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Vacancy Rate

There were 29,581 empty commercial units across the country in Q4 2022, representing a national commercial vacancy rate of 14%, according to GeoDirectory

Retail Sales

€In February, the volume of retail sales rose by 0.7% in the month and increased by 3.6% in the year since February 2022, according to the Central Statistics O ice.

TARASIS IN ALL-ISLAND GROWTH MODE

Founded by Mairead Mackle MBE in 1995, Tarasis Enterprises has been o icially re-launched under a new brand identity with a five-year plan involving a €11.5m investment and the creation of 300 jobs. The business with o ices in Belfast, Dublin, Sligo and Armagh is comprised of four key business divisions focused on healthcare, support services, housing and renewables.

In 2021, it generated revenues of more than €34m across its island-wide operations, up from almost €30m in the previous year. “With new investment, new jobs and new approaches, we plan to make a real and positive impact on the many pertinent social issues and crises of our time, which include housing, social care and climate change,” said Mackle.

Siro Extending Its Reach In Co Cork

Broadband network operator SIRO is bringing its network to a further eight towns across Co Cork in 2023, including Fermoy, Youghal, Bandon and Kinsale. This represents an additional investment of €25m, which will bring SIRO’s total investment in the county to over €125m when its full rollout is completed. Since SIRO began work in Cork in 2017, it has grown to serving over 60,000 premises in several locations. The addition of the eight extra towns equates to a further 20,000 premises having access to the network. Additional new areas will be announced in 2024.

Bank Of Ireland To Make 100 New Tech Hires

Further to recruiting 230 tech specialists since 2021, Bank of Ireland has announced 100 new technology roles to accelerate digital projects across the group. They include cloud platform engineers, cybersecurity experts and data infrastructure engineers. “These new roles will further support our progress and momentum as we build a worldclass, diverse technology team, delivering improvements for customers,” said Eimear Harty, HR Director, Group Technology & Customer Solutions. Last year, the Bank of Ireland mobile app was enhanced through the introduction of a new digital money management service. The bank processed 366 million contactless transactions, up 41% since 2021. Over 90% everyday product applications are now digitised.

Best Workplaces For Women Unveiled

Great Place to Work Ireland announced the 2023 Best Workplaces for Women at an event in the Stella Cinema in Dublin on 7 March, with panelists including Loretta Dignam, Founder & CEO of The Menopause Hub. The 30 organisations are: AbbVie Ireland, Block, Inc., Cisco, Citco Group of Companies, Cloudera International Limited, CluneTech, Cool Planet Group, Cpl, DHL Express, Distilled, Fáilte Ireland, Guidewire IRL, Hilton, Intercom, Kuehne + Nagel Ireland, Laya Healthcare, Liberty IT, Midlands Park Hotel, PEI, PrepayPower, Salesforce, Statkraft Ireland, Tayto Snacks, The Doyle Collection, Toast, Unum Ireland, Version 1, Woodie’s, Workhuman and WP Engine.

Nsai Becomes Notified Body Under Ivdr

Ireland’s medtech sector received a welcome boost recently when National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) announced it had received designation under the InVitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Regulation (EU) 2017/746. One of just ten notified bodies in Europe, NSAI is now able to provide conformity assessments under the IVDR and grant CE-marked certificates to the scope documented on the NANDO database. Notably, NSAI achieved this designation ahead of the average designation timeline and the State agency will work with medtech manufacturers to provide a highquality conformity assessment service.

Two New Boots Stores Open In Dublin

Boots Ireland has opened two new stores in Harold’s Cross and Deansgrange in Dublin, employing 13 and 14 people, respectively. Part of a continued investment into growth and expansion around the country, this brings the total number of Boots stores in the Republic of Ireland to 93. The Harold’s Cross store offering includes prescription services, blood pressure testing and emergency contraception with additional services planned over the coming months. Based on Clonkeen Road, Deansgrange, the former Grange Pharmacy was acquired by Boots last year and has since undergone refurbishment works to offer customers an extended offering of beauty, health and wellness products as well as a broader range of pharmacy services.

Green Momentum At The Gec

The Guinness Enterprise Centre (GEC) is partnering with the Techies Go Green movement, which is to use the facility as its base of operations as well as for educational events for signatories. Among the 160 start-ups housed at the GEC, ten are working in the sustainability space and the centre wants to grow this cluster further. Furthermore, the GEC is investing €500,000 in making its premises more sustainable with upgrades across the building, including more heat-efficient windows and a new heat-pump system. Electric vehicle, e-bike and e-scooter chargers are also to be installed. The GEC is exploring a major solar panel installation on the roof –which is currently home to 18,000 bees in 15 beehives.

Pinergy Acquires Acutrace

Smart energy supply and sustainable solutions company Pinergy has acquired Acutrace for an undisclosed sum. Founded in 2015, Acutrace is a software and systems integration business focused on measuring consumption of energy and other utilities in commercial premises across Ireland and the UK. The Acutrace Energy Measurement Platform allows users to pinpoint exactly where and when energy and other utilities are being used – and wasted – and helps them take corrective action to make significant savings. Enda Gunnell, CEO of Pinergy said: “As part of our strategic plan, we are looking to accelerate and enhance our supply, analysis and advisory offering. This acquisition will help us to grow and scale further in the coming years.”

Reassurance From Minister Coveney

Following a recent trip to the US West Coast where he had several high-level meetings with companies there, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Simon Coveney indicated that the overall message from the tech sector in the US was an optimistic one, despite large companies such as Google, Meta and Twitter making sta cuts in recent months. Ahead of the visit he reiterated that IDA Ireland continues to see a healthy pipeline of investment in the first half of this year: “The impact on Ireland so far of tech sector announcements isn’t anything like the impact on some other countries and other parts of the world. We have a very strong economy at the moment and a very strong tech sector,” he said.