Business Eye December 2019

Issue 193 December 2019 £2.50 Voted best Business Magazine in Ireland 2005 and Magazine of the Year for Northern Ireland

New Dawn...

AIB Investing For Growth

Features:

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Keystone Group’s 30 Years Of Growth

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Public Transport & NI’s Economic Future

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AIB Business Eye Awards 2019

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Contents

December 2019 ISSUE 193

Cover Story

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New Dawn… AIB Investing In Growth

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Paul Yates Launches New Collection Fine artist Paul Yates, based in County Down, has launched a brand new collection and website in a business venture alongside former UTV Managing Director, Michael Wilson.

The old First Trust Bank brand has been replaced at AIB, bringing the Big Four bank into line with the rest of Ireland and the UK. AIB’s Head of Northern Ireland, Adrian Moynihan, talks about the rationale behind the big re-brand and how the bank has ambitious plans to increase its market share across the business and retail sectors here.

Belinda Brown’s Global Role For Diageo

Manufacturing

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Keystone Group…30 Years Of Growth & Innovation

Antrim girl Belinda Brown is based in London but travels the world as Global Audit & Risk Director and part of the senior management team at drinks giant Diageo. She talks to Business Eye about the complexities of her role and the global industry.

Speaking The Language Of Business Success When she first came to Northern Ireland 12 years ago as a 24-year old, Paolina Hawthorne admits that she couldn’t have imagined what she’s achieved more than a decade on. Not only is she still here, but she’s Managing Director of one of the largest specialist interpreting and translation companies on the island.

There are plenty of home-grown companies with 30 years of achievement behind them. There are few with the kind of growth that can rival Cookstown’s Keystone Group.

Keystone was set up back in 1989 by Sean Coyle and these days, it’s a £170 million turnover operation with a series of acquisitions behind it and 23 sites in Ireland, England, Wales and Poland totalling more than one million square feet.

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Northern Ireland’s Public Transport In Focus

The annual Princes Trust Northern Ireland Lunch with an Old Bag fundraising event took place at Belfast Harbour Commissioners Office recently raising over £45,000 for the work of The Prince’s Trust.

Wilsons Auctions Contracts Director Craig Walker has been with the Mallusk-based group for 22 years, during which the company has transformed itself from a local auctioneer of cars and commercial vehicles to a multi-site market leader in both physical and online auctions.

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Newry Chamber President’s Banquet

Events

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AIB Business Eye Awards 2019

The annual Newry Chamber President’s Gala Banquet has been held at the city’s Canal Court Hotel, where guests heard from guest speaker Sean O’Connor, founder of StatSports, the highly successful Newry-based sports technology company.

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Televisions’s Local Winners Announced

First Derivatives and its founder the late Brian Conlon along with Brian McConville of Newry-based MJM Group were amongst those honoured at the 2019 AIB Business Eye Awards, held at ICC Belfast in front of an audience of more than 700 business guests.

The winners of the Royal Television Society Northern Ireland (RTS NI) Programme Awards were presented at a glittering awards ceremony in The Mac Belfast, hosted by TV presenter Vogue Williams.

The creator, writer and executive producer of Derry Girls Lisa McGee was awarded the coveted Brian Waddell Award for her outstanding contribution to the broadcast industry for her wonderful immortalisation of her hometown in the phenomenally successful Derry Girls.

Eye on Corporate Finance

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Eye on Finance

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Eye on Innovation

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Eye on Law

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Eye on Technology

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Eye on Moving On

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Eye on Art Investment

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Eye on Events

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Eye on Motoring

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Eye on Health

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Eye on Horse Racing

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Buckley Publications 20 Kings Road Belfast, BT5 6JJ Tel: (028) 9047 4490 Fax: (028) 9047 4495 www.businesseye.co.uk

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Craig Walker…Charting Change At Wilsons Auctions

Business Eye joined forces with Translink to stage a Round Table Discussion hosted by the NI Chamber of Commerce & Industry at its Linenhall Street headquarters. The discussion spotlighted the importance of public transport infrastructure to business and the economy here in Northern Ireland, and looked at the priorities for the sector going forward.

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Lunch With An Old Bag

Transport & Infrastructure

Regulars

Specials

Editor Richard Buckley Commercial Director Brenda Buckley

Business Development Manager Ciara Donnelly

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One of the most interesting aspects of the General Election result was the immediate reaction of the markets. Within hours of Boris Johnson’s fairly sensational victory, the FTSE 250 had reached Richard Buckley EDITOR new levels and the pound was at a three-year Irish Magazine Editor high against the US Dollar. of the Year 2005

Comment

“The people of the UK, like it or not, have spoken loudly and clearly.

Business here will, to a large degree, share the sentiments of the market. Business will welcome stability and the fact that the Brexit debate is over.”

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t doesn’t mean that the markets are gleeful about the prospect of Brexit. But it does mean that they’re welcoming governmental stability with open arms. To lapse into cliches, there are plenty of choppy waters ahead but the direction of travel is clear.

And there’s the small matter of Messrs.

Corbyn and McDonnell being consigned to the annals of socialist history. We’ll miss their jokes and repartee.

So where does Northern Ireland go from here. Certainly, there’s little point in whining about Brexit any more. The people of the UK, like it or not, have spoken loudly and clearly. Business here will, to a large degree, share the sentiments of the market. Business will welcome stability and the fact that the Brexit debate is over.

It means that as a business community, we’ll potentially face even rougher seas over the coming months. But we can now make the best of it and start looking for the opportunities instead of the problems and handicaps. It’s something we’re more than capable of doing.

On the local political front, we have witnessed a real sea change. Our old friends at the DUP might not have been consigned to history, a la Corbyn & McDonnell (not to mention Swinson), but they certainly had an awful night on December 12th.

They had to watch as the party haemorrhaged votes all over the shop, lost Nigel Dodds and Emma Little Pengelly, failed to pick up North Down, and now occupy just one of the four Belfast seats, instead of three.

Then there’s the simple, but very stark, fact that Northern Ireland has for the first time returned more Nationalist MP’s than Unionists.

There were lots of stories to come out of the local results. Claire Hanna’s huge win in South Belfast, Nigel Dodds’ defeat, and – looking under the bonnet – at how DUP majorities were whittled away in places like East Belfast and even Jeffrey Donaldson’s Lagan Valley.

The DUP’s glory days are over and unlikely to come back as demographics change in Northern Ireland and as the Alliance Party continues its rise alongside a resurgent SDLP. Colum Eastwood’s win in Foyle was another momentuous one and highlights the fact that Sinn Fein might have held on to the same numbers of seats (that it doesn’t occupy). But it’s vote was way down on previous levels.

Something for John Finucane to contemplate as he continues his way towards replacing Michelle O’Neill as party leader.

The DUP’s eight votes at Westminster are no longer important. There will be no confidence and no supply. They’ll need a new leader in the Commons and they’ll also need a new leader everywhere. Arlene Foster’s chances of surviving a dreadful election and the forthcoming RHI Inquiry Report are just about non-existent.

So let’s expect Brexit, let’s expect Boris Johnson’s oven-ready deal (and the DUP can cry its eyes dry but won’t be able to change it) and we’re going to have to make the best of it. But it’s possible and it’s achievable.

Expect also the see momentum increasing rapidly towards an imminent return of Stormont.

The DUP’s giving hand may no longer fail it and the wounded Shinners will see the light.

They’ll be back. Is that good or bad? We’ll see.

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Eye on News

Recruitment Consultancy’s Equation For Success Multiplied By Gift Of Expertise Times two is the winning equation for Belfastbased recruitment consultancy iMultiply as the company marks its second anniversary in Northern Ireland and the announcement of a new highly experienced, highly skilled Strategic Advisory Board, with the hiring of three new staff.

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s one of the UK and Ireland’s most innovative and customer-centric finance recruitment firms, iMultiply is also celebrating an impressive 50 per cent growth in its local customer base and its revenue in the last 12-months alone.

The company’s innovative and agile approach has attracted many prestigious awards, recently winning ‘Customer Service Excellence, Professional Business Services’ in the 2019 Belfast Business Awards, all within 18 months of trading. iMultiply currently boasts a team of 20 based across Edinburgh, Glasgow and Belfast, with the focus being on growing that number significantly. Belfast is seen as key to this growth strategy with 3 new hires planned over the next 6-months.

The hiring of the new Strategic

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Advisory Board which includes prominent business leaders, Judith Totten MBE, Paul Campbell and Cara Macklin, will provide iMultiply with an insightful on-the-ground perspective and even greater local expertise which reflects the burgeoning businesses’ outstanding success and expansion plans for continued growth.

The award-winning consultancy’s new strategic board members bring impressive experience, contacts and inspiration that will greatly benefit the Northern Irish operation, and the companies that partner with iMultiply for both permanent and interim finance recruitment solutions.

Judith Totten MBE enjoyed a successful career in banking, principally with Danske Bank, and went on to found Upstream, an independent provider of working capital funding

Kirsty Mackensie, CEO of iMultiply is pictured with Kris Flannagan, MD of iMultiply, Billy McCarthy, iMultiply Director who are joined by the new strategic board, Paul Campbell, Judith Totten & Cara Macklin.

for Northern Ireland SME’s. She is a Non-Exec Board Member of Invest NI and is recognised as a provider of finance solutions for business and a respected financial commentator.

Commenting on the new role Judith said: “I am so delighted to join the board of such a fantastic company which has clear strategic goals and objectives.

They are not only highly entrepreneurial, creative and strategic, but they are an absolute pleasure to work with, full of fun, energy and an absolute passion for what they do.

They are already showing the real potential of the business and I hope that with our experience we can help push that further, faster.”

Paul Campbell is a multi-disciplined Director and Chairman with a proven track record over the last three decades of establishing and growing successful businesses. He is NonExecutive Chair at Electronic & Security Services Ltd, Chair of the Growth and Scaling Board at Catalyst, and a longstanding business mentor to the startup community in Northern Ireland.

An entrepreneur and professional coach, Cara Macklin uses both her business experience and leadership

coaching to help successful leaders achieve greater results developing themselves and their business. Cara was previously a Director of the award-winning Macklin Healthcare group and Malone Lodge Hotel, which has grown to become a multimillion pound organisation with 600 employees across 7 businesses. iMultiply Director, Billy McCarthy said: “I am beyond delighted with our double celebration today - two hugely successful years of trading and the welcoming of such an exciting strategic board - who bring a fresh, new challenge and impetus to our expanding team.

The time is right for iMultiply to build on its foundation of success.

We are now fully established in the NI business community, which we feel is reflected by our ability to attract strategic advisors of the calibre of Judith, Paul and Cara.

We want our objectives and thinking to be continually challenged as we grow the business and consider new ventures - establishing an advisory board of entrepreneurs who have built and led their own successful enterprises represents a pivotal moment in our journey.”

Eye on News

NIE Networks Scoops Top Environment Award For Third Year Running

Pictured [L-R] with the sustainably-styled environmental award is: Declan Cunningham, Head of Sustainability & Risk, Moy Park; Chris Conway, Chair, BICNI; Suzanne Huntley, Safety Engineer, NIE Networks; and David Small, Chief Executive, Northern Ireland Environmental Agency.

NIE Networks has picked up the platinum award at the Northern Ireland Environmental Benchmarking Survey for the third consecutive year.

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he survey, which is run by Business in the Community, aims to push the environmental agenda to the fore by recognising and rewarding those organisations that are going above and beyond their legal requirements to improve their environmental impacts and better manage their resources.

With 107 local businesses and public sector organisations participating in the survey this year, more stringent criteria saw the number of organisations in the platinum category, the highest level that can be awarded, reduce from 33 to

23. NIE Networks continues to lead the way in its industry, having been the only utility to receive the platinum accolade.

The survey has grown to become Northern Ireland’s leading environmental benchmarking exercise, attracting organisations from numerous industry sectors. It is recognised as a positive influencer that helps organisations identify environmental impacts, measure progress and drive improvement.

Collecting the award, NIE Networks Safety Engineer Suzanne Huntley, commented: “We are delighted to have once again been the only utility to have been recognised in the top performing platinum category. Year-on-year we are committed to ensuring the highest standards of environmental performance and promoting the importance of the environment amongst our staff, customers and stakeholders.

“Not only are we responding to climate change legislation and the

significant growth in the adoption of low carbon technologies, but we have also implemented a number of initiatives including reducing single use plastic across our sites, promoting bio-diversity amongst our staff and committing to the protection of wildlife and natural habitats.”

In keeping with the theme of the survey, the benchmarking awards were made from sustainable materials and methods, using broken fencing posts and fallen elm trees and using ‘old-school’ hand tools to reduce electricity consumption.

Chris Conway, Chair of Business in the Community NI, commented: “Now in its 21st year, the Northern Ireland Environmental Benchmarking Survey plays a key part in ensuring environmental issues are on the agenda in boardrooms across Northern Ireland, and serves as a way for organisations to demonstrate to their stakeholders, sector and the general public, that they are taking the crucial steps to become more sustainable.”

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Eye on News

Tourism NI and Jago Strike Gold A PR campaign aimed at showcasing Northern Ireland as a stand-out travel destination for tourists in the Republic of Ireland has received a major global industry award.

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ourism NI and its PR partner, Jago Communications, won the Gold Award in the Best PR Campaign category at the second International Travel & Tourism Awards which were held at Magazine London.

The PR campaign met the challenges outlined in startling new Taskforce research highlighting that over 50% of consumers from the Republic had never made a trip to Northern Ireland.

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Jago and Tourism NI made it their mission to engage visitors in the Republic of Ireland with a creative integrated programme, showcasing Northern Ireland’s burgeoning offering as a global travel destination.

The International Travel & Tourism Awards celebrate the very best of travel and tourism on a global scale, from Europe, the USA and Africa to the Caribbean. The Best PR Campaign category recognises a destination or company that delivered the most original and best performing PR campaign.

With offices in Belfast and Dublin, Founder and Managing Director of Jago, Shona Jago-Curtis, said: “We are completely thrilled to win such a prestigious international award.

Jago is very proud of the integrated PR campaign with Tourism NI, delivering real impact and results in

the Republic of Ireland market. We are passionate about bringing Northern Ireland experiences and offerings to life through strategic PR campaigns and it is particularly significant that this has helped lead to an increase in trips to Northern Ireland from visitors from the Republic of Ireland, along with a boost in expenditure.”

Fiona Cunningham, Tourism NI ROI Market Manager, commented, “We are so pleased that our work together with Jago has received this global recognition and accolade. The creative year-long campaign aimed to persuade visitors to explore all that Northern Ireland has to offer, from beautiful landscapes, outstanding accommodation, worldclass food and drink and much more, only a two-hour drive from Dublin.”

Eye on Finance

IS THE END OF AUSTERITY IN SIGHT? By the time you are reading this article the outcome of the 2019 General Election may have been decided. A path through Brexit may be starting to open up, or dare we say it, we could be staring down a further period of uncertainty and political deadlock.

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he recent campaign trail has highlighted two clear objectives.

The first and primary objective for the government in calling the election is to seek a political mandate to implement their Brexit deal which to date has not received the required approval through the House of Commons. In recent weeks the opposition parties have set down their alternative views which may lead to further negotiations with the EU, a second referendum or revoking Article 50 altogether. The business community has been calling for some time for clarity and it is this that is craved in boardrooms right across our country.

The second objective the campaign trail has highlighted is a desire to bring an end to austerity following Brexit. It’s hard to believe it’s over 10 years since the then Prime Minister David Cameron said that “the age of

irresponsibility is giving way to the age of austerity”. Public sector cuts have become all too familiar to us with the aim of reducing, or indeed eliminating the fiscal deficit. Election pledges to boost public spending, invest in health, education and infrastructure are welcome but there’s a lot of ‘ifs, buts and maybes’ that need to happen before this is likely to become a reality. Regardless of your view on political manifestos, election candidates or indeed Brexit, experience in the last 10 years has taught us to remain cautious and to remember that nothing is certain.

Despite the election pledges, in our view the landscape for many local businesses remains challenging for the foreseeable future. Uncertainties around Brexit, the lack of a functioning local assembly and inflationary cost pressures all add up to a lack of confidence and investment.

This can be seen in a number of different ways with even large corporates ‘stockpiling cash’ and building up reserves in case of rainy days that may lie ahead. However, not all Businesses are fortunate enough to be able to do this.

At Keenan CF we are here to help local businesses navigate through whatever challenges lie ahead. Led by our team of experienced staff we provide trusted, quality solutions to complex problems. By identifying issues early, we can work with you and your key stakeholders in order to ensure your Business is financially sustainable with the right funding structure. In periods of uncertainty it is important that your Business is able to flex with market conditions and is resilient with sufficient reserves to absorb any shocks to the system.

In some cases this may require a formal restructure. Issues need

identified and dealt with in order to protect the viability of the business going forward. Whilst this can result in downsizing your business, in some occasions this is the right thing to do. Our team has considerable experience in helping businesses to navigate through the many challenges as well as lead negotiations with key stakeholders.

If you have any concerns regarding your Business going forward why not contact our Corporate Restructuring team to discuss your options today?

If you would like advice on any aspect of a Corporate Restructure, contact Scott Murray at Keenan CF on scott@keenancf.com

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Eye on Education

Achieve An Honours Degree While You Work

Gail Boag, Dean of The Business School, Edinburgh Napier University

Why is Edinburgh Napier University creating a presence in Northern Ireland?

We believe employers are looking for ways to retain staff or attract the best calibre of employee and they do consider up-skilling as a way to ensure a suitably skilled and stable labour force.

We also know that graduates with work experience make a valuable contribution to the workplace. The Applied Business programme combines the two.

Our market research highlighted that within the Northern Ireland active labour market just over 55% of workers in the region are qualified below degree.

We know from similar Edinburgh Napier University programmes that people in lower level and middle management jobs are held back from promotion due to a lack of skills and qualifications.

What is unique about your course?

Edinburgh Napier University Business School is positioned as the Business School for empowerment, enterprise and employability for all, and its aim is “to employ a practice led

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approach to developing individuals who will make a positive contribution to organisations and society”.

The programme design builds on existing Business School strengths in programme delivery for people in full-time work. The value propositions of the BA (Hons) Applied Business, which will commence in 2020*, includes the creation of a cohort of students who remain together as they progress through the programme, forming strong external networks and sharing strategies for managing fulltime work and a full-time degree.

The programme aims to develop graduates who have enterprising and innovative mind-sets and who are well prepared to thrive in complex uncertain environments. To ensure that students have many opportunities to develop, more than fifty percent of the degree is made up of taught entrepreneurship and innovation modules and a range of applied project modules.

As the students will be in a paid job for the duration of their studies, they will be applying their learning on a continuous basis within their work setting. Course attendance is day-

release in the first year, and a blended approach in the final years to allow students to conduct bespoke projects specific to their organisation’s needs.

What are the benefits for the organisation?

This programme has been developed in partnership with industry to bridge the skills gap in key sector areas within Northern Ireland. The flexible nature of work-based learning allows the employer to influence the development of the employee to directly benefit the business. From our experience, students are proven to deliver tangible business benefits, including increased productivity, talent development and retention, improved service delivery and staff engagement in their own professional development.

take up a place as undergraduate students (providing they meet the University entrance criteria). The staff member would be embedded within the company’s organisational structures and processes whilst undertaking their degree studies.

How is the course being marketed?

Our marketing team work collaboratively with Coleraine based company Gradworks who provide a local point of contact. For companies or potential students who wish to hear more about the programme, please contact the Gradworks team. *subject to approval

Who is the target market?

It is applicable for existing employees who wish to enhance their skills while remaining in their job role.

The second opportunity for employers is to recruit new staff to specifically

You can contact Catherine McBride at Gradworks via: Tel: 02870511377 Email: c.mcbride@gradworks.co.uk www.gradworks.co.uk

Eye on Law

Why Firms Should Be Aware Of Impending Changes To Agency Workers’ Rights What is ‘Swedish derogation’?

The ‘Swedish derogation’ is a model that allows temporary workers to be directly employed by an agency, rather than that agency acting solely as a middleman to find short term contracts at a variety of employers.

It provides an exemption to the Agency Workers Regulations which, introduced in 2011, sought to ensure temporary staff were paid the same as their permanent colleagues.

It’s called the Swedish derogation because it was introduced into the regulations at the request of the Swedish government.

It is estimated as much as 10 per cent of UK agency workers are on Swedish derogation contracts particularly where blue collar workers are required in retail, hospitality, and manufacturing industries.

With further changes to agency workers’ rights due in 2020, Emma-Jane Flannery, an Employment Law Partner at leading law firm Arthur Cox, examines how businesses in Northern Ireland should prepare.

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he repeal of the so-called ‘Swedish derogation’ – which relates to pay for agency workers - has caused concern in sectors such as manufacturing, technology, and IT that have a high proportion of temporary staff.

It is part of a plan to ensure agency staff are afforded the right to receive pay equal to that of their permanent colleagues.

The change in the law is due to

come into force in Great Britain from April 2020, but there is an expectation that Northern Ireland will follow suit.

Firms that fail to comply run the risk of being called to tribunal and subsequently facing the associated lengthy and costly legal proceedings so it is prudent to put plans in place now in advance of any impending changes.

This update to employment

law is being made to remove a provision in the 2010 Agency Workers Regulations.

The regulations had sought to put permanent and temporary staff on an equal pay footing but the ‘Swedish derogation’ provided an exemption that allowed agency workers to be paid less in certain circumstances.

Officially named ‘pay between assignments’, workers engaged on the contracts forgo the right to pay parity in favour of receiving a certain amount during any gaps between jobs.

It applies only to pay and therefore does not impact any other basic entitlements of agency workers such as annual leave after 12 weeks.

Previous changes to agency worker regulations in Northern Ireland have replicated those implemented in Great Britain and any divergence on employment laws going forward is widely deemed unsatisfactory by commentators.

As such, ensuring Northern Ireland-based agency staff are granted identical rights to those in Great Britain will almost certainly be high on the employment law agenda for any new Stormont Executive.

Under the new rules, all agency workers will be entitled to pay

parity when they have been in engaged at the one organisation for 12 or more continuous weeks, in keeping with the timeline for other basic rights such as annual leave.

Businesses in industries that rely heavily on agency workers will need to review their supplier arrangements to ensure that any Swedish derogation workforce contracts are compliant when any changes come into force.

The legislation will also require written statements to be provided to affected workers, informing them of the changes.

Seeking professional guidance on these matters will aid the process and ensure organisations remain fully compliant.

With a deep understanding of developments in employment law, Arthur Cox is ideally placed to advise businesses on the steps required to prepare for the anticipated changes.

The Employment Law Team at Arthur Cox can provide advice on all aspects of employment law. Call +44 28 9023 0007 for further information from Emma-Jane or your regular Arthur Cox contact.

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Eye on Art

Fine Artist Paul Yates launches new website and latest art collection in collaboration with former UTV MD

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nique in contemporary British art, Paul Yates has sustained a highly original and compelling creative output across poetry, painting and film-making for some four decades. Reclusive, he declines interviews and operates from the quiet seclusion of his patrons’, Lord and Lady Glentoran, county Antrim country estate.

He is now partnered with former MD of UTV Media Group, Michael Wilson to create a fine art business with global scale. Wilson and Yates have developed projects in the past including the New York Festival Award winning film series “XII Months of Mourne”.

Wilson, now based in Switzerland, has invested in developing a number of projects with Yates, specialising in high end print sales of his numerous collections on new website www.paulyatesart. com, personal commissions from the artist and a range of international works and exhibitions. The most recent being a premier of the “Storyboard” collection of works at the world famous Casa d’Amor Gallery in the South of France.

Yates work features in many notable UK and Irish private collections and in corporate collections including UTV, the Open University and Hill Vellacott. He has also collaborated with Brown Thomas in Dublin on a print and jewellery collection.

“The new works entitled “The England Series” features a diverse range of English cultural icons portrayed with a singular imagination and respect, revealing key aspects of the collective

soul of the Nation. Other images are in development and I am confident the series will build into an important body of work alongside the successes of Yates’s recent TAROT and STORYBOARD series.’ Says patron Lord Glentoran Wilson added ‘Paul Yates is a true polymath, his poetry, paintings and films are all underscored by creative risk taking and visionary energy. This latest series surprises yet again with a truly original group of stunning English icons deftly rendered by an artist at the height of his powers’.

SPITFIRE. The symbol of ‘their finest hour’ portrayed with a camouflage pattern from the wings of a High Brown Fritillery butterfly, Britain’s rarest species of butterfly. The name label references an actual Spitfire from 1940 and the scientific classification of the butterfly concerned.

THE BUTTERFLY CATCHER. The JCB ‘FOSSER ‘statue, its heavyweight architecture appearing weightless amidst the colours and tones of butterflies drawn to its warm as oven doors metal on a summer afternoon.

THE PAINTED LADY. A classic English Rose debutante from 1960 viewed through the dimpled lens of a champagne bubble, speckled with vibratos of old world pheasant and peacock feathers and hinting at the age of psychedelia that was to come.

ADLESTROP. The spirit of Edward Thomas’s quintessentially English poem is powerfully evoked with this deceptively simple composition of railway station sign and fragment of opening line and blackbird expressed in shadow tones.

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All are available – along with Yates other collections – and information on how to commission personal and corporate works at www.paulyatesart.com

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Eye on Manufacturing

Keystone Group...

30 Years of Growth Built On Innovation There are plenty of home-grown companies with 30 years of achievement behind them. There are few with the kind of growth that can rival Cookstown’s Keystone Group.

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eystone was set up back in 1989 by Sean Coyle, a building inspector at the time, who spotted a gap in the market for locally-produced steel lintels. Sean received initial support and investment from the building contractor, McAleer and Rushe.

A typical one man and a shed operation in its very early days, Keystone Lintels grew on the back of product quality and customer demand. By the early 1990’s, Keystone had moved across the Irish Sea to set up a production plant close to Birmingham.

These days, it’s a £170 million turnover operation with a series of acquisitions behind it and 23 sites in Ireland, England, Wales and Poland totalling more than one million square feet.

With Sean Coyle still involved in the business as Chairman, Eithne Kelly as CEO and long serving Directors Derrick McFarland and John Duffin, Keystone Group is a family business to its core.

Sean Coyle’s two sons, Sean Og and Owen, are central to today’s Keystone as Group Commercial Director and Group Business Development Director respectively.

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Eye on Manufacturing They’re an impressive double act, sparking off each other as they talk with obvious passion about the business in Keystone’s Cookstown boardroom.

“The business has been growing right from the start. From lintels, we diversified into Keylite Roof Window’s and from there we developed our IG Masonry Support Systems, IG Elements and Smartroof businesses.

Smartroof allows builders to install a complete roof in a day on site, and more recently, we’ve been pioneering a brand new panelised assembly house called Keyhouse,” says Sean Og Coyle.

Keystone hasn’t been slow to acquire to help fuel its growth ambitions. In 2006, Keystone Lintels acquired competitor IG Lintels, a South Wales based manufacturer of steel lintels and in recent years, it has acquired Crendon Timber Engineering, a manufacturer of timber construction products with eight sites across England. Meanwhile, its Keylite roof window business has been growing rapidly thanks to the addition of a plant in Poland, which manufactures roof windows for customers all over Europe.

Some 10,000 steel lintels leave the Keystone and IG plants in Cookstown and Swadlincote each working day, fuelling the UK and Ireland construction sector.

“Growth in the past couple of years has been particularly strong,” adds Owen Coyle. “Our turnover has accelerated from £34.3 million in 2009 to £170 million this year. Keystone’s success as a UK market leader is due to our ethos of patented innovation and outstanding customer service, leading to the position as preferred supplier to many of the UK’s leading house builders.”

The achievements of the Keystone Group haven’t gone unnoticed. The group picked up the Company of the Year Award at the UTV Business Eye Awards a couple of years ago. It’s also been named as UK Materials Supplier of the Year at the Construction News Awards and its Keylite division was recently named as Supplier of the Year at the Builders Merchants News Awards.

“We understand the challenges that the construction sector, and

“Our role, we believe, is to develop and produce products and systems that can save the house builder time and labour onsite.” house builders in particular, are faced with” says Sean og. “Our role, we believe, is to develop and produce products and systems that can save the house builder time and labour onsite.”

The group’s latest innovation, Keyhouse, does exactly that. A panelised assembly, Keyhouse delivers the complete structure of a brick finish on a robust concrete outer leaf with an internal insulated timber frame, along with floor cassettes, staircase and a pre-tiled roof, with no need for scaffolding, in just 12 hours.

“It’s early days for the product but it is certainly grabbing the attention of house builders all over the British Isles,” says Owen Coyle.

“We’re confident that it can make a real impact in the marketplace.”

It’s relatively easy to maintain a family atmosphere at one production plant, such as Keystone’s large scale operation on the outskirts of Cookstown.

It’s not so easy when your sites are spread across England, Wales and Poland as well.

“As a business do work hard at investing/nurturing/

empowering/embracing/looking after our staff,” says Sean Og Coyle. “We continue to invest and engage with our employees across the group through personal development training programmes, fitbit initiatives and the recent launch of our new Intranet system to help with key communications. We’re very open with our people about the business and how it is performing.”

“There is a real family culture around here, and we try and keep that in existence across all of our locations.”

Owen Coyle emphasises the importance of customer service to Keystone throughout its period of growth. “We have built exceptionally high levels of customer service. It’s what our customers have come to expect of Keystone,” he says.

“It is customer service that they’re not able to get elsewhere.”

“Innovation is a core value of our business. We hold 53 different patents for our products, and we’ve every intention of keeping up that pace of innovation going forward.”

Both Coyle brothers grew up around the business. Educated

at St. Patrick’s Academy in Dungannon, both went on to study at Trinity College in Dublin, Sean Og graduated in Mechanical Engineering, his brother in Civil Engineering.

“Both of us worked in the plant here in Keystone and Keylite Cookstown during our holiday’s right from our schooldays,” adds Sean Og. “This gave us the opportunity to understand the work and commitment required to manufacture our lintels and roof windows.”

The Coyle brothers and Keystone Group aren’t going to let the grass grow under their feet or settle for the significant achievements so far.

“The Keystone Group has big targets over the next few years and we’re confident we can realise those with the immense work ethic and passion we all have.”

“This is already a true multi-site operation and that won’t change.

But this place (Cookstown) will always be our home and our headquarters for Finance, HR, IT and Marketing as well as production for the local market.

Cookstown is where we have our roots and where a lot of our long-serving staff are based.”

“We’re very thankful to the staff here, and across all our sites, for the hard work and commitment that they’ve shown to the company. We have a great team and we know it.”

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Eye on Restructuring

Market Leading Sam Corbett, Partner at A&L Goodbody in Northern Ireland, explains why the ALG team’s collective skill and experience has earned an unrivalled reputation as the best in the market.

The A&L Goodbody Restructuring and Insolvency team pictured, from left: Ross Kane, Senior Associate; Michael Neil, Head of Belfast office; Tanya Sturgeon, Solicitor; Aine Hughes, Associate; Sam Corbett, Partner; Dean Barr, Solicitor; Jennifer Brannigan, Solicitor.

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Eye on Restructuring

T

ake a look at business news over the last few months and it’s clear that the world of restructuring and insolvency in Northern Ireland has been busy. For an insight into that world, we turned to Sam Corbett of ALG’s market leading Restructuring and Insolvency Team.

Names such as Wrightbus and Harland & Wolff have been front and centre of the business pages after experiencing their own individual difficulties while other less prominent names on the High Street and elsewhere have also struggled.

While the headlines seem to suggest a sluggish economy, one positive is that buyers were found in the form of Bamford Bus Company and Infrastrata for the two manufacturers referred to above. This shows that, all things considered (and despite the profit warnings in certain sectors), there is investor appetite for prime Northern Ireland assets.

Sam Corbett, Partner at A&L Goodbody (ALG) in Northern Ireland, said, “Both Wrightbus and Harland & Wolff are good examples of how insolvency professionals, despite the difficult economic circumstances and lack of transaction activity, have been able to help rescue jobs and businesses rather than liquidate them.”

The Restructuring and Insolvency team at ALG is well versed in handling such matters, having been involved in so many of the restructuring and insolvency mandates in Northern Ireland in recent times.

Sam said that “the team has been involved in all of the major restructuring and insolvency cases in Northern Ireland over the last number of years, regularly called in to advise banks, insolvency practitioners and others.”

In addition to playing a role in the cases already mentioned, the team is currently acting for the Official Receiver as liquidator of travel company Thomas Cook – a complex case which involved swift and decisive action by the firm over a number of weeks.

But Sam says that it is each of the individuals within the team that places them at the top of the market.

He noted: “We have a really good mix of expertise and experience in the team which means we’re able to deal with cases from across the board,” Sam

“We act on a number of mandates which can be classified as crisis management.

We are really a crisis team which can coral a bespoke full service team at a moment’s notice. It means we can get help and advice to our clients immediately when required.”

Sam notes that “Thomas Cook is the third plc insolvency in a row on which the team has been instructed which is a testament to ALG’s reputation as the go-to firm for all complex, contentious, and highvalue restructuring cases both in Northern Ireland and on an all-island basis.” This is its unique differentiating factor.

It is this calibre of work which has earned the ALG Restructuring and Insolvency team a Tier 1 ranking in the leading Law Directories for their “very responsive and very well respected” work in this sector.

Sam, who this year was promoted to partner, has been singled out for particular praise by one client as “probably the go-to solicitor for any insolvency case in Belfast.”

Working alongside his fellow partner and head of ALG’s Belfast office Michael Neill who has “forged a reputation as one of the Northern Ireland’s foremost experts in restructuring and insolvency issues” it’s no wonder the team is market leading.

also said. “And, of course, we can tap into the wider ALG network which offers unrivalled knowledge on corporate, property and finance matters.”

The team includes senior associate Ross Kane who yet again is recognised in The Legal 500 and associate Aine Hughes, who is involved in developing the group’s technological platform. Another key member of the team is Tanya Sturgeon who has a growing reputation as well as Jennifer Brannigan and Dean Barr.

Sam says that “It’s the breadth of skill, experience and collaboration which sets us apart.”

The Restructuring and Insolvency team in ALG also prides itself on its ability to react quickly and swiftly.

“We act on a number of mandates which can be classified as crisis management. We are really a crisis team which can coral a bespoke full service team at a moment’s notice. It means we can get help and advice to our clients immediately when required.”

Good examples of that are the firm’s work on

the pre-pack of Genesis Crafty, the administration of Johnston Press PLC and the liquidations of both Carillion and Thomas Cook.

“These are the type of complex cases where we consistently excel,” Sam said.

That track record of success is down to the collective skill and experience within the team.

“We have strength and depth across the team and the right balance of contentious and noncontentious experience and skills that really allows us to offer the best possible service for each case.”

“They’re unique in that they’re so collaborative. They all grouped together to solve our case for us. It’s rare to find that level of attentiveness.”

(Chambers UK)

“It’s a very good firm and we would definitely go to them on complex cases or those requiring an all-Ireland perspective.”

(Chambers UK)

“They offer sound, proactive and costeffective service and advice which is consistently delivered.”

(Chambers UK)

Contact: Sam Corbett 02890 314466 scorbett@algoodbody.com @ALGoodbody

19

Eye on Cover Story

New Dawn...

AIB Investing For Growth

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The metamorphosis of First Trust Bank into AIB might look seamless to the bank’s business and personal customers, but it represents a strategic move backed up by a £15 million investment and one which takes the bank into a bright new future.

T

hat’s the view of the Head of AIB (NI) Adrian Moynihan, who has been heading up operations in Belfast for just less than two years and has plotted a course for major change at the bank.

“During 2017 and 2018, we invested around £10 million in improving our customer offering across all channels to the point where the business was fundamentally strong,” he says.

“The re-brand to AIB is the next logical step for us. It builds on those strong fundamentals and gives us a stronger platform to deliver an improved customer offering.

“Importantly, it also allows us to leverage our parent bank even more and to continue to bring forward new products and services for our business and personal customers, quicker than ever before.”

Whilst the old First Trust Bank brand was limited to Northern

Ireland, the AIB brand already pans Ireland, GB and US operations.

“This rebrand programme marks a continuation of the bank’s strategy of closer integration across our three main markets, and ensures all geographies operate under a single, revitalised brand identity which will also deliver consistent messaging.

That’s important not just for our customers but for our colleagues as well,” says Adrian Moynihan. “Our staff had become used to operating under a different brand from their colleagues in Dublin or Donegal, for example. There’s no doubt that they welcome the fact that they can now operate seamlessly under the same AIB brand.

“I think that sentiment is reflected amongst our customers and stakeholders where the feedback has been very positive so far. They recognise the strength of the much larger brand and the benefits it can deliver for them.”

As an early illustration of the

benefits of the rebrand the bank’s customers are already taking advantage of the AIB’s rewards scheme, which gives credit and debit card holders the chance to access valuable discounts from certain retailers on their card purchases.

The physical re-brand to AIB is already underway and will happen on a phased basis over the coming months. Some branches have seen the new brand starting to appear, others will follow in the new year and a major refurbishment has kicked off at the bank’s Ann Street headquarters in the centre of Belfast. Customers, meanwhile, have been kept well aware of the bank’s plans and intentions.

“It’s a very complex and comprehensive process,” Moynihan adds. “It will be the end of 2020 before we have every facet of the re-brand fully in place. But the important thing is that our customers don’t need to worry about any of that. They don’t have to take any actions and won’t see any effect on the service they receive from the bank – other than benefit from the new products and improved service it will bring.”

Turning to the banking marketplace, Adrian Moynihan says that it depends which market is under the spotlight. The corporate banking space, he says, continues to be challenging.

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Eye on Cover Story

“Across the island we see ourselves as a strong SME bank, with a range of specialist areas including agri-food, manufacturing, tourism, energy, property and healthcare. More than 80% of our lending here in Northern Ireland is concentrated on those key sectors.”

“Brexit and continued political uncertainty have meant that investment decisions simply aren’t being taken by many companies.

There has definitely been a bit of a slowdown and we’d estimate that the total market for new lending is around 20% back on the previous year.

“What’s more, it’s very hard to see how anything is going to change in the corporate space until we get some clarity on the political front both in Westminster and in the local Assembly and then on Brexit.”

On the other side of the coin, he says that the retail and SME markets are both much more positive.

“We are up by approximately 20% on our mortgage lending year on year, driven in part by improvements we’ve made to our mortgage product range and recent innovations such as our self-build specialist proposition.

Personal lending is up by a similar margin, and our small business lending

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has risen even more, by around 30%.

Those are all very positive results.

“So all told it has been a little bit two-speed over recent months. But I think that is directly attributable to the very real uncertainties that are impacting on the market as a whole.”

There may be few similarities between the NI and ROI economies in terms of growth (1% at best here compared with more than 4% across the border) but there are clear similarities around the nature of the SME sector in particular.

“Across the island we see ourselves as a strong SME bank, with a range of specialist areas including agri-food, manufacturing, tourism, energy, property and healthcare. More than 80% of our lending here in Northern Ireland is concentrated on those key sectors and we’ve invested a lot in a dedicated and very professional team with a depth of sectoral expertise to support SME customers.”

Outside of the immediate banking marketplace, the transition to the AIB brand also means that the Northern Ireland region stands to gain more from the larger bank’s high-level sponsorships of sport and music festivals, amongst others.

Looking to the future, Adrian Moynihan says that AIB has ambitious targets for its Northern Ireland operation. “We are investing to grow and have plans to increase our market share of new lending to our business & corporate customers to 25% (currently 20%) and grow our share in the personal market.

“It’s ambitious, but we really believe that it is achievable especially with the benefits of the rebrand programme behind us. And our planned £15 million investment is a case of putting our money where our mouth is and our commitment to and confidence in the Northern Ireland market in the long term.”

Eye on Art

THE ART OF A GOOD BUSINESS INVESTMENT Business Eye talks to renowned Belfast dealer Charles Gilmore about why art is such an attractive investment proposition in unpredictable financial times, and we get his expert advice to put you in the frame for what’s right your personal portfolio…

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enowned Belfast-born artist Martin Mooney’s homecoming exhibition, opening at the Charles Gilmore Gallery this week, offers dramatic visions of turbulent skies over the Irish landscape.

His work resonates not just because its reflecting on the island’s climatic unpredictability, but also signalling the gathering political storms looming on the horizon.

Mooney’s prestigious career spanning the last five decades, which now sees his magnificent paintings displayed on the walls of many private collections in celebrity homes, indicates how artistic talent, good choices and dedication can deliver financial, as well as creative rewards.

Mooney’s new work is also a reminder that in uncertain times, art can be the only way to understand the world and that’s perhaps why artistic expression has been vital and valuable to humans since the dawn of time.

But finding a way into such a complex scene can seem like a daunting process, particularly for the novice collector who feels they lack the experience and knowledge to purchase wisely.

So, it’s useful to have an expert to guide you through investing in art for both business and pleasure.

Dealer and expert Charles Gilmore, owner of one of Belfast’s most renowned galleries, believes that carefully curated art can be a strategic investment and sound business asset.

“In a digital world, where wealth and ownership are ephemeral, investing in a tangible asset means you have a piece of ‘real world’ art which, unlike some other investments such as stocks

and shares, will always have residual and aesthetic value,” Charles says.

Unlike the volatility of shares, the global art market is dictated by its own dynamics and disconnected from the vagaries of the world’s money markets. Charles believes this

provides an opportunity for investors in uncertain financial times.

“Investors could be in for a rough ride in the next few years but, with the right guidance and advice, the art market is an excellent portfolio diversification tool in times of economic uncertainty.”

While there are always quick wins to be had be flipping work that rapidly rises in value, Charles believes patience and commitment are required to see capital growth.

“Contemporary art has delivered a compounded average annual return of 10.85% per annum between 1968 and 2018. My general advice is to buy something you can just about afford and be prepared to wait five years

for the value to increase. When the opportunity comes to sell, ensure you have enough to buy another piece of art. Work on the principle that you buy one and sell another.”

But Charles is keen to highlight that buying art should not just be about financial return.

“Art is subjective, and you should always buy something that you find pleasure in looking at,” he said.

“The work you choose projects your tastes and values, and that can be the same in a corporate setting.

For example, buying and display work from Irish artists like Martin Mooney communicates you value your location and community.

“Art that you are proud of and knowledgeable about is an excellent natural talking point for clients. Art should be more than just ‘wallpaper’ for you to enjoy its full value beyond a capital growth sense.”

Charles wants to dispel the myth you need to be a millionaire to invest in art. He has an ‘open-door’ policy at his stylish Lanyon Quay Gallery on Belfast’s Oxford Street though he has been showing, selling and sourcing quality art for clients since 1993.

Charles said: “We recognise every collector starts with one piece and want to share our expertise to help people get the most out of art. We are especially keen to encourage younger buyers as art is a brilliant asset. Even if you have a budget of £1000, come in and have a friendly chat with us.”

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Eye on Round Table

Transport & Northern Ireland’s Business And Economic Future The Participants Public transport has been significantly underfunded and I think this needs to change for both economic and environmental reasons. Also, as the Grant Thornton report points out, investment in public transport – can be a catalyst for wider regeneration and investment in the economy. And that’s not to mention the fact that we have more than 4,000 employees who make their own contribution to the same economy. All of those reasons combine to make public transport essential to the local economy.

Chris Conway, Group Chief Executive, Translink

John Healy, President, NI Chamber of Commerce & Industry

Andrew Webb, Chief Economist, Grant Thornton NI

David Tumilty, Health Improvement Manager, Public Health Agency

Translink and Business Eye joined forces to stage a Round Table Discussion hosted by the NI Chamber of Commerce & Industry at its Linenhall Street headquarters. The subject?

How public transport plays a vital role in supporting the economic, social, health and environmental wellbeing of Northern Ireland.

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Grainia Long, Commissioner For Resilience, Belfast City Council

Angela McGowan, Director, CBI Northern Ireland

RB – Let’s start with a question for everyone to respond to. How important is public transport to the economy here in Northern Ireland. Chris, can you set the scene from a Translink perspective?

CC – I’d start with Grant Thornton’s report on the importance of public transport to the economy. It’s all about moving people efficiently and that’s essential in economic terms right from attracting inward investment to providing transport for young people to access education.

RB – Andrew, Chris has mentioned your report. Can you summarise the key findings for us?

AW – We focused in on a range of issues.

What came through is that it connects and enables more of the economy than you might think. We also heard from a lot of groups about how important it is in social terms. Then there are elements like retail, where each public transport journey produces an average £45 spend in Belfast stores. That’s significant. Chris mentioned Translink’s 4,000 staff and their contribution which, in economic impact terms, works out at £200 million annually of Gross Value Added. Our report was broadranging but the headline finding is that public transport is a very significant enabler for many other activities such as leisure, tourism, commuting etc.

RB – We have not one but two economists with us today. Angela, with both your economist hat and CBI hat on, what’s your view?

AM – The CBI has done quite a bit of work on this. Being able to connect people is really important to business. But this is also all about the attractiveness of a place for investors.

It is a public good and when you invest

in public transport, it reaps multiple benefits for society and the economy. It plays into today’s demographics, driven by younger people and their focus on reducing their carbon footprint, and there can be no doubt that encouraging more people to use public transport has a net environmental benefit.

RB – We’ve also got two business organisations. John, you can speak as NI Chamber’s President but also as a major employer at Allstate.

JH – The transport network is absolutely an enabler for business and that’s crucial in the ongoing battle for talent. We certainly see it at Allstate in Belfast, where we’re sitting right at the centre of the train network and also on the Glider path. We have 1500 employees and 23 car parking spaces.

We also need connectivity between Belfast and Derry, where we have our other base. I’d also mention tourism, and business tourism in particular, which requires a quality transport network. Businesses want to engage on the environment. In fact, our employees are demanding that and asking what we are doing.

RB – Grainia, your role is Commissioner For Resilience at Belfast City Council.

So you’re taking a holistic view of the city and its future. Where does public transport fit in?

GL – It’s fundamental. In fact, you could say that it’s the most important lever.

I’m mapping out the long-term risks and what makes for a successful city. But think about when you go to another city. One of the first things most of us do is hop on public transport to see the place. So it’s a measure of the city and how it functions. Our big risks are climate related. But we’re also very focused on building a city for a growing under-25 population. It comes down to getting the basics right for the city and what are the fundamentals? Good housing, good education, good transport are right up there. We have to up our game as a sustainable city and transport is absolutely crucial to that. We have to aim for a best in class infrastructure.

RB – David. You’re coming at this discussion from a health perspective.

What are the priorities?

DT – Good public transport can achieve a lot, even when it comes to public health expenditure. In addition to the physical, mental and social benefits. There are real financial savings to be made around increased physical activity and, if you take the bus or train, with research suggesting you will walk two and a half times further than you do when you take a car, helping meet the CMO recommended levels of 150 minutes of physical activity per week. There is also a marked reduction in stress levels for

public transport users. As Chris pointed out earlier, there are environmental benefits too, for example, reduced congestion leading to improvements in air quality if more people use public transport and actively travel to work.

require a major investment. So we’ve got plenty of plans and targets across bus infrastructure, bus services, park & ride, trains, technology and a lot more besides. But it all requires investment and the £3 billion will be essential.

RB – I think we can all agree that the public transport network here has come a long way. But what are the priorities going forward and do we still lag behind other regions?

AW – It sounds a bit like a ‘make do and mend’ approach is being forced on public transport here, whereas the ambition should be to take the success of Glider and take that across the network. Unfortunately, budget realities don’t match ambitions, or indeed essential infrastructure requirements. That’s a serious concern.

CC – The truth is that we lag behind significantly. A lot of progress has been made in recent years but we’re coming at that after years of under investment.

We have to look at capacity on buses and trains and we have to look at the infrastructure that lies behind that, and the third factor is technology. We’re spending roughly half of what is spent in other UK regions. Transport for Wales is to spend £5 billion on its rail network alone, Scotland has spent £8 billion in the last 10 years, we have HS2, Crossrail and plenty of other projects. To be realistic, we need to spend £3 billion on our public transport network over the next ten years. Yet we’re struggling to keep up with essential maintenance of the rail network on current budgets.

On urban bus networks, we’d like to have 6-7 minute frequencies on all of our routes and we also need to decarbonise our fleet. To reach zero emissions on our bus network would

CC – Expectations around public transport have moved on in recent years, but policy has not. Only politicians can change that, and it’s a fact that we’ve been without effective devolved government for a number of years.

GL – The cities that do best are the cities that plan effectively. If you want to transform Belfast and Northern Ireland, an integral part of that is the transport network. Business will expect that.

For me, there are two realities. One is economic, the other is environmental.

Both need urgent attention.

DT – Infrastructure is vitally important.

The new transport hubs in Derry and Belfast have a vital role to play going forward. However, that’s only part of

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Eye on Round Table it. The other big factor is behavioural change which the PHA is supporting through a range of active travel projects, to encourage more people to use public transport and actively travel habitually. Health should be considered as a priority and Transport should invest a percentage of their budget to improve health associated with public transport and active travel interventions. To do this, strategic collaborative work is required to help us align our work and responsibilities with the draft Programme for Government.

JH - There is an element of ‘build it and they will come’ to all of this. The Glider is a great example of that. It has been transformative and the numbers speak for themselves. On the ambition side, there is plenty of it. The Belfast Hub could hardly be more ambitious and it will bring big benefits for that part of the city.

AM – If you make it easy for people to use, people will use it. But we don’t think strategically enough. We’ve all seen the National Development Plan for the Republic running up to 2040 and the money that is allocated to that. We need something along those lines and there is a big element of cross-border co-operation needed to get there. Unfortunately, we must also bear in mind that half a billion pounds worth of EU investment for Northern Ireland infrastructure has disappeared on the back of Brexit.

CC – It’s a good point. The North West Transport Hub and the hourly rail service to Derry were both EU funded.

So that is a big challenge for us going forward. We have to use the money

are realising that the public expectation is there and we now have an all-party climate crisis group up and running.

CC – There are bold steps that the Council could take. It could announce a plan to close all surface car parks, for example.

And the wider public sector has a lot of workers and car parking space around the city. Again, big steps could be taken.

AM – I do think that local companies are taking this seriously. But there is more work we could do around incentivising. You can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar.

Incentives plus infrastructure investment makes for a relatively easy shift.

we have available to push the right projects forward. That’s where we are at the moment. And the Belfast Hub is right at the top of that list.

RB – Do we think that public attitudes have changed? When bus lanes were first introduced, there was plenty of anger around. It’s not like that now.

CC – I might be biased, but I think so.

The public sees the benefits of Glider and they know what bus lanes are for. But, when it comes to users, the whole behavioural change thing is a big factor. I’m surprised sometimes by the lack of awareness around public transport links here. We have created a car-reliant society.

AM – I think people are more demanding around technology. They expect to be able to buy tickets online and do everything seamlessly.

GL – Attitudes don’t always equate to action. We have to make it easy for people to buy into public transport. But it’s a fact that we also have to make it a bit more difficult for people to use the alternatives. We need to look more closely at that going forward.

DT – There’s no doubt that if you put the money in, things will flow. But we have to think carefully about how we do all of this. How do we promote and incentivise public transport to everyone – from the affluent to the disadvantaged? Whilst improving health is important, reducing inequalities is key and we need to ensure future plans put inequalities at the forefront, helping to reduce the widening gaps between those most and least deprived.

JH – It’s true. We’ve got to get more people like me converted to public transport. I cycle into work and I get around on public transport, so it can be done. I don’t see too many of my fellow chief executives on the bus up the Ravenhill Road though.

RB – Should companies and employers be doing more to encourage their people to use public transport?

CC – I think lots of companies are already doing that. We’ve heard from John and Allstate, and PwC are moving into the city centre to a location ideal for public transport. Deloitte are also moving and there are others.

GL – The City Council has to lead by example too. It’s difficult to ask people to buy into environmental measures when we haven’t reduced onr impact. A lot more of our elected representatives

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DT – Yes, there are lots of levers that can be pulled to get this working. It’s about Translink, it’s about health, it’s about business and it runs right through to community level. But we need to bring the service users with us as we go along. Make public transport the easier choice, the more affordable choice, the best choice.

RB – We’ve mentioned radical moves like closing surface car parks. But that might be a bit radical for some....

AM – That’s true. If I’m coming in from Holywood for a day at the office or in Belfast, I’ll take the train. But if I’m going out to meeting a member in Dungannon, I need the car. That’s what it often boils down to.

GL – But to make the big leap, organisations, people, cities – we all have to change. It does come down to how we do it. We have to plan it, and we have to plan it well. And we won’t do anything overnight. It might take us 20 years to get where we want to be.

AW – I’m going to mention Glider again to illustrate a different point. It is now exceptionally difficult to get parking in any side street around Ballyhackamore because the success of Glider has people driving part of the route, parking, and catching the Glider. So in trying to ease a city centre congestion problem the risk is that the problem is just pushed out into the suburbs.

CC – We’re living without a Regional Transport Strategy. The last one ran out in 2015. So that doesn’t help and things don’t always get joined up.

We need a devolved Government back to make that happen.

Eye on Round Table AM – The Belfast-Dublin service is maybe a good case in point. There’s no real incentive to take the train for an early morning meeting in Dublin.

CC – It’s a fair point. We’re well aware that investment in the Belfast-Dublin service is absolutely crucial.

JH – On the flip side of that, if you’ve a morning meeting in Derry at the moment, you don’t want to be driving.

So the train is a much better option.

GL – There are also a lot of myths around.

People will tell you how difficult it is to travel long journeys by train when, in fact, it really isn’t. I commuted between Dublin and Belfast on a daily basis for four years. I know it is doable and lots of people are doing it. I’d also like to add that air pollution is a major issue for a lot of people now, judging by the volume of calls we get on the subject. The public now expect a healthy city, and rightly so.

CC – Some of the most polluted areas of our city are around school gates because of the volume of cars bringing kids to school. That has to be wrong. Compare that to parts of the States, where cars are forbidden around schools and kids have to come in by bus or on foot.

DT – Once again, it’s a question of behavioural change. Most people have to live within a short distance of a primary school, yet most of them continue to drive their kids to school.

AM – I think that the ‘polluter pays’ model is under utilised here in Northern Ireland. We don’t look at it enough.

GL – And we have particular characteristics in Belfast that add to our challenges. More than 66,000 extra journeys are taken in Belfast every day because we have separated education systems. It’s a complex issue, maybe, but it’s a stark statistic however you view it. It also means that we’re tackling climate change with one hand tied behind our back.

RB – What’s the potential impact of Brexit when it happens and is the lack of a devolved government an even bigger problem?

CC – We’ve done a lot of work on Brexit practicalities, around cross border travel, for example. And everything will flow seamlessly. But the bigger issue is that we’ve relied on EU funding for

infrastructure for many years and that issue has got lost somehow. On devolved government, things are still happening on the ground but our policies are more than two years old. This is having an increasing impact on the ability to effect change. Even if we get an Assembly back tomorrow it will take time to catch up.

NI is a different place now from when the politicians were last in Stormont.

AM – We’re going to have to replace the EU funding somehow so it is critical.

There is private sector money out there but there needs to be a change in the public discourse around all of this.

There is also a short termism around Brexit which is potentially dangerous.

GL – Both Brexit and our local political difficulties take our eye off the biggest economic hurdle that we all face and that is climate change. We have to get to a low carbon economy and we have to get there really fast.

RB – We’ve talked about vision so let’s end our discussion on that note. It’s a huge assumption but if things do fall into place over the coming months, what is the vision for public transport here?

CC – The average person takes 45 journeys per year on public transport.

We really need to double that at least.

And to do this we need to see £3 billion worth of investment over the next ten years in our infrastructure and to reach net carbon zero by 2035. On technology, we’ll be starting to roll out

contactless ticketing over the next 18 months and we want to continue to make it easier for our customers to use our services. Our vision is an integrated, easy to use public transport network.

DT – We should also be aiming to double the number of people who are actively travelling – cycling and walking – as well as taking public transport. This will impact positively on health, the environment and the economy.

AM – And the vision must be both long-term and all-island. We need to think carefully about where we want to be on connectivity across Ireland.

JH – We have to continue to focus on transport links outside of Belfast, to and from Derry as I’ve mentioned and to and from the Newry area as well. Both are economic hot spots.

AM – We always need to be asking if we’re being ambitious enough. Are we challenging ourselves enough?

AW – Surely the vision has to be that using public transport becomes a natural event for more and more people. Gone are the days when you had to retrieve a timetable from the drawer to see when the bus or train might be running. It’s a whole lot easier with technology and with a consistent high level of frequency.

DT – There are different motivating factors. Health is one. Environment is another. But money is right up

there. Public transport also has to be the affordable choice for people, especially those most in need.

GL – It’s true, but I’ve heard people question the cost of bus fares while getting into their incredibly expensive cars to come in to Belfast and to pay to park there. So that comes back to mindset, doesn’t it?

People are motivated by health and by climate change, but they are also motivated by other people.

But if there is one single thing I’d like to do, it would be to introduce free public transport for young people under the age of 25. I think that would be transformational right from day one.

CC – Contrast that with what we do now. Just when a young person is getting to the age when they might consider driving a car, we start charging them an adult fare.

So we run the risk of putting them off public transport instead of encouraging them to stay on board.

This definitely needs addressed.

But overall, while the current shift towards public transport is welcome, plenty more action needs taken; with the correct level of sustained investment we can continue to grow passenger numbers, in turn removing millions of car journeys from roads, saving thousands of tonnes of harmful emissions, boosting health and maximising our economic potential.

27

Eye on Events

The IQ Christmas Challenge The staff from IQ&Co and Mortgage IQ have been out celebrating a great year for the sister companies, which specialise in Wealth Management and Mortgage Advice.

2019

has seen a huge growth in both businesses with new staff members coming on board and new branch locations opening and so, to celebrate, the whole team visited Cultra Manor for a day of fun and challenges! Thanks to Callow Events for organising the day and our great hosts at Cultra and Life adventures. The

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day was an exceptional way to round off a year which saw IQ&Co shortlisted as finalists for the Best Small Business at the Women in Business awards as well as becoming the largest Partner Practice of St. James’s Place Wealth Management PLC in Northern Ireland. The whole team had a great day and are looking forward to an exciting 2020!

Eye on Events

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Eye on Health

Cosmetic Mole and Skin Tag Removal Consultant Surgeon Mr Philip Bell specialises in the removal of cosmetic moles and skin tags. In the vast majority of cases all of these lesions are benign. But if there is any clinical concern about the nature of the lesion it can be sent off for testing.

COMMON Q&A FOR COSMETIC SKIN TAG AND MOLE REMOVAL:

Q: Does it hurt having these removed?

Since these are treated under local anaesthetic it shouldn’t!! The worse bit is having the injection of anaethetic, which many patients describe as a mild stinging sensation. Cryotherapy does not even need an anesthetic”

Q: How are skin lesions removed?

“In most cases these can be done under a local anaesthetic. If there are no concerns about its nature they can be either shaved off, or excised. Some skin lesions can also be treated by freezing the skin – termed cryotherapy. All options are discussed with the patient beforehand”

Q: How long does the procedure take?

This depends on what’s being done, but most procedures take between 15 and 30 minutes or so Q: Can I drive home afterwards?

That depends on you! If you are the sort of person who can drive home after a filling at the dentist then there should be no reason why not.

But if you are a bit squeamish, best to bring someone with you. They can at least tell you how brave you were, even if they don’t need to drive!

Q: What about aftercare?

If stitches have been necessary these are generally removed after 5 – 7 days. For best results a

For further information or to book a consultation please call Cosmetech on 028 90423200 or visit www.cosmetech.co.uk

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combination of steristrips and scar massage are required and which you need to do will be discussed Q: Will I have a scar?

Scarring is an inevitable consequence of surgery in anyone’s hands, so yes. But of course the whole point is to be cosmetic and so everything is designed to minimise this. It’s best to consider this as replacing one cosmetic blemish with a another one, which should be much better. But it is unrealistic to expect an invisible scar no matter who your specialist is.

SILHOUETTE SOFT THREAD-LIFT During the treatment, threads are inserted under the skin to reposition loose skin and add definition to the jawline and face. Over the next 8 months the threads will encourage the body’s natural rejuvenation process and stimulate the skin to produce its own collagen. This will lift and reposition sagging skin and prevent jowls developing further.

Before

TODAY WE INTERVIEW JOANNE ABOUT HER SILHOUETTE SOFT TREATMENT AT COSMETECH:

HI JOANNE WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO GET THE TREATMENT? Joanne: I’m an air hostess and fly long haul full time, people always expect you to look your best when you’re in this job. I turned 50 this year and I wanted to maintain my skin quality and to prevent my jowls developing further. It had to be a treatment with natural looking results and I knew a few people who were very happy with their treatments at Cosmetech. They are a Consultant Surgeon led Clinic with two locations The Maypole Clinic in Holywood and The Chelsea Private Clinic in London.

WHAT HAPPENED AT YOUR CONSULTATION? Joanne: I booked a complimentary consultation with Consultant Plastic Surgeon Mr Chris Hoo. He checked my medical history and assessed my face to determine if I was suitable for the treatment he also discussed the different treatment options available including a face-lift.

CAN YOU GIVE US AN OVERVIEW OF THE PROCEDURE ON THE DAY? Joanne: An hour before the treatment the nurse cleaned my skin and applied a numbing cream. During the treatment Mr Smith made me feel very relaxed and talked me through the procedure. I had a series of PDO Threads inserted along the jaw line which felt surprisingly pain free.

After

ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THE RESULTS OF THE PDO THREAD LIFT? Joanne: Yes, I could see an immediate lift to my face as soon as the procedure was over.

I followed the aftercare instructions and apart from some minor bruising the next day you would not have known that I had a treatment at all. I’m a month post-procedure now and have had a lot of compliments about how well I look. The results are very natural looking and my skin’s glowing. One of the subtle changes is that I have a very well defined jawline and my skin quality has improved. If I can maintain how I look for the next 10 years with subtle ‘tweakments’ instead of a face-lift I will be very happy. The results will last from 12-18 months and the best thing is that the treatment can safely be repeated annually.

To book a complimentary consultation at Cosmetech please call 028 9042 3200 or visit www.cosmetech.co.uk

READER OFFER Quote Business Eye when booking to redeem £50 off your first PDO Thread-lift treatment at Cosmetech.*

MR HOO’S AREAS OF EXPERTISE INCLUDES PDO THREAD-LIFTS, ANTI- WRINKLE INJECTIONS, DERMAL FILLERS, SKIN TAG AND MOLE REMOVAL. Consultant Surgeon Mr Chris Hoo currently works as an Oncoplastic Breast and Reconstructive Surgeon in the Belfast City Hospital. Mr. Hoo sub-specialises in Breast Reconstruction and also offers a wide range of Plastic Surgery procedures though Cosmetech.

He is a member of the British Association of Plastics, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (BAPRAS) and the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS).

* one voucher per person

Cosmetech Maypole Clinic 5-7 Shore Road Holywood BT18 9HX

T: 028 9042 3200 E: frontdesk@cosmetech.co.uk www.cosmetech.co.uk

Eye on Diversity

Belinda Brown Richard Buckley speaks to Belinda Brown, Global Audit & Risk Director at Diageo about her first-class education in Northern Ireland; her pride at working in a company that champions diversity and inclusion and how flexible working is key to a healthy work-life balance.

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Eye on Diversity What is your role in Diageo?

I am Diageo’s Global Audit & Risk (GAR) Director based in Diageo’s head office in London. I lead the agenda for Africa and Europe with a team of people who sit across Ghana, Nigeria, Scotland and England.

My work involves managing our GAR assurance and advisory work across our Europe and Africa businesses.

This means reviewing the risks our businesses face, accessing the processes and controls that our businesses operate and helping our businesses build effective mitigation plans against risks. I spend one week in every month out in the field visiting our businesses across Europe and Africa.

I feel really privileged because my job gives me immense exposure to the different functions, businesses, brands and regions across Diageo and, in the process, I get to work with and learn from such interesting and diverse people every day.

I also have a passion for growing and developing talent and I see this as an important additional part of my role.

How have you got to where you are in your career?

I grew up in Antrim town, County Antrim and went to Queen’s University, Belfast from 2000 to 2005 where I graduated with a first-class BSc Honours in Finance and a Distinction in MSc Finance.

I moved to London in 2005 as a Consultant for Deloitte and worked across a variety of industries and clients including Ministry of Defence, NHS, Britannia Building Society. From 20072013 I worked for L’Oréal UK in a variety of Marketing Finance and Commercial Finance roles for brands such as L’Oréal Paris, Garnier & Maybelline.

I’ve been working for Diageo since 2013. Prior to joining the Global Audit & Risk team, I spent 2½ years as Procurement Commercial Finance Manager for Africa, Turkey, Russia & Eastern Europe.

How crucial is risk assessment, management and mitigation for Diageo?

Having a strong controls and compliance environment remains central to Diageo’s ambition to become one of the best performing, most trusted and respected consumer products companies in the world, particularly in respect of protecting the group’s reputation.

everywhere. One of our company values is that we give each other the freedom to succeed, that we trust each other as a team – when we’re together and when we’re apart.

There is a real commitment to create an environment where all employees feel included and able to perform at their best in all aspects of their lives and I certainly experienced this when I was quickly promoted soon after returning to work following my maternity leave. There is also support on a practical level, where we have systems and collaborative tools in place to help me stay connected to my global team and business partners – no matter when or where I choose to work Pictured at the annual UK Family Friendly Employer Awards in Galgorm Resort and Spa are (L-R) Jeanette Harrison (Ulster University), Sarah Travers (Awards host), Marie Marin (Chief Executive, Employers for Childcare) and Belinda Brown (Global Audit and Risk Director, Diageo).

How many countries/ sites does you cover?

My remit covers our businesses in Europe and Africa.

Do you travel to overseas Diageo facilities?

Yes, I am out in the field one week a month.

You spoke at a conference on family friendly employment - is Diageo a family friendly employer?

Yes, I was recently invited to be guest speaker at the UK ‘Family Friendly Employer Awards’ hosted by ‘Employers for Childcare’ which took place in the Galgorm Resort and Spa in October.

They knew I was an alumna of Queen’s University from seeing my name listed in the 2019 Timewise ‘Power 50 Awards’, the annual list which celebrates the most outstanding senior business figures that work flexibly from across the UK, so they kindly asked me to speak at the event about my own personal experiences.

Clearly, working for a family friendly company such as Diageo really does help. All parents employed by Diageo in the UK and Ireland are eligible for the same fully-paid 26 weeks parental leave, retaining benefits and bonuses regardless of gender, sexual orientation or whether they become parents biologically, via surrogacy or adoption.

This is part of Diageo’s leading work to support gender equality

and to create a fully inclusive and diverse workforce, where barriers to career progression are removed and talent is retained and nurtured.

Diageo also offers support for parents as they return to work including the option of keeping in touch days, parental coaching, flexible working policies and access to free independent counselling.

How do you work flexibly and how does the company help?

I returned to work when my son was seven months old. I came back on a four-day week and my son’s father took shared parental leave to be at home with him full-time for the first three months after my return. Both of those flexible offerings made my transition back to work so much easier for me.

Our son is now two and a half and I manage my working days so that I get to pick him up from nursery and spend a little time with him in the evening before starting his bedtime routine. Once he’s in bed, I log back on to finish my work for the day. I choose to work a longer than usual “working day” from Monday to Thursday but the flipside of that is that I rarely work on Fridays or weekends.

I read somewhere about there being no such thing as work-life balance but rather there is a work-life rhythm.

This resonates with me so much. Agile working means that I can manage my time to build the other important things in my work and life into my day.

Diageo’s culture is rooted in a deep sense of our purpose as a company – celebrating life, every day,

How important is it for employers to offer real flexibility to employees?

I believe it is essential for employers to support flexible and progressive work-life balance policies and to truly champion that culture within their organisations. It’s a win-win situation for both the employer and employees. A great work-life balance can build trust and commitment within a workplace which can increase productivity and it makes for healthier and happier employees too.

Is the world of work changing in this respect?

Yes, I believe so. Employees are looking to work for companies that are actively supportive in helping them to achieve a work-life balance and many companies recognise the benefits that this brings not least in supporting an inclusive and diverse workforce.

Diageo’s commitment to creating an inclusive and diverse working environment was recognised by the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index in 2019 and many people now reference indexes such as these when choosing their career path and that will only help precipitate the rate of change.

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Eye on Tax

Self-Assessment – All you need to know 2. I’m employed – Do I need to do a tax return?

Apart from those who are self-employed and therefore must complete a tax return, who else may need to complete a tax return?

There are several reasons why you may need to complete a tax return. These include: t :PV IBWF b PS NPSF JO VOUBYFE income e.g. money from renting out a property or savings and investments. t :PV IBWF JODPNF GSPN ZPVS TBWJOHT PS investment of £10,000 or more before tax t :PV NBEF QSPGJUT GSPN TFMMJOH UIJOHT MJLF shares, a second home or other chargeable assets and need to pay Capital Gains Tax t :PV BSF B DPNQBOZ EJSFDUPS t :PVS JODPNF PS ZPVS QBSUOFS T XBT PWFS £50,000 and one of you claimed Child Benefit as there is the High Income Child Benefit Tax Charges to consider. t :PV IBWF EJWJEFOET GSPN TIBSFT BCPWF b t :PVS JODPNF XBT b PS NPSF CFGPSF UBY If any of these reasons apply to you, it is your responsibility to register for selfassessment and file a tax return.

Alistair Cooke

It is almost that time of year again when the deadline for filing your self-assessment tax return is approaching.

Here is a quick guide to all you need to know about selfassessment tax returns.

1. Deadline The deadline is 31 January 2020 and all returns at this stage of the year must be filed online (with a few exceptions). The deadline for paper returns was 31 October 2019.

After this date an automatic penalty of £100 will be incurred.

Therefore, make sure that you can find your logon details and can remember your password. Try to login now even if you don’t intend filing your tax return just yet.

There is still time to have your login details reissued and have your password reset.

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3. When is any tax that I may owe due?

Any balance of tax due for 2018-19 under self-assessment is due on 31 January 2020.

Also due on this date is the first payment on account for 2019-20 unless your total tax due for 2018-19 was less than £1,000 or more than 80% of your tax was collected at source i.e. under PAYE for employment income.

The good news is that payments on account don’t include student loan repayments or capital gains tax.

4. Is there anything I can do at this stage to reduce my tax bill?

The simplest way to reduce your tax bill is to make sure you are claiming all the reliefs and exemptions you are due.

An easy relief to claim is the Marriage Allowance. The Marriage Allowance allows you to transfer 10% of your personal allowance - £1,250 in the current year, to your spouse or civil partner. This will benefit anyone who is a basic rate taxpayer and whose spouse or partner earns less than the personal allowance, currently £12,500, and hence not using all of their personal allowance.

If you have missed claiming this, you can backdate any claims for up to 4 years.

Gift aid payments to charities can also reduce your tax bill so don’t forget to keep a record of them. Whilst the charity will claim back the basic rate tax of 20% on any donations, if you are a higher rate taxpayer you can save a further 20% tax on your gift aid payments.

This can be claimed via your tax return.

Another useful tip if you are a higher rate taxpayer in 2018-19 but not in 2019-20 you can elect to carry back any gift aid payments made up to the time you file your tax return.

This can reduce the tax due on 31 January 2020.

If you incur any expenses don’t forget to claim them. This doesn’t matter if you are employed or self-employed. Although the rules are tighter for those who are employed, employment expenses are still worth claiming for.

Don’t forget, every year HMRC carry out a number of compliance checks on tax returns.

Some of these are random but increasingly these are being targeted at certain people or businesses who they may suspect to have filed incorrect tax returns. HMRC have a wealth of knowledge at their fingertips to allow them to check your tax return Not least of their Connect computer which allows the cross-referencing of more than 22bn lines of data. Therefore, make sure you have back up for any figure contained on your tax return.

For more information, contact Alistair Cooke, Director at Chartered Accountants, Dungannon Tel: 028 8772 2139 Email: alistair.cooke@ asmdungannon.com www.asmaccountants.com

The content of this article is for information purposes only and advice particular to your circumstances should be sought from a professional advisor.

ASM Chartered Accountants has six offices – Belfast, Dublin, Dundalk, Dungannon, Magherafelt and Newry. The 120 strong team specialises in a range of accountancy disciplines including Audit and Accounting, Business Consultancy, Corporate Finance, Forensic Accounting, Hotel and Tourism Consultancy, Internal Audit and Taxation Services.

For when organisations need organisation Without back-office brilliance and premium, specialist support staff, plans for an organisation’s fast-track growth will go nowhere, fast. That’s why the brightest, best and bluest of chip companies in Northern Ireland trust the only niche support services recruitment agency in the region. That’s us.

We’re here for when you need steady heads and safe hands to support your exciting ambition.

honeycomb.jobs 028 96 20 70 50

For when business success needs admin support

Eye on International

Paolina Hawthorne & Diversity Speaking The Language Of Business Success When she first came to Northern Ireland 12 years ago as a 24-year old, Paolina Hawthorne admits that she couldn’t have imagined what she’s achieved more than a decade on. Not only is she still here, but she’s Managing Director of one of the largest specialist interpreting and translation companies on the island.

D

iversity operates a database of more than 500 fully qualified interpreters fluent in 77 different languages, 70 of them dedicated to the interpreting of Arabic alone. At the same time, it also specialises in accredited training for new interpreters, and recently launched Northern Ireland’s first real time telephone interpreting service.

Paolina arrived here from her native Bulgaria fluent in English, French and German and worked in various roles before deciding to back her hunch that there was a real business opportunity in translation and interpreting.

“Northern Ireland has changed a lot in the 12 years that I’ve lived here, but one thing that was clear back then was that it was becoming more cosmopolitan all the time. Foreign nationals were coming here in large numbers, and a lot of companies and organisations were becoming increasingly reliant on those foreign nationals.”

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Eye on International Back in 2010, Diversity’s first year of business, the fledgling East Belfast-based company trained 60 people in interpreting and translation skills. It’s a number that has grown steadily since those early days.

“We were growing the business at a time when the demand for language services was flourishing,” says Paolina. “We found that we were in demand to help a wide range of local organisations and individuals.”

Diversity provides a wide range of ad hoc and contract services for its business clients.

“We can be asked to translate a couple of documents with a tight turnaround for a new client, or we can work on a regular basis with an organisation to help them communicate with foreign nationals, perhaps in the case of staff training, HR, disciplinary procedures and other scenarios. The work can be really varied,” says Paolina.

Clients range from some of Northern Ireland’s biggest private sector employers through to a range of third sector agencies and organisations. Paolina also works with local schools to promote language options, and finds herself promoting the relevance of language study and the employment opportunities that linguistic talents can bring.

“There is a real, increasing demand for trained linguists these days, and we can have trouble keeping up with that demand,” she says.

It’s not surprising that Polish is the most common language Diversity and its linguists find themselves working with, followed by Lithuanian and other Eastern European languages, then Arabic, French, Spanish, Portuguese and German.

But new languages are being added to the Diversity portfolio all the time. Amongst the most recent to become available are Hausa, Edo & Lgbo (Nigeria), Twi (Ghana) and Akan (Ghana & Ivory Coast).

Paolina heads up a headquarters team of 15 co-ordinating Diversity’s extended network of more than 500 fully-qualified interpreters.

“2019 has been a really big year for us,” she says. “We’ve continued to expand our client

base, we’ve won competitive tenders, and we’ve launched new services. And, at the same time, we have continued to build and strengthen our team of linguists.”

The new telephone service opens up a potential 250 languages in total and it’s based around increased interest in on demand interpreting.

It’s all a far cry from Paolina’s early days behind her desk at the newly-established company.

“I wasn’t brave enough to put Managing Director down as my title back in those days,” she smiles. “It didn’t seem right when I was the only employee. So I called myself the co-ordinator.”

She has grown with the company since those early days, building the Diversity business model which recruits and trains linguists at one end and puts them to work for a wide range of clients at the other.

Paolina is well aware of the fact that she could hardly have chosen a better brand name for her company. “Diversity, these days, features highly on just about every organisation’s list of responsibilities,” she says.

“And it’s hard to be fully diverse and fully inclusive if you can’t communicate effectively with

the foreign nationals who work for you or with you. That’s where Diversity comes in.”

She emphasises the fact that consistency of service and standards are crucially important to the company. “We’re only as good as our last piece of translation or our last interpreting commission,” says Paolina.

“That’s what makes our training programmes so important.”

These days, Diversity’s head office might handle anywhere between 70 and 100 different interpreting or translation jobs every day throughout the year, some of them small, others much larger and more complex.

Paolina Hawthorne, like most of us, thinks that Northern Ireland has changed radically over the years as more and more foreign nationals have made this place their home.

“I think that foreign nationals are vital to the economy here, but I also think that they have helped to grow this place, they’ve brought a richness to the culture, and they’ve helped us all to broaden our horizons.

“As for me...this is home.

I love it here and I’ll not be going anywhere else.”

Diversity NI is a recognised OCNNI Centre and accredited to provide OCNNI Level 4 Community Interpreter Training. Diversity provides professional Interpreting and Translation Services across Northern Ireland for a wide range of Private and Public Sector clients. The company is fully compliant with the ISO 9001:2008 International Standard for Quality Management and DIN EN 15038 quality standard for translation services meaning the translations and other services we provide are subject to strict quality control processes.

For more information visit www.diversityni.co.uk or email info@diversityni.co.uk or call the Diversity team on 028 90 473 737

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Eye on Accountancy

New Director at ASM Chartered Accountants ASM Chartered Accountants in Magherafelt is delighted to announce the appointment of Lisa Canavan as Director.

L

isa will play a key role in meeting the firm’s growth goals to become one of the leading independent accountancy firms on the island of Ireland.

She will also be instrumental in building on the firm’s outstanding reputation to local businesses and clients.

With over 13 years of experience in accountancy, Lisa brings with her a strong skill-set and an excellent reputation for high performance, relationship building and team leadership. Her promotion comes at a key point in the firm’s growth with record numbers of clients and staff alike. Lisa joined ASM in 2006 as a trainee Chartered Accountant, progressing to Senior Manager in 2016.

Commenting on her appointment, she says “I am delighted to become a Director as ASM Magherafelt. I will be focusing on our ambitious plans to grow and providing solid business solutions for our clients. As our firm continues to expand, we will be offering a greater range of services and will be investing in our employees to reflect our ambition.”

Lisa specialises in several areas of accountancy including Audit and Tax Advisory and has significant experience in family and owner managed business.

Lisa can be contacted by email on lisa.canavan@asmmagherafelt.com or by telephone 028 7930 1777

Pitured right: ASM Magherafelt Directors (L-R): Lisa Canavan, Mark McNeill, Angela McNeill, Michael McAllister.

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Eye on Communications

Celebrating Innovation In Changing Times What a year. 2019 will probably go down as one of the most frenetic, politically and economically challenging times of our lives.

By Stuart Carson, Rainbow Communications

T

here are few certainties as we look to 2020 and whatever your view, who knows if ‘get Brexit done’ will actually happen at all. These are interesting times.

There’s been many big business stories throughout the year too – those who have done well, been saved or those who have gone to the wall – but as we wrap up a year which I think has gone by just a little too fast, it’s important to look back on what many businesses have achieved despite the odds.

You only have to look at the outcome of this year’s AIB Business Eye Awards.

A showcase of Northern Ireland’s best corporate, manufacturing and professional services talent, this year’s event championed a range of important attributes from best skills talent, longevity, new-start bravery, resilience, and, above all, innovation.

Every day, innovators across our business sector create new products, methods and ideas, solve problems others cannot and provide an endless stream of value to their companies, employees and communities.

Innovation. It’s a well-used word but its application is not always appreciated and we need to do much more innovating to build our strength ahead. Innovation makes it easier to grow and those who innovate are better able to scale up, add more employees, win more customers and steal a bigger share of the market Of course it’s normal to want things to stay as they are. Change can be scary. However, what is important

Stuart Carson is Sales and Marketing Director at Rainbow Communications, Northern Ireland’s largest independent telecom provider. For more information on its full range of services, including bespoke solutions, visit www.rainbowcomms.com

and exciting is that there are many easy ways businesses can up their rankings in the innovation game.

In telecommunications, change is already under way and for the most part, local companies are ahead of the game. For a business keen to innovate more, telecommunications should be a top – if not the number one – priority.

With a swift investment return, capacity-building and increased security credentials, a modern telecoms network is no longer a luxury. It’s essential.

As you look into 2020 unaware of the challenges it will be bring, there’s still time to put a plan in place so you can confidently embrace the change that’s coming.

Get out more An integrated cloud-led telecoms system means you and your staff can work anywhere, anytime. Consider whether your current system provides

enough digital opportunities to keep your staff more productively engaged and working in a way they enjoy.

More investment in your telecoms network doesn’t mean more time on the phone, tablet or PC. The freedom it brings means you can meet clients, liaise with colleagues and update your files on the go.

Feel free Do you find you get more work done when you’re not in the office? Why not go further and invest in an integrated telecoms solution that allows you to do just that. Work from home.

Hide yourself in a different office or building, café or library. Just log in, connect and get that task off your list.

Embrace the cloud The mobile and digital revolution will continue to create even greater demands on how and when you work

and how and when to interact and engage with your staff and customers.

Consider whether you have the capacity to cope and whether an integrated cloud solution could be the catalyst for new growth and even greater opportunities.

Time to act Openreach will soon be phasing out its traditional PSTN and ISDN telecom networks, which means all businesses will be forced to find new solutions which are internet-based.

There are plenty of these ‘VoIP’ solutions available to replace them, so it’s time to consider your options.

Time to relax There’s plenty to consider and plenty to do. But as we look to draw the curtains on 2019 for just a very short spell, may I take this opportunity to wish all Business Eye readers and colleagues a peaceful and prosperous New Year.

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Eye on Infrastructure

Openreach -

Connecting Northern Ireland to the World

Openreach, the infrastructure business that builds, maintains and manages the broadband network in Northern Ireland (NI), recently celebrated its first anniversary operating under the Openreach brand name.

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uring its first year, Openreach unveiled it’s ‘Fibre First’ programme, aiming to drive NI’s digital economy through the roll out of ’Full’ Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) technology to homes and businesses across the region.

The business has invested heavily

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in an ambitious infrastructure development plan and has brought FTTP broadband to 27 locations across NI, recently announcing it will be bringing the futureproof technology to a Portrush, Portstewart and Newcastle over the next year and a half.

There are now over 235,000 full fibre enabled premises in NI, an increase of 186,000 in the last year, and Openreach aims to have half of all premises across the (province/region) full fibre enabled by the end of March 2021. These upgraded fibre connections will provide speeds of up to 1Gbps, 18 times faster than the current UK average, helping NI lead the way in digital innovation.

The recent expansion development in NI comes as part of a UK-wide announcement by Openreach that it is extending the published view of its build plans from 12 to 18 months for the first time, providing customers, councils and the general

public an extended roadmap to achieving its target of reaching four million homes and business nationally by the end of March 2021.

Overall, 103 locations across the UK have now been included in Openreach’s multi-billion pound ‘Fibre First’ programme and the company is making full fibre technology available to an additional 23,000 homes and businesses every week – keeping it on track to deliver its target of reaching four million premises by the end of March 2021.

Speaking about the progress made in the last year, Mairead Meyer, Director of Openreach in Northern Ireland, said:

Eye on Infrastructure “Since the launch of our ‘Fibre First’ build programme last year, we’ve made huge progress, with Openreach in Northern Ireland topping the UK regional league tables for full fibre coverage. *Every council area in NI has full fibre coverage, which is higher than the UK average of 10%** and with five councils here achieving a top 20 placement for full fibre coverage across the breadth of the UK, we’re well on our way to achieving our goals.

We’re building a new network that delivers more than just speed. Full-fibre broadband provides a reliable, future-proof, consistent and dependable service that will be a platform for economic growth and prosperity across NI for decades to come.

“We’re ambitious for NI and determined to build fibre as quickly as possible to ensure the region has a reliable network capable of supporting future data-hungry services and applications essential for boosting productivity and supporting our position as a leading digital economy. To support the build programme in NI, we’ve also appointed 98 new recruits across the region since October 2018.

Mairead added: “We’re pressing ahead with our investment and Openreach engineers are now building in communities right across NI, keeping us on track to deliver against the ambitions we set out this time last year and making Northern Ireland the most fully fibre connected region in the UK. A recent study by the Centre for Economics & Business Research (CEBR)1 commissioned

by Openreach, estimates that a province wide roll out of Full

Fibre broadband would have a £1.3billion productivity impact on the Northern Ireland economy.

Mairead said: Full fibre is a vehicle to turbocharge our economy, with the power to renew towns and communities across the province.

“Openreach is committed to building a broadband network that businesses in Northern Ireland need to compete in the global digital economy, both now and for decades to come.

To fully realise this transformational change, Openreach believes it is crucial that no area in the UK is left behind and is committed to improving the quality of connectivity in the more challenging rural and remote areas.

Openreach’s Community Fibre Partnership (CFP) programme is helping to reach these more challenging areas where

properties are beyond the scope of any existing private or publicly subsidised upgrade schemes.

The co-funding scheme works by using a combination of investment from Openreach and the community. Residents can draw on a variety of sources for funding including the Government’s Rural Gigabit Voucher (RGC) scheme.

Rural premises with broadband speeds of less than 30Mbps can use vouchers worth up to £3,500 for each small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), and up to £1,500 per residential premise, to support the cost of installing new gigabit-capable connections.

There are currently eight areas in Northern Ireland that have benefitted from the CFP scheme which include communities and businesses in Dundrod, Moy, Killyman, Markethill and Ballymena.

One area which has recently benefitted from the scheme is in Castlederg in Co. Tyrone where Openreach successfully provided access to FTTP broadband technology to 19 premises.

Barry Harper, Founder and CEO of Nvolve Group - an employee learning, engagement and communication system provider operating in Castlederg - worked in partnership with Openreach to bring futureproof fibre broadband to the area as the Community Lead for the scheme.

Barry said: “We are a close-knit, rural community and there are

multiple businesses in the area operating from home. Now that we have full fibre available, it has really helped our business increase functionality and productivity, placing us in a better position to compete with other tech companies around the world.

“As tech is at the heart of our business, we rely on fast connections to be able to conduct our work, and since completing the installation, we have better upload and download speeds enabling us to maximise our potential.

“Castlederg used to feel very remote, but now with a click of a button, a world of opportunity can be unlocked. We’re delighted to see the completion of the Community Fibre Partnership in our local area.”

Mairead concluded, “We are proud to deliver a world-class digital infrastructure right across Northern Ireland, from the commercial areas around our towns and cities, right out to the rural edges through our CFP programme, all of which will help to form the backbone of economic growth and future investment in the local economy.”

1

www.openreach.co.uk/fullfibreimpact

* Think Broadband, 2019 https://bit.ly/2m1J2qd ** Think Broadband 2019 - https://www. thinkbroadband.com/news/8588-uk-fullfibre-broadband-coverage-hits-10-mark *** Evaluation of the Economic Impact and Public Value of the Superfast Broadband Programme, 2018

41

Eye on Law

GOING FOR GROWTH:

Opportunities in NI’s EV Network

By Kevin Murphy, partner at UK law firm TLT

Northern Ireland is making great progress in renewable energy generation. But when it comes to electric vehicle (EV) uptake and the infrastructure needed to support this, more work is needed to make sure it’s not left behind the rest of UK.

A

recent BBC article revealed that Northern Ireland has the lowest number of charging points in the UK. What’s surprising is that around seven years ago Belfast had the highest number of EV charging points in Europe, indicating progress may have stalled.

The first steps to establish public charging points across Northern Ireland have already been taken over the last few years, with a network of 337 charge stations rolled out across the country. The difference between NI and the rest of the UK is the lack of private charging points and networks, as while a handful of retail parks and car dealerships have seen the benefit of early-adoption of this infrastructure, the network of private EV charging points is otherwise sparse.

Opportunities While there are currently around 50 public charging points on land owned by the public sector, there are significant further opportunities for the sector to embrace electric vehicles.

Inevitably, there will be public sector bodies that will be able to use EVs and charging points as part of a more sustainable, holistic way of getting around. While it would be unfair to ask the public sector to solely cover the costs of rolling out this infrastructure to meet the growing number of

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EVs, we need to see the public sector becoming the catalyst that drives change; shaping planning policy and helping Northern Ireland grow and develop into a sustainable place to work and live.

We have seen this across England, with the likes of Swindon Borough Council providing charging infrastructure for the local community. Greater Manchester has also been a trailblazer, as it’s invested in the Greater Manchester Transport Fund, which uses local funding to develop a more sustainable public transport system. However, pressure on existing public funds means that progress might be difficult without either new funding allocation or public-private partnerships.

Landowners and developers can choose between different business models offering charging. So far in Northern Ireland, the focus has been on free charging, but as electric vehicle adoption grows, we expect to see more commercial solutions emerge across the region to recoup the costs.

A significant roadblock to private sector investment in Northern Ireland is the Maximum Resale Price for electricity. Currently, it’s only possible for landowners to install charging points and re-sell electricity on a pass-through basis, meaning no mark-up or extra fee can be added to the price to generate a profit. As the motor industry continues to commit

to EV, this is inevitably going to have to change to allow for more infrastructure to be installed across NI and to encourage developers to invest in it.

Planning policy changes needed In England, installing an electric vehicle charging point can generally be considered a permitted development if it meets certain criteria and takes place in an area lawfully used for off-street parking.

In NI, permitted development rights to include EV charging points have not yet moved forward.

EV charging points should also be considered within Local Development Plans. Making EV charging points mandatory could become as much of a material consideration in the approval of

residential or retail/commercial scheme as parking, public transport and cycling provision.

The rest of the UK recently held a consultation around building regulations and introducing electric vehicle charging point requirements. It is hoped that any changes it brings also make their way to Northern Ireland, as without much needed investment in infrastructure, NI could be left behind the rest of Europe as the motor industry moves towards full electrification.

For further information contact +44 (0)333 006 0361 kevin.murphy@TLTsolicitors.com www.tltsolicitors.com

Eye on Finance

Close Brothers...

Funding Business In A Changing Landscape

Ciaran McAreavey, Managing Director of Close Brothers in Ireland, believes that Close Brothers Commercial Finance is playing an increasingly important role in the business finance sector here in Northern Ireland.

“W

e’re seeing a steady stream of new customers coming our way, and we think that’s because we take a very simple approach to relationship management. We work directly with our customers, developing and maintaining relationships. We have a face-to-face approach,” he says.

“So, when a customer talks to us, we’ll listen, we’ll understand their business and what they’re trying to achieve, and we’ll go

away and develop a finance solution to meet their needs.”

Ciaran McAreavey leads Close Brothers operations in Ireland and splits his time between the firm’s Belfast and Dublin offices. Close Brothers also has offices in Cork and Galway.

Like other leaders in the field, he’s well aware of the external challenges facing companies at the moment.

“Political ambiguity has been two-pronged,” he says. “We’ve had three years without a government

at Stormont, as well as the wider ongoing uncertainty across the UK and Europe. It can make doing business here more challenging.”

That said, he goes on to note that new lending in Close Brothers’ asset finance business in Northern Ireland has increased in the first quarter of this year (the Close Brothers Group financial year starts in August).

“It indicates that companies are still investing in capital equipment and looking to the future, despite the uncertain times.” he says.

“Our business model is to provide our customers with a funder that provides support consistently at all points in the business cycle, but we also keep things personal.

When we work with new firms, we consider the bigger picture and take a case-by-case approach, looking at objectives and potential, rather than just recent financial performance.

“We’re dedicated to building relationships with our customers and it’s something that they appreciate.

Business customers don’t want to be filling in forms online or speaking to a call centre. They want to deal face to face with a person that can add value to their business.”

Close Brothers Commercial Finance has a team of 65 split roughly equally across its operations in Northern and the Republic of Ireland, and the business run by McAreavey concentrates on asset finance and invoice finance for business customers. Close Brothers also provides insurance premium finance and motor finance product lines in Ireland. Overall, Ireland is an important part of Close Brother’s lending business with almost €1 Bn of support being provided to customers across the island.

“All in all, we’re working with thousands of customers right across the business spectrum,” he says.

Invoice finance, says McAreavey, continues to grow in popularity

amongst business owners and senior managers here. “It’s a very simple concept. We can provide funding of up to 90% on invoices on a customers’ debtor book, releasing working capital from outstanding customer invoices as soon as they are raised.

“We offer a market-leading online invoice finance platform too, which gives customers a live-view of available funds and integrates with most accounts systems. Our service provides great access to funding.”

Invoice finance can form part of a comprehensive asset based lending solution when customers need to raise higher levels of funding too. This kind of solution combines a range of products available at Close Brothers, such as funding against property and stock, and even cash flow loans.

“We’re already working with companies ranging from small businesses with a turnover of half a million pounds up to large corporates with upwards of £100 million.

“Many of the firms we work with come from sectors like manufacturing, transport, logistics, and construction, but we’ve got active customers right across the board. When it comes to invoice finance, we can provide a solution for most companies that trades business-to-business on credit terms. It’s as simple as that.”

Businesses here, he observes, can still be wedded to a single lender approach for business finance.

However, times are changing. “I think that companies across the island of Ireland are increasingly looking more widely when it comes to financing options and are prepared to move away from the traditional single bank approach to doing things. It’s all about flexibility and keeping their funding options open. It certainly makes sense for businesses to diversify their sources of funding when heading into uncertain times.”

The funding marketplace is no less competitive than it has been over recent years, says the Close Brothers Ireland Managing Director, but he’s sure that the firm’s future prospects are positive, despite the changing market.

“We’re confident that we can continue to grow our customer base right across the island,” he says. “And our people across Northern Ireland will be playing a leading role in developing Close Brothers’ business here.”

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Eye on Childcare

Why A Registered Childminder Is The Safer Choice For Your Children!

T

he Northern Ireland Childminding Association (NICMA) helped children to get creative as it hosted a Festive ‘Bake Off’ on 4th December in Little Hands SureStart Children’s Centre, Rosemount Primary School. This event is part of a wider communications campaign, funded by the Western Childcare Partnership and supported by Family Support NI, to reinforce the importance of parents using a Registered Childminder to care for their children in the Western Trust area #getregistered.

L-R Patricia Lewsley-Mooney CBE, NICMA CEO; Clare McGillion, Childminding Development and Engagement Officer, NICMA and Susan Harper, Project Worker, Little Hands SureStart Children’s Centre, Rosemount Primary School (Helen Street).

L-R Amanda Askin, Registered Childminder, with Bailie Richardson (aged 3).

Patricia Lewsley-Mooney CBE, NICMA CEO (back row, right) is pictured with Donna Stewart, Registered Childminder from Eglinton (back row, left) and children Teddy Smith, Danny Ferry and Emily Cregan.

L-R Clare McGillion, Childminding Development and Engagement Officer, NICMA; Catherine Hutton; Roisin Laverty, Registered Childminder; Monica Downey, Registered Childminder, with Niah McCarthy; Lindsey McLaughlin, Registered Childminder, with Jamie Kelly McGranaghan and Teresa McKeever, Registered Childminder.

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L-R Paula McLaughlin, Childminding Development and Engagement Officer, NICMA; Patricia Lewsley-Mooney CBE, NICMA CEO; Guest Speaker Clare Goodman, The Green Cat Bakery, Eglinton; Hannah Robinson, Organisation Development Learning Team Leader, NICMA; Clare McGillion, Childminding Development and Engagement Officer, NICMA and Susan Harper, Project Worker, Little Hands SureStart Children’s Centre, Rosemount Primary School (Helen Street).

AWARDS 2019

NORTHERN NORTHERN IRELAND’S IRELAND’S LEADING LEADING BUSINESS AWARDS BUSINESS

AWARDS

Eye on Awards

Newry Double at AIB Business Eye Awards Company Of The Year

Highly Commended

First Derivatives

Adrian Moynihan, AIB presents Jen Higgins, Tori Dixon, Peter Johnston and Michael Rennie from Wilsons Auctions with a highly commended Award in the Company of the Year category. Also pictured is Brenda Buckley, Business Eye.

Highly Commended

Kathy Kearns (second left) receives a special recognition award on behalf of her brother Brian Conlon, First Derivatives. Graham Ferguson and Donal Keane, First Derivatives also receive the Company of the Year Award from Brenda Buckley, Business Eye & Adrian Moynihan, Head AIB NI.

First Derivates and MJM’s Brian McConville honoured at business awards in Belfast

F

irst Derivatives, the Newry-based fintech giants employing 2,400 people worldwide, took the coveted ‘Company of the Year’ title at last night’s AIB Business Eye Awards, while MJM Group founder Brian McConville was named ‘Business Personality of the Year’.

A special ‘Contribution to Business’ Award was presented on the evening to Julie Conlon, widow of First Derivatives founder Brian Conlon, who passed away in July of this year. First Derivatives, established by Brian Conlon in 1996 and now valued at £1 billion, was also named as ‘Technology Business of the Year’ at last night’s awards.

The awards, now in their 14th year, were presented at a glittering ceremony attended by a 750-strong business audience at ICC Belfast last night (Thursday 28th November). Sponsored

by AIB (NI), guests were treated to a spectacular stunt performance by Static LED as the local bank

46

celebrated its official rebranding from First Trust Bank to AIB (NI). The awards honour companies and business leaders across 19 different categories, rewarding growth, innovation, commitment to CSR, the environment and people development.

Brian McConville was chosen by the judging panel for steering the rapid growth of the MJM Group, a global leader in the marine fit-out industry, as well as for his successful acquisition of Antrim-based Mivan.

Downpatrick specialist guitar makers Lowden Guitars, which supplies instruments to Ed Sheeran, Gary Lightbody and Eric Clapton amongst others, took the ‘Family Business of the Year’ award, while Lisburn-based Creative Composites was named ‘Manufacturer of the Year’.

In other awards, accountancy firm Harbinson Mulholland won ‘Professional Services Firm of the Year’ category. Meanwhile, a hotly contested ‘Young Business Personality of the Year’ title went to Gareth Deering from Denroy Plastics in Bangor.

Speaking at the awards, Adrian Moynihan, Head of AIB (NI) said; “We are incredibly proud to be associated with the awards again this year, which showcase and celebrate business success. In doing so, the awards encourage more organisations and business owners to prioritise development, growth and innovation.

“We also used the occasion to showcase Adrian Moynihan, AIB, presents a highly commended award to Kathy Simpson & Michael McCormack, Musgrave NI in Company of the Year category. Also pictured is Brenda Buckley, Business Eye.

and celebrate our own transformation as we launch our rebrand from First Trust Bank to AIB (NI). We are excited about the benefits the change can help deliver for our customers, our communities, our stakeholders and the wider Northern Ireland economy” “Congratulations to all the winners, you are the force that drives our economy with unfailing resilience and innovation. We are delighted to shine a light on your efforts with these much-deserved accolades.”

Richard Buckley, Editor of Business Eye added; “Business Eye is very proud to have been organising Northern Ireland’s foremost business awards for the past 14 years. Against a challenging political and economic backdrop, it’s really important for business success that both companies and individuals can be recognised in this way. We had an incredibly high-quality entry in 2019 and that entry illustrates the strength of the local business sector.”

Eye on Awards Full List of Winners Business Personality of the Year Sponsor: AIB Bank Brian McConville, MJM Group

Employer of the Year

Manufacturer of the Year

Green Company of the Year

Sponsor: Lockton

Sponsor: RSM

Sponsor: IQ&Co

FinTrU

Creative Composites

HIGHLY COMMENDED:

Kukoon Rugs

HIGHLY COMMENDED:

Axiom Managed Solutions

HIGHLY COMMENDED:

LIDL NI

Ryobi Aluminium Castings

R&D Project of the Year

Company of the Year

Technology Company of the Year

Sponsor: Momentum Group

Family Business of the Year

Sponsor: AIB Bank

Sponsor: VANRATH

Sensata Technologies

Sponsor: Harbinson Mullholland

HIGHLY COMMENDED:

First Derivatives

First Derivatives

Lowden Guitars

HIGHLY COMMENDED:

HIGHLY COMMENDED:

Wilsons Auctions

HIGHLY COMMENDED:

HIGHLY COMMENDED:

Musgrave NI

McGreevy Engineering

HIGHLY COMMENDED:

Davisons

Exporter of the Year

Agri Food Innovation Award

Sponsor: U105

Sponsor: Musgrave

Nicobrand

Davisons

HIGHLY COMMENDED:

Deli LITES

HIGHLY COMMENDED:

AES Global

Fast Growth Business of the Year Sponsor: Grafton FinTrU HIGHLY COMMENDED:

Salt DNA

HIGHLY COMMENDED:

Creative Composites

Tourism & Hospitality Company Sponsor: Visit Belfast George Best Belfast City Airport HIGHLY COMMENDED:

Galgorm Resort & Spa

Salt DNA

Lowden Guitars

Community (CSR) Award

Innovative Business of the Year

Sponsor: Community Foundation NI

Sponsor: NIE Networks

Musgrave NI

Henderson Technology

HIGHLY COMMENDED:

HIGHLY COMMENDED:

BMI Trailers

Power NI

Executive Support Professional

Medium / Mid-Sized Business

Sponsor: Honeycomb

Sponsor: Queens University Belfast

Catherine Smith, AMI

Davisons

HIGHLY COMMENDED:

HIGHLY COMMENDED:

We Are Vertigo

HIGHLY COMMENDED:

Kukoon Rugs

Kirsty Watson, CIDO

Small Business of the Year Sponsor: AIB Bank

Young Business Personality

Professional Services Firm of the Year

Sponsor: Ulster University

AES Global

Sponsor: Davy

HIGHLY COMMENDED:

Gareth Deering, Denroy Plastics

Uberfone

Harbinson Mulholland

HIGHLY COMMENDED:

Simon Brien Residential

HIGHLY COMMENDED:

Sarah Presch, Retro Digital

HIGHLY COMMENDED:

A&L Goodbody

Business Personality of the Year Brian McConville

Mark Irwin, Managing Director, Ardmore Advertising sponsor, (presents the Business Personality of the Year, Award to Brian McConville of MJM Group. Also pictured are Brenda Buckley, Business Eye and Adrian Moynihan, AIB (NI).

Adrian Moynihan, Head of AIB (NI).

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Eye on Awards Highly Commended

Research & Development Project of the Year Sensata Technologies

Simon Huntley, Business Development Director, Momentum presents a highly commended award in the Research & Development Project of the Year category to George Lowden, Lowden Guitars.

Richard Buckley, Editor, Business Eye.

Simon Huntley, Business Development Director Momentum (category sponsor) presents the Research & Development Project of the Year Award to Stephen Millen, Padmini Sundaralingam and John Greer of Sensata Technologies.

Exporter of the Year

Highly Commended

Nicobrand

Brian Reid, Deli-Lites receives a highly commended award in the Exporter of the Year category from Peter McVerry, U105 (sponsor).

Highly Commended

Peter McVerry, U105 (category sponsor) presents the Exporter of the Year Award to Helen Boyd and Mark McQuillan of Nicobrand.

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Peter McVerry presents a highly commended award in the Exporter of the Year category to Michael Jamieson, AES Global.

Eye on Awards Family Business of the Year Award

Highly Commended

Lowden Guitars

Aaron McGreevy (centre) and Ignatius McGreevy, McGreevy Engineering receive a highly commended award in the Family Business of the Year category from Darren Mc Dowell, Harbinson Mulholland (sponsor).

Highly Commended

Darren McDowell (far right), Harbinson Mulholland (category sponsor) presents the Family Business of The Year Award to Bryony Ausdahl, Florence Lowden, George Lowden & David Ausdahl II of Lowden Guitars.

Highly Commended

Darren McDowell, Harbinson Mulholland (category sponsor) presents a highly commended award in the Family Business of the Year category to Alan and Graham Davison, Davisons.

Innovative Business of the Year Henderson Technology

Brendan McIlvanna and Darren Simpson, BMI Trailers receive a highly commended award in the Innovative Company of the Year category from Edel Creery, NIE Networks (category sponsor).

Edel Creery, NIE Networks (category sponsor) presents Darren Nickels, Simon Spence & Gillian Kelly of Henderson Technology with the Innovative Company of the Year Award.

LED Dancers wow the audience.

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Eye on Awards Fast Growth Business of the Year

Highly Commended

FinTrU

Ryan Hughes & John Bailie, Salt DNA receive a highly commended award in the Fast Growth Business of the Year category from Tina McKenzie, Grafton Recruitment (sponsor).

Highly Commended

Sponsor Tina McKenzie, Grafton Recruitment presents the Fast Growth Business of the Year Award to Rory McFlynn and Annette McGirr of FinTrU.

Highly Commended

Jeremy Tomalin, & Brian Wallace, Creative Composites receive a highly commended award in the Fast Growth Business of the Year category from sponsor, Tina McKenzie, Grafton Recruitment.

Small Business of the Year AES Global

Mark Singh, Uberfone receives a highly commended award in the Small Business of the Year category from Seamus McGuckin, AIB (NI).

Highly Commended

Seamus McGuckin, AIB (NI) presents a highly commended award in the Small Business of the Year Category to Thomas O’Doherty & Samuel Dickey, Simon Brien Residential.

50

Noeleen McGuckin, AES Global receives the Small Business of the Year Award from Seamus McGuckin, AIB (NI) category sponsor.

Eye on Awards Highly Commended

Employer of the Year Award FinTrU

John Woods, Kukoon Rugs, receives a highly commended award in the Employer of the Year category from Gary Ennis, Lockton (sponsor).

Highly Commended

Gary Ennis, Lockton (sponsor) presents a highly commended award in the Employer of the Year category to Christopher Souto, Axiom Managed Solutions.

Gary Ennis, of Lockton (category sponsor) presents the Employer of the Year Award to Sinead Carville and Ryan Sneddon from FinTrU.

Agri Food Innovation Award Davisons

Jackie Logan and Laura McElroy

Lauren McNerlin, Sales Manager, Clear Channel (second left), category sponsor, presents the Agri Food Innovation Award to Graham Davison, Jonathan Walsh, Claire Baird, Kathryn Graham, from Davisons.

Mairead Scott and Ruth McDonald.

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Eye on Awards Highly Commended

Tourism/Hospitality Company of the Year George Best Belfast City Airport

Tiarnan O’Neill from Galgorm Hotel Spa & Resort receives a highly commended award in the Tourism & Hospitality Company of the Year category from sponsor Gerry Lennon, Visit Belfast.

Highly Commended

Mairead McEntee, Department of Hospitality & Tourism Management, Ulster University Business School (sponsor) presents a highly commended award in the Young Business Personality of the Year category to Sarah Presch, Retro Digital.

Mark Beattie, Operations Director at George Best Belfast City Airport (left) receives the Tourism Company of the Year Award from Gerry Lennon, Chief Executive of Visit Belfast (sponsor).

Young Business Personality of the Year

Green Company of the Year Lidl NI

Gareth Deering, Denroy Plastics

Gareth Deering, Denroy Plastics received the Young Business Personality of the Year Award from Mairead McEntee, Associate Head of the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Ulster University Business School (category sponsor).

52

Angela Connan & Gareth Breeze, Lidl Northern Ireland receive the Green Company of the Year award from sponsor Tanya Martin, Managing Director of IQ& CO.

Eye on Awards Executive Support Professional of the Year

Highly Commended

Catherine Smith, AMI

Mairead Scott, Honeycomb (sponsor) presents a highly commended award in the Executive Support Professional of the Year category to Kirsty Watson, CIDO.

Catherine Smith, AMI receives the Executive Support Professional of the Year Award from sponsor Mairead Scott, Honeycomb.

Highly Commended

Bernie Diver and Paul Moffett.

Community CSR Award Musgrave NI

Gemma-Louise Bona & Gwyneth Compston, Power NI receive a highly commended award in the Community CSR category from sponsor Siofra Healy, Community Foundation.

Andrew Dickinson, Tori Dickson and Aidan Larkin.

Brendan Gallen and Desi Derby, Musgrave NI receive the Community (CSR) Award from category sponsor Siofra Healy, Director of Philanthropy, Community Foundation.

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Eye on Awards Highly Commended

Medium/Mid-Sized Business of the Year Davisons

Dr. Joanne Murphy, Interim Director William J Clinton Leadership Institute at Queen’s Management School presents a highly commended award in the Medium/Mid Sized Business of the Year category to Gareth & Lorna Murphy, We Are Vertigo.

Highly Commended

John Woods, Kukoon Rugs, receives a highly commended award in the Medium/Mid Sized Business of the Year category from Dr. Joanne Murphy, Interim Director William J Clinton Leadership Institute at Queen’s Management School.

Dr. Joanne Murphy, Interim Director William J Clinton Leadership Institute at Queen’s Management School (category sponsor) presents the Medium/Mid Sized Business of the Year Award to Alan Davison & Glen Waddell of Davisons.

Highly Commended

Professional Services Firm of the Year Harbinson Mulholland

Mark Stockdale, A&L Goodbody receives a highly commended award in the Professional Services Firm of the Year category from Conor McCann, Davy Private Clients (sponsor).

Conor McCann, Davy (sponsor) presents the Professional Services Firm of the Year category to Darren McDowell & Angela Craigan, Harbinson Mulholland.

54

Richard Moorehead, Sarah Orange and Vicky Dummigan.

Eye on Awards Technology Company of the Year

Highly Commended

First Derivatives

Ryan Quinn, Van Rath (sponsor) presents a highly commended award in the Technology Company of the Year category to Ryan Hughes & John Bailie, Salt DNA.

Ryan Quinn, Van Rath (sponsor) presents the Technology Company of the Year Award to Catherine Harrison, First Derivatives (left) and Kathy Kearns, sister of the late Brian Conlon.

Highly Commended

Aveen Stewart, Charlotte Clarke and Samantha Kirk.

Manufacturer of the Year Creative Composites

Richard Gardiner, RSM (sponsor) presents a highly commended award in the Manufacturer of The Year category to Darryl Duff and the right Andrew Clavin, Ryobi.

Natasha, Aaron, Ignatius and Pat McGreevy.

Richard Gardiner, RSM (sponsor) presents the Manufacturer of the Year Award to Richard Ennis, Jeremy Tomalin and Brian Wallace, Creative Composites.

55

Eye on Awards

Slide Step perform.

Siofra Healy of Community Foundation and Brenda Buckley announce the charity draw winners.

Davy Jackson, Tony McKeown, Peter Melarkey and Peter McVerry.

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Brenda Buckley, Siobhan Matthewson and Ciara Donnelly.

Peter Cunningham, Mary Doherty, AnneMarie McGrade, Emma Phillips, Shay Lam and Gemma Padden.

Business Personality of the Year Award winner Brian McConville of MJM Group.

Eye on Awards

Jolene O’Hare, Samantha Coleman , Connaire McGreevy, Lisa McGreevy and Darren McPolin.

Stephen Davidson, Chris Gilbert, Claire McGovern and Tim Caldwell.

Michaela Kilpatrick, Sally Flaherty, Ben Fraser and Louise McCaffrey.

Darryl Duff, Andrew Clavin, Stafford Doran, Kazuhiro Yokosawa, Tadashi Takeguchi, Gareth Lynn and Keith Bruce.

Janine Cane, Emma Bracknell, Mairead McEntee, James McGinn, Mary Armstrong and Emma Murphy.

Mary Jo McCanny, Garry McDonald, Maurica Mackle, Gerry Lennon and Anne McMullan.

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Eye on Awards

The team from Creative Composites with their Highly Commended Fast Growth Business of the Year award and also the Manufacturer of the Year Award.

ITV The Voice’s Dave Jackson takes to the stage

Megan O’Neill (left), Sam Buckley, Brenda and Richard Buckley, Jane O’Donoghue and Reuben Taylor.

Mark Whitehead, Katie McDonald, Gordon Burns, Rachel Doherty and Elwyn Agnew.

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Compere for the evening, UTV’s Marc Mallett.

Drew Graham, Dean Uprichard, James Gilmore and John Cunningham.

Eye on Awards

Laura Johnston, Peter Harris, Bernie Hyland, David Wilson, Tracy O Toole, Keith Reilly and Dave Earle.

Patrick Campbell, Marcus Nelson, Shaun Ciulter and Eoghan Hampsey.

Alyson English, Nuala McCrolly, John Rainey and Molly Cullen.

Alan Wardlow, Colin Dudas, Judith Totten MBE, Drew Wilkinson and Aidan Dolan.

Glenn Watterson, Kathryn O’Hagan, Robyn Butler, Caroline Glover and Chris Guy.

Siobhan Matthewson and Catriona O’Donnell.

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Eye on Events

Lunch with an Old Bag event raises more than £45,000 for The Prince’s Trust

A thank-you to the committee members!

T

he annual Lunch with an Old Bag fundraising event took place at Belfast Harbour Commissioners Office recently raising over £45,000 for the work of The Prince’s Trust.

The event saw the most stylish ladies, and a few gentlemen, from across Northern Ireland come together for a delicious lunch and a fundraising auction. These ladies are affectionately known as ‘old bags’ and it is no coincidence that the event also featured an auction of sought-after designer bags amongst many other incredible lots. The event was support by Lunn’s and Legacy Wealth.

Guests at the event heard from a Prince’s Trust Young Ambassador who has turned her life around thanks

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Rose Mary Stalker, Chair of Lunch with an Old Bag Committee

to support from The Trust. Annie Burke from Belfast experienced anxiety and depression which led to her being hospitalised aged 25. She left hospital determined to achieve her dream of running a bakery business and now thanks to the support of The Trust’s Enterprise programme she is running a thriving business.

Rose Mary Stalker, Chair of the Lunch with an Old Bag committee, commented: “This is the sixth year of the event in Northern Ireland and to date we have raised in excess of £200k to support the work of The Prince’s Trust.

“Over the years this money has enabled The Trust to directly help nearly 600 local young people who are struggling in education to re-engage in

Suzanne Lunn of Lunn’s Jewellery

learning, build confidence and skills and work towards accreditation equivalent to 2 GCSE’s grade B. I’d like to thank all of our guests for their generosity, as well as our sponsors and the event committee.”

The Prince’s Trust helps young people aged 11-30 to develop the confidence and skills they need to realise their ambitions, so that they can live, learn and earn.

The programmes offered by the charity give young people practical and financial support helping develop self-esteem and skills for work. Last year The Trust supported over 8,500 young people in Northern Ireland, three in four young people supported by The Prince’s Trust move into work, education or training.

Brenda Buckley, Pamela McCreedy & Gina McIntyre

Julie Roulston, Judith Totten & Brenda Buckley

Hannah Shields, Ruth Cooper & Jenna Mairs

Libby Morgan, Sarah Sharkey, Amanda Byrnes & Jennie Wallace

Pearl Mercer, Jenny Waring & Nicola Coey

Catherine Boyd, Hayley Patterson, Jane Lee, Lynsey Hughes & Kate McCann

Rose Mary Stalker, Annie Burke Prince’s Trust Young Ambassador & Nuala McKeever

Sarah Mackie, Judith Owens, Charlotte Boyd & Joanna MacKey

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Eye on News

Tughans Celebrate Legal 500 NI Law Firm Of The Year Award Belfast law firm Tughans had an extra special reason to celebrate with clients yesterday evening as the legal advisors were named as Northern Ireland Law Firm of the Year 2020.

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icking up the top accolade from the respected ranking publication Legal 500, the timing of the announcement coincided with the firm’s Christmas client drinks reception.

In the presence of over 100 senior business figures, the announcement was made

by Senior Partner Michael McCord as Tughans marked the start of the festive season in Belfast’s Merchant Hotel.

Michael McCord said, “Being named as Northern Ireland Law Firm of the Year is an excellent way to celebrate what has been a very successful 12 months for Tughans.

“Highlights this year have included topping the Experian MarketIQ United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland M&A Review’ Northern Ireland league table for the fourth consecutive year.

“We have also taken on our highest ever number of trainees which demonstrates strong growth

Partners Kathy McGillie (Disputes), Michael McCord (Disputes), Anna Beggan (Employment), and Fearghal O’Loan (Banking & Finance) toast Tughans being named Legal 500 Northern Ireland Law Firm of the Year 2020.

and ambition for the market.

It is fitting to unveil this news and share the celebration

with our clients as it is those strong relationships that underpin Tughans’ success.”

ACTION RENEWABLES UNLOCKS LEADERSHIP POTENTIAL Leading provider of renewable energy expertise, Action Renewables, is significantly investing in its workforce talent as its top team have just achieved a major qualification in Leadership and Team Skills, aimed at boosting confidence, performance and leadership qualities.

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Leading from the front is Lynsey Stewart (centre) Director at HeadsTogether alongside Terry Waugh (left) and Sarah McLarnin (right) from Action Renewables.

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he course was delivered as part of a cutting-edge, bespoke workplace training package delivered by Northern Ireland professional human resources consultancy, HeadsTogether, which is based in Holywood, County Down.

The course is accredited by the UK Institute of Leadership and Management, which is part of the City and Guild Group who are the UK’s leading provider in leadership and management qualifications.

As part of HeadsTogether’s growth plans, they have recently launched a new dedicated workplace training division, TrainTogether, and a dedicated training suite located

in Holywood, County Down.

Terry Waugh, Chief Executive Officer at Action Renewables, said: “When it comes to Action Renewables’ growth and development, strong leadership skills throughout our management team are essential.

HeadsTogether helped take our team to the next level, developing their confidence and skill sets within their dayto-day managerial roles.”

“The flexible and collaborative approach by Lynsey and the team at HeadsTogether was instrumental in bringing about positive change to our team.”

Lynsey Stewart, Director at HeadsTogether, said: “Training and development

of a workforce can often be an organisation’s biggest challenge, especially in a fast-faced, changing business environment.”

“Working closely with Action Renewables, we identified key areas that required our specialist support and from here we developed a bespoke and engaging management development programme to accelerate the leadership and management capabilities within the team.”

The County Down-based company, HeadsTogether provides a range of private, public and third sector organisations with bespoke, flexible human resources expertise and advice.

Eye on News

40 NEW PAID INTERNSHIPS Offer Opportunity In Creative Sectors

Méabh Rooney (centre) benefitted from the pilot scheme run in 2017 working as an intern for the NI Science Festival and has gone on to secure work with the organisation in event management and programming. She’s pictured with Chris McCreery, director of the Science Festival and Sarah Jones from Creative & Cultural Skills NI, which runs the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Department for Communities funded programme.

Forty new entry level paid internships will offer young people in Northern Ireland the chance to gain real on-thejob experience to kick-start their careers in the creative industries.

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he NI Creative Employment Programme (NICEP) will work with employers to establish brand new posts in order to give people opportunities in the arts and cultural sector.

Funded by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Department for Communities, the programme will provide part funding to cover wage costs for employers who

create the new jobs and hire a young person aged 16-24.

Run by Creative & Cultural Skills NI, the project aims to support the next generation of arts and cultural professionals and enable the growth of the sector by directly addressing skills gaps and shortages.

“We want to offer greater paid opportunities to young people with the aim of eventually eradicating

unpaid internships, which are so prevalent in this sector. Budgets are very tight in this sector so by offering additional funding, this programme will not only help organisations create new, exciting positions but also allow for fairer opportunities to young people,” explained Sarah Jones of Creative & Cultural Skills NI. NICEP ran as a two year pilot programme initially and this highlighted the demand for support by both industry and individuals with 59 creative businesses creating 89 apprentices and paid intern opportunities over that period.

The programme will support new jobs from a wide range of fields including music, dance, drama, literature, visual arts, craft, festivals, arts venues, community

arts, galleries, museums, circus and carnival arts but will also accept applications from the wider creative sector including digital, film and TV. Employers looking to grow their staff teams and offer an opportunity to a young person, should contact the NI Creative Employment Programme team for more information.

Roisin McDonough, Chief Executive of the Arts Council, said: “We want to encourage our talented young people to see the working in the arts as an attractive career option. The NI Creative Employment Programme was created to provide quality training and mentoring opportunities, to give fair access to careers in the creative and cultural industries, and help bolster the creative sector by harnessing the talent of the next generation.”

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Celebrating life, every day, everywhere

DRINK RESPONSIBLY The BAILEYS, GORDON’S, CAPTAIN MORGAN, SMIRNOFF, GUINNESS, SMITHWICKS, CARLSBERG and HARP words and associated logos are trade marks © Diageo 2015.

Eye on Events

IoD NI WELCOMES NEW FELLOWS

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nstitute of Directors Northern Chairman Gordon Milligan, centre, welcomes new Fellows to the organisation, from left, Jayne Brady, Ellvena Graham, Clare Guinness, Suzanne Wylie, and Declan Billington. They are among

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a distinguished group of leaders to have recently been honoured with Fellowship of the leading business body, that also includes Sir George Hamilton, Kathryn Thompson, Judith Totten, John D’Arcy, Ian Thom, and Carmel McKinney.

Apprentice Star Is VIP Guest At Younique Aesthetics

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amela Laird, who is in the current series of The Apprentice, was a VIP guest at the newly opened the multi award winning Younique Aesthetics Clinic in Chichester Street, Belfast earlier this week. Pamela, who trained at Younique’s Aesthetics’ college in Newry

when she was a teenager, has created an innovative eco friendly, convenience skin care products, Moxi Loves, which is now available exclusively at Younique in Newry and Belfast. For further information check out www. youniqueaesthetics.co.uk Also pictured is owner of Younique Aine Larkin.

Celebrating life, every day, everywhere

DRINK RESPONSIBLY The BAILEYS, GORDON’S, CAPTAIN MORGAN, SMIRNOFF, GUINNESS, SMITHWICKS, CARLSBERG and HARP words and associated logos are trade marks © Diageo 2015.

Eye on Events

Workplus Event Highlights Value Of Apprenticeships

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he importance of apprentice schemes for young people, businesses and Northern Ireland’s future economy was the focus of an event entitled the The Future of Work and Education held by Workplus, an organisation that helps employers develop talent through apprenticeships, at Ormeau Baths.

Parents, teachers, business leaders and potential apprentices heard from a panel which included (from left) Marius O’Brien, apprentice at Farrans Construction; Heather Cousins, Deputy Secretary, Skills and Education Group in the Department for the Economy; Richard Kirk, director of Workplus (chair); Joanne Lennox, Head of People and Engagement at Farrans Construction;

and Simon Hamilton, Chief Executive of Belfast Chamber of Trade and Commerce.

Richard Kirk, Director of Workplus, explained: “NISRA statistics show that in 2024 Northern Ireland will have the lowest number of 21 years old in over half a century.

“What that means for the future of work and education is very interesting and we are finding that employers are looking to non-graduates to help support their business growth with many now developing talent through apprenticeships.

“In doing so, they are finding new talent streams, shaping curriculum, building more inclusive teams and helping everyone from school leavers to returners continue learning and start earning, without the burden of student debt.”

Almac Project Wins Gates Funding

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cientists from Almac Group, the global contract pharmaceutical development and manufacturing organisation based in Craigavon, are set to develop a novel manufacturing process for essential medicine.

This work, that will further develop Almac’s world aid programs, will

be carried out with help from $1 million of funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).

Pictured are Almac scientists Fernando Tur Espinosa, Stefan Mix and Gareth Brown, who will be conducting the novel work funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Shopping Centre Award For Belfast Firm

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ambert Smith Hampton has retained its title as leading managing agent in Northern Ireland, according to Trevor Wood Associates’Going Shopping 2020 – The Definitive Guide to Shopping Centres, a position they have held since the detailed regional analyses were first introduced eight years ago. Victoria Square was once again recognised as the leading

shopping centre in Northern Ireland, a position it has retained for nine years.

Pictured (L-R) at the launch event of this year’s guide at the Merchant Hotel in Belfast are Criona Collins, head of retail agency at Lambert Smith Hampton, Liz Williamson, general manager of Trevor Wood Associates and Gary Nesbitt, head of property management at Lambert Smith Hampton.

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Eye on Auctions

Craig Walker...

Charting Change At Wilsons Auctions

Craig Walker, Contracts Director, Wilsons Auctions.

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Eye on Auctions

It comes as a bit of a surprise to those who meet him to find out that the youthful Craig Walker has actually been a key member of the team at Wilsons Auctions in Mallusk for 22 years.

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t’s a company that has seen more rapid change than most over recent years in particular, evolving from a market-leading auction house putting cars and commercial vehicles under the hammer to a multi-site, UK and Ireland-wide operation selling just about everything.

“In recent times we’ve sold a 75-metre cargo ship, a twostorey American RV motorhome, gym equipment, furniture, shoes, jewellery, footwear....and cryptocurrency,” says Craig, Wilsons Auctions’ Contract Director.

In his previous role at the firm’s Mallusk nerve centre, Craig Walker headed up the team that built Wilsons Auctions’ mission critical IT platform, effectively building it from a small IT function into an infrastructure capable of handling live online sales every day...along with all of the other company IT functions across its 19 different sites in NI, ROI, Scotland, Wales and England.

“We’ve been celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Online

Department at Wilsons Auctions, and we’ve grown in that time from one member of staff to a team of 40 across the group and managed by the online team in the Mallusk Head Office,” he says.

their own home or office. We don’t mind. We’re catering for both groups.

“We’ve even had customers who’ve come to an auction, bought a number of items and ended up buying a van to transport them all back home.”

He goes on to flag up an unexpected bonus from the growth of online auctions. Having sites located throughout the British Isles, items are no longer required to be transported to the auctions, helping to reduce costs and cut down on the industry’s considerable carbon footprint.

“We could be running anywhere from 15 to 20 online auctions handling upwards of 2000 assets each week.”

The company’s auctions produced what auction industry insiders call a ‘hammer total’ of £360 million in the last year. That’s the total bid value of items sold at every auction, both online and live. Currently, around a third of items sell online and the other two thirds in the auction room.

“Some customers like to be at a physical auction. They like to see the items up close, they like to see who’s bidding and they like the cut and thrust of a real auction,” Craig adds. “But others are more than happy to bid from the comfort of

On top of that, there’s the fact that online auctions effectively run 24 hours a day, seven days a week. From a customer perspective, a Maximum Bid function means that they can set an upper bid limit and leave the system to do the hard work.

“We could be running anywhere from 15 to 20 online auctions handling upwards of 2000 assets each week.

“We have seen significant growth as a company over recent years, around the 50% mark in 2019 to date,” he says. “But, at the same time, we have continued to invest

in our sites, in our people and, in particular, in our technology.”

The company, of course, has carved a niche for itself as the UK’s leading auctioneer of criminal assets. A bewildering array of assets – yachts, Spanish villas, jewellery, luxury cars and (more recently) bitcoin has been put under the hammer on behalf of UK police forces and government agencies.

One of the most unusual items has been a consignment of pre-atomic steel – highly valued because it was produced before the atomic era – it was government seized having been salvaged from the wreck of the SS Harrovian, that was sunk by the German submarine U-69 in the English Channel in 1916.

The Belfast-based company and its work has been featured on two recent television series – BBC’s Ill Gotten Gains and ITV’s Police, Camera, Auction.

The nature of that work means that the technology infrastructure at Wilsons Auctions needs to be 100% secure and 100% robust. “But technology when it comes to online auctions is all about ease of use for the customer,” he stresses. “The site has to be intuitive and easy right through from customer registration to the collection or dispatch of an item.

“It’s an absolutely crucial part of our business now,” says Craig Walker.

“And it’s an element of our business that has required very substantial investment over recent years.”

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Eye on News

New Northern Ireland Spirit Brand Signs Deal with Cork-based Barry and Fitzwilliams A brand new Northern Ireland whiskey and gin company has signed a deal with independent premium drinks distributor Barry and Fitzwilliam to distribute its Ninth Wave and Hinch brands..

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inch, which launched a £15m distillery and visitor experience in Belfast last month, said it is delighted to announce the Corkbased company as its distribution partner in the South, in a move that will help raise the profile and presence of its brands across the country.

The Hinch Distillery is the brainchild of well-known Northern Ireland entrepreneur Dr Terry Cross OBE who was behind the hugely successful Delta Print and Packaging Limited company which he sold to Finnish packaging giant Huhtamaki in 2016 for £80m.

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The distillery is not the first drinks venture for the businessman. He transformed vineyard Château de La Ligne in Bordeaux over 20 years ago, restoring it to its former glory, and has since been carrying on the tradition of the estate by producing a variety of classic Bordeaux wines.

Dr Cross’ new business, Hinch Distillery, which is located between Belfast and Co Down town Ballynahinch, produces a premium whiskey collection of varying maturities and profiles, all originally sourced from some of the most reputable whiskey producers in Ireland.

Meanwhile the company’s premium gin brand, Ninth Wave, which takes its name from Celtic mythology, is “otherworldly” and, alongside the Hinch Time Collection has been making noise across the globe.

Dr Terry Cross OBE said: “Our products have secured listings in 25 countries globally but Ireland is our homeland and we are delighted to have Barry and Fitzpatrick as our distributors here. We know they have a track record of looking

after some of the world’s biggest wine and spirits brands and as a relatively new brand we feel confident that Hinch can make its mark in Ireland with their help.”

Dr Cross added that consumers can expect a ‘highly differentiated product and experience’ with the Hinch brand explaining: “Hinch and Ninth Wave couple quality with heritage and a story.”

Speaking about the new arrangement, Michael Barry, MD of Barry and Fitzwilliam said: “Barry and Fitzwilliam have been appointed as the exclusive distribution partner for Hinch Distillery in the Republic of Ireland. We are Ireland’s largest premium drinks distributor with a portfolio of more than 120 beers, wines and spirits and we are delighted to be working with the Hinch team to bring these exceptional products to the Irish consumer. The Craft Hinch Irish Whiskey brands and Ninth Wave Gin are already firm favourites on the international stage and we are excited to be at the forefront with them in Ireland.”

Eye on News

The Future Is Bright For Deloitte Higher Level Apprenticeship Graduates

(L-R) Aisling Carson, Jackie Henry, Conor Devine, Gillian Armstrong and Victoria Whiteside.

Deloitte and Ulster University celebrated the graduation of the first cohort of students from their pioneering BrightStart higher level apprenticeship programme.

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rightStart is a highly innovative programme which enables young people to gain an honours degree (BSc Hons in Business Technology) through Ulster University Business School as well as recognised professional qualifications and a job at Deloitte, working for the company’s clients across the UK. Seventeen young people who joined the first BrightStart programme in 2015 will graduate with 10 achieving First Class Honours and seven achieving a 2:1 in their degree.

Co-created by Ulster University Business School and Deloitte,

the degree programme has been a huge success with 250 people currently on the apprenticeship programme in Belfast. Initially aimed at school leavers, applicants to the programme have include people from a diverse range of backgrounds and ages, including some who have previously tried university or worked in other jobs.

The BrightStart programme has allowed the group to accelerate in their career with all those graduating now in positions which normally take traditional graduates two years to reach at the firm. Applications

for this year’s programme are open until 20 December and details can be found here.

Jackie Henry, senior partner at Deloitte in Belfast said: “Our 2019 Human Capital Trends report shows one of the most important factors to an employee is making their work meaningful and giving people a sense of belonging, trust and relationships.

Our BrightStart programme is providing these meaningful experiences, with our BrightStarts developing the skills needed for the future workplace and applying this learning in real time with real clients.

“We are delighted to see our first group of BrightStarts graduate from University. They are an invaluable part of the firm, providing a fresh approach to the way we do business.

“The BrightStart programme has helped us to tap into a new vein of talent and employ people who represent the next generation in

Northern Ireland. We’re proud to offer an alternative route for talented individuals looking for a career with Deloitte and giving them the chance to advance their careers and specialise in a range of disciplines.”

Professor Gillian Armstrong, Director of Business Engagement at Ulster University Business School added: “It is incredibly rewarding to see the first participants in the BrightStart programme graduate with such exceptional degree results after four and half years of hard work.

“The programme was Northern Ireland’s first degree-level apprenticeship and the University’s strategic partnership with Deloitte has led the way in showing what is possible when academia and industry work together. Deloitte’s operations have grown rapidly in the past few years, increasing the firm’s requirement for talent and we have been really proud as a Business School to work alongside them to pioneer their “grow your own” approach.”

Deloitte announced at the start of 2019 that it will move into a new headquarters at Bedford Square in Belfast in 2021 which will house all of the firm’s staff in Northern Ireland. Jackie Henry said higher level apprenticeships will play an essential part in the firm reaching its growth targets.

“Our new office will bring Deloitte’s expertise in Belfast together under one roof, which will foster greater collaboration between teams and enable us to create a campus environment that is ideally suited to the agile and augmented jobs of the future.

“The significant investment we are making reflects our confidence in Belfast and its high-quality talent base and we believe that the people who come into the company through BrightStart as well as our graduate schemes and academies, will be crucial to shaping our future workforce.”

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Eye on Events

Newry Chamber President’s Gala Banquet Sean O’Connor STATSports with Emma Marmion, Vice President Chamber of Commerce and The President of the Chamber, Paul Convery.

Sean O’Connor, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer, STATSports, delivered the keynote address at this year’s Newry Chamber of Commerce and Trade’s, Annual President’s Gala Banquet.

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his year’s Banquet focused on the unique legacy being built in the city by companies like STATSports and the combined energy of the many local and global companies building an economic legacy for the region’s young people.

Last week’s Banquet, held in the Canal Court Hotel & Spa, was attended by more than 250 business and focused on the theme of Newry, A City for the Future In his final speech before completing his two-year term as President of the Chamber, President Paul Convery said: “As I reflect on my two years as President, it is our Chamber programmes that have built a strong connection between business and education which I have really seen develop and grow.

President, Paul Convery with Julie Clydesdale , Space – NI.

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If we are to fulfil our theme for this evening, Newry A City for Our Future, we must continue this momentum to provide a city for our young people.

“I am delighted to see that there are now numerous companies in the Greater Newry region who are building a legacy that will allow our children to deliver on their career ambitions not in Boston or Liverpool but right here.

“Companies like STATSports and the many successful businesses, large and small represented here tonight that are building a legacy for our young people.”

In an inspirational keynote address to local business leaders, Sean O’Connor, Co- Founder of STATSports, set out how two entrepreneurs took an idea and scaled it into a highly successful business.

His story was a real example of if you have the idea, the passion and the commitment to deliver, you can access the world’s markets from right here in Newry.

From small beginnings, StatsSports is now the leading provider of GPS player tracking and analysis solutions to the World’s leading sports franchises. From Man City and Juventus to many of the top teams in the recent Rugby World Cup, they are a truly global business operating from the heart of Newry.

Local man, Mark Crimmins, who

is now the Head of Ulster Bank in Northern Ireland also spoke to local businesses, stressing the strong partnership between the Ulster Bank and local businesses.

Just over £2,700 was raised at the banquet for the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust and the Southern Area Hospice Services.

Sponsors for the evening were the Canal Court Hotel & Spa and The Ulster Bank.

MC for the evening, former broadcaster and journalist, Stephen Grimason with Sean O’Connor

Mark Crimmins, Head of Ulster Bank NI

Eye on Events

HINCH Unveils Plans For £15M Whiskey And Gin Distillery In County Down Dr Terry Cross OBE, the man behind Delta Print & Packaging Ltd, has invested in a 30,000 sq. ft. distillery located between Belfast and Ballynahinch which will produce his Craft Hinch Irish Whiskey brands and Ninth Wave Gin, as well as opening up the distillery to members of the public. Invest Northern Ireland has offered £1.9m of support towards the construction of the new distillery and investment in plant, machinery and equipment. The project is set to create 42 new jobs over the next five years. Pictured at the launch event which took place in Belfast’s Harp Bar are:

Dr Terry Cross OBE, Chairman, Hinch Distillery

Laura Johnston and Cherith Hughes, Montalto Estate

Richard and Brenda Buckley with Terry McErlane, Resolute Public Affairs

Patrick Cross, Colm Bradley and Seamus Doyle

L-R Nicola Gallagher, Aine Maguire and Barry Saunders

L-R Eddie Killen and Arthur Christie with Eileen Gargan, Hinch Distillery

Andrew O’Neill, Hospitality Solutions NI and Rosemary Catney

Fiona Walker, Iain Joannides and Majella Haran from Invest NI

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Eye on Events

RTS NI REVEALS WINNERS OF 2019 PROGRAMME WARDS The winners of the Royal Television Society Northern Ireland (RTS NI) Programme Awards were presented at a glittering awards ceremony in The Mac Belfast, hosted by TV presenter Vogue Williams.

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he creator, writer and executive producer of Derry Girls Lisa McGee was awarded the coveted Brian Waddell Award for her outstanding contribution to the broadcast industry for her wonderful immortalisation of her hometown in the phenomenally successful Derry Girls. While Series 2 of Derry Girls also won the Best Scripted Comedy award for Hat Trick Productions.

Lisa McGee said: “I am so honoured to be receiving this award. I can’t quite believe it! It’s such an exciting time for the Northern Irish film and television industry, it’s a privilege just to be part of it, the fact that some of my favourite television shows are being made at home just fills me with pride, our work is now recognised and

respected all around the world, it’s such a huge achievement, well done us!”

Line of Duty Series 5 by World Productions was awarded Best Drama and Unquiet Graves by Relapse Pictures was the winner in the Documentary category with Stellify Media’s Netflix gameshow Flinch picking up the best entertainment programme.

The Interactive award went to Boom Clap Play for When Something Happens with Sixteen South winning the best Children’s and / or Animation Award for Claude – ‘Twinkle Toes Terry’.

Alleycats Films Reporting History: Mandela and a New South Africa won the Specialised Factual category with The Fitting Room receiving the award for Best

Lisa McGee won the coveted Brian Waddell Award for outstanding contribution.

Alleycats Films Reporting History: Mandela and a New South Africa won the Specialised Factual category.

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Features / Factual Entertainment.

The Current Affairs Award went to UTV for UTV Up Close Killer Patient and the Original Music Score winner was Game of Thrones by Television 360, Starling Television & BigHead Littlehead.

Finally, the Award for Best News Coverage went to BBC News for its coverage of the murder of journalist Lyra McKee. Kieran Doherty, Chair of RTS NI says: “It is a real pleasure to acknowledge the incredible talent of stage and screen writer Lisa McGee for her fantastic success with Derry Girls, whose five characters have won the hearts of viewers the world over.

“Congratulations to all our winners who represent the very best of the

exceptional talent we are producing here in Northern Ireland. The high quality of this year’s entries is hugely reflective of our dynamic creative community. I know the judges had a tough time deciding the eventual winners so congratulations to everyone who was nominated as well as tonight’s winners. The RTS NI is an educational charity and events like tonight give us the opportunity to highlight and celebrate the wonderful achievements of our vibrant film and TV industry which is now being recognised on the global stage.”

The RTS NI Programme Awards 2019 are delivered in partnership with BBC Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Screen, Channel 4 and UTV, along with the headline sponsor Ka-Boom.

The Current Affairs Award went to UTV for UTV Up Close Killer Patient.

Unquiet Graves by Relapse Pictures was the winner in the Documentary category.

Best News Coverage went to BBC News for its coverage of the murder of journalist Lyra McKee.

Eye on News

SRC Leads Northern Ireland in WorldSkills UK Medal Success Southern Regional College has put in its best performance ever at this year’s WorldSkills UK Live final event as it championed Northern Ireland’s overall success with a haul of seven top-winning medals.

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he college also retained its enviable top three leader board ranking and was once again the only Northern Ireland further education college to secure a place within the UK’s 20 best performers in this intense competition.

Held in Birmingham, the annual event is the UK’s largest elite skills and careers event covering a range of professional disciplines from plumbing to catering and beauty therapy to tiling. It also pitches the UK’s best performers against their peers for a chance to win top medals in their skill and represent the UK on the international stage.

With more than 530 apprentices and students competing in over 70 disciplines, SRC’s seven-medal haul from the event also saw it retain its number one place in Northern Ireland on the strength of its performance.

Facing tough competition, SRC’s team of students from across the Newry and Mourne,

Armagh and Craigavon areas secured two gold medals, three silver and two bronze medals across a wide variety of disciplines, including beauty therapy, professional cookery and tiling.

The event attracted more than 80,000 young people gearing up for a vocational pathway to work and was the backdrop for the all-important National Finals of WorldSkills UK Competitions.

A total of 19 students competed from SRC. Brian Doran, Chief Executive at SRC, attended the competition alongside officials from the Department for the Economy, and said: “Southern Regional College’s success within the region and across the UK reflects the strength of our skilled and talented teams, the dedication of our staff and the support of family and friends and I am thrilled by the unrivalled, collaborative success shown.

“This elite skills competition is tough and the hard work that goes into a winning performance like this is a real triumph for everyone and I’m grateful to everyone who took part. With our top three ranking still unchallenged and as the only Northern Ireland college inside the Top 20, SRC has every reason to celebrate.”

SRC’s outstanding medal performance put the college firmly inside the UK’s bestperforming colleges and organisations – including Toyota Manufacturing, KMF Group (Precision Sheet Metal) Ltd. and QinetiQ

Pictured with a group of this year’s WorldSkills UK finalists are Brian Doran, chief executive of SRC and the college’s assistant director, David Vint.

– with only the City of Glasgow College and New College Lanarkshire scoring higher.

Putting SRC out in front was Portadown’s Shelby Jones and Dylan Calvert from Tandragee who faced down the competition in Beauty Therapy and Floor & Wall Tiling respectively to take home gold medals.

Three silver medals were secured by Blackwatertown’s Shannon Fearon and Kirsty Frazer from Newtownhamilton in Beauty Therapy and Beauty Therapy Practitioner respectively.

Dylan Gillanders from Armagh also claimed a silver medal in the Floor and Wall Tiling category.

Two bronze medals were won by Newry’s Steven Megaw and Armagh’s Aaron Gillespie for Culinary Arts and Floor & Wall Tiling respectively.

Following their success, some of the winning students are already vying to be chosen by WorldSkills UK to join the training programme for WorldSkills Shanghai 2021, where they could be selected to represent the UK in their chosen skills area on a global stage.

SRC has seen significant success in previous years, including at WorldSkills São Paulo, where local man Gary Doyle was crowned the world’s Best Plumber in 2015. Armondus Tamulis also reached the WorldSkills Abu Dhabi final last year, delivering a sterling performance representing both SRC and the UK in wall and floor tiling.

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Eye Moving On 1 Chris Flynn has been appointed as Centre Director for leading Co. Antrim retail and leisure park, The Junction. With a career in retail spanning almost two decades, Chris will oversee day-to-day business operations.

1 Chris Flynn

4 Leanne Gannon

7 Bronagh Kelly

2 Jamie McCoubrey

5 Chloe Peoples

8 Clare Gallagher

3 Michael Reynolds

6 Louise Owens

9 Leona Barr

2 Jamie McCoubrey has been appointed Managing Director at Urban HQ, designled flexible workspace based in Belfast’s Eagle Star House. Jamie has over 20 years’ experience in the property industry having worked across Ireland, the UK and Australia.

With the last 15 years spent operating flexible workspace, Jamie will now manage and lead sales at Urban HQ providing members with not just a desk, but space, technology and a membership network to connect and to grow their business.

3 Michael Reynolds joins Smarts as a Content Creative. Michael is a highly experienced producer, camera operator and film editor, having honed his skills at a local production house before moving into a freelance 4 role. Leanne Gannon joins Smarts as a Communications Manager. A digital content creation and copywriting specialist, Leanne has a wealth of experience within the consumer and retail sectors having worked for companies such as Brown Thomas and 5 Kildare Village. Chloe Peoples joins Smarts as a Communications Executive having just completed a degree in a Communications, Advertising and Marketing at Ulster University. During her time at university, Chloe spent one year working within the Marketing and Publicity department at 6 Warner Bros. Louise Owens joins Smarts as a Communications Executive having recently graduated from Cardiff University with a degree in English Literature. During her time studying, Louise worked for a London-based PR agency which sparked her 7 interest in communications. Bronagh Kelly has been appointed as Communications Executive at Smarts. She brings two years’ experience in delivering creative campaigns, events and media relations for a range of Northern Ireland brands to her role.

8 Clare Gallagher has been appointed Head of Membership with Women in Business NI. Clare is a highly experienced sales, marketing and business development manager with an established track record of building client relationships, and managing premium brand partnerships.

CastleCourt Shopping Centre has appointed 9 Leona Barr as centre manager. With more than 20 years of retail experience under her belt, including a decade at the helm of The Junction Retail & Leisure Park in Antrim, Leona joins CastleCourt to oversee a new period of growth and expansion as the centre prepares to celebrate its 30th anniversary next year.

10 Maureen McDonagh

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The owner of the Daily Mirror and Belfast Live has recruited Facebook industry head 10 Maureen McDonagh as Chief Customer Officer. McDonagh, who will join Reach in the newly created role at the end of January, will become responsible for the media owner’s data and customer strategy.

At Facebook, McDonagh is in charge of the client-facing retail team, working with brands including Arcadia, Burberry, Cancer Research, Chanel, Marks & Spencer and Tesco.

Eye on News

AIR AMBULANCE NI RECEIVES £25K BOOST FROM SOFT DRINK GIANT

Leading from the front is Lynsey Stewart (centre) Director at HeadsTogether alongside Terry Waugh (left) and Sarah McLarnin (right) from Action Renewables.

LIFE-SAVING charity Air Ambulance Northern Ireland has received essential support with over £25,000 being raised throughout 2019 from a partnership with drinks company Boost.

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n January, Boost Drinks selected Air Ambulance NI as its chosen charity for 2019. Boost committed to raise funds and awareness to keep the helicopter and critical care medical team flying to serious trauma incidents.

It has been announced that a total of £25,605 has been raised from a variety of fundraising events and initiatives throughout the year.

The partnership kicked off with a product promotion whereby five pence from the sale of every bottle of the Northern Ireland exclusive new Red Berry 500ml was donated to the charity, totalling an impressive £10,000.

September was an important month for Air Ambulance with the launch of the charity’s inaugural Three Peak Challenge

sponsored by Boost. This huge event saw 400 people get their walking boots on for a trek to the top of either or all three of NI’s most famous mountains – Slieve Donard, Cuilcagh and Slemish – raising a tremendous £14,625 in the process.

There were also over 2000 cans and bottles of Boost donated for sale at events such as Truckfest, Balmoral Show and North West 200 to help raise funds throughout the year. This alone raised nearly £1000 pounds for the charity.

Since the first deployment in July 2017, Air Ambulance NI has been tasked 1,192 times to serious or life-threatening situations throughout the province and

this amount raised will help the charity to sustain the service.

Kerry Anderson, Head of Fundraising at Air Ambulance NI, said: “The partnership with Boost has been extremely beneficial in both raising vital funds as well as awareness throughout the province. Sponsorship of our Three Peaks Challenge was crucial as a new charity launching our events programme and our intention is this will now be an annual event. We would like to thank Boost, their customers and all who took part in the Three Peaks Challenge for their support. You have helped to save lives and offer critical pre hospital care at scene of many incidents and accidents.”

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Eye on Events

Why You Should Mind Who’s Looking After Your Child!

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n November, the Northern Ireland Childminding Association (NICMA) officially opened its new premises, Elizabeth House, in East Belfast and launched a social media campaign to reinforce the importance of parents using registered childminders to care for their children in the Western Trust area. This event is part of a wider communications campaign, funded by the Western Childcare Partnership and supported by Family Support NI, to reinforce the importance of parents using a Registered Childminder to care for their children in the Western Trust area #getregistered.

L-R Parents and registered childminders get together at NICMA - Seán Byrne (son of Dora Byrne, registered childminder); Una McNaughton (parent); Emma McNaughton (daughter); Dora Byrne (registered childminder who looks after the McNaughton children) and Patrick McNaughton (son).

Fiona Scallon Farrell, a registered childminder from Enniskillen who has been childminding and a member of NICMA for over 23 years; Patricia Lewsley-Mooney CBE, NICMA CEO and Grainne Scullion, newly appointed Development Officer for NICMA in the Western Trust.

Patricia Lewsley-Mooney CBE, NICMA CEO (left) is pictured with her granddaughter Elia Lewsley (4 years old) and Fiona Scallon Farrell (right), a registered childminder from Enniskillen who has been childminding and a member of NICMA for over 23 years.

Seán Byrne, Shay Smith, Dillon McManus, Anna Magill, Caoimhe Finlay and Patrick McNaughton.

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L-R Olive Magill, a registered childminder from Banbridge; Professor Laura Lundy, Director of the Centre for Children’s Rights, Queen’s University Belfast; Patricia LewsleyMooney CBE, NICMA CEO; Fiona Scallon Farrell, a registered childminder from Enniskillen who has been childminding and a member of NICMA for over 23 years and Dorota Byrne, registered childminder (Nature-led Childcare, Carryduff).

Eyeon Motoring

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Eye on Motoring

Motoring with Derek Black dbmotoring@btinternet.com

The X Ceed Is An Uplift For Kia In More Ways Than One! Do I detect a trend here? After driving a slightly-raised Ford Fiesta Active a few months ago, along comes a similar treatment of the workaday Kia Ceed with an X in front of its name.

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hese are mild cross-overs offering something of the SUV look and trimmings.

The first edition X Ceed I drove was well embellished. Only the doors are the same as the previous model. The look is rather sporting and the bright yellow paintwork gives a stronger presence. With a better finish inside and a lot of technology including a digital dash this is also a move up market.

Of course, this is a £29K morsel at the top of the range and far from a rep mobile. The 1.4 turbo

petrol engine makes the X Ceed a pleasant driver with better handling and comfort better than you would expect. This responsive 138PS unit does 0-62mph in 9.4 seconds.

The 7-speed automatic gearbox works seamlessly. This may be the most impressive X Ceed dynamically but how does it fair on the bottom line?

They claim up to 47mpg but I found 40 a more realistic figure. Emissions are 142g/k which puts the 1.4 T GDi version into the 34% BIK bracket.

There are several more business-like

options down the price list which starts from just over £20K before haggling.

Starter models are powered by a 1-litre 3-cylinder petrol engine with a surprising 118PS output which has 124 g/km emissions with a 28% BIK rating.

That leaves the long-serving 1.6 CRDI diesels as the most appealing to company buyers with power outputs from 114 to 134PS with

29% and 31% BIK ratings due to the diesel penalty. These are listed from 22K to 25K. Maybe the forthcoming hybrid version will be more pc.

The X Ceed is a move towards a more premium position for Kia and the pricing reflects this. But they still have their trump card - that 7-year warranty which adds to the obvious appeal of their new crossover.

Lexus Joins The Compact Premium SUV Party With The UX! People seem to love SUVs and they also like premium quality cars so Lexus looks on target with the launch of its UX which hits both buyer hot buttons.

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he UX stands for ‘urban cross-over’ so it is for townies on the school run or supermarket stock-up.

Sitting below the Lexus RX and NX, the newcomer is in the compact sector and that is obvious from the cramped rear seat. Where it differs from the pack is on the choice of engines - anything you like as long as it is a 2.0-litre petro-electric hybrid.

The 250h, as it is known, combines the petrol engine with an electric motor to produce a combined 182bhp. So there is a

sharp response to the accelerator as I discovered when I took the wheel of a UX at the recent SMMT driving day in Yorkshire. It can do 0-62mph in 8.5 seconds. Strangely it has limited towing capability.

In town you can get around on electric power at low speeds with the petrol cutting in only when needed. This is not a plug-in hybrid so you cannot make longer runs on electricity. While I am not a fan of CVT transmission from a driving point of view it gives a quiet drive when you are not in a hurry.

For the business user the big plus of the UX hybrid comes from the tax regime. Emissions are rated at 94g/km which puts it in the 22% BIK rating. That is a lot better than diesel rivals!

In other respects the UX scores strongly on safety features such as automatic city braking. But

premium items like a larger screen involve buying option packs. This takes some shine off the starting price from just over £30K. All this puts the UX up against the Land Rover Evoque and

the posh Germans. Other less prestigious but capable cross-overs such as the SEAT Ateca or Skoda Karoq cost considerably less.

Its USP has to be the tax friendly hybrid propulsion system.

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Eye on Motoring

Motoring with Derek Black dbmotoring@btinternet.com

QASHQAI IS STILL UP THERE AS A COMFY AND SPACIOUS SUV! B

It has been a while since I drove a Qashqai, or any other Nissan for that matter, so it was good to catch up with one of the originals of the cross-over species.

ack in 2007 the Qashqai was almost unique, now it is just a face in the crowd of high-riders.

As I soon discovered this Nissan is a rather agreeable and accommodating carriage. It has improved a lot over the years and this was like meeting an old friend who had changed for the better. Okay, there are a lot of worthy rivals out there now but at prices starting from just over 20K it is competitive.

My well togged Techno model with a 140PS turbo petrol engine and automatic gearbox was towards the top of the range - and the price list at just over £28K. Relaxed and easy to drive it could make the 0-62mph sprint in just over 10 seconds and always felt wiling to give of its best.

Pleasant as it is to drive, the 1.4 turbo petrol is not going to win many prizes on running costs.

An average in the low 40s is on the cards for most drivers and with emissions from 121g/km for the manual models it is placed in an average 25% BIK bracket.

High milers will probably stick with the evergreen 1.5 dCi diesel which is not as much fun to drive but is good for 50mpg plus and emits just 100g/ km. Despite this low return it is placed in the 30% BIK band as diesels are now frowned upon from on high!

The Qashqai is pleasant and easy to drive and feels secure on twisting roads. This one is better than most. It has good grip on the bends and the ride is fairly supple compared with more sporting rivals.

The price list starts from just over 20K which is relative value in today’s market. It may have started a trend back in the noughts but the Qashqai is still delivering despite the passage of time.

Mazda Scores On Bottom Line With Lean New Petrol Burner!

A starter model with a big 2.0-litre petrol engine is a rarity in these days of tiny 1.0-litre turbos in relatively large cars.

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he second surprise is to learn that this larger engine can achieve a BIK rating of just 24% - thanks to lean emissions from just 96g/km!

This was my first drive in a car powered by Mazda’s new Skyactiv X unit - an innovative power plant said to merge the benefits of diesel and petrol power. Generally smooth and flexible, you do get a distant diesel drone at times but there is welcome extra torque at low speeds.

The 0-62mph time of 8.2 seconds suggests quite a lively drive but the X engine feels a bit unwilling to rev hard. Instead, it makes for an effortless and quiet

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cruiser if you are not in a hurry.

You just need to get into its ways.

In most respects this is a typical modern Mazda that handles nimbly and rides well provided you avoid the larger wheel options. In terms of looks and overall quality, the 3 is knocking on the door of the ‘premium’ sector but for significantly less cash You get a head-up display, central infotainment screen, cruise control, keyless entry and automatic city braking that could save you a bump in traffic!

The 3 saloon is another one of Mazda’s good lookers with dimpled flanks and smooth curves that catch the eye. Mind you those low lines

make it a little harder to access than an SUV. The saloon is not noticeably bigger inside than the hatchback but does have a big boot.

Listed from £23K this is competitive especially up against the German marques as it has a quality finish and plenty of kit.

Mind you, it is getting close to the

starting price of the larger Mazda 6 saloon and some larger rivals.

The SkyActive X engine is an intriguing arrival and I wonder how it will do in a world dominated by smaller engines and hybrids.

Mazda takes great pride in doing its own engineering thing, which is a refreshing change from the clones.

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