NetWorks Issue 6

PEOPLE WHO KNOW PEOPLE THAT HELP PEOPLE

www.bita.ie • Edition 6 • 2019

‘Tis the

Season...

WHY SO SAD? Coping with the changing seasons

HORSES, BUSINESS AND ‘BOTTLE’ Talking to Luke Comer

MEET THE BOARDS Meet our wonderful board members

PEOPLE WHO KNOW PEOPLE THAT HELP PEOPLE

Helping you build a successful business Evans Mockler are a long established and dynamic firm of Chartered Certified Accountants and Registered Auditors.

We specialise in both the construction industry and the property sector.

We are business and tax advisors and recognise that our clients require more than just annual compliance.

We understand the many challenges that businesses face, particularly within the construction industry. We work closely with our clients to ensure that they overcome these challenges and achieve their goals.

Kindly contact us on 020 8449 9632 if you would like to discuss our range of services and to find out how Evans Mockler can help you build your business.

TEAM

Editor: Diane Birch, BITA Executive Director Sub Editor: Laura Watkins

Features Editor: John Reynolds BITA Contributors: Georgia Churchill, Events and Marketing Assistant; Noel Byrne, Arriva Digital; Paul McAuliffe, Lord Mayor of Dublin; Martin Mockler, Evans Mockler; Tiernan Dixon, Ardent Tide; Gráinne McMenamin, Causeway Design and Production E jules@stimula.co.uk Printer The Color Company

Sales, Events and Marketing T +44 (0) 7587 035740 E laura@bita.ie

Published by BITA Ltd HEAD OFFICE: The Hive Enterprise Centre, The Old Central Library, Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, SS2 6EX www.bita.ie T +44 (0)1702 417131 E laura@bita.ie

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I

WELCOME

t’s the close of another year, and unbelievably it seems, we’re heading into the 20’s already!

I always reflect on my journey at the end of the year; I like to see the progress I’ve made from where I was twelve months ago. 2019 has been difficult, BITA has grown and each time it does I add another chapter to my rota of places to visit, but it has also been incredibly rewarding.

I have been reminded time and time again of the importance of giving, something especially poignant at this time of year. We are lucky in this organisation to attract so many incredible and talented people who give of their time and expertise to our members; sharing contacts, arranging wonderful events, and establishing chapters that will help businesses flourish for years to come.

Something else that I think is particularly important is unity, especially as the UK itself has been divided of late; a terrible thing to see. I would like to encourage us all to think of what we have in common, as individuals, as businesses and across nations. We have far more in common than that which divides us, and I would urge people to look forward to 2020 with optimism, and a resolution to do what we can to the benefit and betterment of others, as well as ourselves.

Inside this issue you’ll see something a bit different, we have looked at business, but are also considering how to have the best Christmas possible (page 14) and finding out about Christmases around the world (page 10). I invite everyone to read about this year’s award winners (pages 26 - 28) and get to know your local board members (pages 34 - 49).

I wish you a very Merry Christmas, Hanukkah or Holidays – whatever your beliefs I hope you have a wonderful time, and we’ll see you in the 20’s!

BITA Ltd. All rights reserved

Terms and conditions NetWorks is published by BITA Ltd. Its entire content is protected by copyright 2019 and all its rights reserved.

Reproduction without prior permission is forbidden. Every care has been taken in compiling the content of the magazine, but the publisher assumes no responsibility in the effect arising therefrom. Readers are advised to seek professional advice before acting on any information which is contained in the magazine. Neither BITA Ltd or NetWorks accept any liability for views expressed, pictures used or claims used by advertisers.

PAUL WHITNELL President

@BITAIntl @BITAIntl @BITA @BITA_Intl

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www.geasontraining.co.uk www.bita.ie

3

CONTENTS 10

PEOPLE WHO KNOW PEOPLE THAT HELP PEOPLE

www.bita.ie

14 06

The Future of Logistics

08

Why so SAD?

10

Getting into the Spirit

12

Messages from London and Liverpool

14

Hacks to Help a Happy Holiday!

15

Pathway to BITAx

16

Horses, Business and ‘Bottle’

18

McAlpine’s Fusiliers

20

Bringing Christmas Home

22

Powering Through

24

Stir it up!

26

The BITA Awards

20

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www.geasontraining.co.uk

PEOPLE WHO KNOW PEOPLE THAT HELP PEOPLE # 6 I December 2019 I the festive issue

24

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS

32

30

Intelligent Seminar

32

Celebrating Hogmanay

34

Meet the INUSA Board

35

Meet the Causeway Board

36

Meet the London Board

38

Meet the BITAx Board

40

Meet the Cork Board

43

Meet the Isle of Man Board

44

Meet the Dublin Board

46

Meet the Liverpool Board

48

Meet the Manchester Board

50

Christmas Message from Diane

34

BUSINESS

Logistics

THE FUTURE OF

NOEL BYRNE, ARRIVA DIGITAL, TALKS ABOUT HOW TO SOLVE GATE INEFFICIENCY

I

nefficient delivery management at construction sites in London is responsible for pumping thousands of tonnes of CO2 into the environment every year, increasing the risk of collisions and adding to congestion in an already clogged city.

Failure of construction sites to properly manage deliveries by HGVs, means that hundreds of vehicles are turned away at site gates which then circle the city waiting for a new slot or are sent back only to return another day. This clearly runs counter to our goal of achieving cleaner air, safer streets, and avoiding delays in the construction process.

The practice of circling HGV delivery drivers and delaying deliveries was noted in Aecom’s 2017 report Investigating the Impacts Caused by Inefficient Deliveries.

This pointed out that when vehicles are turned away, they travel an average of 10 miles before the issue is rectified. Often the decision to turn a vehicle away is made by the team on the gate, not the senior team, who may find out too late that the steel required to complete their phase of the project has been sent back to Sheffield.

The inefficiency cost vast quantities of time and money, but also takes a toll on people in the city in terms of pollution, increased traffic and more likely collisions.

It is a problem that needs addressing.

The journey to develop a technological solution to this problem ‘Origin to Destination (O2D)’ started against this backdrop. As with all things, luck played its part. In the spring of 2016, Noel Byrne met Eamonn McGurk of Keyway Group, a business that has been operating in construction and waste management since the early 1960s, and discovered that they shared many of the

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same views. The next piece of luck was meeting Dan Pinnell, Director of Prospect Training Services. Dan is a technical whizz and had already developed innovative technology for the Welsh FA as well as state-wide learning programmes in America. They decided to attack the problem together, and the concept of O2D app was born.

An app was needed that would do two things. Firstly, provide full visibility of deliveries, from supplier to end-user, in real-time. Secondly, to enable vehicles to be safely diverted to a measured holding bay whenever they couldn’t be accommodated at the gate.

Alex Pocklington, Principal Network Impact Assessment Engineer for Croydon came on board to work with the team, and O2D version 1.1 was released in the spring of 2019, in collaboration with the London Borough of Croydon.

What is O2D? O2D is a real-time delivery management system with a unique driver contact app for rerouting, diverting, and cancelling deliveries.

Alex Pocklington says; “Across London, hundreds, possibly even thousands of trucks are turned away each day at their ramps or gates due to missed time slots and then circle the city, wasting miles, increasing the risk of collisions, and rising levels of congestion and emissions. With this app, we aim to drastically reduce this issue while supporting Croydon’s construction logistics, clean air, and environmental impact initiatives. We hope this project will eventually benefit the whole of London and beyond.”

The need for this is immediately apparent once the numbers are seen.

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According to the Aecom report, and through O2D’s own research into major construction sites and attendance at London logistics forums, they estimate that approximately 20% of all HGV vehicles delivering to London construction sites are being turned away due to on-site delays, missed time slots, or bottle necks.

One major construction site in London receives 27,000 deliveries annually, of which 5,400 are turned away. If each turned away vehicle travels an average of ten extra miles, that’s a total of 54,000 unnecessary road miles ‘ the equivalent to driving twice around the world. And that’s just one London construction site.

Those 54,000 extra miles produce 64,000kg of CO2 and other harmful gases.

This developer alone has 12 live sites in London, which means if the other sites have similar statistics, up to 771,000kg of CO2 and other harmful gases may be pumped into the atmosphere yearly from inefficient deliveries. Sobering figures for a city that is desperately trying to reduce its high pollution levels.

The app helps link up the supply chain and local authorities, and most importantly for squeezed developers, it is a free app that can be downloaded to a smart device to link up deliveries, GPS locations, and rerouting systems. This provides full visibility of any delivery in the system to suppliers, site managers, local authorities, and other key stakeholders.

The use of this app should not only help businesses reduce their environmental impact but should also save them time and money. It is hoped this solution will revolutionise construction logistics, reduce harmful emissions, and further safeguard vulnerable road users, benefitting London and beyond.

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7

Laura Watkins

WELLBEING

A

s the days get shorter and the temperature starts to drop, those suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) will not be looking forward to the winter ahead.

The end of October is when, across Europe, the clocks move back an hour.

Most relish the extra hour in bed, and enjoy the increased light in the morning, however it soon feels like the night is closing in when we start going to work and coming home in the dark.

This may be an inconvenience for most people, but it has a serious impact on a minority that suffer from SAD. The symptoms of sufferers can range in severity, to being grumpy and gaining weight, to barely being able to get out of bed, having to take time off work, and having to limit activities.

Increased desire for sleep and calorific foods, as well as depression, anxiety, loss of libido and moodiness are common symptoms of SAD, and it seems that sufferers want to ‘hibernate’ for the winter.

As the name suggests these symptoms are related to the changing seasons, and usually start to kick in around October/ November and start to lift in March/April.

It is this that makes it different from depression.

There are a few theories as to why people should be so affected, one idea

is that people struggle to sync their internal clock once the light gets too low, so they are in a kind of perpetual jetlag.

Another is that some people produce more melatonin during the winter, which affects their sleep cycles. Melatonin usually increases at night helping people feel sleepy and decreases in the morning sunlight, something vanishingly rare from

WHYSO

SAD? GETTING THROUGH THE LONG NIGHTS

November onwards. Scientists are also seeing results that suggest these factors suppress the formation of serotonin, which would exacerbate the conditioni.

Adding to this, there is growing evidence that the lack of vitamin D, caused by the lack of sun, could be feeding into these mechanisms. It seems that there is probably no one answer, and SAD is caused

by more than one factor working together.

Many people are affected to some degree, and while it’s not realistic for most to move away from the Northern hemisphere for winter and escape, there are some ways of alleviating or managing the symptoms.

Light, or lack of it, seems to be the main cause of SAD. There are different ways of combatting this; light boxes can simulate real sunlight, and don’t require any effort. Just sitting in front of one for an hour a day while reading or working for two weeks, sees symptoms alleviated in around 85%ii of cases. Many people swear by a dawn-simulating alarm clock as well; these slowly brighten simulating a natural dawn to wake people naturally, and many will also offer a dawn chorus to really speed people on their way to a bright morning.

Many people with SAD take vitamin D supplements; people get vitamin D from their diets as well as sunlight, and it is thought that supplements may help, although science is divided on their effectiveness.

It’s also recommended that people who suffer from SAD try different forms of therapy to help them cope with the symptoms. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) has seen promising results, and is a treatment used for depression and anxiety in general.

NATIONS WILL NEED TO DECIDE IF THEY WANT TO BE ON PERMANENT ‘SUMMER’ OR ‘WINTER’ (STANDARD) TIME IN 2020.

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WELLBEING

CHASING THE SUN

L

The Solspeil in Rjukan, Norway

What impact does Daylight Savings Time (DST) have? It increases light in the evenings so it would be expected to help.

DST has been used since the early 1900’s, starting in a small area in Canada and widely used in Germany from 1916 to save money on lighting. It is now used in 70 nations across the globe to allow more light in the evenings. So, does DST help SAD? The evidence would suggest not. The American Medical Association recently published a study that listed the health costs of DSTiii. It’s been long-noted that the time of year around the change sees increased incidences of strokes and

ack of natural light has a massive impact on humans. Countries that have more dark hours have more sufferers of SAD; Scandinavians have sources mentioning the symptoms as far back as the sixth century.

Rjukan is a town in Norway that sits nestled in a deep valley 176 km west of Oslo, and during the day from September to March, the town gets no direct sunlight. Residents can see the light on the mountains surrounding them, but it never hits them, and they spend Autumn and Winter in a perpetual crepuscular light.

In 1928 a cable car was erected to allow townspeople to get high enough to experience the sunlight, but it wasn’t an ideal measure. In 2013, Martin Andersen, a local artist, developed ideas first proposed in 1913 and built a mirror, dubbed the Solspeil, on the top of a mountain with the intention to bring the sun to the inhabitants. During the no-light months it reflects the sunlight down into the valley for the residents to enjoy. During December and January that only amounts to two hours, but it has made a massive difference in peoples’ lives and is drawing attention from other light deprived places. Despite the £500,000 price tag, residents seem entranced with their new sunlight, and the project highlights how important sunlight is to people.

heart attacks. The vulnerable – people suffering from illnesses, the elderly and children are particularly susceptible to interruptions in sleep patterns and impact on cognition caused by DST. There also seems to be a correlation with instances of traffic accidents. It would seem that the negatives outweigh the potential positive economic impacts, and in some cases the use of DST can make symptoms of SAD even worse.

The impact is so deleterious that the EU has passed legislation for all member states to stop use of DST by 2021.

Nations will need to decide if they want

to be on permeant ‘summer’ or ‘winter’ (standard) time in 2020.

The most important thing to remember is that around 20% of people in the UK and Ireland suffer to some extent, which at around 13 million people is no small number. Also, there are lots of options available that may work to help mitigate or banish symptoms. Most of us are affected to some extent by the long winter months, and it seems that the absence of light impacts our physical as well as mental health. Realising the issue and taking steps to counter it may mean you don’t need to wait till spring to feel better.

https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/ seasonal-affective-disorder-sad/causes/?o=9241#.Xck2zVf7SUk ii Seasonal Affective Disorder Association Research. http://www.sad.org.uk/ iii https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaneurology/article-abstract/2753446 i

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9

Georgia Churchill

SECTION

Holiday season is upon us! Christmas trees are spotted on car roofs and streets are filled with Christmas shoppers. It is an exciting time of year and there’s no better way to fully immerse yourself in the festivities than talking Christmas traditions.

GETTING INTO THE

SPIRIT T

raditions vary widely in cultures around the world. However unique they are, what they do have in common is how enjoyable and special they make this time of year.

Christmas in Austria is packed with Christmas markets, food stalls and fun activities. What many people don’t know is that there’s a much sinister side to the season that doesn’t stray too far from the Halloween period. Krampus, derived from the German word Krampen, meaning claw, is a counterpart to our very own Saint Nicholas. A fearsome horned creature that had been suppressed by the Catholic Church and only recently come to light around the rest of the world, thanks to the popularity of Krampus in film. It is said that at the eve of his feast day Krampus will seize hold of children who have misbehaved.

A popular event in Austria, Germany and other European countries is the Krampus run. This family event consists of a vote for the best dressed Krampus and the capture of children who run through the street in hopes they don’t get whisked off.

Children in the area who are known to be good may be given candy to ward off evil, but the naughty children must be vigilant, for the best dressed Krampus might just snatch them up. It’s an event that’s been going on for 500 years and attracts many tourists every year. The story of Krampus won’t be forgotten any time soon.

Stories of an evil being lurking around on the lead up to Christmas isn’t unusual.

There is a vast amount of horror stories throughout different countries worldwide that are part of their culture.

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Christmas festivities start in Iceland around the 12th December. Children must beware the Christmas Troll, Gryla, who has an appetite for children.

Once a year, when the yule season begins, Gryla emerges from her cave and hunts for naughty children to cook in her cauldron for her yearly Christmas stew. Gryla doesn’t live alone.

Previously having eaten two husbands, she lives with her thirteen children. Every year, thirteen days before Christmas, they wreak havoc on the town living up to their prankster reputation.

It has become a tradition for all children to put a boot outside their house a few days before Christmas.

On receiving a boot full of candy, they know that Gryla will pass them. You’ve only got to hope you don’t receive a potato in your boot because she will be coming for you this Christmas.

Let’s be honest, it’s a great story to tell the children to keep you stress free this Christmas.

Not all traditions are doom and gloom. Ukraine share a wonderful tradition of cobweb decorations for their Christmas trees. It began with an old wives’ tale about a poor woman who grew a Christmas tree from a single pinecone.

With Christmas approaching she realised that she couldn’t afford decorations for her Christmas tree. Through the children’s cries, the spiders in her house felt pity on the family. By Christmas morning the spiders had spun beautiful patterns on the tree making it just as special as anyone

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STORIES OF AN EVIL BEING LURKING AROUND ON THE LEAD UP TO CHRISTMAS ISN’T UNUSUAL. THERE IS A VAST AMOUNT OF HORROR STORIES THROUGHOUT DIFFERENT COUNTRIES WORLDWIDE THAT ARE PART OF THEIR CULTURE.

else’s. It is said hanging a web will bring luck, more so if you find a spider hanging from your tree Christmas morning.

Japan’s celebration of Kentucky Fried chicken isn’t a far cry from our own turkey dinner! With KFC already being one of the biggest food chains in Japan, it has only recently become a popular tradition for families to feast on a KFC at Christmas.

With queues on the day stretching around the block, ordering takes place a few months in advance. Originally beginning with a Christmas advertisement for a Barrel of chicken to be sold on Christmas day, it gained such a popular response that it has been on going every year since 1974.

In Japan only small percentage of people are Christian, making Christmas not a recognised holiday. Therefore, celebrating the world event differently still gives an opportunity for a family reunion and for companies to market commercial goods associated with Christmas.

Whether you celebrate it as the birthday of Jesus or just a day to catch up with family, exchange gifts, play games or eat turkey, come the end of December, you can’t ignore that Christmas is all around.

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Contact enquiries@geason.co.uk or visit geasontraining.co.uk for more information www.bita.ie

11

COMMUNITY

TALKING FROM

LONDON

VINCE DIGNAM, CHAIRMAN FROM LONDON SUMS UP 2019

C

hristmas and New year celebrations are drawing closer, and it seems like this year has just disappeared!

Looking back so much has happened for BITA this year, new chapters opening and growing mean that we now have eight chapters – with new ones in Cork, Manchester and the Isle of Man. In London our events are growing and getting better each year. Our construction networking lunches sell out, at our last one in September we hosted 200 businesspeople from across the UK and Ireland. We have also been lucky this year to have some great speakers from various backgrounds talking about live

issues and initiatives that will help the BITA family of businesses grow.

One of the biggest events of the year, for me at least, was taking part in the St Patrick’s Day Parade in London. This is a massive three-day event attracting over 125,000 people culminating in an incredible parade on the Sunday following St Patrick’s.

The message this year was “air quality”, and following the Mayor of London’s strategy, we had a wooden lorry float painstakingly assembled and painted that volunteers pushed along the route.

Surrounded by sports men and women, cyclists, young children dressed in their

sports kits, and many a hurley in sight; what a message!

The success of the BITA Gala Ball and Awards Ceremony highlights the recent successes for businesses and people involved with BITA; seeing the emotions of Mick Crossan of Powerday on getting the BITA Lifetime achievement award summed the evening up for me. We are honoured to host it in London.

As the year draws to a close and 2020 around the corner there is so much more planned by BITA including a strategic NonExecutive board to develop new initiatives and support all chapters for the future.

All that leads me on the say “Best wishes for joy and love this Christmas season, for you and your family. Merry Christmas and happy New Year!”

A

s we come to the end of 2019 it is a time for reflection on what has passed and time to focus on 2020.

2019 has seen the board from BITA Liverpool grow in our reputation as one of the main ‘must-join’ networks in the Liverpool city region, as well as a consistent increase in attendees and members at our luncheons and monthly social networking events.

Throughout the year we have seen our members go from strength to strength; a great indication of this was seen with two of our chapter members making it as finalists at our annual BITA Awards (Krol Corlett and Go Green Office Solutions).

We were so proud to see Go Green Office Solutions go on to win the award for Small Business of the Year.

Our support for our members continues to grow and this will remain key to both BITA and myself as I lead the board in to 2020 ensuring that we continue to show how we really are the ‘people who know people that help people’.

Our luncheons have continued to grow in numbers and our last one held on 8th November showcased this success; supported by over 110 businesses from across the UK, Isle of Man and Ireland and featuring guest

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THE WORD FROM

LIVERPOOL SARAH MCCARTNEY IS LOOKING TO THE NEW YEAR

speaker Rory Underwood MBE. We were also very pleased to welcome the board of the newly formed Manchester Chapter of BITA. I know that myself and the Manchester Chairperson Christiane Hutchinson, are excited to be working closely together as we move to bridge the perceived gap between our two cities to the benefit of our members.

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As we go in to 2020, plans are being developed to hold a joint BITA and CLOCS (Construction Logistics and Community Safety) event in January. This will showcase how businesses can use the CLOCS Standard which is the direct result of collaboration between the construction and fleet sectors to address shared issues saving lives, reputation and money.

Our regular monthly social networking events will continue at our new home The Restaurant Bar and Grill in the business district in Liverpool along with our luncheons at Anfield, which will be held in February, June and October.

Myself and the board of Liverpool would like to thank you for your support this year and look forward to working with you all as we go in to 2020.

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WEB, DESIGN PRINT & SIGNS

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Georgia Churchill

WELLBEING

Hacks to Help a

Happy Holiday!

SOME FESTIVE TIPS TO KEEP YOU SANE Christmas is a time for giving, family reunions, celebrations and often the drama that we all know and love!

This year we are sharing our favourite ‘hacks’ which will help to make it a Christmas to remember for all the right reasons.

Slippers and onesies for the ideal chill out In the world of box sets and on-demand there is absolutely no doubt that you will find the perfect chillout screening; from your favourite soaps to drama and film there will be something for everyone (even the rerun of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is tolerated at Christmas!). Make it extra special with brandy infused hot chocolate, or Dashers Cranberry Antlers; Gin, Vermouth and a splash of champagne, or mocktails for the kids to get them as excited as Rudolph on Christmas Eve. Get some inspiration from the BBC Good Food Guide https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/

Done is better than perfect Your loved ones are coming to share time with you, not judge you on whether the crackers are homemade. It’s easy to get lost in buying Christmas gifts and trying to make everything perfect. Cut yourself some slack, get everyone involved instead of doing it all yourself and make some time to just ‘be’ in the moment. Being relaxed and healthy is much more important than whether the cranberry sauce is yours or from Waitrose!

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Busy hands make ….. quiet kids!

Get the kids involved with a little prep. Small tasks to help ‘Santa’ out like hanging some tree decorations or getting them to make notes for Santa with last year’s Christmas cards, getting some ribbon to tie around cones picked up on a walk in the local woods that they hang from the trees in the garden will get them out in the fresh air for a while too.

Hidden treasure; squeals of delight A little bit of planning can go a long way with a little ‘treasure hunt’. Clues hidden in cupboards, coat pockets and wellies which lead them to Reindeer cookies or a few chocolates. Split them into teams so older ones help the youngsters and you will hear the laughter all over the house.

SELF-CARE AT THIS TIME OF YEAR IS ESSENTIAL; CUT YOURSELF SOME SLACK AND STOP THINKING EVERYTHING MUST BE PERFECT.

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PATHWAY TO

BITAx A

fter three years of working in the technology world I fancied a change but I didn’t want “just another job”, I wanted to do something which I really cared about and could see myself doing as a forever career.

With a degree in Finance and my father owning a financial planning practice it seemed like the family business could be a good fit for me. Fast forward 18 months and I’m working full time at BKD Wealth Management, with three exams under my belt and another in the pipeline, I am well on my way to becoming a fully qualified Financial Advisor.

I’ve always had a keen interest in the Personal and Family Protection market;

as an example, Critical Illnesses such as cancer will have affected most of us at some point in our lives. I’m now in the position where I can help people to ensure they are financially protected if the worst was to happen.

In the New Year I will be moving into the wealth side of the business (Investments and Pensions) which I’m really looking forward to.

BITA and BITAx have been a great support to me in my career so far, the networking events and the people I’ve met have been invaluable to me. I’m really enjoying what I’m doing and BITA will help others and myself meet people, who know people, that help people!

Tara Dixon, Adviser at BKD Wealth Management Limited

www.rochfordltd.co.uk

www.bita.ie

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HORSES, BUSINESS, AND

‘BOTTLE’

TALKING TO BITA PATRON LUKE COMER BITA patron Luke Comer, the 62 year-old co-founder of property business The Comer Group chats to me at one of several stud farms he owns, this one in North Wicklow, where many of its 260 acres have stunning views down to the sea from a hill behind The Sugarloaf.

The horse racing enthusiast and horse breeder keeps about 60 horses here, roaming in lush green fields that contrast vividly against the blue skies and the Irish sea.

There are over 500 more horses elsewhere, including at stud farms in Co Meath, Kilternan in south Dublin, and Co Kildare. He’s just bought Dollanstown Stud in Co Meath for €7m, which has a fine restored Georgian house on 365 acres.

Among his stable is a son of Frankel - the legendary British thoroughbred who was unbeaten in his 14-race career, making the stallion a grandson of Coolmore Stud’s legendary Irish thoroughbred Galileo.

He reveals that the property empire that he and his UK-based brother Brian, 59, (who runs the business there) founded is now worth close to €5bn excluding debt, while its debt level is less than 20pc of that.

Spanning the UK, Ireland, Germany, and now Greece, it includes development land, shopping centres, office blocks and skyscrapers, and more than 10,000 apartments. Its annual rent roll is close to €100m, he adds.

Being one of very few Irish developers who came through the 2008 crash solvent, the Comers were ideally placed to benefit and make a fortune from the fallout.

They hoovered up various properties - mainly land, office and apartment blocks, thanks to their nous for timing and when to invest, which they have honed over decades in Britain in particular, but also in Germany, having weathered the cycles of their property markets.

Having invested about €1bn in Irish property at the bottom of the market, Comer confirms that his firm’s assets here are now worth at least double that.

He and Brian intend to hold on to the majority of them, he adds.

Comer’s current focus is partly on Greece, where he plans to invest €500m. It emerges only days 16

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after our interview that US private equity behemoth Blackstone, whose property empire is $273bn, has similar aims.

But Comer has got in there first it seems, in the case of one trophy property at least, snapping up The Club Hotel and Casino in the seaside resort of Loutraki, which is about an hour’s drive from Athens.

He also talks about his ambitions for the 220acre Metro Park site, on the proposed metro route near Dublin Airport. World-renowned London-based architects Foster & Partners - which designed Apple’s HQ in California, and The Gherkin and Bloomberg’s European HQ in London - have drawn up a stunning masterplan for a €2bn development there. It features glass, steel and lots of green space and other greenery, in keeping with the latest eco-conscious design principles.

Returning first to horses, earlier this year, Comer spoke about his ambition to create a €100m all-weather track, similar to Belmont in New York, and develop a hotel on a piece of land in Palmerstown, the house and golf resort formerly owned by Jim Mansfield.

However, he’s since decided not to proceed with the plans.

His horses mainly run on the flat. “We would have a few national hunt horses, but mostly we’d be wanting to win big races on the flat.”

When it comes to business, Comer spends his time travelling between Monaco where he lives - and Athens, Germany, London and Ireland.

“We’re looking mostly at hotels in Greece, maybe some residential blocks as well. Many hotels there have had hundreds of millions spent on them. Loutraki cost €250m to build,” he says.

“Construction is getting very difficult in Ireland. There aren’t enough tradesmen - the real creators.” He shares the view of many senior players in the industry, that the residential market peaked in 2016 or 2017. The firm has bought seven blocks of land here in the past few years, but nothing more, he adds.

The Comer Group mainly employs its own teams of contractors to work on its developments. But

John Reynolds

BUSINESS

construction cost inflation is impeding development, he says.

He finds the situation with the National Children’s Hospital, whose cost has risen from €640m to €1.7bn and perhaps beyond, incredulous. “That’s wrong. That money is not going into the building.

They’re not building it out of gold.”

His business recently achieved a record rent for a floor of its Number One Ballsbridge office development that’s rented to Coca-Cola at €101 per square foot.

Build to rent has been the recent focus in the UK. “We haven’t sold an apartment there - or at least we’ve sold very few - in about two years. We decided

IN THE THREE YEARS TO 2009, THE FIRM SPENT €500M ON GERMAN PROPERTY, BUT MORE RECENTLY HAS NOTCHED UP €1BN IN SALES, “BUT WE STILL HAVE A BIG BUSINESS THERE.”

Bryan Meade for The Currency www.thecurrency.news

that we weren’t going to build any more for sale. We must have built about 2,000 apartments there in the past 18 months.”

In the three years to 2009, the firm spent €500m on German property, but more recently has notched up €1bn in sales, “but we still have a big business there.”

It includes several skyscrapers in Frankfurt.

The sale of one 10-hectare plot of development land alone, Behrens Ufer in south-east Berlin, the site of an old Samsung electronics factory, which has about a kilometre of frontage along the River Spree, made €300m.

“We had plans, including for a Manhattan-style development to 30 or 40-storeys, a kind of financial services centre for the city. But we ended up not doing much development at all. We just invested in land.”

“With Germany, and Ireland, it was all down to timing. I would’ve seen what happens before, [with recessions and the market cycle.] It’s the exact same ingredient that will make you as break you, and that’s bottle. And after that it’s timing. It’s just the timing [of when] you apply the bottle. Or not, as the case may be,” he concludes. www.bita.ie

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COMMUNITY

McAlpine’s Fusiliers TO CARRILLION AND BEYOND

Martin Mockler of Evans Mockler Accountants, Auditors, Business and Tax Advisors

I

recall reading an account of the scenes at the railway station in Roscommon town throughout the 1950s. Day after day men would line up on the platform, their cardboard cases at their feet, waiting for the trains. As it happens, my father was one of those men.

In recent years I have had the pleasure to meet the author Ultan Cowley who wrote a book chronicling this era namely The Men Who Built Britain. One particular account in the book recalls the labour agent arriving at the station and putting a tag on the men’s coats similar to how you would tie a parcel. The name of the builder and the man’s destination was on the tag.

Thousands of men left Roscommon and many other Irish towns in this way.

This story is familiar to all who still remember the 1950s and the devastation caused by enforced emigration. The numbers remain hard to absorb, the distress harder still.

In 1955 48,000 people left Ireland. By 1957 the number had risen to 58,000. And

in 1961 as many people were leaving as were born. I can still remember the shock I felt the first time I read those words. Even conservative estimates would suggest that close to 500,000 people left Ireland during that bleak decade.

That is 8 out of every 10 children born between 1931 and 1941. Out of those 8 at least 6 went to England - the men to the building sites and gas pipelines and the women to the hospitals and hotels.

A generation of those men became known as McAlpine’s Fusiliers as they ended up working for Alfred McAlpine.

Alfred McAlpine plc was a construction firm headquartered in Cheshire and a major road builder; constructing over 10% of Britain’s motorways during the motorway building program in the 60s, when the company became a leading civil engineer in the UK. How many of those roads would exist in their current form without the hard work of Irish emigrants?

What is remarkable is that Alfred McAlpine no longer exists as it was

purchased in 2008 by Carrillion which itself famously went into liquidation in January 2018 in the largest trading insolvency in UK history.

However, what is not so remarkable, and a source of great pride to all of us associated with the UK construction industry, is that the names that now dominate the sector are Irish. Murphy Group, Danny Sullivan, Laing O’Rourke, J Coffey…it’s a long list, and we are proud to work with many of them at BITA. We at Evans Mockler are acutely aware of the hard-fought heritage that has been established by the previous generation and I am proud of my father’s contribution to that effort. I am also delighted to be on the board of BITA as we assist the companies that are still building Britain and rising to the top of the industry.

Although we work with businesses across all sectors, in London especially, construction will always have a special place in our hearts, as the Irish are inextricably linked with it.

cooperparry.com

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LORD MAYOR OF DUBLIN

Paul McAuliffe:

BRINGING CHRISTMAS HOME

D

ublin’s Mansion House, residence of the city’s Lord Mayor since 1715, is the oldest such building in these islands. During the festive season, it’s probably the most Christmassy too.

Its grand forecourt accommodates a crib featuring real animals. Its façade is illuminated by a state-of the-art led light display, part of the city’s innovative Winter Lights pageant. And on Christmas night, a very special someone is expected to descend its chimney for the first time in several years. That is because Dublin’s Lord Mayor, Paul McAuliffe, has two young children – and the stockings will be out.

“We’ve a giant portrait of George IV that hangs on the staircase – it was unveiled by Prince Charles” says the Lord Mayor. “But I don’t think the kids will be paying much attention to the king when they come dashing down the stairs on Christmas morning looking for their presents!”

“Christmas is such an important time in Ireland for families”, he says, “particularly because of our history of emigration. Of course many people come

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back to Ireland at Christmas time. But it’s an equally important time for those people who don’t get the opportunity to travel home. So we’re always thinking here about those people as well’.

The Lord Mayor attends a variety of charitable events at Christmas-time, but in his case charity really does begin at home – all the money raised by the live animal crib, which is run by Dublin City Council in conjunction with the Irish Farmers Association, goes towards the Mansion House Fuel Fund, one of the oldest charities in Dublin that works to alleviate fuel poverty in the city.

It is appropriate that the Lord Mayor’s own house plays a leading role in the city’s Christmas celebrations. The Winter Lights illuminations are a particularly effective demonstration of this Lord Mayor’s very pro-Christmas stance. Also to be illuminated are the facades of other iconic Dublin buildings including City Hall, The Custom House, The General Post Office and Trinity College. Sparkling seasonal lighting will be installed at O’Connell Street, Millennium Bridge, Parliament Street, Samuel Beckett Bridge,

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some of it designed in association with local schools and artists.

According to the Lord Mayor, the installations involve 157,800 low power LEDs, 100 tonnes of equipment and 15,780 metres of cable. Believe it or not, however, this dazzling display is eco-friendly. “The lights on the bridge use less electrical power than a domestic iron”, he says.

It’s not just about some pretty lights though. The Lord Mayor places this initiative in a bigger context altogether.

He sees it as making an important addition to the city’s appeal. He points out that nowadays it is more about cities competing with each other rather than countries. “We’re competing with cities across Europe in many ways”, he says.

COMMUNITY

ALL MONEY RAISED

BY THE CRIB GOES TOWARDS THE MANSION HOUSE FUEL FUND, ONE OF THE OLDEST CHARITIES IN DUBLIN.

The Lord Mayor is also looking forward to working with Dublin City Council and the Office of Public Works in relation to opening a new European style Christmas market in the grounds of Dublin Castle.

“It is something we haven’t had to date and I believe that in terms of attracting tourism it is really important”. Located within the historic and wonderfully atmospheric precincts of Dublin castle, the market will be one more feather in Dublin’s Christmas bow.

Of course Brexit is the Grinch at any Christmas-time discussion of business.

The Lord Mayor looks for an upside: “while Brexit poses many challenges, the Irish in Britain have always been very innovative.

5 SIGNS

They’ve had to be, really. So I do think you’ll find that Irish businesses operating in Britain will start to look now for the opportunities. Of course we hope they will look to Dublin and that will bring trade with it. But the sooner we have a degree of certainty about what will happen, the better everyone can make their own plans”.

He also makes the point that some things are more important than Brexit –

especially in December 2019. “We’ve had a relationship going back hundreds of years and the links between Britain and Ireland are built around families and communities, not necessarily governments. Regardless of what happens with Brexit that’s going to continue. People in Dublin are very much standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the Irish community in Britain. Happy Christmas from all of us”.

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21

BUSINESS

POWERING

THROUGH MICK CROSSAN OF POWERDAY, IS THE WINNER OF OUR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD WINNER FOR 2019

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E

very year at our annual BITA awards we announce our lifetime achievement winner; a very special category as they are selected from our members by our BITA board.

Previous winners are Pat Gallagher from Gallagher’s who accepted the award in 2017 in a particularly emotional event, and Danny Tim O’Sullivan of Danny Sullivan Group who collected his award in 2018 surrounded by his family members.

The board always thinks long and hard about who will be awarded this trophy each year, and take into account not only success in business, but contribution and impact on the community or charitable causes.

Needless to say, it is a difficult decision each year, and in 2019 we were honoured to have Mick Crossan, founder of Powerday, with us on the evening to accept his award.

The recipient never knows that they are there for an award; their family bring them ostensibly just to enjoy the evening.

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To be able to accept with family and life-long friends present to share in the moment is another reason that it is such a special category.

Mick Crossan has been featured in our magazine before, or more accurately we featured his initiative ‘Put Down the Knife, Pick up the Gloves’ in issue 2 of NetWorks.

We thought it especially fitting that he win an award, in part, for this work.

Mick is the owner and chairman of Powerday, a family run business that really lives by its policy of ‘putting the community at the heart of what they do.’ The business has been going for 40 years and is established across London and the south east. The company puts a priority on sustainability and aim for zero waste to landfill which they are working towards through recycling schemes and using residual waste to create high-quality renewable fuels. They work with Geminor, one of Europe’s largest suppliers of renewable fuels.

They invest in their vehicles and machinery to ensure an efficient, environmentally friendly service, and their Euro 6 compliant fleet is FORS Gold and CLOCS accredited. They now employ over 200 people at their three sites across London and are continuing to grow.

Our lifetime achievement award isn’t just for business acumen, and it is his community work that has made such a big impact. A life-long lover of sports, Mick has long supported a variety of clubs and sporting initiatives across London. He also believes that all young people should be given the chance to get ahead, and Powerday supports them in gaining skills and experience through different projects across London.

In getting ready for the awards, the BITA team arranges and films interviews with friends and family members of the recipients, to get a better idea of the person, and to hear about their achievements.

For Mick’s video we spoke to Paul King, from the Amateur Boxing Association, Dave Beasant, Ex-Chelsea Footballer, Kieran McCarthy, Chairman of the London Irish Rugby Club, Edward Crossan, Mick’s son, and an old friend of Mick’s, Brendan Reynolds.

Since 2011, Powerday has partnered with the London Amateur Boxing Association (ABA) to deliver a sustainable boxing development programme throughout London. The objectives of the programme are to increase participation

BUSINESS

in the sport of boxing and to create new and refurbished facilities that are fit for purpose and valued by all members of the community and stakeholder groups.

Powerday also offer bursaries to help young people achieve their true potential in the sport.

Paul King is from the ABA and has been involved since the beginning; he says, ‘Mick has had an impact on the lives on so many young people from London.

His philanthropy and passion and desire to help young people has been incredible, setting up his own foundation and putting back into the London Community.’

“Working with the London ABA from day one has been refreshing.” Said Mick, “As well as developing elite talent within the sport, their commitment to use boxing as a vehicle to help improve the lives of young people and the communities they live in is exceptional.”

Brendan Reynolds remembers the Grenfell Tower tragedy; ‘I saw the fire on the TV one night, and didn’t understand what I was watching; it was Grenfell. I went to sleep that night, and I dreamt that we’d run an event and made a lot of money to help the people affected. I woke up the next morning, and it’s all I could think of.

I called Mick, and I told him that I thought we could run a golf day and raise a load of money with raffles and auctions, but I would need someone to underwrite it.

Mick didn’t hesitate; ‘I’ll do that’, he said.’

It is this kindness and generosity that kept being mentioned by everyone we spoke to about Mick.

IT IS THIS KINDNESS AND GENEROSITY THAT KEPT BEING MENTIONED

BY EVERYONE WE SPOKE TO ABOUT MICK.

The London Irish Rugby Club has certainly seen this generosity. Kieran McCarthy, Chairman of the London Irish, says; ‘I met him 22 years ago through the rugby and Chelsea football club events, of which he is a massive supporter. One day, unprompted, he offered to support the London Irish Academy Scholars program [a platform that provides young players with an environment in which they can

grow, express themselves both personally and professionally and realize their dream of becoming professional rugby players].

He has organised regular fundraising initiatives; golf days and celebrity dinners.

During the 16 years of his patronage, we have been able to produce one of the most successful rugby academies in England, with dozens of scholars going on to achieve international honours.’

David Beasant knows Mick from when he played football with him, before being signed for Chelsea. He says that Mick ‘is most proud of his family, not his business. Mick followed in his father’s footsteps, and he knows that Edward [his son] will follow in his.’

For Edward, he knows that he has a lot to live up to but feels confident he can achieve what he sets out to do. “He has rubbed off on me, I don’t just want to give people money, I want to help them access opportunities, give them the chance to get to where they need to get to in life.”

We were honoured to have Mick, his family and friends with us on the evening, and to be able to recognise and point out the incredible hard work he does with young people across London and beyond.

“I had no idea that I was here to collect a lifetime achievement award,” said Mick, “I can’t believe I’m here, but the real people who should be winning are those that run the schemes, sports clubs and training programs that the young people benefit from, I just help where I can.”

Humble words from a wonderful man; congratulations Mick!

Laura Watkins

! p u t i r i St THE WONDERS OF TRADITION

‘Stir-up Sunday’ isn’t an annual day for everyone to reveal destructive secrets and unload unwanted opinions, although perhaps there should be a day for that!

‘Stir-up Sunday’ is the last Sunday before the Advent, and gained its name from the first words of the Book of Common Prayer, “Stir up, we beseech thee”.

The reason we’re writing about ‘Stirup Sunday’, is because it’s also the day for making your Christmas puddings! If you’re reading this and haven’t already made yours, which you of course do every year from scratch, then I’m afraid you’ve missed the boat, as 24th November was the date in question this year. However, starting a week late won’t ruin your desert, and you can always keep the day in mind for Christmas 2020.

On the surface, making a Christmas Pudding yourself is very counter-intuitive.

You can buy a decent one in a shop for a few pounds or euros, and they cook in the microwave in an instant. But their fate is usually to sit forlornly on family dinner tables around the land, swimming in cream. This is the fate of many a storebought version, as multitudes today loudly proclaim at Christmas lunches ‘I hate Christmas Pudding’.

It appears many Christmas puddings are purchased for the same reason that people buy more alcohol than they could realistically drink in 3 months; because it’s tradition!

Nothing makes people feel obligated to dig into something more than declaring that ‘I made it myself, it took weeks and cost a fortune’, and who knows? Perhaps your guests will realise the error of their ways and come to understand how 24

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perfectly Christmas Pudding can round off your fantastic Christmas Dinner.

I am a strong advocate in making your own pudding, and whether it tastes better because it really does, or because you think you can taste the love (or money) involved; it’s something that I do with my mum every year.

Our family tradition is to check our recipe and take a trip to the shops to spend around £30 on candied peel, dried fruit, rum, speciality sugar and more. We go back home with my dad asking why we don’t just buy one like ‘normal’ people, and then we take over the kitchen for hours catching up and enjoying our yearly tradition that is the pudding preparation.

After combining all the ingredients (you basically just stir them together), we then wrap the mixture in cotton (remnants of an old pillow case sacrificed to the Christmas pudding Gods many years ago), tie the ends around a wooden spoon, and dangle it above simmering water for hours, whilst we watch our favourite movie.

After that, it’s into the dark with it, in our case a tin in the bottom of the pantry, to be ‘fed’ with increasing amounts of alcohol over the next few weeks ‘til Christmas. You end up with an incredibly rich desert that everyone feels obligated to try, and all but a few ‘hold outs’ declare to be ‘delicious’!

Whether your family loves Christmas pudding, or you want to encourage everyone to stay at the table together for dessert; I am a stalwart defender of a home-made pud. It’s a lovely tradition to get the family involved and for all those that would like to participate, I include my recipe opposite. Happy stirring!

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EVERY YEAR WE REVEL IN THE TRADITION OF CHECKING OUR RECIPE AND TRIPPING TO THE SHOPS TO SPEND AROUND £30 ON CANDIED PEEL, DRIED FRUIT, RUM, SPECIALITY SUGAR AND MORE.

s n i k t a W

CHRISTMAS PUDDING

INGREDIENTS

large bottle of dark rum / brandy (to soak the fruit) 220g dried raisins 220g dried sultanas 120g dried currants 225g fresh brown breadcrumbs 120g chopped mixed peel 60g flour 60g crushed almonds 220g vegetable suet 150g dark brown sugar 1/2 grated nutmeg 1/2 heaped teaspoon mixed spice 1/2 heaped teaspoon ground cinnamon pinch of salt 142ml whole fat milk 4 eggs juice of 1 lemon 1 wineglassful of dark rum

INSTRUCTIONS Start by roughly chopping all the fruit and soaking in the rum or brandy for at least 3 days (longer will only do it good, but perhaps cap it at a week).

Put the fruit and all dry ingredients into a basin and mix well, add the milk, and stir in the eggs one at a time. Add the rum and lemon juice and stir it up!

Make sure it’s all mixed together well and put the mixture in either a well buttered pudding basin or cloth (a mutilated pillowcase works well). Either boil the basin for around 4 hours or steam the cloth for 6.

Then into the dark and pour rum over it every week till Christmas!

Be prepared to unveil your creation at the dinner table to much fuss, and make a pudding convert of all your guests. Brandy cream optional but strongly suggested.

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THE BITA AWARDS

HIGHLIGHTING OUR MEMBERS’ ACHIEVEMENTS The 19th October saw the finalists for the BITA awards arrive at the Savoy for our annual Gala Ball and Awards Ceremony. The award categories had all been hotly contested, with over 60 nominees having been whittled down to three finalists in each category.

Our independent judges then examined the anonymised entries, to decide on a winner who was to be announced during the evening.

Our awards have remained the same for the past 3 years, with new categories being developed. The award this year that had most people vying for the trophy was the Charles Darwin Award for innovation.

This was a new category that joined our annual Small Business of the Year, Business to Business, Growing Business, BITA Supporter, Young Entrepreneur of the Year and Socially Conscious Business Awards.

Well done to all businesses that made it through to the finalists. It was a very tough competition this year, with businesses across the UK and Ireland competing for the awards, and some incredibly strong entries.

Of course, despite this there can only be one winner, and we offer our congratulations to these amazing businesses!

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR We had a special award this year for entertainer of the year. This went to a tireless singer and guitarist who always attends our London events and make sure the room is full of singing and laughter. Our Entertainer of the Year was Mr. Wille Moone!

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SMALL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR This award celebrates small business including sole trader, who employ fewer than 11 people and can show a commitment to innovation, customer service and business growth.

WINNER

Go Green Office Solutions Go Green Office Solutions is an ecofriendly office furniture supplier based in Liverpool with offices in London & Dublin, providing a top-class service across the UK & Ireland.

“The last 12 months for us at Go Green, has been a time of growth and development.” Says CEO Shane Hanley, “Working on prominent projects within the Northwest, expanding our work force and partners. To have our efforts recognised by the BITA community is credit to the hard work and dedication shown by the team over the past year and we can’t wait to see what 2020 has to offer.”

COMMUNITY

OUR WINNERS BUSINESS TO BUSINESS

YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR

This award is for companies demonstrating a successful track record of adding value to their customers’ business; understanding partnerships and their customers’ own business drivers.

This award is for a young person who has demonstrated creativity and vision and are looking for someone who is a calculated risk taker and an innovator.

WINNER

WINNER

Ryan Heggs – Rymech Construction

Ardent Tide Ardent Tide; trusted by the UK construction industry to deliver absolute certainty in CIS contracting and compliance. 30 years of knowledge and experience, coupled with a unique approach, saves our clients valuable time and resource.

“We have a super bunch of clients that put compliance and safety first and it is great to have a role that helps make them stronger and more efficient.” Says Director Dermot O’Grady; “With us, business is more than a transaction.

We take the journey further and work intimately with our clients so we understand the stress and strains as well as how we can help them be more efficient.”

GROWING BUSINESS This award is for companies who have been trading for a minimum of three years and who have a robust strategy for growth with a proven track record of profit increase over the last 12 months.

“I was honestly surprised on the night to find out that I had won, especially considering the tough competition I was up against. It is great knowing that my efforts over the last few years have been recognized and this has certainly driven me to continue pushing forward. I look forward to next year’s event and those in between, and I am keen to meet plenty of new faces and hopefully open some new doors for the business”

WINNER

blu-3 (UK) Ltd blu-3 are a leading, fully integrated construction and utility services company, providing expertise and extensive knowledge to the UK’s largest construction projects.

Danny Chaney, Executive Chairman at blu-3, said; “I was absolutely thrilled to receive the award on behalf of all the blu-3 team at such a fantastic event! To be recognised in this way is incredibly important to us. BITA is an outstanding organisation and very much aligned to our company values being focused on building relationships and employee skills.

We truly value this honour and the opportunity to be involved in such a prestigious event.”

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COMMUNITY

OUR WINNERS SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS BUSINESS

CHARLES DARWIN AWARD

This award is for companies that keep the needs of the company in mind, keeping locals and community at the heart of what they do.

This award is for companies that have successfully introduced a new product, service or process in response to a changing landscape.

WINNER

WINNER

Newton Waterproofing

Momentum Support Momentum Support offers security and cleaning services and was established in Dublin in 1982 and they expanded into London UK in August 2012. Their CSR policy is not

BITA SUPPORTER This award is for companies or individuals that really ‘get’ BITA and contribute to the organisation and its member’s success.

taken lightly; they are dedicated to continual improvements inside the company and outside in the community.

Verona Pentony, the CSR and Quality Manager was there on the night with colleagues to collect the award; “Momentum Support are delighted having received the BITA Socially

WINNER Red Key Concepts

Conscious Business Award 2019. This is attributed to our Community Engagement in the areas we operate in both Cleaning and Security across the UK and Ireland. This accolade gives encouragement as we continue to strive towards being a more sustainable and responsible business.”

Red Key Concepts was founded in 2016 and is a privately owned dynamic, professional Construction Management and Development company based in Kent but covering the whole South East of England.

They tailor the specific delivery system, project approach and pricing structure to fit each and every client.

“We love BITA’s approach of helping and supporting one another as we carry out our day to day business.” Charley Gremo-Gilham, co-founder of the business, says; “We were delighted to have been able to host a table at this year’s awards and showing some of our clients and supply chain the benefits of becoming part of the ‘BITA family’, and become part of a network where people who know people help people!”

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As this was a new award, we spoke with Warren Muschialli, the Managing Director of Newton Waterproofing, who collected the award on the night, about his thoughts on the evening.

“It’s the first time we’ve been to the BITA awards and I thought it was outstanding.

The Savoy was a perfect venue and my guests thoroughly enjoyed themselves. We’ll be attending next year and bringing customers.

“I think our recycling scheme was the first of its kind. We run it ourselves as we didn’t want our high-quality materials to go to landfill. We’re not doing this as a profitmaking exercise, we donate all our profits to a charity. It costs us money to run, but it’s very important to us that we do it.

“We were elated to win the award, especially as we’re new members! We were very impressed with the presentation by the London Irish Centre; we have offered to get involved with them and their basement construction as they seem like an amazing charity that does really important work.”

SECTION

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Tiernan Dixon 30

SECTION BUSINESS

INTELLIGENT

SEMINAR

A

rdent Tide (2019 BITA Business to Business Award Winners) recently held their third instillation of their Intelligent Seminars series at the Guildhall.

They showcased some very interesting technology that is already being adopted by forward thinking companies outside Construction. Technology has revolutionised every other sector, globally, adding financial and operational value, whilst creating commercial longevity.

Construction is second only to farming in its slow pace to digitalise, a trend that has not gone unnoticed from multiple global tech giants, all looking to capitalise.

The evening was moderated by representatives from tech titans SAP and LTI, who have been tasked by their businesses to catalyse this change in construction. Balasubramanian V (LTI) explained how on a construction project in India, he managed to increase profit margins 6%, through a series of digital interventions, focusing on several factors, from supply-chain efficiency, to how finetuning crane movements can literally save days on a contract. We are all aware that identifying these ‘problems’ and turning them into opportunities are the margins that make the difference.

BITA regular Noel Byrne, known for his work at Ardent Tide presented his construction technology start up, Arriva Digital, demonstrating Origin to Destination (O2D – see page 6) Noel explained how this digital platform is reducing the thousands of needless miles that vehicles make due to missed delivery time slots. The technology which is currently being used by Croydon Council in their £5.5 Billion Growth Zone as a planning condition, has been nominated as a finalist for three major awards this year for its work with Croydon for innovation in technology.

There was a shining example of a construction business, Tide Construction Ltd, adopting technology to create a new way to build. Owned by John Fleming, who spoke at the event, they have just completed work on the tallest residential modular building in the world due to be completed in half the time of a traditional skyscraper, with the ‘modules’ manufactured at the Vision Modular Systems factory in Bedford before being transported to Croydon. This is substantially quicker than building traditionally and resulting in approximately 50% time saving on programme. Mr Fleming said “Our NETWORKS

TECHNOLOGY, THE FUTURE OF CONSTRUCTION

method also results in significantly less disruption onsite with up to 80% fewer vehicle movements, a reduction in onsite resources and reduced waste when compared to traditional methods of construction.”

Scheduling software company Sirenum, who have been dubbed the ‘Uber for construction labour’ presented their software’s capabilities that is already being adopted by some of the biggest agencies in the world. Their platform gives full visibility as to the who, when and where when it comes to placing staff, even ensuring they have the correct compliance and qualifications required for the task.

This system has been tried in tested in numerous sectors, and much alike other tech and services providers, Sirenum see construction as the industry most in need of this advancement in scheduling which will bring certainty and reliability to a whole new level.

The evening was wrapped up by Hiup, who improve training and development through the use of technology. Using technology to deliver training and key messages increases learning retention rates, decreases staff downtime and training costs, supporting businesses to become more profitable as used

by Tesco, Ballymore and Blu-3. From digitised company inductions to virtual reality experiences, Hiup impressed

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Ardent Tide Director, Dermot O’Grady, finished with “technology is the future but every night we go to bed, we wake up further behind what is possible. This event is about leap-frogging to be as close to where the future is and showcase some technologies that are literally transforming businesses”.

Ardent Tide would like to thank all the sponsors and charities that make these seminars possible: Ayming, SAP, Hiup, J. Coffey Construction, Enterprise flex-e-rent, LTI, Tide Construction, Sirenum, Kerry London, OCB Site Services, O2D & Croydon Council. The next edition of Ardent Tide Intelligent Seminars will take place in 2020, if you would like to be added to the mailing list you can get in touch with them through Linkedin or Twitter.

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Gráinne McMenamin

Hogmanay SECTION

CELEBRATING

RICH WITH CELTIC TRADITIONS, HOGMANAY IS ALIVE AND WELL IN SCOTLAND

C

hristmas and New Year in Scotland sees the country come alive with beautiful lights, fireworks, outdoor Christmas markets and traditions steeped in a rich Celtic history.

Hogmanay, Scotland’s New Year’s Eve, is a legendary changing of year celebration, with epic fireworks displays, massive street parties, concerts and torchlight processions. The Edinburgh festival it is said to be the largest outdoor celebration in the world, lasting 3 days.

The annual Torchlight Procession in Edinburgh is a nod to Pagan times with thousands of souls marching the city, creating a river of fire with blazing torches. In Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, locals construct huge fireballs of up to two feet that they swing in unison when midnight arrives, and then launch into the harbour.

When the clock chimes 12am, the iconic sound of Auld Lang Syne can be heard echoing across Scotland. This poem by Scottish Bard Robert Burns is sung in a circle big

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or small. During the last verse, people link arms and sing like their lives depend on it!

“First-footing” is perhaps the most widely practiced social ritual and is a deeply embedded tradition of Hogmanay. The moment the clock strikes midnight, lads and lassies across Scotland head for the homes of loved ones, friends and families, bearing various gifts. The first person to cross the threshold in the New Year is said to bring the fortune to that household for the coming year.

The most desirable first-foot visitors in Scotland are said to be tall, dark men who come bearing gifts! Each with its own specific meaning, the gifts are a token of good luck and vary from whisky, coal for warmth, salt for health, food and silver coins. Communities in Dundee once brought a decorated herring!

Scots also have an annual tradition known as the Loony Dook, taking place on New Year’s Day in South Queensferry, just outside of Edinburgh. In aid of the RNLI, thousands of people gather and form part of a musician led parade that ends in the freezing cold waters of the Firth of Forth. Most fancy dress clad “dookers” have a quick splash, although some are braver than others and stay in the water for longer - daring fellow revellers to be the hardiest soul in the pack.

The Highland custom of ‘saining’ or blessing the house and livestock is still practiced by a select few today.

This entails drinking and spreading “magic water” (water from a dead and living ford or river that is consistently crossed by both the dead and alive) across all contents of the household. Juniper branches are burnt across the home followed by fresh New Year air, and then a hearty breakfast is served.

With fantastic options for eating and drinking across the country, Scots and visitors take great advantage of honouring Christmas and New Year’s traditions knowing they will be well fed and watered before and after the many activities taking place across the festive season. Scotland is a wonderful place to live and work in at this time of year.

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MEET OUR BOARD MEMBERS We would like to introduce all our readers to our board members

BITA currently has 8 chapters, Cork, Dublin, Isle of Man, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Scotland and BITAx – for young professionals looking to develop their skills. In addition, we are also working with INUSA to open up the US to our members.

2019 has been a year of expansion for BITA that has seen the opening of three chapters in Cork, Isle of Man and Manchester.

We also have more members, and new sponsors. None of this growth would have been possible without our board members.

All of our board positions are on a volunteer basis, and the dedication, expertise and insight that each of our board members bring with them is astounding, and greatly appreciated.

Meet the current members of our boards in all chapters and seek them out at your next event!

Steve Lennox is the Founder of Lenox Consulting, an international strategic communications firm and the President of INUSA. He is also a member of the American Ireland Fund’s Young Leaders and the US Advisory Group for Social Entrepreneurs Ireland. He uses his connections in and around government and business to provide counsel and communication strategies to a variety of clients.

Joseph McGill is a Principle at Foley, Baron, Metzger & Junip, PLLC, a law firm in the greater Detroit area. He is the President of the INUSA Michigan, as well as the Michigan Irish American Chamber of Commerce. He advises clients for compliance with regulatory and procedural requirements in multiple areas.

Imelda Gallagher is a Senior Quality Control Manager at Mobilitie and is a member of the Chicago Chapter of INUSA. She has extensive experience with project management, negotiation, communication and process development, as well as site acquisition management. She studied at the National University of Ireland in Galway.

Dr. Nigel Alley is a Presales Engineer with Mobideo Technologies and Director of INUSA, Huston Chapter. He is a business-minded physicist adept at leading R&D and technology-commercialization projects with an emphasis in project de-risking, efficient delivery, and strategy execution. He has a strong background with product positioning, marketing and risk management.

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Meet the

INUSA BOARD

COMMUNITY

Meet the

CAUSEWAY BOARD

Eugene Mullan is the Director of Causeway Exchange A qualified architect and urban designer, Eugene is a founding director of architectural practice Smith Scott Mullan Associates in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was educated at Queen’s University Belfast, Ireland and has worked in both London and Edinburgh. Eugene has been Secretary of the Parliamentary Cross Party Group on Architecture and the Built Environment in Scottish Parliament for ten years.

Gráinne McMenamin is the Executive Director of Causeway and has extensive international experience in marketing communications, account management and business development positions across multiple business sectors including adverting and telecoms. Gráinne was a founding committee member of Causeway, and now acts as Executive Director as part of her portfolio of clients.

Judith O’ Leary is a Director of Causeway and Managing Director of Represent PR. Recently awarded Creative Industries Leader of the Year, Judith is well known for living and breathing her clients’ businesses. A firm believer that you have to keep an eye on ‘what next?’ to deliver for clients, her team knows she wants brilliant ideas and smart implementation, inextricably linked to the overall vision.

David Greenlees is a Director of Causeway with a background is in sales leadership, and has been growing technology businesses in Scotland and across UK & Ireland for over 20 years, mainly within the software and consultancy space. David is the UK & Ireland Director for Priority Software, a $50million global ERP Software business with over 75,000 customers.

Ian McCann is the Company Secretary and is a partner in the UK Construction Team at International Law Firm CMS working out of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen. Ian specialises in drafting and negotiating building and engineering contracts, professional consultant appointments, collateral warranties, bonds and guarantees. He has worked on some of the highest profile projects in Scotland, including the on-going redevelopment of the St James Centre in Edinburgh.

Sean Fallon is the Treasurer and previously a Chartered Banker with AIB for over 30 years, Sean recently joined Celtic FC Foundation. His commerciality, wide network, business development and people skills are now being utilised to drive fund raising activity for the Foundation.

www.bita.ie

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Vince Dignam is the current chair of the London chapter. He is the business performance & transport group manager at The City of London.

Dermot O’Grady is the Chief Executive at Ardent Tide, who handle CIS processing for their clients. He has specialised in this area since 1996, and is heavily involved with The Lighthouse Club, BITA and Kerry Association.

Brendan Dixon is the proprietor of a long-established Wealth Management practice. They work primarily with business owners and individuals helping them with their holistic financial and tax planning.

Henry Hathaway is a partner with Silver Shemmings Ash, specialising in construction. He acts for clients in relation to disputes and litigation as well as regularly advising on dispute avoidance and alternative dispute resolution. He is also a qualified Civil & Structural Engineer.

Bridie Cunningham is the Director and co-founder of Portman Scott, a recruitment agency specialising in sales and marketing roles within growth businesses. She has a strong background in marketing and change management.

Ian McDonnell is a Key Account Manager with the CM Group who are a manufacturer within the bathroom industry and has previous experience in media having worked for Irish TV.

Damien Logue is Operations Manager for Cilantro FM where he has been since 2013, Cilantro FM is part of the Cilantro Group which operates in the UK and Ireland. He is responsible for the day to day running of the business.

Mark Herlihy is the Lifting Solutions Leader at Select Plant Hire where he has been since 2005. They are a multi-national plant hire company.

He is experienced with contract and commercial management and procurement.

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Martin Mockler is one of the founding Partners at Evans Mockler who are a long established and dynamic firm of Chartered Certified Accountants and Registered Auditors. The London based firm delivers a wide range of services for a growing portfolio of clients.

Seamus Keenan is the MD of Keenwood Construction LTD (T/A Keenwood Joinery). With over forty years’ experience working in the construction industry he is a specialist in high specification Joinery Contracts.

Orla O’Leary is a Senior Business Development Manager at Cooper Parry and has held Senior Business Development and Management roles across a broad range of sectors, including Construction, Hospitality, Bio sciences and Pharmaceuticals.

Susan Pearson has a wealth of experience in HR and runs her own consultancy, Pearson Consultancy Group. She is a CIPD qualified HR generalist and is qualified to PRINCE2.

She specialises in resolving operational issues.

Paul Lavelle is Managing Director at Foran Construction Group Ltd and has a strong history of working in the construction industry. Paul studied BSc Construction Management and has worked in business development.

Peter Wright is co-founder and Director of Ellanstone ltd, and Managing Director of Pure Media Ltd. Peter has a background in advising on and fuelling business growth and has worked with Entrepreneurs.

COMMUNITY

Ryan Dignam is the chair of the BITAx Board, and Founder and Director at Marketwide, a business that provides green and clean solutions. He consults for industry-leading companies in the renewables, construction and waste recycling sectors.

Peter Vanspall is the Head of Sales at CentralFX with over 10 years’ experience working in financial brokering.

Beth Keeley is the senior Video & social media executive at the Irish Post. Currently working on a Masters in Broadcast Journalism in the University of Westminster.

Sinead Whelan is an Advice and Outreach Worker at The London Irish Centre and has a background working in the third sector with advice and fundraising.

Danny Dwyer became the Managing Director of PHD Scaffolding in 2017.

Under his leadership, the company has prospered, and his success has been recognised across the industry with PHD winning ‘Best Access & Scaffolding Specialist of the Year’ for two consecutive years.

Stephen Baker is an Associate Manager at Eventbrite and has a strong background in project management.

In addition to his role on the BITAx Board, he is also on the BITA board in Cork.

Oliver Nunn is a project manager working for Blu-3, where he has been since 2014. Blu-3 has allowed him to develop from his position as an assistant manager to now, where he works on multi utilities and Civils projects in London and the south east.

Tiernan Dixon is the business development and marketing manager at CIS specialists Ardent Tide. He studied business, branding and economics at University and is now involved of various projects from start-up level.

Meet the

BITAx BOARD 38

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Paul Edmonds is consulting with the BITAx board, helping them with their development. He has 25 years in international manufacturing and construction, and set up a Management Consultancy to help organisations and senior individuals to clarify what it takes to be exceptional. He passionately believes that “OK is not enough�

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CORK BOARD

COMMUNITY

Áine Collins is Business Development Director at EFM Ireland, and a Financial and Strategic Business Advisor having worked as Financial Accountant for over 25 years. Advising across several sectors with a skill in the SME area and a keen interest in start-ups.

Richard O’Farrell is Managing Director of EDC Engineering Design Consultants which he founded in 2003. He is an extremely effective technical review director with over 20 years of experience in contracting and consultancy, he has seen the expansion of EDC to include offices in Dublin and London.

Danielle Healy is a Sales Manager, Glandore Business Centres, high end serviced offices in Dublin, Belfast and Cork. She has a background in sales and marketing.

Sinéad O’Keeffe is the Partnerships & Philanthropy Manager for Enable Ireland, a national charity providing vital therapies and rehabilitation service to over 7500 children and adults with physical disabilities. Sinéad builds partnerships and facilitates sponsorship opportunities.

Judy Hopkins is a Partner at Integrated Marketing Communications Agency, Hopkins Communications. She has been in the PR and marketing industry for almost 20 years working for international marketing agencies and in in-house marketing roles for retail, tourism & technology.

Stephen Baker is an Associate Manager at Eventbrite where he has been for almost 4 years, and in addition to his position on the Cork board, he is also a member of the BITAx board.

He has previously worked in business development.

Rachel O’Shea is the Protection Manager of O’Leary Life LTD, part of the O’Leary Insurances Group. Rachel relocated to Cork from the US in 2017 bringing vast experience in insurance and financial services with a US F ortune 50 company.

Tina Coy is a recruitment expert and is the Founder and Managing Director of CSC Partners Recruitment, and supplies candidates across all disciplines in Permanent, Temporary and Contract Recruitment.

Richard Morrissey is an Associate Director Moneycorp where he has been for 6 years. He has a strong background in finance, and relationship management.

Tony Whitnell worked in Purchasing and Sales with Sunbeam Wolsey PLC from 1977 to 1988, General Manager/ Director at West Building Products 1988 to 2012 and as Proprietor of Choice Windows and Doors 2012 to 2018.

www.bita.ie

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Meet the

ISLE OF MAN BOARD Brendon Kenny is the Chair of the Isle of Man Chapter, and Director of Ellanstone, a Business Improvement Specialist Organisation. He is passionate about the reduction of plastics in the environment and is Director of Changing Streams, a research centre, in partnership with Liverpool University, working on finding alternative solutions to plastics in the construction sector.

Jennie Thompson is based on the isle of Man but also has business interests in the UK and Spain.

She has experience in a variety of industries both in the service and commercial sectors, and was the Vice President of the British Chamber of Commerce during the economic crisis.

Michael Dodd is the founder and CEO of V Site Pass Ltd, a revolutionary permit to work system which he developed after 25 years in the Oil and Gas Sector. Michael has expertise in driving revenue growth and over 15 years’ experience developing innovative sales strategies, managing high-profile client relationships.

Richard Corlett brings a wealth of digital and technical expertise to the BITA board. He has 15+ years’ experience managing information technology projects ranging from interactive web design and strategic digital marketing campaigns to multisite cloud-based computing systems for corporate clients.

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Áine Collins is the Chair of the Dublin Board, and is also on the Cork Board.

She is Business Development Director at EFM Ireland, and a Financial and Strategic Business Advisor having worked as Financial Accountant for over 25 years.

Kelly Sullivan is the General Manager of the Lis Cara Business Centre in Dublin, which offers luxury full-service offices, hot desk facilities, and virtual offices. Her background is in events and management.

Aidan Scollard is a partner at Roberts Nathan, provides advisory services to SMEs and assists UK companies planning to come to Ireland and Irish companies looking to expand to the UK market. He has substantial international experience.

Manmeet Abrol is the founder and Director of GET Solutions Ireland Ltd, and founder and CEO of Truway Management, he specialises in IT, digital marketing and energy saving management.

Alan Goggin is the New Business Director for Europe for TRUCE Software, a company that creates software that enables companies of all sizes to better manage mobile device usage at work. He has a strong background in business development.

Mary Coughlan has had a long career in politics and was the Tánaiste (deputy Prime Minister) from 2008 – 2011. She currently runs her own successful consultancy firm, Coughlan Consulting.

Enda Newton is Corporate Partner at AMOSS Solicitors and is a corporate law and financial services specialist. He spent three years as Senior Corporate Lawyer in the Department of Finance where he was involved in a wide range of issues.

Dr. Michael Casey, a Fellow/Professor of the Irish State, is an internationally accomplished visual practioner (artist) who specialises in the field of cosmology.

John Walsh is the Director of a property consultancy firm, Oshine Developments Ltd in London. He has been operating in the property and construction industries for the last 30 years. He spends his time between Dublin and London.

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Tara Flynn is the Director of family business firm, Paul Flynn Construction and President of the Construction Industry Federation Western Region.

Tara is actively involved in her local GAA club Padraig Pearses and is also Minor Board Football Chairperson.

Richard Morrissey is the Associate Director Moneycorp and has over 23 years of banking and treasury risk management experience in Ireland, UK and the USA.

Samantha Kelly is the founder of Women’s Inspire Network, a support network which connects and empowers female led businesses. Women’s Inspire Network hosts bi-annual national conferences for female entrepreneurs and female led businesses.

Sarah Murphy is Managing Director of Business Post Events, which is part of Business Post Media Group and headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. She is also CEO of Irish Hospitality Global.

Meet the

LIVERPOOL BOARD 46

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COMMUNITY

Sarah McCartney is the chair of the Liverpool Chapter and manages her own company, SMLC Consulting, where she supports businesses by working with them on marketing strategy, planning and branding.

Emma Smith is the Director at the Liverpool Irish Festival Society Company ltd, and manages the annual Liverpool Irish festival.

Alan O’Prey is the Managing Director at MJ Quinn Integrated Services ltd, a company specialising in telecommunications, mechanical, electrical, fire detection and suppression systems.

Jim Forshaw is an experienced Finance Director with demonstrated success across all aspects of business finance management from cost control to sourcing funding for growth. JA Flooring Ltd supplies and installs a wide range of one-stop soft flooring solutions across the North West.

Ches Moulton, ‘The Stress Master’, is an executive coach and certified stress management consultant, as well as being a number 1 best-selling Amazon author.

Jonathan Foy Claims Specialist and Project Manager at CBS Merseyside, handling claims management within the building insurance industry alongside Construction Project Management.

Conor McDonald is director at IonaGroup, comprising C&D Properties Ltd, Bankfield Enterprise Hub, and Shenanigans Irish Bar.

Michael Edwards works for MEA Consultants and is an experienced engagement manager with a history of working in the education management industry.

Pam Moore is the ex-chair of the Liverpool Chapter of BITA and current Non-Executive Director. She runs her own successful R&D consultancy businesses, APT Consulting. She joined as a Non-Executive Director in 2019.

www.bita.ie

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Christiane Hutchinson is the chair of the Manchester Board, and Founder and CEO of Biramis Management Partners Limited. She has a strong background in Business Strategy and has been a mentor at the Institute for Minority Entrepreneurship for the last 10 years.

Paul Daine FCICM MIoD has worked in the credit management industry for over 35 years, starting in banking and moving into insurance broking, contract hire and leasing industries. He has worked in Germany before returning to the UK in 2002 to form Premium Collections Limited.

David Lomas is the CEO of M3 Media Publishing, a digital magazine publisher.

He is a marketing expert and has recently taken on the position of Group CEO at Collatia Group, a collaboration group that promotes thought leaders across all sectors.

Paul McGarry is the Managing Director of PFM Management Solutions Ltd and has historically held Regional Director roles for large PLC organisations. He is well connected to the North West business network, and the current chair of South Manchester Interact.

Mike Calvert is the Business Development Director for Reward Capital. He has worked in financial services for the last 30 years and also has experience in asset finance. He fully understands funding requirements for any business or property investor.

Paul Taylor is a Financial Adviser at Middleton Wealth Management, Associate Partner Practice of St. James’s Place Wealth Management, and graduate of The Manchester Metropolitan University where he studied law.

Patrick Leyden is Founding Director at the LK Group, multidisciplinary geo-environmental and engineering consultancy, and specialist contractor that operates across the UK from four offices.

Sean Langton is the Director at Building Services Design Ltd and has worked in Building Services Engineering all his life.

He is currently developing the BSD offices in Manchester.

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Stacey Byrne is the Sales & Marketing Development Manager of Kerry Logistics (UK) Ltd. She supports business across all sectors who are engaged in international trade by adding value to their supply chains. She previously spent 12 years working for Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce.

Teresa Louro is an accountant at BNY Mellon and has held similar roles at other asset management firms. She has been part of the steering committee for the Women’s Initiative Group in BNYM Manchester and EMEA.

Tony Goodman is a Marketing and Export Advisor at Forest and Co. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Member of the Institute of Exports, Member of the Institute of Directors and DIT Export Champion.

Tony Greenway has 35 years’ experience in the Construction Industry, working on M&E contracts throughout the UK. Tony has been a Director for 2 years and is currently employed in his own practice, and by Vital M&E Ltd as Managing Director.

COMMUNITY

CHRISTMAS essage M

FROM DIANE

2019

has been one of the best years I have spent with BITA. Each year brings something new; I always meet wonderful new people and learn new things that help me on my journey, but 2019 has stood out as particularly spectacular.

As a Marketing Strategist and Change Consultant, it has been wonderful guiding and driving the growth of this organisation. To be able to implement real change from ground level, and watch the fruits of that change, is incredibly rewarding and something that I have been much more involved with in 2019. Our amazing volunteer board members have done stellar work in implementing these strategies across their chapters; our growth wouldn’t be possible without their commitment and expertise.

The hard work is paying off, and we are on the cusp of some incredible developments that will help our members achieve further success in business.

We are soon to launch our Procurement Hub where businesses can work together to access business opportunities and network in specialised environments to encourage closer relationships. You may have heard about this at our last networking lunch in London but keep an eye out for our newsletter for updates about this great opportunity.

2020 will also see the launch of our Mentoring Program, something we’ve been working on for a while behind the scenes and that will be of great benefit to our members, both young and older; learning knows no age barriers!

Last but by no means least, our Training Division will offer our members the opportunity to share their skills and work hands on with businesses to help them in areas they are struggling with.

2020 is going to be a year of expansion and development for BITA, and I’m so excited to be working with you all and bringing you on that journey. We would like to wish you all the greatest success for 2020, after all, your success is our success.

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