Business Month April 2015

April 2015 • ISSUE 53 PRICE £2.50 (Where sold)

In association with

A FRESH START AT ARDTARA How new owners are making changes at a Londonderry country hotel

• PAUL GOSLING ON EUROZONE TENSION • MANUFACTURING AND TELECOMS • ULSTER BANK’S ELLVENA GRAHAM

6 April 2014 2015 BUSINESS MONTH 1 3 November

CONTENTS in association with

48 37

Editor’s note Margaret Canning

FEATURES

mcanning@belfasttelegraph.co.uk

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12 Analysis: Why top-class office space can trigger additional development, according to CBRE director Robert Ditty 14 Profile: A look at the homegrown pharmaceutical firm Almac, working to provide international solutions to healthcare 16 Economy Watch: Our political and economic experts give their view on the forthcoming general election and what it means for all of us 22 Analysis: Alan Watts explores the funding escalator, an ideal method for financing companies from one stage of development to the next 37 People: Signstik owner James Courtney talks about his highspeed parallel existence in the world of motorbike racing

FOCUS

38 Breakneck broadband: A look at how telecommunications are changing and developing 42 Chasing the big ticket: How manufacturers are fighting back

OFFLINE

46 Out to Lunch: Joris Minne goes out to lunch with PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Stephen Martin 48 Day in the life: Why Declan O’Mahoney wants to put a defibrillator everywhere that you find a fire extinguisher 58 The Chairman: Reports from a string of glitzy social events 62 Last Word: Our schools may have highest rate of leavers going to university, but that doesn’t tell the full story, says Paul Gosling Business Month 124-144 Royal Avenue, Belfast, BT1 1EB Editor - Margaret Canning

COVER STORY

A TASTE OF THE COUNTRY How new owners are making changes at a top Londonderry country hotel

48

24 Sales manager - Jackie Reid Contact: +44 2890 264070 or email: j.reid@belfasttelegraph.co.uk

58 Design and production: RE&D Business Month is an imprint of Independent News and Media (NI)

ELCOME to the April issue of Business Month, in which we take a look at Ardtara House, a gem of the hospitality industry in Northern Ireland.

The Co Londonderry venue formerly belonged to the late Dr Alistair Hanna and has now come under the same ownership as Browns Restaurant Group.

And while many businesspeople are pleased that the bill to devolve corporation tax powers to Northern Ireland has received Royal Assent, there is plenty of trepidation around what be around the corner for the UK economy after next month’s election.

Richard Ramsey considers how last month’s Budget may turn out to be quite an ephemeral matter if a new government is at the helm, while Quintin Oliver considers how the economy can catch election fever as well as the political anoraks.

Ellvena Graham from Ulster Bank shares some of her wisdom in business, while GoWalkTalk’s Tony McIntyre talks about his passion for technology.

The Chairman gives his dispatches from the social events he’s attended in the last few weeks.

And finally, Paul Gosling has the Last Word with his argument that skills are at least as important to our future as lower corporation tax.

Enjoy.

13 April 2015 BUSINESS MONTH 3

NEWS BITES

30.0%

35.1%

Living comfortably

Doing alright

24.8%

Just about getting by

6.8%

Finding it quite difficult

3.3%

Finding it very difficult

Findings from 2012/13 on how the UK population is getting by financially, Office for National Statistics

Lurgan jobs boost as call centre expands A SOUTHERN Irish call centre firm is creating 320 jobs at its new Northern Ireland offices.

Waterford-based Eishtec, whose main client is mobile phone network EE, will add the posts to its service centre outside Lurgan in Co Armagh over the next three years.

The jobs will bring in more than £5.5m a year in salaries and will have a variety of roles, including management.

They will pay an average of £17,000 a year. Some 60 of the roles are already in place at the Silverwood Business Park.

Eishtec’s co-owner and director Colm Tracey said it had chosen to expand into the wider Craigavon area “because of the large pool of talent”.

“The impetus to set up a third customer service centre was through increased demand from our client EE,” he added. “The site will play a vital role as we diversify.”

NI outshines UK as buyout deals soar THE value of big business deals here has shot up by almost a third — rising to £175m in the past three months, according to a report by Experian.

That figure was driven by big deals including Aventas — formerly Quinn Group — which sold off its Polycasa business in a deal worth £90m.

Other deals included Londonderry firm 8over8, which was taken over by Cambridge-based Aveva for £27.9m, back in January.

Business deal values increased by 31% in the first quarter of 2015, year-on-year.

The value of merger and acquisition deals in Northern Ireland grew faster than most other areas in GB and the Republic, but the overall number of deals fell by around 20%.

Belfast law firm Tughans came out on top for the number of business deals done in the first quarter of the year.

4 BUSINESS MONTH 13 April 2015

DIGITAL DERRY: Londonderry reinforced its credentials as a thriving digital hub when it hosted the first visit to the city of Mike Butcher, editor-at-large of online forum TechCrunch. A lecture, organised by CultureTECH and supported by urban regeneration company Ilex, saw a host of technology entrepreneurs pack into the North West Regional Science Park to hear from Mr Butcher. His key message was that the internet has made it easy for anyone to start a company and take it to market anywhere in the world. Mr Butcher (third from left) was joined by (left to right) Diarmuid Moloney of Rotor Video, Stephen O’Reilly of Gramofon, SDLP Foyle MP Mark Durkan, Mark McKeague from Ototo and Mark Nagurski Some of its transactions included acting on behalf of Curlew Capital for the purchase of the former Belfast Met at College Square East.

John George Willis, head of the corporate department at Tughans, said: “Our expectation is that deal numbers in 2015 will outstrip 2014 spurred on by US corporations taking advantage of the strong US dollar to buy NI businesses.”

The report showed that business acquisitions here made up the bulk of deals in the first three months of this year.

And interest from abroad was also “showing no sign of abating”, it added.

Construction firms announce merger TWO of Northern Ireland’s best-known construction names have joined forces as H&J Martin becomes part of Lagan Construction Group.

H&J Martin has been

bought over by Lagan Construction Group for an undisclosed sum but will continue to trade under its own name.

Thanks to the merger, which was supported by Danske Bank, Lagan Construction Group will employ more than 900 people and will have a turnover of more than £300m.

Colin Loughran, chief executive of Lagan Construction Group, said: “As two family-owned and run businesses, there are many similarities between Lagan Construction Group and H&J Martin.

“This will enable us to offer new integrated services to clients in both the domestic and international marketplace”.

Software firm’s triple deal signals big plans NEWRY financial software and consulting firm First Derivatives (FD) announced a hattrick of acquisitions in a £20m spree over recent weeks.

The company, which is led by Brian Conlon, bought up firms in Canada, Republic of Ireland and Massachusetts.

FD held a £15.3m share placing in February in a bid to raise money. Late last month, it announced it was paying up to $14.5m (£7.7m) for Affinity Systems Limited in Canada, which provides software development and consultancy services.

Mr Conlon described FD as a natural fit and said: “The strategy of developing software products built on one of the world’s most powerful databases and the ethos of Affinity mirror that of FD. Affinity brings the company expertise across sectors. We see this as an exciting opportunity.”

That deal came not long after the plc acquired Irish tech company Activate Clients for €4.75m (£3.4m).

The first of its recent spree was Prelytix in Masschusetts, for which FD parted with $20m (£13.45m).

NEWS BITES

Expanding Lidl plans 15 new outlets

t GROWTH FORECASTS

GERMAN supermarket giant Lidl is to open as many as 15 new stores in Northern Ireland — making it the second largest food retailer here for store numbers.

It is set to open 60 stores across the island, and it’s understood between 10 and 15 of those could be in Northern Ireland.

The expansion would make Lidl the second biggest supermarket here after Tesco — bringing its store numbers to more than 50.

The discount chain currently has 38 outlets scattered throughout Northern Ireland.

Tesco is the only major supermarket which operates more outlets in Northern Ireland.

And Lidl’s sales are also growing faster here than they are in the Republic or Britain.

It is eyeing up bigger properties and premises to accommodate the expansion.

And it could also add new stores to areas it already has a presence — including Belfast.

Commercial property agent CBRE — operating in both Belfast and Dublin — has been appointed to find key sites in cities and towns across Ireland.

It’s understood it is exploring areas that are currently without a store, areas where there is “room for further expansion” and existing stores “that can be made larger”.

And the “ideal” size of the new locations is thought to be around two acres.

The latest expansion comes as Lidl continues its crawl up the supermarket leaderboard.

It witnessed growth of more than 17% at the beginning of 2015 — compared with figures

t INFLATION

UK gong for Core Systems’ Patricia

▲ OUTPUTLEVELS

Output grew 1.9% over the last quarter of 2014, according to the Index of Production

▲ MANUFACTURING

As a part of output, manufacturing grew 2.3% during the last three months of 2014

▲ HOUSE PRICES

Average house prices in Northern Ireland were up 7.3% to £142,000 in the year to January, according to the Office for National Statistics.

▲ RETAIL SALES

The CBI said sales on UK high streets bounced back during March after a slow February as low inflation loosened people’s purse strings

▲ EMPLOYEE JOBS

There were 720,130 employee jobs in Northern Ireland in December, according to the Employment Survey — up 11,990 over the year

t CORPORATIONTAX

The main rate of business tax came down to 20% during April as part of the Conservatives’ pledge to keep the UK business-friendly PwC predicts growth of 1.7% in GVA for Northern Ireland — lower than the Danske Bank forecast of 2.2% Consumer price inflation reached a nadir of 0% in February — the lowest since CPI records began in 1989

t MINING AND QUARRYING Output from this sector fell 14.5%, according to the Index of Production

t UNEMPLOYMENT

The rate in Northern Ireland was 6.0% between November 2014 and January 2015 — down 1.5 percentage points on the same period in 2013 6 BUSINESS MONTH 13 April 2015

THE chief executive of Northern Ireland offender technology company Core Systems has won a UK-wide entrepreneur of the year award.

Patricia O’Hagan triumphed in the Entrepreneur of the Year category in the FDM Everywoman in Technology Awards.

The 2015 FDM Everywoman in Technology Awards are held to champion the advancement of women in technology and STEM careers.

Ms O’Hagan joined the north Belfast firm in 2005 and since then has led the company into

Lidl is set to become the second biggest food retailer in Northern Ireland from the previous year.

And while it still only represents 3.9% of the total Northern Ireland supermarket playing field in terms of sales, the latest expansion should boost its place in the market here.

It has also enjoyed similarly positive growth in the Republic.

Lidl has remained tight-lipped about the details of the expansion, but a spokesman said “as

major growth in several key international markets.

Core Systems specialises in offender-focused technology for prisoners in high-security facilities and for former prisoners in the community.

The company’s systems help inmates access information and educate themselves, therefore aiding their rehabilitation.

Their chief executive is also a member of the Economic Advisory Group and was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours List in 2013 for her services to the economy.

part of Lidl’s long-term commitment to Northern Ireland... the company intends to expand its operations”.

“This will lead to increased investment, the creation of further well-paid jobs in the retail sector as well as greater choice for consumers,” it said.

Lidl opened its first store in Northern Ireland in 1999, when it had just 18 staff on its payroll.

Patricia O’Hagan at FDM Awards

NEWS ANALYSIS

In bags of bother

Authorities keep a close eye on oligarchs’ spending, says Jim Armitage

I

F there is any lesson to be learned from the high-profile arrest of the billionaire gas tycoon Dmitry Firtash, it is this: watch where you do your luxury shopping in Vienna.

For it was as a result of this exceptionally well-connected magnate’s €75,510 (around £55,500) spending splurge on handbags, skirts and jewellery in Louis Vuitton one day last April that he found himself getting, for want of a better word, nicked.

Soon after the transaction, Mr Firtash (pictured below) was arrested under a warrant from the FBI. Ever since, due to his being banned from leaving Austria, he has been absent from his palatial home near Harrods in London’s Knightsbridge. Nor, for that matter, has he visited home in his native Ukraine.

The US said it wanted the tycoon extradited because it alleged he was involved in bribing officials in India.

But he and his supporters, who strenuously deny the allegations, believe the arrest was far more about the powerplay between Moscow and Washington than his business dealings in Asia.

Why do this think this? It is because Mr Firtash is not just any billionaire, but one reported to have had the ear of Vladimir Putin. As such, he was a valid target for US authorities in the early days of Russian intervention in the Crimea.

Shortly before his arrest, his links to senior Conservatives John Whittingdale MP and Lord Risby, a former vice chairman of the party, were reported. Both are on the board of the Firtash-backed British Ukrainian Society. Tory donor Robert Shetler-Jones and Lord Oxford, a former diplomat in Kiev, were also board members, as was Vladimir Granovksi, a spin doctor who worked on an election campaign for Viktor Yanukovych and was also on the board of Mr Firtash’s TV business.

None of this went unnoticed by the demonstrators who gathered outside Firtash’s UK offices during Kiev’s Maidan protests

8 BUSINESS MONTH 13 April 2015

Mr Firtash was arrested under an FBI warrant after buying £55,000 of Louis Vuitton bags, skirts and jewellery and loudly criticised him for failing to take a stand against the government back home.

But what had happened at Louis Vuitton in Vienna’s baroque “Golden Quarter”, where the super wealthy — often from the former Soviet republics — visit to spend their cash in Armani, Cavalli and Prada stores?

Vienna is a prime destination for such oligarchs, partly thanks to its close proximity to the east and, cynics say, its relaxed approach to investing the money that passes through, regardless of origins.

Events revealed in an Austrian magazine last month suggest the latter reputation is not entirely deserved. For it was an Austrian bank, Bawag PSK, that alerted the authorities to the transactions.

Being owned by the US invest-

ment funds Cerberus and Golden Tree, Bawag is particularly wary of its duties to the American Government. And, little known to Mr Firtash, he was on the FBI’s watchlist.

According to Format magazine, and unconfirmed by the bank, Bawag and the US embassy in Vienna kept a close eye on America’s oligarch enemies by allegedly surveilling the transactions in the Golden Quarter’s glittering emporia.

So, when Mr Firtash used the Bawag bank account of his Vienna-based Scythian Consulting business at the Louis Vuitton checkout, alarm bells rang. He was suspected of trying to disguise “who really ordered the payment by making a payment via one of his foreign subsidiaries”, Format reported,

quoting from the Regional Court for Criminal Cases.

Not only that but, according to the magazine, Bawag then tried to block his bail payment — a record €125m — prolonging his custody.

But, perhaps most crucially for Mr Firtash, the report contained a critical detail: the Vienna court has now closed its domestic criminal probe, including the Bawag filing on his activities.

Furthermore, the Higher Regional Court of Vienna has concluded in his favour on the US government’s allegations, saying the Americans offered insufficient evidence of corruption. Now, few think Mr Firtash will be extradited at his hearing on 30 April.

The question now is, when he is free to return to Ukraine, where the country’s oligarchs are manoeuvring for power like never before, what will be his next move? A spree in Kiev’s Louis Vuitton will probably be the last thing on his mind.

NEWS ANALYSIS

Election-style budget Michael Hall, managing partner, EY Northern Ireland

T

HE looming general election ensured that the Chancellor took a largely cautious approach to what was a mixed Budget on March 18. With no real scope for big pre-election giveaways, Mr Osborne trod a guarded path, focusing on the individual over businesses. As a result, what was delivered was very much a Budget for the electorate.

While restrained public spending and anti-avoidance measures were peppered throughout, the flagship measures were reserved for low earners and the stretched middle class. Above-expected increases in the personal allowance, increases in the minimum wage and extension of the basic and higher rate thresholds represented the headline items in this Budget. By sanctioning a personal allowance of £11,000 and basic rate limit of £32,300 from April 2017, the Chancellor made clear his intention to remove the lower paid from the charge to income tax and provide fiscal flexibility for middle earners.

With austerity anticipated to come to an end a year earlier than previously expected and a record number of people employed, the Chancellor also provided a helping hand to savers via a new personal savings allowance and more flexible tax incentivised ISAs. Greater flexibility was also extended to first time home buyers and low-income pensioners via mechanisms for savings and annuities respectively.

The Budget was less headline grabbing for businesses than individuals — however, the environment for businesses in the UK is still improving. The UK now boasts one of the lowest corporate tax rates in the G20, after moving from 21% to 20% on April 1, reaffirming the Government’s commitment to creating the most competitive tax system in leading economies.

A key driving factor of this ethos has been government

10 BUSINESS MONTH 13 April 2015

Adding it all up: the pre-election Budget focused on low earners and the stretched middle class investment in research and development (R&D) tax incentives which were set to rise yet again for both SMEs and large companies on April 1.

The clear winners from a corporate perspective were small businesses which look to benefit from a series of targeted incentives. National Insurance Contributions (NICs) proved to be the mechanism of choice with the abolition of both Class 2 obligations for the self-employed and Employer NICs for under-21s and young apprentices taking centre stage in the push to reduce costs for start-ups.

The Chancellor went further in his support of small businesses to introduce a sweeping new approach to annual tax returns with a view to lessening administrative burdens. An update to HMRC technology will allow the extension of digital tax accounts to provide a streamlined real-time system for individuals and small businesses by 2020.

While perhaps not as familiar to the Budget spotlight, the agricultural sector was not overlooked on this occasion.

Farmers will now be extended the flexibility to average profits over five years instead of two as previously determined for income tax purposes. Given the significance of this sector to the Northern Ireland economy, this will offer vital and welcome relief for the hard pressed sector.

If the sun was shining on small businesses in this Budget, the job of “fixing-the-roof” appeared to fall firmly on the shoulders of the large multi-nationals and banks. The new diverted profits tax was introduced on April 1. This is intended to penalise corporates that arrange their affairs in ways so as to shift profits either out of the UK or to achieve lower tax rates. It is levied at a rate of 25% to encourage groups to change their behaviour.

As George Osborne packs away his red briefcase for now, in Northern Ireland the focus

now shifts from Westminster and rests firmly on Stormont.

While this was a largely positive Budget for Northern Ireland due to its benefits for small businesses, farmers, and low income earners, the attention is still firmly fixed on the fate of the Northern Ireland Corporate Tax Bill. The Bill received Royal Assent nearly three weeks before the publication of this article.

The ball is now very much in the Executive’s court. While the issue of welfare reform and party-politics persists, support from the business community and political parties in Westminster appears strong and the potential value to the Northern Ireland economy very clear.

While the general consensus may be that this was a relatively restrained Budget, there are still clear positives to be taken from this announcement.

However, in a Budget clearly choreographed for an electorate, all eyes are now on the general election on May 7.

NEWS ANALYSIS

Prime offices are vital Top-class space can trigger additional development says Robert Ditty

T

HIS year is shaping up to be another remarkable 12 months for the commercial real estate sector in Northern Ireland. Last year we saw the volume of transactional activity in the investment market exceeding expectations, with in excess of £500m invested in commercial property.

With the volume of assets that we are expecting to see trade in 2015, we are anticipating an even higher value of investment activity in the months ahead.

The real estate investment model has been transformed from a primarily debt-based one to a more equity-based model, with a large proportion of institutional activity now taking place.

Major acquisitions during 2014 have included the purchase of Sprucefield Retail Park by Intu plc for £68.4m and Project Swallowtail, the sale of three prime shopping centres acquired by New River and asset management company AFG for £207.1m.

More importantly, we are seeing an increase in respect of property values primarily driven by yield compression, and this trend seems set to continue throughout 2015 as many investors who purchased assets in the region over the last few years commence intensive asset management strategies in order to enhance the value of their investments.

In some cases this may result in complete redevelopment or refurbishment programmes, or may include a combination of re-gearing existing leases, reducing vacancies and negotiating new lettings, all of which will be positive for the market.

One area of the market which still presents challenges (as well opportunity), is the lack of supply of Grade A office space. With City Quays 1 being the only new build prime office development available in the market in 2015, there is still a significant dearth of quality prime office space to satisfy current and future demand. The increased pressure on the sector will undoubtedly have a positive knock on effect on prime rents for investors, which we forecast

12 BUSINESS MONTH 13 April 2015

The provision of Grade A office supply in Belfast is critical to the success of Northern Ireland’s FDI strategy could increase to £16-£17 sq ft in 2015, a much needed 15% growth.

A key benefit of reaching this level of rent is that it should act as a catalyst and trigger additional development in the city.

The reduction in Northern Ireland’s corporation tax will bring a significant boost in foreign direct investment (FDI) into NI. We believe it will give Northern Ireland, and Belfast in particular, a real opportunity to compete on a more equal footing with Republic of Ireland.

With prime Dublin office rents currently €45 per sq ft and forecast to rise to €55-60 per sq ft this year, Belfast can confidently compete for FDI against the backdrop of a highly educated labour pool, first-rate transport infrastructure and an increasingly successful FDI track record.

In the last number of years Belfast has attracted global names such as Liberty IT, Citigroup, Microsoft, NYSE and Cybersource — many of whom have expanded their initial operations, significantly increasing their original workforce levels. With Dublin’s property and salary costs considerably higher than Belfast, there is an opportunity for Belfast to attract significant global investment to occupy existing Grade A

stock and assist in triggering new development activity. Our recent analysis shows that the city has approximately 2.5m sq ft of office planning permissions either granted or pending in 23 different schemes. Grade A office supply is critical to the success of Northern Ireland’s FDI strategy; the problem needs to be addressed across the entire stakeholder map, including government.

Throughout 2014 we saw signs of greater investor appetite for Belfast office investment, for example, the purchase of Obel (occupied by Allen & Overy) by Marathon Asset Management, the acquisition of Victoria House (which has a blue-chip tenant listing) by F&C Reit, and the G4S office building in Sydenham Business Park which was sold to Belfast Harbour Commissioners.

Only three months into 2015 and we are already seeing more institutional and overseas investor interest seeking to acquire Belfast office stock in order to take advantage of the next growth cycle. We forecast significantly more investment activity in this sector, but the issue of supply of “best in class” Grade A offices will remain an issue. With only a small number of buildings in Belfast able to meet the criteria, we ex-

pect to see a lot more competitive bidding when stock comes onto the market over the coming weeks and months. Secondary stock requiring refurbishment will remain attractive to buyers experienced in adding value to drive both rental and capital growth, as well as taking advantage of tax allowances (BPRA).

Belfast prime office yields will remain strong in 2015 with CBRE forecasting 6.25%.

This still compares favourably when benchmarked against other UK and Ireland locations, as well as similar sized European cities.

Even with our forecast that rents will hit £16-£17 per sq ft, the city still remains highly competitive when benchmarked against other leading UK cities.

With a number of significant office sales pending completion in Q1 2015, and increased activity across commercial property including the hotel, leisure and retail sectors, we believe Northern Ireland will continue to attract institutional and international investment further strengthening not only the commercial property market but the Northern Ireland economy as a whole.

Robert Ditty is senior director, capital markets at CBRE

COMPANY PROFILE

Making a real difference

Homegrown pharmaceutical firm Almac, which has 2,200 employees in Craigavon and another 1,400 across the US and Asia, is working across the world to provide solutions to healthcare. It is involved in ground-breaking cancer research, as well as rolling out services to world-renowned pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

In a nutshell

The typical cost of creating a new drug was estimated in 2013 at £3.3bn taking, on average, 12 years before reaching the patient. The Almac Group’s aim is to provide solutions to pharmaceutical and biotech firms to speed up this entire development pipeline, thereby saving money in the process. But Almac is not just about the science — the company employs a vast range of people in various roles which support the company’s research and development efforts, including engineers, software developers, project staff, creative marketing and HR professionals and accountants.

Over the past decade Almac has been making waves in the industry by achieving success after success in a number of key areas – some of which have been included below:

New cancer drug

In March, Almac Discovery initiated its first clinical trial (phase I) on a proprietary drug for the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer. The drug, ALM201, is a therapeutic peptide derived from a natural protein and has multiple modes of action including anti-angiogenesis which means that it prevents the growth of new blood vessels — something of particular relevance for ovarian cancer. This drug, which targets cancer stem cells, has the potential to revolutionise the way ovarian cancer and potentially other cancers are treated.

Cancer treatment

Last year the group released news of its revolutionary gene expression test — AADx — developed by in-house biomarker experts at their Craigavon HQ campus. The test, available for clinical use this year, is a significant development in the field of personalised medicine and has a highly beneficial impact for ovarian cancer patients, demonstrating likely treatment outcomes, which will enable tailored care plans and provide clinicians with better data to

14 BUSINESS MONTH 13 April 2015

Students from Lurgan College helped launch a schools outreach programme at Almac. Pathway promotes science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects as a route to an exciting career. (From left) Derek Baker of the Department for Employment and Learning was joined by students Jamie Davison and Samantha Bann, and Stephen Barr from Almac’s science business unit prescribe appropriate drug treatments. In some patients, the use of certain drugs may produce adverse outcomes — this Almac test will help better identify these patients and potentially improve life expectancy as a result.

In late 2013 Almac’s proprietary DNA Damage Repair Deficiency (DDRD) technology and intellectual property was developed for use in the treatment of high risk breast cancer. Experts have predicted that up to 200,000 patients in the US and Europe could benefit from the new Almac test which will not be commercially available for at least another year.

Continual expansion

As a pragmatic and dynamic organisation, the group made a strategic decision to expand its global operations into the Asia Pacific region in 2014 and established regional hubs in Japan and Singapore. This move enables Almac to provide on-the-ground leadership, technical, project and operational resources to support their clients and the wider indus-

try’s growing need to conduct clinical trials in Asia and/or manage global trials from the region.

Local teams apply knowledge and expertise gained from the group’s vast experience managing more than 10,000 clinical trials around the world to design, implement and manage drug supply strategies and efficient technology solutions throughout the life of the clinical study. Almac is also strengthening its Asia Pacific offerings by establishing a new primary and secondary packaging facility in Singapore that will open later this year. Through this facility, the company will improve supply management and support drug pooling strategies, which further optimise the supply chain, minimise waste and reduce costs.

products which can be used in applications as diverse as developing new flavours, fragrances, agrochemicals and fine chemicals. Biocatalysis is a relatively new scientific approach to finding environmentally-friendly alternatives to manufacturing chemicals and Almac is leading the way in this new technology.

This approach has the potential to lower the cost of chemical manufacture and, as they are environmentally friendly, produce significantly less harmful waste than traditional methods. Their investment will introduce faster and better methods of accessing novel enzymes with unique properties that are required for cutting-edge chemical processes.

Advancing healthcare

Through its 40 years’ experience, Almac has supported global pharma and biotech companies in a variety of therapeutic areas — some of the top 20 blockbuster drugs the public has been prescribed have almost certainly been handled, at some point, by Almac. The company’s continued growth and success in international markets is a result of its proactive approach to changing market needs and adapting its business model to suit as it remains committed to developing its markets and client base in order to ensure long-term sustainable success and future-proof local jobs.

To discover more about the global organisation, visit www. almacgroup.com.

Research and development

Almac also works in close collaboration with Queen’s University on a number of cutting edge projects. Most recently the company invested £4.6m in a three year biocatalysis research and development programme which seeks to find new platforms and

Almac’s headquarters at Craigavon, Co Armagh

ECONOMY WATCH

X marks

As the general election campaign result expected, our economic and the politics of a post-election Britain

T

HE Chancellor of the Exchequer last month delivered his sixth and perhaps final Budget. It was his most polished delivery to date.

After five years of austerity, anyone listening would have felt uplifted.

“Today, I report on a Britain that is growing, creating jobs and paying its way. We took difficult decisions in the teeth of opposition and it worked — Britain is walking tall again.”

The Chancellor highlighted that last year the UK expanded faster than any major advanced economy and “more people have jobs in Britain than ever before”. The UK’s much-maligned “deficit” as a share of national income has halved in the last five years.

The Chancellor set a lofty goal for Britain to become the most prosperous major economy in the world, with that prosperity widely shared.

The feelgood factor was supplemented by gimmicks and giveaways (eg: cuts in beer duty). These took attention away from the higher impact, less media-friendly issues that didn’t feature in the speech.

Osborne’s predecessor, Gordon Brown, was famed for his Gatling gun-style delivery of statistics. Osborne’s style is rattling off short bursts of positive bullet points. These reached a crescendo at the end of his Budget speech. “The deficit down. Growth up. Jobs up. Living standards on the rise. Britain on the rise. This is the Budget for Britain. The comeback country”.

Even economists were briefly on a high after the Budget.

This positivity was followed by what the Chancellor dubbed a “hat-trick of good news about the British economy”. This was a reference to data showing economic growth was revised up, consumer confidence was up and living standards were

16 BUSINESS MONTH 13 April 2015

Beware election gifts

Richard Ramsey

Chief economist, Ulster Bank now officially higher than at the last election.

However, huge economic and fiscal challenges remain.

The word ‘productivity’ was not even mentioned in last month’s Budget speech.

However, it remains critical to the health of the UK economy and its public finances.

Unfortunately, the headline on April 1 that “UK productivity weakness worsening” was not an April Fools’ joke. Output per hour worked in 2014 was broadly unchanged relative to 2013, and slightly lower than in 2007. The official statistical release noted that “the absence of productivity growth in the seven years since 2007 is unprecedented in the post-war period”. Rising economic output is only coming about from additional workers employed for longer hours.

The Office for Budget Responsibility’s fiscal plans laid out last month assume that labour productivity growth returns and averages over 2% p.a. for the next the five years.

There is a significant risk that

this, and the associated strong rates of average earnings growth (3.5% p.a.), simply don’t materialise.

Without productivity growth there will be no meaningful rise in wages and living standards. In turn, rising incomes are required to boost revenues and repair public finances.

Without productivity growth, public finances will deteriorate further, necessitating a combination of more expenditure cuts, tax rises and borrowing.

The UK’s medium-term fiscal outlook is still pretty dire, even with some optimistic assumptions about productivity. Public sector borrowing is falling, but the government still has to borrow £75bn for 2015/16 alone to balance the books. A surplus of revenue over expenditure does not materialise until 2018/19.

Meanwhile, UK deficit as a share of GDP is one of the highest in the developed world.

At 5% in 2014/15, it is only set to fall below the EU Stability & Growth Pact threshold of 3% in 2016/17.

The UK’s overall stock of debt (or the sum of all the deficits) expressed as a share of national income peaks at 80.4% in 2014/15. It only starts falling in 2015/16 (80.2%) due to the sale of a number of state assets. By 2019/20, debt to GDP ratio will still be at an uncomfortably high 71.6%.

Looking at the overall stock of public sector net debt, this will breach the £1.5trn mark later this year and £1.6trn by 2017/18. This is perhaps not quite “the comeback country” the Chancellor referred to.

Private debt, particularly among households, is also high. UK household debt as a share of income has been falling from 2008-2013. However, it has started to rise again and is set to return to its 2008 peak of 169% in four years’ time. To date, the economic recovery has been facilitated by record low interest rates. These will not last forever.

While the pace of austerity appears to have eased lately, the UK faces a second Parliament of fiscal pain. Day-to-day public spending is potentially facing cuts in 2016/17 and 2017/18 that are more than twice what has been experienced on average in the last five years. The 2015 General Election has acted as a speed camera for the pace of austerity, and after May the accelerator will have a heavy right foot on it again. We just don’t know who the driver will be. It is likely the most unpalatable medicine will come at the start of the fixed five year Parliament with a potential “Emergency Budget II” in June.

Irrespective of which parties form the next UK Government, they face the same fiscal and economic challenges. While we can be certain that the politics of austerity will be with us over the next Parliament, the only uncertainty is what form that austerity will take.

ECONOMY WATCH

the spot reaches fever pitch with a close political experts take a look at how will affect Northern Ireland

A

LREADY the clichés are running ahead of the discourse on the 2015 Westminster elections — ‘too close to call’, ‘on a knife edge’, and our favourite at Stratagem, ‘the first e-election’.

So let’s give our top ten tips on how #GE15 (as the Twitterati will refer to it) will play out for Northern Ireland plc and the economy.

Tip 1: This first five-year fixed term Parliament means the campaign has already been interminably long; the economy has lost out to flashy, uninformative TV debates, the ‘two kitchens’ and how the Scottish National Party (SNP) can be held at Hadrian’s Wall.

Tip 2: The economy has lost out to campaigning priorities — trust, credibility, authenticity, personality, rebuttal and prebuttal, imagery and poster design are all the stuff of electoral campaigners. They find this easier than explaining new approaches to fiscal policy, currency exchange, interest rates, quantitative easing, public sector reform and foreign direct investment. The latter are boring manifesto matters. Prepare in Northern Ireland for much talk on devolved matters, as a rehearsal for the Assembly elections in 2016, and precious little on UK issues. ‘All politics is local’, as Tip O’Neill opined.

Tip 3: Numbers are everything … who’s put more bobbies on the beat, jobs on the estates, defence commitments and pension credit, to seats won and lost (322 is the key one, after taking out the Speaker and the five Sinn Féin revolutionary abstentionists to secure a majority of 650 MPs) that play into coalition-formation on May 8 (the day after…).

Expect Conservatives and Labour to score about 270-290 each, with the single Green holding on, only three Ukip

Tips for polling fans

Quintin Oliver Political consultant

wins and about 30 LibDems (proving incumbency works), our 18 MPs, and the resurgent SNP the best of the rest.

Tip 4: Northern Ireland will teach them about coalitions — we have a five-party ‘grand coalition. Beware any party in Great Britain that takes the DUP for granted when it comes looking for their nine or 10 votes. Their skills are wellhoned and practised — unlike Nicola Sturgeon MSP, they have not given away their hand in advance, and are studiously appealing to both GB big beasts.

Tip 5: Pacts in four seats here will represent a further distraction from serious policy.

Once ‘unionism’ or ‘nationalism’ is elevated above health or education, chances of policy clarity — or even policy differentiation – on other issues, including economic ones, are seriously diminished. Three party leaders here could be gone within months of May, and new manifestoes prepared for the next elections.

Tip 6: Whatever government

is formed, it is likely that the SNP will be involved (more than the LibDems, UKIP and Greens combined). Prepare for even more commitments on devolved powers — where stands Northern Ireland on this? Do we want landfill tax, stamp duty, the Crown Estate, inheritance tax, income tax responsibilities, or are we fixated on corporation tax and not using air passenger duty (APD)?

Tip 7: Ask any party or canvasser to articulate their vision for the Northern Ireland economy — if they repeat the clichés of ‘prosperity, rebalancing and equality’, ask for more.

If we do not enjoy a shared vision of how we wish to grow and improve our economy sustainably, we cannot make progress. How will we tackle energy infrastructure? What will we draw down from the EU’s massive Juncker Plan for investment? Will we sell off Translink, NI Water and the Harbour? What does ‘rebalancing the economy’ actually mean? How does the private sector contribute to poverty

alleviation? Can we live with sharp and inefficient inequality by building higher walls and hiring more security? Will we raise any taxes?

Tip 8: For the geeks among us, what will happen to turnout? Can we replicate the terrific 85% of #IndyRef or 82% for the Good Friday Agreement in 1998? The last outing in 2010 attracted 57% of us, unusually lower than the 65% across the water; some say that represents creeping normality, others despair at our disinterest. For those protesting ‘it makes no difference’ just remind them that the Electoral Court reduced Michelle Gildernew’s majority of four, to a single vote in her favour. That’s why every vote counts.

Tip 9: At Stratagem we have predicted since our formation in 1998, that this next one will be an ‘e-election’ — in one sense, they all have since then.

Let us not confuse the medium with the message. Every campaigner uses the tools now available, from postcards and posters in the 19th century, through town hall meetings and rallies to clever Saatchi and Saatchi billboard ads in 1979, now to Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Nevertheless at its essence it is all about argument, ideas and promises — that is what should excite the voter and test the propositions of the parties, logically presenting their pitch to form a government to deliver on their commitments. Simple.

Let’s keep it so.

Tip 10: Enjoy this festival of democracy ... elections should be challenging, thought-provoking and above all, fun. If you become depressed, just remember the very electoral process brings millions into our needy economy!

Quintin Oliver runs political consultancy www.Stratagem-ni.com and tweets @QuintinOliver

13 April 2015 BUSINESS MONTH 17

COVER STORY

A TASTE OF THE COUNTRY Audrey Watson talks to the new owners of country manor Ardtara House - rural Co Londonderry’s answer to Downton Abbey

RARELY do businessmen let their hearts rule their head, but when it came to a stunning 19th century manor on the edge of the Sperrin Mountains, Marcus Roulston and Ian Orr, the duo behind Londonderry-based Browns Restaurant Group, couldn’t resist.

“We just fell in love,” says Mr Roulston (below), recalling the reason for the swift purchase (within two weeks of viewing) in December 2014 of Ardtara Country House, an award-winning hotel and one of Mid-Ulster’s most treasured and spectacular rural homes.

“We already had three hugely successful restaurants – two in Derry and one in Letterkenny – and although it had always been an ambition to buy a country house venue, Ardtara came along probably a year or two earlier than originally planned,” he adds.

“The heart definitely ruled the head on this occasion. We just fell completely in love with the place – with what it was and with what we could do with it – and didn’t spend as much time looking at the financial aspect as we usually would.”

However, the move should prove to be an inspired one for the pair, who have been in partnership since 2009.

Situated on the Gorteade Road, just outside Upperlands in Co Londonderry, opportunities to purchase properties such as Ardtara don’t come along very often. The beautiful venue is regarded as one of the finest Victorian country houses in Northern Ireland and has earned a top reputation as a wedding venue and exclusive boutique hotel.

One of only three Northern Ireland members of Ireland’s

18 BUSINESS MONTH 13 April 2015

prestigious Blue Book – a unique association of elegant country and manor houses and historic hotels in Europe, Ardtara was also included in National Geographic Traveller magazine’s Best Places to Stay in Britain and Ireland, 2010, and was named Most Romantic Hotel of the Year by the Automobile Association (AA) in 2009.

Formerly home to world famous linen makers the Clark family, the mansion was built in 1895 by Harry Jackson Clark, and remained the family home until Harry’s death in 1956.

By 1975, the building was bereft of life and lay empty until 1990 when Northern Ireland woman Maebeth Martin helped by her mother, civil engineer father, investment from North America and a natural gift for interior design, restored the home to accommodate visitors in the comfort and style of Harry’s bygone era – but with all the conveniences of a modern hotel.

Ardtara Country House opened for business in 1994 and won best accommodation award at the annual Northern Ireland Tourist Board awards in 1995.

In the early 21st century, ownership passed to Ulster-born US businessman, Dr Alistair Hanna – the man behind the controversial Bushmills Dunes golf project – and his wife Nancy, who continued the support and investment necessary to maintain the standards which have helped Ardtara achieve a loyal clientele.

Sadly, Dr Hanna passed away last year and the

property was put up for sale at an asking price of around £500,000 and purchased for an undisclosed sum by Browns Restaurant Group on December 12, 2014.

“It’s actually perfect for us because it’s not on the doorstep of our other venues and therefore won’t affect our existing businesses,” says Mr Roulston.

“But it’s still close enough to manage from our base in Derry.

“Offering accommodation is a new departure for Browns.

Ardtara has nine bedrooms (furnished with period antiques, but with all mod cons) and a period dining room, all set in 10-acres of beautiful parkland, which people can now come and enjoy as well as experiencing our great food.”

Originally from the village of St Johnston in Co Donegal, Marcus Roulston, 43, studied civil structural engineering at Sheffield University. However, after graduating he turned down a job with British Rail and returned home to Ireland.

“I guess I’m a bit of a homebird,” he laughs. “Plus by the time I had finished my degree I knew engineering wasn’t for me.

“I initially started teaching mathematics and engineering, but didn’t enjoy working for other people, so became

self-employed.

“Over the last 20 years, I’ve been involved in 20 or 30 different businesses, from hospitality to property development.

“Some won, some were lost, but thankfully, Browns has worked big time and we are now firmly established as a high-end, affordable luxury brand.”

Derry-born super-chef, Ian Orr, 32, (see picture p20) needs little introduction. Regarded as one of Ireland’s top culinary talents, he trained under the late Robbie Millar at Northern Ireland’s ground-breaking Michelin-starred restaurant, Shanks, before moving to London’s River Cafe (where fans of his dishes included Tony Blair, Gwyneth Paltrow, Madonna, Rick Stein and Coldplay) and then returning to Ireland as head chef at Rathmullan House Hotel in Co Donegal.

His culinary finesse has caught the attention of numerous food writers and experts resulting in several awards and listings in leading food guides. In 2013, he was named Georgina Campbell Chef of the Year.

Ian is also brand ambassador for supermarket chain Lidl and creates exclusive recipes for customers using locally sourced ingredients.

Not surprisingly, the two men first met in a restaurant and five years ago, joined forces to form Browns Restaurant group.

“In 2009 everyone was really feeling the effects of the recession and like many self-employed businessmen, I was wondering where and how I could build something that would last in the economic climate,” recalls Mr Roulston.

“I had recognised for some time that Derry was lacking a really good, high-end restaurant – one that could push for a Michelin star.

“Ian was the foremost young Irish chef at the time (and still is) and I had got to know him, having dined many times at Rathmullan House.

“I became aware that Browns, an already established restaurant on Bonds Hill on the Waterside area of the city was for sale, and when I next saw Ian, discovered that he was actually born just around the corner from Browns.

“All the positive signs were there and we decided to go into business together.”

“It was a big step for me, but I wasn’t worried at all,” says Mr Orr. “I loved being head chef

at Rathmullan House, but this was the chance to be a 50/50 partner in a restaurant in my hometown – something I had always dreamed of.

“It was too good an opportunity to miss – I just decided to let Marcus do all the worrying,” he laughs.”

Rather than rename the venue, Ian and Marcus decided to retain the already-established Browns branding.

“From a business point of view, at that time in 2009, what with the recession, it made more sense to buy a building that was already kitted out as a restaurant and just change and upgrade the décor,” Mr Roulston says.

“The kitchen fixtures and fittings were already in place which was a great boost finan-

cially, so we needed minimal investment.

“Plus, the previous owners, who were retiring from the trade, had built up a really good reputation over the years and were happy to hand over the mantle to us.

“From the very beginning, we were determined to create a high-end, destination restaurant.

“And because it was a destination venue, location was not as important and so we were able to set up in the Waterside, where building purchase costs and rates are much cheaper than on the city side.

“We did debate whether or not to change the name, but as Browns had become so wellknown and regarded, it made sense to retain the customer

base that was already there.

“Had the old Browns not enjoyed such a good reputation it might not have been such a good idea.

“However, with the economic climate, it was still a very big risk and difficult at the start. It took around two years to start making a profit, but we stuck to our guns and it paid off.

“Our ethos was great food and great service – and it still is.”

Back then, the duo had no plans to expand beyond the Bonds Hill venue (now called Browns Restaurant and Champagne Lounge), but its success prompted them to open a second restaurant in Derry – Browns in Town (on

>> Continued on page 20

13 April 2015 BUSINESS MONTH 19

COVER STORY

Formerly home to world famous linen makers the Clark family, the mansion was built in 1895 by Harry Jackson Clark, and remained the family home until Harry’s death in 1956. << Continued from page 19 Strand Road) in 2012, followed

by Browns on the Green in Letterkenny in 2013.

“The hospitality industry is notoriously tough and even a busy fine-dining destination is never going to be a goldmine,” says Mr Roulston. “Plus we felt there was an opening for a more casual, yet still high-quality venue within walking distance of the main shopping areas on the city side.

“Again, we chose a venue that didn’t require major investment.

“Likewise with the Letterkenny venue which was already an established restaurant and located at the Golf Club at Barnhill.

“We had found that a lot of people were coming to Browns Restaurant and Browns in Town from Letterkenny and Donegal.

“The Derry venues were constantly booked out at weekends and because Letterkenny didn’t have a stand-alone destination restaurant of its own, we were confident that we would fill our new premises.

“It turned out to be a very good move especially now with the strength of the pound against the euro.”

Both men admit that these days it’s not enough to just serve food – albeit high-end food – and offer special events for customers such as golf days, clay pigeon shooting

20 BUSINESS MONTH 13 April 2015

trips and shopping excursions to Belfast, all bookended with meals at a Browns restaurant, as well as wine tastings, barbecue evenings, and cookery demonstrations.

“The restaurant and hospitality industry is incredibly competitive,” says Mr Roulston. “And although these trips and events take a lot of organising, they are a great way of enticing new customers to Browns and/or encouraging regulars to visit on otherwise quiet days and evenings.

“At the beginning, take-up was quite slow, but now most of our events are fully-booked.”

Another strand of the Browns business is outside catering.

“Customers had been asking us for some time if we could provide the catering for events such as weddings that were being held in different venues.

“We had never hosted weddings in any of our restaurants as we didn’t want to impact on the customers who came in daily or weekly, so we began an outside catering operation which has been hugely successful.

“And now we have beautiful Ardtara, where we can host weddings and other

functions.”

Over the next few months the pair plan to devote lots of care and attention to their new purchase and labour of love.

“The major plan is to get Ardtara busy,” says Mr Orr. “We are in the process of giving it lots of TLC. “Because it is an old country house and a listed building, we don’t want to rush things, or ruin its charm in any way, but we have plans to invest substantially.

“There are currently nine bedrooms and we would eventually like to increase that to 20.

“We are also planning to hold events such as wedding fairs to showcase the house and its wonderful grounds.”

Mr Orr has also just appointed Eddie Attwell as Ardtara’s head chef.

Eddie, originally from Antrim, is a two-time Roux scholarship finalist who once worked in the kitchens at L’Enclume, a Michelin two-star restaurant in the English Lake District, The 28-year-old has already come up with his first Ardtara exclusive – prime cuts of water buffalo from a herd reared just outside Magherafelt.

Milk from

the animals is used to make butter and cheese.

“I had known Eddie for some time and it was important to get someone that understood the Browns brand and ethos,” says Mr Orr. “Eddie was a perfect fit for the venue as he is passionate about local seasonal ingredients, foraging and cultivating.

“With 10 acres at Ardtara, he can utilise all of his skills.”

Asked about future plans for the company, Mr Roulston explains that the next step for Browns is to consolidate.

“We are going to pause and look at all of the venues and ensure that they are all achieving their full potential.

“Our restaurants in Derry are both three-storey buildings, with floors that are currently unoccupied. There is huge opportunity for development and we are looking at the viability of converting this vacant space into boutique-hotel-style accommodation.

“We also want to ensure Ardtara is thriving as a hotel and that it becomes a successful destination restaurant in its own right.”

Ever since they first joined forces in 2009, Roulston and Orr have had their eye on a Michelin star for Browns Restaurant (where Mr Orr remains head chef) and are hoping that 2015 might just be their year, or even 2016 – which was last month officially declared as Northern Ireland’s Year of

Food by Enterprise Minister, Arlene Foster.

Food tourism already generates more than £350m per year to the local economy and a dedicated ‘year’ will see support for the industry through masterclasses and mentoring programmes, the development of new food experiences and trails, and development of a toolkit to enable a wide range of people across Northern Ireland to get involved in promoting their produce and their area.

“Tourism is imperative to Ardtara,” says Mr Orr. “And it is a big factor in the continuing success of Browns as a whole.

“Ardtara has Blue Book status and as such attracts many visitors from the United States in particular.

“The Year of Food will be a wonderful new opportunity to showcase Browns and Ardtara and we are looking at ways to bring as many people, from as many different places as possible to our venues.”

It’s obvious that the pair get on incredibly well – not always the case with business partners.

The beautiful venue is regarded as one of the finest Victorian country houses in Northern Ireland and has earned a top reputation as a wedding venue and exclusive boutique hotel “We bounce stuff off each other all the time and are on the phone 24/7 – much to our wives’ annoyance,” says Mr Orr. “There is a tremendous respect for each other,” adds Mr Roulston. We know that this is a tough business and neither of us expects anything other than tough graft.

“When we started, there was pretty much just the two of us and Ian was sometimes chef, porter and everything else in the kitchen, while I was out on the restaurant floor serving meals and clearing tables.

“Even though we now employ 84 full and part-time staff, we’re both still happy to muck-in if needs be. Just last

week, I was out digging in the grounds of Ardtara and Ian remains head chef at Browns Restaurant.

“The great thing about being a partnership is that we can support and motivate each other. Honestly, we have never once fallen out.

“I concentrate on the business end and the overheads, and Ian concentrates on the creative and food side – he can cook and I can count.”

“But we’ve learned lots from each other,” continues Mr Orr. “I’ve had to develop business acumen and take on a more executive role, overseeing the kitchens, looking at margins, new products etc.

“And I’ve finally learned to cook – well maybe a little bit,” laughs Mr Roulston.

“Ian and I are both control freaks when it comes to the business.

The hospitality industry depends on satisfied customers, returning customers and new customers being attracted to your venue.

“You can never let your standards drop.” www.brownsrestaurant.com

13 April 2015 BUSINESS MONTH 21

NEWS ANALYSIS

Steps to heaven

Alan Watts explores the funding escalator, an ideal method for financing companies from one stage of development to the next

H

ERE’S an excellent bit of pop trivia for you. Did you know that the first performance of what is now the rock classic and bane of guitar shop sales assistants everywhere, Stairway to Heaven, was in Belfast? It was first heard when Led Zeppelin played the Ulster Hall in 1971.

And the link to risk finance here? Well, it’s something called the funding escalator. This particular stairway describes how a company ideally progresses from one step to the next, with ever larger rounds of finance each time.

The typical path might be to start with your friends and family, say £50,000, then angel finance at perhaps £200,000, before moving to venture capital (VC), probably starting at £500,000.

It doesn’t stop there, as successful and fast growing companies can absorb many tens of millions if they are to achieve their maximum potential.

In Northern Ireland, we have our own funding escalator.

Invest NI (intervening to fill what is known as a market failure) has established a stepped set of options.

These start with small loans and a seed equity fund, expand through a co-investment fund and a growth loan fund, right up to two development funds which act like small VCs. And somewhere in the middle of this is the Halo business angel network, which also receives support from Invest.

This is an excellent ladder to help companies grow and is based on classic experience and practice from around the world.

But this world is perhaps changing. Angels are now working much more in groups or syndicates. The classic angel model was somewhat akin to Dragons’ Den, where strong individuals champion the companies they like, investing and only occasionally joining with others to do the deal.

However, the high risks and

22 BUSINESS MONTH 13 April 2015

the amount of work needed each time have put pressure on angels to work in teams. And with so many high tech companies appearing, it’s very hard to be a savvy investor across the board. It’s much better to work as a group and pool the experience and knowledge, as well, of course, as spreading the work and the costs.

Statistics suggest that in places like Scotland, which has been concentrating on angel syndicates for a while, the results are more deals — and eventually (hopefully) more success.

Research from the University of Glasgow and the Adam Smith Business School now takes this further. Not only do these groups do more deals, they also join up with other groups to

syndicate later on, follow-on investing as the companies grow.

And in doing so, they actually form a new and different stair on the escalator.

A syndication of a number of angel groups can collectively, and across a number of rounds, put, say, £2m into a good company. This is sufficient to allow them to exit, probably by the company being acquired, before the sums of money dictate the much deeper pockets of a VC. With an estimated 100 angel groups across the UK, and with the previously largely invisible angel market becoming higher profile, these bigger amounts are becoming more realistic.

And, as they do larger deals without resorting to higher stairs on the escalator, the

groups are in some ways starting to act like VCs themselves.

So, in the words of the report, ‘out goes the funding escalator.

In its place new businesses are increasingly raising a small amount of seed finance and then going on to a large funding round, raising anything between £500,000 and £2m from one or more angel groups and perhaps also a public sector co-fund.’

And in the immortal words of Robert Plant — ‘oh it makes me wonder ...’

Alan Watts is the director of Halo, the Northern Ireland business angels network. More information about Halo can be found at www. haloni.com. Mr Watts can also be contacted through the site.

23

BREAKING THE MOULD

Talking technology GoWalkTalkLtd’s Tony McIntyre explains product design Name: Tony McIntyre Company: Tech company GoWalkTalkLtd, North West Science Park, Londonderry Title: Founder and managing director I got into a technology business because....

I am passionate about product design and like how good, well-designed products can make our lives better. I often felt that users are expected to fit and understand the complex technology needed to make a product work, instead of technology being developed with the user’s needs in mind. I wanted to redress this imbalance, and I developed products with this ethos in mind. Thankfully, I found that we were able to get repeat business and user engagement from the products that we developed.

I haven’t always done this...

Before I started my business in 1990, I used to be part of engineering teams working all over the world for some of the most highly technical facilities in oil and gas, pharmaceutical and biotechnology. I also am a chartered safety consultant, and I have been able to use this background to ensure quality and integrity in everything that we do. This is why the main aim when developing products is to ensure the end user has an easy experience at the interface points. By doing this, they do not have a complex set of instructions to follow when using a product, which this can often lead to human error. When creating products, we have a simple checklist: Is it easy to use, and can you just plug it in and hit play? But even our simple design style has complex technology built-in to ensure it is future-proofed.

The best thing about my work...

I control the outcome and it gives me great satisfaction to build something that turns out exactly how I designed it.

24 BUSINESS MONTH 13 April 2015

Well-designed products can make our lives better , according to Tony McIntyre, founder and MD of GoWalkTalkLtd It’s a lot of hard work and long hours, but it is worth it when I receive positive feedback from colleagues, customers and, importantly, peers, because they are usually outside my family and friend circle and are therefore more critical.

We are already working with major brands and businesses across the world, and this is an exciting time for GoWalkTalk. com and the upcoming launch of our LiveAlert product.

We are looking forward to seeing the first real deployment of the solution and have been lucky to get support from

the Alzheimer’s Society, Invest Northern Ireland and TechstartNI, who have just provided a significant award after a lengthy review process that included a panel of venture capitalists.

principles apply to family life and your relationships with others. I follow the principle of being honest and straightforward in all business dealings, and the truth always comes out in your favour in the end.

The person who I take inspiration from is...

I know it might be a bit of a cliché, but the person I take inspiration from is Richard Branson. He has proven that having an idea and not giving up is the way to achieve something in business, and not only in terms of money — the same

My advice to anyone starting off in technology is...

Get involved in a techhub and learn from a shared experience. There are so many great ideas and entrepreneurs across Northern Ireland. It is important to tie in with as many as possible to help nurture and support your own idea.

AND I’LL TELL YOU ANOTHER THING...

Seizing the chance

Ellvena Graham of Ulster Bank tells us she hopes more women will gain senior management jobs and how she isn’t one for regrets Name: Ellvena Graham Company: Ulster Bank Northern Ireland Title: Head of Ulster Bank Northern Ireland and managing director of SME Banking My first job was....

I first started out as a petrol pump attendant in my early teens in my father’s business.

It certainly taught me a lot of lessons that I remember to this day — how to make decisions for myself, what makes for good customer service, and how to resolve disputes. I also developed a great sense of independence, as well as pride that I was working in a family business. In terms of my professional life, I joined Ulster Bank in 1982 and have had a very fulfilling career there ever since.

The businessperson who taught me to succeed was: That’s an easy question for me to answer. The late Will McKee, a successful businessman and entrepreneur, taught me a great deal. (Portadown man Will McKee worked for firms such as Shell, Mivan and Paul Costelloe over a long career).

Will was hugely supportive of me. He instilled confidence in me and encouraged me to grasp every opportunity, even when I didn’t think I was ready for it.

My business mantra is: It’s attitude, not just aptitude, that determines your altitude.

The most successful people I know have a fantastic passion for their work, and it is absolutely infectious for those working with them. I would always look to hire someone based on attitude. Going through CVs, you’ll often see people with great technical qualifications. I like someone with a bit of gumption and a can-do attitude.

size of a living room. Now, our customers carry out most of their banking through a mobile phone a fraction of the size and many times more powerful.

Banking, as an industry, has changed in recent years. There are many things that have improved for the benefit of the customer. People can access money at a time and place that’s convenient for them .

It’s all changed since I started out: When I started in, digital information was stored on mainframe computers that were the

In 10 years the world will be…

I think the world will feel like an even-smaller place than it does now — with a growing

26 BUSINESS MONTH 13 April 2015

Banking has changed dramatically, making it very easy for customers to access their accounts population and new technologies that bring us closer in ways that we can’t imagine at the moment. One of my hopes is that we’ll see a more equal representation of women in senior management positions.

My one business regret is…

I’m not one for regrets. It’s a fact of life that anyone, in any career is going to have their fair share of challenges.

My one piece of business advice is: If you’re not happy in an environment, then you need to

think long and hard about why you keep doing it . You’ll have a far more fulfilling life spending your time and passion on things that you want to do, rather than persevering with things that you feel you aught to do.

I couldn’t start the day without: Blueberry tonic and a cup of Punjana tea. I haven’t always been a morning person, but I find listening to classical music a good way to start the day, certainly, more Classic FM than Radio One.

SME WATCH

Right path

Amanda Ferguson talks to Glenn Bradley, Hardscape’s regional mananager for Ireland, about the company’s passions and ethics

Hardscape provides a one-to-one service to councils, landscape architects and contractors, making and supplying paving, design features and artscape. Its base in Northern Ireland is on the Hollywood Road in Belfast

28 BUSINESS MONTH 13 April 2015

N

ATURAL and man-made paving materials manufactured by Hardscape are on view in urban spaces across Belfast and beyond.

The company, which describes itself as having ethical responsibility at its heart, is headquartered in Bolton and also has offices in Stratford Upon Avon and on the Hollywood Road in Belfast.

On top of its UK and Ireland business, Hardscape also works with partners in the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Italy, India and China.

The projects which its team of “passionate urban spacemen” have worked on in Northern Ireland include the Belfast Streets Ahead development in the city centre, Belfast Donegall Quay, Antrim Castle Gardens and Castlehill in Dungannon, as well as Newry City Linkages and Portrush East and West Strand.

Glenn Bradley, Hardscape’s regional manager for Ireland, told Business Month a little bit about the background of the company.

“Following a proven successful career in the brick manufacturing industry, Hardscape Products Limited was created in 1994 by gifted entrepreneur Mathew Haslam, who is a geology graduate from the University of Hull,” Mr Bradley said.

He said the company provided a one-to-one service to councils, landscape architects and contractors, making and supplying paving, design features and artscape masonry for projects across Britain and Ireland.

The supply chain professional heads up the Irish operation of the business and the company activity within the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI).

Mr Bradley said: “Our business is about local people supplying global expertise to support local councils, government or landscape architects with the inspiration to select a wide pallet of hard landscape materials which we can manufacture then supply on time to specification in an ethical manner.

“We are passionate urban spacemen.”

The ETI is an alliance of companies, trade unions and non-governmental organisations, working in partnership to improve conditions for workers within supply chains which provide goods to the UK and Ireland consumer market Human rights abuses, including the use of slave labour in many countries across the globe is an issue of concern for Mr Bradley and the company.

On the importance of an ethical approach in business, he added: “It is a reality that slave or bonded or child labour is used to manufacture many products coming to Ireland or Britain.

“Our business in collaboration with other stakeholders provide assurance that such labour malpractice and human rights abuse does not exist in our supply chain and we can prove it.

“Given the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights rolling out in 2016 our production and supply chain is at the forefront of making paving materials in an ethical

Hardscape staff Paul Irvine (I), Glenn Bradley and Brian John Spencer (r) manner that assures workers are free from exploitation or abuse” Hardscape had a turnover of £16m in the last financial year with a 12% growth plan this year.

They are also achiever status members of the Ethical Trading Initiative and where

recognised in recent Top 50 SMEs of the UK poll.

Hardscape Ireland materials can be seen throughout Northern Ireland and also at Spencer Dock Dublin, Grafton Street Dublin, City Quays Limerick; Market Square Dundalk & Viking Triangle Waterford.

The Belfast business is pres-

ently producing and supplying to Holywood & Bangor EIS Ballymena Regeneration and Wicklow Street and St Johnsons Court Dublin.

Hardscape are on Twitter at: @hardscape_irela @hardscape1994 and @stockscape For more about Hardscape visit www.hardscape.co.uk

13 April 2015 BUSINESS MONTH 29

ASK ASKTHE THEEXPERTS EXPERTS

We own a limited company and profits have been excellent. Do you have any recommendations in relation to profit extraction that could limit tax ?

Business owners looking to extract surplus profits from their business should be looking forward to April’s new pension income flexibility rules. Not only does pension funding remain the most tax efficient way to extract profits from a company, but those funds will also become far more accessible for the individual than ever before.

From April 6, 2015, retirement income limits will be removed for defined contribution (DC) pension owners.

This means that DC pension owners will be able to access their pension plans from age 55 typically without restriction i.e. their entire pension can be withdrawn in one lump sum if required. At the point of withdrawal, 25% can be taken tax-free with the remainder subject to income tax on the individual.

Company pension contributions has the double benefit of reducing profits subject to corporation tax, without incurring an employer National Insurance (NI) liability.

Extraction by salary or bonus will reduce profits before tax, but will not side step employer NI ( typically 13.8 % of salary or bonus ) .

If an individual has not paid anything into their pension for a number of years, the company could potentially contribute up to £ 230,000 with the individual utilising a facility called ‘carry forward’.

Unlike personal contributions, company pension contributions are not limited by the business owner’s earned income. The company should, however, ensure that there are enough profits in the accounting year to receive the full benefit of corporation tax relief, and that the contribution will satisfy the ‘wholly and exclusively for purpose of trade’ rule.

As always, professional independent financial advice should be sought.

BDH

Brian David Horner M&D Financial Management Ltd (Independent financial advisers)

Emma-Jane Flannery Employment law associate, Arthur Cox Solicitors

Sound advice can be a valuable commodity We put your questions to the experts with the answers I’m a business owner, employing eight staff. Will I be affected by the new Shared Parental Leave rules in the new Work and Families Act (NI) 2015?

EVERY employer will be impacted by the changes that this new regime will bring from April 2015.

The new Shared Parental Leave (SPL) legislation states that following after two compulsory maternity leave, the mother’s remaining 50 weeks’ of entitlement can now be split between both the mother and father from April 2015.

For example, a mother could end her leave and return to work after 20 weeks, leaving 32 weeks of the total 52 week entitlement available for SPL. If both the mother and her partner are eligible, they can then chose to share those remaining 32 weeks between them. Employees are required to give their employer at least eight weeks’ notice of entitlement to shared parental leave, and at least eight weeks’ notice of any leave they intend to take.

By communicating the updated entitlements to your employees, you can encourage early dialogue which will facilitate better forward planning.

This is of particular importance to smaller businesses, as employees will have the right

I am a business owner looking to purchase second hand commercial property. Will I be able to claim capital allowances on parts of its acquisition cost?

A purchaser’s ability to claim capital allowances is dependent on the vendor’s position, and whether or not they have already made an appropriate claim on the asset.

Under new rules introduced by the Government in 2014, a tax paying purchaser will not be eligible to claim any allowances for expenditure where the vendor was entitled but did not previously make a claim for plant and machinery allowances on fixtures.

The rule changes, which are triggered on the acquisition of second hand commercial property on or after April 1 or 6 2014 (for corporation and income tax purposes respectively), were introduced primarily to protect HM Treasury from providing tax relief more than once on the same asset.

However, businesses acquiring property from developers or non-taxpayers, such as charities and exempt government bodies, should not normally be restricted.

Whilst the vendor is still in ownership of the asset, capital allowances claims should be available in the period of sale, even if the relief has not been utilised previously.

Therefore, as a business owner in the market to purchase, you should ensure any potential future capital allowance claims are considered in the sale agreement.

Should claims not have been made previously, vendors, and purchasers, are advised to seek assistance from a professional adviser in the early stages of the sale.

PL to demand both continuous and discontinuous leave.

As employees are protected from detriment and unfair dismissal connected with the taking of shared parental leave, employers will need to be consistent when dealing with

All questions should be addressed to: experts@businessmonth.co.uk Questions and advice are publishted in good faith but should not replace the advice of your professional financial advisor.

30 BUSINESS MONTH 13 April 2015

Peter Legge Tax partner at business advisory firm Grant Thornton.

SPL requests from all employees, whether male or female.

All internal policies and processes should be put in place now, to ensure a smooth integration of this new law into the business.

EJF

INSIDE REPORT

GREEK TRAGEDY

Paul Gosling mulls over the euro’s recent trajectory during a trip to Greece and wonders, just how low is the currency likely to go?

A

WALK around the centre of Athens does not evoke a sense of crisis at the moment. Nor does a boat trip to the islands. The tourist season is underway and on the surface, all seems well, with lots of visitors crawling over the Parthenon. Even the street sleepers that were so evident when I last visited Athens three years ago, are less obvious today.

Beneath the surface though, the sense of crisis is very real and damaging the value of the euro.

It is the topic of conversation across Greece — will the country stay in the euro, or does it face the dreaded ‘Grexit’? While the population seems loyal to the newly elected anti-austerity Syriza government, other eurozone governments — led by Germany and strongly backed by Finland — seem determined to force compliance on Greece, even if their demands lead to the break-up of the euro. No wonder the euro has lost value in recent months.

It is not only the Greek fiscal crisis that has pulled the euro’s value down — so, too, has the European Central Bank’s programme of quantitative easing (increasing the money supply).

Eurozone QE is buying €1.1trn of bonds, at a rate of €60bn a month. Based on the experience of QE programmes in the UK and the US, this will push up asset prices (including stocks and top properties) – though it is less clear that it will boost the eurozone economy.

Meanwhile — and ironically — most of the rest of the eurozone

is benefiting from the Greek crisis. The euro has fallen 25% against the dollar in the last year and by about 15% against sterling. Largely as a result of this, Greece’s dedicated enemy in the austerity argument in the eurozone is raking in the profits.

Last year, German exports to the US rose by 6.5%, while those to China jumped 11%.

The cheap euro is good news for German exporters.

But there are losers as well as winners when it comes to the currency roundabout. And Northern Ireland is near the top of the pile of those losers. Shoppers from the south who swarmed into Derry and Newry shopping centres during the days of weak sterling and high euro valuations have stopped making the journey.

Instead the cars head the other way, to Letterkenny and Dundalk, as northern consumers buy petrol, diesel, food and clothes across the border.

Tourists that might in the past have booked holidays in the north, are now making reservations in the south. Here they are influenced not only by the weak euro, but also by the difference in Vat rates — the Republic charges just 9% Vat on hotel stays and restaurant meals, compared to 20% in Northern Ireland.

Our manufacturing sector is also damaged by the weak euro and the ECB’s quantitative easing programme to

32 BUSINESS MONTH 13 April 2015

hold down its value. Dr Esmond Birnie, PwC chief economist in Northern Ireland said that we are particularly affected by this given that the eurozone is the UK’s largest export market, while Northern Ireland’s exporters now face even tougher price competition from the Republic in the food processing and tourism sectors. But, Birnie points out, the injection of extra money will not, in itself, fix the eurozone’s economic problems. “There may be some benefit to European growth from a weaker euro, though this will also result in higher import prices, squeezing consumer spending,” he said.

“Fundamentally, QE does not address the major structural factors holding back eurozone recovery.

Growth is very weak in France and Italy, the second and third largest economies using the euro

and collectively accounting for nearly 40% of eurozone GDP. “Businesses are reluctant to invest, labour markets remain inflexible and governments have been slow to undertake much needed economic reforms. Until these issues are addressed, we are likely to continue to see disappointing growth in the

euro area economies.”

Stephen Kelly, chief executive of Manufacturing NI, also expresses gloom. “With 55% of exports into EU markets, Northern Ireland’s manufacturers are hugely experienced in dealing with the movements in currency exchange provided these are relatively small movements,” he said.

“What we’ve seen, particularly

The Acropolis, the ancient citadel on a high rocky outcrop above Athens, contains the remains of several ancient buildings. However, the most famous is the Parthenon

since last autumn, are very large shifts, almost on a daily basis, in the euro value after a number of years of relative stability. This has created some difficulties.

“With the slide in the euro value to 2007 levels, there is an opportunity to purchase raw materials, particularly cross-border, but for the wider economy that has an impact on Northern

Ireland suppliers. And, we are hearing that many [manufacturers and suppliers] are sacrificing margin in an effort retain customers. As a border economy, many risk losing long-term contracts for supply to similar businesses in the Republic.

This is particularly noticeable in the important food sector where buyers for supermarkets

and others are freer to choose the source of their supply.

“For the larger sales in engineering and construction related industries, suppliers are having to carefully manage their flow of currency and work harder to demonstrate additional value.

Right now, how manufacturers manage their currency is as important as how they manage

their productivity and their raw material sourcing. It has that impact on profitability and sales sustainability.

“Our manufacturers are used to currency fluctuations, but the pace and the scale of the shift in the euro’s value has for many come at just the wrong time —

Turn to page 34 >>

13 April 2015 BUSINESS MONTH 33

INSIDE REPORT >> From page 33 just as business conditions were beginning to pick up and investments being made. Squeezing margin is hopefully a temporary issue, but it does reinforce the need to take action on the costs of doing business here in Northern Ireland. Action is needed on areas which impact on our manufacturing competitiveness, particularly energy prices in order to sustain and secure our critical manufacturing sector.”

For the moment it is impossible to predict how events will play out in the eurozone — and, accordingly, what will happen to the value of sterling compared to the euro. Greece may be pushed out of the euro — and if it does the euro may plunge further, as speculators bet on other countries also falling out. Or, just possibly, everything may go so well in the eurozone that the euro begins to recover strongly.

For the moment, though, that looks the least likely outcome.

34 BUSINESS MONTH 13 April 2015

EURO’S VALUE FALLING AGAIN A year ago, a euro was worth 83p. Today it is hovering a little above 70p. Goldman Sachs has predicted it could go down further to 65p. It is a similar story with the euro’s value against the dollar – 12 months ago a dollar bought 70 cents in the euro – now they are heading apparently towards parity. But the euro has been here before – back in 2007, when everything seemed well with the world’s economy.

TICKERS

This month’s local indicators at a glance Ulster Bank chief economist Richard Ramsey gives a rundown on the latest key pointers JANUARY saw the annual rate of UK consumer price inflation (CPI) ease to a record low of 0.3%.

The February figures eclipsed that record with UK consumer prices unchanged relative to the corresponding month last year.

However, the headline rate of 0% concealed diverging inflationary trends when looking at the price of goods and services.

Within these two categories, it is a case of goods deflation (falling prices) and inflation (rising prices) for services.

The price of consumer goods fell by 2% year-on-year in February which compared with a decline of 1.5% in January. February’s 2% fall marked the fastest rate of decline since June 2002 and compares with a long-term average rate of inflation of 1.7%.

Meanwhile, service price inflation has remained broadly unchanged at 2.4% over the last six months. This compares with a long-term average of 4.4%.

UK consumers are benefiting from the huge fall in oil prices since the middle of 2014. This has fed through to falling petrol prices.

The latest figures note that transport, fuels & lubricants (petrol & diesel) category report-

ed annual price falls of 16.6% in February. This represented a record rate of decline.

Meanwhile food prices fell by 3.5% y/y last month which also represents the steepest decline on record.

It is noted that the annual

rate of core CPI inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, eased from 1.4% in January to 1.2% February.

This is a more meaningful indicator to gauge deflationary fears within the United Kingdom’s economy.

THE number of new housing starts (public and private) in NI fell to a 36-year low of 5,100 in 2013, and private sector starts hit their lowest (4,200) since 1981.

Last year, starts rose for the first time in four years. The overall 14% year-on-year rise concealed a 24% increase for the private sector but a 35% fall in public sector starts. Last year’s overall starts total of 5,750 is half (56%) the

long-term average (1978-2007) and 38% of 2006 (15,260). Completions hit a record low (series began in 1978) of 5,400 in 2013.

Last year saw the first annual rise in completions in eight years — albeit the 2% rise to 5,500 units was marginal. Completions have stagnated at 5,500 for the last four years. This is half the stated annual need and 70% below the 2006 peak of 18,000 units.

THERE are significantly fewer ‘R-plates’ on our roads today than there were before the recession.

The number of private car driving tests conducted in Northern Ireland peaked at 68,444 in 2008.

This followed an increase of 28% between 2005 and 2008.

Following five years of decline, with a cumulative fall of 37% (or 25,511 tests) driving tests hit a low of 42,933. An R-plate recov-

ery appears to have taken hold with 2014 posting the first rise in six years. Despite the modest 2% rise (+989 tests), last year’s total remains 36% (24,522) below the 2008 peak. The number of individuals aged 17-24 years of age also peaked in 2008. This age group accounts for the vast majority of driving tests. For many taking their tests, learning to drive in not a necessity.

36 BUSINESS MONTH 13 April 2015

BUSINESSPEOPLE

The Northern Ireland Businessperson who... ... is head of a motorcycle club and a former champ Signstik owner and ex-racer James Courtney on his high-speed parallel existence

T

He new road racing season is almost upon us and it’s always a busy time of year for me. Whether it is as a fan, competing as I did many years ago, or in my work with the Dundrod & District Motorcycle Club there is plenty to keep me occupied, alongside my day job of course.

My own racing career started in 1988 and I competed for almost 15 years across the UK & Ireland on both road and short circuits. I’d always been interested in the sport and I loved the competition, so it was a natural progression for me to get involved.

I got into racing quite seriously, taking part in the major international and Irish meetings and I managed to rack up almost 100 wins and six championships across a range of classes, from 125cc to superbikes.

It’s given me some great memories. I had one international win at the Ulster Grand Prix in 1995 and three wins at the Manx Grand Prix that definitely stand out, and I stood on the podium a few times at the Isle of Man TT. I was also the first rider to win every round of an Irish road race championship in one season in 1995 and I held lap records at quite a few circuits too, some of which still stand.

Throughout my career I was fortunate to be on the grid with some of the sport’s legends including Joey and Robert Dunlop, Phillip McCallen and Brian Reid, and I was always full of admiration for Joey in particular, as he was a gentleman racer and was at the fore for so many years.

They were great times and there were so many good days but as I found out, there will always be bad ones too.

In 1999 I was competing at

James Courtney raced motorbikes, on track and road, for 15 years the TT again, having enjoyed some good results there the previous year.

I was riding in the 250cc race when I fell and crashed heavily, landing feet first into a wall and badly damaging my feet, legs and ankles. It took me many months to recover and I never really got back to full fitness, as I couldn’t regain 100% mobility in the joints.

I did race on for a couple more years but I had to make a lot of modifications to my bike just to allow me to ride and it just wasn’t the same.

The reality is that in racing there are highs and lows and I’ve found that being a business owner is exactly the same.

I founded Signstik in 1998, offering specialist services including general signage, retail signage, large format printing and graphic design.

It all started when I made the graphics for my bikes and truck. I soon started doing more for other riders and it simply grew from there. Today we work a wide range of local and international clients.

One client, located just a few miles from our offices in Nutts Corner and that is close to my heart is The Metzeler Ulster Grand Prix. We provide sponsor branding and signage for the track and podiums, although my connection to the races runs a little deeper.

I’m the president of the Dundrod & District Motorcycle Club, the organisation behind the Metzeler Ulster Grand Prix.

In my role I help out with the executive board to ensure that Bike Week is as successful and smooth running as possible.

It may be four months away, but we’re already busy prepar-

ing for 2015. After many years of planning and fundraising, one of the biggest developments is that work has started on UGP David Wood House, the new home for the race offices, timekeepers and amenities in the pits at Dundrod.

It’s part of our continuing efforts to improve Bike Week, which runs from August 3 to 8 this year, for competitors and fans of all ages.

The races are in good health, as the Metzeler Ulster Grand Prix has become a true family event, with competitions, entertainment, hospitality and of course, plenty of between the hedges action.

We also see a growing number of international fans and we hope to attract more in the coming years, as the World’s Fastest Road Race has a huge fan base across the world, many of whom would love the opportunity to visit the races and Northern Ireland.

As a country we are now recognised as a leading tourist destination.

There is so much to see and do, and I feel that the Ulster Grand Prix can play a significant part in this growing appeal and potential.

We have a great team at the DDMC who give up their time to drive the races forward every year.

For me personally, I’ve stayed close to the sport that gave me so much, even in my professional life, and the Ulster Grand Prix has always been my favourite event so I’m proud to lend my support.

While work keeps me busy all year round, in the weeks leading up to Bike Week free time becomes an almost alien concept and sometimes it’s difficult to switch off, but it’s always enjoyable.

All I know is that I wouldn’t have it any other way.

13 April 2015 BUSINESS MONTH 37

FOCUS ON: TELECOMMUNCIATIONS

BREAKNECK High-speed dealings: Northern Ireland is uniquely placed to use its telecoms advantages

F

AST and furious: these two words neatly sum up the changing fortunes of Northern Ireland’s telecoms sector in recent years.

While the region continues to set a blistering pace with its rollout of faster broadband internet speeds and near universal coverage, mobile phone coverage on the other hand is rated among the poorest in the UK, with ‘not spots’ as distinct from ‘hot spots’ hampering everyday business and infuriating users.

Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce chief executive Ann McGregor said: “There has been investment by operators in recent years to improve 3G coverage especially and it is important that operators continue to invest in their 3G networks and accelerate the rollout of 4G in Northern Ireland.

“But coverage for mobile phones is generally poor in Northern Ireland,” she said. “Anecdotally, I drive all around the country and I can tell you exactly where I am going to lose mobile coverage. There are serious issues around coverage which affect businesses. We need lots of new masts to plug some of those gaps.”

The UK Government’s £150m Mobile Infrastructure Project is a major initiative which could potentially have a very positive impact here, she said. This fund is designed to help plug mobile ‘not spots’ — places where there is no mobile coverage whatsoever.

While industry chiefs complain that mobile phone coverage still seems to be playing catch-up with consumer demands, they are quick to praise Northern Ireland’s superfast broadband services for having made quantum leaps in recent months.

The ongoing Northern Ireland Broadband Improvement Project (NIBIP), which began last year with a first phase investment of £23.5m, is currently on target and has been boosted by another £17m.

Over 200,000 homes and businesses in Northern Ireland are now connected to BT’s open-access fibre network. The service enables users receive broadband speeds of up to 80 Mbps and upload speeds of 20Mbps. BT also announced that it has

38 BUSINESS MONTH 13 April 2015

BROADBAND including Project Kelvin to exploit opportunities across the Atlantic, writes Simon Rowe

completed phase three of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment’s broadband improvement project — with over 17,500 homes and businesses now receiving better broadband services in rural communities across Northern Ireland.

Alex Crossan, managing director of commercial networks at BT Ireland, said: “We’re delighted to have reached our latest milestone in the Northern Ireland broadband improvement project, enabling even more homes and businesses to avail of improved broadband speeds.

“In some cases, we’ve been able to take customers from speeds of less than 2Mbps up to 330Mbps which makes a phenome-

In some cases, we’ve been able to take customers from speeds of less than 2Mbps to 330Mbps nal difference to the end user.”

With high speed fibre broadband, photos and videos can be uploaded to the internet in seconds, IP telephony and HD quality video calls can be used to stay in contact with colleagues through business conference calls.

The overall verdict on broadband services is that the vast majority of Northern Ireland is already well served with Next Generation Access (NGA) style infrastructure. Ofcom’s 2014 Infrastructure Report cited a coverage figure of 94%, although this fell to 77% for those able to receive superfast broadband (24Mbps+) speeds.

The latest tranche of NIBIP investment is earmarked to make up this shortfall in superfast broadband coverage.

Business groups insist completing the scheme is vital, especially for firms in rural areas.

>> Turn to page 40

13 April 2015 BUSINESS MONTH 39

FOCUS ON: TELECOMMUNICATIONS >> From page 39 “Reaching the most rural premises is a challenge that is technically complex and expensive, but it is important that these remaining homes and businesses are not left behind,” said Ann McGregor.

Indeed, more and more entrepreneurs are realising that Northern Ireland is uniquely placed to take advantage of its telecoms superiority. And one area where it could flex its corporate muscles is in high-frequency trading. The reason is simple. Following the launch of Project Kelvin, the £30m trans-Atlantic telecoms cable running from North America to Ireland, with spurs to key cities and towns in Northern Ireland and the border areas of the Republic, Northern Ireland now enjoys a ‘nanosecond advantage’ for Ireland in receiving data from America. In effect, this direct link makes Northern Ireland “closer” to the east coast of North America than California.

This ‘nanosecond advantage’ offers a very lucrative opportunity for Northern

40 BUSINESS MONTH 13 April 2015

Reaching rural areas poses a complex and expensive challenge for telecoms firms, but Ann McGregor, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, believes it’s imortant those remaining homes and businesses are not left behind Ireland financial traders if they choose to seize it. Across the globe there has been a massive growth in high-frequency traders (HFTs) who install ultra-fast fibre-optic data connections between their systems

and modern stock exchanges, giving them a minuscule speed advantage over rival traders.

This advantage, just milliseconds (thousandths of a second), allows HFTs to see other buyers’ orders before they are ex-

ecuted. The financial rewards can be astronomical.

With the likes of high-frequency trading arising from our superfast telecoms sector, Northern Ireland looks poised to make another quantum leap.

FOCUS ON: INDUSTRIES

STRIVING FOR Times are increasingly challenging for Northern Ireland’s manufacturing industry, with competition proving to be a major concern. But as Simon Rowe finds out, things aren’t quite all doom and gloom

T

HE last 12 months have been mixed for Northern Ireland manufacturers with industry insiders divided on the question of whether the sector’s glass is half-full or half-empty.

Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce chiefs have warned that while there was an increase in export sales and orders, “there are few signs of stability for Northern Ireland manufacturers with their domestic sales and orders falling and almost all balances for Northern Ireland below the UK average”.

Northern Ireland Chamber of Trade and Commerce chief executive Ann McGregor said that competition remains the key concern for Northern Ireland’s manufacturing base, and with each quarter the competitive environment is becoming more challenging.

While rising energy costs and burdensome commercial rates have been a bane of struggling firms, the strength of sterling in recent months has eroded business competitiveness even further, especially cross-border trade.

However, it’s not all doom and gloom. Industry experts who adopt a glass half-full approach predict that the ‘big ticket’ item of devolved corporation tax will usher in a new era for economic development, albeit one that will demand tough choices.

The DUP and Sinn Fein have agreed that the new rate of corporation tax in Northern Ireland should be 12.5% — to match the Republic’s rate. In the UK, corporation tax is

42 BUSINESS MONTH 13 April 2015

charged at 20% since April 1.

Each percentage point cut in corporation tax will cost the Northern Ireland economy about £40m a year from our block grant.

The impending rate cut, which will be used by Invest NI to tempt potential US and overseas investors, looks to have already boosted confidence in the manufacturing sector with last month’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) survey by Ulster Bank showing that staffing levels rose for the first time in four months and order books grew again.

Ann McGregor said: “Reducing our corporation tax will help ease the pain of cuts to our block grant and will help keep our big indigenous manufacturing companies located here.

“Everyone assumes that the corporation tax issue is just about attracting inward investment but we already have an established manufacturing base here in Northern Ireland and it’s probably the one sector that is spread right across the country.

Manufacturing NI has called on Stormont to devise a promotion strategy for the industry to maximise benefits that will accrue from lower corporation tax

“The big spin-off from lowering corporation tax will be that our indigenous manufacturing companies will have more money to spend on innovation, reinvestment and investment in jobs,” she said.

The manufacturing sector in Northern Ireland generates annual sales of almost £20bn and directly employs 80,000. But it is under competitive pressures from all sides. Manufacturing’s importance to the Northern Ireland economy has declined sharply. As recently as 1995, manufacturing generated 15% of Northern Ireland jobs whereas today it only accounts for about 10%.

The planned closure of the JTI factory in Ballymena with the loss of nearly 900 jobs, and recent cuts announced

by Northern Ireland’s three bellwether manufacturing firms Bombardier, Caterpillar and the former Quinn group Aventas, are seen by some as further signs of this inexorable decline in the sector.

In the wake of these negative trends, however, lobby group Manufacturing NI has called on Stormont to devise a promotion strategy for the industry to maximise the benefits that will accrue from lower corporation tax.

The umbrella body represents over 500 of the province’s top manufacturing companies.

“Manufacturing is far from being a twilight part of our economy,” insists Stephen Kelly, the spokesman for Manufacturing NI. While total numbers of manufacturing jobs have declined,

CONTINUED ON P44 >>

THEBIGTICKET ust volorrum utatiata volenda quia ni alitati ratiumet et vendus dis et voluptas ut ium nihilla quamus duscipis ressequam quassimus.

13 April 2015 BUSINESS MONTH 43

FOCUS ON: INDUSTRIES << CONTINUED FROM P43 there are strong clusters of growth dotted around the province, he said.

Mr Kelly cites Toomebridge-based manufacturer SDC Trailers as an example of a local firm that is achieving great things “all under the radar”.

“SDC has taken on almost 250 people in the last year and that is all under the radar, you don’t see any big announcement about that.”

The firm was awarded Northern Ireland’s Top Manufacturing Company at the Made in Northern Ireland Awards last month.

SDC is part of the Retlan Manufacturing Group, which also owns Antrim-based MDF Engineering, which has a turnover of £170m and employs a total of 900 staff.

“We have similar examples of engineering firms spread across provincial towns. They are providing good, well-paid sustainable jobs in communities where people want to

44 BUSINESS MONTH 13 April 2015

Manufacturers say moves on corporation tax give them hope for future live and where those firms are contributing to those local communities.”

Indeed, other manufacturing success stories in the last 12 months include Ballymena coachbuilder Wrightbus International winning a £30m contract to supply 415 double deck bus kits to Singapore.

Down-based Denroy Plastics secured a multi-million

dollar five-year contract with a Texas-based aviation firm.

Swedish multinational engineering group Sandvik AB created 160 new jobs in Co Tyrone after a consolidation process at its Ballygawley plant.

And Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster’s announcement of a new industry-led £6.8m Advanced Engineering Competence Centre in Northern

Ireland is a further sign of confidence in the future of the sector and our talent pool.

While such developments highlight just how attractive Northern Ireland is to international firms, soaring energy costs — which are the third biggest cost to manufacturing firms after labour and materials — are continuing to hamper the region’s growth potential, business groups warn.

Electricity costs in NI are now the second most expensive in Europe.

“Manufacturers in GB pay about 20% less in their electricity than we pay,” said Stephen Kelly. “That’s why we need a Manufacturing Strategy from Stormont. By drawing a coherent manufacturing strategy together, which sets a target for competitive energy prices, secures industrial de-rating in long-term legislation and cements a skilled qualified workforce, we can set Northern Ireland plc on the path to sustainable prosperity.”

OFF LINE SECTION MOTORING

ABSOLUTELY

FABIA

Jim McCauley test drives the new Skoda

DAY INTHE LIFE

MANABOUTTOWN

MEET

THE

DECLAN

The CEO of Heart Sine technologies

CHAIRMAN

Inside track on Northern Ireland business

WALKING IN POLDARK’S FOOTPRINTS THERE’S A LOT MORE TO CORNWALL THAN TIN MINING AND TV

13 April 2015 BUSINESS MONTH 45

offline

OUT TO LUNCH

Policing can help stability but also bring prosperity Joris Minne goes out to lunch with PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Stephen Martin and interrogates him about his successful policing strategy during Derry’s City of Culture year

L

IKE all smart people Assistant Chief Constable Stephen Martin has a sense of humour, a talent for talking and a well disguised streak of ambition. Not like all smart people, the senior policeman also has a real interest in humanity.

When he recently left his position in Londonderry to take up new responsibilities in Belfast, this interest in and respect for people was acknowledged by all political parties and ordinary citizens by hosting going away parties for him. One even called him “the adopted son of Derry”.

This summer he will be overall commander for parading where he’s sure to be called a few other things.

We are in James Street South and he’s enjoying (and possibly inwardly laughing at) the interrogation. I can’t help think his interview techniques are a good deal more developed than mine so try to steer the conversation into safe territory by talking about policing and business.

He is responsible for district policing, which means everyday matters such as burglaries, accidents, general security.

Which is why he spends so much time talking to business leaders.

He engages with the CBI, NI Chamber and other business organisations because he understands the need for stability.

46 BUSINESS MONTH 13 April 2015

These attributes made him a profoundly popular chief in the north west where he introduced new levels of discretion and subtlety in policing to help get the UK City of Culture through 2013 without incident despite the bomb attacks which heralded the year-long event.

He was part of the Derry delegation which secured the Fleadh in the face of doubts by organisers as to whether the city was a safe place to host such a fixture.

“We were asked about rings of steel being put up to secure the city. But what would be cultural about a ring of steel?” he recalls.

“We wanted Derry to have its moment but not at any price and my job was to provide security which on the one hand would not encroach or interfere with the festivals yet would be powerful enough to protect the citizenry and withstand any attack.”

“These projects are evidence that PSNI provides stability in the face of greatest threat,” he says, encapsulating the very essence of what businesses everywhere want.

Doesn’t he get frustrated by politicians who seem to pick at the very delicate fabric of our post-conflict society he and his colleagues claim to be trying to knit together?

“I want politicians to get us over the line and my role and that of the PSNI is to help them get there,” he says, still the diplomat.

“Timing has not been our friend: as Northern Ireland moves from conflict to post-conflict we have been trying simultaneously to survive an economic recession and financial crisis,” he says. “We want to create the conditions for Northern Ireland to be a safe and prosperous place and I think we are going about it the right way.”

This thought brings back memories of Chris Patton (the architect of the 50/50 PSNI) in his other role as governor of Hong Kong in the lead up to the hand over to the Chinese in 2000. Business chiefs then all agreed: as long as there was no political interference in the economy of Hong Kong everyone would get along fine. Does he think this may be the case in NI considering the lack of leadership from Stormont?

“Politics require time and we are in a far better place than we were,” he says.

“Those who say we have not yet achieved normality should look at the progress we have all made.

“We’ll get there and the business community will go from strength to strength.”

James Street South 3 -course lunch x 2

£37.00

Total

£37.00

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YOUNG ENTERPRISE

I’m feeling more confident after rollercoaster ride AOIDIN GORMLEY RATHMORE GRAMMAR SCHOOL TAKE a moment to think about what your life was like this time last year. Or two years ago. Or three. Isn’t it crazy how much can change? How you can do so much and become a whole new person in such a short period of time?

You hear one year and it doesn’t seem that far off, yet the past year seems like centuries ago.

As my Young Enterprise experience comes to an end, I have been reviewing everything myself and my team have done over the past six months, and the list is endless.

Last month concluded the final judging section of the competition, when each team was required to submit a report, present its company’s achievements and take part in an interview in front of a panel of judges. This was the opportunity to showcase your successes, failures, improvements and everything you’ve learnt, which was an amazing feeling being able to timeline your pro-

gress. I have accomplished so much from Young Enterprise: I have improved my relationships with my peers, my communication style, met with the heads of so many big businesses across the country, and made a campaign that we can be proud of.

My team have learnt a lot, both about ourselves and each other. Every stretch of the way we have got stronger, wiser and more confident, and I couldn’t be prouder. I’ve never done an interview before, so I was very anxious going in, but once we actually got started my nerves went away, leaving a calm, confident person and I am thrilled to say it went well.

We put in a lot of effort. It has been one rollercoaster of a ride, with many ups and downs, but I am coming away feeling exhilarated and ready for my next adventure. Young Enterprise has been an incredible building block, setting up with a fantastic foundation to support me with whatever I choose to do with the rest of my life. The skills I have

Aoidin Gormley found her nerves went away once the interview began learnt and the qualities I have honed have made me a better

person, ready to take on the big, bad world of business.

13 April 2015 BUSINESS MONTH 47

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DAY IN THE LIFE

‘Our goal is to put a defibrillator in every location that you find a fire extinguisher’ Declan O’Mahoney Chief executive, HeartSine Technologies, Belfast

6.30am

My home is in Cork, but this morning I’m in Belfast as I have been in the office most of the week. I usually try to have a run or a swim first thing and that gets my energy levels up.

When I’m on the road I typically have a good breakfast, and use this time to catch up on emails that arrive overnight.

HeartSine has people and does business in every corner of the world so there’s always something happening throughout the day or night that needs my attention.

The best emails I receive are the reports of “saves”. When our defibrillator has been used to save a life somewhere in the world, we are notified by our customers or distributors.

Just last week I received an alert of a 13-year old girl in Asia who was saved after she suffered a sudden cardiac arrest — thankfully she survived and is doing well in hospital.

These save notifications are sent to our entire organisation and give us a great boost almost every day. It’s what makes HeartSine a great place for everyone to work.

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8.30am

At the office I spend most of the morning on calls with our team in Asia. With few defibrillators installed in the Asian countries, and such large and growing populations, the company’s opportunity for growth is fantastic. Our distributor in Singapore has placed thousands of AEDs in that country alone the past 12 months.

10am

My mid-morning schedule includes a customer meeting, an operations meeting and a technical review with the engineering team. While we have sales and technical teams around the world, most of the organisation is stationed in Belfast on Airport Road West where we do leading resuscitation research and development and have expert clinical teams.

HeartSine is the only manufacturer of defibrillators in the UK and Ireland with production and R&D teams.

12.30pm

I try to take time and eat properly at lunch. If I don’t, I know I’ll get caught up in something

else and miss it. Today lunch is with colleagues in our Belfast canteen. We like to eat there if at all possible so that we can get the chance to mix with the team, with over 100 people it’s hard to interact with everyone.

1.15pm

The first part of my afternoon is spent making sure that our compliance to regulations, quality control and pursuit of excellence is always at the forefront. We’re doing business in over 70 countries in 32 languages which is a great success story for the team.

3:00pm

This a good time of day to reach my teams in the US. I’m on the phone non-stop this afternoon discussing a large opportunity in the States. We are winning huge contracts globally and it’s always exciting to see the sales and operational teams shipping product to some of the world’s biggest airlines, railroads, hotel groups, armies and governments.

Next I have a Skype conference with my marketing team regarding our upcoming

regional distributor conference which we’re holding in Barcelona next month. HeartSine sells its defibrillators through a global network of distributors.

7pm

I’m driving home to Cork for the weekend. I always make a point to be home at the weekends as I am away every week for some or all of the week. When I work from my home office, I will usually be up around 7am and spend time with my wife and three kids in the everyday panic for school.

After that I’m back to my normal routine of calls and emails.

Our goal is to put an AED in every location you find a fire extinguisher. Fire claims the lives of 600 people in the British Isles every year, but surprisingly 100,000 in the UK die from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). If you suffer an SCA your chances of survival with CPR alone are less than 5%, but when combined with the use of a defibrillator survival rates increase to over 75%.

Our goal in HeartSine is to save as many of those lives as we possibly can.

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Better wage welcomed for motor trade apprentices THE Institute of the Motor Industry’s CEO Steve Nash has welcomed Government plans to implement a 57p an hour increase for apprentices aged under 20. He urged employers to increase the starting rate for junior apprentices to £4 hour, a 70% rise, to help the industry attract the top talent it needs.

Mr Nash said: “A sum of 20% on top of today’s apprentice minimum wage is a great step forward; it should help attract talented youngsters into vocational training as a viable alternative to university.”

Tougher drive test needed, says road safety charity AS the UK driving test reaches its eightieth anniversary, leading road safety charity the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) says it’s time to overhaul the way we teach new drivers.

The 1934 Road Traffic Act paved the way for compulsory driving tests in the UK in 1935.

In 1996 a theory test was added; 2002 added a hazard per-

ception exam. The IAM wants road safety to be part of the National Curriculum, a minimum learning period prior to the practical test, inclusion of high speed roads in the test, limits on peer passenger numbers after passing a test, and a lower drink-drive limit for new drivers. It also wants learners allowed on motorways so they can learn from an expert.

Northern Ireland is the only region in the UK where a GCSE road safety exam is offered.

Tyre fitter graduate Andy proves he is a ‘Michelin’ star CO Down tyre fitter Andy Cummins has graduated from Michelin’s new in-house academy after a year studying tyre technology and delivering a top fitting service.

Employed by A One Tyres in Dromore, Andy (29), is one of nine technicians to have successfully completed the course, which included tyre test days at Silverstone race track.

A One Tyres is one of a small group of Irish and UK tyre retailers recognised as a Michelin Certified Centre.

Construction work starts on motor innovation centre SENIOR figures in the Tata Group joined Jaguar Land Rover chief executive officer Dr Ralf Speth and Professor Lord Bhattacharyya to unveil the foundation stone for the new National Automotive Innovation Centre (NAIC) at the University of Warwick.

The ceremony marked the formal launch of the construction phase for the £150m project which will create a new, cutting-edge UK automotive technology, innovation and education centre.

British cars are made with more ‘homegrown’ parts BRITISH cars are being made with more British-sourced parts as the UK automotive industry’s renaissance continues. Figures from a new Automotive Council report show that domestic component makers sold 19% more products to UK vehicle producers last year than in 2013.

The figures are an important step in the right direction for the UK automotive supply base.

MOTORING NEWS

Currently, around one third of the components in a UK-built car are domestically sourced, compared to more than 90% in the mid-1970s. But vehicle manufacturing in the UK is undergoing rapid growth — British car production has increased by more than 50% since 2009, creating new opportunities for domestic suppliers.

Skoda breaks one million milestone for first time SKODA has confirmed its great success and growth with record sales and financial results for 2014 — breaking the one million deliveries milestone for the first time in its 120-year history.

Global deliveries rose 12.7% to 1,037,200 vehicles (2013: 920,800) while its worldwide market share rose to 1.4% (2013: 1.3%). Skoda also posted record financial results, sales revenue up 13.9% to €11.8bn/£8.6bn; (2013: €10.3bn/£7.5bn) and operating profit increasing 56.5% to €817m/£597bn; (2013: €522m/£381bn).

Chief executive Winfried Vahland said: “2014 was another good year for Skoda”.

13 April 2015 BUSINESS MONTH 49

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MOTORING

It’s an absolutely S

KODA has just launched the third generation Fabia, updated with its new corporate exterior apparel and latest engine advances. Easily recognised by its beak bonnet dipping into the grille to carry the famous winged arrow badge and heavily creased body-sides adding visual strength and thrust, it immediately asserts itself as a strong contender against the in-house competition across the VAG group.

As with all Skoda models, there is a sensible choice of petrol and diesel engines and

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The new Skoda has been updated inside and out, with great engine advances and infotainment extras. By Jim McCauley the test car sits at the top of the 5-model petrol range, using the 1.2 litre 4-cylinder unit. While this capacity also comes with a 90PS rating, the test car was the higher output 110PS engine delivering power to the front wheels via the company’s 7-speed DSG automatic transmission.

Weighing 65kg less than its predecessor, the new model goes from rest to 60mph

in around 9 seconds with the potential to top 122mph. The twin-clutch DSG gearbox is a familiar option in larger and more powerful Skoda models and is an unexpected bonus in a smaller car. The 7-speed unit uses a pair of dry clutches, one controlling the ‘odd’ gears and the other controlling the ‘even’ gears.

The system enables the next higher gear to remain en-

gaged, but on standby until it is actually selected. The electronic management of the system sees the operation of the two clutches overlap and the change takes just four-hundredths of a second.

On-road, and the benefits are smooth changes up the down the ‘box increasing the appeal of the car, allowing the driver to tease out its superb handling. The DSG gearbox keeps the engine balanced for immediate response and there is never any hesitation in relation to throttle application. Supportive ride from the all-new

SKODA FABIA 1.2 TSI Engine: 1.2 litre TSI petrol; 110PS at 4,600-5,600rpm; 175Nm torque at 1,4004,000rpm Drive: To front wheels, via 7-speed dual clutch automatic gearbox (DSG) Performance: 0-62mph (100km/h) in 9.4 seconds; max, 122mph (195 km/h) Fuel on combined cycle: 60.1mpg (4.7 l/100km) CO2: 109gms/km; VED Band B for annual car tax of £20 Trim: SE Price: £15,040 Insurance: ABI Group 12E Warranty: 3 year/60,000 miles with 12-year body protection Benefit-in-Kind: 14% Euro NCAP: Driver 81%, Pedestrial 69%, Child 81% Available extras: Special colours £535, Two-tone £250, Space saver spare wheel £85, Smartgate (links mobile phone via WiFi to car infotainment system) £100, Alloy wheel upgrade to 16in rims £250.

Fabia-lous drive chassis encourages the driver to maintain good pace, aided by the pin-sharp steering and competent brakes.

Inside, and the dashboard layout is refined traditional rather than ultra-modern but has clear, easily read graphics as well as an inset digital screen which can be set to display speed in addition to the analogue speedometer. A central 6.5in screen provides the infotainment control with docking in the central console for auxiliary input.

Driver positioning is excellent as the steering column is adjustable for reach and

rake. Cabin accommodation is good for three rear seat passengers although overall width is tight for the full complement. However, knee and head room are good and would meet with approval for just two rear seat occupants.

The rear cabin also benefits from excellent storage, roof mounted grab handles and side courtesy lights for night use.

A generous 330l boot adds to the versatility of the car, while split-folding rear seats provide the usual flexibility for passenger/load options.

Equipment wise, the test

car was in mid range ‘SE’ trim, a necessary step up from the basic ‘S’ model to get air conditioning, the height adjustable front seats, leather trimmed steering wheel, and rear parking sensors. This is over and above the standard provision of electric front windows, electric and heated door mirrors, tyre pressure monitoring system, Bluetooth connectivity and speed limiter.

Safety provision includes six airbags and Electronic Stability Control supported by handling control packages which include an electronic

differential lock.

Economy wise, the Fabia with the 7-speed DSG gearbox has a given combined fuel consumption of 60.1mpg, some 6.8mpg improvement over its predecessor.

With a CO2 emissions of 109gms/km, the car is in Band B for annual car tax of £20, and like all Skoda models, it is covered by the company’s 3-year/60,000 mile warranty, 3-year paint warranty and 12-year body protection cover. The test car is listed at £15,040 and is in Group 12E for insurance purposes.

13 April 2015 BUSINESS MONTH 51

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TECHNOLOGY 1. Dyson Fluffy £299 @ www.dyson.co.uk The Dyson Fluffy sucks up as much dust as a corded vacuum and is perfect if you have a hard floor and are plagued by microscopic dust, as well as larger debris like cereal. Like the name suggests, instead of hard bristles, its full-width roller is covered by soft fluffy nylon and rows of carbon fibre filaments.

The soft material envelopes the larger debris and flings it inside the cleaner head, while the carbon fibre filaments get to work on the fine dust, so now there is no excuse for a dusty house.

2. PebbleSteel Watch £179 @ www.getpebble.com There is a lot of hype around the new Apple Watch, but if you can’t afford the designer price tag then this latest addition to the Pebble family might offer a cheaper alternative. Pebble Steel, the premium watch for iOS and Android, wraps everything users know and love about Pebble — clear e-paper display, long-lasting battery life,

4. New wristband that makes passwords a thing of the past Passwords are so yesterday, according to the Nymi Band, as it simultaneously solves the security and conveniences flaws of passwords.

The Nymi Band streamlines the repetitive task of authentication with unprecedented certainty and unlike a password, even if your Nymi Band is stolen, no one but you can use it to unlock your digital world.

It enhances everything that your computing devices already do, and also enables a new world of possibilities. The vision for the Nymi Band is to become a credit card, hotel concierge, alarm clock, fitness tracker and much more. In theory, Nymi works like this: you wake up, get ready, and strap the gadget to your wrist. In practice there are a few technical issues to iron out, but according to designers this is the shape of things to come.

52 BUSINESS MONTH 13 April 2015

and water resistant design — into a slimmer, classic form factor.

The instant notifications are the best feature as it allows you to see who is calling and receive important emails and texts without having to pull your phone out. Available in black matte or brushed stainless.

3. Apple MacBook £1,000 upwards @www.apple.com Apple has unveiled the all new MacBook, a new line of notebooks reinvented in every way to deliver the thinnest and lightest Macs ever. Every component of the new MacBook has been meticulously redesigned to create a Mac that weighs just 2lb and is 13.1 mm thin.

It features a 12-inch retina display that is the thinnest ever on a Mac, an Apple-designed full-size keyboard which is dramatically thinner and highly responsive, the all-new Force Touch trackpad that brings a new dimension of interactivity to the Mac, an incredibly compact USB-C port for data transfer, video out and charging in a single connector, and a new battery design that maximises every millimetre of space to deliver all-day battery life.

The design has also been revamped, for the first time, MacBook is available in three gorgeous aluminium finishes—gold, silver and space grey.

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FASHION

Rainy days

By Grainne McGarvey

W

E are in the throes of spring this month and the forecast should be improving, but due to the uncertainty of our weather the chance of rain can be high.

This is no excuse not to look your best, as there are lots of ideas on the high

street to keep you dry while looking chic if caught out in an April shower. A brightly coloured mac coat will ensure you stand out, while a more muted option can tone in with pastel spring colours. Statement walking umbrellas have been given Howick Stripe polo a designer makeover and provide the perfect accesso- shirt £40 @ HoF ry for your arm.

Floral Print Sweater £28 @ Next Paisley Print umbrella £40 @ Ted Baker

Pastel mac £45 @ BHS

Yellow flower tote £269 @ Orla Kiely

Cloud Walking Umbrella £35 @ Cath Kidston

Square Weave Jumper £79 @ Reiss

Rain mac £65 @ Topman

13 April 2015 BUSINESS MONTH 53

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TRAVEL

NATURAL A new TV adaptation of romantic novel Poldark has swept viewers off their feet —

A

pillar of sunshine moved across the cliff face, highlighting an arch of blue oxidised copper. My companion, Hetty, smiled at my amazement: there are plenty more seams like this, she said.

In the waters just beneath, a seal popped up, looked about and, as if similarly nonchalant about the band of copper, smoothly disappeared. From my vantage point above Trevaunance Cove I gazed down in hope of spotting it again, then stretched my eyes up to the mine buildings dramatically punctuating the inland horizon.

Seal colonies developed after the mines in the district closed down, Hetty explained. She runs kayaking tours here and often sees seals in the caves, swimming below the remnants of old shafts. Energetic winds had thwarted our kayaking plans that day, so instead we were taking a spectacular walk around St Agnes, on Cornwall’s northern coast. Hetty was keen to share insights about the area, particularly its remarkable industrial heritage. The mines, she said, followed seams of copper and tin inland and under the sea, with tunnels kept relatively

54 BUSINESS MONTH 13 April 2015

free of water by steam pump engines, developed in the early 19th century.

In the wake of the new Poldark television drama series, I had come to Cornwall to revel in the landscape. Winston Graham wrote the first of his tales about the tin-mining Poldark dynasty in a beach hut at Perranporth, just around the coast from St Agnes. Back in the 1970s his novels became one of the most successful small-screen dramas ever, attracting an audience of some 15 million, of which I was one. I put it down to giddy youthfulness that while I followed the saga of Ross and Demelza, the mining aspect of the story passed me by. It won’t this time around — in exploring Poldark country I became increasingly intrigued

by Cornwall’s industrial legacy.

My first stop was Poldark Mine, originally called Wheal Roots. It lies north of Helston in the Wendron Valley, where a staggering 640 mining concerns are recorded in parish records. Like many other such workings, Wheal Roots became a “lost” mine after the 1860s (they say gardening in this region comes with the occupational hazard of the sudden shafts you might uncover). This mine was rediscovered in the 1970s, developed

into a visitor attraction and, with permission from Graham, was cleverly renamed Poldark Mine, which contributed to its post-industrial success.

Latterly, though, it fell on hard times. It was acquired in May by retired businessman David Edwards, who is set to transform its fortunes. His timing was perfect: the mine became one of the settings of the new series. Its strength, both as a tourist attraction and a film location, is that you can access the tunnels, descending as far down as 160 feet.

I emerged humbled by the hardship the workers endured and amazed by tales of the extent to which mining became part of the Cornish DNA. “They say that wherever in the world you find a hole in the ground, there will be a Cornishman at the bottom,” said my guide Alan, alluding to the fact that in the 19th-century Cornish miners took their expertise to Australia, South America, Mexico, and more — and often stayed.

Onwards and westwards, I headed to Porthgwarra. Set down twisting lanes, this hamlet is so romantically remote you feel you’ve time-travelled back to Poldark’s late-18th century. It was here that the pilchard fishing scene was filmed, and it was here that I stayed, my whitewashed cottage so perfectly positioned that it would surely win any contest for prettiest accommodation in Cornwall. Yet for all the fresh-air beauty,

BEAUTY but will its picturesque Cornish setting have a similar effect on Harriet O’Brien?

there’s a strong mining connection. You reach the small beach via a slipway or along a tunnel running through granite rock. Created to give local farmers easy access to seaweed used for fertiliser, this was drilled in the 1890s by miners from nearby St Just.

The next day I explored St Just’s bleakly bewitching landscape, studded with chimneys and crumbly looking mine buildings that in many cases are cliff-edge dramatic. The film crew had been here, too, shooting around the Botallack and Levant mines. It was Levant I especially wanted to see, for here there’s a working steam-powered beam engine which hauled rock up from the shafts. I watched it in action — a fabulous arrangement of levers and hissing pistons — and I talked to the volunteer guides, learning how Levant’s tunnels extended underwater a good mile from the cliff.

Moving up the coast I called in at Portreath, where I met Marion Symonds who runs Portreath Bakery and is passionate about the Cornish pasty. This poor man’s food was the miners’ staple work meal.

Often unable to wash their hands, they would eat a pasty holding on to the crimp — the pastry seam on the side (never on the top for a proper Cornish pasty) which they would then discard. Arsenic was present in many of the mines, extracted for use in glass manufacturing and dyes.

Marion had recently returned from Mexi-

co, where she explored the links between Cornwall and Hidalgo province. In 1826, a group of Cornish miners arrived there, revolutionising mining life in the region — and they brought the pasty with them.

Today, there’s a pasty museum and even an October pasty festival in Hidalgo.

North of Portreath is seal-enriched St Agnes, which stands in for Nampara Valley in the series. From here, I turned southwards to visit Charlestown on the outskirts of St Austell.

Used for scenes of Truro, this is an untrumpeted gem; a beautifully conserved Georgian harbour, complete with a small collection of tall ships. It’s a haven for film crews, too, and its screen appearances have ranged from The Onedin Line to the 2010 version of Alice in Wonderland. Its presence in Poldark is particularly apposite: Charlestown was constructed in the 1790s to service the mining industry. I strolled the old walls feeling out of sync in jeans and raincoat and then, with a sense of culture shock, drove back into the 21st century.

Where to stay Harriet O’Brien stayed at Corner

Cottage, Porthgwarra, owned and run by St Aubyn Estates Holidays (01736 888 515; staubynestatesholidays.co.uk). Sleeping two, it costs from £450 per week. She also stayed at The Rashleigh Arms (01726 73635; rashleigharms .co.uk) in Charlestown, which offers doubles from £80 B&B. What to do Koru Kayaking (0779 4321 827; korukayaking.co.uk) offers two-hour North Coast Poldark Country guided kayak adventures from £35pp.

Poldark Mine (01326 573173; poldarkmine.org. uk), admission for adults £15.

Levant Mine and Beam Engine (01736 786156; nationaltrust.org.uk), adults £7.70.

Where to eat Terrace Restaurant (01209 842 354; gwelanmor.com) at Gwel an Mor, Portreath, is lauded locally for its Cornish-Spanish cuisine.

Portreath Bakery (01209 842612; portreathbakery.co.uk).

More information Cornwall and Hidalgo, the story of Cornish miners in Mexico, is published

by San Angel Ediciones – £21.99 from sanangelediciones.com.

Visitcornwall.co.uk

13 April 2015 BUSINESS MONTH 55

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TRAVEL

Ten of the best: Infinity pools AliceTate takes a dip in some of the world’s best infinity pools, from a mountain top in St Lucia to overlooking the jungle in Bali.

There are swimming pools, and then there are these pools.

The ones that look out over oceans, jungles and mountains, and appear to glide into the distance forever.

These ones you don’t want to get out of. Ever.

Jade Mountain, St Lucia

All 24 of the hotel’s suites have their very own infinity pools (with adjustable fibre optic lighting), but the most magical aspect is the panorama of the Pitons from the communal infinity pool at the top of the mountain, glinting in the sun with its colourful mosaic tiles. www. mrandmrssmith.com/luxury-ho tels/jade-mountain

The Sarann, Koh Samui

Infinity pools don’t have to cost your life savings. Stay atThe Sarann on Chaweng Noi Beach, Koh

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Samui and swim in this oceanfront infinity pool from just £75/night. thesarann.com

Shangri-La Shard, London

See London from a different vantage point: in your bathers 52 floors up.The pool at the ShangriLa Shard Shard easily takes the title as the best pool in the city. www.shangri-la.com/london/ shangrila/

Marina Bay Sands Hotel, Singapore

The 5* Marina Bay Sands Hotel boasts the largest rooftop pool in the world, curved in shape and offering unbeatable views of the Singapore skyline. www.marinabaysands.com

Puri Mas Boutique Resort & Spa, Lombok

Private villas, a spa and a glittering oceanfront infinity pool; believe it or not nightly rates start as low as £40/night. www.purimas-lombok.

com/index.php

Ciragan Kempinski Palace, Istanbul Swim in Europe, wave to Asia.The pool at Ciragan Kempinski Palace lets you swim in one continent whilst gazing over another. www.kempinski.com/ en/istanbul/ciragan-palace/welcome/

Alila Vills Uluwatu, Bali

You could sit and ogle this picture all day but imagine what it’s like to be there?The cliff top pool at Alila Villas Uluwatu has to be up there with the crème de la crème of infinity pools. http://www. alilahotels.com/uluwatu

Monastero Santa Rosa, Amalfi Coast, Italy

Perched on a cliff on the Amalfi Coast, the pool at Monastero Santa Rosa is seriously impressive — even more so when you take a further hike and look down on it from above. http://www. mrandmrssmith.com/ luxury-hotels/ monastero-santa-rosa

Grace Hotel, Santorini

Worthy of a pilgrimage, the infinity pool at Grace Santorini is cut into the cliff and offers uninterrupted views of the glittering blue sea and Greece’s famous sunsets. www.gracehotels. com/santorini

Kebun Villas Resort, Lombok

Set in the depths of Lombok’s luscious landscape, KebunVillas Resort runs with the mantra ‘natural luxury and modest living’, thus simple but effective.

Look at that pool. www.kebunresort.com

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OUT AND ABOUT

withThe

Appointments

CHAIRMAN

The Chairman is delighted to report from a string of interesting social events as the glitterati lure him from his BT9 mansion

Francis Shields has been appointed head of professional practices at Grant Thornton NI. He will specialise in tax advice for businesses with partnership structures across the professional services sector in Ireland and the UK. Mr Shields’ experience includes working in a ‘Big 4’ practice in London.

T

Michael Barnett has been appointed audit director at Grant Thornton NI. He will provide audit, assurance and general business advice across a range of industry sectors.

He will have an active role in the growth of the firm’s audit practice in NI.

Gail Walker has been appointed Editor of the Belfast Telegraph. Ms Walker started her career with the Belfast Telegraph as a graduate trainee in 1990 and was most recently the paper’s deputy editor (features). Throughout her career she has won numerous awards.

58 BUSINESS MONTH 13 April 2015

HE Chairman is unsurprisingly having a ball — literally and figuratively — as black-tie season gets back into full swing.

In fact, there’s nothing finer to the Chairman than a gathering of the cream of the business world with a soupçon of the political classes and a journalist or two thrown in for good measure.

And it was even better that the CBI Gala Dinner was held at the Ramada Plaza Hotel, just a stone’s throw from the Chairman’s Malone Road lair.

The Chairman met some of his old Belfast Telegraph friends there, including its new editor Gail Walker.

And the boys were also back in town, with Kevin Traynor and Simon Snoddy from Royal Avenue great company, as ever.

The Chairman also enjoyed a catch-up, as he always does, with Barry Turley of the eponymous PR firm, who was accompanied in the revelry

by Mark Cuskeran of SDC Trailers.

The Chairman relished a good chin-wag with Mr Cuskeran on goings-on and old friends west of the Bann.

Elsewhere in the elegant ballroom were members of the media, including Gary McDonald of the Irish News, David Elliott of Ulster Business, the BBC’s Clodagh Rice and, last but most definitely not least, Gerry Moriarty of the Irish Times.

On this august occasion, the political classes were represented by none other than Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

Thankfully, an earlier wrinkle in his schedule had been ironed out and the Taoiseach

Adrian Doran of Barclays Northern Ireland, CBI Northern Ireland chairman Colin Walsh, Taoiseach Enda Kenny, CBI director-general John Cridland and Sean Lavery of BDO at the CBI’s annual dinner in the Ramada Plaza Hotel

Kirsty McManus of the Ulster Business School and other guests with Taoiseach Enda Kenny at the CBI annual dinner made it to the podium just in time to discuss north-south relations (majoring on the perils for Northern Ireland of a Brexit).

Knowing his audience (as all good speakers must), he also

made some references to the rugby and Ireland’s triumph at the Six Nations.

The Taoiseach was certainly a tough act to follow, as John Cridland, outgoing CBI director general, found.

Appointments

Lorraine Tierney has been appointed a paralegal of Belfast law firm Cleaver Fulton Rankin.

She will focus on residential property and re-mortgages.

She currently acts for one of the leading lenders in the UK securing their interests over their properties and overseeing transactions.

Maud Kells, a missionary midwife from Co Tyrone who was shot by bandits in the Democratic Republic of Congo, was named Woman of the Year at the Belfast Telegraph Woman of the Year Awards. She was congratulated by Siobhan McKeown, marketing manager at sponsor The OUTLET, and Belfast Telegraph editor Gail Walker He also ruminated on the perils of a Brexit (a prospect now keeping the Chairman awake at night, so dire are the warnings) and reminisced about landmarks in northsouth relations.

With the CBI itself celebrating 50 years, he mused on other significant dates, such as the visit of then-Taoiseach Sean Lemass to then-Northern Ireland PM Terence O’Neill, also in 1965 and the first visit of its kind in 40 years.

The Chairman was also pleased to have a chat with Eamonn Donaghy of KPMG, who was revelling in his own significant landmark.

Mr Donaghy revealed that corporation tax legislation had just received Royal Assent that very day — a milestone in his campaign for Northern Ireland to have its own rate of the tax.

Turn to page 60 >>

Smarts Communicate has been appointed by BT as its public relations agency in Northern Ireland. After the announcement, Priscilla O’Regan, BT’s head of communications, was joined by Leontia Fetherston, joint managing director of Smarts Communicate

Rory McCurry has been appointed associate at Lanyon Communications in Belfast. He will work with partners at the practice providing corporate communications services to its clients in the financial, legal, commercial property and technology sectors in the UK and Ireland and further afield.

Jude Ashworth has been appointed as the sales development manager for England at Willowbrook Fine Foods. Ms Ashworth will be based in Lancashire and will be in charge of identifying new business opportunities for the company.

13 April 2015 BUSINESS MONTH 59

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THE CHAIRMAN Appointments

Sarah McAndrews has been made service delivery manager at Eircom Business Solutions NI. She will oversee a number of key government and customer projects. She has 20 years’ experience in IT, including 15 in serving management.

She is a Managing Successful Programmes practitioner.

The team from the Northern Ireland Science Park at the recent NI Tech Meet-up >> From page 58 ...

Steven Grimason has been appointed business development manager at Eircom Business Solutions NI. He will manage relationships within the public sector. Stephen holds a degree in marketing and advertising, and he has 19 years’ experience in the sales and business development markets.

David Sturgess has joined the property and private client department at Edwards & Co Solicitors. He has 17 years’ experience in property and banking. David will be responsible for commercial and residential property and will also help the firm’s corporate department.

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THE CHAIRMAN prides himself on blending in at almost any business or social event, using his skills as a wit and raconteur to win over even the toughest audience.

But even our chameleon-like social correspondent felt out of place amid the hip and high-achieving crowd at the first NI Tech Meet Up event, hosted by the Northern Ireland Science Park.

The venue was trendy coiffeur Hedonist Hair on Botanic Avenue. It attracted more than 100 entrepreneurs — and the Chairman — who heard from many tech success stories from Belfast and Derry Science Park.

Equipped with a hi-tech tabard for exchanging email addresses with new contacts, the Chairman set to working the room.

Out of the corner of his beady eye, the Chairman spotted Mojo Films’ man Paul McParland schmoozing Belfast Telegraph business editor Margaret Canning between mini-burgers and hot-dogs.

The Chairman was pleased to run into the divine Pulse PR owner Grainne McGarvey,

The Publicity Association of Northern Ireland (PANI) has had a busy few months of events. (l to r) Karen McGarvey and Mark Fullerton of the Belfast Telegraph were joined at one meeting by Rebecca Rodgers and Anna Balfour from Ardmore, and Joy Rodgers, also from the Belfast Telegraph who organised the lively event with her usual aplomb and dynamism. And who should the Chairman spot but the VIEW Magazine’s Una Rafferty and Brian Pelan, and his old friend Willis McBriar, a STEM ambassador and former BBC engineer.

The event was hosted in Hedonist Hair and Irish beatboxer Cull, DJs Kwa Daniels and Defcon entertained the audience. With the mixes of Kwa Daniels and Defcon ringing in his ears, the Chairman came away racking his brains for his own start-up.

THE LAST WORD

with Paul

Gosling

Schools in Northern Ireland may have highest rate of leavers going on to university, but some of these facts don’t tell the full story — and changes are needed to keep our students here

T

HERE is a widespread misunderstanding as to the causes of Ireland’s growth during the years of the Celtic Tiger. The assumption is that it was based on lower corporation tax rates, plus the generous grant funding regime of the Industrial Development Agency.

While it is true this was significant, it is a long way from the full story. Ireland benefited from a mix of factors. Alongside low tax rates and the IDA’s grant support there were three other decisive advantages. Two of these are shared with Northern Ireland — a clear legal framework for investors, plus the English language, which is important to US investors seeking a bridge-head in Europe.

But there is one ingredient that Ireland had — and still has — which is currently missing from the Northern Ireland Executive’s plans to expand our economy. That key ingredient is skills.

It would be easy to miss this crucial fact.

Our society bangs on about how good our schools are and how this leads to NI having the highest rate of school leavers going on to university. Both these ‘facts’ are misleading.

At the top end, our grammar schools produce brilliant exam passes. Too many of the non-selective schools, though, have children leaving without the basic skills needed for a worthwhile working career. Much of our further education budget is spent on trying to put that right.

A third of those school leavers going on to university do so in Great Britain. More than half of those do not return. Hence our grammar schools are ‘brain factories’ that provide great outcomes for the economies of England and Scotland. Our export of students to universities in Great Britain is equivalent to the size of a third university in Northern Ireland. This would not matter if our outflow of students was matched by an inflow from elsewhere. Sadly precious few students from other nations come to Northern Ireland to study.

It is no accident that Ireland was able to attract overseas investment — and boost indigenous businesses — through a high-quality system of education. The Irish government long understood that the skills base not only boosted investment and growth, but also orientated this towards those sectors that are most beneficial to its economy. To quote from an Irish government report from 2007, “this increase in supply of skilled graduates had a very significant effect in influencing inward investment by multi-nationals both in terms of

62 BUSINESS MONTH 13 April 2015

expectation of an increased supply of skilled graduates and a perception that the Irish government were responsive to the needs of the ICT industry and were prepared to develop rapid policy and practical responses to those expressed needs”. It added that during a previous downturn, the high skills base in Ireland caused overseas corporations to maintain their operations in the Republic, move up the value chain in doing so, while cutting lower value operations in other jurisdictions.

None of this should be a surprise. A report for the Scottish Executive found that while Northern Ireland benefits from significant levels of inward investment, we have the lowest percentage of high quality foreign direct investment of any UK region. The highest investment in the UK went to the region containing the highest quality university-based research — the east of England.

This is not a criticism of Northern Ireland’s two universities — Queen’s and Ulster. Our university population is just too small. We need about 5,000 extra university students every year — equivalent to a 15,000 place university. Just as important, the extra student places need to mostly be in those disciplines that service our economy — after all, student places are supported by public finance. For those who say this is unaffordable, one solution is to look again at our policy on tuition fees. While undergraduates here will pay £3,805 for the 2015/16 year, they

are likely to pay about £9,000 to study in England. Our universities are subsidised by the public purse to keep fees down.

That may seem generous, but it is in some respects counter-productive. We have ‘grade inflation’ in Northern Ireland, making it more difficult to gain a place in one of our universities.

The choice made by politicians has been the wrong one. They need to lift the cap on student numbers at Northern Ireland universities and encourage more school leavers to study within Northern Ireland. They should reconsider their policy on tuition fees, which in reality discriminates against bright pupils from poorer families.

A change of policy would not only improve social mobility, but could be the basis for a stronger economy. Corporation tax reform will have limited impact without a big improvement in our skills base.

It’s no accident that Ireland was able to boost indigenous businesses through a high-quality system of education

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