Carney says it best when he talks about a new air of positivity in Waterford and the South East and we are certainly feeling it in Waterford Chamber. We have never been so busy with events, stakeholder engagements and extensive lobbying activity, which you will see outlined in the following pages.However, the energy crisis is looming large and is a genuine concern among the business community. We understand that a lot of our members are facing into the winter months with trepidation and we want to assure you we are doing everything we can to support you.Throughout the pages of Network, you will find tips and advice and we encourage you all to take a serious look at the grants and supports that are out there.
Our Toys4Engineers Conference & Expo is just around the corner, taking place in SETU Arena on Thursday, October 6th and this will also have a Green Energy theme running through it, with world-class speakers at our conference and companies from all over Ireland showcasing their technologies and innovations. I invite you to take time out of your day and come along between 9am and 3pm, take
in the atmosphere, play with some ‘toys’ but most importantly network with the exhibitors who might just be able to help you on your business journey.
Waterford is a fantastic city with a bright future and in this issue we hear those at the cutting edge of the latest technologies and we also meet some new companies who have very bright futures.
We hope to see many of these companies and more enter our Waterford Business Awards, which open for application from September 30th and we look forward to celebrating as a business community at our Gala Awards event in Faithlegg in February.
Before that we have our black tie Annual Dinner, which will be held in the Tower Hotel on November 4th and we are delighted to announce our guest speaker is Claire Cronin, US Ambassador to Ireland.
An action-packed autumn and winter schedule lies ahead and we look forward to your company along the way.
Gerald Hurley CEO, Waterford Chamber“We face a difficult Christmas, but not a disastrous one.”
– Shane Conneely
“I want people to see the prosperity I see Waterford.”in
– Thomas Hennessy
“Sustainability actions start at home.”
– John McSweeney
“There is definitely a feeling of the region moving forward.”
– Patsy Carney
– JohnEveryEventGrubb,
“Waterford with Lynda Lawton Michael Lynagh
“We’re pleased to see the impact of our donations in Waterford.”
– John Curtin,IrelandAldi
“We are creating the ultimate 10th birthday for Winterval this Christmas.”
“Waterford has a great history of success in the Excellence Kjell Nolke
By JOHN MCSWEENEY, President, Waterford Chamber
What is it, and as the say ing goes, “Charity”, or in this case, “Sustainability begins at Sustainabilityhome?”focuses on meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. It also infers that society ben efits as does the quality of lives. Sustainability is often associated with climate change, largely caused by industrial practices. This has come even more into focus with COVID-19 as the understanding grows of the impact of a small change in our ecosystem and how it can have such detrimental and wide-reaching effect on the health and economies of countries across theButglobe.Sustainability is not just about the environment. It is made up of three components: Economy, Society and Environment; in other words Profit, People and Planet. These three components are integrated and the impact of all three needs to be understood when making business decisions that are responsible and sustainable. Having a strong focus on sustainability is not just because it
is the right thing to do, it is because it presents significant business opportunities as well as being a business imperative.
So, let’s bring this back closer to home, leaving the commercial aspect to look at what we do as individuals and families to play our part and to consider our own actions that drive this thought process, the consideration and the ability for populations to contrib ute to increased awareness and even more importantly, actions that are the foundation for future generations.Oneofthe most important actions that anyone can undertake about Sustainability is to:
• Get educated
• Change your understandingown
• Educate others
Many families’ approaches reflect the common green, brown and black bins lined up to welcome their contents each week. There is a relief in being able to segregate the waste, know where it’s going to be changed into other product, not adding to the stockpile going to landfill and generating compost at a
later stage. So, a move to a more localised Reduce, Reuse and Recycle approach and a simpler understanding for families to take onWhilstboard.business and corpora tions create the big shift required to met Sustainability metrics, the ability of everyone to impact in their own spaces, educate others and bring this education to bear on colleagues in the workplace remain critical in sustaining the change required of society.
A simple test: when you next dis pose of an item, think where it will end up next. We have to move on from a “that’s my problem solved approach”, your actions do count, as much at home as in business.
Sustainability actions start at home, we don’t need others. Think, act and protect our future generations.
Q: Can you tell us a little bit about the Regional Enterprise Plan for those who might not be familiar?
A: The plan is developed through consultation with key stakeholders in the region, it involves the col laboration of the enterprise agen cies, LEOs, regional assembly, local authorities, the chambers, higher and further education bodies, research and innovation centres, and, of course, industry and private sector representatives. The idea is to get people working together on new initiatives that are additional to their business-as-usual activity and that either address a gap the region has or take advantage of an opportunity.
Q: What is the focus of the plan to 2024?
A: The plan is based around five strategic pillars. ‘Start and Grow’ looks at encouraging entrepre neurship and also how we assist companies to make the journey from start-up to scaling.
Our second pillar, ‘Green Growth’, looks at how we can take advantage of opportunities in the green economy while playing our part in tackling climate change.
The third pillar, ‘Smart Specialisation and Clustering’, seeks to further advance our thriv ing clusters in Financial Services, ICT, Engineering, and the Life Sciences.‘Innovate’ is our fourth pil lar and aims to place research,
development, and innovation at the heart of the South East economy. And our fifth pillar, ‘Place’, is about enhancing our region both for those who live and work here as well as those tourists who visit here.
Q: Has there been much pro gress on actions in the plan to date?
A: Funding is critical to moving most of the actions along. So a lot of the focus has been on identifying appropriate funds for each action and going after them. We were pleased that the region secured €785k of funding for eight scoping and feasibility projects in the recent Regional Enterprise Innovation Scoping Scheme (REISS) call from
The South East Regional Enterprise Plan (REP) to 2024 was launched in March of this year by new Chair Patsy Carney. Here he speaks to Lynda Lawton about the progress of the Regional Enterprise Plan to date and the overall economic development of the region.Enterprise Ireland. That figure represents around 22% of the total REISS funding that was on offer in the country which is a good return for the region. It also represents some really good work going on by regional stakeholders who are identifying opportunities and preparing successful applications.
Q: What do the funded projects relate to?
A: There is a great spread of projects that reflect the wide range of sectoral activity currently hap pening in the region. The projects will look at the development of new initiatives such as a Financial Services Centre of Excellence, a South East IT Academy, and a Sustainable Construction Centre of Excellence.Therewill be advancements to the ongoing work at SEAM in SETU and Kinetic Labs in workLAB. And there is a project exploring the smart use of public data and one examining opportuni ties in the bioeconomy. These all relate back to identified actions in the REP so it is good to see progress being made on those.
Q: What are the next steps for the plan moving into 2023?
A: There are larger funding op portunities coming and it is critical that we get ready to take advantage of those. The eight funded scoping and feasibility projects will be car ried out now with a view to prepar ing to apply for future funding and there are other actions in the plan that will also start to move along. Our overarching goal for this plan has always been to secure funding to properly develop actions rather than being at risk of just talking about them in workshops.
Q: How do you feel the year has gone so far for economic development in the region?
A: There are a lot of positive developments happening. We had the establishment of the South East
Technological University (SETU) in May. We’ve also had major FDI announcements in the Life Science sector with Abbott announcing a new manufacturing site in Kilkenny that will create 1,000 jobs, MSD constructing a new facility in Carlow, and in Waterford, Horizon Therapeutics are to expand their development and manufacturing facility creating a further 350 jobs over time. On the infrastructural side of things ambitious plans for offshore wind development have been presented by Rosslare Harbour and Waterford Port, and there appears to be very positive investment activity in Waterford Airport. So there is definitely a feeling of the region moving forward as we came out of the pandemic this year.
Q: You mentioned the launch of SETU am I right in saying that there are strong links between the new plan and the new TU?
Yes, the plan takes the view that education, skills and innovation are central to regional economic development and so the establish ment of the SETU represents a huge opportunity for the region. Our aim was to align the REP as closely as possible to the TU to ensure the new university is genu inely transformative for enterprise in our region, as well as all the other benefits the university will bring. Similar to our plan, funding is critical to the development of the SETU and it is crucial that the region keeps asking for significant third level funding to be secured.
Q: Do you see a lot of opportu nity for the region over the next few years?
A: We are home to some really great indigenous companies who are expanding all the time. And we are proving to be a really attractive region for both inward investment and for talented people to live and work here. The pandemic saw some trends emerge that are great opportunities for the South East such as the move to remote working and the focus on the need for quality-of-life for employees. The shift in employee mindsets to liveability means our value propo sitions of Ireland’s best weather, longest beaches and unique mix of history and culture are now to the fore.We need to keep developing our clusters, our research and innovation capacity, and ensuring that SETU is aligned with industry and acts as an enabler for growth. We need to ensure that the next generation of start-ups have the resources and support to scale-up significantly. If we keep working on all of these different building blocks I have no doubt that there is a great future for the South East.
Visit www.irelandsoutheast.com to learn more about economic develop ment in the South East.
Waterford and innovation go hand-in-hand with new high potential start-ups coming on-stream every year. They receive fantastic support through programmes like New Frontiers and the Waterford Local Enterprise Office, among others. Here we take a look at just some of who are making waves and are the ones the watch for the future.
Tailr is redefining production for the clothing industry, bringing innovation to an ar chaic system via a cloud-based platform that delivers a unique combination of sizing and production features including tech pack generation, quality control and ease of integration.
O'Connell Whiskey Merchants are based in The Workhouse Kilmacthomas and were the Waterford overall winner of the Local Enterprise Awards in 2022. In less than three years they have made significant strides and are today a highly regarded premium whiskey producer.
They are a very different kind of whiskey maker, they do not have a distillery and are not trying to build one. They source, mature, blend and bottle the best spirits they can find, too curate a bottle and cask library like no other seen in Ireland. They bring a modern, eclectic perspective to whiskey, while maintaining a respect for the heritage of the category.
Already exporting to 10 international markets they have invested heavily in a state of the art facility in Kilmacthomas where they apply their own custom software to manage their process while utilising the founders past in NFC technology to play a key role.
Tailr helps clothing brands streamline production, achieve sustainability goals and ensure sizing is consistent from season to season.
They are winners of the New Startup Category of the 2021 InterTradeIreland Seedcorn Competition, the first company from Waterford to win the final national award.
Tailr launched their test plat form earlier this year achieving 80% time reduction in creating garment tech packs and saved 24 product lines from being sampled incorrectly, saving instantly three months off production time.
O'Connell Whiskey MerchantsKlearcom helps Multinational Contact Center’s avoid voice outages on their domestic call path from the Toll Free Number/DID, through the IVR and down to End Agent in each country globally.
When problems do arise Klearcom say they find them faster, fixing them sooner. Their AI based platform will automatically analyze the full customer call path, benchmark performance and alert on every single issue. Using Machine Learning, Automatic Speech Recognition and Audio Fingerprinting Klearcom provide an holis tic view of the call from customer to agent using a single test and platform.
In dynamic environments where systems are being reconfigured daily Klearcom clients will answer more calls, generate more revenue and provide a greater quality of service.
When Ben Cronin founded Global Business Register Ltd, originally EBR Direct, in 2007, his goal was to give customers access to the best primary sources available. After working with thousands of clients across various industries, he realized that primary source data could only be best-in-class if it could be verified in real-time.
Recognizing that there was a lack of Ultimate Beneficial Owner data on the market, Ben teamed up with industry leaders to establish UBO Service in 2020. Through an entirely transparent and ac cessible declaration process, UBO Service not only provides you with reliable data that exceeds compliance requirements but also enables you to make better business decisions.
Li-ChargiFi are an award-winning poultry technology business providing a proprietary solution to improve the welfare of broiler chickens on the farm and the profitability of poultry companies using a data-driven approach enabled by cutting-edge computer vision and artificial intelligence.
They are committed to changing the conventional way of broiler chicken farming by providing a cost-effective solution to digitalize farm operations. Li-ChargiFi collect up to 100,000 data points every month from a single farm using various electronic sensors operating 24/7, sensors capture information including temperature, humidity, air quality, and light intensity inside the farm where broiler chickens areLi-ChargiFihoused.
are trialing their system at various sites in India and Ireland and have been shortlisted for Innovation arena awards at the National Ploughing Championship 2022. Their short-term goal is to raise investment to grow their headcount and reach broiler chicken producers in the EU in 2023.
HomeBidding is a real-time bidding solution for buying and selling property online for estate agents
streamlinesHomeBidding’sinternationally.technologythecomplexities of the selling process for all par ties involved in a fast, efficient and transparent manner. The product is currently being finalised, and trialled in Ireland and Cyprus before a full launch later this year. The founders are currently seeking investment to realise their ambitious plans of scaling in multiple countries.
Asthe late 80s brought the lengthening of dole queues and a cloud of depres sion and recession hung over the county, an ambitious young Ferrybank man, who had just completed his Leaving Certificate, took stock and decided to join the thousands of others in search of the AmericanThomasdream.Hennessy left his beloved Waterford with “a few bucks in my pocket and a fire in my belly” and now over three decades later he has returned to the city of his birth to share his business and life experience as the Manager of ArcLabs Incubation Centre, while Dr Aisling O’Neill enjoys her maternity leave.
While home, Tom will also join the Waterford Chamber Regional Leaders Programme as a mentor for the next programme, which commences in late September.
Tom holds a B.S. degree in Business Administration from
the University of Baltimore and a Master of Professional Services Degree in ness“scratchIreland.”aboutmyselftoupliverelativesbewasn’tWashingtontheSuirMaryland.HopkinsdentsentrepreneurshipistheInnovationEntrepreneurship,andLeadershipfromUniversityofMaryland.HeanAdjunctProfessorteachingtograduatestuattheworld-renownedJohnUniversityinBaltimore,HavingleftthebanksoftheforMaryland,TomthoughtbrightlightsofNewYorkorwouldbeckon,butthattobe.“JustlikemypeersIwantedtoabletochasemydreams.IhadinBaltimoreandIwenttowiththeminitiallyandendedstayinginMaryland.I’mgratefulhavemadeaverynicelifeforbutwasalwayscuriouscomingbacktoworkinTomisnowinapositiontothatitch”,puttinghisbusiintheUnitedStatesonhold
for a year. Most recently Tom was the president of his own healthcare consulting business named Agile Solutions in Health Care where he advised the United States Government on requests from states for federal funds related to designing, developing and main taining large IT systems tied to federal social service programs.
Tom has worked in the public sector in the United States for the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services, while also holding several senior executive positions in the United States private sector.
“When I left Waterford, there were no opportunities and no advice on how to adopt entrepre neurial processes. If I can provide advice and people can learn from my meandering journey, then this will have been a success for me.
“I came across ArcLabs when a student in John Hopkins made
By LYNDA LAWTON, Waterford Chamber
Thomas Hennessy, ArcLabs
me aware of it and I was really impressed. I came back over the Christmas holidays and formed a strong relationship with Aisling. Then when the position became available, I decided the time was right to apply and I am fortunate enough to be able to put my work in the States on hold for a year. Thankfully as I have dual citizen ship, it has been a hassle-free process.“I’mso excited about this opportunity and look forward to putting my own stamp on it while I’m here. I want people to see the prosperity I see in Waterford. It’s
connected with your family. You won’t have to leave like I did.
“Saying that, I have no regrets, my journey has brought me home and I now have the opportunity to apply what I have learned over the past 30 years and share that with folks here.
“I have always followed what’s been going on in Waterford in terms of business. The Crystal closure was a huge set back, but Waterford is rebranding itself and embracing technology and innovation. Transitions like this don’t occur overnight. If successful, they can take decades. You can’t just change from a manufacturing, industrial city to now being driven by innovation and tech. It’s an evolution and I credit ArcLabs and SETU for a lot of that.”
Tom sees SETU and the bring ing together of the Waterford and Carlow campuses as an “opportuni ty for greater things for the region” and intends to bring ArcLabs right along with it.
hard sometimes when you’re in it to see the positives and focus more on what we don’t have. Over the years, I was removed enough to see that prosperity. I want people to believe that there are a lot of great things going on here, especially in technology and innovation, and if you apply yourself you can find the career you want and stay
“SETU, and by extension ArcLabs, are going to go through significant changes and will have a lot more resources at its disposal to allow us work at a global level. That larger profile will push us in a different direction and I’m very excited to see where it will lead to and see Professor Campbell put her stamp on the university. I believe it
will get the institution the recogni tion it deserves.”
As Tom settles into his new role, he is taking every opportunity to be a tourist in his home town and, as an avid hiker, he is in his element. “This is my third trip this year alone. I came for just four days to do the Comeragh Challenge and I’ve also explored the Greenway, the Anne Valley Walk, Tramore, the Vee, the Dunmore Cliff Walk, it’s all been incredible. Twenty or thirty years ago we never took advantage of our natural assets and I’m so happy to see people appre ciate it
“Waterfordnow. is the prettiest place to live in Ireland with all the natural resources at our disposal and with a growing economy, people are no longer forced to move to Cork or Dublin, or abroad as it my case, to get jobs and follow their career aspirations.“Howlucky am I that I can be here at this exciting time?”
Tom joins the Regional Leaders Programme as a mentor for the up coming year. To find out more, please see www.waterfordchamber.ieArcLabs,Carriganore
SETU, and
Waterford Chamber’s Toys4Engineers 2022 is taking place from 3rd to 7th October 2022 with a live Expo and Conference at the SETU Arena, Waterford on 6th October 2022 in partnership with Engineering the South East and sponsored by Energia.
Now in its fifth year, this is a must-attend national event for anyone in Engineering, Tech, Pharma and Renewable Energy Industries or anyone with an interest in new and emerging technologies.Ifyouarelooking to showcase your product, share ideas or learn the latest innovations in technology, we would be delighted if you would consider attending. SETU Arena will be trans formed into a hub of technology and innovation as companies from all over the country will come to showcase at Toys4Engineers, which offers exceptional value, with stands starting at just €450+VAT.
10.00 National & Regional Innovation and the Green Deal
– Grace O’Sullivan MEP
10.15 Green Cities and Regions
– Claus Habfast, Grenoble EU Green City 2022
10.30 Green Technology – Smart Places and Sustainability: Accelerating Innovation to meet the climate emergency
– Bill Wilson, Head of Data & Sustainability Solutions at NTT DATA UK
10.45 Green Transport
– Stephen Kent, Chief Executive Officer, Bus Éireann
11.00 Green Hydrogen – A Pathway to Decarbonisation for Ireland’s Gas Network
– Roibeard Long, Gas Networks Ireland
11.15 Green Buildings
– John Lacy, SIEMENS Smart Building Solutions
11.30 Green Manufacturing – Closing the Circular Innovation Gap
– David McCormack, Director of Sustainable Manufacturing, IMR
11.45 Green Energy Transition – Q&A Session led by Energia with Grainne Kennedy, Climate Action Coordinator, Waterford Council; Dr Jonathan Downey, MonoBIOlogics; Andrew Lynch, Chief Innovation Officer, IMR; Alexandra Hamilton, Senior Energy Engineer, 3CEA and Chair of Association Irish Energy Agencies.
12.10 Closing Remarks
TheNational Planning Framework and Project Ireland 2040 assessment is that a stronger Waterford City is required to sustain and grow the wider South-East region. The South-East has experienced a more unsteady economic recovery than the national average in recent years, together with high unemployment rates, lower value job opportuni ties and less job creation. There is a wide structural gap between the region’s economy and our national economy. It is widely understood that this gap requires game-changing initiatives and the region’s priority is to achieve comparable infrastructure and investment to other Irish city-regions particularly in education, transport and healthcare.
Whilst these initiatives have been conceptual ized, advanced and promoted within the region, they require equal access to national resources and Government support.
Added to this is the ever-increasing cost of living which is having a huge effect on families, added to already existing pressure zones, such as housing, retail spend and tourism.
The priority in Budget 2023 must be to take swift and tangible steps to inject momentum and confidence into the South East economy to ensure the targets of the Ireland 2040 plan are not missed. Primarily, it must be designed for families, for those facing mount ing costs in their daily lives so that the immediate future will not impact them for years to come in terms of education, housing or lifestyle choices.
For generations, Waterford and the South-East region has enthusiastically sought a university as the defini tive economic, social and cultural game-changer for the region. The new technological university has the potential to address that need — but only if resourced on an equal footing to universities and technological universities in other regions.
There is no dispute as to the fact that there is a funding crisis in Irish higher education for some time. Now, support the Chairman of the SETU Governing Body, Dr Patrick Prendergast in his recommendation that Government must move rapidly to agree and implement a solution. While student numbers have increased by about one-third in the last decade and continue to rise, State funding per student in the form of the core grant has fallen by almost 40%. This is unsustainable. South East Technological University is
SETU Waterford Cork Road Campus
Waterford Chamber continues to lobby extensively for its members and follow our recent consultations, below is our Budget Submission which has been to sent to Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe and other Senior Ministers. This will also form the basis for our meeting with An Tanaiste Leo Varadker in October.
a new dawning for the South East region and must be supported through equitable funding to enable growth and prosperity, with a 6% increase of students planned byWe2030.are
committed to ensuring that our university continues to provide the pipeline of high-quality talent through our ongoing engagement with the SETU Governing Body, while we also want to see the enhancement of research and innovation to for the benefit of the regional economy and Irish society overall. In this regard, there is a need for sustained additional investment in research and innovation to enable Ireland to compete effectively with other small open economies in Europe.
1. Enact the borrowing framework for the new regional university to enable it to access European Investment Bank funding.
2. Support the acquisition and development of the additional lands and building on the Cork Road, Waterford campus.
3. This measure is required to allow the new technological university to double the Waterford footprint through the strategic campus develop ment outlined in the Draft Waterford City and County Development Plan 2022—2028.
4. Support a revised HEA funding model to support regional higher education service provision on an equitable basis.
Waterford is now a University City, with a growing population, as outlined in NPF and with a 6% increase of students planned by 2030. That is in addition to the following data and must be taken into consideration.
(a) Waterford urban area is the fifth largest em ployment area in the state, with a day-time working population of 28,000. Breakdown of 28,000 workers:
• Residing in Waterford: 15,000
• Commuting from Waterford County: 6,600
• Commuting from Kilkenny: 3,800
• Commuting from Wexford: 1,300
• Commuting from Tipperary: 1,100
• Commuting from Elsewhere: 200
Therefore, 13,000 workers commute into Waterford City everyday.
(b) In addition to the 28,000 day-time working population of the Waterford urban area, there are 4,000 workers in Waterford City who reside in the city but commute outside of the urban area to their place of Thework.city needs to retain the goal of becoming a vibrant hub and gateway for the South East. It needs to be a city of easy access for visitors, locals and students. It needs to be a city where it is comfortable and hassle-free to visit or do business.
In this regard, greater investment is needed as Waterford’s population continues to grow in line with Project Ireland 2040. Infrastructural investment is required within the city centre, as well as better con nectivity with surrounding townlands and neighbour ing counties.
Moreover, Waterford Chamber support a dedicated high-speed rail return route to Dublin, which needs to be considered in the broader context of public transport connectivity. Waterford is the closest city to Dublin and a high-speed train would offer a very viable alternative to commuters. It would also offer a viable alternative to employers to locate in Waterford. A high-speed train would support the greater aspira tions of the 2040 NPF. Viable public transport alterna tives are required to foster growth and development.
Waterford Chamber continues to believe that our rail network is currently under-utilised in the whole of the South-East Region. We are the only city in the country with direct access between a port and rail network. This needs to be recognised nationally.
Similar to rail freight, rail transportation for passen gers to the South-East needs further consideration as part of the wider rail transport strategy. We note that an “all island strategic rail review” is yet to be com pleted and ask our observations be considered during the implementation process.
Waterford Chamber fully supports the development of Waterford Airport and seeks appropriate funding be made available to ensure viability. This is particularly important in light of the chaos experienced in Dublin Airport, which has highlighted the urgent need for fully functioning regional airports.
Tourism is an integral part of the economic develop ment of the wider Waterford region and direct flights to the South East will be imperative for domestic travel.From
a business perspective we know from our members that a fully functioning airport was high up on their priority lists. It will be integral to economic growth and attracting foreign investment.
Plunkett Station, WaterfordIt is also important in terms of the new SETU as we understand from the new President Veronica Campbell that attracting global students, researchers and academics will be a key part of SETU’s strategic plan.There
are a wealth of business opportunities that will open up at the Airport Business Park as well, not least for freight and private aircrafts but also in terms of aircraft maintenance and related services.
Getting this right is hugely important and swift action is critical.
N24
Consideration must also be given to upgrading the N24 from Rosslare to Limerick, through the M8 in Cahir.
The N24 Limerick—Waterford route features some of the worst stretches of national primary road in the country and disconnects Waterford and the South East from the Limerick/Midwest and Galway/West Regions. This also means these regions have impaired access to/ from the Europort in Rosslare which is many visitors’ entry-point to Ireland.
On completion, connectivity between the cities of Cork, Limerick, Waterford, and Galway will be ensured in a speedy, cost-effective manner enabling the four city regions to become a very real and viable counterbalance to growth and development in the Dublin region.
takes years to even get a diagnosis and years more to actually get any form of intervention.
Ironically, parents are given HSE support in terms of counselling, which is very important, but the children are offered little or nothing.
Surely you invest in the child from the outset and this will save the Government in the long term as without intervention, problems and difficulties only escalate over time and result in the need for even moreRightservices.now,parents are forced to get private assis tance, which is extremely costly and given the rising cost of living, this is no longer a viable option for many.Even if people can still afford the services, they are in so much demand now that it can take months to even be seen, if at all. Many service providers are not in a position to even take on new clients.
In terms of the economy, none of this makes sense. We are losing skilled people at a time when businesses are crying out for staff and we are doing nothing to support the families when they do leave the workforce.Thisneeds to be addressed in this budget for once and for all. Funding needs to be made available so chil dren get the support they need, but also parents need to be retained within the workforce so we can grow our economy and address the skills shortage. There is a huge cohort of people out there willing to and want ing to work, but simply can’t. This is not acceptable.
This regional ‘model four’ hospital provides services to a patient catchment of over 530,000 this is without any population increase envisaged within the Ireland 2040 plan and the present program for Government.
There is an abhorrent lack of support for working parents in terms of childcare and services for those with disabilities. Parents are being forced to choose between their family and careers, with many highly skilled professionals having to leave employment to act as carer for their children.
Even if they can remain in full or part-time employ ment, parents of children with disabilities are expected to be carer, occupational therapist, councillor, physi otherapist and much more within the confines of their home because there simply is no support available to them. The support being offered by the HSE is not fit for purpose, it’s letter after letter but no action. It
The population of Waterford City and County grew by over 9% since the last census reflecting some of the highest population growth in the country. In addition, University Hospital Waterford is receiving patient referral from 10 different counties and this reflects the increased multidisciplinary service and activity taking place at this hospital. To reflect this growth and service diversity we would ask for the following service provision planning to be supported within the upcoming budget programme:
• A planned increase in cardiac service personnel in order to deliver a 24/7 acute cardiac care service at UHW at present the South East remains the only region in the country without a 24/7 cardiac rescue service.
• Double our intensive care bed capacity in this hospital from the existing six ICU and four HDU beds which are largely inadequate to properly support the medical clinical and trauma activity this hospital is dealing with on a daily basis.
• Provide funding to place this hospital on a peer footing with the other eight model ‘4’s in this country many of these are dealing with a
University Hospital Waterfordsignificantly smaller patient catchment. The eco nomic benefits of same would align consistently with the government program which identities Waterford as the economic gateway and driver of the South East region.
At the time of writing of this submission Waterford city area has suffered five suicides in less than eight days one of these was a consultant in University Hospital Waterford, another was a porter with extended years of service in the hospital. The adult mental health facilities at University Hospital Waterford have been identified for a significant capital upgrade for many years and indeed an outline plan exists to develop a new adult mental health facility within the grounds of University Hospital Waterford. This capital project has been the subject of two grants each of €100,000 to develop design plans and associated capital costs structure.Wewould argue that this mental health facility needs to be delivered as soon as possible so that those working in the service can be supported to the greatest possible degree. At present issues with the existing unit, which was a remodified part of the hospital, have made the working environment difficult and as a result staff turnover and recruitment is a significant problem within this service. We would ask that the Minister ensures provision is made within his budget programme to ring fence development monies for this much needed public health support for the people of Waterford and the South East.
As part of this programme it is envisaged that rea lignment of hospital networks and community care pathways will occur. In the South East region this means the joining together of Ch 05 and Ch 06 com munity activities with the existing South East hospitals network. We would ask that provision is made within the budget to accelerate this process at hospital group level considering community care activity has already begun to direct activity in this way.
We would ask Government to consider creating additional Capital allowances for the development of nursing and residential home care - this to reflect the significant increased burden on society and under existing healthcare structures of the fact that we have an aging population and greater longevity of life. We would also ask Government to review the rate of sub vention it provides to private nursing home care which is often less than half of what it is providing for a weekly care at HSE-run centres. In addition, we would ask that Government give significant consideration to reform of the present work permit scheme in relation to low and high skilled health care workers the
present system is too prescriptive and is taking far too long sometimes up to 12 months to gain clearance for non EU citizens to take up work activity in healthcare sectors in Ireland.
Waiting lists have become chronic for public patients who wish to access dental care by means of pay related social insurance contributions. Many dentists have removed themselves from the service list citing the rate of pay and the difficulties in administration and recouping costs. The result is now waiting lists extending beyond 12 months and more which is lead ing to increased care requirements from what started as a routine Employeeproblem.PRSIaswell as the universal social charge are seen negatively by the workforce particularly when the supposed benefits cannot be accessed to any degree we feel there is opportunity to remedy this situation and we would ask Government to deal ef fectively with it in the context of the upcoming budget.
Government made meaningful improvements to ac cessing the ‘fair deal’ support system to assist with resi dential care costs. One of these areas was allowing the vacated property of a fair deal recipient to be placed into the rental market with the corresponding income less charges being available to support residential care requirements. We would ask that Government initiate this action so that fair deal recipients may benefit but also that vacant available housing should come into the rental market.
The government has announced its intention to bring in a statutory sick pay scheme for all private sector workers. One of the shortcomings highlighted within such a scheme is the need for a medical certificate to be provided by a GP to confirm sickness on the day are for a number of days. We would ask that Government give clarity to some support agreement that would alleviate the cost impacts for those who are already on low pay or who qualify for a low rate of pay under the statutory sick pay programme.
Waterford Chamber presents the above submission based on consultation with its vast membership and seeks Government’s intervention on the highlighted points as a matter of urgency within the impending Budget.
Fitzgerald Power were recently announced winners of the Best Medium Practice Award at the The Irish Accountancy Awards. Here they offer advice on Succession Planning, an essential aspect of business development.
With Her Majesty The Queen’s passing and Charles III’s ascension into the role of King, succession planning is on the mind of many – here is everything you need to know about the passing on of your business.Royalists, family business owners and indeed followers of Kendall Roy might already have a vested interest in the area of business succession planning, but for those unsure of its boundaries, this one’s for you. Succession planning is the process of identifying and developing potential future leaders and senior managers, as well as
individuals, to fill business-critical roles, if a current post-holder leaves the organisation (Charles has literally been in training for this role for 73 years and in some way so has William; business succession planning at its most astute, one mightAccordingsay). to the National Association of Corporate Directors, fewer than one in four private company boards say they have a formal succession plan. This process is oftentimes shelved, deprioritised under the challenges of the present. Ultimately, however, the reasons people avoid succes sion planning aren’t as important as
the reasons they should embrace it. Many of the steps needed to de duce your successional heir are the same whether the company is little or large (think your local pharmacy or the contemporary nonconstitu tional roles that make up the British Empire). There are five in total, all centred around what is best for you and your business, meaning your employees, key customers and sup pliers (your Harrys, your Meghans and some 70+ colonised countries around the world) will all feel you are taking their individual needs into consideration too. Splendid.
Do you have a clear idea of what your business is before creating your succession leadership plan? Will they bow, crash your jeep or do a viral interview with Oprah?Once you do, choosing a new head of state will be far easier. To do this you must:
• Suss out exactly what you need from your succes sor; roles, skills and personality.
• Deduce what your company needs from your successor; someone well-trained, someone with fresh perspectives, someone who will feed 4,000 corgis etc.
• Make sure you are clear about your expectations, e.g. ‘No divorced American actresses need apply’.
You’ll need a game plan here. Think Mosney, but with more at stake. Consider the following:
Where do you want to be as a business? How would you avoid an annus horribilis? Does your business have any specific vulnerabilities that may affect your succession plan? (For example, a high percentage of employees that are due to retire soon) Have you considered adjusting your hiring strategy to account for successor roles? Et cetera.
The key here is to be as proactive as possible with your strategy. Anticipate potential gaps in your workforce before they occur.
And now, what we’ve all been waiting for; who’s getting the gig?
Previous steps will have guided you well with this one, but generally speaking, the best candidates will be supportive, proactive and adaptable to boot.
Objectivity here is key, especially for family business owners out there.
The most effective way to do this is by using suc cession planning tools and metrics, speaking to other people in the business, and thinking astutely about what your empire needs.
As soon as you’ve decided on the shortlist, get them in check by suiting and booting them with professional development plans. Tailor them to each individual’s needs; what skills would benefit them? Are there any knowledge gaps they might need to address?
Create individual development plans (make them curtsy), offer formal training (call you ‘Your Majesty’) and encourage continuous feedback and communica tion (introduce a Black Rod continuously as you go).
Congrats! You’ve reached the final stage. This involves the implementation of your business succession plan and will usually be a gradual transition (and hopefully does not involve death).
Introduce candidates to their mentors, if you are us ing them, and encourage them to meet regularly. This will show your employees that you support their pro fessional development, and you can see that they have potential. Most importantly, make sure you collect regular feedback to see how your individual develop ment plans are progressing, and if potential candidates are on track to reach their succession objectives.
And there you have it! War of the Roses avoided, and sure if those steps aren’t for you – you can just make up a whole new system altogether, as Henry VIII did.
FitzGerald Power are as much a team of creative entrepreneurs as they are accountants and are passion ate about supporting those of you driving innovation – empowering you to convert your ideas into realities.
Stuart Fitzgerald, Managing Partner, is a mentor on the Regional Leaders Programme offering participants advice on succession planning and many other aspects of business growth and development. For more see www. fitzgeraldpower.ie
Onehundred retailers from around the country have recently been named as the Top 100 Stores in Ireland by Retail Excellence, the largest retail industry representative organisa tion in Ireland.
The Top 100 stores are part of the AIB Merchant Services Retail Excellence Awards, which were established in 1997 to promote best practice and encourage high standards in the Irish retail industry and are now the largest and most prestigious of its kind in Ireland. The Awards will take place on November 12th in the Galmont Hotel in Galway. Former Store of the Year winners include Fabiani (Longford), Willow (Ennis), Garvey’s SuperValu (Tralee), TileStyle (Dublin), Arboretum (Carlow), and O’Briens Wines (Limerick and Dublin).
Kjell Nolke, founder and owner of Nolke Opticians was delighted
with the announcement: “This is a reflection of the efforts of the whole team here at Nolke Opticians. We all really enjoy our work, and the new look store has reinvigorated all of us. You build up some great relationships in this industry and while customers give the most important feedback, accolades like this are of course welcomed too. Waterford has a great history of success in these awards, and we’re pleased to be joined by the Book Centre in the Top 100 listing. We’re now hoping to take it one step further and reach the Top 30.”
Duncan Graham, Managing Director of Retail Excellence, said: “I am delighted to announce the Top 100 Stores in Ireland on behalf of Retail Excellence. These awards are particularly important for busi nesses throughout the country who consistently put an emphasis on excellence in customer service and
retailing. These Top 100 stores are flying the flag for the retail industry and have raised the bar even higher this year amidst the toughest competition.”Established in 1995, Retail Excellence is owned by the mem bers, for the members. We are an organisation which invests in inno vative and exciting learning, market intelligence, human resources services, Government representa tion and member networking initia tives. Retail Excellence has over 2,200 leading retail companies in Ireland. Our members are the most progressive and innovative retail ers. Retail Excellence is the largest retail industry body in Ireland.
If you’d like to know more about Nolke Opticians, just call in to it’s store at the Uluru Centre on the Dunmore Road or visit www.nolkeop ticians.com.
Ledby Walton Institute, an ICT research institute in South East Technological University (SETU), ‘Re-Fashioning the Future’ is a workshop series supported by Creative Ireland and Waterford City & County Council. A community of tradi tional textile craft practitioners with experts from Walton’s new Electronic Textiles (eTextiles) Lab are collaboratively exploring and investigating eTextiles with the Lilypad sewable range of electronic components, conductive fabrics, and conductive thread.
The state-of-the-art eTextiles lab in Walton Institute is funded by Enterprise Ireland and delves into both basic and applied level research activities. The next generation of eTextiles is gaining
traction; leveraging emerging and advancing technologies to provide more embedded intelligent smart garments and fabric-driven innova tiveWaltonapplications.hasanextended eTex
tiles research portfolio which includes research in 4 core areas;
1. On-body edge computing in eTextile environments
2. New innovation health and safety eTextile applications
3. Next generation Brain-inspired eTextile wearable applications
4. Innovative hybrid textrodes supporting advanced health monitoring.
The Re-Fashioning the Future workshop series aims to engage traditional craft/textile makers in eTextiles and provide the technical
skills and know-how to sew simple electronic circuitry in fabric with conductive thread, allowing for creative outputs with added functionality. Reconfiguring tradi tional substrates into soft, flexible circuitry with conductive thread and ink opens new opportunities for wearable Internet of Things (IoT) applications across a vari ety of sectors including wearable healthcare monitoring, innovative fashion, entertainment, wellbeing, and interior design.
PHASE ONE Phase One workshop participants include Waterford Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS) Fashion Design and Interior Design tutors and students; Caroline O’Toole of Speak in
Caroline O’Toole, Speak in Stitches, testing a fabric button she crafted from regular and conductive fabric at Re-Fashioning the Future’s electronic textile workshops. Caroline is pictured from left with Aileen Drohan, Walton Institute and Sinead O’Higgins, Waterford Libraries.Stitches and Waterford Women’s Shed; and Network Ireland’s Waterford Creative Professional Businesswoman of the Year 2021, MJ Jacob of Mad Jessi. The workshops are facilitated by Aileen Drohan, Junior Software Research Engineer, and Frances Cleary, Mobile Ecosystem and Pervasive Sensing (MEPS) Head of Division at WaltonSpeakingInstitute.about the project to date Aileen Drohan said, “The response from the participants and willingness to engage has been overwhelming. Embroidered fireflies, by MJ Jacob, that twinkle when metallic snap connectors are closed, to an illuminating comfort cushion for children scared of the dark, created by VTOS interior design student Lucia Brzovic, were just some of the artifacts realised.”
With inhouse lab equipment such as a state-of-the-art techni cal embroidery machine, weaving equipment and a knitting machine,
the innovative eTextiles team in Walton institute is constantly extending its research and col laboration activities, workshop offerings and research engagements with academia, industry and the wider community.
PHASE TWO Phase Two of the project will kickstart this coming Autumn when participants will extend their newly acquired skills through an addi tional series of workshops to wider community groups. According to Frances Cleary, Head of Division in Walton Institute “it is clear there is an appetite and need for STEM knowledge transfer between traditional crafters and electronic textile practitioners. Bridging the knowledge gap between the scientific and creative disciplines is mutually beneficial enabling the fu sion and evolution of creative and innovative e-textiles and traditional craft concepts and ideas.”
In addition to encouraging traditional makers and crafts people to consider adopting STEM, the eTextiles team are collaborating with Calmast, South East Technological University’s STEM engagement hub, through out Science Week, 13th 20th November 2022. Calmast works in partnership with schools, industry and public bodies to promote and nurture STEM careers, and to drive awareness of STEM, and STEM engagement for all. The team in Walton will be delivering eTextile workshops during Science Week offering the general public an op portunity to discover more about the ongoing research and impact SETU has on the region.
Participating in electronic textile workshops in the HUB at Central Library, as part of ‘Re-Fashioning the Future’, from left: Joan Brennan, VTOS Fashion Design tutor; Inga Flynn, Interior Design student; Lucy Aughney, Waterford Libraries; Lucia Brzovic, Interior Design student; Christina Drennan, Fashion Design student; Sinead O’Higgins, Waterford Libraries; Colm Spencer, Interior Design student; Caroline O’Toole, Speak in Stitches and Waterford Womens Shed; Aileen Drohan, Walton Institute; Frances Cleary, Walton Institute and MJ Jacob of Mad Jessie, Network Ireland Waterford Creative Professional Businesswoman of the Year 2021.
By SHANE CONNEELY, Chambers Ireland
general outlook on the current energy crisis is dire, and globally there are a number of significant problems within our energy supply chains. But I’m going to put myself out on a limb and claim much of the crisis has already passed its peak.
In spite of the rapid decline in Russian natural gas exports since their invasion of Ukraine, by the time Putin turned off the taps on Nord Stream, German LNG storage facilities were hitting 83% of their max capacity. Under the management of the Russian energy producer, Gazprom, Germany’s reserves had fallen as low as 24% in earlyREPowerEU,March. the EU’s response to the energy crisis, set November 1st as the target for reaching 80% reserves. As I write this piece, 81 full-capacity LNG ships are at sea, bringing fuel to European shores. We are sure to further deepen our reserves by winter.
Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, France, and Austria are the European gas storage giants, France is at more than 90%, Italy is at 82%, and while the Netherlands is at 77% their new target is 90%.
At £4.15/therm UK Gas price is now fallen to by a third from peak £6.40/therm, and while it is still significantly above its pre-2019 av erage price, gas is now back within the range of last year’s Winter price levels (£1.50 - £4.50/therm). With LNG continuing to flow to Europe, UK Gas futures are beginning to dip belowGlobally£4. there are other posi tive signs. With China’s economy restricted as a result of their zero-Covid approach, demand for energy is very low. Chinese brokers are now in a position to profit from the high global price of gas for which there is no domestic demand (while still buying LNG from Russia at half the market rate). Meanwhile, economies such as
Australia and the US which showed early glimmers of protectionism are exporting increasing quantities of LNG.All of this is at an enormous cost. Germany’s demand for gas in July had dropped 22% from last year, a decrease that was not driven by efficiencies but by high prices. The price of restocking the strategic reserves is likely to be in excess of €50 Billion, approxi mately ten times more than the historic average. And even if the conflict resolves quickly, we can expect prices to remain high over the long-run, very few countries will allow themselves to become dependent on Russian-sourced energy again.
In the short run, European states will need to be extremely conservative in their gas usage to ensure that they can sustain their populations through winter.
While not typically reliant on Russian gas, Ireland is ex tremely dependent on Scottish and Norwegian gas, and poor rains this year reduced Norway’s hydroelectric resources, creating more competition for the fuel they are producing.Over55% of our electricity is generated though gas, about 80% of which comes to Ireland through Moffatt. Fortunately, Gas Networks Ireland owns the infrastructure on the Scottish side of the pipes and both Northern Ireland’s and the Republic’s gas networks are so tightly integrated that it would be impossible to restrict supply in the South without also cutting off the North. Britain however does not have significant storage capacity meaning that they, and so us, are reliant on just-in-time delivery of LNG, or Norwegian supplies.
Consequently, Ireland must be extremely conservative this winter too. This is particularly true during the peak hours between 5pm and 7pm.
THE CHALLENGE FOR BUSINESS Demand reduction is challeng ing for most businesses, but the dynamics of the Irish electricity demand structure make it relatively easy to make a big difference. Businesses have an important role to Ourplay.periods of peak consump tion are driven by domestic use. The morning sees people getting up at the same time, having showers, boiling kettles, and putting their porridge on the stove. Our even ing demand arises from everyone turning on the cooker when they returnBeyondhome.the obvious green energy investments, businesses that can adjust working hours need to do so.
True, businesses like hospitality are tied to the dinner period and many industrial operations must run 24/7, and parts of the retail sector can only optimise their cold chains. But flexible working is an obvious way to facilitate electricity load being spread out across the day.
Businesses can also seek to adapt opening hours to minimise energy usage during peak hours too and workers that must be present dur ing peak hours can be concentrated in a single area to the minimise space which needs to be heated andWelit.face a difficult Christmas, but not a disastrous one. Even busi nesses where energy is not a major part of the cost base can do a lot to reduce peak demand to ensure that essential businesses can continue through the winter.
Shane Conneely is Director of Policy and Communications at Chambers Ireland. He supports the work of the Chamber Network over a range of policy areas, with a particular interest in bringing together digitisation, infrastructure, and the building sustainable cities and communities to support the Green Transition.
EnergySupports Grants for Businesses are available through South East Energy Agency to help you reduce your energy costs.
The Commercial Sector accounts for 7% of the total energy demand nationally, and 9.7% across the 3 Counties. This equates to 4.9% of the total carbon emissions across the 3 Counties (2017). The present policies established by government in the Climate Action Plan 2019 outline specific actions to target emissions from space and water heating in commercial buildings, aimed at a fabric first approach. Once energy consumption is minimised, energy can be gener ated using renewable technologies. The Climate Action Plan also states that companies must act to reduce energy and decarbonise across all activities, to reduce the risk of becoming uncompetitive.
In the three counties region of Carlow, Kilkenny and Wexford the total number of commercial businesses in 2017 was 32,609, consuming 1,014GWh of energy. To achieve the 2030 Climate Action Plan across the 3 counties this consumption needs to reduce by 30% to 720GWh. This will result in an annual cost saving of over €17million across the businesses.
This is an average of €521 per company. The SEAI state that ‘for a company with a 5% profit margin over three years, a €500-a-year saving from energy efficiency makes the same profit as €30,000 of extra sales’ (SEAI SME Guide to Energy Efficiency).
Reducing energy consumption and spend can make a significant difference to SMEs and businesses. Commercial Businesses and SMEs can reduce energy consumption by firstly evaluating where energy is being used – without knowing where your company uses its energy you cannot know how to start saving energy.
An energy bill review and energy audit should be completed, which will outline the current status of your energy consumption, your electrical and mechanical equip ment & possible energy savings projects that can be completed, along with estimated savings and benefits of each measure.
There are also a number of grants available to SME’s and commercial businesses to assist in completing these projects. in addition to this, the Accelerated Capital Allowance
(ACA) regime can also be utilised to promote business investment in energy efficient equipment.
South East Energy Agency has worked with over 70 commercial entities since 2013 to complete energy audits and apply for grants to SEAI and project managed the delivery of energy savings projects. These projects resulted in savings of over €1.5million off commercial energy bills annually. A capital investment across all projects after grants was €5.1m, giving a simple pay back of 3.4 years.
APPLY FOR DISCOUNTED ENERGY AUDIT VOUCHER OF UP TO €1,000 150 SMEs in the South East are invited to avail of energy audit sup port in order to begin their sustain ability journey. The discounted energy audit support is offered by South East Energy Agency through the Interreg CAN SME programme, whose aim is to help businesses improve sustainable measures and reduce costs.
Only SMEs in specific industries will be able to apply for the dis counted energy audit from South East Energy Agency through CAN SME. These are:
• Nursing Homes
• Food producers/manufactures, Farm Foods
• Voluntary Group Building Management (i.e., a voluntary group that is responsible for the management and upkeep of a building like Community Halls or Sports Clubs)
Audits will be discounted with a voucher worth up to €1000. This will cover most the audit expense with the business paying the difference. This amount will be highlighted before the audit takes place. We expect the cost to your business remaining relatively low with this voucher.
If you have any questions or would like to learn more about what an energy audit is and can do for your business, fill the below expression of interest form and a member of our team will get in contact.
Eligible CommunityWorks:Energy Grant is a na tional retrofit initiative managed by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). Community Energy Grant aim to deliver energy saving projects to communities
and private sector organisations. Under the grant programme, up to 50% funding is available for some non-commercial community projects and up to 30% funding is available for organisations, SMEs and commercial buildings.
Match funding: Up to 50% for Not for profit/Communities, up to 30% for Private and Public Sector.
• We will help you manage the complex parts of the grant ap plication and take you through the process from start to finish.
• Over the past 9 years, South East Energy Agency have as sisted in the delivery of cumu lative energy savings of more than €19.6 million through the Community Energy Grant programme.
• We provide full project man agement service from initial energy audit, grant application, procurement, site supervision, inspections and quality assur ance checks.
• Trust the experts and choose an energy specialist like South East Energy Agency who will guide you through the process from start to finish.
• Building fabric upgrades such as wall and attic insulation, replacement of windows and doors
• Technological and system improvements such as boiler replacement or controls up grades. *Note: fossil fuel boiler upgrades & lighting projects are not funded.
• Renewable energy solutions such as Solar PV, solar ther mal, wind turbines, biomass solutions
• Heat recovery solutions
• Smart metering, micro generation
• Electric vehicle chargers
• Visit https://youtu.be/pAkBs7a 3j3U to watch the Information Session on Community Energy Grants.
• Visit www.southeastenergy.ie
• Call us on 056 779 0856 or email on havedescriptionenergy.iecontact@southeastandincludeashortoftheprojectyouinmind.
ABOUT THE CLIENT
Woodlands Hotel & Spa in Adare, CO. Limerick, originally started as a bed & breakfast over 40-years ago and has developed into an 89-bedroom hotel with function rooms, restaurants, bars, and leisure centre. The Fitzgerald Suite can cater for 400+ guests as part of a wedding party. Woodlands Hotel & Spa approached South East Energy Agency looking to reduce both their carbon footprint and energy costs. The team at South East Energy Agency coordinated the entire BEC application from the initial energy audit, procurement to warranty checks and all required paperwork.
Woodlands Hotel & Spa had a significant energy consumption with €109,034 being spent on electricity per year. Therefore, the hotel wanted to reduce their energy costs and become a more sustainable through adopting renewable energy and energy efficient processes.
The South East Energy Agency team had a look at the electricity consump tion and current connection. As part of the project, our team of experts de livered a number of changes including the Installation of a 90 KW PV system and Twin EV charger, pump upgrade, stove upgrade from an inefficient open fire to a pellet stove, and the insulation of boiler house pipework.
Company name: Woodlands Hotel & Spa
Project actions: Installation of a 90 KW PV system and Twin EV charger, Pump upgrade, Stove upgrade from an inefficient open fire to pellet stove, and insulation of boiler house pipework.
Finance source: Internal
Additional funding: SEAI BEC 2021 programme
% funding: 30 %
Grant amount: € 36,121
Total project cost: €110,485 25-year savings: €318,913
Simple payback time: 8.74 years
Reduced andby30.56footprintcarbonbytonnesinstallingPVsolarsystem,EVchargersupgrading,pumpsandstoves.
We expect other hotels, B&B’s and hospitality businesses to follow in the footsteps of the Woodlands Hotel & Spa and invest in energy efficiency measures on-site to reduce energy usage under the SEAI Better Energy Communities Program. Send a brief overview of the project to: BEC@3cea.ie or call 056 779 0856.
Energia Connect360 is a real time data-driven energy and environmental monitoring solution with no upfront costs. Our technology is designed to allow businesses of all sizes measure and manage a range of operational processes to maximise their energy efficiency.
Connect360 will provide data that shows previously unmeasured areas of underperformance and inefficiency allowing you take the necessary steps to optimise the operating conditions of your business whether it’s a retail site, a portfolio of buildings or a manufacturing facility.
Detailed energy and environmental insights are accessed easily within a personalised dynamic web dashboard untapping the data you need to inform Capex decisions.
Our most comprehensive solution designed for large grocery and fast food outlets, property managers, LEUs and private hospitals. Access insights by installing up to 20 monitoring points.
Ideal for small retail outlets or convenience stores. Data from up to 6 monitoring points will help you identify areas of inefficiency that may currently be overlooked. Choose from temperature, humidity, motion levels as well as mains electricity and gas.
Ideal for high street retail or banking Connect360 Duo has all you need to start monitoring smaller, single-site operational processes.
Self install and quick set-up.
Reliable & secure data transfer.
Actionable findings.
successful female entrepreneurs to celebrate this year’s National Women’s Enterprise Day in the beautiful surroundings of Faithlegg House Hotel on October 13th for an evening of networking and learning.Thisyear we are delighted to have Teresanne O’Reilly as our MC. Teresanne previously worked in WLR as Head of Digital and is now the owner of The Forest which builds websites and develops successful brand strategies for small and medium sized businesses.
Our Leading Light for this year’s NWED is Frances O’Reilly of Dog Dry. Dog Dry makes drying coats for dogs and was established during
February 2021. The product has been awarded for innovation by the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland and became an Enterprise Ireland client within a year of start-up.Aspart of the event a facilitated workshop will take place using the Lego Serious Play approach. This is an innovative method used to enhance business performance and introduce new skills through crea tive thinking and problem solving. The workshop is designed with the purpose of helping attendees to gain a deeper understanding of psychological strengths, values and communications styles.
Following a delicious two course buffet meal, we will have a panel discussion featuring female busi ness owners Frances O’Reilly of
Dog Dry; Margaret Julian of GDPR Audits and Network Waterford President, Kamila Bystrzonowska of Momo Restaurant and Karen Tompkins of The Treasure Vox.
‘Our Future, Our Way’ is sup ported by Waterford Chamber, Waterford Micro Business Network and Network Waterford and is just one of a number of events being held nationally on October 13th to mark National Women’s Enterprise Day. Registration and networking commences at 3.00pm.
Tickets cost €20 and to guaran tee your place at this event book at ie/!BY1KHBhttps://www.localenterprise.
FiveWaterford-based charities and community groups have become the latest beneficiar ies of ALDI’s Community Grants programme, with each charity receiving a €500 grant from the ALDI store teams in Waterford.
Receiving the €500 grants are Grow Mental Health, Waterford Animal Welfare, Waterford Intellectual Disability Association, RNLI Lifeboat Station and Southeastern Mountain Rescue Association.ALDI’sCommunity Grants pro gramme helps fund local charities and community organisations that contribute vital work and services in their local communities. Each local charity supported is chosen by ALDI employees, enabling them
to help the local good causes they are passionate about.
By the end of 2022, the programme will have donated €537,000 to over 1,000 local charity branches and community groups across Ireland since its inception in 2016. Receiving charities and organisations range from rescue teams to animal sanctuaries, cancer support to mental health support, or any charitable organisation that resonates with ALDI colleagues.
Commenting, John Curtin, Group Buying Director, ALDI Ireland said: “We are very proud to continue to support local charities across the country through the ALDI Community Grants programme and we’re pleased to see the impact of
our donation in the local communi ties of County Waterford.
The Community Grants pro gramme is one example of how ALDI is committed to investing and partnering with local communities and charities across Ireland and we look forward to continuing this engagement in the years ahead.”
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Book a free, no-obligation
Call Waterford: 051 333 966
Call Dungarvan: 058 75298
Theelves are busy preparing for the arrival of Santa to the 2022 Winterval festival, which will take place in Waterford for the 10th year from November 18th.Overflowing
with festive cheer, ‘Santa's Central Station’ will land in the heart of Waterford City Centre, right in the middle of Michael Street, surrounded by all the other delights and activities that Winterval has to offer.
Just let us know that you’re coming, and we'll arrange for the band of merry elves to lead your little ones to the door of Santa’s magical cabin. Meander through
Santa’s city centre installation, taking pictures with photo scenes along the way.
The all-new ‘Santa’s Central Station’ is attractively priced, where up to two adults go free, and you have the option of taking your own photo. Optional printed photos are also available for an additional fee.
Santa will host little guests all the way through the festival until December 23rd, 2022.
Each entry includes a stuffed Christmas character (U-24mth) or a Gold Santa’s Magic Coin.
Booking is essential due to limited availability. All ticket sales are final and no refunds available.
ENTRY FEE:
Priced at €16.50 Per Child + Online Booking Fee. (Up to 2 adults @ no Optionalcharge) Printed Photo Available
@ You’re€10.00.also welcome to take your own photo.
For more information see www.winterval.ie
On June 1st, the former Mayor of Waterford City and County Cllr. Joe Kelly, along with members of the Dungarvan Pride committee, raised the Pride flag outside the Dungarvan Civic Offices to kick off Pride month. As part of Pride Month celebrations, Dungarvan’s first ever Pride Festival took place in Walton Park, Dungarvan and in Waterford city, The Pride of the Déise committee organised a jampacked weekend celebration of LGBTQ+ people and communities.
Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys
TD announced that €1,125,135 in grant funding will be made avail able for the redevelopment and restoration of Mount Congreve Estate, in addition to €3,726,00 granted in 2019 under the Rural Regeneration & Development Fund (RRDF) and Project Ireland 2040.
The Waterford Digital Strategy was produced by Waterford City and County Council in collaboration
with local and national stakehold ers, setting out the vision and key focus areas for the county for the next four years. It aims to enhance the digital maturity of the county and mobilise its strengths to become a smart, inclusive, and innovative place to live, work and visit. The Strategy was informed by a public consultation process and will initiate, and support, the development of actions that lead to a connected and collaborative digital society and economy from 2022 to 2026.
The Museum of Time at Greyfriars, Ireland’s first horological museum, enjoyed a remarkably busy year since it opened its doors in 2021. The creation of the museum was due to the foresight and generos ity of its benefactors, namely David Boles, Colman Curran and Elizabeth Clooney, who were honoured with a Civic Reception at City Hall, hosted by the Mayor of Waterford City and County.
After a two-year hiatus, the
Waterford Welcome Ambassadors were back to offer a genuine and local céad míle fáilte to visitors to Waterford on the streets of the city and county. Welcome Ambassadors offer visitors all the local tips on the range of things there are to see and do as well as advising them on places to eat and how to get to the many spectacular locations and attractions throughout County Waterford.
Waterford’s long-awaited Comeraghs Wild Festival returned from July 7th to 10th after a twoyear COVID-enforced break and it was bigger and better than ever with loads of fabulous, family-fo cused events and plenty to see and do for lovers of the great outdoors.
Having been constructed in just under nine weeks, Dungarvan Skatepark was opened by the newly elected Mayor of Waterford City and County Cllr. John O’Leary. Located in Fairlane, the skatepark is suited to skateboarders, roll erbladers, BMXers and scooter
riders of all ages, skills, and styles. The 600m2 facility developed by Dungarvan Skatepark Company is constructed in concrete and combines elements of bowl and street plaza features. It has been designed with the specific needs of skateboarders in mind with input from Waterford Comhairle na nÓg and local skateboarders.
The Mayor of Waterford City and County also introduced the new Transport for Ireland (TFI) Bike Share Scheme for the City. TFI Bikes is a self-service bike rental service, with stations conveniently located throughout Waterford City, making it easy to get around, whether it’s for commuting to work, meeting friends, or doing some sight-seeing. There are 14 Bike stations and 220 bikes located in key areas around the city, including at SETU, University Hospital Waterford, Bank Lane, Kilcohan and Arundel Square.
Tá an ócáid seo á óstáil ag Coiste Cuimhneacháin Chomhairle Cathrach agus Contae Phort Láirge, mar chuid de chlár leanúnach chun Deich mBliana na gCuimneachán a chomóradh agus tá tacaíocht á fáil aige ón Roinn Turasóireachta, Cultúir, Ealaíon, Gaeltachta, Spóirt agus Meán faoi thionsnamh Dheich mBliana na gCuimhneachán 2012-2023.
Waterford City and County Council was proud to partner with 2GoCup, in a joint initiative to tackle the single-use waste across the city and county. At the launch at the Granary Café in Waterford City, the participating Cafés were invited to celebrate their collec tive effort to tackle single-use waste. During the summer months all participating cafés offered customers the opportunity to buy a €1 2GoCup or bring their own
reusable cup. Customers could get this €1 deposit back whenever they chose to or could exchange their 2GoCup for a new one in any participating cafés.
At an event in the Old Market House Art Centre in Dungarvan, Jack Chambers TD, Government Chief Whip and Minister of State with responsibility for the Irish Language and the Gaeltacht, announced that the Irish Language Plan for Dungarvan was approved. The announcement meant that Dungarvan is now officially recognised as a Gaeltacht Service Town. The Minister of State also announced that €80,000 will be provided each year to support the implementation of the Plan over a seven-year period.
The Waterford City and County Development Plan 2022-2028 was unveiled by the Mayor of Waterford City and County, Cllr. John O’Leary. The plan is a statu tory planning document, covering the six-year period guides the dayto-day operation of the Planning Authority and broader strategic investment decision making. The Development Plan is the principal planning strategy document for the area and gives spatial expression to the physical, economic, social and environmental needs of the community, in order to support and regulate new development, enhance valued assets and ameni ties and protect the environment.
Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD, has announced an investment of over €3.1 million in 46 library branches across the country. Some €2.2 million in funding will be provided to roll-out the ‘My Open Library’ initiative which will allow people to access their local library outside of normal opening
hours, with Tramore benefitting to the tune of €225,859, while Dungarvan and Lismore Libraries were granted €52,672 and €33,379 respectively for the upgrade of the existing ‘My Open Library’ services.
RETURN OF SPRAOI AND ALL TOGETHER NOW July also saw the return of Spraoi and All Together Now. Spraoi celebrated its 30th anniversary and finished the weekend with a spectacular parade and fireworks display after having gone without this conclusion for two years. All Together Now returned for its third year and saw a sold-out weekend full of music, arts and workshops against the backdrop of Curraghmore Estate.
The Gum Litter Taskforce’s gum litter education campaign was launched in Dungarvan, by the Mayor of Waterford City and County, alongside members of Dungarvan Tidy Towns. The Gum Litter Taskforce is an environ mental initiative that was set up to develop and implement an aware ness campaign to reduce gum litter in the most sustainable way. Since 2007, Ireland has achieved a 70% reduction in chewing gum litter. As part of the Gum Litter Taskforce the ‘Bin It!’ education programme will travel across the country and deliver 60 performances a year to primary schools nationwide, with the ambition to visit 180 schools by 2025.
There was festival atmosphere as Waterford City and County Council’s Mount William estate was officially opened by the Mayor of Waterford City and County. Mount William, a housing development on the Williamstown Road comprises of 65 units, predominantly two and three bedrooms.
Waterford City and County Council has been shortlisted in five categories of the Chambers Ireland Excellence in Local Government Awards 2022.
Waterford Libraries Dyslexia Support Services has been shortlisted in the Diversity and Inclusion category, which celebrates projects which have promoted inclusion and enhanced accessibility.
The People we Grow Up to Be has been shortlisted in the Age Friendly Initiative category, which recognises the excellent programmes by Local Authorities who take the lead on chang ing thinking about ageing, and how services are planned and delivered, to encourage communities in which older people live valued lives.
Waterford Winter Firedance Solstice 2021, six specially curated concerts and exhibitions spread across the city and
county, which culminated in a spectacu lar Sky Firedance firework display on the Winter Solstice has been shortlisted as Festival of the Year
The opening of Ireland’s first Outdoor Cycle Track in Dungarvan has been shortlisted in the Health and Wellbeing category.
Waterford Treasures has been shortlisted in the Heritage and Built Environment category, which celebrates best in class by a Local Authority to pro mote public interest in, and knowledge, appreciation, and protection of local heritage sites.
The 2022 Excellence in Local Government Awards are sponsored by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the award ceremony takes place in Dublin on November 24th.
Waterford-based local and regional radio stations WLR FM and Beat 102-103 have announced the appointment of Sarah Grant as Chief Finance Officer. After an extensive recruitment process, Sarah Grant has taken up the role and will work for both stations based at the Broadcast Centre in Waterford. The Waterford-native graduated from WIT in 2006 with a first-class Honours degree in Bachelor of Arts in Accounting. Sarah then completed her ACA qualification
in Chartered Accounting with EY Waterford.WLRFM has also announced an addi tion to its Board of Directors. The radio station’s Operations and Programme Director, Michael Byrne, has been appointed to the position. A graduate of Waterford Institute of Technology and University College Dublin, Michael has held senior management roles in WLR since 2014.
A number of New Frontiers participants were presented with awards in recogni tion of the significant progress made in advancing their start-up companies. The entrepreneurs who took part in the 2022 New Frontiers programme have developed many solutions including renewable energy technology, specialised equipment to allow people with mobility issues to participate in automotive eSports, software to support GDPR compliance for the financial services sector and hospital environments, Artificial Intelligence applications for the optimising wind turbines operations and also for automating document processing and a data platform for optimising food production in the poultry sector.
Trinity College Dublin and South East Technological University’s Walton Institute, hosted CONNECT’s first in-person conference since 2020 in the Tower Hotel, Waterford city on 7th and 8th September 2022.CONNECT is Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) research centre for Future Networks and Communications and brings together world-class expertise from ten Irish aca demic institutes to create a one-stop-shop
for telecommunications research, develop ment and innovation. The centre engages with over 50 companies including large multinationals, SMEs and start-ups.
Rohit Garg and Geetika Garg, Directors, Axon Outsourcing presenting Stuart Fitzgerald and Noel Winters of Fitzgerald Power with Best Medium Practice Award at the The Irish Accountancy Awards recently.
Congratulations to Heather Reynolds who has been ap pointed as Chief People Officer at Scurri. Heather has over 25 years’ experience directing service delivery, operational excellence, people leadership, and strategy development. She previously held the role of CEO and co-founder at Eishtec DAC, acquired by Infosys BPM. Heather is also a lead mentor in Enterprise Ireland initiatives supporting entrepreneurship. She holds a Business Degree and an Executive MBA.
Waterford Local Enterprise Office, together with Waterford County Council are hosting their first Waterford Digital Awards in Dooley’s Hotel on 28th October 2022. The Awards aim to recognise and reward SMEs based in County Waterford who have developed their ecommerce and digital platforms as part of their product offering. The Awards are open to all businesses with less than 10 full time employees based in County Waterford. The categories category will have up to four shortlisted who will be selected after an of their by expert will receive €1,000 towards technical advice, photography, and market ing. The overall will receive €2,500 in cash. Entries are open to 26th September. For further information see www.localenterprise.ie/Waterford.
Being named Chamber of the Year in 2021, during the toughest of times in the midst of a pandemic, brought a new vigour to the team at Waterford Chamber and the vigour with which we approached 2022 pays testament to that. Connecting the business community and ensuring we continue our promise to be the voice of business in Waterford goes right to the heart of Waterford Chamber. Below you will find the highlights of 2022 to date, with plenty still to come.
AUGUST
• Michael Quinn: Illegal Camping in Tramore
• Michael Walsh: Lighting proposal to elevate appearance of the Quays
• Minister Darragh O’Brien: Fast-track delivery of housing units
• Minister Stephen Donnelly: Highlighting the Healthcare issues in our Pre-Budget Submission
• Minister Eamon Ryan: Highlighting the Transport issues in our Pre-Budget Submission
• Minister Simon Harris: Highlighting the Education issues in our PreBudget Submission
• Minister Norma Foley: Highlighting the Education issues in our PreBudget Submission
• We sent our Pre-Budget submission to Minister Paschal Donohoe
JULY
• We submitted a document in response to the Draft Waterford Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy
JUNE
• Meeting with Michael Walsh to discuss The Carbon Neutral City and WCCC participation in T4E
• We hosted a visit of the Belgian Ambassador
• Minister Darragh O’Brien: Unemployment or Homelessness
• Michael Walsh: Request funding support for T4E
MAY
• Michael Quinn: Tramore Motorhome Parking issues
• Minister Simon Harris: SUSI Grant income threshold
• Minister Ossian Smith: Meeting to discuss Green Agenda Issues
APRIL
• Damian English: Retail in the City
• Minister Eamon Ryan: Waterford City’s Carbon-neutral Goals
• Minister Darragh O’Brien: Planning & Administration and Delays by An Bord Pleanala
• An Tánaiste Leo Varadkar: Going Green for Business Event
MARCH
• Michael Walsh: Feasibility Study for Revitalisation of Waterford City Centre
• Minister Stephen Donnelly: Restructuring of Hospital Groups
• Michael Walsh: Feasibility Study for Revitalisation of Waterford City Centre-Financial Support
FEBRUARY
• Michael Walsh: Financial Support for Tramore Tourist Office
• Minister Simon Harris: Technological University of the South East
• Marc O’Cathasaigh TD: Grants for Commercial EV Vehicles
• Fergus Galvin: Bins in Tramore Town Centre
• Minister Darragh O’Brien: Housing & Planning
• Councillors Thomas Phelan, Jody Power, Cristiona Kiely, Joeanne Bailey, Conor D McGuinness, John Pratt, Mary Roche, Frank Quinlan: Draft Development Plan for Waterford
• Minister Hildegarde Naughton: Irish Coastguard Helicopter Rescue 117
• Minister Eamon Ryan: Waterford Carbon-neutral Goals Discussion
• Michael Walsh: Rural Regeneration & Development Funding Applications
• Minister Darragh O’Brien: Housing Issues & Waterford becoming a University City
• Minister Simon Harris: Technological University of the South East
TheWaterford Treasures collection of museums is on track to fast becoming Waterford’s most popular visitor attraction as so far this year visitor numbers have grown by 63%.
By the beginning of September 2022, the museums had attracted some 74,000 visitors since opening on January 1st, representing an increase of 47,009 visitors for the same period in 2021.
The team at the museums are delighted and Museum Director Eamonn McEneaney says: “We are delighted to have welcomed the highest number ever of fee-paying visitors to the Waterford Treasures Museums. We have had an incred ible 12 months since we opened the Irish Silver Museum and the Irish Museum of Time in 2021 and focused on sharing the delights, the treasures and the wonders of the five museums in the Viking Triangle over the last 12 months.
“We are thrilled to see the hard work from all of the team reaping rewards for the museums and for Waterford. We created some new ticketing models which included the freedom of Waterford ticket, which combines a walking tour and four museum visits as well as admission to Christ Church
Cathedral, so we believe this growth is based on a culmination of our new museums and collections, innovative thinking and planning of our promotion carefully, which is all now paying off.
“Based on Fáilte Ireland statistics the museum’s economic contribu tion to the city is valued at just over €5.8 million which is an astounding figure and demonstrates the real economic value in investing in our heritage here in Ireland’s oldest city.”The team at Waterford Treasures are continuing to build upon the popularity and interest in Waterford Treasures Museums as they meet with tour operators and travel advisors and attend travel and trade events to promote the museums globally.
Of the 74,000 visitors who visited the museums in 2022, 57% of those were international visitors, 16% were day trippers from Ireland and the remaining 27% were Irish holidaymakers who were overnighting in Waterford and its environs.TheWaterford Treasures Museum collection includes The Bishop’s Palace, the Medieval Museum, The Irish Silver Museum, The Irish Museum of Time and the
ever-popular King of the Vikings Virtual Reality Adventure, plus Reginald’sRecentlyTower.theNational Museum of Time was nominated for the prestigious British Guild of Travel Writers International Tourism Awards 2022. The British Guild of Travel Writers is the UK's lead ing organisation of travel media professionals. Details of the awards shortlist are set to be revealed over the coming weeks with the grand finale set to take place in London in EamonnNovember.says: “Since 2002 we have been working very hard on bringing the story of Waterford to the world. Back then, we had dreams of days like today, where visitors are booking in abundance to explore our heritage. This has been twenty years in the making but I have learned over the years to stop rushing the things that need time to grow.”
Visitors can enjoy a ‘Freedom of Waterford’ ticket enabling them to ac cess all of the museums and a guided walking tour under one ticket price 7 days per week. For further details see www.waterfordtreasures.com
By JOHNNY O’GRADY, Tramore Tourist Office
Myname is Johnny O’Grady originally from Coolum Ballymacow, Dunmore East. I’m a retired fire brigade officer with twenty nine years’ experience.IjoinedWaterford Chamber of Commerce in 2019 and started working in the Tramore Tourist Office in the summer of that year. Under the guidance of Lynda Lawton we set up the Waterford Welcome Ambassadors in Tramore and it has grown in popularity ever since. We have ten ‘Welcome’ volunteers at the moment who give up their time freely every weekend to stroll out and about meeting tourists and locals alike, helping out with information, or what’s on in Tramore, or telling people about the lovely walks and tracks and trails in the area. Also they have local knowledge of where to get a
good breakfast, lunch or evening meal. Volunteers don’t get paid, not because they are worthless but because they are priceless. Any problems that cannot be solved on the spot the customers will be sent over to the office opposite the railway station and I will deal with them.The Waterford Volunteer Centre has been a great help to us volun teers on our journey, providing classes for the members new and old, and assisting us with informa tion, and they also provided us with a set of shirts and jackets with the Welcome Ambassador logo and the ‘I’ for information on the back, and ‘Here to Help’. Thanks to Sharon Higgins for all of her help. With the uniforms we are easily identifiable in a crowd. Part of our job is to attend the four days at the Tramore races which is always a good buzz.
Owen Byrne, the manager of the racecourse, is a proper gentleman and looks after us volunteers very well, providing meals and answer ing any questions that we might have on the day.
The Vitamin Sea Festival is another three-day event, which runs from the 16th to the 18th September, that we are involved with. We work closely with the organisers Ray Cullen and Bernie Power assisting them in any way that we can to make it a success.
Finally I would like to thank Gerald Hurley and Lynda Lawton from Waterford Chamber for their support and most especially the loyal group of volunteers: without their commitment this would not be possible.
plaque was un veiled some years ago to commemorate the Jacob family, who lived at No.3, O’Connell Street, Waterford since 1777. Famous to this day for their biscuits and cream crackers, Isaac and Ann’s son William Beale Jacob (born 1825), took over the business after the death of his father in 1839.
At that time the family business included an extensive bread and sea-biscuit bakery and barn brewery.Thebakery was situated on Bridge Street, and as the city was a thriving centre of maritime industry, the demand for seabiscuits increased. In 1850 William opened an additional premises, selling fancy biscuits at 69, The Quay, Waterford called ‘Waterford General Bakery’. In 1851, his brother Robert joined the business, hence, ‘W & R Jacob’. William married Hannah Hill Newsom, and they had eight children.
Returning from a trip to England to investigate steam-powered machinery for biscuit production, William spotted a vacant coach yard at 5-6 Peter’s Row in Dublin. The resulting new premises was called W & R Jacob Steam Biscuit Factory boasting a 14 horse-power steam travelling oven!
Business increased dramatically, and more ovens were purchased for the Dublin based fac tory. Unfortunately, the bakery in Waterford was closed in 1858 and Robert concentrated on the Peters Row factory. Sadly, in 1861, he drowned at Tramore, Co. Waterford, and William acted as sole proprietor until 1863.
William’s second son George Newsom Jacob and his brother-inlaw George J Newsom joined the firm in 1878. William became chair man of the now Limited Company in 1883, and played less of a role in the day-to-day running of the busi ness, and his son George became Managing Director. William died on the 5th of August 1902 leaving an estate valued at £82,327 (over £11 million today!).
George was an astute business man, competing successfully within the UK. The firm grew rapidly, and the Jacob’s Cream Cracker was introduced in 1885.
Jacob’s employed nearly 1,400 workers by 1899, and this increased to 3,000 workers at the Dublin fac tory by 1911, ranking Jacob’s among the top five biscuit producers in Ireland and Britain.
George and his wife Mary had two children. After the accidental death of George in December 1942,
• Jacob’s supplied 1.2 million pack ets of biscuits to army canteens from 1916-18.
• George Jacob’s employees en joyed dining facilities, an on-site doctor, an employee swimming pool, a roof garden and a recrea tion field.
• In 2007, a legal battle ensued between Jacob’s and a rival com pany over very similar packaging of their version of Fig Rolls and Cream Crackers. The rivals were ordered to change the packaging of their Fig Rolls, however, Mr. Justice Frank refused to grant the injunction in relation to the Cream Crackers!
Waterford Civic Trust is a registered charity and is a company limited by guarantee. We have erected Heritage Blue Plaques in many locations in Waterford City and County.
Contact us at Brick Lane, Greyfriars, www.waterfordcivictrust.ieWaterford.
A Civic Trust Blue Plaque is a permanent sign installed on a building in a public place to commemorate a link between notable figures of the past and the buildings in which they lived or had some connection to. It is a unique way to highlight these special achievements and celebrate those who have helped to shape our heritage and history.his son Harold became Chairman of W & R InterestingJacob.facts of note: Researched by MARCUS COPLEY, Waterford Civic Trust
