Inside Wexford Business Issue 2

INSIDE THIS ISSUE Innovation Drives Integer’s Success In New Ross How To Retain Staff In A Post Pandemic World 13 Tips To Progress Your Business In 2022 How To Keep Your Business Cyber Safe

ISSUE 2 FEBRUARY 2022

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CONTENTS 2.

Chamber President Foreword

4.

Chamber Events - Highlights of 2021

6.

13 Tips to grow your Business

9.

Danone Leading the Way in Sustainable Manufacturing

10. Member News - Success in Business 12. Innovation drives Integer’s success in New Ross 14. Evolution of Productivity with Microsoft Business Voice 16. How to Retain Staff in a Post pandemic World 17. How to keep your Business Cyber Safe 18. Decarbonising Irish Transport with Natural Gas 19. Wexford Food Family - 10 Years on

20. Growth through Resilience in Hospitality Adding e-commerce to your Retail Offering 21. County Wexford Chamber - 2022 Upcoming Events 23. Building a Brighter Future together Grant Aid creates jobs across Co Wexford 24. Make 2022 The Year of Sustainability for Your Business 25. Time for Action on Sustainable Development Goals 27. Shop Local Vouchers boost Local Economy Chamber Export Documentation Services 28. Challenges & Opportunities of the Public Transport Sector 29. Expansion plans for Scurri

FOCUS ON SUSTAINABILITY The road to sustainable enterprise is a key focus for County Wexford Chamber this year. Throughout the year, we will be working on reducing the carbon footprint of Wexford enterprise, with the input of some incredible businesses from across the county.

Our aim is to bring key stakeholders of the business community together in order to share and develop new practices to make our corner of Ireland more sustainable.

I would invite you to connect with myself or the chamber team individually to discuss how we can best support you and your business in the months ahead. We continue to work tirelessly on behalf of the business community across County Wexford and I look forward to welcoming you at one of our upcoming in-person events very soon. As your Chamber, we are here to represent you and enhance County Wexford’s reputation as the best place to live, work, and play.

Emma Dunphy Deputy CEO, County Wexford Chamber

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LOOKING FORWARD WITH OPTIMISM We have experienced unprecedented times over the past two years, where our regular communication and socialisation were replaced with social distancing, working from home, and video calls both in our work and personal lives. However, we now look forward with optimism to the year ahead with a line-up of events designed to help businesses stay connected, informed, upskilled, and growing. Along with our schedule of 2022 events, our Skillnet team continues to grow their offering and support for industry through their various programmes and customised, subsidised training across a broad range of disciplines.

These have been designed to meet the changing demands of the evolving business environment. Networking and connecting people are at the core of what we do. County Wexford Chamber is determined to add value for members, be it through promotion, informative briefings, Certificates of Origin, lobbying, and so much more.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the second edition of Inside Wexford Business, the County Wexford Chamber Magazine. I hope you enjoy the very interesting articles from our many contributors and I want to thank our team for putting this publication together.

At the time of writing, my optimism barometer is reading high to very high as the scientific evidence appears to indicate that we are finally getting over the worst of the Covid pandemic.

Fingers crossed, it’s time to move forward with guarded optimism. Covid continues to be a global natural disaster. Experience tells us that it is only in the aftermath that we get the opportunity to evaluate and determine the true extent of the damage caused. The aftershocks may be felt for several years.

So far, most would agree that the Government’s overall response to the crisis has been good.

There is a fear that, once the financial supports are withdrawn and repayments of VAT and other taxes fall due, many businesses will come under increased financial pressure.

INNOVATION DURING PANDEMIC

One of the things we have learned is that when there was a need for businesses and authorities to step up and adapt to a new reality, projects that would have taken many years of discussion and debate were delivered immediately. Changes were made to the streets of our towns to facilitate outdoor dining and greater space was made available for pedestrians. We ended up with an enhanced experience for residents and visitors alike.

Retail businesses realised the value and importance of having an online sales option and many moved quickly to develop such channels.

There is no doubt that the level of online sales will continue to grow in future. CSO figures show that clothes, shoes, and accessories are amongst the most common online purchases. These are the very same items that attract shoppers to our town centres, often for some “retail therapy”, with some of our best-known retailers across the county trading in this sector.

During Covid, we have seen a complete upheaval of the whole area of employment and work. There are so many considerations relating to this topic that I’ll save it for another edition. One thing that is for sure is that many employers across all sectors are finding it difficult to fill existing vacancies.

COUNTY RESPONSE

So as restrictions are removed and some semblance of normality returns, how will we as a county business community respond? Do we revert back to pre-pandemic ways of doing business or do we take and build on that more progressive “can-do” attitude that we have seen over the past two years?

The focus on quality of life outside of work has never been more important. In many cases, salaries have become secondary to the location of work, with people seeking a better quality of life and more sustainable ways of living. Many have already realised that Wexford has so much to offer in that regard, as a great place to live, work and play. It’s not just employees as more employers are also coming to the same realisation.

TOWN CENTRES

One of the keys to successfully building this sustainable future of County Wexford is the attractiveness of our town centres. They must be vibrant centres of economic activity that are inviting, safe, and liveable with well-managed and well-maintained public spaces. Similarly, we need to support our night-time economies and build upon our rich heritage and cultural inventory. If we get those things right, solutions to some of our other challenges will follow.

Working with many other stakeholders, we are busy activating programmes to address some of the above. Starting with a County Employment Fair in the spring, we hope to bring together businesses and potential employees. This event will showcase employment opportunities on offer across a broad spectrum of businesses in County Wexford.

Our calendar will also feature a number of events in each of our towns, focusing on climate action, sustainability, and town centre rejuvenation. As we roll out our programme, I would ask all Chamber members to get involved.

Meanwhile, rest assured that we at County Wexford Chamber will continue to work tirelessly on your behalf to help you overcome the many challenges and exploit the opportunities the coming months will bring.

Brendan Crowley

President, County Wexford Chamber

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CORPORATE PARTNERS 2022

MAXIMISING THE FULL POTENTIAL OF YOUR TALENT No matter the industry sector, a business’s greatest resource is its talent. By following simple actions, you can maximise the full potential of your workforce and boost the competitiveness of your business.

1. HAVE A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF YOUR COMPANY GOALS

3. CONTACT WEXFORD CHAMBER SKILLNET

BENEFITS OF WORKING WITH WEXFORD CHAMBER SKILLNET

Business goals are an essential part of establishing priorities and setting your company up for success. Taking the time to set goals for your business and create individual objectives to help you reach each goal can greatly increase your ability to achieve those goals.

Working closely with the Network Manager, we can help you address the gaps that exist by:

• Can offer up to 25% funding on training programmes

• Helping you conduct the Training Needs Analysis if required • Helping you develop your training plan for the year

• Ability to offer tailored in-house programmes as well as open courses for different sectors

2. COMPLETE A TRAINING NEEDS ANALYSIS

• Sourcing experienced and qualified trainers to deliver relevant high-quality programmes to meet your needs

Conducting a needs analysis can eliminate waste from the training process, so you can save time and money. A needs analysis helps identify individual and team skills gaps, allowing you to source training that focuses on exactly what’s needed to improve performance.

• Organising the training to suit your schedule

Key questions to ask when completing a needs analysis: • What needs to change in your company to meet your business goals?

• What skills do your staff need?

• What skills do your staff currently have?

• What knowledge gaps exist within your team?

• Completing evaluation post training to ensure needs of training were met 4. IMPLEMENT AND REVIEW

• Access to a large pool of high-quality experienced trainers • Training is delivered at a time and a location that suits members • Saving of time and resources – we organise quality training courses on behalf of your businesses

Now that your employees have the necessary tools and skills to do their jobs more effectively, it is your role to ensure that the new learning is implemented into the specific roles.

• The Wexford Chamber Skillnet Team has extensive experience in business and training management and is advised by a Steering Group which is made up of Industry leaders in County Wexford

Receiving regular employee feedback can give you a good idea if it is working as it should.

IN 2021

• What training will help you close these training gaps?

5. SCHEDULE A FOLLOW UP CALL WITH WEXFORD CHAMBER SKILLNET Your training plan should be an on-going process promoting continual improvement within your organisation. It is a good idea to link in with the Network Manager every few months to enable us to help you proactively achieve your goals by supporting your training needs.

For more information contact: THERESE O CONNOR, Network Manager W: https://skillnet.countywexfordchamber.ie E: therese@countywexfordchamber.ie P: 087 348 9618

WEXFORD CHAMBER SKILLNET: • Supported 142 companies with subsidised funding in the Hospitality, Engineering, Finance, Healthcare, Transport and Manufacturing sectors • Provided funding to upskill 534 employees • Collaborated with Carlow Institute of Technology by providing funding for Higher Diploma in Arts in Early Childhood Education & Care • Worked with over 23 professional training providers to deliver high quality, enterprise led courses • Through Skills Connect provided 100% funded certified healthcare programme to meet employment needs in the sector

CHAMBER EVENTS HIGHLIGHTS OF 2021

President’s Lunch The County Wexford Chamber President’s Lunch, hosted at the Brandon House Hotel, New Ross, was attended by business leaders from across the county. The newly appointed president, Brendan Crowley, managing director of Wexford Bus, was welcomed and renowned boxing coach Billy Walsh was the guest speaker at this event.

Mr Crowley said he was looking forward to working for and with the business community in the coming year to ensure Wexford has a thriving business sector that is brimming with opportunities to provide good-quality employment. Outgoing president Willie Fitzharris was thanked for his tireless work over the past year.

Mr Crowley said it was great to be able to take advantage of the short window of opportunity between restrictions when,

Annual Golf Classic

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In September, we hosted our Annual Golf Classic at Rosslare Golf Links, kindly sponsored by J Donohoe BMW. The day was a great success with 24 teams teeing off. Sensible Safety’s team placed first, BNY Mellon’s team placed second, and Irish Country Meats team placed third. Keith Nolan from Danone claimed the longest drive on the day and Colm Callery from BNY Mellon won nearest the pin. County Wexford Chamber is looking forward to the Golf Classic returning to the fairways again later this year.

with some semblance of normality, we could meet so many business representatives from across the county. Despite the ongoing struggle with Covid-19, businesses were very upbeat and positive about the future. The theme of his message was about team spirit; Wexford already enjoys success on so many levels and the potential is even greater when everyone’s goals are aligned and we work together as a team.

Billy Walsh, an ambassador for County Wexford, certainly helped to support that message. He spoke about five key lessons in relation to Olympic boxing success, one of which was about the need for getting the culture right. By fostering that pro-Wexford team spirit where agencies, businesses, and individuals work to support each other, whether that is making the right connections or sharing information and learning, we can become a leading light as a sustainable, vibrant, and productive economic area that supports business growth and employment.

CHAMBER EVENTS HIGHLIGHTS OF 2021

Business After Hours at Johnstown Castle We held our first in-person event of 2021 in September, complying with all guidelines at that time. We were delighted to welcome the business community of County Wexford back for a great night of networking, reconnecting, and fabulous food in a safe outdoor environment. We would like to thank our event sponsors, Jones Business Systems, for their support and the staff at Johnstown Castle for their superb service at this event.

Ambassadors’ Visits

After the meetings, Chamber President Brendan Crowley said it was great to welcome the three Ambassadors to the county.

The contribution and engagement from member companies was very welcome, once again demonstrating the positive and progressive nature of the enterprises that drive our economy.

This was strongly reflected in the feedback from the individual ambassadors who left with a very positive impression of our county and what we have to offer. The next step is to follow up on potential opportunities identified during these meetings.

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County Wexford Chamber President Brendan Crowley and Vice President Lorcan Kinsella were delighted to welcome Norwegian Ambassador Mari Skåre, French Ambassador Vincent Guérend, and Georgian Ambassador George Zurabashvili in October.

They were joined by several business leaders from a range of sectors across the county. The purpose of the visits was to build upon strong partnerships and collaboration between County Wexford and Norway, France, and Georgia.

13 TIPS TO PROGRESS YOUR BUSINESS IN 2022 Mags Boland Murphy, CEO at Bofin Consultancy, writes: 2022 has well and truly dawned and I hope that every business owner/manager/professional reading this is getting through the new year with their positive pants on and a sharp focus for the year ahead!

1. REVIEW, REFRESH, REENERGISE First things first, take time to review where you are at, what was accomplished in 2021? Take stock of what was done and what you need to do going forward. Look at new ways of doing things, how can you refresh your business?

Reenergise not just the business but you as a professional individual. Take time to consider, “How can I breathe fresh air into my business moving forward?”

When I do this, I honestly get excited about driving onward positively in a focused and committed manner for success.

2. KNOW YOUR NUMBERS The numbers in your business should not just relate to money and cash flow. There are other numbers you need to know in your business. i.e. your costs, the length of time it takes for the customer to receive your product or service, the amount of time you spend on customer service, the number of visitors to your website monthly, number of enquiries received, and so on.

All of the numbers matter.

3. DEFINE YOUR GOALS We all need to have goals in and for our business, it helps to keep us focused on the prize, so to speak. What are your goals for the coming year?

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Again, this is not just about revenue goals. Do you want to develop a new product or service? Do you want to enter a new market for export? Do you want to grow your team? Do you want to develop your online presence?

Your annual business journey and goals should be reviewed monthly to keep you accountable and on track.

4. PRIORITISE YOUR BUSINESS CULTURE I have always considered the culture in a business a powerful and valuable asset - if it is positive.

Why is culture valuable, you may ask? The culture of/in your business can either positively or negatively affect staff retention, customer service, sales, and revenue, so this makes it immensely

valuable in my opinion.

One thing that has come out of the pandemic is that the employee now seeks balance and it is not all about financial remuneration.

“Throughout the pandemic, businesses have been dealing with the “Great Resignation” as workers are quitting their jobs at record-high rates. One of the reasons for this is that people are changing their definitions of what they consider a healthy worklife balance and what they want in a company culture.” Forbes 2021.

5. KNOW YOUR CUSTOMERS, LISTEN TO YOUR CUSTOMERS Do you know who your client/customer is? I mean, do you really know them? Where do they come from? What do they do? What age profile are they? Where do you find them?

Take time to do a profile brief on your ideal client/customer. It will open your eyes again and help to refresh your approach and create new innovative sales and marketing. These are key today and tomorrow to help you reach more of your ideal clients and recharge revenue and sustain consistent cash flow. Show me a business who doesn’t need this.

So much has changed for us all in the last two years and this is true for our customers as well. Their needs, wants, and expectations have changed and we need to listen to them. At the end of the day, they are the folks who purchase our products and services.

I believe that we can and should take time to learn from our clients and customers. Personally, I think the day I stop learning is the day I will close the doors.

Listen to your clients, accept the positive and the less-thanpositive feedback - it is valuable. Interact with your customers and really learn from them. Customers/clients can help you to identify what is working/not working, what trends are happening, and what influencing factors are impacting on purchase decisions … and that is just the tip of the iceberg.

6. NEW TRENDS IN YOUR SECTOR

11. STAY FLEXIBLE AND CONSISTENT

Now more than ever, it is important that we, as business owners, are aware and informed of the trends in our sector(s) and marketplace. The pandemic and Covid-19 has changed our marketplace forever and it is not all negative. It has changed how customers/clients purchase, how we interact, how we communicate, and what influences our decisions.

I have learned (the hard way at times) that consistency is key to success. This is true in every area of our lives, personal, sport, and business.

7. EMBRACE TECH I am not a tech lover but I do know and recognise its value.

Technology really is our friend and I believe we just need to learn and engage with the “how-to” piece which enables us to understand and use tech effectively in our lives and in our businesses.

For instance, we have been using remote access systems for over nine years in my business, well before Covid-19 hit our shores.

I had to engage with tech to learn the “how to” of applying it to benefit my life and my business. When the pandemic hit, it made a difference, let me tell you. Over the years, we have engaged tech in a variety of ways in the business.

Every business needs to ask how technology can improve/help you and your business to move forward.

8. DON’T FORGET THE VALUE OF CUSTOMER SERVICE Positive and engaging customer service is invaluable in business.

Can you and your team serve your customers more effectively?

What needs to happen for your customer service to be even better? It is all about small things when it comes to building better customer service.

The return on time and training investment associated with sustaining/improving customer service is return customers/ clients, repeat custom, positive brand awareness, business growth, and new opportunity development.

9. THINK YOUR MARKETING THROUGH Too many times I have seen marketing initiatives and plans thrown together with limited thought for the customer/client, the products/services, or the message delivered.

Your marketing activity needs to be simple, engaging, and real.

It needs to connect with your ideal customers/clients.

Right now, today, the customers/clients we want to engage with can see through the rubbish, they are exhausted from the “noise”, and they want clear communication and value.

10. DIVERSIFY AND VENTURE INTO NEW SPACES We trade in a global space. Look at how and where you can diversify. Are there new markets worth considering? If you take leaps of faith into new markets, then please exercise due diligence and assess how viable a specific market is for your business.

Do not be defined by your physical location. Look if or where you could take your product or service. What do you need to do this?

12. OFFER FLEXIBLE SCHEDULING As I mentioned earlier, we have been using online and remote access systems for nine years and this has really positively influenced how we work and also benefited our business.

The best businesses have devoted teams of hard-working employees. Whether you employ a dozen workers or just one or two, boost business performance in 2022 by changing the way you relate to staff.

Even if you can’t afford to give top employees a much-deserved raise, increase their satisfaction and loyalty by offering more job flexibility. For example, you could let them work more convenient hours or enable them to log in from home. While companies are often hesitant about hiring remote workers, a recent Stanford study shows that telecommuters regularly put in a full day’s work or more and are less likely to be distracted than their in-office peers.

13. MAKE A PLAN AND DRIVE ON “Plan” can be a four-letter word that many just do not want to hear. When you build a house, you need to have or create a plan. Why do you need one? Simply put, if the house does not have a strong foundation, it will not settle and stand strong. The same applies to your business.

The successful business owners of this world dedicate time to setting out a simple plan to help them to take action, achieve their goals, and succeed.

A plan keeps us accountable and on track with focus and commitment. A plan needs to be a working reference file, it keeps us on track to the destination we want to reach.

I will sign off by quoting one of the key influences in my life ... “Drive on and give it welly”, ladies and gents. We owe it to ourselves, to our customers, and to our colleagues to give it socks as we sustain our businesses and recover from the Covid-19 challenge.

MAGS BOLAND MURPHY CEO at Bofin Consultancy. - Enabling & Supporting Business Success since 2010.

Email: mags@bofinconsultancy.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/magsbolandmurphy

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So, stay aware and informed. We need to be able to roll with the changes as they occur. If we do not know about them, how can we roll with them?

Stay flexible and recognise that it is completely okay for your plan to change at times - and at times it will need to. Also, you as a business owner need to stay flexible too, taking time to breathe outside of your business. Have an activity, hobby, interest that is not related to your business. Believe me when I say we all need it, it keeps us healthy mentally and physically. Our businesses are nothing without us in them.

Wexford #MakingItHappen 053 9196020

info@leo.wexfordcoco.ie

The Local Enterprise Office Wexford provide a range of complementary supports to assist people who want to start up or grow a business.

The supports range from providing an initial "First Stop Shop" service where individuals can receive advice on the steps involved in setting up a business, to the provision of a range of training, and various financial supports.

Financial supports are available to qualifying businesses, in the establishment and/or growth phase of their business with a turnover of less than €2m and who employ up to ten people.

SUPPORTS WE PROVIDE INCLUDE: For manufacturing or internationally Mentoring traded services: Training Trading Online Voucher Scheme – up to €2,500 grant available MFI Loans: €2,000 to €25,000 Feasibility Study Grants Grad Start: providing companies financial Priming Grants support to hire graduate talent Business Expansion Grants LEAN for Micro Green for Micro For further information visit: localenterprise.ie/Wexford/

Could your business benefit from learning simple ways to save production time, improve efficiencies, increase sustainability, boost productivity and improve overall management?

Then you should consider the LEAN for Micro Programme 2022 A Lean mentor will be available for up to 5.5 full days to each business (depending on situation) to complete an in-company assignment which will introduce Lean principles and complete a specific cost reduction project.

This is a heavily subsidised programme, which will be based on an application process. The cost to the company will be €250. If you would like further information, case studies or to make an application, please visit www.localenterprise.ie/lean or contact angela.lawless@wexfordcoco.ie

Danone Wexford: Leading the Way in Sustainable Manufacturing

it’s more important than ever to protect our natural ecosystems while creating a sustainable future for everyone,” says Mark Stafford, Nature and Sustainability Manager at Danone Wexford.

“Our achievements in Wexford are a step towards a more sustainable future for our business and illustrate Danone’s ‘One Planet. One Health’ vision, which puts sustainability at the centre of our business model. We are still on the journey to improve and will continue to work on actions that have a positive impact on our planet and our local community.”

Danone Wexford in the Rocklands has been a staple of employment in Wexford and the surrounding counties since its arrival to the community over 50 years ago. The company manufactures formula milks for local and global leading brands such as Aptamil, Cow & Gate, and Nutrilon.

Sustainable manufacturing is to the fore of Danone Wexford’s focus. Climate change is one of the biggest challenges faced by society and, as a business, Danone is committed to tackling it head on.

CARBON-NEUTRAL STATUS The team in Wexford has backed up this vision and ethos with credible action. Last year, Danone Wexford became the first formula milk production site in the world to be certified carbon neutral by the Carbon Trust, an independent global climate change and sustainability consultancy. To achieve this, the plant implemented many initiatives, including the installation of a biomass boiler which is fuelled by sustainable biomass provided by local producers and switching to 100% renewable electricity.

This resulted in the reduction of the plant’s CO2 emissions by 11,800 tonnes and its carbon footprint by 80% compared with where it stood in 2010. This carbon-neutral achievement earned the factory the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) Large Business Exemplary Management Award in 2020.

The facility also achieved a Zero Waste to Landfill status with all waste produced on site recycled or recovered. Furthermore, the Wexford site is ISO14001 and ISO50001-certified, meeting global environmental management and energy system standards.

BIODIVERSITY PLAN Danone Wexford has dedicated an entire department to its sustainability and environmental initiatives, a department that may appear out of place in a manufacturing factory. This team has implemented a biodiversity plan for the factory following a study conducted in conjunction with Wetlands Survey Ireland.

The Wexford factory has since signed up for the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan and has many pollinator-friendly actions planned, including staff training on biodiversity and pollinators planting on site, and the installation of bee hotels on the factory grounds.

“The health of the planet and of people are intertwined and

The factory is now striving for digital excellence by working to become a paperless workplace. To date, 68 trees, or 162,000 sheets of paper, have been spared in a given year.

In addition to being a Bord Bia Origin Green member, Danone is also on a journey to achieve B Corp certification across all of its businesses with Danone Wexford having made its submission this year. Being a B Corp means an organisation’s social and environmental performance is measured, ensuring that the company considers the impact of decisions not only on the business but also on its employees, suppliers, community, and the environment.

Danone in Wexford has cemented itself as a stalwart champion of sustainability in the manufacturing industry but the work is only beginning. For more information, visit www.danone.ie.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Breastfeeding is best. Follow-on milk should only be used as part of a mixed diet and not as a breastmilk substitute before six months. Use on the advice of a healthcare professional. Use Toddler milk as part of a varied, balanced diet from one year.

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Danone’s global ‘One Planet. One Health’ vision commits to manufacturing in ways that protect and preserve the planet for future generations. Arising from this, the company has set goals and targets in the areas of climate, water, agriculture, and packaging. The Wexford factory has adopted its very own ethos of ‘Safety First, Quality Always and Nature Forever’. This emphasises Danone’s care for its employees, consumers, and the wider communities that it operates in and ensuring that every employee has a part to play as Danone strives for sustainable excellence.

MEMBER NEWS

Datapac celebrates 40th anniversary with significant growth in managed services revenue The Enniscorthy-based technology solutions and services provider, Datapac, recently celebrated its 40th anniversary.

From its inception in Templeshannon back in 1982, Datapac has expanded its operations nationwide, including a purpose-built HQ in Quarrypark and an extensive Dublin-based distribution centre. Through continuous growth and evolution in line with technological advancements and customer expectations, Datapac remains one of Ireland’s largest indigenous ICT providers.

Datapac has recently announced significant growth in its managed services division, one of many ICT offerings provided by the company. In 2021, its managed services revenue alone grew to €6 million. A significant part of this

growth was the increased demand for its managed IT helpdesk service, which increased by more than 50% last year.

technologies, and an investment of more than €500,000 per annum in training and development for its team.

IT HELPDESK SERVICE

PROVIDE FLEXIBILITY TO BUSINESSES

A spokesperson for Datapac said demand for that particular service was driven by rising end-user expectations of customer support consistency and availability, a shortage of skilled IT professionals to deliver customer support in-house, and a need to manage new ways of working, particularly from home. Datapac’s IT helpdesk service provides a fully managed support desk for organisations and their end-users. This service operates as an extension of the organisation so that, when an end-user contacts the helpdesk, the experience is no different than if they had contacted an internally operated service. This seamlessly integrated structure is particularly useful for organisations impacted by Covid-19, enabling the continuity of support services even with remote or hybrid working policies in place.

In recent years, the Enniscorthy based company has expanded its customer support team as well as evolving and enhancing its service infrastructure to meet a rising market demand for managed IT helpdesk services. The expansion includes investment in ‘best-in-class’ management platforms, new automated

Nolan Transport’s Supply Chain office boost of up to 25 jobs for New Ross

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Nolan Transport has opened its Supply Chain Division Customs office on the Quay in New Ross, bringing 15 jobs into the town with the possibility of 10 more over the coming years.

County Wexford Chamber was delighted to see this investment from Nolan Transport into New Ross. As one of the region’s major businesses and employers, it is great to see continuing investment and commitment to County Wexford and, specifically, New Ross.

The reasons for this development in the town centre is to invest locally and attract people from the town into the logistics industry who can walk to work if they choose to, encouraging a much better work-life balance.

“Datapac’s managed IT helpdesk service is designed to provide flexibility to Irish businesses, including the ability to increase or decrease levels of support to manage spikes or lulls in demand,” said the spokesperson. The company’s total managed services customer base has grown beyond 750 with Irish organisations from a range of sectors utilising the managed IT helpdesk service including Special Olympics Ireland, the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA), and Kefron.

“Organisations face an increasingly high bar for meeting the support expectations of their end-users who are now accustomed to high levels of availability and faster response times,” said Datapac’s General Manager, Karen O’Connor. “This can be a challenge for businesses, and many are turning to managed providers like Datapac with the skills, knowledge, and infrastructure in place to integrate within an organisation and provide seamless IT helpdesk support.”

STILL GROWING AFTER 50 YEARS Based in Marshmeadows, the family-run company owns and operates one of the largest fleets of road transport equipment throughout Europe. With over 50 years’ experience in the transport industry, the NolanTransport fleet consists of more than 450 tractor units and over 1,200 trailers.

Nolan Transport also hopes to have its new development of over 100,000sq.ft. high-bay warehousing at Drinagh, Wexford, come online in May/June this year. The new development will operate in line with current Good Distribution Practice (GDP)/Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)/SEVESO standards.

MEMBER NEWS Chevron College turnover expected to surpass €20 million in 2022 Wexford-based Chevron College has reported a profit of more than €2.5 million for 2021 and is on course to double in size in 2022. The eLearning College, which specialises in delivering further and higher education programmes in childcare, healthcare, and renewable energy, trained 6,000 students last year.

President of Chevron College Karl Fitzpatrick forecasts turnover at the company to surpass €20 million in 2022. He believes the pandemic accelerated the transition to online learning by as much as five years and said that eLearning is now firmly mainstream. Forty new jobs were created by the College since the pandemic began and at least another 50 new jobs are expected to be created this year.

Mr. Fitzpatrick said that Chevron College is currently on the acquisition path. It acquired a Carlow-based English language school, English Language Ireland, in December 2020. It is also in the final stages of acquiring a Dublin-based training business which has recently secured a €35 million training contract over four years.

With innovation a hallmark of Fitzpatrick’s growth strategy, he has also announced plans to create a state-of-the-art eLearning studio, incorporating a Virtual and Augmented Reality Lab in their headquarters in Anne Street later this year. This will unlock 3D educational opportunities in the metaverse for the company over the coming years.

The high levels of growth in the eLearning sector has made Chevron College an attractive takeover target. Mr. Fitzpatrick stated that he had turned down offers from British and Irish venture capital firms in order to focus on their ambitious growth strategy.

ACQUISITION AND INNOVATION In addition to achieving significant levels of organic growth,

As the pandemic recedes and global demand returns, Ire Wel Pallets continues to be at the centre of economic activity.

“As global demand for goods and services returns, the need for these to be transported returns, and the demand for pallets increases,” says Mary B. Walsh, managing director of Ire Wel Pallets, which is based in Wells, Gorey. Mary and husband Shay co-founded the business in 1990, marking 30 years in business in 2020.

Ire Wel Pallets is Ireland’s leading pallet and packaging manufacturer, supplying pallets, boxes, and crates to Irish and UK customers. The pallets produced transport everything from medical devices to pharmaceuticals, electronics, construction materials, agriculture supplies, and food and drinks worldwide.

The company is always seeking to grow and improve its processes – and is currently undertaking a Lean programme with Enterprise Ireland. “This is about getting the best use from technology and new machinery installed. And, more importantly, it’s about training and upskilling everyone in the company.”

Employing 52 people in the factory and offices, the company is a firm believer in investing in its staff. It has also linked up with education and training organisations in the South East region so that its employees can avail of training and development courses.

INNOVATION A HALLMARK In addition, the company introduced automation and this has increased output at the state-of-the-art facility. Increasing output has not only secured the employment of its staff but necessitated the employment of additional staff. “We brought

in robotics to the production process by automating elements in the production of the pallets. That allowed us to redeploy staff to other areas of the business.”

Innovation has always been a hallmark of Ire Wel Pallets and the company now generates over 100MW of its own electricity thanks to the installation of solar panels. “The panels service the whole site, from manufacturing to the kiln-drying and to the offices,” says Mary. “In line with our green ethos, we have no negative emissions nor do we generate waste that has to be transported off-site. Any timber not used in pallets is turned into wood chip which is then used to fuel the kiln drying and heat treatment process of pallets produced. And we have zero waste residues arising from production.”

SUSTAINABLE ETHOS That green ethos starts with the timber used in the pallets.

“Our timber is sourced from sustainably managed forests - this is important to us in that timber is the most sustainable and climate-friendly to use in the manufacture of pallets; the other alternatives would not be as environmentally friendly.”

And underpinning it all is a valued staff base. “Our ethos for the business has been to build a team that helps us to manage and develop the business into the quietly successful endeavour it is today. Many of our staff are with us over 20 years and we all create a respectful and healthy workplace, where the team feels valued.

This is not just good for productivity, but also for comradeship and for the self-development of the employees themselves. This holistic approach is a core value of our business.”

For more information, log on to Ire Wel Pallets’ website http:// www.iwppallets.com/

INSIDE WEXFORD BUSINESS | PAGE 11

Positivity produces results at Ire Wel Pallets

Innovation drives Integer’s success in New Ross

INSIDE WEXFORD BUSINESS | PAGE 12

Deputy CEO Emma Dunphy spoke to Pauline Oakes, Senior Director of Operations at Integer, a medical device manufacturing company that employs 950 people in New Ross.

Q: Tell us about Integer, its history, the products you manufacture, and about your team?

Can you brief us on your journey to becoming Senior Director of Operations at Integer?

A: Integer is one of the largest medical device outsource manufacturers in the world, serving the cardiac, neuromodulation, vascular, and portable medical device markets. Integer provides high-quality medical device design and manufacturing to medical device original equipment manufacturers.

I started out my career in IT. I had studied Computers and Economics in UCC and my first job was as a computer programmer in a small software development company. From there, I joined a start-up medical device company in Enniscorthy to set up their IT systems. As I worked to get the IT systems set up, I started to learn a lot about the operation of the business and, over time, broadened my responsibilities and took on roles to include customer service, supply chain, and eventually Operations and Quality.

We have been in New Ross for 25 years, manufacturing medical devices called guidewires. These are minimally invasive devices used in cardiac, vascular, and neurology procedures. We are one of the largest guidewire manufacturers in the world, manufacturing more than 35 million devices annually. Each week in New Ross, we manufacture up to 800,000 products and ship them to more than 30 countries worldwide. This means that a guidewire manufactured in New Ross is used every second in a patient.

Integer has a team of almost 9,000 people worldwide, with more than 20 locations spread across the globe. Here in New Ross, we employ approximately 950 people, split between production and support staff. We have a very diverse team with 14 nationalities on site. Our employees generally are located in the South-East region, incorporating Wexford, Waterford, Carlow, Kilkenny, and Wicklow.

In 2011, what was then ClearStream Technologies was acquired

by C.R. Bard and, at that point, I took over as Director of Operations for the site. I continued to run the site in Enniscorthy until 2019 when I decided to make the move to Integer as Senior Director of Operations for the New Ross site.

I decided to join Integer as it was the largest employer in Wexford and had a strong history in the area with more than 25 years in business. Also, Integer was a young, newly formed organisation and its size particularly attracted me. It has a global footprint and the New Ross site was and still is a key contributor to the success of the organisation overall. The site in New Ross also had a very strong reputation locally for its work in lean and was the first medical device site in Europe to be awarded the Shingo prize. I have been here now for almost three years and I am very proud to have had the chance to lead such an influential site both locally and within Integer globally.

Yes, Covid has certainly has an impact on the business in the last two years in a number of ways. First and foremost, our primary focus is the safety onsite of all of our associates. So, initially, our big challenge was to make the operational changes necessary to ensure we could continue to operate as an essential business but with the necessary measures in place to confirm we could do this safely.

This required measures such as shift staggering, installation of the necessary social distancing protocols, remote working where possible, limiting in-person meetings, implementing partitions/ screens, wearing of masks, etc. This required a lot of detailed planning but the team onsite rose to the challenge and did an admirable job in ensuring the safety of all of our associates.

Covid also brought the challenge of managing attendance through a lot of uncertainty, with Covid numbers peaking and falling at various points through the past two years.

In addition, we saw a reduction in demand for our products due to the postponement of clinical procedures in hospitals. This required us to manage our cost base and ensure we adjusted our labour costs in line with this reduction in demand. We had to take some difficult decisions as a result but I am happy to report that we protected employment onsite at all times here in New Ross throughout the past two years, despite the fall in demand for our products. Thankfully, the reduction was temporary and our demand levels have now returned and are exceeding preCovid levels.

The third challenge Covid has presented is supply chain interruptions. We are seeing the ongoing impact of this, particularly this year. We have global shortages of particular components and a lot of variability in transit times for sea and air freight. This is making it very difficult to ensure we meet customer demand. In addition, we have experienced significant price pressures as a result – where components are scarce, prices rise inevitably, and this has impacted the cost base for the site as a result.

Does Integer provide careers and opportunities onsite in New Ross and what impact does Integer have on the local economy?

Integer, as a fully integrated manufacturing site, offers a wide variety of career opportunities. We have had a very busy year hiring new associates and expect that to continue in the coming year. There are careers opportunities not just in production but also in areas such as Engineering, HR, Finance, Quality, Customer Service, Supply Chain, Environmental Health and Safety, IT, and Continuous Improvement. We have a careers page on the Integer website (integer.net) where you can see all current open opportunities, not just in New Ross but globally across the organisation.

We offer very competitive rates with benefits including healthcare, bonus, and pension and we support ongoing education to develop talent internally. We have many examples of people internally using these programmes to gain further qualifications and then, as a result, progressing in their career within the site and in some cases to management level.

Integer contributes more than €40 million annually to the local economy through employment and support of local suppliers.

We have also worked tirelessly to support local charities through our Charity Committee. It is made up of associates from the site who organise fundraising activities. Each year, all associates get the chance to vote on the charity to support – this year, the chosen charities are the Solas Cancer Support Centre and Waterford Animal Welfare. Generally, we raise in the region of €40,000 from our fundraising activities, including a company contribution once the fundraising reaches a certain threshold.

In the last 10 years, we have raised more than €200,000 for local charities, which is a huge testament to the generosity and community spirit of our team members.

As environmental issues are becoming more important in how companies operate, what steps does Integer take to combat these environmental issues?

Environmental issues are high on the agenda for everybody presently. It is certainly a focus area for business. Integer has an active CSR programme with one of the focus areas being how we impact positively on the environment.

Here in New Ross, we have several projects underway to make our contribution to this initiative. These include projects to move to a more environmentally friendly sterilisation process and reduce our waste. We also have a large-scale project underway where New Ross is the pilot site for Integer to move to a paperless site.

Do you believe gender equality has come a long way and what are the steps that Integer takes to ensure that it is an inclusive working environment?

I do believe gender equality is moving in the right direction, certainly in the past few years. I am not a believer in creating roles for women but I do believe in measures to ensure there are no barriers to women progressing. I also believe women benefit greatly from working with mentors who help to instil confidence in them to put themselves forward and believe in their own ability. Often, in my experience, women are their own biggest critics and tend to focus on what they cannot do rather than what they can.

At Integer, we have a very active Diversity and Inclusion programme. The site at New Ross again is actively involved and we have made real progress, not just from a gender equality perspective but also in terms of being inclusive and allowing a person to bring their whole self to work. Two focus areas we have had this year are mental health awareness and celebrating our diverse nationalities. We have trained 17 mental health first aiders to support our associates if they need it and we have a calendar of events to celebrate one nationality per month. I genuinely believe this has helped people feel more comfortable to acknowledge if they need support and to help educate their colleagues on where they come from.

In addition to the onsite activities, Integer has employee resource groups to focus on things like gender equality, sexual orientation, race, and so on. In fact, I am one of the workstream leaders for the Athena Alliance resource group which focuses on gender equality. I lead the connect workstream which aims to highlight and connect our female team members across Integer globally and highlight their many achievements both in work and outside.

What can we expect to see from Integer in the next five years?

Well, we have been here in New Ross for the last 25 years and we hope that that will continue in to the future. We are optimistic about the future and we expect to continue the need to expand our team and offer exciting career opportunities for the next generation of talent.

www.integer.net

INSIDE WEXFORD BUSINESS | PAGE 13

As one of the largest medical device manufacturers, how has the Covid-19 pandemic impacted Integer, and does it continue to do so?

INNOVATE Evolution of productivity with Microsoft Business Voice and Innovate Innovate is a leading Managed IT and Cloud Service Provider headquartered in Gorey. Many of our clients are finding that their communications needs have changed in recent times. They are looking for flexible solutions that allow them to collaborate internally and deliver better service their customers. All of us are spending more time collaborating than we ever did, we have multiple devices, and most of us want to work remotely, or in a hybrid environment. This means our communications tools need to evolve with us. Traditional phone systems tie us to a location and limit our ability to be mobile. Using different solutions to communicate across different media can be time consuming and frustrating.

CLOUD TELEPHONY SOLUTION That is why people are turning to Microsoft Business Voice and Innovate’s expertise across the network, telephony, and the desktop makes it ideally placed to take you on that journey. Adding to the broad capabilities of the Microsoft 365 suite, Microsoft recognises that telephony is still a critical service when it comes to engaging with customers, suppliers, and partners. While many of us like to interact using chat and email, the ability to pick up the phone and speak to someone is still fundamental to customer service. Cloud telephony solutions such as Microsoft 365 Business Voice are changing the way we communicate.

Microsoft 365 Business Voice means you can work from any location across a single application, simplifying things for the user. Cloud telephony can remove many of your traditional private branch exchange costs and your system is always up to date and delivering the latest innovations.

Innovate can support the entire solution for you through a single contract.

INSIDE WEXFORD BUSINESS | PAGE 14

MICROSOFT TEAMS Microsoft 365 Business Voice is a cloudbased phone system designed for Office 365. Together, they deliver an all-in-one communication solution that brings together calling, meetings, and messaging into a single application, Microsoft Teams. Business Voice works wherever you do, on computers, smart phones, and desk phones. It uses Microsoft’s trusted cloud to deliver reliable, high-quality audio with intelligent and AI-powered capabilities.

With all your communication and collaboration tools in one place, it makes it easier than ever to get work done.

Microsoft Teams gives you calling, chat, and meetings in a single app. It has built-in audio conferencing, adding flexibility to meetings with a dial-in number, integrated into every online meeting. Contacts and calendars are unified across Teams and Outlook. You can collaborate in the Office apps within calls and meetings.

AI-POWERED INTELLIGENCE Your single phone number will stay with you, regardless of device or location. You can call any number, schedule and join meetings, and turn chats into calls with a single click. AI-powered intelligence gives automatic voicemail transcription along with inline chat translation and realtime captioning in meetings.

And the solution supports a number of different devices for individuals and rooms. You can opt to use a headset only or go for a fully functional IP handset, or indeed a mix of both depending on your team’s preferences.

Microsoft Teams is the hub for teamwork, bringing everything together in a shared workspace where people can chat, call, share files, work with business apps, and hold effective meetings.

Innovate’s managed service team will proactively monitor your Teams solution, resolving any issues as they occur through our Gorey-based 24/7 Network Operations Centre.

For more information about Microsoft 365 Business Voice, see www.innovate.ie or contact ask@innovate.ie and the team will be delighted to help.

chamber-ad.indd 1

10/11/2021 12:17:13

THE GREAT RESIGNATION: HOW TO RETAIN STAFF IN A POSTPANDEMIC WORLD Top tips from David Bell, CEO of The HR Department, as staff nationwide review their priorities and work/life balance When the pandemic first hit, there was a definite sense of camaraderie across the country; we were all in this together.

Over the past two years, however, employees have had a lot of time to think about the kind of work life they want and how it should fit in with their personal goals.

In recent months, we have seen record numbers of people leaving secure jobs to follow new passions, a trend that has been dubbed the Great Resignation. The reality is, this would not have happened (at least to the same extent) if employees felt valued, challenged, and purposeful in their roles.

Being able to spot job dissatisfaction is critical but taking corrective and pre-emptive action to address it is key to holding on to your best people.

JOB DISSATISFACTION: HOW IT CAN AFFECT YOU From demands for flexibility, additional benefits, or pay increases, it can be hard for employers to understand why dissatisfaction, lack of motivation, and boredom can cause major issues for their businesses.

INSIDE WEXFORD BUSINESS | PAGE 16

After all, most employees usually complain about stress, heavy workloads, and lack of work/life balance. Whilst these factors can cause dissatisfaction, boredom with daily tasks, lack of motivation to perform for a specific team/manager, or lack of opportunities for promotion or development can cause colleagues to question their place in a company.

HOW CAN YOU HELP TO AVOID THIS?

1.

BUILD A FLEXIBLE CULTURE

It is important that you begin to build a flexible company culture – flexible on working patterns, flexible on job roles, and flexible when it comes to opportunities.

A flexible business culture will allow for increased internal staff movement in a well-planned direction, ensuring colleagues can take hold of new opportunities without affecting the performance of teams and departments.

2.

ENCOURAGE STAFF HONESTY

Once you have a flexible culture in place, it is important to encourage your staff to be honest about how they feel about their job roles. Whether they might feel bored or lack interest in their tasks, are dissatisfied with how a team is managed or with the level of experience within the team, or feel a lack of opportunity for promotion or development of skills, it is important that colleagues can be as honest as possible with you.

Talent retention is key – by encouraging staff honesty, you can identify what skills could be at risk, what your colleagues desire for their career in your company, and how you can best support them to get there.

3.

ACT ON FEEDBACK

It is not enough to simply listen to honest colleagues, make false promises, or place temporary sticking plasters over issues such as salary or benefit bumps.

If a colleague is completely dissatisfied with their work or feels stuck in a rut due to a lack of promotional and development opportunities, they will leave. The pandemic has caused the workforce to re-evaluate their lives and what they seek from their work and personal lives; if you are not meeting employees’ needs, they will satisfy these needs elsewhere.

However you decide to review feedback from colleagues, from one-to-ones, focus groups, and/or wider departmental meetings, it is important to always act on it.

This will help to ensure that you keep valuable skills in an age of career movement, that your staff continue to perform for your business, remain happy and committed to maximising company performance while you give back to employees through increased opportunity, skills and learning development.

www.thehrdepartment.ie info@thehrdepartment.ie

HOW TO KEEP YOUR BUSINESS CYBER SAFE Cyber security is more important than ever. Here, the Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau in Wexford advises on reducing the risk of a cyber-attack on your business When the pandemic first hit, there was a definite sense of The Wexford across Garda National Cyber wastogether. officially camaraderie the country; weCrime were Bureau all in this set upthe lastpast year, one of the first in employees the country.have However, Over two years, however, had a itlothad of been on the a pilot for life the they pastwant five and years.

The time tooperating think about kindlevel of work how it office Wexford Garda shouldisfit based in with at their personal goals.Station and assists Garda investigations throughout the South East including Waterford, In recent months, we have seen record numbers of people Wicklow, Kilkenny, and Carlow. The unit operates as part of the leaving secure jobs to follow new passions, a trend that has National Cyber Crime Bureau under Detective Superintendent been dubbed the Great Resignation. The reality is, this would Paul Cleary. There are currently four members attached to the not have happened (at least to the same extent) if employees Wexford unit and it is hoped that, later this year, the unit will felt valued, challenged, and purposeful in their roles. receive an additional three members. The role of the unit is the Being to spot of jobcomputer-related dissatisfaction ismedia critical butcriminal taking forensicable examination in all corrective and pre-emptive action to address it is key to holding investigations as well as the investigation of cyber-related on to your best people. offences.

JOB DISSATISFACTION: HOW IT CAN AFFECT YOU

TYPES OF ATTACKS From demands for flexibility, additional benefits, or pay increases,

The seen a steady rise in the cases of cybercrime it canpast be year hard has for employers to understand why dissatisfaction, attacks on computer belonging businesses. lack of motivation, andsystems boredom can causeto major issues forCyber their criminals are always coming up with new ways to extort money businesses. and cause serious disruption to businesses. This has been After all, most employees usually complain employees about stress, heavy heightened with the number of business working workloads, and lack of work/life balance.

Whilst these factors can from home. Some of the common cybercrimes targeting cause dissatisfaction, boredom with daily tasks, lack of motivation companies seen by the Bureau are the following: to perform for a specific team/manager, or lack of opportunities for promotion or development can cause colleagues to question their place in a company. EMAIL COMPROMISE FRAUD CEO FRAUD/BUSINESS This type of fraud will start by the cyber criminals gaining access to your email account by way of a phishing email. They will then HOW CAN YOU HELP TO AVOID THIS? target the company’s financial officer with an email which appears 1. come BUILD A FLEXIBLE to from the Chief CULTURE Executive Officer saying, for example, It is important that you to build flexible company that they are closing anbegin important deala with a supplier andculture need – flexible on processed working patterns, flexibleThey on job flexible a payment immediately. willroles, stateand that they whenchanged it comes their to opportunities. have bank account or state a different account for this deal. They will use language such “Confidentiality” and A flexible business culture will allow forasincreased internal staff “sensitive The bank account ensuring will usually be a foreign movementsituation”. in a well-planned direction, colleagues can bank account. take hold of new opportunities without affecting the performance of teams and departments.

2.

ENCOURAGE STAFF HONESTY

HOW TO KEEP YOUR BUSINESS SAFE

Once you have a flexible culture in place, it is important to encourage your staff to be honest about how they feel about their job roles. Whether they might feel bored or lack interest There a number of ways you canhow keep safe in theiraretasks, are dissatisfied with a your teambusiness is managed from a cyber-attack other cybercrimes. or with the level of or experience within the team, or feel a lack of opportunity for promotion or development of skills, it is important that colleagues can be as honest as possible with you.

1. Do not reply or click on any links contained in any unsolicited Talent is key – by encouraging staff honesty, you can or retention spam emails. identify what skills could be at risk, what your colleagues desire 2. Only visit websites you know are reputable. for their career in your company, and how you can best support 3. suppliers by phone, asking if bank details have themVerify to getwith there. changed, before making any payment.

3. ACT ON FEEDBACK 4. Have a separate and up-to-date back-up should you be It is not enough to simply listen to honest colleagues, make false attacked. promises, or place temporary sticking plasters over issues such 5.

Regularly update your systems and software from official as salary or benefit bumps. sources only.

If a colleague is completely dissatisfied with their work or feels 6. open attachments or promotional links unless you and trust stuckNever in a rut due to a lack of andknow development the source.they will leave. The pandemic has caused the opportunities, workforce re-evaluate their lives andand what they seek from 7.

Do notto mix data from your work personal activities theironline. work and personal lives; if you are not meeting employees’ needs, theyshare will satisfy these elsewhere.

8. Never personal or needs sensitive information online.

However you decide to review feedback from colleagues, from one-to-ones, focus groups, and/or wider departmental If you are the victim of a cyber-attack or any other cybercrime, meetings, it is important to always act on it. please report this to your local Garda station.

This will help to ensure that you keep valuable skills in an age of career movement, that your staff continue to perform for your https://www.garda.ie/en/about-us/organised-serious-crime/ business, remain happy and committed to maximising company garda-national-cyber-crime-bureau-gnccb-/ performance while you give back to employees through increased opportunity, skills and learning development.

David Bell is CEO at The HR Department

INVOICE FRAUD A business is approached by someone pretending to be a supplier/service provider/creditor. The fraudster requests that the bank details for payment of future invoices has changed and provides new account details.

Bank phishing emails usually include links that will take you to a spoofed banking website where you will be requested to divulge your financial and personal information. REMEMBER, no bank will email you looking to verify your bank and personal details.

RANSOMWARE This is a form of malware that gives the criminals the ability to lock a computer from a remote location. This was most recently and publicly seen in the attack on the HSE. Your computer system will display a pop-up window demanding money to unlock your computer. This attack would have most likely started by a member of your staff receiving a malicious email with an attachment.

INSIDE WEXFORD BUSINESS | PAGE 17

PHISHING/SPOOFED BANK WEBSITES

Decarbonising Irish Transport with Natural Gas While heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) and buses account for only 4% of vehicles on Ireland’s roads, they account for 30% of all emissions in the road transport sector.

As Ireland’s transport emissions continue to rise, we face significant challenges to meet our emission reduction targets.

Compressed natural gas (CNG) for transport is a key gas technology that David Hanahoe, Head of CNG Sales at Gas Networks Ireland believes will support reduce Ireland’s total carbon emissions.

“Gas Networks Ireland is leading the development of a new, cleaner transport network, to support Ireland achieve its carbon reduction targets and to provide Ireland’s HGV and bus fleet operators a cleaner alternative fuel option to diesel. Last year was extremely exciting for the transport sector as we launched the country’s third and fourth public, fast-fill CNG stations, at Circle K’s forecourts at Clonshaugh in Dublin and Ballysimon Road in Limerick City. This is in addition to our stations in Dublin Port and Cashel.

“We also launched a €2.9m CNG Vehicle Grant scheme to support the purchase of up to 400 gas-powered trucks, buses and vans. The Grant will cover 20% of the difference between CNG and diesel-powered vehicles, with a maximum €60,000 available to any one applicant. Grants can be used towards the costs of vehicles registered from 2020.”

BENEFITS OF A PRIVATE CNG STATION

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“Although the CNG refuelling network is growing, we also engage with fleet operators and hauliers who require their own on-site refuelling depots as they do not operate along the current station routes. Private CNG stations are ideal for private businesses or county councils who want a sustainable fuel option in their own locations as they require more control over their refuelling patterns.

In the Mid-West for example, Clean Ireland Recycling were the first national waste operator to invest in a private station and CNG vehicles. In addition to reducing their carbon footprint, this has provided a significant competitive advantage in winning new business as both their residential and commercial customers have become more conscious of their impact on the environment.

A key benefit is that each private station can be designed to individual customer requirements, with specifications based on a number of factors including, fleet size, volume of gas required and nature of business.”

EU CLEAN VEHICLE DIRECTIVE “A key consideration for organisations moving forward will be the EU Clean Vehicles Directive that passed into Irish law in 2021. This Directive sets targets for public procurement of clean vehicles by increasing the share of low and zero-emission vehicles tendered for by public authorities. Ireland has agreed to adopt the maximum target of almost 40% for cars and light trucks, and 10% for heavy duty trucks that will be procured from August 2021, to be clean vehicles.

For buses, the target is even higher, with a requirement of 45% procured to be green vehicles and half of that to be zeroemission vehicles. We can support agencies and councils that wish to explore CNG as an option to meet this obligation when procuring their heavy transport and passenger vehicles”.

CONTACT GAS NETWORKS IRELAND TODAY County Wexford Chamber members interested in reducing their carbon footprint can contact us directly to arrange a free consultation or visit our website to learn more.

Email: cng@gasnetworks.ie Tel: 1800 411 511

www.gasnetworks.ie/cng

WEXFORD FOOD FAMILY 10 YEARS LATER!

The Wexford Food Family is a not-for-profit group of food producers, founded in 2011 by current CEO Paula Ronan of Ronan Marketing along with Neil Murphy of Glanbia (then Wexford Creamery).

The need was identified for a network to give food producers in the county the opportunity to learn from each other and work together to promote the fabulous food and drink made in Wexford. Ten years on, the membership of the group stands at 48 businesses and covers a wide range of food and drink producers from one-person start-ups to multinationals with hundreds of employees.

Current chairperson Trudie Power of Trudie’s Kitchen is excited about the potential of the network and passionate about the need for it. “As a region, we need to work together to make our food economy sustainable, to compete effectively against imports, and to help our food brands into the export market,” she said. “Collectively, the Wexford Food Family employs over 2,000 people here in Wexford and represents a substantial amount of turnover. We are grateful to the retailers and food service providers who support our members and work so closely with us, and we encourage everyone in the county to support them in turn.”

AWARD-WINNING SUCCESS Many members’ products have won multiple awards from various bodies including Blas na hÉireann, Irish Quality Food Awards, and Great Taste. Wexford Food Family members were very well represented at the 2021 Blas na hÉireann awards, with 14 producers winning awards for 33 products. Wexford continues to outperform other counties with the quality of food and drink we produce. Our members are dedicated to making the very best and it is wonderful to have their efforts recognised by the Blas na hÉireann Irish Food Awards.

It is a source of pride that one of the great things about the Wexford Food Family is the way members work together, whether that be a simple call out for information or help with deliveries, useful and informative discussions as part of regular networking sessions, or a simple message of congratulations.

You will find many of our members collaborating to make their own products.

The Wexford Food Family is all about sharing knowledge and experiences to help each other grow and our annual summits bring that to life. Due to the pandemic, the 2020 summit was held virtually but there is genuine hope that we can return to a traditional format in 2022.

Find us at www.wexfordfoodfamily.com and contact us on info@ wexfordfoodfamily.com INSIDE WEXFORD BUSINESS | PAGE 19

Wexford Food Family brings together 48 award-winning food producers who employ over 2,000 people

TALBOT HOTEL GROUP Growth through resilience at The Talbot Collection The Wexford-owned Talbot Collection has weathered the storm of the pandemic and is looking forward to a bright future.

The hospitality sector has seen its fair share of ups and downs over the past two decades.

From the roaring Celtic Tiger days to austerity due to the severe recession in 2008, we have seen highs, lows, and everything in between.

Back in late-2019 and early-2020, Brexit had the nation gripped with uncertainty. Very few people knew of a virus outbreak in the city of Wuhan, China. Furthermore, it was almost impossible to imagine that, in little under three months, the country would be facing an unprecedented lockdown.

Shutting the doors on most of our properties in March 2020 was an extremely difficult and upsetting time for every person associated with the Talbot Collection. From operating a business that effectively never sleeps to having empty buildings occupied only by security personnel was extremely hard to come to terms with. I have always said our greatest and most valuable asset is our amazing people and to see most disappear overnight into what was effectively isolation took the life and soul out of all our properties.

McCauley adds e-commerce to its retail offering

INSIDE WEXFORD BUSINESS | PAGE 20

McCauley is the leading Irish retail pharmacy brand with a proud heritage, having started our business in Wexford in 1953. Today, we operate 37 stores in community pharmacy, employing almost 500 colleagues and our online business, mccauley.ie now plays an instrumental role in our business.

Having a strong online presence ensures that our customers and patients can access our extensive range of products when and where they need to, via their desktop or on our new App. This channel also provides us with the opportunity to drive our digital health services, such as our Online Doctor, where we treat a range of minor illnesses, our prescription upload and repeat service, and our pre-book a vaccination service for flu or Covid -19.

LIVE, FEEL, AND LOOK BETTER Our customer vision is to ensure that we help every one of our customers to live, feel, and look better after they visit one of our stores or indeed when they shop with us online.

STAYING CONNECTED The months that followed reminded us of the importance of remaining connected. Zoom and Facetime played a pivotal role in terms of staying in touch with our family, friends, and colleagues. Most importantly, it gave us the motivation to continue pushing ourselves to ensure we could provide a stable and secure working environment for our dedicated and loyal workforce.

guest, every employee, every time’, are woven into the fabric of our organisation and will certainly carry over to our ninth property in the Collection.

June 29, 2020 was the day we reopened our doors to the public. Since then, we have experienced two further lockdowns and fully appreciate that these measures were in the interest of public safety. However, the 18 months have also demonstrated the amazing resilience from the people of this country. Our employees and customers have, and continue to be, nothing short of fantastic. They have demonstrated an enormous amount of trust in our organisation and, in turn, allow us to continue providing a workplace and destination we can be proud to associate ourselves with.

As we face into a new dawn, we see positivity on the horizon. Our employees continue to receive investment through training and development, with our most recent Chef Development Programme a huge success.

This gives us a feeling of immense pride and passion to develop employee competencies further in our company. We are also extremely fortunate to have a loyal and valued customer base, which believes in us to provide a level of service they deserve. We cannot thank them enough for their continued support and their trust in us will never be taken for granted.

As of January 12, 2022, The Talbot Collection continues to grow from strength to strength, with the acquisition of the Clonmel Park Hotel, Tipperary. Our mottos, ‘Excellent friendly service by exceptional people’ and ‘Every

Robert Millar

Our online business has grown extensively in the last number of years and we now cater for a large number of customers across Ireland.

Mccauley.ie is based locally in Wexford within our McCauley Redmond Square store and we employ an e-commerce team who are dedicated to caring for our customers and their needs. Our Store Manager at McCauley Redmond Square, Anne Devlin, is also responsible for our online retail operations.

CLICK & COLLECT CONVENIENCE Orders are processed very promptly with most orders being delivered within 72 hours (except during the busy Cyber Monday period). This has ensured customers have had access to all their pharmacy, skincare, and beauty needs throughout the pandemic. We also introduced Click & Collect in 2020 as the pandemic started to impact. This has been very successful for us, and ensures we can now supply our customers either directly to their homes or they can opt to Click & Collect at a store that suits their needs.

One of the great things about our e-commerce business is that when customers shop with us, they can rest assured that their parcel is picked and packed locally, supporting the local Wexford community and the team of colleagues that we employ. To that end, we recently joined Guaranteed Irish and are a proud member of this important economic group of businesses contributing to and supporting the local economy.

The future is bright and we look forward to sharing this journey with our stakeholders.

Area Manager The Talbot Collection

INNOVATIVE AND RESPONSIVE “As our e-commerce store is based here within McCauley Redmond Square, we stock a huge range of products, which ensures we always have the stock needed to meet exacting customer demands,” says Store Manager Anne Devlin.

“As we all know, e-commerce is about being innovative. To that end, our buying team are always focused on sourcing the best, carefullyselected, new products for our customers across pharmacy, skincare, wellness, and beauty. Increasingly, with the growth in Irish-produced skincare, we have been delighted to showcase brands like Kinvara, Green Angel, and Pestle & Mortar, which are fabulous products, on our online store. We are also particularly proud, of course, of Holos Skincare, produced in Wexford, which we also stock on mccauley.ie.”

DIGITAL CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE E-commerce is a key part of our Christmas sales drive and, this year, our fabulous Christmas magazine was transformed into a digital customer experience magazine on our online store. This meant that our customers could click directly to products that interested them within the magazine, making their shopping experience seamless and easy, just what you need at this busy time.

We are looking forward to another busy year online and continuing to grow mccauley.ie, introducing new customers to our business across Ireland, and, of course, growing our Wexford customer base.

UPCOMING EVENTS Reaching out, connecting with others, advocating for County Wexford, highlighting new opportunities – these are at the heart of Chamber events in 2022.

Open Forum with Local Oireachtas Members

County Wexford Chamber Jobs Fair

Join us on February 24th in The National Opera House to meet with local members of the Oireachtas at our Open Forum event. This is an opportunity to advocate for enterprise in the county and to explore future opportunities for County Wexford.

You will also have an opportunity to question our local representatives during the Q&A session.

We are excited to announce our upcoming Jobs Fair on Friday and Saturday, April 1-2, 2022. With the number of vacancies available across many sectors in County Wexford, this weekend event will allow Chamber member businesses to showcase their employment opportunities on offer.

Doors will open from 6pm to allow an hour before the event for networking and light refreshments.

Given the significant interest in this event, please register your interest with jennifer@countywexfordchamber.ie. Additional information on stall sizes available will also be provided.

County Wexford Chamber Business Awards 2022 Our flagship event returns in Clayton Whites Hotel on Friday 27th May. Recognising the efforts County Wexford Businesses are making to thrive and succeed, the Awards celebrate those companies that stand out and excel in County Wexford.

The awards are open to all business operating or trading within County Wexford from all sectors, whether established or emerging, big, or small!

The independently judged Awards are an opportunity to gain great exposure and recognition whilst building your business profile.

Launch dates for application will begin 7th of March, we look forward to receiving your entries.

INSIDE WEXFORD BUSINESS | PAGE 21

All proceeds from this event will be donated to our charity partner for the night, Wexford Rape Crisis Centre

This event will occur just in time for businesses to highlight key roles ahead of the summer period. We will be running a national campaign on this event and attracting people from beyond County Wexford.

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BUILDING A BRIGHTER FUTURE TOGETHER FOCUSING ON MENTAL HEALTH INCLUSION

Creating a brighter future for employees, customers, and the communities it operates in underpins Zurich’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, writes Kathy Cahill, HR Business Partner, Zurich Ireland.

At Zurich, our aim is to nurture a culture where all of our employees feel included and comfortable, bringing your whole self and lived experience to work. To achieve this, we have made diversity and inclusion a business priority. We believe that embracing our differences and promoting inclusion across our business ultimately achieves better outcomes for everyone.

LISTENING, LEARNING, AND INSPIRING ACTION We have created a Diversity and Inclusion Forum which is sponsored by members of our executive team. Made up of employees from across our business, forum members work closely with senior leaders to embed people practices that support us in creating a brighter future for everyone. The forum is there to inspire and influence our diversity and inclusion agenda but also to help us hear what is important and valued by our employees.

Those from diverse backgrounds can face a lack of representation, unconscious bias, and other stressors that impact their mental health and psychological safety at work. Equally for some employees, the challenges of the past 18 months have affected their wellbeing. We have a strong record in this area with our Tackle Your Feelings mental wellbeing programme, developed in association with Rugby Players Ireland. We have continued to build on this by offering mental health first aid training to a panel of our employees, training our managers to raise awareness of how to support those with mental health concerns, as well as supporting our employee wellbeing resource group.

EMBRACING OUR DIFFERENCES We want people to reach their full potential, not despite their differences but because of them. To support this aim, for the first time, Zurich is partnering with Pride Dublin as well as ‘Cool to be Trans’, an organisation which is spearheaded by openly transgender woman Katie Neeves. We have pledged to sponsor and partner in this way to educate and increase knowledge and build meaningful ally and advocacy programmes for all employees. Partnerships are an important way for us to learn and demonstrate our support as we embed our approach to diversity and inclusion across the organisation.

While the past 18 months have taught us a lot, we continue to work to deliver our commitment on an inclusive work environment for all our employees. We are committed to building on our experience, continuing to engage with our employees and, most importantly, continuing to learn from each other about the differences that make us all unique. Diversity in our workplace brings diversity of thought, fuels our innovation, and also brings us closer to the customers and communities we serve.

90 jobs to follow from LEADER grants to Wexford businesses in 2021

The diverse range of supported businesses includes niche food producers, tourism attractions, creative industries, and specialised services. Examples include Carragh Paving, Coatek Ltd, Scúp Gelato, Bean and Goose Ltd, Lantern Events, Ceadogán Rugs, and Killiane Castle Honey. In summary, this grant aid is supporting the creation of 90 new jobs as well as sustaining 217 jobs in the county. This has a significant impact on the economy of County Wexford and highlights the success of LEADER in strengthening the rural economy and improving the quality of life in rural areas.

TRANSITIONAL LEADER PROGRAMME The current Transitional LEADER programme with a remaining budget of €1.3 million concludes at the end of this year.

Approximately 50% of this money will go to the business sector.

Grant aid of up to 75% of eligible costs (subject to a maximum grant of €100,000) is available to niche enterprises seeking to reach new markets, expand, innovate, and/or diversify in response to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit.

New and innovative projects in the areas of climate change, environmental protection, and the green economy are especially welcome. A particular focus is on projects to include tourism that have a capacity to sustain and create jobs and generate positive economic benefit.

CONTACT WLD

To discuss the potential grant opportunities for your business, contact the LEADER Enterprise team in Wexford Local Development: TOM BERMINGHAM, Gorey/Wexford/Rosslare Districts. E: tbermingham@wld.ie

HELENA DEMPSEY, New Ross/Enniscorthy Districts. E: hdempsey@wld.ie

INSIDE WEXFORD BUSINESS | PAGE 23

During 2021, Wexford Local Community Development Committee (LCDC), in partnership with Wexford Local Development, awarded LEADER grant aid of more than €1 million to 22 businesses across the county.

BUSINESS UPDATE Make 2022 The Year of Sustainability for Your Business With all the buzz around COP26 at the end of last year, 2022 is set to be a year where sustainability and environmental performance will become a must when it comes to staying competitive as a business. How can you make this a key part of your business model in the year ahead?

EcoMerit is happy to share some tips on this, drawing on our 12 years of experience working in this sector with a wide range of enterprises. We have seen EcoMerit members achieve some impressive results with average carbon emissions reductions of 9% per annum yearon-year, amounting to over 60% over 10 years (see performance graph). These improvements in resource efficiency and environmental performance are not just good for the planet, they are good for business - members of our community save an average of €10,000 in costs in their first year alone.

SUPPORT: Help is out there! Look at what technical and financial support is available- understanding what is best for your business may not be easy, so professional support can help you choose the best options – and avoid costly mistakes.

COMMUNICATE: If you are taking action towards making your business more sustainable this should be shouted from the rooftops- people want to know! Whether it’s on your website, social media, your business newsletter, or a press release to local news media, don’t be shy and get the message out there.

EcoMerit is proud to be a Wexford-based business. We are delighted that Brendan Crowley of Wexford Bus (an EcoMerit member) is the President of the Chamber.

THE ECOMERIT APPROACH The EcoMerit approach has a number of key elements, outlined below: COMMIT: The most important first step is to make a commitment to act. Develop and share a short statement stating this commitment, then get going.

Our latest certified members Tom McCarthy of Park 100 receiving the EcoMerit Certificate from Phil Walker of EcoMerit with Cllr Leonard Kelly in attendance.

Analyse your use of energy, water and waste – start with you your utility bills. Then look at the main areas of consumption.

Tom McCarthy of Park 100 had this to say on achieving EcoMerit Certification:

PLAN: Make a practical plan on how to reduce the amount of resources you are using. Look at this as a long-term project- what can be done immediately, and what can be done over a 5-year period.

INSIDE WEXFORD BUSINESS | PAGE 24

IMPLEMENT: Get stuck in and start making changes in line with your plan.

MEASURE: This is a vital step. Measure what effect your actions are having. For example, compare your utility bills after year 1 with what they were at the start.

REVIEW AND CONTINUE: What do your measurements tell you? Are your actions having an effect? Review what’s working and what’s not and optimise your action plan. It’s important to be persistent- some actions take time to yield results, but in the end, we’ve seen that those that that keep at it are rewarded with the biggest improvements (think in terms of 5 years).

“At Park 100 we pride ourselves on being at the forefront of technological innovations within the Fire and Security Industry. Now we can also take pride in being part of the EcoMerit Community at the forefront of working together to continually improve the impact our businesses have on the environment through monitoring and improvement plans. It is imperative that we all take responsibility and do our bit to promote sustainability to preserve our environment for future generations.”

For further information please contact brendan@ecomerit. ie and see our website www.ecomerit.ie

TIME FOR ACTION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS IS HERE

A new toolkit from Chambers Ireland will help businesses integrate SDGs into daily operations In 2019, Chambers Ireland and its network of local Chambers placed the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the heart of their long-term strategy. Now, at the start of 2022, society is less than eight years away from the deadline for reaching the targets across all the goals.

Along with all United Nations countries, Ireland must report on its progress on reaching the goals. If Ireland is to stand any chance of achieving these goals, it needs businesses to get active on building sustainability and the ethos behind the SDGs into their operations and their strategy.

It is important to provide a clear and accessible path for businesses of all sizes to participate in our efforts as a country towards building a more sustainable future. To assist with this, Chambers Ireland and local Chambers have released an extensive SDG Toolkit for Business to encourage employers of every size to advance their sustainability journey by integrating the SDGs into their day-to-day activities. The Toolkit for Business provides advice on simple ways businesses can incorporate small changes into how they operate to engage with sustainability, gender equality, and how they engage their staff in the process.

Each SDG links to different aspects of our everyday lives – both within and outside of the workplace – and the smallest change we make can be linked to numerous Goals. The SDG Toolkit gives simple tips on how employees can make a difference in their normal daily activities. Whether you have a good understanding of the SDGs or are just beginning to learn about them and wish to know more, this Toolkit provides ideas on how you can make an impact.

BENEFITS TO BUSINESS You might still ask: What benefits might come from aligning my business with the SDGs? Companies that have committed to incorporating specific Goals into

their business practices and policies report that they experience far-reaching benefits across their business, such as: •

Boosting their profit margins and making savings across their business

•

Gaining greater trust among their customers

•

Winning new contracts by appealing to businesses looking to implement a more sustainable supply chain

•

Improving employee retention by working towards a common goal

•

Increasing feelings of stability by developing sustainable plans for the future

•

Growing their customer base by attracting sustainably-minded consumers

•

Improving performance as management and staff work with a greater sense of purpose

•

Strengthening relationships with staff, key stakeholders, and partners

The Toolkit was based on significant contributions from the Sustainable Business Council (SBC), a Chambers Ireland-led group of experts in the areas of sustainability, citizenship, and diversity from across the nongovernmental organisation (NGO) and corporate sectors.

The Chambers Ireland SDG Toolkit for Business is available from your local chamber.

INSIDE WEXFORD BUSINESS | PAGE 25

SDG TOOLKIT FOR BUSINESS

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CHAMBER SERVICES

€460,000 in County Wexford Chamber Vouchers Bought Over Festive Period

More than €460,000 in County Wexford Chamber vouchers were bought over the Christmas period.

This will have a significant impact on businesses as it ensures that money will stay in the local economy and protect local jobs. This is particularly significant given the impact that Covid-19 has had on many businesses.

LOCAL SUPPORT The pandemic has shown the resilience and strength of businesses throughout County Wexford and has made people

become more aware of the fantastic businesses we have on our doorstep. County Wexford Chamber had encouraged people to shop locally and support local businesses during the festive season and throughout 2021. We would hope that this continues on an upward trajectory in 2022.

The spend on Chamber Vouchers shows that the people of County Wexford stood behind their local businesses and supported local at a time when businesses needed it the most.

LOCAL BENEFITS County Wexford Chamber vouchers are accepted in over 250 participating outlets across Gorey, New Ross, and Wexford.

County Wexford Chamber would like to thank everyone who participated in the Shop Local initiative and purchased Shop Local Vouchers.

From individual customers to businesses of all sizes, your contribution has a multiplier effect in our local communities that benefits businesses, jobs, and the local economy. The best gift you gave, not only at Christmas but throughout the year, was to continue your commitment to support your local community, keeping it busy all year round.

Certificates of Origin available at County Wexford Chamber

CHAMBER DOCUMENTATION EXPORT SERVICES A Certificate of Origin is a document attesting that goods in a particular export shipment are wholly obtained or produced or manufactured or processed in a particular country. The type of Certificate required varies according to the destination of the goods, e.g., member States of the Arab League require an Arab-Irish Certificate of Origin.

HERE TO HELP Denise, who oversees our exportation services, specialises in Certificates of Origin applications for businesses that require the certificates to prove the origin of goods and satisfy customs or trade requirements.

Our export documentation service is available to Chamber members and non-members. If you have any queries about the process of obtaining a Certificate of Origin, we are always on hand to help and share our expertise.

For more information, contact us on 053 912 2226 or email denise@countywexfordchamber.ie.

INSIDE WEXFORD BUSINESS | PAGE 27

County Wexford Chamber is officially authorised by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and Chambers Ireland to issue and certify Certificates of Origin to a wide range of businesses across County Wexford.

CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF THE PUBLIC TRANSPORT SECTOR

As part of the broad range of Covid related restrictions, capacity on public transport was limited to 25% of normal, meaning for most coaches the maximum permitted capacity was 13 seats. The restrictions were amongst the most stringent imposed globally and was something of an outlier with most of our European neighbours opting for mandatory use of facemasks only.

Arguably the fact that demand dropped so low during peak Covid, made those restrictions somewhat redundant and unwarranted. At the same time, the Government, was aware that at certain times of the day, the reduced capacity on buses and trains would impact on frontline workers who depended on such services to commute to and from work.

To avoid this problem other non-essential journeys were to be discouraged.

INSIDE WEXFORD BUSINESS | PAGE 28

Subsequently, public health messages included advice to “avoid using public transport”. This choice of wording of the message resulted in an unintended consequence, by creating the perception that the use of public transport was inherently unsafe.

Throughout the crisis the HPSC (Health Protection Surveillance Centre) regularly reported on Covid 19 statistics including identified sources of infection. Since the start of reporting, the number of cases associated with transport has always remained very low. Protective measures including mandatory wearing of face masks, enhanced vehicle cleaning regimes, the installation of protective screens and the introduction of cashless payments may have all contributed to those positive results.

All restrictions except for the requirement to wear face coverings were removed from public transport services in August 2021, bus since then usage of public transport has been slow to recover and demand remains significantly below the pre-covid levels while at the same time the number of private car journeys on

key corridors including the M50 and the M11 are now greater than they were preCovid.

However, the outlook is not all gloomy.

Government policies including Carbon Budgets, that are key requirements to help tackle the existential climate emergency, requires us to reduce the reliance on private cars and so public transport is being prioritised. A big push is on to encourage modal shift. This means leaving the car and using public transport for journeys beyond the reach of walking or cycling. At the same time, massive investment is being targeted at electrifying public transport and where that’s not possible, alternative less carbon emitting fuels are being developed and deployed.

There are still many technical challenges.

Buses capable of provide urban services are developing at a rapid pace with many cities across Europe already close to 100% electric fleets. It makes sense to start with cities for many reasons including population density, the shorter length of journeys and that fact that city and transport authorities can bring together the various stakeholders to ensure the necessary supporting infrastructure is funded and facilitated. Progress across Ireland will be much slower. The 80% of the nation’s fleet numbering over 9,000 vehicles is operated on a commercial basis by companies of various size .

Considering the electric vehicle are currently costing double their diesel equivalent, the capital costs may be beyond the reach of many smaller companies and this is before the costs of the necessary supporting infrastructure is considered.

Industry leaders such as Volvo and Daimler Mercedes have pooled their resources to find solutions and alternatives to Diesel power for the larger vehicles including long-distance coaches and the HGV sectors. They expect to deliver a Hydrogen based solution by 2027. The reality is that it will likely be post 2030 before we see electric or hydrogen fuelled coaches entering service in any significant numbers.

Meanwhile, before we reach that point, it is important to recognise that modern coaches are already playing their part in reducing harmful emissions. Most obvious is the fact that one coach can replace on average 55 private car journeys. What’s not widely understood is that a coach operating to the latest emissions standards for new vehicles, Euro VI, is less polluting than a single average diesel car. You may ask how is this possible? Well, the fact is that the exhaust systems are designed to remove most of the harmful gases and fine particles that are harmful to health from the vehicle’s exhaust emissions.

This technology is expensive, in fact the exhaust system alone of a modern coach, costs more than an average family car.

The government acknowledges that private cars will remain a key mode of transport in rural Ireland where public transport alternatives are not readily available. But, when it comes to your next journey along a corridor or route where services are available, what choice will you make?

Brendan Crowley Wexford Bus

EXPANSION PLANS FOR SCURRI Scurri continues to grow, with €9 million in new investment secured, growth in the UK market, and a new HQ in Wexford town set to open this year.

Scurri optimises shipping and deliveries for online retailers by providing them with access to multiple delivery options from parcel shippers. This helps our customers to reduce costs, resources, and, of course, time.

Growing from a small team of six working as a start-up in the heart of Wexford town, Scurri has now scaled up to become a strong and creative team of 50 employees who have developed Scurri to where it is today. But it doesn’t stop there.

We are now at a very exciting stage of growth where we have recently secured a €9 million investment. This means we have the capacity to triple our workforce over the next one to two years as we plan to accelerate growth in the UK market, and continue to drive success for our customers such as eBay, An Post, and Vision Direct, to name a few.

GROWTH DURING PANDEMIC The ongoing global pandemic has had a noteworthy impact on Scurri as we have experienced a significant increase in demand for delivery management software. Due to this growth, we are seeing quite the advancement in the UK market in terms of online penetration, which means we now need to boost our growth and investment plans. Our market-leading delivery management platform, commended for its highly intuitive API

dashboard, is well positioned in a thriving space and we are excited to see where it takes us.

BUILDING THE TEAM In order to achieve this, it is key for Scurri to welcome many more energetic, problem-solving and creative people to join our team and become a key member of Scurri’s exciting journey.

Getting great people through the doors at Scurri is something that we need to invest in to achieve our targets for the future of delivery management.

Scurri currently ranks as one of the world’s top 40 new technology companies, with “best-in-class” hybrid working facilities. We have been recognised as one of the best places to work for the last three years. In 2021, we shipped over €10.5 billion in goods.

And we are in the process of developing a new modern HQ in the heart of Wexford town. Designed to promote hybrid and flexible working, the new HQ is set to be ready in August of this year.

Scurri is in a very exciting space now more than ever, and we look forward to continuing to help ecommerce merchants navigate the world of online shopping with an empowered workforce made up of an innovative and growing team.

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Tel: 053 9144835 Email: info@graphedia.ie 6 Carrigeen Street, Wexford

Progress Na

Grants up to €5,000 CNG Vehicle Grant Scheme open for applications

Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) is a cleaner and proven alternative to diesel and petrol for trucks, buses and vans.

INSIDE WEXFORD BUSINESS | PAGE 30

Gas Networks Ireland is providing grants of up to €5,000 * per vehicle to support Irish fleet operators and hauliers to make the sustainable transition to CNG and reduce their carbon footprint. Grants can be used towards the costs of vehicles registered from 2020.

Contact us to start your journey today Email: greenconnect@gasnetworks.ie Learn more at www.gasnetworks.ie/cngvehiclegrant Co-financed by the Connecting Europe Facility of the European Union

* Subject to availability of funds, vehicle category and terms and conditions of the CNG Vehicle Grant Scheme