork! “The outlook for meat in 2014 is positive. The overall demand for meat within our business is increasing, which proves that trust is established and growing. It is up to local retailers like us to set the standard and ensure that the building blocks of trust and transparency are set regionally. We’re looking at a better 2014 for our red meat suppliers and farmers. Not only are we all more vigilant, but our standards are even higher, which is good news for everyone.”

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Retail revival

By Colin Mathewson, Retail Director, Osborne King Commercial Property Consultants

uch has been written about the state of the retail market in Northern Ireland in recent years with the sector, once one of the darlings of the Northern Ireland economy, more recently dismissed as drowning under the impact of the internet, declining consumer sentiment, and – more relevant on a regional basis – the burden of rates payable. The reality is that the retail sector is very much alive and, although battered and bruised from the economic difficulties of the last six years, it continues to fight valiantly with some light finally emerging at the end of the tunnel. It has been well reported that general economic conditions are improving and with this comes a rise in consumer confidence and the resultant uplift in consumer expenditure. Although progress initially will no doubt be painfully slow, we are already beginning to see an increase in demand and letting activity within the retail core in Belfast city centre. This in turn will ultimately ripple out into the provincial towns as momentum develops. However, the burden of rates is still the major anomaly within the recovery process and sadly it is difficult to see our politicians assuming the role that they could play in supporting the retail sector’s recovery. The level of rates burden on the retail sector is completely unrealistic and frankly at present is the common reason cited by retailers for their reluctance to enter the Northern Irish market. I appreciate that it is difficult to reconfigure the rates system quickly, but clearly the revaluation process alone in 2015 will not be sufficient to assist the retail sector properly and possibly some form of rates rebate for town centre traders could be adopted as an interim measure.

Regardless of the challenges, the intrinsic nature of retailing means that the sector will continue to fight on and, although landlords will continue to suffer due to the inflexibility of the rates system, we are now seeing a form of recovery underway. It will clearly take time for town centres and shopping centres to fill current vacancies, however, this will be achieved within the prime locations, and in particular, opportunities will arise for local retailers prepared to take on the risk of expansion. In fact there are real opportunities for local retailers who are in a position to acquire these prime retail properties especially as many of the national multiples seem reluctant to commit to the local market. There are indications that this is already happening in the light of local jewellery retailer Argento

unveiling plans to open further new stores in Northern Ireland as part of a £1m investment programme. Other local retailers such as DV8 are also rolling out new stores while Subway, through its local franchisee system, continues to expand province-wide. Ultimately, the recovery of the retail sector will be a long road, however it will come and local retailers who are in a position to take advantage of the available retail space will reap the rewards. The rates issue may not be easily resolved, but needs to be addressed by our politicians without delay. In the meantime, landlords are taking the initiative, which means that viable terms can be secured in prime trading locations by local independent businesses.

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Argento empire expands with seven new stores

ewellery retailer Argento has unveiled plans to open seven new stores in Northern Ireland and Scotland before the end of this year as part of a major £1m investment programme. The new stores form part of the ambitious Belfast-based company’s strategy to increase its brand presence in key, high footfall areas and to enhance the customer experience. The company said the new store openings will bring the total number of outlets under its ownership to almost 50 and will add at least 50 new jobs to its existing 350-strong workforce across the UK and Ireland by the end of 2014. Pete Boyle, Chief Executive of Argento, said: “We are really pleased to be able to confirm plans to extend our unique, quality jewellery offering to even more customers across Northern Ireland and Scotland by opening seven new Argento and Pandora stores in key areas where we see further growth opportunity.” In Northern Ireland, four new stores are scheduled to open this year in Belfast and Portadown, while in Scotland, the company has just opened in Dundee and Stirling. A new store is also planned for Inverness before the end of March. “This latest investment provides us with an important opportunity to increase our brand presence and customer base in a series of new, strategic locations and delivers on our commitment to assist in the revitalisation of the High Street and in the development of the main trading areas of our towns and cities,” said Boyle.

“The market for quality, branded but affordable jewellery remains strong and the outlook is bright. Since Argento was established in 1997, we have invested heavily in building brand presence on the High Street, in shopping centres, and online, and I believe that this latest investment will really give us the edge to push the company rapidly forward. “This £1m expansion programme not only underlines the confidence and support we have for our traditional in-store customers and our commitment to investing in the High

Street, it also shows that we are particularly keen to drive even more growth online.” The investment will also be used to underpin a continued roll out of its new, fresh and innovative store design across key outlets – a process which got under way last year. Argento said that in 2014, even more of its larger, open-plan stores would be enhanced with traditional red ‘Belfast brick’ feature walls, contemporary wooden floors and feature cabinets that share the same yellow colour used by the iconic Harland and Wolff cranes that dominate the city’s skyline.

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International Award

ROUND TABLE SPONSORED BY PwC

Can the creative sector play a starring role in NI’s economy? PwC recently brought together some leading players in the local creative industries to discuss how Northern Ireland can make the most of the opportunities available in one of the economy’s fastest growing sectors.

The PARTICIPANTS Kevin MacAllister: Partner, PwC Richard McCullough: MD, Designco Ltd Ian Kennedy: Creative Skillset NI Damon Quinn: Hole in the Wall Gang Emma Murray: Senior Manager, PwC David Gavaghan: CEO, Titanic Quarter Ltd Richard Williams: CEO NI Screen Andrew Webb: Linen Mill Studios Iain Lees: Director, PwC

Kevin MacAllister: Because of who we are and what we do, PwC has a broad focus – from the more traditional sectors like agrifood, construction, engineering and pharma – to emerging industries, those sectors that will influence the future. The creative sector is new, fast-growing and has enormous potential. So my first question is, what do we think the prize is here? What are we actually playing for? How big can the sector be? And what do we need to do to unlock that? David Gavaghan: In terms of how you classify the creative industry sector, are there any figures that set out where we have been over the last five years and where we are going to? Emma Murray: Taking film and television alone, it has come a long way from where it was seven years ago at the start of NI Screen. Revenues today are £95m plus, but the sector is split into so

many different areas that getting exact figures for all of it is quite difficult. Ian Kennedy: I think there is a lot of work to be done with Government to help us understand the wide range that this term ‘creative industries’ actually covers. There have never been creative industry apprenticeships in Northern Ireland, they haven’t existed. They will probably come later this year, but at the moment DEL classifies creative industries under its IT section. It’s a very wide sector where IT is absolutely central in computer gaming or animation or special effects, but on the creative production side they don’t see themselves as part of any IT structure. Richard McCullough: We had one job

advertised last month for a designer and we got inundated by graduates, all highly qualified, all desperate to work. I could have picked any one of them and they could have done the job. It was disappointing. I started the whole interview process with, “you are probably not going to get this job” which is not good at all. So there are a lot of creative graduates coming out of college, a lot of creative people. The workforce is there, they are ready to go. IK: When we introduce our apprenticeships we won’t have any trouble getting apprentices. I think we will have a problem with employers, especially in our more traditional areas like television. Traditional employment has tended to be at Level 5

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Ian Kennedy

Kevin MacAllister

and above, Graduate level or Post Graduate Level in these sectors. Now saying we are encouraging you to start taking people at age 17/18, out of sixth form, with A Levels, that’s going to be a challenge to some employers to persuade them of the benefits. KMacA: So is the demand there from the industry yet? IK: We have been running a scheme with NI Screen and BBC NI called the Aim High Scheme which started three years ago. We advertised for 15 places on this scheme and we had 600 applications from HE and FE graduates. The scheme gives them 18 months, paid at minimum wage level, where they get 4 x 4 month placements within the BBC or with other production companies, and also specified training from the BBC Academy. We had 15 complete the first scheme, we have ten now doing Scheme 2, so by the end of it we will have introduced 25 very high calibre young people into the broadcast sector. We are taking a pause then to see if that level is justified by the industry. To ask what’s the demand, how successful have our 25 been and where do we go from here? EM: Have we reached a point where there is already an over-supply of people who want to go into the sector? RMcC: Our colleges pump out the graduates every year and in my opinion there is limited work for them unless they are a graphic designer or web designer.

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The actual creative people, the sculptors, the artists, the scenic artists, the polystyrene moulders – that work historically was never here. You had to go to London to get a bit of work. Some are being employed in Belfast now, but there are still a lot of them finishing College who aren’t. DG: Is there not a message here that this industry not like the old industries? Colin Williams from Sixteen South told his story at a recent NITB breakfast. Before Colin Williams there was nobody doing what he does in children’s television. He now has 96 people working on the animated show Driftwood Bay. He created his own industry and I feel that at the heart of the creative industries, it’s no longer about demand and supply; it’s about entrepreneurship and a global market and creating your own story. That is really the opportunity in this industry. It’s no longer feeling that you are dependent on somebody else to do something for you; you just go and do it. IK: The interesting thing about Colin is that he’s not dealing with any local broadcaster and most of his workforce is freelance. Animation is going to be one of our big growth sectors here, but it is a sector that operates almost exclusively with a freelance workforce that moves around the world. The great thing here is the University of Ulster’s new degree course in animation, and in 2.5 years’ time the first 30 odd graduates from that course are going to be coming out.

Andrew Webb: As David says, a lot of it is down to entrepreneurship. The quick rise of HBO’s Game of Thrones put a spotlight on the industry and I think young people now, especially if they are switched on and going through University, will be able to capitalise on that. We have an awful lot of people floating around this industry because they have spotted an opportunity for a career. Maybe the next stage is to harness them to become entrepreneurial. It’s quite difficult to be entrepreneurial if you don’t have a clear route to understand and get into that market. EM: Does the industry have support in place for entrepreneurs? Are there people in rooms coming up with their own ideas and then getting the idea to a point where they can’t take them forward? AW: It’s a skill isn’t it, being an entrepreneur? You can have all the great ideas in the world but if you can’t sell them you are stuck. So it really is a case of saying where do I get the training to be entrepreneurial? Damon Quinn: Going back to the original question, I think the prize is to grow an indigenous film and television industry based in Northern Ireland. If you go to California now and you mention Game of Thrones you get the Americans going ‘Yeah I know that’s made out of Northern Ireland’. But essentially it’s no different from Montupet or any of those other big companies that came and set up factories. They are business men; the same as any other big company that comes ›

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and sets up here, they stay as long as it suits them. One thing that Game of Thrones is doing and the other big feature films like Dracula, which Universal produced, is creating a skills-base here that we didn’t have before. That’s right across the board: make-up artists, costume artists, joiners, carpenters, painters, plasters, even catering. In terms of providing opportunities for those who are in production and right up to producer level, it’s all there.

Richard Williams

Richard Williams: For NI Screen, the prize is a sustainable screen industry as part of a sustainable creative industry that’s part of a sustainable knowledge transfer based economy that’s internationally connected. KMacA: And in terms of that journey Richard, how far along that path have we travelled? RW: Northern Ireland Screen’s new stated ambition is to have within ten years – although ideally within the strategy period of four years – the strongest screen industry outside of the south-east of England. In real terms it’s not going to be defined in job numbers or industrial performance indicators. What it’s going to be judged by is whether Game of Thrones is followed up by something of equal international repute. Does the animation sector deliver the next Peppa Pig? Does The Fall spawn a further television series that redefines the genre for the next ten years? It will be defined by the critical success of the individual projects. If we can get to the point where we have six simultaneously internationally selling, critically successful projects, spread out across large scale production, television drama and film, apps, mobile e-learning and animation, we’ll be there. At the moment I would say we have two, maybe three. So you could say we are halfway there. But at the same time, Game of Thrones is the single biggest show in the world and that gives us a huge foot-up. Iain Lees: Is there a concern as to what happens after Game of Thrones? RW: Everything in the screen industry is about momentum. Yes, Game of Thrones will come to an end; and yes, that will, as a single project, be impossible to replace like for like, but, it spawned a whole new genre. The Treasury has created a new tax

break for that genre and quite frankly if Northern Ireland can’t attract further projects like that having sat for seven years with the single most successful project in that genre, we might as well just go home. DG: Picking up on the word momentum, if we just wait, we leave ourselves in a fragile position. We have actually got to take some key decisions now. But we need to recognise that it’s not just film and TV. There is a global recognition that this place is a very special place when it comes to creative industries. It is an international business and we need to keep focusing on the fact that this is our marketplace. What we have got to do is to keep focusing on where we have got the capability that positions ourselves as global leaders. Emma Murray

KMacA: Do we have children going through schools who see this as a real career? I went to school with Conleth Hill but he was the only one of 600 people who went on to work in the industry. For the rest of us it was all about being doctors, lawyers and accountants. RMcC: That’s kind of true. When I was at Art College for example, I did textile design, which was a dying industry and they still persevered, they coerced you. Textile design in Ireland and Europe had gone, but there were still 50 graduates a year coming out with it. KMacA: So are we communicating to people coming through our education system the potential opportunities in the creative sector? IK: I think we increasingly are. The work that’s been done by the NI Screen education department in creating the Moving Image GCSE and A-Level means there is a different calibre of young person looking at the creative industries as a potential career. I think we are beginning to see the benefits of that in the calibre of person who is then presenting themselves for the Aim High scheme. And I think that’s why apprenticeships will work for a lot of these young people. They are ready for it in a way that perhaps a 19-yearold wouldn’t have been ready before. RW: Moving Image Arts is the fastest growing subject in Northern Ireland and it is radically changing the quality of the raw talent coming in at the bottom. Our education work is

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Richard McCullough

Andrew Webb

Damon Quinn

well regarded in the industry and we sell that as part of the proposition. But there is a much bigger issue which is as much about society as it is to do with schools. I was briefly, for a nano-second, a lawyer. It wasn’t that my parents forced me, my school didn’t force me, it was just that there was no signposting for anything else. EM: There’s probably a need to educate society about what the industry has to offer and what the jobs currently are. That there is employment here and that there is the opportunity if they go internationally that they can bring those skills back home. IK: When you are talking about infrastructure you are not just talking about buildings, you are also talking about people. I was down at the Game of Thrones set two weeks ago standing on top of the battlements in the ice wall, but what got me was the quality of the construction skills that had gone into creating this amazing set, it was absolutely stunning. It is giving people that extra level of skill, on top of their traditional skills, to be able to adapt and to work in the creative industries in set design and construction. I think I am right in saying that we didn’t have enough craft and technical people to service both Game of Thrones and Dracula, so Dracula ended up flying a lot of people in with those traditional craft-skills. DQ: It’s not that long ago when we used to be told, there’s no point in going to Northern Ireland because they don’t have the

MARCH 2014

skills, they don’t have the trained people, or experienced directors, or experienced producers; even your actors don’t have the experience. But now you have the Conleth Hills, the Bronagh Gallaghers, even Jamie Dornan, these guys are now players in the American industry. I used to get begging phone calls from costumiers, because in the days when we did Give My Head Peace it was probably the only show in town. Now I am begging them, they are never out of work.

KMacA: And how difficult has that been thus far to access?

KMacA: What about the money, because that’s where it starts to get interesting from a business perspective?

IL: There are some specialist funds around that have been investing quite heavily and there has been a lot of taxed based investment. The likes of Ingenious Media are funding productions, but the money is not sitting here in Northern Ireland at the moment.

DQ: The most important word in ‘showbusiness’ is ‘business’. I think it needs to go on growing the indigenous film and television industry and that is inevitability going to involve the Government agencies. You have Northern Ireland Screen and down South you have the Irish Film Board. As a Northern production company you can link up with a Southern production company, you can access two lots of funding, what’s laughingly called the ‘soft money’, the money that’s supposed to be easy to get. What we need to do is to find a relationship with private business in Northern Ireland. You won’t last long on an overdraft on movies, it takes years to get them away. We have a few with NI Screen getting to the point where they are going to be financed but ultimately we are going to have to go for private money.

DQ: It’s known in the business as the last 25%, but in a strange kind of way you have to get the last 25% first. Because with NI Screen, the Irish Film Board, the British Film Institute, you don’t get money, you get a promise of money. In other words when your finance is in place we will put our money in and the only place you are going to go to get that 25% is the private sector.

RW: Attracting and facilitating private finance is in our top three priorities over the next phase. There is a lot of work to be done in terms of understanding the language, the terms and demands of private finance and in getting private finance to understand the sector. But I am optimistic. We are here because the whole business world in Northern Ireland is becoming more interested in this sector. IL: The likes of Danny Moore’s Loughshore Investments got involved in local production The Shore. So there is interest locally. RW: There are some really easy points of ›

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KMacA: This notion that the funding is crushed is wrong. There is a wall of money chasing better returns but there is not enough opportunity to place it. What are your other priorities Richard?

David Gavaghan

RW: Private finance is a big priority. Sustaining diversification is absolutely at the heart of it too. Game of Thrones is important and the animation sector is equally as important. Smaller scale television drama, gathering, the world of apps, mobile gaming, e-learning – we have to accelerate in that area over the next few years. Skills is a priority, as is strengthening local company

entry for investment; the only barrier is that they look a bit different. Because the banks stepped out of this space there’s maybe demand for £10m a year across our projects, which is lent against UK tax credits. You can’t say they are guaranteed but they are as close to a sure thing as you can get, and the going rate on that money is around 15%. I don’t know where else people are getting up to 15% on their money, they certainly won’t get it in a bank. If you put that sort of lending alongside EIS and SEIS, which are great tax mechanisms, it should be attractive. IL: The Government obviously recognises the potential of the sector but is there room for more financial incentives? RW: We started lobbying for a television drama tax credit for Northern Ireland, which was backed by the First and Deputy First Minster. That turned into a wider UK tax credit for high end film and television productions. Animation tax credits also came in which revolutionised the local animation sector overnight. With the tax credit and Professor Greg Maguire at the University of Ulster setting up an animation degree, plus the fact that we’re on an island with two tax regimes and a very developed animation sector in the South, suddenly we were absolutely top of the tree. When I look back over ten years, we have been well supported by Invest NI and well backed by DETI. Looking across the UK, we are ahead of the curve. EM: Richard you mentioned some of your priorities. What do other people

think the priorities should be? AW: We have got to make sure we match the work coming in with the skills we are creating and that we are not conveyor belting people out into the international market. Once you get the skill-sets right, once you get the training right it’s a very quick uptake. I suppose it’s up to the Northern Ireland sales team, whoever that may be, to try and fill the gaps that will eventually be left. IK: I would love to see a Northern Ireland based company making a show like The Fall for network television or a Northern Ireland based company making a £45m movie here. DQ: We do need that, and when we do, what we need to concentrate on is making a commercially viable feature film, that’s made here by a local firm. Once we break into that area that’s when you are going to get the growth. IK: Because if you were doing that Damon, you would create more local heads of department in all the production areas. That’s what a local company would do and it would start to cascade down, whereas if you are talking about a Fall or a Game of Thrones, they are still flying in those Heads of Department. DQ: The skills-base is there, it’s growing, and once the private sector sees that there’s money in this and they see that it’s commercially viable, it’s like any business.

ownership of the intellectual property for a higher percentage of the projects. So the priorities are diversification, private money, skills and strengthening the local industry. RMcC: As far as we’re concerned the key is mixing creativity with entrepreneurial skills; employing designers, construction people, electricians, plasterers. We are shopping around trying to find joiners and plasterers and guys who know what to do in the TV and film industry and they are becoming hard to find. So bring on the next wave. KMacA: It’s the same as in our industry to some extent where there’s a need to allow people to work outside of the geography on the basis that they come back and bring the skill-sets with them. EM: You are not just bringing those skills back but you are also promoting the territory while you are out there and that’s a big part of it. DG: I actually think it does need an organisation like PwC to start to put some definition around the opportunity. Unless you get good data it’s always difficult to focus on the opportunity and we are very poor, collectively in Northern Ireland, on good data. The Republic of Ireland is achieving what it’s achieving because there is a huge focus on competitiveness in the global market. In a global market what people are really interested in is how your place compares with the competitiveness of another place. This is a global market and if we want to be competitive and at the forefront we have to have the data.

Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s create something amazing together When we bring businesses and arts organisations together, amazing things happen. The outcomes, just like the examples showcased in the Allianz Arts & Business NI Awards are often unexpected, but always welcome. If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been inspired to make a cultural or corporate shift and in so doing increase sustainability, performance or community engagement, taking the first step couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be easier. Simply get in touch using the details listed below. You never know, you might just end up amazing yourself.

Call our Business Manager, Heather Carr on 028 9073 5150 or email h.carr@artsandbusinessni.org.uk

ALLIANZ ARTS & BUSINESS NI AWARDS

When culture and commerce collide, amazing things happen

he Allianz Arts & Business NI Awards ceremony which recently took place in the Ulster Hall was a fantastic celebration of some of the best partnerships between the cultural and corporate sectors in Northern Ireland. These prestigious awards showcase the best examples of the innovative and imaginative ways the arts can bring creativity into the workplace and deliver impressive business results. In total 11 awards were presented on the evening with the winners collecting unique sculptures by local artist Mark Revels. Guests, which included businesses and arts leaders were treated to a dazzling array of some of the best local artistic talent with entertainment provided by the Ulster Orchestra Brass Quintet, Sinéad Morrissey poet laureate for Belfast and recent winner of the TS Eliot Prize and rising stars of NI Opera Andrea Delaney and Aaron O'Hare, DU Dance (NI) and Square Pit.

Roisin McDonough, Chief Executive, ACNI; Máirtín Ó’Muilleoir, Belfast Lord Mayor; Minister, Arlene Foster MLA, DETI; Brendan Murphy, CEO, Allianz; Mary Trainor-Nagele, Chief Executive, Arts & Business NI; Dr Joanne Stuart, OBE, Chair Arts & Business NI; Dr Wendy Austin MBE, Broadcaster and Peter May, Permanent Secretary, DCAL.

Presenting the Allianz Arts & Business NI Awards Brendan Murphy, CEO, Allianz, congratulated the shortlisted partnerships and winners saying: ”It is always exciting to see how business, artists and arts bodies use their creativity and sometimes, their very different perspectives, to work with each other towards the delivery of frequently diverse objectives. All of the nominations and winners featured here tonight are outstanding examples of innovative collaborations which demonstrate exactly just what can be achieved in both a business and artistic context when creative engagement begins.”

Cultural Branding Award Sunflower Public House & Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival 2013 saw the formation of a dynamic new partnership which resulted in the Sunflower significantly increasing turnover during the Festival and firmly establishing its reputation as a progressive venue with an arts focus.

Community Award Herbert Smith Freehills LLP & The National Trust Theatre and sculpture combined as

history came alive at Rowallane Garden as local actors took visitors on a trip back through time to experience the National Trust estate. Herbert Smith Freehills staff scripted and directed “The Rowallane Plays” while University of Ulster students created truly wondrous sculptures which doubled up as seating creating an artistic legacy for the gardens.

Sustained Partnership Award Danske Bank & Cahoots NI This partnership began in 2008 when the theatre company’s interest in developing a production for schools and the bank’s interest in numeracy merged. Maths ‘a’ Magic was created and reinvigorated in 2012 to Lights

Camera Maths ‘a’ Magic with a new digital element. The show has toured to 362 primary schools and played to 23,000 pupils. Young People Award Stratagem & WheelWorks A project engaging young people aged 14 – 18 in ground breaking activity. Working alongside Wheelworks artists and professionals in the fields of disability, awareness and diversity. Young people increased their artistic skills as well as their knowledge in areas of community safety, diversity and lobbying for change. Employee Engagement Award Caffé Fresco & Alley Arts and Conference Centre Caffé Fresco joined forces with the Alley to explore staff development, motivation and awareness of the arts. Staff participated in a number of workshops facilitated by Cahoots NI. The culmination of this was a cabaret night featuring staff who performed a mix of dance, magic and music to a sold out restaurant.

ALLIANZ ARTS & BUSINESS NI AWARDS

member. Big Telly, based in Portstewart, is engaged in helping to establish a cultural identity for the town through a range of projects, most notably Big Sunday which is a cultural revival of a historical tradition in the town by facilitating arts related events.

Roisin McDonough, Chief Executive, ACNI; Martin Bradley, Chair, Millennium Forum Theatre & Conference Centre (Arts Award winner); Brendan Murphy, CEO, Allianz and Dr Joanne Stuart, OBE, Chair Arts & Business NI.

Arts Individual ofthe Year Award Sean Kelly, Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival Under Sean’s leadership (since its inception in 2000) the Festival has become a key event in the cultural calendar, now attracting over 60,000 attendees to over 150 events. Sean has been instrumental in this growth, consistently delivering an inclusive and eclectic quality programme which combines the best of international performers with local talent. Business Individual of the Year Award Dennis Monaghan, Ballyvesey Recycling Solutions & The Talent Tribe Dennis Monaghan has brought a wealth of both business experience and negotiation skills to The Talent Tribe. Committed

to helping young people secure as many opportunities as possible, Dennis’ engagement with the Talent Tribe has helped to ensure that they can make a difference by their work. Special Award AES AES have been awarded this Special Award in recognition of the incredible journey they have been on with the arts over a short two year period. They have partnered with the Ulster Orchestra, Cahoots NI and Cinemagic in a range of diverse projects involving employees, the local community and schoolchildren. Community Art Prize Big Telly Theatre Company This £2,000 prize supports a local community project nominated by an Allianz staff

Business of the Year Award Edwards & Co. Solicitors Edwards & Co. Solicitors, a progressive legal firm based in the Cathedral Quarter have integrated arts into all aspects of their organisation. Their partnership with Happenstance Theatre Company has evolved from hosting client events through to developing marketing material, new business development and the creation of corporate promotional videos. It has permeated all areas of the business with exemplary results. Arts Award Millennium Forum Theatre & Conference Centre The Millennium Forum who scooped the top prize have, in addition to their partnership with principal sponsor Danske Bank, developed community outreach work with Dunnes Stores, Foyleside, Diamond Corrugated, Derry News and City Cabs. Mary Trainor-Nagele, Chief Executive, Arts & Business Northern Ireland said: “These Awards showcase the power of creativity to transform business, to fire the imagination and to help drive business performance for both cultural and private sector companies.” Special thanks to: JTI, Diageo, Harrison Photography, Nicholson & Bass, Whitenoise, Image Zoo Media and Ibis Hotels. A&B NI’s principal funder is the Arts Council of NI. Find Arts & Business NI at: 028 9073 5150 Email: info@artsandbusinessni.org.uk Website: www.artsandbusinessni.org.uk Facebook: Arts & Business NI twitter: @arts_businessni

Dr Joanne Stuart, OBE, Chair Arts & Business NI; Dorcas Crawford, Edwards & Co. Solicitors (Business of the Year winner); Brendan Murphy, CEO, Allianz and Roisin McDonough, Chief Executive, ACNI.

MARCH 2014

CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY

NI companies are one in a million for Prince’s Trust

he Prince’s Trust and six of Northern Ireland’s leading companies celebrated the mammoth achievement of collectively raising an impressive £70,600 for the charity through its Million Makers Challenge. All the funds raised will help turn around the lives of disadvantaged young people in Northern Ireland. With the offer of seed funding from The Prince’s Trust, the seven finalists pitted their commercial and creative skills against each other to run the most profitable mini enterprise over the past six months. Abbey Bond Lovis, Adelaide Insurance, Asidua Software Consultancy, Junior Chamber International, ShredBank, Ulster Bank and a team from The Prince’s Trust programme staff undertook a wide range of activities including organising boxing matches, pub quizzes, abseils and tea parties to maximise the funds donated to the charity.

The team from Asidua.

Adelaide Insurance scooped the top prize raising an astonishing £17,700 through White Collar Boxing, a pub quiz, Christmas Jumper day and many more activities. Sam Geddis, Director of Adelaide Insurance said: “We brought together a team from our middle management to compete in the Million Maker’s Challenge. It was the perfect opportunity for the whole team to develop their skills and realise their potential in a simulated commercial environment. We had some pleasant surprises along the way with a few “dark horses” coming to the fore demonstrating newly acquired leadership and delegation skills. I am delighted with the outcome, for both The Prince’s Trust and our team members, 75% of whom secured promotions in their jobs over the course of the competition.” Ian Jeffers, Director of The Prince’s Trust in Northern Ireland said: “This year’s Million Makers teams have shown an extraordinary amount of creativity and tenacity to raise £70,000 in just six months. This challenge requires lots of enthusiasm and sheer determination which these companies have clearly demonstrated. The importance of this joined-up working with the Private Sector cannot be underestimated both in terms of the funds raised to support local disadvantaged young people but also by raising awareness of the many issues that our young people face in daily life.” For further information please contact: Catriona Couston on 028 9089 5021 or Catriona.couston@princes-trust.org.uk

Philip Bain and James Carson from ShredBank with Arlene Creighton from The Prince’s Trust.

Pictured l-r are: Susie Cuthill, The Prince’s Trust; Janette Gill and Thomas McCafferty from Adelaide Insurance.

Flags, firebombs & flashbacks

Executive Motoring

By Pat Burns