Fingal Network Magazine (2021 Issue 2)

02/2021

A COFFEE CUP HALF FULL Managing director of Java Republic Grace O’Shaughnessy on future international growth FROM SURVIVE TO THRIVE Tourism & hospitality businesses on their future HARD WON LESSONS HELP WEATHER THE STORM How Frontline Security faced its latest crisis WORK, FAMILY AND COMMUNITY VALUES With regional vice president of one4all Jock Jordan

www.fingalchamber.ie

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IN THIS ISSUE

Credits Editor: John Stanley Design: Design Minds Production Manager: David Branagan Sales Manager: Shay Burke Managing Editor: Anthony Cooney

Welcome Address: Collaboration and Cooperation

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Executive Assessment: What will the ‘new normal’ really look like?

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Fingal Network Magazine is published by Fingal Chamber.

As the country nears the end of the initial vaccination period Chief Executive Anthony Cooney wonders what the “new normal” will really look like for employers and employees. He also reflects on the importance of members sticking together at this challenging time of re-starting for many businesses.

Fingal Business News

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The Big Interview: Grace O’Shaughnessy – a coffee cup half full person

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Roundtable Discussion: Tourism & hospitality have exciting futures ahead

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Representing Business in Fingal

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Your Chamber Council: Jim Wylie

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A message from Fingal County Council

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‘Stay calm and look for new opportunities’

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Fingal Chamber, 2 The Green, Dublin Airport Central, Dublin Airport, Co. Dublin.

Tel. (01) 890 0977 Email. info@fingalchamber.ie Web. www.fingalchamber.ie

Chamber President Andrea Molloy discusses the reopening of industries, developing meaningful partnerships and supporting our communities as we move forward.

Java Republic MD Grace O’Shaughnessy, Fingal Chamber’s 2019 Business Person of the Year, talks about why she continues to be optimistic about the prospects for her company’s future international growth.

Guy Thompson, General Manager, Castleknock Hotel, Tariq Salahuddin, owner of Indie Spice Restaurant Ltd and Alison Lynch, co-founder of Blink Coffee Shop, discuss the impact of the pandemic on the way people work and how the resulting changes in customer behaviour could affect revenues and business models, the likely pace of recovery for their sectors and the supports needed to ensure that tourism and hospitality thrive in the future.

An insight into HR specialist and Council Member Jim Wylie, who identifies the ways in which the pandemic has affected the recruitment market and where it is headed now.

Hard-won lessons from previous crises have helped Frontline Security weather the storm and it now sees very good times ahead.

Refer a Colleague or Business Talent for a New World of Work

Skillnet Ireland on ensuring that businesses can maximise the opportunities ahead by being equipped with the skills they need in the face of accelerating digital transformation and climate action.

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Industry Review: Transport and Logistics 24 As a membership organisation the more businesses who join the stronger Mark Tracey, Commercial Director of Ace Express Freight, and Terry Allen, co-founder, owner and director of Hawthorn Logistics, both Chamberwe members, explain theappreciate background to the “perfect storm”referral that has hit the network becomes, therefore would your of their industry. prospective members.

My Week in Work: Jock Jordan

Regional Vice President of One4all and former Fingal Chamber President Jock Jordan describes how he juggles a busy working life with his commitment to family and community values.

Please visit the webpage listed below and provide the information Chamber Update: Amazon with Web Services requested and we willPartner be in contact your referral regarding the AWS illustrate the impact its investment in developing data centres and services for over a decade had Fingal in Fingal. benefitshasof Chamber membership. Thank you!

Material published in this journal is not necessarily endorsed by Fingal Chamber. All rights reserved.

Reproduction by any means without permission of the publisher is prohibited. 2021.

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Meet the Team: Shay Burke

Responsible for developing the membership of Fingal Chamber, Shay Burke extolls the virtues of member-to-member contact, whether that’s through face-to-face or online meetings.

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Call: +353 01 870 2600 Email: sales@ace-express.com

ISSUE 2 - AUGUST 2021

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ISSUE 2 - AUGUST 2021

COLLABORATION AND COOPERATION pickup in activity around the terminal buildings. As a small open economy, celebrated for the ‘Céad Míle Fáilte’ or ‘a hundred thousand welcomes’ of our people, it is incredibly important for Fingal, and indeed the whole of island’s tourism sector, that we increase the number of visitors we welcome here in a safe manner.

Welcome back to the second edition of the Fingal Network Magazine where we cover a range of business supports, showcase the diverse businesses and industries in Fingal, and highlight interesting economic activity taking place across the region. The feedback we received following the first edition was really positive, so I would like to congratulate the team on their efforts in launching this new publication.

FINGAL CHAMBER - NETWORK MAGAZINE

The pandemic and its consequences are still very much with us. Confirmation by Government that it will extend key COVID supports for businesses and employees impacted by the pandemic has been needed and will come as a relief to those who continue to experience significant uncertainty.

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In the previous edition I spoke about the importance of resilience and working together as a community to make the most of opportunities available. I feel that now we are moving on, and thought I would concentrate on the positive indicators we are seeing, on collaboration to support business, and our community involvement.

Thankfully the summer months have brought a slightly brighter future for many of the people and businesses most affected by the pandemic. The recent resumption of indoor dining is another big milestone as society and the economy adapts to living with Covid-19. Following what felt like never-ending setbacks, the return comes at a crucial time for businesses as they do their best to get up and running to make the most of the end of the summer. The Chamber has had a particular focus on supporting the hospitality and tourism industries and you can read the roundtable discussion feature with some of our members in this edition.

As someone who works in the Maldron Hotel on the Dublin Airport Campus, it is fantastic to see the recent

In 2019, Dublin Airport was setting passenger record numbers month after month. The sooner we can get incoming tourist numbers back up the better it will be for everyone in the affected industries, from aviation to hospitality and related services.

Fingal Chamber is part of a collaborative group called The Greater Dublin Chamber Alliance which comprises four of Ireland’s foremost Chambers, Fingal Chamber, South Dublin Chamber, County Kildare Chamber and Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Chamber.

The Fingal Chamber Community Fund is targeted at supporting communities on developing initiatives in a variety of categories such as environmental and sustainability, health and wellbeing, and social inclusion and community development.

Over the summer the Greater Dublin Chamber Alliance agreed a new strategic partnership with Adare Human Resource Management to provide expert advice and guidance to support members with the safe return to the workplace.

Financed by supporters and contributions from the Chamber itself, the fund is set up to award small grants of between €1,000 and €5,000 yearly.

During the summer, the Chamber Chief Executive and I took a trip to the wonderful Skerries Mills tourist attraction to meet with the newly elected Mayor of Fingal Cllr Seána Ó’Rodaigh.

Councillor Seána Ó Rodaigh, represents the Balbriggan Local Electoral Area, and was first elected as a councillor in 2019, and is based in Skerries, where she works as a teacher.

The Mayor of Fingal shared her vision for her time in the role and discussed some of her keen areas of interest such as mental health services and the arts.

Cllr Ó Rodaigh expressed how she wants to ensure that we re-emerge from the lockdown as a better, more inclusive society and hopes the community spirit witnessed over the past 16 months will carry on. Cllr Ó Rodaigh also noted some of the recent positive changes such as remote working and new microenterprises with a local community focus.

WHAT WILL THE ‘NEW NORMAL’ REALLY LOOK LIKE?

We briefed the Mayor on the recent collaboration projects between the Chamber and the Local Authority, and also offered assistance, where appropriate, to Cllr Ó Rodaigh during her tenure.

We also engaged with the Minister of State at the Department of Rural and Community Development with special responsibility for Community Development and Charities, Joe O’Brien TD for a special online event to announce over €15,000 in grants to community-led projects and activities under the new Fingal Chamber Community Fund.

We’ve seen in recent weeks how fluid the current situation is, and the impact Government decisions are having on businesses. Employers are faced with so many challenges, including ensuring the future viability of their business and knowing that members have expert HR, employment law and health and safety advice available to them will provide support when they need it most.

EXECUTIVE ASSESSMENT:

Despite being in its first year, the Fingal Chamber Community Fund was heavily oversubscribed, receiving over 120 submissions collectively requesting more than €365,000. The Chamber received applications from voluntary community groups, established clubs, local charities, and residents’ associations from local communities, amongst other organisations.

A total of 11 grants have been paid out to fund activities including a coaching cultural awareness project, a girls’ football academy, a gender diversity programme for local radio, ambulance equipment, and a youth employability programme.

We recently received the outcome reports on these projects and the impact they have made in our communities has been fantastic. I urge any business who would like to get involved in supporting this work, to please contact us to see how we can make an even greater impact together. For more information, please visit www.fingalchamber.ie/community As the Chamber has been active in collaborating with key partners and supporting community group with their commendable work, I believe this collaborative and cooperative is important approach going forward, not only for the Chamber, but for all businesses.

Andrea Molloy President

But with high levels of vaccination, the end of the pandemic is drawing ever closer and businesses are going to have make medium and longer-term decisions about their operations. It is becoming clearer by the day, for example, that for many people and for all sorts of a reasons, a “normal” five-day week will become a distant memory. Some will face redundancy and that is an unfortunate reality to be faced up to as business and employment supports are withdrawn over time.

With the benefit of hindsight we can now see that, in relative terms, “lockdown” was the easy part of the pandemic. Against the background of huge fear and uncertainty about the future in March 2020 we had little difficulty embracing the notion that “we’re all in this together”. Indeed, it has been that sense of community and mutual support which has helped us get through this difficult period.

Now, however, we have reached a point of significant change. Trying to return to normality, both in business and in our personal lives, represents both huge challenges and huge opportunities. One of the difficulties for businesses is to identify what the “new normal” will look like and what changes to their strategies and day-to-day operational activities will be required to meet these needs.

As both Grace O’Shaughnessy and Jock Jordan note in this issue, their companies have survived and even managed to thrive during lockdown by focussing on the immediate tasks to ensure continued viability.

As Grace puts it: “We called each month as it came, making decisions relative to the business needs at that time based on the data and information to hand.

That gave us a sense of small, bite-sized chunks we could deal with.”

Many people will continue to work from home (WFH), as they have done for the past 18 months and, while this will suit some, it may not suit others. The social aspect of the workplace, the sense of collegiality and purpose it generates and the creativity that is so often sparked through being beside people in the same space are all aspects that are impossible to replace.

That said, having fewer colleagues to work with is likely to result in more work being thrust on the shoulders of those who are there. It will also be interesting to see how extensively a “hybrid” approach is adopted by those businesses for which it can work and what that does in terms of cost structures. And for those business with employees WFH overseas – which somewhat paradoxically includes Northern Ireland post-Brexit – there are still complex income tax and social welfare issues that need to be sorted out.

So coming out of COVID-19 businesses will have to adapt and change the way they do things or they will find it difficult to survive. Furthermore, they will have to adapt to the new world very quickly. They can expect customers to be at least as demanding as they were before, if not actually more so.

In this new environment networking “person-toperson” is going to be more important than ever.

Following the long period of enforced separation and having spent so much time using technology as a means of communicating, I know that business people will want to engage more than ever “personto-person” with existing /prospective clients and business partners. That is one thing that has not changed in all this: People want to do business with people they know, they like and they trust. Systems do “transactional business’ but it is people who make business really happen.

So for anyone engaged in B2B activity, the old-reliable

of meeting face-to-face will be the “new approach” to doing business! Here at Fingal Chamber we have a comprehensive series of “In Person” events planned for Q4 and beyond ( subject, of course, to Government restrictions allowing, which I am optimistic they will) to help pave the way.

I’m delighted to say that at Fingal Chamber we are here, ready to help our members thrive and prosper in this brave new world. Our resumed “live” networking events will be important in this. We know, too, that many staff will have to be retrained, re-skilled and upskilled and we are ready and willing to play an active part in this through our Fingal Chamber Skillnet.

We will also provide support through our continued advocacy with local and national government around issues that are important to the continued well-being of our members.

In relation to local government, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Fingal County Council on what they have achieved over the past 18 months. They have played what might be termed the “proverbial blinder” in the way they have managed to continue to provide their current suite of services.

They have also played a highly pro-active role in ensuring, to the best of their ability, that our region’s tourism & hospitality businesses have been able to trade throughout this time. And last, but not least, I congratulate them on the level of supports they have provided and the speed at which they applied them on behalf of central government.

In conclusion I would simply point out that as we come out of lockdown and prepare for what comes next, the potential value of membership of Fingal Chamber to our members is arguably greater than it has ever been in our history. Sticking together, supporting each other, makes us 100 times stronger.

Anthony Cooney Chief Executive

FINGAL CHAMBER - NETWORK MAGAZINE

WELCOME ADDRESS:

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FINGAL BUSINESS NEWS Fingal Chamber announces Community Fund grant recipients as it supports community groups and project Fingal Chamber awarded over €15,000 to community-led projects and activities under the new Fingal Chamber Community Fund, with the announcement made at a special online event with Minister Joe O’Brien.

The report, The Dublin-Belfast Economic Corridor: Current Profile, Potential for Recovery & Opportunities for Cooperation, states that this is an opportune time to create a north-south Economic Corridor given the challenges the region faces as it comes to terms with the impact of the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union and the COVID-19 pandemic.

24/03/2021

Skillnet Ireland and ministers Harris and Ryan launch ‘Climate Ready’ programme Developed to support Government’s Climate Action Plan and the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill, Climate Ready will offer Irish businesses the practical skills and insights they need to respond to climate change and to manage the challenges and opportunities transitioning to a lowcarbon economy presents.

Financed by supporters and contributions from the Chamber itself, the fund is set up to award small grants of between €1,000 and €5,000 yearly.

Despite being in its first year, the Fingal Chamber Community Fund was heavily oversubscribed, receiving over 120 submissions collectively requesting more than €365,000. The Chamber received applications from voluntary community groups, established clubs, local charities, and residents’ associations from local communities, amongst other organisations.

A total of 11 grants was paid to groups and the funded activities will include a coaching cultural awareness project, a girls’ football academy, a gender diversity programme for local radio, ambulance equipment, and a youth employability programme. 19/03/2021

FINGAL CHAMBER - NETWORK MAGAZINE

Fingal to be part of Dublin Belfast Economic Corridor

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Fingal County Council is one of eight local authorities from either side of the border which came together to launch the Dublin Belfast Economic Corridor in response to challenges facing the region, which have been identified by a joint report from Dublin City University and Ulster University.

Climate Ready sees Skillnet Ireland partner with Chambers Ireland, Wind Energy Ireland, Sustainable Finance Ireland and Central Solutions to support over 1,100 companies and 3,000 workers throughout Ireland in its first year. Leveraging Skillnet Ireland’s experience in delivering upskilling and management development to 18,000 businesses annually, Climate Ready will offer several pathways for businesses to build sustainable operating models and develop green talent. 7/04/2021

Fingal County Council elects new Mayor and Deputy Mayor for 2021/22 Councillor Seána Ó Rodaigh of the Labour Party was elected as Mayor of Fingal at the annual meeting of Fingal County Council which was held at the Grand Hotel, Malahide. Cllr Daniel Whooley of the Green Party was elected as Deputy Mayor.

ISSUE 2 - AUGUST 2021

Cllr Ó Rodaigh, who represents the Balbriggan Local Electoral Area, was first elected as a councillor in 2019.

Based in Skerries, she works as a teacher in St Patrick’s Senior National School in the town.

in funding under the Connected Hubs Scheme – a key deliverable of Our Rural Future.

The grant of €75,000 secured by Base Enterprise Centre will compliment investment already being made in the centre to upgrade its facilities and make the space within the centre more accessible and suitable to remote workers, start-up businesses and established business in the Fingal area.

This is the seventh time a woman has led Fingal County Council since the formation of the Council in 1994 and Cllr Ó Rodaigh is the third woman to be elected as Mayor since the position was established in 2006.

Cllr Whooley, who represents the Ongar Electoral Area, has been an elected member since 2019. He is a student at TUD Blanchardstown where he is studying Cybersecurity. 18/06/2021

Implementation Group set up to oversee delivery of Fingal Skills Strategy A Fingal Skills Strategy Implementation Group has been set-up to deliver the objectives of the Fingal Skills Strategy, which was published in 2019. The Group is chaired by Siobhan Kinsella, former President of both Chambers Ireland and Fingal Chamber and a director at the Noel Recruitment Group. Ms Kinsella was also Chairperson of the Fingal Skills Strategy Advisory Group which originally produced the Fingal Skills Strategy, the first of its kind in Ireland.

Greater Dublin Chamber Alliance has announced a strategic partnership with Adare Human Resource Management, one of Ireland’s leading HR, Employment Law and Health & Safety consultancies. The partnership will ensure Chamber members have access to expert human resource management advice on an ongoing basis and support businesses focus on reopening safely. 7/7/2021

Fingal Chamber officers meet with the new Mayor of Fingal Fingal Chamber held its first meeting with the newlyelected Mayor of Fingal Cllr Seána Ó’Rodaigh at the Skerries Mills tourist attraction during the summer.

The funding provided will enhance remote working infrastructure at the existing Broadband Connection Points in the Liam Rogers, Applewood, Tyrellstown and Luttrelstown Fingal Community Centres. These centres will provide a space for local businessmen and women, students and entrepreneurs to work remotely within their locality in a safe friendly welcoming environment. The funding will allow for the installation of workstations, screens and technology upgrades to enhance these facilities. 23/7/2021

Fingal County Council welcomes New Street Malahide decision

The Implementation Group brings together representatives from education and training providers, employers and industry, government agencies and Fingal County Council to ensure that Fingal has the right skills for the future.

The Implementation Group is starting to implement the recommendations of the Fingal Skills Strategy, taking a fresh approach in light of the post-Covid-19 environment, and will support and actively promote ongoing engagement between enterprise and industry and education and training providers, as well as Fingal County Council. 5/7/2021

Strategic partnership to support Greater Dublin Chamber Alliance members’ return to the workplace As business owners start returning employees back to the workplace, they face new challenges as a result of Covid-19. Employee vaccinations, remote working and a renewed focus on employee health and safety are some of the issues facing employers.

In order to support more than 2,000 businesses, the

The Mayor of Fingal shared her vision for her time in the role and discussed some of her keen areas of interest such as mental health services and the arts.

Cllr Ó Rodaigh expressed how she wants to ensure that we re-emerge from the lockdown as a better, more inclusive society and hopes the community spirit witnessed over the past 16 months will carry on. Cllr Ó Rodaigh also noted some of the recent positive changes such as remote working and new microenterprises with a local community focus.

Fingal Chamber Chief Executive, Anthony Cooney and President, Andrea Molloy briefed the Mayor on the recent collaboration projects between the Chamber and the Local Authority, and also offered assistance, where appropriate, to Cllr Ó Rodaigh during her tenure.

20/7/2021

Fingal County Council welcomes Funding under Connected Hubs Scheme Fingal County Council is delighted to welcome €115k funding under the #OurRuralFuture Connected Hubs Scheme which will help to facilitate remote working.

Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD, announced over €8.8 million

Fingal County Council welcomes the High Court decision to refuse an application for an injunction to reverse the pedestrianisation of New Street in Malahide. The judicial review proceedings are to be dealt with at a later date.

The Council pedestrianised New Street to provide a safe outdoor space which facilitated social distancing and outdoor dining in line with Government policy and NPHET recommendations around living with Covid-19. The result was a safe environment for the community to enjoy and go about their daily business, an opportunity for local businesses to operate under Covid-19 conditions and a Pedestrian Friendly, Age Friendly, Family Friendly and Cyclist Friendly Zone.

The Council is currently considering permanent public realm enhancements at New Street for the benefit

of the community and business. The Council has already committed to further consultation in this regard. 11/08/2021

Fingal towns and villages to benefit from new streetscape enhancement funding from the Department of Rural & Community Development Fingal County Council has been awarded €260,000 in funding by the Department of Rural and Community Development under the new Town and Village Streetscape Enhancement Scheme 2021. This Scheme is providing €7 million nationally as part of Our Rural Future, a five-year strategy to revitalise rural Ireland and make our rural towns and villages more vibrant and attractive places to live, work and visit.

The funding aims to support the upgrade of shopfronts and building facades and the enhancement of streets and open space through painting, artwork, murals, signage replacement/removal, street furniture, lighting and planting in five towns and villages in Fingal. 13/08/2021

Fingal Chamber hosts its first live networking event since the pandemic began at the Shoreline Hotel terrace Following the cancellation of the 2020 edition due to restrictions associated with the pandemic, the Chamber was delighted to welcome members back to the annual Chamber Summer BBQ at the recently renovated Shoreline Hotel, Donabate.

Members once again had the opportunity to meet and network face to face in a laid-back environment.

The limited capacity outdoor event was held subject to COVID-19 restrictions and guidelines.

Attendees savoured the fine food from the complimentary classic BBQ with stunning views of the Fingal coastline from the Shoreline Hotel’s beachside terrace, while at the same time enjoyed a complimentary glass of wine or prosecco in the evening sun. 26/08/2021

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ISSUE 2 - AUGUST 2021

ISSUE 2 - AUGUST 2021

“We’re not just a coffee roaster or provider, we are partner to our clients. I work in a very passionate industry, with passionate people and a superb product offering, and we strive to position Java Republic as a thought leader in the coffee market” – Grace O’Shaughnessy, MD, Java Republic.

THE BIG INTERVIEW:

GRACE O’SHAUGHNESSY – A COFFEE CUP HALF FULL PERSON Java Republic MD Grace O’Shaughnessy, Fingal Chamber’s 2019 Business Person of the Year, reflects on the lessons of COVID for business, why she continues to be optimistic about the prospects for future international growth, and the vital role the Chamber and its members can play in helping each other navigate these turbulent times.

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Grace O’Shaughnessy joined Java Republic from Lir Chocolates in 2006 and became its MD two years later. In this role she has steered the company through times of expansion, times of contraction brought about by the Global Financial Crisis, and the subsequent development of the company as a strong all-island business. Most recently she has been involved in the acquisition of Java Republic by the Spanish private company Cafento, which has ambitious plans to support the Irish company’s growth further afield.

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O’Shaughnessy is a coffee cup half-full kind of person.

“When we entered 2020 little did we know that come March we’d be experiencing something for which no textbook has been written. Then, like most people, we thought lockdown might last for perhaps two months.

Now, with the benefit of hindsight, we can see that while the last year and more has been a challenge in many ways it has also brought opportunities and we’ve genuinely been encouraged by some of the changes we’ve seen.”

Explaining the company’s response to the pandemic she says: “Personally I’m very structured about how I approach things. The one thing I’ve learned is to take stock and avoid panic. So we talked daily, identified what we needed to do to ensure viability, identified where we could refocus and spent a lot of

time retraining our people, innovating new products and coffees in the market, while remaining open and supporting our customers throughout the country.

“We called each month as it came, making decisions relative to the business needs at that time based on the data and information to hand. That gave us a sense of small, bite-sized chunks we could deal with and even though we’ve been largely socially distanced, a sense of communication and engagement with all our colleagues has been absolutely key. Even now we are still navigating point-to-point, gathering as much info as we can, staying calm and collected, communicating with transparency and ensuring that we remain agile.”

Having built the business nationally through distributors, latterly it has bought out that distribution network, with the final acquisition completed last October. This has given the company its own direct presence on the ground in all 32 counties supported by a full complement of sales, administration and service personnel with a view to getting closer to customers on the ground in understanding their needs and how the company can better support them in in a competitive market space.

“We have a number of strategic pillars for the business and all the pandemic really did was to pause activity

on some of those pillars,” O’Shaughnessy says. “That happened May and June last year when we realised we were dealing with something that was going to go on for much longer than we’d envisaged. So then we honed in on some really critical areas that presented immediate opportunities for us to develop.

“Then, as we moved into August and September we recognised that this was going to continue into 2021, so we tightened the strategy even further. We determined that 2021 would be a year of recovery and would be unlikely to see a return to normality, or to a ‘new normal,’ until at least 2022 at the earliest.

So earlier this year we signed off our recovery plan but again the core strategy remained the same and what we’re doing is honing in on specific elements of that strategy.

“And as we move towards the end of this year we’ll review that again and tweak things further. But the fundamental point is that the plan is there, our strategy is written. We haven’t changed our product, our offering or our support services – in fact, we’ve probably got better at them because we’ve focused on what we really need to do and pulled back on things that are not core.”

As a result, Java Republic has remained in business throughout the lockdowns, supporting clients in its various channels, from hospitality services to cafes, hotels and restaurants. “We’re not just a coffee roaster or provider, we are partner to our clients. I work in a very passionate industry, with passionate people and a superb product offering, and we strive to position Java Republic as a thought leader in the coffee market,” O’Shaughnessy emphasises.

Positive changes One of the positive changes for Java Republic is the way in which people consume coffee. “People weren’t coming into the city for coffee. With the switch to working from home they were moving and circulating in their own suburbs. But then coffee became a beverage where you could meet family outdoors and go for a walk and many businesses have pivoted to offer coffeeto-go,” she notes.

She has also been encouraged by the number of people who have moved to online purchasing of coffee, resulting in an exponential and unexpected growth over the past 12 months. “We recently launched a range of single origin coffees & collaborated with emerging Irish artists which has been extremely well received through our online presence. So I’m now looking forward to recovery, but equally with a sense of cautiousness because we still don’t really know what ‘good’ looks like as we’re not out of the woods yet.”

Another of the positive developments in the last year, she says, is that quality is rising to the top as clients recognise the need to invest in their food beverage offerings. “We’re positioned in a premium space and we are competitive in what we offer – a full coffee solution, something that is bespoke. It’s an offer that can be tweaked to suit your clientele, your competitive landscape, your budget and your needs as a whole. In particular we have witnessed a shift in the hotel sector over the past two or three years as part of their efforts to entice their guests to stay within the four walls of the hotel and capture more of the available spend.”

O’Shaughnessy may be a positive person but she is not blinkered by rose-tinted spectacles. “I suspect as we come out of COVID there’s a reset button which will see a recalibration, a consolidation of certain businesses and unfortunately we will lose some really good businesses,” she says. At the same time she acknowledges that many businesses have grown exponentially during COVID. “Those businesses that have fought and have confidence will come through, although perhaps not in the guise they know today. But the extent of those changes won’t become apparent, I suspect, until well into 2022.”

Spanish opportunities A change of ownership of Java Republic in May 2019 saw the emergence of plans for opening of Java Republic in a number of large Spanish cities, the forerunner to even more ambitious plans elsewhere in Europe. Buying the business for the DNA of the brand and the passion the team clearly has for the product, Cafento was keen that the existing management team would stay with the business.

“From March 2020, given the impact of Covid on travel, our interaction with our Spanish colleagues was mostly virtual. The team in Spain have done nothing but support our agenda to grow the business, to focus on an all-island commercial approach and are very much guided by what we want to do in the Irish market,” O’Shaughnessy says.

In terms of expansion oversees, O’Shaughnessy points out that the Java Republic brand isn’t synonymous with Ireland ”but it is with coffee and what we stand for – going further and deeper than anybody else to provide the best coffee experience at every touch point.” That message, she believes, is translatable in any country. “Your vision, mission and values remain the same and what you have to tweak are the nuances of local language and customs and maybe certain cultural elements. Underpinning all that is quality and our passion. Interestingly a lot of the values in Spain are very similar to those in Ireland,” she adds.

Seek advice from others O’Shaughnessy is also a strong advocate of the value of talking to other people at times of stress or difficulty. “In Ireland we’re very proud individuals and sometimes people never put their hand up to ask for help or advice because it might be seen as weakness.

But within Fingal Chamber there are many owneroperator run businesses in what is a very turbulent space. If you don’t have people around you to discuss things with and seek affirmation that you’re doing the right thing it can be a very lonely journey and that can add so much more stress that’s really unnecessary.

“I’m very conscious that Fingal Chamber has opened up a door not just to networking and collaboration but to providing a pool of talent, people who I’m sure are willing to give 30 or 40 minutes to other members to bounce ideas off them. There’s a human side to helping others and that’s something I think Fingal Chamber really does well. Why wouldn’t we share our experience with each other?

“Because when you’re in a fog of indecision all you need sometimes is a conversation with somebody to give you a boost or maybe to spark another idea to get you through whatever that moment is. And when you’ve asked for help once, to be fair, it gets easier. I know that whenever I’ve asked for help I’ve never been turned down – and nor would I turn anyone down who asked me, it’s a learning. And making that happen is something that Anthony and his team have done really well in recent years.”

FINGAL CHAMBER - NETWORK MAGAZINE

In the corporate channel, too, Java Republic has seen evidence that while the return to the office will be in a hybrid fashion, just as in the crisis in 2010 employers are aware of the expectations of their employees to be treated with respect. “People are much more focussed now on the culture of the organisation that they work for and the offer on-site – and coffee’s an important aspect of that.”

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ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION:

TOURISM & HOSPITALITY HAVE EXCITING FUTURES AHEAD Tourism and hospitality, including the hotel, food and beverage sectors, account for about 20% of total employment in Fingal. Along with commercial aviation, they are amongst the sectors hit hardest by the pandemic. In this Roundtable discussion three members of the Chamber consider the impact of the pandemic on the way people work and how the resulting changes in customer behaviour could affect revenues and business models, the likely pace of recovery for their sectors and the supports needed to ensure that tourism and hospitality thrive in the future.

Q 1 The pandemic looks set to change the way many people work, reducing weekly footfall in the city centre and the main areas of office space and increasing the proportion of time people spend working at home. How will changes in customer behavoiours affect revenues and business models for the hospitality industry and what will be required to adapt to those changes?

“As we begin to recover from the pandemic it is clear to see that outdoor dining, wellness and safety are key for guests for the future. We are seeing incredible demand for outdoor dining on our Patio and Terrace as people adapt to a more

continental approach to hospitality,” says Guy Thompson, General Manager, Castleknock Hotel.

“There is a pent-up demand to eat out and socialize with friends in a safe, outdoor environment and people are happy to pay extra for quality surroundings and food and beverage offerings.

Locally sourced, Irish produce is key as guests want quality but also have a strong urge to support local businesses. Menus and offerings will have to be continually reviewed to ensure they are seasonal and linking in with the people’s desire for wellness and a fresh approach to hospitality,” he adds.

Looking to the future, Thompson says that when the corporate travel and meeting business returns, “we expect a significant demand for ‘hybrid’ meetings and events, something we are committing significant investment to over the coming months with the aim of not just meeting but exceeding our guests’ expectations.”

Tariq Salahuddin, owner of Indie Spice Restaurant Ltd, says that a return to full indoor dining needs to be in place, along with other incentives, to bring people out to spend money in restaurants and shops and to get back into their offices.

“Increasing international visitors is vital and opening up Dublin Airport and allowing safe and easy passage for inbound corporate and leisure guests has to be a priority for the Government in conjunction with the DAA, the airlines and hospitality industry bodies,” Guy Thompson, General Manager, Castleknock Hotel.

“If the last 18 months has taught us anything, it’s to adapt and embrace change. I think we are forever changed; I just don’t believe we will go back to the way we were before,” Alison Lynch (right), Blink Coffee Shop, with co-founder Lizzy Skelly on their opening day.

“Travel restrictions for tourists needs to be lifted,” he insists. “I was in the city other day and despite indoor dining being in operation almost everyone was outside. Vaccine restrictions have to go and everyone should be allowed access to indoor dining.

Other than natural outdoor dining areas, all newly created outdoor dining areas should be closed and people need to get back into their offices, working as they did before COVID arrived. Exactly what future will hold for us we simply don’t know but we must do everything possible to return to the way we lived in the pre-COVID days.”

Alison Lynch, who has worked in the coffee industry in Ireland and the UK for almost 30 years and is a co-founder of Blink Coffee Shop at the Malahide Marina, disagrees. “When I took my weekly flight home from London to Dublin on the 12 March 2020 I had no idea that the then unfolding pandemic would scupper my plans for building a coffee empire in the UK,” she says. Skip forward 18 months and I’m serving specialty coffee in Malahide with my co-pilot in BLINK, Lizzy Skelly, a fellow coffee lifer.

“A few years ago we attempted to do something together but the timing wasn’t right then. Now, with BLINK we’ve achieved our core goals – a femaleled coffee business that’s colourful, fun and kind, delivering specialty coffee and one that isn’t all stuffy and smashed avocado! If the last 18 months has taught us anything, it’s to adapt and embrace change. I think we are forever changed; I just don’t believe we will go back to the way we were before.”

In terms of the hospitality sector Lynch thinks there will be three main outcomes. “Some businesses, unfortunately, will not survive; some will adapt and re-invent themselves; and lastly new propositions and offerings will emerge. The upside is that towns and neighbourhoods will finally get an injection of activity, local spending and footfall – things they have craved and needed for many years.

“So I think the future is quiet bright for local neighbourhoods but they will need to adapt, of course. The emergence of ‘15 minute communities’ will be accompanied by more business services and local offices, the development of outdoor

spaces and streets, with gyms, salons, cafés, bars and reconfigured restaurants all seeing growth.”

Q2 Do you think it likely that tourism in Fingal will recover to previous levels and, if so, how quickly? How badly has the pandemic disrupted the business model and, again, what more will be required to ensure this important industry gets back onto a sustainable footing?

Lynch is confident about the future, but also emphasises the need for flexibility and a willingness to do things differently. “Absolutely business will recover, but the mix of businesses contributing to the pre-COVID figure will change,” she says.

‘Disruption’ is probably one of the most overused business buzz words of the last five years – in fact, the phrase ‘be careful what you wish for’ springs to mind because look at us now, globally ‘disrupted’ beyond recognition.

“The first step for both businesses and business support bodies, therefore, is to accept change and to understand that the way we did things before doesn’t apply 100% now. Many countries with cold weather – from Helsinki to Berlin – have fantastic outdoor lives; we just need to plan and support it on all levels – and to be honest, we should have been doing that years ago.

“So COVID has given this area a shot in the arm.

But mostly all businesses need to be agile right now, they need faster responses and guidance.

If we keep applying old rules to a new era we will paralyse the opportunities and changes required to the business models for survival and growth.

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“There is no doubt that huge support is required. It has to be for everyone, however. Small businesses are very vulnerable at the moment. Other than cash support-from Government, local councils need to play a very visible role to support every corner of the industry,” Tariq Salahuddin, owner, Indie Spice Restaurant Ltd.

THE CASINO

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that will be as there are still few tourist coming into Ireland. “As soon as the scaremongering stops people will come out and join together to celebrate normal life. The pandemic has totally ruined the hospitality industry, particularly small to mediumsized restaurants,” he says.

Castleknock Hotel’s Thompson expects that domestic tourism will continue to be strong for the remainder of the summer months but that the period from September to December and into 2022 will certainly be challenging. “Corporate and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conference/ Conventions and Exhibitions/ Events) markets will be slow to return and we do not expect a strong re-bound in these markets until the end of Q1 2022,” he says.

But he also applauds Fingal County Council and the Chamber Tourism working group for their excellent work promoting Fingal to domestic tourists. “Their significant expenditure on an extensive marketing campaign is benefiting all our businesses. It is vital that we continue this and work towards firstly promoting Fingal for the shoulder periods for the rest of this year and then building a robust and sustained campaign for 2022.

“Castleknock Hotel has a very strong all-Ireland leisure business which rebounded quickly after the lockdowns and thankfully forward bookings for the rest of the Summer are very strong. Increasing international visitors is vital and opening up Dublin Airport and allowing safe and easy passage for inbound corporate and leisure guests has to be a priority for the Government in conjunction with the DAA, the airlines and hospitality industry bodies.”

Indie Spice Restaurant’s Salahuddin also declares himself very optimistic about future recovery, but cautions that it is very difficult to say exactly when

Q3 What supports do you regard as being essential to the survival of a thriving tourism and hospitality sector in the country in general and Fingal in particular – and who should be providing them? In your opinion, has the Government done enough or should it be doing more?

Salahuddin emphasises the need for equal treatment of businesses in the sector, irrespective of their size. “We need to treat everyone equally within the hospitality industry. There is no doubt that huge support is required. It has to be for everyone, however. Small businesses are very vulnerable at the moment. Other than cash support-from Government, local councils need to play a very visible role to support every corner of the industry.

‘Eat out to help out’ should be implemented by the government.

“I don’t think government has done enough.

Support only if you have lost 75% of the business is shameful. Businesses that have lost 40-50% are in exactly the same position, or even worse. So local councils need to push government to do more.

Those businesses that do not have outside dining areas have been very badly effected and there has been no talk at all about providing help for them.”

industry remains very challenging and we envisage this continuing for some time,” he warns.

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Nevertheless, in his opinion the Government has provided excellent supports for business during the pandemic and is continuing to support businesses as they re-open and begin to recover. “The EWSS and CRSS schemes were both very good supports and we would like to see the EWSS continue until the end of Q1 2022,” he says. “Fingal County Council, too, has been excellent in its approach to supporting business with the suspension on the payment of rates, re-start grants, grants to promote outdoor dining and the easing of restrictions for on-street hospitality.

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“The re-opening of hospitality is extremely important to ensure the survival of many businesses but there is very delicate balance to be found between continuing to protect the public whilst also providing much needed employment and hospitality services to tourists and the general population of Fingal who want to get out and socialise in a safe environment.”

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Blink Coffee Shop’s Lynch argues “Clearly, there must be as much focus on staycation as on attracting international visitors once we are back open. There are so many great attractions and hidden gems in this country and all around Fingal. There is no doubt that the Wild Atlantic Way is currently contributing to staycation tourism in the West of Ireland; we need to get better at that here on the east coast.”

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Salahuddin also expresses concern about the shortage of hospitality workers, a problem that he says “must also be addressed by government without a minutes delay”.

Staffing is also a worry for Thompson. “The phasing out of the Pandemic Payment needs to be accelerated to encourage people back to work as recruitment and retention of staff within the

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ISSUE 2 - AUGUST 2021

ADVOCACY & REPRESENTATION

YOUR CHAMBER COUNCIL: JIM WYLIE PROVIDING A SYMPATHETIC EAR AND PRACTICAL HELP TO LOCAL BUSINESSES

Fingal Chamber has a strongtrack record of lobbying and representation successes, delivering positive change for Fingal and its businesses.

Scottish-born recruitment specialist Jim Wylie, who joined Fingal Chamber’s Council in December 2019, arrived in Ireland 20 years ago. “Apart from family holidays years before that we’d had no real connection with the country,” he says. “My wife was headhunted for a senior HR position in Dublin and I initially joined a small recruitment firm here.

I then went on to gain valuable experience in the recruitment industry in Ireland over the last 20 years before joining Osborne Recruitment, where I’m a Senior Commercial Development Manager.”

As a non-governmental institution, Fingal Chamber has no direct role in the writing and passage of laws and regulations that affect businesses. It does however, lobby in an attempt to get laws passed that are favourable to businesses and society.

- Fingal County Council Strategic Policy Committees - Economic, Enterprise and Tourism Development

- Transport and Infrastructure Management - Housing

- Planning Strategic Transport and Infrastructure Development - Fingal Covid-19 Community Response Forum - Chambers Ireland Board

- Greater Dublin Chamber Alliance

FINGAL CHAMBER - NETWORK MAGAZINE

- Fingal Tourism Stakeholder Group

Fingal Chamber is the only Chamber in the area that represents business at the county, national and European levels, and we work with Government Ministers, MEPs, the Mayor, Fingal County Council and local representatives to develop pro-business and employment initiatives.

Fingal Chamber does not lobby from the sidelines or shout needlessly in the media. Rather, we seek to build our reputation and relationships with policymakers, to make them sympathetic to the needs of Fingal businesses.

We ensure that decision-makers realise the important contribution of businesses, large and small, to society and the need to sustain it, by promoting a positive environment for enterprise.

Fingal Chamber is represented on the following bodies: - Fingal Local Community Development Committee

A recent example of our work in this area is summarised below:

Fingal Chamber North Runway Submission Dublin Airport a critical piece of national infrastructure.

Politically and economically, Brexit heightens its importance in connecting Ireland to the world, while Covid-19 demonstrates how important Dublin Airport is for integrating us into global trade networks.

The North Runway expansion gives us the capacity to reach further out into the world. It will allow our tourism trade to grow in the wake of the Covid-19 collapse in international tourism. It will also open trading opportunities in new partner countries increasing growth.

North Runway was granted planning permission in 2007, subject to 31 planning conditions. Two of these conditions would severely reduce the future

operational capacity of Dublin Airport at peak periods. If unchanged, these two conditions would significantly affect the operation of the airport and its key airline customers and would damage the entire Irish economy.

The daa submitted a planning application to Fingal County Council in December 2020 regarding these problematic planning conditions associated with North Runway.

In January 2021, Fingal Chamber made a written submission to the planning authority noting 7 business community concerns, and supporting what we see is a fair, sensible, and balanced proposal for all stakeholders which will safeguard Ireland’s connectivity to global markets.

As part of the recruitment firm’s senior leadership team, he splits his time between its Blanchardstown and Drogheda offices, covering business along the length of the M1 corridor and the Fingal area. “We have a strong presence in Fingal. We’ve created strategic partnerships with many business across the area and helped them build their teams. We also work closely with the Chamber, with which the firm has been a strategic partner for many years, and we provide it with information and knowledge that we glean from the marketplace which can then be shared with the broader membership,” he says.

Reflecting on the impact of the pandemic on recruitment, Jim points out it has affected various businesses in different ways. “Last year was a complete unknown, so it was very much a learning curve for everyone, including ourselves. All of our staff immediately started working from home, apart from our accounts team who have continued to work onsite.

Market shock “It came as a real shock to the market, which took a sharp step back in March and April last year. But once everybody got used to what was going on we saw a pick-up in May, with the healthcare side of things very busy, of course. Then from June to the end of the year companies began to realise that even if people had to work from home they still needed to keep their operations going, so the second half of last year was very busy for us.

“This year from March/April onwards, the economy has really begun to get moving again and over the past 3 months it has gone into overdrive. There’s a lot of pent-up demand at the moment coming from clients looking for staff. As different sectors begin to open up they are seeing a pick-up in their order books and need to recruit staff, either on a shortterm or longer-term basis, to meet those orders.

So we’ve gone through different phases. This year we can see real growth which we think is likely to

continue through to the end of the year and we’re definitely sensing a return of confidence amongst our clients.”

Jim also notes that his company itself has had to play different roles with its clients during the past 18 months. “We’ve been talking to them all day, every day throughout the pandemic. A lot of the time we’ve just been listening to them. If they wanted to talk about recruitment, that was great, but if they were in the unfortunate situation of having to let staff go, for example, we’d talk about what supports we might be able to provide, such as finding alternative employment opportunities. It was all about making sure we were there to listen to them and to support them. Now, as they come through this into this year, in many instances we’re back talking about hiring again.”

What is ‘new normal’?

This close relationship with clients has given Osborne valuable insights into what the “new normal” workplace may look like. “When it is safe for people generally to get back into offices again I think you’re definitely going to see more interest in developing the hybrid model of working. Obviously some businesses have been working from their premises all along, simply because the nature of their activity does not lend itself to working from home. But increasingly we’re being used as an information hub on evolving best practice. We’re constantly being asked by companies about what we’re seeing in the marketplace and the pros and cons of the approaches being taken by others to implement a hybrid model of working.”

This interest is reflected in the success of the Osborne Talent Series of webinars, run in association with Adare Human Resource Management. For example, a recent webinar in this series that explored the many legal issues related to staff working from home attracted over 500 delegates.

Looking ahead, Jim thinks that most companies have a good handle on what they need to do for the remainder of this year to prepare for a return to some kind of normality. “There are a lot of tools and information to help them ensure COVID safety compliance,” he points out. “The next set of preparation is about getting people back into the office and striking the balance between office and home working.

“Last year was very much about simply getting through it. But now I really do see people beginning

to plan for expansion, thinking about where their business is headed next and how they are going to get there. Companies have got their heads around it and the contingency plans are definitely there,” he adds.

Two years ago the potential operational problems caused by Brexit and identification of practical solutions, such as in the area of customs clearance compliance, were hot topics for Irish business.

“Fingal Chamber Skillnet ran a lot of training courses to help members get on top of things,” Jim points out. “It was very stressful for a lot of companies and there were a lot of unknowns ahead of the changes being implemented. I think that this training has helped people to cope – although I suspect they are still facing a lot of challenges with regard to importing and exporting.”

Back in the swing of things Jim and his wife Janey moved to Donabate in 2002 and today enjoy the many facilities of the surrounding area. A golfer of longstanding, Jim took out a membership of Beaverstown Golf Club earlier this year, where he plays regularly with his 17-year-old son, Cameron. “He now beats me,” Jim complains, albeit with equal measures of regret and pride. He played soccer well into his 30s and now coaches with local Donabate club St Ita’s AFC. Having started with the under eights, he now coaches at Senior level.

Jim also got back into cycling over the last couple of year and with Osborne colleagues completed the Great Dublin Bike Ride in 2019 and raised money for Feed Our Homeless. He also enjoys watching sport and is interested in all types of motorsport, especially Formula 1.

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Being a member of Fingal Chamber enables businesses to engage in matters that can impact their business through forums and consultations, and influence decision-makers through lobbying and advocacy support.

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A dedicated Sustainable Fingal webpage has been created on the Fingal County Council website which can be found at http://www.fingal.ie/ sustainablebusiness. This page provides tips for business on how to begin a sustainable journey as well as guidance to a variety of financial supports and sustainable information to help businesses on the sustainable journey.

The Sustainable Fingal webpages also feature case studies from businesses who have already started on the sustainability journey which the Council hope will inspire more businesses to start looking at what they can do in their own businesses.

FINGAL COUNTY COUNCIL’S SUSTAINABLE FINGAL INITIATIVE AIMS TO ENCOURAGE SMES TO EMBRACE SUSTAINABLE MEASURES

FINGAL CHAMBER - NETWORK MAGAZINE

Fingal County Council has launched Sustainable Fingal which is an initiative to encourage SMEs across Fingal to embrace sustainable measures and work together to tackle climate change at a local and regional level.

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Fingal County Council wants to help businesses think bigger with this new initiative and help them make a positive contribution to tackling climate change.

Sustainable business measures offer businesses the opportunity to examine what they do and how they do it and make changes which are better for their business with cost efficiencies and for the environment through the use of less raw material and better waste management. The Council has prepared a Sustainability Brochure for businesses, with ideas on how they can become more sustainable and the benefits they can expect by incorporating sustainable measures into the day-to-day running of their business under the key headings of Energy, Water and Waste.

The Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Seána O’Rodaigh said: “At Fingal County Council, we are always trying to make necessary changes as we understand more about our impact on the planet. We are committed to tackling the issues of climate change at a local and regional level which is why we want to help SMEs to become more sustainable.”

“The online resources and brochure that have been introduced under the Sustainable Fingal initiative provide a great opportunity for SMEs to make a change for the better. Focusing on sustainability can help businesses to become resource efficient which is a positive for all involved. I would really encourage businesses around Fingal to get involved with Sustainable Fingal and to talk to Fingal County Council about support for their sustainable journey.”

Sustainability might sound like a challenging objective for a small business, but it can be mutually beneficial to business and society. A sustainable business approach can lead to resource efficiencies within a business and generate valuable cost savings to a business’ bottom-line. Into the future it will also help position a business to win and retain new business from an increasingly environmentally aware and conscious consumer base. Green procurement contributes to a positive public image and reduces a business’ impact on the environment. A green business approach is crucial for businesses looking to maintain resilience in a competitive and challenging business environment and it is even more important for businesses looking to expand and flourish in a world with diminishing resources and increasing environmental constraints.

Fingal County Council wants to open up the conversation with business through Sustainable Fingal about how to move the sustainable agenda forward and what supports businesses need from local government to ensure that businesses in Fingal are well-positioned for future opportunities and to proactively address the targets and requirements of the European Green Deal.

Chief Executive of Fingal County Council, AnnMarie Farrelly, said: “The Sustainable Fingal Initiative forms an integral part of Fingal County Council’s commitment to implementing our Climate Action plan. It is important that the Council plays a leading role in sustainable practices and we strive to meet our commitments to the Climate Action Plan every

day. We want to help businesses grow back greener and more resilient after the pandemic.”

Fingal County Council is excited to work with businesses who want to make a sustainable start or even bring their journey to the next level To find out more about what supports are available for your business to become more climate friendly check out the resources available at https://www.fingal.ie/ sustainablebusiness or contact the Council at sustainablefingal@fingal.ie and have a conversation to find out how business and local government can work together to tackle climate change and help your business become greener and more resilient for the future.

FINGAL CHAMBER - NETWORK MAGAZINE

A MESSAGE FROM FINGAL COUNTY COUNCIL

For example, McInerney Saunders have thought about their impact on the environment and areconstantly reviewing their business to make changes to become more sustainable. The firm have already introduced energy efficient lighting, light sensors and have even gone paperless, something which many accountancy firms think is impossible. Managing Director Owen Sheehy has seen the benefits of adopting a sustainable business model: “I know from talking to clients, they respect and admire the initiative we have taken.

Sustainability is part of the culture here at McInerney Saunders. It helps us drive efficiencies, deliver cost savings and reduce our carbon footprint.”

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do. “We knew in our hearts and souls that if we held on, if we held our nerve, remained calm and looked for other avenues of opportunity, as we had done in 2009 and 2010, we could survive,” Gannon says.

Initially the recovery began with a phone call about providing security for the HSE’s new test centre at Croke Park and from there it progressed to other test and later to vaccination centres, with literally hundreds of thousands of people attending them.

Gannon says the name ‘Frontline’ has never been more apt than during the pandemic and he is immensely proud of the role it has played in supporting the HSE through this difficult time. “It was it was very, very challenging when we started off. The disease itself was a complete unknown and there was no vaccine in sight at that time. People were very scared and we had to work with the HSE to develop disease prevention protocols pretty much from scratch.”

‘STAY CALM AND LOOK FOR NEW OPPORTUNITIES’ When COVID-19 shut down every event in the country Frontline Security’s CEO Allan Gannon knew is back was against the wall – once again. But hard-won lessons from previous crises have helped the company weather the storm and now he see “very good times ahead”.

Originally based in Ballsbridge, Ireland’s leading security company, Frontline Securities, has been headquartered in Fingal for the past 10 years. In its time it has built strong and enduring relationships with many clients. For example, it has provided security for Croke Park for the past 30 years, for the second biggest racing festival in Europe, Punchestown, for 25 years, for the Rose of Tralee Festival and Bloom in the Phoenix Park each for 15 years, and for the biggest outdoor festival in the world, the National Ploughing Championships, for 12 years.

It has been active, too, within the Fingal area, providing security at a wide range of events, including some of the largest ever held in Ireland. The list includes Ireland’s matches in Malahide against such cricketing giants as Pakistan, India, England and South Africa, the hugely successful Malahide Castle open-air concerts and, most recently, supporting the HSE at its test and vaccination centres in Croke Park and the National Show Centre in Swords.

But with at least half of its business derived from providing security at events of one kind or another, the effect of the pandemic lockdown was both dramatic and sudden. “Our first big event of the year is the St Patrick’s Day Festival. When that was cancelled in early March 2020 and the phones just stopped ringing we knew we were facing into a very difficult time,” says the company’s founder and owner, Allan Gannon.

But, as the saying goes, this was not Gannon’s first rodeo. “We had faced huge problems when the construction industry collapsed a decade ago,” he recalls. With sites across the country closing down Frontline had been urged to stay on to protect them, with vague promises that someone – builders, developers, the banks or even the government – would ultimately foot the bill. In the end no-one did.

“Up to that point we had been making a lot of money and had all the trappings of company cars and expense accounts that come with success. But when the crisis hit we learned in a very, very short space of time how to operate on an absolute shoestring, simply because we had to. We reduced our fees and all the senior management team took savage pay cuts. All the cars and other trappings went.

“So in 2010 we had massive debts. We were just about able to pay the wages but unable to pay the Revenue or anyone else. And I’m sitting there in my office with my accountant, who is a good friend, very capable and very supportive, and he’s telling me: ‘Allan, I just don’t think you’re going to get through it this time; I think it’s highly unlikely that you’ll survive’.

“But I couldn’t accept that. We still had confidence in our company, in ourselves and in our clients, because we knew that they weren’t necessarily responsible for us not getting paid, it was simply that the chain had been broken. So we decided to take it one day at a time and got to the end of the first month that way. We did deals with the Revenue and with everybody across the board. Then we got to the end of the next month and eventually we paid everybody every cent we owed them. We have a completely clean record and I’m very proud of that. In a crisis the whole thing is to take things day by day and to deal with any future problems, if they appear, the day after that.”

One of the valuable lessons from working with the HSE at test and then vaccination centres was the change in mindset required by staff who were more used to providing security at events. “This isn’t a security role, it’s to provide support to people who are frightened or anxious. And in the in the first few months especially that fear was palpable. So it has required a completely different mindset. Our staff got that, that they were here to help people, not simply to oversee the safe movement of thousands of people, any number of whom might be carrying the virus. And achieving that has been the entire secret of our success in undertaking this task.” It is worth noting that the head of the HSE, former Fingal CoCo CEO Paul Reid, has been particularly complimentary about Frontline’s efforts in this regard.

to this dreadful plague. It has been an extraordinary lesson for us, in fact, to see just how well we could run the business and deliver a quality service to the same standards as before, but with less people, less money and less everything.

“Now a lot of things are opening up again, people are contacting us again. We’re back in Croke Park for GAA matches, we’re doing our first festivals, starting with Palmerstown House in Naas, Co Kildare, where there are 500 people per night in pods, and we’re looking forward to being back in full business by the end of this year.”

Gannon tempers this optimism with words of caution: “My own belief and my experience is that this thing is not going to go away. I think we’d all be terribly naive to believe that. And I think we all have to be very, very alert and be aware that it is there. It is with us, it is around us and if we drop our guard, it will attack us.”

Having been through the stress and uncertainty of bringing a business back from the abyss, Gannon has shared his experience on online mental health forums with others facing similar anxiety about the future as a result of the pandemic. “The greatest lesson I can impart is that no matter how bad things are today, by this time next year they will be very, very different. You’ve got to hold your nerve, you mustn’t panic. We’ve done extremely well and we’re in a good position today and, hopefully, we’re almost at the end of this disaster and I actually see very good times ahead.”

“So we’ve survived and actually done very well by playing an active role as part of the solution to this

So this time, when the pandemic hit Gannon and his team had a good idea of what they needed to

FINGAL CHAMBER - NETWORK MAGAZINE

FINGAL CHAMBER - NETWORK MAGAZINE

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ISSUE 1 - APRIL 2021

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SKILLNET IRELAND:

TALENT FOR A NEW WORLD OF WORK

FINGAL CHAMBER SKILLNET UPDATE

Skillnet Ireland is ensuring that businesses can maximise the opportunities ahead by being equipped with the skills they need in the face of accelerating digital transformation and climate action.

Traditionally a quieter period in the training calendar, the summer months have brought a renewed interest in training. In the last 17 months we have experienced an upheaval to our member’s business but also a significant new opportunity to train and upskill employees to provide the skills and leadership to re-grow business to a new level.

After 18 months of adversity in the wake of a pandemic which has engulfed all facets of life in Ireland, the roll-out of the vaccination programme, coupled with the gradual reopening of society, has been the shot in the arm the business community has needed after a lengthy period of uncertainty.

However, as Ireland gets back to business, companies are returning to a much-altered world of work.

Skillnet Ireland is working on behalf of Government to address, ensuring that people whose jobs are impacted by new technologies have support and opportunities to grow. Working in partnership with industry and the education and training sector, we are facilitating the design of new talent initiatives that will deliver a good supply of qualified and experienced employees to meet demand.

One of the most notable changes has been the pace of digital transformation, which has accelerated rapidly in the past 12 months. Many businesses particularly SMEs that had been slower to embrace digitalisation in the past - have achieved more in a matter of months than they might have once considered possible. Companies quickly pivoted to new business models and reengineered existing ones to continue to trade, and are now increasingly reliant on increased automation and digitalisation to deliver business services, meet customer needs and support staff engagement.

Providing support to people whose jobs have been affected by the pandemic and helping them to find new opportunities in growth sectors, particularly technology and the sustainable economy, has been a focus for Skillnet Ireland in recent months.

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Fundamental to this transformation have been digital skills, which have helped companies adapt to the new realities shaped by the pandemic. As well as continuing to support SMEs in digitising their business model and processes, Skillnet Ireland is also focused on developing the talent that creates and delivers these technologies.

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Commenting on these changes, Mark Jordan, Chief Technologist, Skillnet Ireland says: “The world of work will continue to fundamentally change even after the pandemic and with change comes opportunity. By re-evaluating the ways in which we work and ultimately reengineering existing models we can create a more sustainable, connected future.

At Skillnet Ireland, we’re working side-by-side with businesses and their people across Ireland, to prepare them for what that future holds in terms of skills and jobs. We’re ensuring businesses have the talent they need to be competitive in this new world of work.”

Transforming Business Digital transformation is not just redefining existing roles, it’s also creating new ones. This change is one

One example of the progress being made in this area is the “Future In Tech” programme from Technology Ireland ICT Skillnet, which enhances the cross-sector employability of jobseekers who are looking to begin or restart their career in tech. Since its rollout in October 2020, over 800 participants have been through its pathways, which cover cybersecurity, cloud services, digital marketing, IT networking, and software and web development. Mentoring from many of Ireland’s leading technology companies has proved invaluable to both the professional and personal development journey for all of the participants on this programme, boosting their pathways to employment.

Whilst developing talent pipelines is essential, so too is accelerating digital innovation amongst companies. One initiative achieving notable results in this area is the ‘Transform’ initiative from the Technology Ireland DIGITAL Skillnet. A unique digital transformation and disruptive technologies programme, it was developed with input from IDA Ireland, Technology Ireland, Technological University Dublin, and Dell Technologies. It equips businesses and their people with the skills needed to harness the power of digital technologies, build a digital workforce, and accelerate innovation. Over 900 participants have graduated through the programme to date, developing 194 innovation projects for companies.

Looking Ahead As companies and economies get back to business, more change is inevitable. As the challenge of climate action begins to reassert itself on the global agenda and Ireland transitions to a lowcarbon economy, businesses in Ireland will need to introduce sustainable business practices. However, opportunities are also abundant in terms of green jobs and new market opportunities for businesses – many of which will demand digital skills driven by greater adoption of smart technologies.

Discussing the importance of these megatrends, Jordan says “To capitalise on the opportunities presented by digitalisation and climate adaptation, it is important to recognise where both forces intersect.

Skillnet Ireland is continuing to work with industry to understand what businesses need and to enhance the delivery of leading-edge workforce development programmes that are agile and future-fit.”

Our recently launched Climate Ready initiative plays a key role in developing talent and preparing businesses for the green economy. Developed in partnership with Chambers Ireland, Sustainable Finance Ireland and Wind Energy Ireland, the initiative seeks to equip businesses with the practical skills they need to prepare their businesses for climate action. It provides free and subsidised training in a range of key areas such as energy management, water stewardship and waste management.

As industries begin to rebuild for the post-pandemic era, maintaining progress and focusing on the challenges and trends of the future offer an immense opportunity to transform businesses. To achieve this, prioritising digital and the tech talent agenda is essential. Continuing to invest in developing unique upskilling programmes in partnership with industry will ensure we can meet the talent demands of companies in Ireland and that our economy can continue to compete and grow.

To find out more about Skillnet Ireland, visit skillnetireland.ie.

The strategy for Skillnet Ireland and our training network over the coming years is to help businesses and employees to prepare for the future of work under three main themes: 1. Workforce design – the process of analysing the workforce, determining its future needs, and identifying the gap that exists between what the organisation needs now and what it will need in the future.

2. People Development – As working environments become more complex and greater agility is needed, developing people is an essential strategy to achieve business goals.

3. Strategic Innovation – We are living in an age of unparalleled Technological disruption and business transformation, Strategic Innovation is at the core of how enterprises manage change and adopt to changing circumstances.

The Training Networks Programme (TNP) at Fingal Chamber Skillnet has already seen a shift to digital skills, digital marketing, virtual sales and QQI People Management with businesses investing in their employees to deliver a new sense of purpose and an understanding that providing the employees the skills they require will assist greatly in the recovery.

The benefits of joining the training network are numerous. Our companies can submit their requests for training and we schedule these courses throughout the year. The cost benefit for the member companies is attributed to the many numbers of employees training together combined with the subsidy from Skillnet on each course thereby reducing the overall cost per trainee.

Under the Skills Connect Programme, a great initiative from Skillnet Ireland which provides Skillnet funded training to those displaced from employment mainly due to the pandemic, we have provided training in office and management, IT skills and Customs Clearance courses both assisting those

in their search for employment but also assisting our members who sought employees for those roles.

We continue to train our Advanced Driving instructors under the current programme to assist in the provision of driving instructors. These driving instructors will ultimately provide tuition for drivers and driver instruction for the larger commercial businesses.

A focus for the network over the coming months will be the future skills required by our member companies under the Future Dynamics Programme.

We invite our members to engage with us in this process so that we can assist in the development of training programmes to meet the future skills requirements of the Fingal region. Digital Skills will be to the forefront and it is important that we all progress together improving our digital skills to provide growth within the region.

The Fingal Chamber Skillnet Network recently canvassed our members to understand the requirements in terms of training needs for Q4 and into 2022 and have found that Digital Skills (Digital Content Creation, Search Engine Optimisation and Social media, Canva for Business, Illustrator along with Excel, Word and Powerpoint) and People Skills (Leadership, Confidence and Assertiveness, People Management, Line Manager and Supervisor, Presentation Skills, Negotiation) all ranked highest in the training needs of companies on our region.

We thank our members who have contributed to our recent Training needs survey and invite submissions from our members on an ongoing basis.

Climate Change and Sustainability is very much in the headlines and we look forward, with Chambers Ireland and Skillnet Ireland, to do our part by focussing on the skills required to assist in the change required. The areas of focus will be towards digital skills, LEAN processes and project management along with network members engagement to reveal additional skills and training required to assist in this process.

We look forward to discussing your training requirements with you over the coming months and to a a strong recovery in Q4 with renewed interest in upskilling our members employees and assisting in the re-development of our members businesses in the Fingal region.

A focus for our members on work processes has given us feedback toward LEAN and Project Management courses with the Logistics sector still sourcing training in Import / Export / Customs Clearance processes.

Interestingly, the time segment most requested for training has seen full day courses replaced with requests for training in 2-3 hour segments mainly due to the movement of all training on to digital platforms. The time of day most requested has seen an even split of morning and afternoon requests with some still favouring evening training.

Feargal Malone - Network Manager, Fingal Chamber Skillnet

FINGAL CHAMBER - NETWORK MAGAZINE

ISSUE 2 - AUGUST 2021

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ISSUE 2 - AUGUST 2021

The Local Enterprise Office’s “Look for Local” campaign, which was funded by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, in partnership with Enterprise Ireland and the local authorities, ran during July and August on national, local and online / digital media and promoted small businesses across the country and the benefit of spending with them.

The campaign was supported by national PR and included a full page feature on the campaign in the Irish Times, with interviews on the Alison Curtis Show on Today FM and the Ray Darcy Show on RTE Radio One. Several Fingal businesses featured at National level and benefited greatly through the publicity directly generated. One of these was Denis Manzke of Nufields Limited, an award-winning supplier of organic grow kits, seeds and equipment that allow their customers to grow microgreens and sprouts at home all year round. Nufields Limited is one of many successful start-up businesses that have been supported by Fingal Local Enterprise Office. More information about this business is available at www.nufields.com.

SUMMER “LOOK FOR LOCAL” CAMPAIGN GIVES MUCH-NEEDED BOOST TO FINGAL BUSINESSES

In 2020 Fingal Local Enterprise Office approved 750 Trading Online Vouchers which enabled small businesses to set up an online trading presence. This was up over 950% from the year previous and helped small businesses to keep the virtual doors open, when the physical ones were shut. This supplemented with training, mentoring, sector specific consultancy and financial supports helped many hundreds of Fingal businesses to continue to trade and sustain themselves ahead of this Summers reopening.

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Mayor of Fingal Cllr. Seána Ó Rodaigh expressed her delight at the impact of the Look for Local and the Shop Fingal initiatives, saying: “LEO Fingal and Fingal County Council have played an essential role in supporting and assisting businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic. Shopping locally makes a big difference for so many businesses across Fingal, and I am delighted to see in Fingal everyone got behind these initiatives, spending locally this year – at a time when it has never been as important.”

Research that was carried out as part of the first Look for Local campaign which was run by Fingal Local Enterprise Office in November and December 2020 showed that Irish consumers were 83% more likely to look local for products and services in 2021.

The Summer campaign aimed to strengthen that sentiment and to educate consumers on the domino effect that local spending has throughout their community. Every €10 spent in Fingal on Irish products and services generates more than €40 of benefit to Fingal in terms of employment*.

AnnMarie Farrelly, Chief Executive of Fingal County Council and Chair of the CCMA Business, Enterprise and Innovation Committee said; “Local authorities are providing a range of supports for businesses to help them get back on their feet but the support of the public is crucial for those businesses and for our local economies. Small businesses and retailers are the lifeblood of our cities, towns and villages, providing vital economic activity and employment opportunities. Local enterprise has so much to offer

from top quality products to unique experiences, and the ‘Look for Local’ and ‘Shop Fingal’ initiatives really ensured that supporting our local businesses remained a high priority during the Summer months.”

Head of Enterprise in Fingal Oisín Geoghegan, said “Since the onset of Covid-19, the Local Enterprise Offices have been working closely with small businesses across the country to help sustain them with financial supports, training, mentoring and consultancy for all areas of their business. We wanted to make sure that Fingal residents were continually reminded of the necessity to lend their support to our local businesses.

As always, our local communities throughout Fingal really bought into the idea over the Summer.”

FINGAL CHAMBER - NETWORK MAGAZINE

FINGAL CHAMBER - NETWORK MAGAZINE

Throughout July and August, Fingal Local Enterprise Office actively promoted the “Shop Fingal” and “Look for Local” campaigns, which asked consumers to look local when shopping for products, services and experiences during the Summer. The Look for Local & Shop Fingal campaigns, supported by Enterprise Ireland and Fingal County Council, were aimed at raising awareness of the benefit of spending in your local area.

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at a rate of $3 a kilo. “We received an email over the weekend to say that rate was now $4.75 and asking us to confirm we’re OK with that.”

Nor do Allen or Tracey see any signs in the near future of an end to this upward trend. “The pressure is on. The upshot is going to be at least medium term. We’re looking at these rates sustaining into 2022 and possibly longer,” Allen warns.

… and there’s also Brexit For Ireland in particular there are also the problems caused by Brexit, the reluctance of European drivers to use the UK landbridge because of the near endless paperwork delays, and a general shortage of drivers.

These issues have resulted in an uplift in Irish/UK shipping rates of between 20% – 25%.

TESTING TIMES FOR FREIGHT COMPANIES IN IRELAND

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“If you catch a dragon by the tail are you going to try and control him or hang on and enjoy the ride?” asks Mark Tracey, the Commercial Director of Ace Express Freight. “Because that’s literally what’s going in the logistics/international freight industry, it’s a perfect storm.” Terry Allen, cofounder, owner and director of Hawthorn Logistics, agrees. “It is unbelievably challenging and I think it’s going to get even more so … I don’t see any light at the end of this particular tunnel – but knowing our luck, when we do it will probably be an oncoming train.”

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Both companies are involved in freight forwarding and customs clearance, which is keeping them very busy. ‘We’ve had a boom year, primarily with clients in the pharmaceutical and medical devices area fulfilling orders for items such as ventilators and antibiotics across the world,” says Allen. “The downside of that is that we’ve had to do a lot of remote working and it has been difficult to hire additional experienced people. That said, our staff have been incredible in terms of the way they put their shoulder to the wheel and made sure we continued to deliver the services. So for us it’s been both a good time and a worrying time.”

demand, primarily due to the pandemic, have been compounded by such issues as severe congestion at ports around the world, port closures in China due to COVID, and even a large container ship blocking the Suez Canal and another recently damaging two cranes at Taiwan’s largest port.

“We were originally established 32 years ago as a customs clearing agent and it’s in our DNA, so while there are issues, complications and challenges, we’re actually better placed than most to counteract them,” says Tracey. “We had to change very quickly from an office-based collaborative environment to a situation where everyone was working from home.

Now we’ve even got people working from Poland and Malta. We’ve also employed 25 additional staff, mostly to deal with administration, just to try and get over the hump.”

Rates rocket

That “hump” is big, with a number of problems piling one on top of another to drive freight prices through the roof. Internationally well over 80% of all freight is transported by sea. But high levels of

One of the knock-on effects of this “perfect storm” has been a significant shortfall in the availability of containers worldwide. “You’d need to put nearly twice as many containers into the system as is currently available, so obviously that problems is not going to be cured anytime soon,” says Tracey.

to fly again, resulting in some increase in capacity and companies with higher value items are switching business to air. But with capacity still constrained that has caused air freight rates to rise exponentially, too.

“I have a major client who for the last two weeks hasn’t been able to get an order confirmed. But in those two weeks the rates to transport the goods have increased by 30%,” Allen says. Another client had agreed a shipment into Ireland from California

“Brexit has been a complete nightmare,” says Allen.

“The result can be seen in bare shelves in some supermarkets and longer lead times on goods all round. Furthermore, the complications of Brexit are going to continue to cause havoc in the market for at least the next six months and when the derogations are removed we’re going to see further upheaval.”

Not pulling his punches, he describes Brexit as “the worst decision that any country has ever made” in terms of trade and industry. “For all of the bluff and bluster that’s coming out of the British government it’s clear that it’s an unmitigated disaster from their point of view,” he adds.

The problem is primarily one of increased complexity.

A container arriving in Ireland from China or the US will usually contain a single product requiring a single clearance. Even multi-line or multi-product containers are relatively straightforward. But with the large amount of foodstuffs and agricultural products coming into Ireland from Britain a truck could easily contain 200 or 300 different products for delivery to a store or supermarket. Each of these needs to be cleared individually, creating an enormous

amount of work that was not previously necessary and consequent long delays at ports.

“At this stage lorry drivers are fed up going into the UK because the infrastructure is struggling to cope,” says Tracey. “They’re happy to run right across Europe, from Norway to Italy, but they’re reluctant to go through the UK.” As of now, it is estimated, the UK itself is short about 100,000 drivers. On top of that, because world has been closed down for 18 months, there has been no driver training or testing so there are no new commercial vehicle drivers to help fill the shortfall. Allen points out that the driver shortage is exacerbated by new rules on driver hours and breaks which requires an immediate 20% increase in the number of drivers needed to provide the same level of service.

Is there any solution?

The solution for companies is to maximize the supply chains and with the help of their selected freight forwarder to consolidate their logistics with other companies wherever possible. Depending on the size of the pallet, a container could typically take about 25 pallets. “ So three or four companies might work together to assemble a single order of 25 pallets to reduce their costs,” Allen says, cautioning “that’s a lot easier said than done.”

Use the expertise of a freight forwarder to make the best of a bad situation, recommends Allen. “We’re constantly in discussion with the shipping lines, the airlines and the road freight carriers, as well as with our colleagues in China, Asia, the US, Canada and Australia. So we understand what the issues are and we can alert customer to exactly what they need to do and how they need to do it. Thankfully customers are listening and the more we can help them to understand and to adjust their expectations, their scheduling and their forecasts, the better.

“The problems are going to continue, certainly for the rest of 2021. But it’s up to companies like us , as well as the much bigger logistics companies like the DHLs, to figure out how we can assist customers, shippers and importers to mitigate some of these problems and how we can alleviate some of the stresses, even if we can’t alleviate the costs.”

Tracey concludes: “You do adapt to the environment around you and the Irish flexibility in the face of a challenge is brilliant. I can see people getting stronger and better because of what’s going on.

You either love this business or you hate it – there’s no in between. And at times like this you have to show your true steel.”

Tracey says the Irish are very resilient and will adapt to the challenges. He points out that there is a shift of business to mainland Europe, with some companies avoiding the complexities of doing business with the UK supply chain by switching up to 100% of their business to European suppliers.

He also advocates a “buy early, buy often” approach.

“Give yourself a bit of breathing space to have the paperwork right,” he suggests. “Once you’ve done it a few times you’ll get into the groove and it becomes manageable. But planning, planning and more planning is what is needed now, whether you’re importing or exporting.”

Internationally, the picture is stark. A few examples illustrate this. Twelve months ago Hapag Lloyd was charging around $3,500 to transport a 40 foot container from Asia to California. It is now charging $25,000 dollars, including a ‘capacity surcharge’ of $5,000 dollars. A container into Europe from Asia, which was about $3,000 dollars in January 2020, is now running at $16,000. A container from Asia into Ireland which cost $2,200 18 months ago is now costing $15,000.

Nor does switching to airfreight represent a viable alternative. About 80% of all air freight is carried in the holds of passenger aircraft. Airlines are beginning

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ISSUE 2 - AUGUST 2021

Keeping ahead of the competition through innovation is also a key component of Jordan’s approach. “ We live in a dynamic world and you can’t stay still. You always need to be reinventing and adapting to what’s happening the marketplace.

I firmly believe in global excellence. To achieve that you have to be the very best you can – and for that you must be innovative.”

MY WEEK IN WORK:

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JOCK JORDAN: LIVING EVIDENCE OF THE VALUE OF A GOOD WORK-LIFE BALANCE

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Jock Jordan is Senior Director/ Country Manager of One4all Ireland, Regional Vice President at Blackhawk Network and a former President of Fingal Chamber. He is also the epitome of the term “a busy person”. What he crams into each day reflects his passion not just for business but also for living a well-balanced life to the full. In this interview he discusses how he integrates the various aspects of his life and shares some of the lessons that have underpinned his career success to date.

“It’s impossible to set out a simple formula for my business day simply because my touch points vary quite a bit,” he says. “I have one-to-one meetings throughout the course of the week with people who report directly to me and meetings with local management here in Ireland. There are also quarterly

town hall presentations to all employees to bring them up to speed with what’s happening, which have been particularly important during COVID times.

On top of this there are EMEA senior leadership meetings, US and global strategy meetings and a number of joint customer visits or meetings. That’s my business life in a nutshell.”

Having cut his teeth as a very young man in direct sales door-to-door, Jock Jordan soon embarked on a career in sales & marketing with a succession of high profile leaders of different business sectors. After working for Rowntree Mackintosh and Beechams he became an Irish country manager, first for Sony recording media and then for Walt Disney, before joining Aer Lingus Cargo as head of sales & marketing.

“I was hugely ambitious as a youngster and lost no opportunity to further my career. I managed it very carefully, choosing the organisations I wanted to work for, and I was always grooming myself for starting something of my own one day,” he says.

So when he met Michael Dawson in 2000, who was about to launch a gift voucher company, he was fully open to the opportunity. “After a two hour conversation I came home and told my wife we were re-mortgaging our house and starting a business, One4all, with me as its commercial head,” he recalls.

Over the following 18 years they grew that into a €0.25 billion business which was then sold to the US company Blackhawk. Dawson and another executive/ owner, CFO Paul Larkin, departed but Jordan stayed on, becoming a Blackhawk vice president and One4all’s country manager in January 2019.

“I was really looking forward to taking over the helm of the business, only to be faced soon after by the COVID pandemic and lockdown,” he says. “But we’ve survived it and we’ve done really well. We had to reorganise ourselves completely in order to work remotely, but we kept in touch with our customers and we’ve actually managed to grow the business.

The way the team has coped with that challenge gives me a great sense of satisfaction.”

Jordan is passionate about teamwork. “I’ve always believed in hiring people who are better than me, more skilled, more ambitious, people who have energy and who challenge me on a daily basis, just as I challenge them,” he says.

His father, Tom, was one of the most important influences on his approach to business, imbuing in him a strong work ethic. Tom played the role of Charlie Kelly in the RTE television soap Fair City from its very first episode in 1989 until his death two years ago. “Right into his 80s he was up at 6.00 in the

morning and working 12 or 14 hour days,” his son recalls. “He was a great mentor and we were great pals as I got older. When things were difficult I’d often meet up with him and we’d solve the problem over a cup of coffee or a pint. He always reminded me that life was not a dress rehearsal.”

Feargal Quinn’s book “Crowning the Customer” was another important influence as was “The Art of War”. This book on military strategy was written in China over 2,000 years ago and translated into English at the start of the 20th century. Its author, Sun Tzu, counselled: “Troops that bring the enemy to heel without fighting at all - that is ideal”.

This notion of win/win through negotiation is at the core of Jordan’s business strategy and is even reflected in his approach to recruitment. “Particularly in sales, I’ve always hired young people and I’ve always promised them that working for us will be good for their career, that we will develop and hone their skills – whether they continue to work for us or chose to move on.

“And when I’m hiring sales people, in particular, I’ll often ask not just for employer references but for customer references, too. I’m as interested in how a customer finds someone to do business with as I am in what their employer has to say. Ethics in business has always been extremely important to me. I’ve never sold anything to anybody they didn’t want to buy – at least, I don’t think have – and I’m also hugely conscious that I should never hurt anyone along the way.”

The inspiration for innovation often comes by listening carefully to customers, he adds. “We started One4all with a paper voucher, for example. But it was only through listening to our business customers telling us what they needed that we came up with an approach that allowed the end user to choose where they wanted to spend their money. It was the same with the move to plastic, which is why we teamed up with Visa, and it’s why we now have a strong digital offering that is growing rapidly. The point is, if you don’t innovate someone else will and they’ll overtake you.

“So I’ve always embraced change and technology, simply because I didn’t want to get left behind.

Keeping a finger on the pulse and being politically astute, commercially astute and financially astute is important. And, with the increased flow of data coming from everywhere, data analytics is becoming more and more important to the success of pretty much every business.”

Jordan is an enthusiastic supporter, too, of Fingal Chamber. “The Chamber played a huge role in getting our new business started,” he says. “One of the first things I did was to join it and avail of every networking opportunity it provided. I’ve always believed that if you have an ambition to take your business global you’ve got to start somewhere and that should be in your own back garden. The Chamber played a huge role in helping us do that.

It has also been a great outlet for me to share any business issues or worries with like-minded people.”

Work-life balance

Openness to change and re-invention is also an important mantra for Jordan in all aspects of his life, but especially in business. “We’re always learning,” he says, “I think I was the oldest student in DIT when I went back to college in my 40s to do a diploma in sales and business management.

An early riser, Jordan is a member of Bulletproof Dads, a structured hour-long work out in a gym on Tuesday and Thursday mornings starting at 7.30pm.

Growing out of that , he’s also one of a group that cycles 30k to 40k two evenings a week as well as on Sunday mornings.

“It fostered a highly analytical approach and taught

“I’ve learned over the years that structure is really

important for both myself and my colleagues,” he says. “I get out for a walk with my 10 year old dog Tilly at least once every day and during COVID I’ve also taken up kayaking again, which is something I enjoyed in my 20s. I go out for a paddle on the sea with my wife Aedeen here in Rush when the weather is fine.” He also relishes time spent with his family.

“I love entertaining and spending weekends away with my wife, and my son Sean and daughter Emma when they’re available to join us.”

Giving back Jordan has always had a very strong sense of community. When he and Aedeen moved to Rush from Dublin 35 years ago they immediately became involved in local community projects, like providing services to help old people in the area, and joined various school, credit union and other local committees. “As you can tell, I’m not a loner. I enjoy doing things in teams, I need people around me for motivation and help,” he says.

He is a long-time member of St John’s Ambulance in Swords, an Emergency First Responder and a member of the Cardiac First Responders team in Rush. This last is a group of local volunteers on call day or night to provide immediate assistance until an ambulance can arrive. It has also raised funds to provide six defibrillators around the town. “If you save a life there is obviously a great sense of achievement.

But it’s just as important to be there to comfort and help people who are in distress. If I turn up to an incident in uniform before an ambulance arrives you can almost hear the collective sigh of relief.”

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MY WEEK IN WORK: LYNDSEY DAVEY

me the value of research and of strategizing.

Throughout my career I’ve never missed a sales target and almost invariably my forecast has been within plus or minus five points of the eventual outturn. But that’s not because I’m a super salesperson, it’s because I’ve always been realistic in my forecasting. That was true even during the pandemic, when we had to completely restructure the business and revise our forecasts.”

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Orthopaedics

at the Bon Secours Hospital Dublin Committed to caring for our patients in the safest possible way

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FAST-TRACK TO RECOVERY AT THE BON SECOURS HOSPITAL DUBLIN FOLLOWING HIP/ KNEE REPLACEMENT

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The Orthopaedic Department at the Bon Secours Hospital Dublin in Glasnevin North Dublin combines modern facilities with medical expertise and traditional ethos of patient-centred care. Over the last 2 years, the department has grown to include 11 orthopaedic surgeons who are supported by a team of specialist orthopaedic nurses, physiotherapists, musculoskeletal radiologists and dieticians.

Key to the development within the department has been the adoption of an Enhanced Recovery Programme, an evidence-based approach that helps patients to recover from surgery quickly and to return to normal level of function as soon as possible.

In most cases patients who opt for elective knee or hip replacement are healthy but suffering with joint pain. The last thing they want or need is to spend excessive time in hospital and this has never been more so than in the past 18 months. Enhanced recovery is about minimising the amount of time a patient spends in hospital. When patients feel well enough they are mobilised by the physiotherapists with the view to being home as soon as possible.

The programme focuses on education and empowerment so the patient knows and understands what to expect at each stage of their joint replacement journey. This starts from the initial consultation with the orthopaedic consultant when different treatment options are discussed. All joint replacement patients are invited to attend the hospital’s pre-assessment clinic within 2 weeks of their scheduled procedure to meet with their care team including nursing team, physiotherapist and anaesthetist. They are introduced to the aids that will be used to mobilise them post surgery, to pre and post surgery exercises and diet assessment which may also include the introduction of carbohydrate drinks in advance of the procedure all of which contributes to a quicker recovery time and better patient outcome.

The enhanced recovery programme is a widespread approach but how it is implemented differs across different hospitals and countries. Together with his orthopaedic colleagues, Mr James Cashman is a particular exponent of this approach with some of his patients now being discharged on the day of their procedure once key milestones have been met. The same day joint replacement option is not suitable for all patients but the enhanced recovery programme has significantly reduced the length of time in hospital for a joint replacement from 5 days to an average of 2 days and significantly improved the patient experience and over all satisfaction levels.

The Bon Secours Hospital Dublin has excellent insurance arrangements in place for orthopaedic procedures and also competitive self funding options.

Introducing our growing Orthopaedics team

Mr Philip Brady Hip, Knee

Mr Neil Burke Hip, Knee

Mr James Cashman Hip, Knee

Mr Peter Keogh Hip, Knee, MSK Infection

Mr Paddy Kenny Hip, Knee

For more information: www.bonsecours.ie/dublin-departments/ orthopaedics email: e:orthopaedics@bonsecours.ie T: 01 8082340 Mr James Cashman - Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon / Bon Secours Hospital Dublin

Ms Olivia Flannery Hand, Wrist, Elbow, Shoulder

Mr Aaron Glynn Hip, Knee

Mr Darragh Hynes Hand, Wrist, Elbow, Shoulder

Prof John O Byrne Knee

Mr James Walsh Lower Limb, Foot, Ankle

Prof Eoin Sheehan Hip & Knee

For further information: e: orthopaedics@bonsecours.ie t: 01 808 2340 or visit www.bonsecours.ie/dublin-orthopaedics The Bon Secours Hospital Dublin has excellent insurance cover for all orthopaedic procedures and also competitive self pay options.

Bon Secours Hospital Dublin Glasnevin Hill, Glasnevin, Dublin D09 YN97

Organization Accredited

by Joint Commission International

Advanced Medicine Exceptional Care

Fingal County Council

ISSUE 2 - AUGUST 2021

ISSUE 2 - AUGUST 2021

For over a decade, Amazon Web Services (AWS) has invested in developing data centres and services in Ireland. AWS Impact: Supporting Ireland’s Economic Growth sets out the positive impact of this investment using an evidence-based study carried out by Indecon International Economic Consultants. This summary captures the figures specific to the Fingal County Council area.

AWS’s investments in the period 2011-2020 have delivered the following positive impact to the Fingal County Council area: In 2020 AWS’s investment in data centres in Fingal supported over 2,000 jobs (direct, indirect and induced), increasing seven-fold since 2011.

Over the last decade AWS has invested over €1.3 billion in capital and operational expenditure in the Fingal area.

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In 2020 AWS’s investment in Fingal led to an increase in economic output of over €250 million, including direct, indirect and induced effects.

And across Dublin, every year, AWS... contributes

650+ volunteer hours

delivers

engages

10+

3,000+ community

community events

members

FINGAL CHAMBER - NETWORK MAGAZINE

FINGAL CHAMBER - NETWORK MAGAZINE

In 2020 AWS invested over €90 million in capital expenditure in Fingal.

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ISSUE 1 - APRIL 2021

ISSUE 2 - AUGUST 2021

OFFERING 2050SQ.FT OF HIGH SPEC CONFERENCE SPACE, CITYNORTH HOTEL HAS REMAINED OPEN FOR ESSENTIAL BUSINESS THROUGHOUT ALL PHASES OF COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS. Now operating under the Failte Ireland Safety Charter, this modern hotel and conference centre adapted quickly and reconfigured their spaces to allow for social distancing.

“We had to pivot as we moved through the various stages of lockdown”, says Suzanne Mulvey, Director of Sales and Marketing at CityNorth. “Many hotels closed, but thankfully with demand in the area for essential meetings and training we managed to keep the doors open”.

CityNorth Hotel’s location at Junction 7 off the M1 has proved popular during Covid. “We managed to attract new business from firms that wanted to avoid crowded central locations. Brexit was still steaming ahead in the background, and we hosted many Brexit related business meetings offering a suitable meeting spot between north and south of the border”.

While guidelines for the return to full conferences are not yet clear, CityNorth Hotel will remain open for essential business and training, offering a safe and secure facility to meet and do business.

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The core management team ran the hotel along with greatly reduced staffing levels. “This has been a great lesson in teamwork. We found the time to focus on how we could operate safely and more sustainably which has resulted in a reignited strategy as we slowly exit the pandemic” says Ms Mulvey.

“Our people are the soul of the operation, and their dedication and hard work resulted in us winning the Trip Advisor Travelers Choice 2021 Award. This was a great achievement considering the challenging times we were operating in”. The facilities were upgraded during this time to include new virtual and hybrid conference facilities, 200MB WiFi networks with firewalls in each of the larger conference spaces.

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ISSUE 2 - AUGUST 2021

MEET THE TEAM - SHAY BURKE

for a subsequent one-to-one discussion.”

THERE’S MORE TO CHAMBER MEMBERSHIP THAN SEEING EYE-TO-EYE Shay Burke was invited to take up the baton of membership development for Fingal Chamber for an initial six months. Now, just over two years later, he admits that he is thoroughly enjoying the role.

An enthusiast for the benefits of Chamber membership, he believes 100% in the value of what he is encouraging others to share in.

Proud to have been born and raised in the Liberties, Shay’s first official job was in the esteemed Lord Edward Seafood Pub/Restaurant at Christchurch.

“It was my university and the people I met and the things I learned there have stood to me ever since.

You could say it was the start of my networking career,” he says. He went on to manage the Carrick Hall Hotel on Orwell Road in Rathgar at the age of 22.

of referrals members can get from other members, whether just by going to a networking event or attending a zoom meeting, really is invaluable,” he says.

Shay points out that Fingal Chamber is one of the country’s largest Chambers of Commerce, comprising 1,300 individual members within 430 + member companies, and with a catchment area that includes Dublin Airport and stretches from Balbriggan in the North to Santry in the South, and from Howth in the East to Castleknock in the West.

As an experienced salesperson, Shay recognises there is no substitute for face-to-face meetings.

The loss of the “live” 8.00am breakfast sessions due to the pandemic has been felt acutely by many members, he says, and he emphasises the

ISSUE 2 - AUGUST 2021

Chamber’s determination that these will resume the very moment it is safe to do so. “They enable members, large or small, to make direct contact with each other in ways that might otherwise take months to get past a PA, for example,” he notes wryly.

Bringing his depth of business experience to bear, he urges members not to wait for the resumption of “live” sessions but to engage with what is available, such as the Chamber’s Zoom meetings and webinars, even if they do not provide the same level of intimacy.

“At a time like this, when people are trying to focus on the resumption of their business or identifying appropriate new strategies for the future, there is a real benefit in keeping in touch with each other.

Listening to people discuss topics, one member could well find something another has to say particularly pertinent and that could be the trigger

He also notes that Fingal Chamber has a close and strong working relationship with Fingal County Council and says there is ample evidence of the practical value of this relationship at both official and less formal levels. “Our ability to work well together is a strong positive for the membership,” he says. “For example, last year Fingal County Council launched free public WiFi in a number of locations throughout Fingal, including Howth, Malahide, Swords, Rush, Donabate, Balbriggan and Blanchardstown and we worked closely with them on that project, identifying suitable locations for positioning the technical equipment with the help of our members.”

“Without a doubt it’s a great base from which to start a business as part of the local business community.

The world will solve this Coronavirus problem and as the end comes ever nearer you may well find you need fellow members in the network to help you kick start your business again. I’m convinced Fingal Chamber will be even more relevant and important going into the future.”

There are several other highly immediate, tangible benefits to being a member of Fingal Chamber that shouldn’t be overlooked, Shay adds. These include member-to-member special offers and the Skillnet subsidised skills training service. “In some cases companies using Skillnet can be self-financing where membership costs are concerned.” Fingal Chamber also provides an export documentation service which many companies throughout the Fingal Region avails of.

“If I was starting a new business here I’d certainly want to join Fingal Chamber,” Shay concludes.

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He joined Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, now owned by Pfizer, and for 22 years he was the all-island manager for its market-leading SMA infant formula. About four months after he retired from there he was approached by a former MD of Wyeth in the UK who asked him to help launch a new baby milk formula – in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Initially reluctant, he finally signed up for two years of what was to become “a fantastic end of career experience”. He eventually spent three years there and declined a fourth, returning to Ireland in 2014.

From our Family to Yours If you’re looking for top quality local produce, a delicious joint of meat for your Sunday roast, hand prepared dried meats, or the crumbliest of cheeses for your picnic – we have everything you need for any occasion.

Just over two years ago he was approached with another job offer, this time by Anthony Cooney, whom he had in initially got to know through his dealings with the grocery business when he was at Wyeth, and has become an enthusiastic champion of Fingal Chamber.

“No matter what size you are, Fingal Chamber is a business-to-business organisation, and the number

COUNTRY CREST FARM SHOP AT JONES GARDEN CENTRE, JUNCTION 4, M1, T. 01 810 7493 OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK. COUNTRYCRESTFARMSHOP.IE f o

FINGAL CHAMBER - NETWORK MAGAZINE

FINGAL CHAMBER - NETWORK MAGAZINE

His first fulltime sales job was with the Dublin matchmaker Maguire & Paterson, which also had agencies for various lines, including Wilkinson Sword shaving products, Marigold rubber gloves and Foster Grant sunglasses, which he sold to supermarkets, pharmacies and cash & carry outlets.

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ISSUE 2 - AUGUST 2021

ISSUE 2 - AUGUST 2021

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

FINGAL CHAMBER - NETWORK MAGAZINE

• Arab-Irish Certs - issued when goods are being shipped to any of the 19 Arab League countries.

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• Translation - upon request.

What can we do for you: Fingal Chamber offers companies the convenience of a central place to organise the legalisation of all their documents and the ease of a fast, efficient service between our online system and courier service. We are happy to offer advice to help your company manage this aspect of trade and can offer assistance throughout the process.

Our documentation services are available to both members of the Chamber and non-members, with a discounted rate for members.

If you wish to find out more about the documentation services we provide or get your company set up on

our system, get in touch with agata@fingalchamber.ie “Organising documentation for exports can be a very complex and time-consuming process. Fingal Chamber can look after that process and take away the headache! Every day I help and assist companies with the certification and legalisations of any commercial or legal paperwork for wide range of industries such as pharmaceuticals, manufacturing or tech. and others. We provide this service to all business communities that require assistance with their documentation: members and non-members of our organization, and I am always working with a multitude of different circumstances. As Fingal Chamber offers fully licence certification of EU and Arab-Irish Certificates of Origin we work very closely with the Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Arab-Irish Chamber of Commerce and Embassies in Ireland and UK.” Agata Kusak-Thion, International Trade Administrator, Fingal Chamber

Operating in some of the world’s most challenging environments, Reconnaissance Group has amassed incomparable security and risk management experience since its establishment in 2006, working with clients to create a robust, resilient security culture within their organisation.

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FINGAL CHAMBER - NETWORK MAGAZINE

Services we offer: Fingal Chamber is a leading provider of documentation • Certificates of Origin - required when exporting goods to certain countries to prove services, assisting a wide range of the place of growth, production, or manufacture manufacturers across industries and satisfy custom or trade requirements. with International Trade. Some • Company Documents - legalisation of other of these industries include company documents including invoices, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, packaging slips, health certs etc. machinery, and IT. We are officially • EU Certificates - required for goods that are authorised by the Department of exported outside the EU Single Market.

Enterprise, Trade and Employment • Notary / Apostille – through the Department and Chambers Ireland to issue and of Foreign Affairs and Trade and a legalisation service with embassies. certify export documentation.

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CREATIVE FINGAL Bewley’s Big Coffee Morning Social for Hospice is taking place on Friday 23rd September. Why not host a ‘nearly normal’ Coffee Morning Social for you and your colleagues this year in aid of St. Francis Hospice?

We have an exciting way that you can take part virtually using our Teams/Zoom background with a personalised QR code for your company. We are happy to work with you to provide you with the materials you need to host the Coffee Morning Social in a way that works for you and your company, all within COVID-19 guidelines.

Call 01-8327535 to sign up and our team can give you any advice that you may need to organise your Bewley’s Big Coffee Morning Social for Hospice in aid of St Francis Hospice Dublin.

St. Francis Hospice, Station Road, Raheny, Dublin D05 E392 Tel: (01) 832 7535 St. Francis Hospice, Blanchardstown, Dublin D15 DE98 Tel: (01) 829 4000 CHY Number: 10568

Charity Regulator Number: 20027193

SPACE FOR THE ARTS A Space For the Arts – Draíocht’s Strategy 2018-2022, presents a vision which may be familiar – of an Ireland where everyone has the opportunity to enjoy and be enriched by the arts. How we work towards that vision stems from our name: Draíocht meaning magic. We want to share the magic of the arts through presenting a yearround programme of work, by creating opportunities for participation and by close collaboration with artists, all the while bringing our values of welcome, fun, magic, belonging and nurture abundantly to life.

Located in the heart of Blanchardstown Dublin 15, Draíocht is an arts centre steadfastly committed to serving its local community and influencing arts practice far beyond. Its development was instigated by a passionate cohort of people from within this unique community, with its rich tradition of drama and musical theatre and fast-growing young and culturally diverse population. Their vision and determination was rewarded when Draíocht opened in 2001, a purpose-built space with two theatres, two galleries, an artist’s studio, a workshop space and a café.

Pre-Covid, Draíocht welcomed over 50,000 people a year. The challenges of 2020 for the arts community meant diversification was essential and the art center’s work moved online. While the building was closed to the public for most of the year, Draíocht

supported artists with free spaces, to continue to create and film and plan future work. Zoom enabled the continuation of Draíocht’s D15 Youth Theatre classes weekly for 14-18 year olds, and their Create Dance Project, weekly dance classes for children of different abilities. Dance Artist in Residence Jess Rowell moved her work online and created two much anticipated dance films. In all Draíocht commissioned over 40 creative videos from their team of artists during lockdown and reached digital audiences in 7 countries.

called ‘Journey’, based on young people’s insights into their world, especially over the past year.

Draíocht’s work in 2021 so far has remained outdoor and online, including a Music in the Schoolyard project in six Dublin 15 primary schools, called PLAY, in collaboration with The Mobile Music School. The arts centre reopened its doors to the public on 9th July 2021 with an exhibition by artist Joe Coveney

Draíocht is generously funded by Fingal County Council with additional funding from the Arts Council. You can find out more at www.draiocht.ie

Emer McGowan is Director of Draíocht, “Taking more time to listen and talk to the artists we work with and the public we serve has been a feature of COVID for Draíocht. Our future programmes will benefit from that investment of time. Our Autumn programme will be busy with the quality of work that you know us for. We can’t wait to welcome our audiences back, we’ve missed you all so much.”

FINGAL CHAMBER - NETWORK MAGAZINE

FINGAL CHAMBER - NETWORK MAGAZINE

ISSUE 2 - AUGUST 2021

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fingalchamber.ie/recommend

Supporting business across the Fingal region

through training, networking and collaboration.

Talk to us: skillnet@fingalchamber.ie www.fingalchamberskillnet.ie