Ambition Issue 21 (Mar/Apr 2017)

MAGAZINE OF NORTHERN IRELAND CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

The Ultimate Driving Machine

March/april 2017 ISSUE 21

£2.95

MARCH/APRIL 2017 Magazine of northern ireland chamber of commerce and industry

THE NEW BMW 5 SERIES. NOW AVAILABLE.

This is a car that has been designed with pure ambition. Ambition to be the most innovative car in its class, and connect driver, road and outside world in a truly seamless way. Thanks to its extremely lightweight core, the car’s driving dynamics have been fine-tuned to provide maximum stability, class-leading efficiency and sublime agility. The brand new design has athleticism at its heart and a character that is as confident as it is refined.

For more information, or to book a test drive* call 028 9038 1311.

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Figures are obtained in a standardised test cycle. They are intended for comparisons between vehicles and may not be representative of what a user achieves under usual driving conditions. *Test drive subject to status and availability.

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contents

NI CHAMBER COMMUNICATIONS PARTNER

March/April 2017 Issue 21

Editor: Adrienne McGill Publisher: Chris Sherry Advertising Manager: Catherine Patton Editorial Assistant: Joanne Harkness Email addresses: adrienne.mcgill@northernirelandchamber.com c.patton@ambitionni.co.uk Websites: www.northernirelandchamber.com www.ulstertatler.com Addresses: Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 4-5 Donegall Square South, Belfast, BT15JA Tel: 028 9024 4113

80 ULSTER CARPETS WEAVES LUXURY ACROSS THE WORLD - ELAINE PATTERSON, ULSTER CARPETS’ CONTRACT SALES MANAGER

NEWS: 08 NI CHAMBER’S PARTNERSHIP WITH

DUBLIN AIRPORT TAKES OFF

NEW SITE

10

12 ENERGY COMPANIES FUSE 14 NI HOTEL SECTOR DEMAND FROM ASIAN INVESTORS

savings

COLUMNISTS: 32 TREVOR ANNON 34 MAUREEN O’REILLY 36 Michael Jennings 40 Sinead Dillon 46 Phil Hoey 62 Richard O’Donnell 77 Ian Rainey 78 Ashling Gray 96 JIM FITZPATRICK FEATURES: 50 NI Corporate champions 60 when risk becomes safe 84 in ship shape

95

CULINARY DELIGHTS

Cover Story

Printed by: W&G Baird, Antrim Front cover image by: David Cordner www.davidcordner.com

SPECIAL FOCUS: 68 ON the case with brexit LIFESTYLE: 88 MOTORING – massive mini 92 FASHION - spring stripes 94 TRAVEL – be canny and pack

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Publisher: Ulster Tatler Group, 39 Boucher Road, Belfast, BT12 6UT Tel: 028 9066 3311

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editorial

B

driving ambition all hail to...

PRESIDENT TRUMP

oth sides of the pond seem to be having their own fair share of political discord at the moment.

Northern Ireland has just come through a bitter and fiercely fought snap Assembly election while in the US, President Donald Trump continues to tear up the Presidential rule book with his unorthodox approach in dealing with his administration and US intelligence and law enforcement agencies.

So the St Patrick’s Day celebrations set to take place later this month in the White House could be interesting.

If the Stormont Executive still has not been formed, there won’t be any Stormont Ministers jetting off to Washington DC to get the ear of President Trump and talk up Northern Ireland as a place in which US companies can do business – although there may still be representation in the form of political leaders and representatives and figures from business.

The US is Northern Ireland’s largest inward investor and has enjoyed an excellent business relationship for many years with the region – therefore extending it makes economic sense.

Meanwhile the White House has confirmed that President Trump has invited Taoiseach Enda Kenny to the White House for the annual St Patrick’s Day celebrations.

It is tradition for the Taoiseach to travel to Washington on March 17 to present the US President with a bunch of shamrock, to symbolise the close ties between Ireland and America.

But Enda Kenny has good reason to

have a word with President Trump.

Recently the President’s Budget Director, Mick Mulvaney stated that the US will compete with Ireland to attract back US multinationals with operations in Ireland.

He stressed that it was not that the US was targeting Ireland, but that it was “competing” with Ireland, and that better competition was a “win-win” for everyone.

Ireland, he said, had done a “tremendous job” in creating an environment conducive to multinational business growth, which he said was why Apple and Microsoft were in Ireland.

Meanwhile, in this issue of Ambition, we profile an extensive number of NI Chamber’s Corporate members – with more to feature in forthcoming editions.

These are the champions of business in Northern Ireland who are leading the way in helping to develop the local economy through their innovation, R&D and investments.

Then in our Special Focus ‘On the Case with Brexit’ we look at specific areas of law which have relevance for business once the UK leaves the EU – Intellectual Property, energy, employment, corporate activity and data protection.

So together with compelling features, news and views from our columnists and the lifestyle section, there’s lots to read in Ambition – we hope you’ll enjoy the pages.

Adrienne McGill Editor Ambition

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editorial

PRESIDENT’S PERSPECTIVE

TIME TO GET MOVING...AGAIN

N

ow the votes have been counted and we know the make up of the new Assembly. It was a dramatic election and as the results came in the day after the vote on 2 March it was clear that the composition of our body politic was changed. Unfortunately with the election and the results, there began an almost inevitable round of political point scoring and in some cases score settling, within and between parties.

However, we at the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry also believe that there was something of a change in the mood between the leading politicians.

Before the election most people seemed to accept that an immediate restoration of the institutions was off the agenda and that some form of direct rule was inevitable. To avoid that scenario those parties entitled to form an Executive must do so within 3 weeks,

06 NI Chamber

and that is the context in which the ongoing political discussions are taking place.

The significant increase in voter turn out should not be seen as an endorsement of direct rule. People clearly want devolution to work and the sentiments expressed by all of the business representative bodies just before the election hold true now. Northern Ireland will only truly prosper when we have a settled government or parties facing the same direction and working to a common goal. We need to focus on the economy, on jobs, on growth and on social inclusion – it is time to get Stormont functioning efficiently again.

You will read in this edition of Ambition about the events we had with the political leaders prior to the election with NI Chamber’s ‘ 5 leaders; 5 days’ series.

On each of those occasions the leaders of the five main parties made clear their

commitment to building the economy locally, to working with NI Chamber and other organisations and to helping us drive economic growth through a focus on exports. In fact no political leader disagreed with the agenda we produced for the events which set out our priorities. There was even a consensus, when the issue was raised from the floor, that we do need a new respect in our political set up. From our point of view, that time has come.

We can’t make real progress on key issues under a direct rule administration which is less than fully tuned into our needs, abilities and objectives. To the political parties we say, you have our support and our goodwill.

Now it’s over to you.

Nick Coburn President Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry

ESRI IRELAND NAMED AS A GREAt place to work As a company committed to developing high-trust relationships throughout every level of its organisation, Esri Ireland is delighted to announce that they have been officially recognised as one of the Best Workplaces in Ireland in 2017.

This well-deserved accolade was presented at the Great Place to Work Best Workplaces in Ireland awards in the Clayton Hotel on Burlington Road, Dublin on Wednesday 22nd February. This is Esri Ireland’s first year to be named as a top Irish workplace, recognition awarded on the basis of an employee survey and an assessment of our policies and practices. Esri Ireland was recognised as the 13th Best Small Workplaces in Ireland 2017.

“Our leadership team work hard to ensure that everyone at Esri Ireland feel pride in the work they do, enjoy a working environment founded in teamwork & collaboration. Each person has total clarity in the role they play in the strategic direction and growth of the business”, said Paul Synnott, Director & Country Manager of Esri Ireland.

“We have always had a strong sense that Esri Ireland is a good place to work. Being officially recognised as one of the “Best Workplaces in Ireland” in 2017, we have independent evidence that not only are we a good place to work, but moreover, we are a great place to work. We are very proud to have received this prestigious award, which belongs to all of

the employees at Esri Ireland for the contribution they make to our business all year round.”

To find out more about Great Place to Work® and Esri Ireland visit www.esri-ireland.ie or contact Joanne McLaughlin, Head of Marketing, Esri Ireland: jmclaughlin@esri-ireland.ie or 01-8693900

news

DELOITTE DIGITAL DEVELOPER SCOOPS TOP AWARD A senior developer at Deloitte Digital in Belfast has been recognised for her role in changing the face of technology in the UK at the 2017 FDM Everywoman in Technology Awards.

Maxine Glennerster was announced as the winner of the Software Engineer Award – sponsored by American Express – at a ceremony at the London Hilton recently.

The accolade is presented to a woman who has made a significant difference to the art of software engineering. The judges said Maxine has built something new, shifted the art of the possible and is moving the profession forward.

Speaking about her win Maxine said: “I came to Deloitte Digital as a mathematics graduate and have been given fantastic opportunities which have allowed me to progress in a successful software engineering career, creating innovative and exciting applications. In the last six months I have travelled the world to talk about the innovation lab at Deloitte and how we can help to solve the problems of new clients using Blockchain.”

KPMG has topped the table Accountancy firm KPMG has topped the table for the highest number of completed deals in Northern Ireland last year, according to Experian’s 2016 M&A Review.

Russell Smyth, Director, KPMG Deal Advisory said: “We are pleased with last year’s performance, which reflects the strong transaction appetite which we are seeing in the market.

KPMG’s transactions were generated from across the spectrum from inward private equity funding, indigenous consolidation, as well as sector leading energy and project finance transactions.

We see robust transaction appetite continuing into 2017, and with capital availability remaining strong, we expect transaction volumes to be maintained.”

John Hansen, Partner in Charge of KPMG in Northern Ireland said: “Despite the continuing economic uncertainty it is heartening to see that overall Northern Ireland recorded a 31 per cent increase in deal volume – proving Northern Ireland is a great location for investment.”

The Experian M&A Review is carried out in 11 regions in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland.

Russell Smyth, Director, KPMG Deal Advisory

08 NI Chamber

Maxine Glennerster.

Dublin Airport Managing Director, Vincent Harrison.

NI CHAMBER’S PARTNERSHIP WITH DUBLIN AIRPORT TAKES OFF NI Chamber is delighted to welcome Dublin Airport as a Corporate member.

The airport is the key gateway to the island of Ireland, and a major economic engine supporting an estimated 97,400 jobs and contributing €6.9 billion to GDP. Last year, passenger numbers at Dublin Airport, which was the fastest growing major airport in Europe in 2016, increased by 11 per cent to a record 27.9 million.

Dublin Airport is now the fifth largest airport in Europe for North American connectivity after Heathrow, Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam.

Ann McGregor, NI Chamber Chief Executive said: “We are proud to have Dublin Airport as a Corporate member.

As we continue to attract US investors, the Belfast Waterfront venue seeks to increase business tourism to Northern Ireland, and with many of our members exporting – it means travelling through Dublin Airport is an attractive option. We look forward to working closely with Dublin Airport as our partnership grows.”

Dublin Airport Managing Director, Vincent Harrison said: “We are delighted to partner

with the NI Chamber which we see as a great opportunity to connect further with many businesses in the region.

“Northern Ireland is an important market for us with 1.2 million residents using Dublin Airport in 2015, this was a 37 per cent increase on the previous year. The increasing numbers travelling from Northern Ireland is due in part to the continued expansion of our route network, which offers a great choice of destinations as well as high frequency connections on many routes.”

This year, Dublin welcomes five new long-haul services – a new daily, year-round direct service to Doha with Qatar Airlines, a new daily summer service to Boston with Delta Air Lines, a new three times weekly summer service to Miami with Aer Lingus, and two new routes from Norwegian Air International with new daily services to Stewart International and a five times per week service to Providence, Rhode Island. It will also have new short-haul services to Munich (Transavia), Split (Aer Lingus) Ibiza (British Airways).

Dublin Airport has direct flights to 187 destinations in 41 countries operated by a total of 47 airlines.

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news

ENERGIA ENGINEERS WINNING DEAL FOR MOYOLA Business energy provider Energia has re-signed a major power supply deal with Co Derry firm Moyola Precision Engineering.

The Castledawson based engineering firm is a valued supplier of Bombardier Aerospace, Airbus and Boeing. Other customers include GE Aviation, FACC, Thales and RLC Group. The company currently employs 120 people and has just completed a new 40,000 sq. ft factory extension.

Raymond Semple, Chairman,

Moyola Precision Engineering said: “We’ve been a customer of Energia since 2007. Every year we check the market but Energia consistently offers the best value for money and customer service.”

Daniel Boyle, Energia said: “It is very heartening to keep businesses like Moyola as Energia customers.

Long-term relationships like this are an essential part of our business success that sees us supply almost 60,000 Irish businesses with gas and electricity.”

Energia has a 26 per cent market

Raymond Semple, Chairman, Moyola Precision Engineering and Daniel Boyle, Energia.

share of the Irish business electricity and gas market supplying the energy needs of almost 60,000 business customers. In addition to renewable assets, the company also operates a 750MW gas fired power station in north Dublin.

Energia has offices in Dublin, Galway, Cork and Belfast.

REGUS EXPANDS BELFAST FOOTPRINT WITH NEW BRIDGE STREET SITE Global workspace provider Regus has opened the doors to its second Belfast location, extending its network of flexible facilities in the city.

The 6,000 sq. ft site, which houses over 70 workstations, is located on the third floor of Arnott House on Bridge Street and offers a range of workspace available on flexible terms. This includes office space, a meeting room available to book by the hour, a co-working space and Virtual Office services.

The building benefits from excellent transport links, with the main transport hubs of Donegall Quay Bus Centre, Central Station, Great Victoria Street Train and Bus Station and the Metro network all within a 10 minute walk away. Several multi-storey car parks are also located close by.

One business already making use of the workspace is Codec-dss, an IT consultancy company and an award-winning Microsoft partner with headquarters in Dublin.

Barry McLean, Northern Ireland Sales Lead at Codec-dss said: “Regus makes things so simple and its flexible workspace model has enabled us to get a small team established rapidly and provided us with the capacity to expand when required.”

Regus expects the facility to be popular with a wide range of users including local businesses, start-ups and remote workers as well as national firms opening satellite offices and global businesses establishing a footprint in the local area.

10 NI Chamber

Connla McCann (Director) and Orlaith Carland (Events Manager) at Aisling Events with Vicki Caddy (Director of PR) and Sasha McKnight (Deputy Head of PR) at ASG & Partners.

ASG TEAMS UP WITH AISLING EVENTS Belfast-based advertising and marketing agency, ASG & Partners, has formed a new partnership with local event management specialists, Aisling Events Ltd. This development comes as part of ASG’s ongoing strategy to establish a unique set of partnerships with a range of specialists in digital marketing, app development, website user experience and digital advertising to offer clients of both companies an enhanced and comprehensive service.

Aisling Events are specialists in creating and managing events, which cover both the corporate and consumer

arenas and have been involved in BelTech, the Aisling Awards and New York New Belfast.

Vicki Caddy, Director of PR at ASG & Partners, said: “Event management is an important part of the marketing mix and it requires dedicated time and expertise which we believe Aisling can bring to our clients.”

Connla McCann, Director Aisling Events, said: “We take great pride in what we do and are really excited to be partnering with ASG to define exciting new opportunities in events and to be able to offer their advertising, design and PR services as part of an integrated marketing offering to our clients.”

CERTIFICATION EUROPE™ What is ISO 50001?

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Implementing ISO 50001 can help organisations save up to 10% in energy usage.

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Fuel and Energy costs have doubled in the last decade and will continue to rise across the developing world.

What does a 10% energy saving mean for your business?

This established ISO 50001 Implementation training course has been updated to reflect how organisations today are approaching cost reduction using energy management systems (EnMS).

Time management is a huge challenge for organisations and our new training course provides you with the skills to achieve your energy management targets in a time frame you set. After attending this course, you will be able to take this knowledge and apply it immediately.

For many organisations, implementing ISO 50001 can provide big savings and a quick return on investment (ROI).

“ISO 50001 implementation training reduces costs and increases profitability simply by adopting the proven methods within ISO 50001.”

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Who else has ISO 50001?

ISO 50001 is one of the most popular EnMS used in Ireland today. Also,with the impending 2020 energy target deadline, organisations in both the public and private sectors are moving to ISO 50001

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Benefits of ISO 50001 training?

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4. Measure, calculate and sustain those savings.

1. Increase effectiveness of your current or new EnMS. 2. Reduce environmental impact.

3. Measure energy performance to show success.

4. Provides a framework for your entire organisation.

5. Identifies opportunities to continuously improve performance.

6. Significantly improve time management for your organisation’s EnMS.

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news

COUNTDOWN TO BALMORAL SHOW 2017 UNDERWAY RUAS and Ulster Bank have launched the Balmoral Show 2017, which this year runs across four days for the first time.

The event, which takes place 10 – 13 May at Balmoral Park, promises to be larger than ever in terms of footfall, sales and interest.

Ulster Bank will again be the principal sponsor of the Show, which will feature more than 700 trade stands, the NI Food Pavilion, hundreds of competitions and classes, and a wide range of family entertainment.

Colin McDonald, RUAS Chief Executive said: “With the increase in size and scale of the Show, new attractions, and the legacy created from the Year of Food and Drink, 2017 is set to be the most important yet and we are thrilled to have Ulster Bank on board again as our principal sponsor and for playing such an integral role in enabling us to grow the Show.”

Richard Donnan, Ulster Bank’s Head of Northern Ireland, said: “The Balmoral Show epitomises everything that is great about our local food and agriculture industries and sponsoring the Show symbolises our continuing strong support for this hugely important sector.”

ENERGY COMPANIES FUSE Bill Cherry, Director of Fusion Heating joins Brian Connolly, General Manager of SSE Airtricity Energy Services and David Manning, Director of Home Energy at SSE Airtricity.

ENERGY supply firm SSE Airtricity has acquired 50 per cent of a heating contractor Fusion Heating for an undisclosed sum.

Fusion Heating, based in Castlereagh, employs nearly 70 people, including gas engineers, plumbers, electricians and joiners.

It has worked with SSE Airtricity since 2013 on the servicing of gas and oil boilers.

As well as supplying electricity, SSE Airtricity is the biggest supplier of natural gas in Northern Ireland.

Fusion installs, services and repair gas and oil central

heating boilers and systems.

David Manning, Director of Home Energy at SSE Airtricity, said the acquisition of 50 per cent of Fusion Heating demonstrated the strength of the partnership between the two companies.

Bill Cherry, Managing Director of Fusion Heating, said: “Through this new partnership we will develop new, distinctive and unique customer offerings, opening up huge growth possibilities for Fusion and for SSE Airtricity. We are very excited about the future and the potential for further growth.”

Colin McDonald, RUAS Chief Executive, Richard Donnan, Ulster Bank’s Head of Northern Ireland, Rhonda Geary, Operations Director, Balmoral Show and Cormac McKervey, Ulster Bank Senior Agriculture Manager.

RIGHT: Professor Mark Durkin (centre), Executive Dean of Ulster University Business School with Dr Darryl Cummins (left), Ulster University Business School and Dr Anthony Gandy, Visiting Professor at Ulster University Business School and the London Institute of Banking and Finance.

JOIN THE CROWD A new study has been launched which examines the relationships between traditional lending banks and SMEs and explores the impact of crowdfunding as an alternative source of finance for start-ups.

Funded by the UK’s Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship the study entitled “The SME-Bank Relationship: Exploring the Impact of Crowdfunding at Start-up” was undertaken by a research team led by Ulster University Business School and included the London Institute of

12 NI Chamber

Banking and Kent Business School.

Fourteen small businesses throughout the UK were interviewed to ascertain how they used crowdfunding to grow their businesses. In addition, 13 senior lenders in the main banks throughout the UK were contacted to see the extent to which they saw crowdfunding as an opportunity or threat to their existing business model.

Lead researcher on the project Professor Mark Durkin said: “As we move into a more digitised economy with access to alternative finance and tech-enabled

financial solutions the role of crowdfunding for start-ups is becoming increasingly prevalent. However as businesses move from start-up into growth their financial needs become more complex particularly with regard to international trade and foreign exchange.”

The key findings of the study identify a clear need to improve the education of both the small business community and lending bankers with respect to alternative finance platforms and their operation.

BREAKING NEW GROUND

news

ARMAGH FIRM GETS SEAL OF APPROVAL FROM FORD An Armagh based supplier of wheelchair accessible vehicles has become the first Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle (WAV) converter in Europe to be accredited as a Ford QVM Qualified Vehicle Modifier (QVM).

McElmeel Mobility Services, which was established in 1950, is a third James Devlin (McElmeel Design Engineer), David Petts (Transit generation family business whose design engineers, using the latest Product Manager), Simon Robinson (Chief Program Engineer), Conor technology, create new and innovative products for disabled drivers McElmeel (McElmeel Managing Director), Danny Scheutz (QVM and passengers.

Team Leader), Jan Stulzenberg (Supervisor Transit SVE), Martin The company has grown to become one of the UK and Ireland’s McElmeel (McElmeel Workshop and Project Manager). leading supplier of Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles.

Last July McElmeel Mobility Services were invited by Ford to apply to their QVM Programme. This involved Ford engineers from Germany visiting McElmeel’s site in Armagh to verify that the production methods, systems and processes followed by the firm’s engineers met the Ford manufacturing standard. A collaborative effort between Ford and McElmeel saw the accreditation being awarded at the end of October at the Dunton Technical Centre in Essex, England where the main design team of Ford Europe are based.

NI ‘LEGAL EAGLE’ DUO SET TO COMPETE AT TOP INTERNATIONAL EVENT Trainee solicitors Hannah McGrath of O’Reilly Stewart in Belfast and Roisin Higgins of McQueenie Boyle in Bangor have won the regional heat of the Law Society of Northern Ireland’s Client Consultation Competition 2017.

The pair, both students at the Institute of Professional Legal Studies, will now go on to represent Northern Ireland at the Brown Mosten International Client Consultation Competition at the University of Kent, Canterbury from 19-22 April, competing against teams from around the world.

Hannah McGrath said; “We are both delighted to have won and to advance to the internationals in April. The competition is a great opportunity for us to focus in on and develop our client care skills.”

The regional heat of the annual competition provides law students with an opportunity to participate in mock client solicitor consultations.

Managing Partner at O’Reilly Stewart Solicitors, Joe Moore said: “This is a fantastic achievement for both Hannah and Roisin.

The competition helps students develop many of the soft, practical skills that are so vital in the workplace.”

Karen McQueenie of McQueenie Boyle added: “We think this is a great competition focusing on valuable skills and wish both girls continuing success Hannah McGrath, who with fellow trainee at international level in solicitor Roisin Higgins, will represent April.”

Northern Ireland at the Brown Mosten International Client Kent, Canterbury.

14 NI Chamber

Alex Speers (Senior Surveyor, CBRE NI); Brian Lavery (Managing Director, CBRE NI); Jileen Loo (Head of Asia Desk, International Capital Markets, CBRE Hotels) and Paul Collins (Executive Director, CBRE Ireland).

HOTEL SECTOR DEMAND PUTS NI ON ASIAN INVESTOR ALERT Belfast is becoming an increasingly popular tourist destination and as a result the demand for hotel rooms is driving upwards rapidly, with the city seeing an increase in interest from global investors.

The tourism sector in Belfast has grown considerably, with around 145,000 cruise visitors arriving in the city in 2016. The new conference and exhibition centre at the Waterfront also led to around 73 conferences last year, generating more than 74,000 bed nights from business tourism.

Based on this increase, there has been a notably high level of global interest in the Belfast hotel market, with Asian investors in particular seeking opportunities.

Jileen Loo Head of Asia Desk, International Capital Markets for CBRE Hotels said: “From beautiful castles in fairy tale settings to a capital city rich in history, Northern Ireland has much to offer first time visitors. However, understanding the Chinese tourists’ characteristics, needs and preference is important to hotel owners and operators if they want to future proof themselves and respond to trends which will impact their P&L.” CBRE have had enquiries from Asian investors looking at Northern Ireland, some of whom may consider hotel development projects.

CBRE are currently tracking a total of 27 hotel schemes in the development pipeline across Belfast. These schemes comprise around 3,750 bedrooms either on-site, planning granted, planning submitted or in pre-planning stage.

Approximately 1,100 rooms are on-site in the city with a number of hotels under construction: AC Hotel by Marriott, Grand Central Hotel, Hampton by Hilton, the Maldron Hotel, Ten Square Hotel (extension) and the Titanic Hotel Belfast.

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feature

What does HMRC’s data tell us about Northern Ireland’s recent export success? Conor Lambe, Economist at Danske Bank examines the statistics.

16 NI Chamber

LOOKING BEHIND THE HEADLINE FIGURES W

ith the UK preparing to leave the EU, it is unsurprising that international trade has come under the spotlight. The UK Government has confirmed that it will seek to negotiate a free trade agreement with the EU and is hoping to strike free trade deals with countries from around the globe. Negotiating a range of new free trade agreements won’t be easy and it will take time, but if the Government is successful these deals will create new opportunities for businesses throughout the UK, including in Northern Ireland.

Data from HMRC shows that Northern Ireland has enjoyed some success in growing its exports of goods. In the year to 2016 Q3, the value of goods exports was six per cent higher than in the year to the third quarter of 2015. Along with the West Midlands, the East, the South East and Wales, Northern Ireland was one of the five regions of the UK that experienced an increase in goods exports over this period. The data for Northern Ireland also shows that goods exports began rising in the year to 2015 Q3, so the strong growth rate in the third quarter of 2016 was the fifth consecutive quarter of growth.

These headline figures tell a positive story, but it can often be useful to delve into the detail and explore the data for different categories of goods and the regions of the world that Northern Irish businesses are exporting to. Doing so can reveal some of the areas where success has been concentrated by identifying which products and regions make up a large proportion of Northern Ireland’s total exports and have also been growing quickly.

The average rolling four quarter growth rate of Northern Ireland’s

total goods exports between the final quarter of 2014 and the third quarter of 2016 was 1.7 per cent.

And as there are ten categories of goods, the average share of total exports between 2013 and the year to 2016 Q3 was ten per cent.

Danske Bank analysis shows that there are two categories which exceeded both these average figures – chemicals and miscellaneous manufactures.

Chemicals exports include, for example, medicinal and pharmaceutical products, plastics and chemical materials and products. Over the time period analysed, the average rolling four quarter growth rate of chemicals exports was just under 30 per cent and its average share of total exports was around 15 per cent.

Miscellaneous manufactures includes items such as furniture, scientific instruments and clothing.

The average growth rate of exports of this category of goods was just over 14 per cent and, coincidentally, the average share of total exports was also just over 14 per cent.

The same analysis can also be applied to the regions that Northern Ireland has been exporting to. In this instance, as there are only eight key geographical regions included in the data, the average share of

total exports was 12.5 per cent.

Our analysis identifies one stand out region – North America. The average growth rate of exports to this region was over 25 per cent and its average share of total exports was around 20 per cent.

It’s also worth pointing out that exports to the non-EU Western Europe region, which includes countries such as Switzerland, Turkey and Norway, have also grown quickly but currently only make up a small proportion of total exports.

Going forward, it will be important for businesses in Northern Ireland to sell more into overseas markets, particularly if the long-term benefits on offer from a new range of trade deals are to be realised. The hope is that businesses across sectors will eventually have access to new exporting opportunities that will encompass a wide range of products and destinations. But this analysis identifies a few product categories and regions where Northern Ireland could be well placed to make further gains on the global stage.

sponsored feature Q Radio presenter, gareth stewart, gives us an insight into his life and work.

KING OF THE RADIO What is your job title?

I am a radio presenter with Q radio hosting the Mid Morning show weekdays 10am-1pm and Sundays 10am-2pm.

I am also a host for corporate events and a nightclub DJ. Can you provide a breakdown of your typical working day?

A typical day involves arriving to the Belfast studios at 8.30am and preparing that day’s radio programme, which includes stories from Northern Ireland and around the world, entertainment stories and any other important events that have happened.

I then have a quick meeting with the promotions department and producer before going on air at 10am. During the show we have a lot of interaction with the listeners via phone calls and social media.

At 1pm I have a quick de brief meeting with the programme manager.

Aside from the radio we also get to host various events at night, which can vary from fashion shows, to charity events or corporate dinners.

One of the things I really enjoy about my job is that no two days are ever the same and I get to talk to a wide range of people on a daily basis.

Do you work as part of a team or mainly on your own?

I work as part of a team. Although on air the listeners only hear my voice, there is a large team working alongside the presenters, including producers and a production team, and we also work closely with the sales and promotions department.

While hosting events I work alongside event organisers and company owners. It is great to have an input into the event to help ensure its success on the night.

How did you get to where you are now?

I started in radio 15 years ago and moved my way up through the ladder doing various shows from all night programmes to evenings, afternoons, drive time and breakfast shows. It has proven invaluable to have experience of all aspects of radio presenting behind me. I moved to Q Radio in May last year which I am really enjoying and I’m loving the challenge of a new show and station and having the opportunity of putting my stamp on it.

What are your priorities for the year ahead?

This year I would like to branch out into new areas and push myself outside

of my comfort zone. There are so many aspects to my job and I am looking forward to exploring new opportunities. I’m also conscious this year of the need for a good life-work balance. I now know the importance of this but sometimes find it hard to achieve as I hate saying no to anyone when I am asked to do something.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?

Not to take anything for granted and not to get complacent. I have worked hard at my career in a job that many people would love to do and I have never woken up dreading the thought of going to work.

I am very lucky to do something that I enjoy and have been fortunate enough to be acknowledged within my industry by winning various media awards.

How do you relax in your spare time?

With working most weekends on the radio and in nightclubs DJing, I don’t get a lot of time off but when I do I enjoy going to the North Coast and have a love for adrenaline activities and water sports. I try to go water skiing as much as I can in the summer and anything that involves going fast should it be cars or motorbikes!

Upskilling the current STEM workforce A ccording to the NI Skills Barometer, Northern Ireland is facing a significant shortage of people qualifying in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) based subjects. These subject areas form the basis of the highest value added jobs within our economy. They are essential to attracting foreign direct investment as well as providing a skills pipeline to encourage local innovative companies to grow.

Some notable success has been achieved in encouraging school leavers to choose high demand STEM subjects at both further education colleges and universities.

However, changing population demographics make it unlikely that employers can rely solely on a pipeline of young people entering the labour market to fill these roles. John D’Arcy, National Director of The Open University (OU), is a passionate advocate for the importance of upskilling the current workforce.

John believes that investing in the skills of their employees can have numerous benefits, particularly for companies in STEM industries.

He explained: “Most companies hold a significant amount of untapped potential within their organisation. Employees often have a huge amount of organisational and industrial knowledge but sometimes lack the formal qualifications to operate at a higher level. Investing in the skillset of the current

workforce improves productivity and fosters a positive organisational culture. It improves talent retention and creates opportunities for staff to progress up the organisational ladder.”

“The OU is well placed to support local employers to upskill their workforce.

We have decades of experience in supporting work-based learning from FTSE 100 companies, right through to micro businesses. Due to the learning being primarily delivered online, sponsoring companies do not lose their employees to attend physical classes on a regular basis, minimising disruption to work patterns.”

The Open University has over 3,600 students in Northern Ireland and 37% of module registrations are in STEM subjects.

Understanding the challenges that students face studying STEM subjects online, the OU has made substantial investments in creating authentic virtual laboratory and field work experiences via its innovative OpenSTEM Lab. John described how this enhances the experience for Open University STEM students: “This online laboratory brings interactive practical science to students anywhere and anytime the Internet is available. The laboratory features investigations based on on-screen instruments, remote access experiments and virtual scenarios using real data.

“Some online tools replicate real-life

experiments. For example biology students can analyse pre-loaded microscopic images, presented as if they were being studied on a real microscope.

“Pioneering work has also been made to enable students to control real machinery remotely from their own homes. Engineering students can control “collaborative” robots; physics students can carry out x-ray scattering; and chemistry students can carry out high pressure liquid chromatography to name just a few examples. Studying STEM at a distance has never felt so real.”

Encouraging employers to speak to the OU about its STEM offering, John concluded: “Those organisations who partner with us really value the high quality education that their employees receive. Combined with the added flexibility that OU study brings, it is a win-win situation for employer and employee alike.”

To find out more about partnering with The Open University, contact its Belfast office on 02890 323722 or at northern-ireland@open.ac.uk.

The Open University is incorporated by Royal Charter (RC 000391), an exempt charity in England & Wales, and a charity registered in Scotland (SC 038302). The Open University is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority.

feature

GETTING CHARGED UP Electricity market changes bring more choice for local SMEs Alan Egner, Commercial Sales & Marketing Manager at Power NI tells Ambition.

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his time of year is traditionally when businesses will be reviewing costs from the previous year and setting budgets for 2017/18. Electricity is likely to feature in the list of significant outgoings so it’s important that you make the right choices.

A recent change in the local electricity market has seen price control removed for Power NI’s commercial tariffs by the Utility Regulator. This means that Power NI can offer all of their business customers, not just the larger users, personal contract rates. This brings another choice into the marketplace and highlights the importance of shopping around for the best energy deal.

Alan Egner, Commercial Sales &

20 NI Chamber

Marketing Manager at Power NI, comments: “Unless businesses apply the same rigour as they do to other supplier costs in their business they risk becoming uncompetitive through lack of knowledge, bad decisions or just plain complacency.

There are ‘three Ps’ to consider before you can tick your energy box with confidence; they are Price, Performance and Payment.

“Let’s start with Price. At contract renewal time how many of us take the time to shop around to make sure we are getting the best rate? And what type of deal is best for your needs? Is now a good time to fix prices, or do you take your chances with a market tracker product?

If you decide to switch supplier how will it impact on bill clarity and after-sales

service? As with all decisions in business there is an element of risk involved, but at least if you go in with your eyes open and ask the right questions you are in with a better chance of getting a good deal.

“Next is Performance, the way that you use the electricity in your business. We all know that being energy efficient can make a big difference to our bills. Low energy lighting, wall and loft insulation and energy efficient appliances are all tried and tested ways to save the pennies. But for many, being switched on to saving energy is no longer enough. There has been a huge increase in the number of homes, farms and businesses generating their own electricity by fitting solar PV panels, wind turbines or digestors. In addition to reducing their bills, many of these micro generators are also able to earn extra money from selling energy certificates (ROCs).

“The last P is Payment. Like most other utilities, energy suppliers prefer Direct Debit as it ensures that payments are almost always made in full and on time. Most suppliers offer incentives to customers who pay this way, so if you aren’t already paying by Direct Debit you are almost certainly missing out on discount. Some suppliers also offer additional discount for online paperless billing.

“Looking forward, despite the growth of renewable energy locally, most of our electricity is generated from fossil fuels and we remain a small island, at the edge of Europe, exposed to price fluctuations on volatile world fuel markets. Prices will wax and wane and we will always be subject to forces outside our control, but that is one of the challenges of doing business here and elsewhere. However the one thing we can control is the choices that we make, so whether you are an SME or a larger user, make sure to shop around, remember the ‘three Ps’ and use your electricity as efficiently as possible.”

Power NI supplies around 35,000 businesses and is the largest energy provider in Northern Ireland.

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Chamber chief’s

From NETWORKING EVENTS TO MEETINGS WITH GOVERNMENT MINISTERS AND IN-CAMERA DINNERS WITH LEADERS IN BUSINESS, THE HECTIC ROUND OF ACTIVITY SPEARHEADED BY NI CHAMBER FOR THE BENEFIT OF MEMBERS NEVER STOPS. NI CHAMBER CHIEF EXECUTIVE ANN MCGREGOR GIVES A TASTE OF WHAT’S TAKEN PLACE RECENTLY WITH A PICTURE GALLERY OVER THE FOLLOWING PAGES.

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he election is over and many people may have voted for a particular party because of the pledges made by politicians.

As a business organisation which puts its members first and which voices their concerns to those in power, NI Chamber felt it was vital ahead of the Stormont Assembly elections on 2 March, to hear first hand what the leaders of Northern Ireland’s main political parties were prepared to do for the local economy and for jobs.

Stormont.

NI Chamber’s ‘5 Leaders 5 Days’ series provided Arlene Foster (DUP), Mike Nesbitt (UUP), Michelle O’Neill (Sinn Fein), Naomi Long (Alliance) and Colum Eastwood (SDLP) with a platform to outline their policies and answer questions from our members on economic matters.

The encounters were at times combative but informative and all provided a lively insight into what matters to the Northern Ireland business community and how politicians are responding to their concerns. We will now have to wait and see whether their words will translate into actions.

22 NI Chamber

Turning to NI Chamber’s ‘Learn Grow Excel initiative’ and we have been delighted with the response so far with many members congratulating us on the programme and its aim to help businesses do just that – to ‘Learn Grow Excel in export markets.

We are very excited that as part of the initiative we are, in partnership with Ulster Bank, hosting a near market trade visit to London at the end of the month.

The visit, which will take place on 30-31 March 2017, is part of a series of trade visits to be held by NI Chamber and Ulster Bank to help local firms extend their networks and exploit the opportunities in larger cities in Great Britain.

The London itinerary includes tailored briefings and introductions from organisations such as Heathrow Airport, Transport for London and the British Chambers of Commerce, providing opportunities for local firms to build constructive business relationships, network with London Chamber of Commerce members at Searcys the Gherkin, and attend networking receptions hosted at signature London landmark buildings including the House of Commons and the BT Tower.

Sandra Scannell, Head of Business Services at NI Chamber is leading the visit with Nigel Walsh, Director, Commercial Banking at Ulster Bank.

For many companies GB represents

Nigel Walsh (Ulster Bank) and Sandra Scannell (NI Chamber).

the first step to doing business outside Northern Ireland. The first trade visit, to London, represents a safe and easy introduction to export and is a market where NI Chamber has an extensive and established network via the British Chambers of Commerce and member companies who already have a presence there.

As one of the world’s most competitive cities, London offers growing companies leading talent and transport links, lighttouch business regulation and huge opportunities for growth. We are really looking forward to the visit and are certain that our members who are taking part will benefit a great deal from it.

Meanwhile, Corporate membership of NI Chamber continues to grow as leading companies fulfill their desire to play an even more proactive role in the future development of Northern Ireland.

Corporate members have access to a wide range of benefits and opportunities that enable them to promote their company and generate new business and interest in their services and increase sales.

This membership is not only available to large businesses but to those who want to enjoy the extra levels of engagement, benefits and support. We have already welcomed existing members who have moved up to this type of membership and continue to attract new members.

One of the latest new Corporate members is Dublin Airport and we were delighted to welcome a delegation from the facility recently at our offices in Belfast.

One of those attending was John Hurley, Dublin Airport’s Head of B2B, Channel and Partner Marketing who will deliver the keynote address at a major cross border networking event in Belfast later this month.

It forms part of NI Chamber’s Connecting

chamber chief’s update

Regina Walsh (Bank of Ireland); Gavin Kennedy (Bank of Ireland); Sandra Scannell (NI Chamber) and John Hurley (Dublin Airport).

for Growth programme, in partnership with Bank of Ireland UK, which is designed to facilitate increased business between companies from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

The event takes place on 15 March 2017 from 8.30am until noon at Titanic Belfast.

Turning to new additions to NI Chamber’s Corporate membership and we are delighted to welcome two more local authorities – Fermanagh and Omagh District Council and Mid Ulster Council – who join Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council and Newry, Mourne and Down District Council as Corporate members.

Ann McGregor (Chief Executive of NI Chamber) and Councillor Trevor Wilson, Chair of Mid Ulster District Council.

It was a case of being up with the larks for an early morning business breakfast in the latest of NI Chamber’s networking series, which took place at Northern Regional College in Ballymena.

The networking series is designed to allow delegates to create new business relationships and opportunities with 100 plus business delegates. The event, themed around effective networking and business development, included a Q&A session with Peter Craven, Head of Marketing at CDE Global in Cookstown. The company manufactures and sells sand and aggregate cleaning equipment to a range of industries including construction.

NEW MEMBERS Agri Foods Heavenly Tasty Organics Business Services Alana Jones Workplace Solutions Saville Audio Visual Computer & Related Activities Leaf Manufacturing Charlesworth Engineering Ltd. Multi-Color Corporation Construction Faithful & Gould Professional Services Prosper 4 Group Limited NI Chamber Members Upgrading to Growth Level Computer & Related Activities Flowlens

Peter Craven.

Peter discussed the importance of effective networking as a key element of business development while sharing the story of CDE’s continued growth.

Another of NI Chamber’s networking events involved hot sporting action on the ice.

In association with The SSE Arena, Belfast and Belfast Giants, NI Chamber members enjoyed an exculsive networking evening at ice hockey as the Stena Line Belfast Giants took on the Cardiff Devils in the Challenge Cup Semi-Final 2nd Leg – one of the biggest games of the season.

Guests had the opportunity to relax, network and enjoy the game in the luxury of the Arena’s West Lounge as the players hammered the puck around the rink.

Alas the Devils earned a 5-1 win over the Giants but the result certainly didn’t mar a thoroughly enjoyable networking evening.

Here’s to the next one!

Our Corporate members represent the leading companies in Northern Ireland who help drive the development of the economy.

New Corporate Members: Agri-Food Coca-Cola Hbc Business Services Peninsula Education North West Regional College Gas Supply Phoenix Natural Gas Professional Services Mercer Public Administration & Defence Newry, Mourne & Down District Council NI Chamber Members Upgrading To Corporate Level Education Northern Regional College Public Administration & Defence Belfast City Council

Ann McGregor (Chief Executive of NI Chamber); Councillor Mary Garrity (Chairperson of Fermanagh and Omagh DC) and Brendan Hegarty (Chief Executive of Fermanagh and Omagh DC).

The Belfast Giants battle it out with the Cardiff Devils.

* To become a member of NI Chamber join online at www. northernirelandchamber.com or phone the membership team on 02890 244113

NI Chamber 23

feature

NI CHAMBER’S UNIQUE ENGAGEMENT WITH NORTHERN IRELAND’S POLITICAL LEADERS Ann McGregor (Chief Executive of NI Chamber) and Nick Coburn (President of NI Chamber) launch NI Chamber’s ‘5 Leaders; 5 Days’ series.

27 SDLP

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24 22

ALLIANCE

nsuring the best deal for Northern Ireland in Brexit negotiations and the opportunity to avail of a reduction in Corporation Tax meant that the election on 2 March 2017 was the most important for jobs and the economy in the history of Northern Ireland.

NI Chamber therefore was to the fore in engaging with the leaders of Northern Ireland’s main political parties as it launched its ‘5 Leaders; 5 Days’ series ahead of the election.

Speaking at the launch, NI Chamber President Nick Coburn said: “’5 Leaders; 5 Days’ gives the leaders of five political parties a platform to outline their plans for jobs and the economy in the run-up to the election on 2 March 2017.

“The initiative not only provides an opportunity for parties to spell out their views on creating jobs and growing the Northern Ireland economy, but it also allows the business community to contribute to and

24 NI Chamber

SINN FÉIN

inform the debate on these and other vital issues over a 5-day period.

“Ensuring the best for Northern Ireland on Brexit is key to addressing major business concerns. These include clarification on the border, ensuring that businesses are able to trade as freely as possible with the Republic of Ireland and the freedom of movement of people living and working on both sides of the border.

“We also require a new Executive in place as soon as the election is over to proceed with Northern Ireland’s lower rate of Corporation Tax which we believe is still very much on the agenda and will boost the region’s attractiveness to investors.

Ultimately it is about job creation meaning businesses can employ more people and contribute to social inclusion. It is absolutely vital that nothing knocks that objective off course.

“We therefore look forward to hearing from the party leaders on these issues and

others of great importance to the business community throughout February.”

The events, which were hosted by member companies at their premises, were attended by members of NI Chamber representing a wide variety of businesses and sectors across Northern Ireland who had the opportunity to pose questions to the party leaders and raise issues with them.

The first of the five events took place on 14 February at BT Riverside Tower, Belfast where DUP leader Arlene Foster outlined her party’s plans for the economy.

UUP’s Mike Nesbitt spoke on 15 February at Diageo, Capital House, Belfast while Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill addressed members on 22 February at Bloc Blinds, Magherafelt.

Alliance Party leader Naomi Long delivered her speech at Boomer Industries, Lisburn on 24 February and the SDLP’s Colum Eastwood concluded the series at the Mount Charles Group, Belfast on 27 February.

‘5 LEADERS; 5 DAYS’

1.

2.

1. DUP Leader Arlene Foster 2. UUP Leader Mike Nesbitt 3. Alliance Party Leader Naomi Long 4. Sinn Fein Leader Michelle O’Neill 5. SDLP Leader Colum Eastwood

3.

4.

5.

NI Chamber 25

‘5 LEADERS; 5 DAYS’ 1.

2.

1. Sinn Fein Leader Michelle O’Neill discusses her manifesto with the Chief Executive of Bryson Charitable Group John McMullan. 2. UUP Leader Mike Nesbitt talks to Diageo’s Country Director in Northern Ireland Jorge Lopes. 3. SDLP Leader Colum Eastwood chats to Head of Corporate and Government at Granite Fleet Services Greg Thompson. 4. Alliance Party Leader Naomi Long shares a smile with NI Chamber Chief Executive Ann McGregor. 5.

DUP Leader Arlene Foster listens to issues.

4.

5.

26 NI Chamber

3.

NETWORKING NIGHT WITH SSE ARENA AND BELFAST GIANTS

1.

2.

1. Bernard McElhone, John Coyle and James Canavan from Metro Surveillance Group.

2. Jacqueline Kilpatrick (Royal Mail) and Mark Cunningham (Bank of Ireland).

3. Mark Brooks (Belfast Giants), Andrew Smythe (NI Chamber) and Clare Gallagher (SSE Arena).

4. The Giants cheer on their team members.

5. Belfast Giants and the Cardiff Devils battle it out on the ice.

6. Rachael McAdorey and Francesca Lowry from Carson McDowell.

3.

4.

5.

6.

NI Chamber 27

Paul Murnaghan, Regional Director, BT Business in Northern Ireland.

SECURING THE NATION BT recently ran a competition to find innovative new ideas from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) aimed at protecting the UK’s critical infrastructure and keeping public sector and business data secure.

‘BT SME Award 2017: Securing the Nation’ gave SMEs from Northern Ireland the chance to showcase their new technology and product ideas within three award categories: Cyber Security; Data collection, mining and analytics; and Digital Innovation. The winning entrants are expected to demonstrate how their new ideas will address key challenges in securing data for businesses and public sector organisations.

The annual BT innovation award is run in partnership with the Cabinet Office and TechHub. The shortlist for the SME Award will be announced on 28th March and finalists will be invited to the BT Tower in London on the 4th of April to pitch their ideas to a “Dragons’ Den” style judging panel of experts spanning security, innovation, defence, and other public services.

Amongst the panel will be CEO of BT Security, Mark Hughes; BT’s MD of Research & Innovation, Tim Whitley; Met Police Detective Superintendent, Caroline Barker; and Technical Director of the National Cyber Security Centre, Ian Levy.

There is a total prize pot of £30,000 across all three categories. The judges will

28 NI Chamber

award each category winner a cash prize of £10,000, plus six months’ flex membership at TechHub’s sold out London start-up space which includes access to the London and all global TechHub spaces, plus the opportunity to network with the community of members all working on technology products.

All three winners will have the opportunity to work with BT to explore technical and commercial partnerships to bring their solutions to market with BT. Ben Gummer, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, said: “Small and medium-sized businesses make a huge contribution to our economy and account for over 99 per cent of all private sector businesses. Entrepreneurs, risk-takers, family businesses and start-ups have created more than 2.7 million jobs and launched almost a million new businesses since 2010.”

Paul Murnaghan, Regional Director, BT Business in Northern Ireland, said: “Cyber security is a really important issue for the UK public sector and businesses of all sizes.

BT has developed world class capability through protecting its own and its customers’ networks and we recognise that some of the most innovative ideas often come from our diverse SME community. This initiative aimed to provide a platform for these ideas, and an opportunity for SMEs to develop them into solutions that will tackle real world challenges, including the issue of modern slavery. We are really excited to see the results as we

had a great Northern Ireland winner in last year’s competition. This year we are looking forward to working alongside organisations to ensure the UK continues to lead the way in security.”

2016 winner Irene McAleese, Co-Founder and CMO of Northern Ireland company See. Sense said: “Winning the 2016 Award was a game changer for our company. Not only was it a significant cash prize, the publicity was amazing and winning enhanced our credibility which helped us to secure further funding to grow our team and bring products to market faster.

“The commitment from BT exceeded all our expectations. We’ve enjoyed introductions to their influential network to help accelerate our growth and the London base that TecHub provided has been a magnificent help. We’ve now got four more projects underway and more in the pipeline.”

Elizabeth Varley, co-founder & global CEO of TechHub, said: “This is the fourth year of TechHub’s partnership with BT to provide a boost to growing technology companies.

We are proud to join BT in supporting those startups that could make a big impact to securing our world in the future.”

HOW FIRMS CAN GET STARTED ON SECURING INVESTMENT FUNDING Andrew Jennings, Corporate and Commercial Associate at leading law firm Arthur Cox, explains how start-up firms can successfully secure investor funding.

Andrew Jennings, Associate, Arthur Cox.

I

nvestment levels in Northern Ireland start-up firms seem to be bucking the downward trend experienced across the UK. They are also, it appears, disproving forecasts that Brexit would have a negative impact on equity investment.

A major industry report released in February by Beauhurst revealed that the number of deals in Northern Ireland during 2016 increased by 8% on the previous year.

That is despite UK-wide investment in new companies falling in the same period by the largest amount in five years, with 18% fewer transactions than in 2015.

As one of the foremost of its kind in Northern Ireland, our corporate and commercial team at Arthur Cox is at the heart of the most prominent investment deals taking place in the local marketplace.

We are trusted by leading local entrepreneurs to provide the nuanced and expert legal counsel required to navigate potential pitfalls and steer major transactions to completion.

The classic ‘cash for equity’ model remains the most popular source of investment for local companies at the embryonic stage.

Business owners must be aware that, in accepting this form of investment, the investor receives a percentage of the company, with how much depending on the amount to be invested and the valuation of the business.

Our in-depth experience of the market reveals the going rate for early-start companies to be 15-30% equity to investors in their first funding round, but how the investment is structured will prove crucial to the success of the deal.

Investors may seek to benefit from certain tax reliefs, such as the enterprise

investment scheme and seed enterprise investment scheme. These offer investors certain tax breaks for investments in high risk companies which can soften the blow if the company does not succeed.

When offering an investor shares in return for funding, it’s prudent for start-ups and early-starts to have all the information regarding their business readily available, and in a format which can be easily shared with prospective funders.

At Arthur Cox, we advise clients to have confidentiality agreements in place – often referred to as Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) – and to prioritise the protection of their intellectual property. Investors need to feel comfortable with the intellectual property position and be clear that the company in which they are investing is the one which holds the main assets of the business.

While the investment process can be a stressful one for new-start companies, there are plenty of examples in recent times of firms that have gone on a similar journey and secured vital funding which has significantly accelerated their business growth.

In April last year, Arthur Cox provided legal guidance to SkunkWorks Surf Co., Northern Ireland’s first surfboard manufacturing business, in the securing of a £500,000 investment boost in a deal involving local private investors and CoFund NI. Founded in 2014, SkunkWorks Surf Co. is undoubtedly one of the most upwardlymobile young companies in Northern Ireland, and has used the funding to help grow its manufacturing capacity and develop

plans to break into the US market.

Traditional investors are not the only funding option, of course, as there is an increasing trend of investment from the ‘crowd’. Crowdfunding is a way to raise money from a large number of people, and can take the form of a donation, cash for incentives, loans or equity.

One of the most prominent examples of how successful the crowdfunding option can be is Hurree Limited, the marketing automation platform for apps, which raised over £300,000 through crowdfunding on Crowdcube – including £202,200 in just over a week.

Arthur Cox recently advised Hurree Limited on its second round of investment.

Commenting on the investment, Hurree Limited CEO Aaron Gibson said: “Taking in investment from a range of sources allowed us to meet our funding goals as well as to increase our visibility and brand awareness.

We were overwhelmed with the response we received and it has allowed us to exceed our funding goals. It will help us take our business to the next level.”

Success stories such as SkunkWorks Surf Co. and Hurree Limited should provide reassurances for local start-ups and earlystart firms seeking funding from potential investors that, with the right legal guidance, the process can be a major launch pad for business growth.

The Corporate and Commercial team at Arthur Cox is well positioned to advise on all aspects of corporate and commercial law. Call +44 28 9023 0007 for further information from Andrew or your regular Arthur Cox contact.

Chris Martin, Director of SkunkWorks Surf Co., for whom Arthur Cox provided legal guidance in the securing of a £500,000 investment boost.

NI Chamber 29

feature

bright young business brains David Hughes, DENI, presents the BT NI Best Project Award to Sian Donaghy and Dónal Close from Loreto College, Coleraine.

NORTHERN IRELAND STUDENTS SCOOP TOP PRIZES AT SCIENTIST & TECHNOLOGY EXHIBITION

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orthern Ireland students who showcased their projects at the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition recently scooped awards at the prestigious event which was held at the BT Arena at Dublin’s RDS. Beating off stiff competition, Loreto College Coleraine picked up the ‘MATRIX Best Northern Ireland School’ Award at the Exhibition. Dónal Close and Sian Donaghy from Loreto College Coleraine were also successfully awarded ‘BT – Northern Ireland Best Project’ for their entry ‘Phone Book Physics’ which was entered in the Chemical, Physical and Mathematical Sciences category at intermediate level. They were also highly commended within this category.

Further awards were presented to Northern Ireland schools at the ceremony: • Emmett Brolly from Loreto College Coleraine received 1st place Senior Individual in the Chemical, Physical and Mathematical Sciences category for his entry ‘Bead Fountains’.

30 NI Chamber

• Alexander Baine from Ballyclare High School in Antrim picked up 2nd place for his project ‘Augmented Reality Sudoku Solver’ in the Chemical, Physical and Mathematical Sciences category at intermediate level.

• Sean Connolly, a teacher at St Killian’s College in Antrim received the ‘Analog Educator of Excellence’ award.

The schools who were also highly commended at the Exhibition included: • St Mary’s College, Derry/Londonderry for their project ‘SCOBY SCOBY Do’ in the Junior Individual section of the Chemical, Physical and Mathematical Sciences (CPM) category.

• Ballymena Academy Antrim for their project ‘Branch Strike Detector’ in the Senior Individual section of the Technology category.

• South Eastern Regional College Bangor Campus for their project ‘Investigating the

link between habitat and the antibacterial effect of honey’ in the Senior Group section of the Biological and Ecological category.

The overall winner was Shane Curran, aged 16, a 5th year student from Terenure College, Dublin who scooped the top prize for his project entitled ‘qCrypt’ which involves encrypted data storage technology.

Mairead Meyer, Managing Director of NI Networks, said: “It has been an incredible exhibition that has captured the imaginations of tens of thousands of visitors who came to support young people and their ideas.

I want to congratulate every student that entered, and in particular Shane, our overall winner. Technology skills are critical to companies like BT, and we are delighted to help discover home-grown talent in critical skills such as security and data storage that are needed by organisations based here and globally.”

Over 1,100 students from 375 schools across the island of Ireland competed for the coveted title of ‘BT Young Scientist & Technologist of the Year 2017’.

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LIDL STOCKS UP ON ULSTER UNIVERSITY TALENT WITH £20,000 BURSARIES L idl Northern Ireland is giving highly skilled Ulster University students the opportunity to kick-start their management career at one of Europe’s largest supermarkets with a bursary package worth over £20,000.

The bursaries, which are open to Ulster University students from any discipline who want to complete a placement year, are valued at £20,000 per student and will provide a paid work placement for one year. Students will benefit from a competitive salary, as well as having their university fees funded for the year.

They will also get the opportunity to gain firsthand experience in all areas of the retail sector.

As part of the bursary, which follows on from an initial pilot last year, Ulster University students will gain access to senior management for a mentoring programme. These industry leaders will provide placement students with

invaluable advice on developing their skills and enhancing their careers in the retail sector.

Dr Karise Hutchinson from Ulster University said: “Ulster University works in partnership with Lidl Northern Ireland to deliver exciting and rewarding work placements for our students. Together we are developing the next generation of leaders who have the necessary skills and attributes to drive future growth of both the retail sector and local economy.

“This bursary is an exceptional opportunity for any Ulster University student, regardless of their area of study, who is looking to secure a varied career in the fast-paced retail industry.

Along with a hugely competitive salary and benefits package during placement year, high performers will be offered a part-time job during final year and have the opportunity to get their final year fees fully paid.

“Importantly, the journey doesn’t stop

once the students complete their university studies as Lidl offers a range of employment opportunities for Ulster University’s talented, enthusiastic and committed graduates.”

Paul Gibson, Sales Operations Executive for Lidl Northern Ireland, said: “The Lidl Bursary Initiative is an incredible opportunity for students to gain hands-on experience within Lidl’s retail operations. The students benefit from having real responsibility and personal development during the year that ultimately has them fully equipped both professionally and personally to give them the best possible start to their careers.

“At Lidl, we’re delighted to be able to offer this initiative to a number of exceptional students and I have no doubt we will secure the best talent that Ulster University has to offer.”

Ulster University and Lidl placement student, Zara Davis; student, Kevin McStavock; Lidl’s Paul Gibson; and Ulster University’s Dr Karise Hutchinson.

NI Chamber 31

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AMBITION AND INVESTMENT KEY TO IMPROVING PRODUCTIVITY

Northern Ireland’s low levels of productivity need to be tackled if the region is to become an advanced economy says Trevor Annon, Founder and Chairman of Mount Charles.

It’s widely accepted that productivity will be a critical driver of future economic growth, which is why it’s worrying that the UK and Northern Ireland especially, are lagging behind so many other world economies on this front.

We have a high employment yet low productivity economy, here are a few stark facts that prove that to be so.

In 2015, 73 per cent of people aged between15-64 in the UK were in work, compared with 74 per cent in Germany, 73 per cent in Japan, 69 per cent in the US, 64 per cent in France and 57 per cent in Italy.

Sounds good but the statistics paint a very different picture where productivity is concerned.

Also in 2015, the UK’s output per hour was only 76 per cent of the US level, 77 per cent of the Dutch, 78 per cent of the French and 79 per cent of Germany.

Within the UK, there are huge differences in average productivity across the regions, with Northern Ireland narrowly missing out on the dubious title of least productive to Wales.

Against this backdrop, Theresa May’s post-Brexit plans for the UK to leave the European single market may provide an opportunity for us to tackle our productivity deficit head on.

Also to be welcomed is Simon Hamilton’s recent consultation into our industrial strategy ‘Economy 2030’, which recognises productivity as one of our greatest barriers to becoming one of the world’s most advanced small economies, on a par with the likes of Denmark or Singapore.

‘Economy 2030’ highlights life and health sciences, agri-food, construction and materials handling and digital and creative technologies as the sectors that have the most potential to propel our economy forward and improve overall

productivity.

The paper outlines five strategic pillars to achieving this vision; these are encouraging innovation, improving education, driving growth that is sustainable, succeeding in global markets and building the best infrastructure we possibly can.

What we need are some real tactics around this strategy that will finally address our two greatest weaknesses here in Northern Ireland.

Firstly, physical investment is low and secondly, we have a serious skills gap.

It boils down to this: companies must have the confidence and ambition to invest, both in physical and human capital, and they must be supported by the government in this endeavour.

It seems that we lack a clear understanding of why productivity is so low, despite much debate and analysis, but the good news is, we can do something about our low productivity levels and the potential for improvement is massive.

Possibilities worth considering include enhancing the education system, further investment in employee development, funding for apprenticeships, promoting capital investment and spending on R&D. The government could also seek ways to reduce regulatory

burdens on businesses to allow them headspace to invest and grow.

Investment in our people is a really crucial part of all this because a population that is not highly skilled enough cannot drive productivity and our future income and success depends so much on rising output per hour.

Given how vital skills development is to future growth, what we need to see is government protecting and promoting business investment in skills.

For employers, that means looking at medium and long-term business objectives and investing in the competencies that will be needed to ensure both current and future success.

It is heartening that the need for action has been acknowledged.

Productivity enhancing reform will be a key driver of long-term growth and jobs, allowing us to compete and win on a world stage, not just on cost, but also on quality and innovation.

Unfortunately though, we now lack a functioning government and what we can’t afford is to fall further behind the rest of the UK, never mind our pecking order in the rest of the world.

This issue must be a priority for the next Executive administration.

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32 NI Chamber

I

t’s a tricky concept to define but in its simplest terms, productivity isn’t about making people work harder, it’s about working smarter, measuring the efficiency with which we turn inputs into outputs.

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CHANGE: Forget all the reasons why it won’t work & believe the one reason why it will!

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CHANGE: Forget all the Deborah O’Donnell (ACA), Proprietor & Chartered Accountant reasons why it won’t work & believe the one Award details: reason it will!

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columnist

BACK TO ‘PICKING WINNERS’?

Sector deals are at the heart of the UK Industrial Strategy.

NI Chamber Economist Maureen O’Reilly looks at the details.

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e had two industrial strategies published within days of each other in January. The first was unveiled by Prime Minister Theresa May in the form of a Green Paper setting out the UK Government’s proposals to ‘improve living standards and economic growth by increasing productivity and driving growth across the whole country’. The second, published by Simon Hamilton in his then role as Economy Minister, set out to ‘turn Northern Ireland into one of the world’s most innovative and competitive small advanced economies’. A strong set of aspirations from both documents.

Theresa May announces up front that the UK Industrial Strategy involves a ‘new, active role’ for government. A strong play is made of the fact that this is not about the Government directing the economy or determining the industries of the

34 NI Chamber

future but instead identifying the UK’s competitive strengths and exploring with industry the ways in which government can help. The approach holds with the view that a strong industrial strategy requires a ‘joint’ system of governance between the public and private sector that gets the balance right in the roles and responsibilities of the two. 1 How does Theresa May intend to get that balance right? Her starting point is the fact that there has been successful past collaboration between government and the aerospace and automotive industries in the UK, both of which are major industrial players in the economy. The Government believes it can build on these examples of success.

The new Strategy sets an ‘open door’ challenge to industry to transform sectors through ‘Sector Deals’. The idea is that sectors come forward with proposals that support

growth and improved productivity.

This could mean collaborating with other stakeholders including universities and local leaders. It could mean businesses/sectors working to develop clusters, identifying where greatest gains from technological development can be made or setting out how trade and investment deals could help them export (especially important in the context of Brexit).

The Deal would outline these actions and the role of both business and government in driving sectoral success. The role of government might be to address a regulatory issue, align policies around a sector (including training and skills) and/ or address market access barriers with other countries. The Industrial Strategy also commits government to create (and fund) new institutions, where needed, to support sectors.

The Strategy notes that competitor economies often have better

developed sectoral institutions and stronger local institutions.

Theresa May is keen to emphasise that the UK Industrial Strategy is not about directing or determining the industries of the future. There is a general reluctance to associate the Strategy with the much maligned concept of ‘picking winners’ dating back to the 1970s, subsequently dubbed ‘backing losers’. There is a relatively robust argument that ‘picking winners’ does not work. Research suggests that government simply cannot know or more importantly should not influence what sectors have the greatest potential for long-term growth.

The policy has often been associated with failure in the sense of propping up old industries that have met their useful life. OECD research makes the direct link between these zombie industries/businesses, lower investment and employment growth and declining productivity.2 A counter argument is that sectoral interventionist policies by government do work because comparative advantage in a given sector is driven by a mixture of ‘innovative private entrepreneurship and public action’3, an argument endorsing the approach taken in the new UK Industrial Strategy.

One school of thought is that government

would be much better concentrating principally on creating an environment which focuses on ease of doing business. Direct intervention by government in sectoral development should therefore be minimised on the basis that those businesses and sectors that want to grow can.

The problem for Northern Ireland however is that ultimately we have little discretion as to how we support business. The tools at our disposal to ensure ease of doing business – better, usually simpler, with regulations and stronger protections of property rights – are limited because ultimately we are a devolved administration. We also cannot be ‘all things to everyone’ because we do have a relatively limited budget to work within. It is in this context that the Department for the Economy’s Industrial Strategy does advocate sectoral strategies as a model for prioritising support. In fact sectoral strategies and action plans are already in place or are being developed in Northern Ireland for aerospace, life and health sciences, agri-food, digital and advanced manufacturing and advanced materials.

The sector deals advocated in the UK Industrial Strategy are intended to take a UK-wide approach which means that businesses/sectors in Northern Ireland

have the potential to be involved. Early sector deals are underway for a number of sectors including life sciences and industrial digitalisation, so some common ground is already there. Dame Kate Barker, former member of Northern Ireland’s Economic Advisory Group, has recently been appointed Chair of the Industrial Strategy Commission which will be launched in March 2017 to provide evidence-based policy recommendations for the development of the new Industrial Strategy. An open call for evidence has been announced. Kate Barker is very familiar with Northern Ireland’s sectoral strengths and weaknesses.

The ball has been placed firmly in businesses court. Which sectors have the wherewithal to take a deal forward?

1. ‘Picking Winners’ In A Liberal Market Economy: Modern Day Heresy – Or Essential Strategy For Competitive Success? Konzelmann/Fovarque-Davies, 2013.

2. ‘The Walking Dead? Zombie Firms And Productivity Performance In Oecd Countries’, McGowan, Andrews and Millot, 2017.

3. ‘Picking Winners: How UK industrial policy ensured the success of the aerospace and automobile industries’.

Pourvand, 2013.

NEW IDEAS HATCH OUT

By LYNSEY CUNNINGHAM, ULSTER BANK ENTREPRENEUR DEVELOPMENT MANAGER.

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ctions speak louder than words. Walk the walk, don’t talk the talk. There are plenty of phrases that place more of a value on ‘doing’ than ‘saying’. But while there’s a real value in being able to ‘go do’, it’s important that businesses don’t get tongue-tied.

In early stage entrepreneurship, where the values and vision of the people behind businesses matter as much as their ideas, this is really important.

At Entrepreneurial Spark in Belfast, when we’re welcoming new entrepreneurs into our programme, it’s relatively easy to spot those who have the tenacity and grit to really grow a business from the way that they talk about their ideas. And teaching them how to refine how they talk about their business to people outside their industry is at the core

of what we do. The 60 second pitch that we get them to polish isn’t a sales technique – in part, it’s a tool to help them understand their own business in a simple and fundamental way that is beneficial to many disciplines, not just communications.

So when we host pitching competitions, as we did during our recent Entrepreneuring Awards, which saw £24,000 distributed in prizes to winners, we’re rewarding the work that’s gone into distilling down their market analysis and understanding of how what they do meets a real need.

And just as we challenge our entrepreneurs to keep things fresh and innovative, we also have to practise what we preach – and that’s why, as we evolve and adapt our model, our ‘Hatchery’ is becoming a ‘Hub’. It will mean more people, sharper focus and greater streaming of the ideas that

come through the doors so that they get the right level of support at the right time.

Because words are important, we’ve been very deliberate about what we call ourselves, and how we treat our entrepreneurs. A ‘Hatchery’ is somewhere that is a comfortable – but we want our space to be innovative and disruptive and challenging new people to do interesting and creative things in business. By calling it a hub, we’re recognising the collaborative environment that we’re fostering, as well as our desire to make a mark on the ecosystem for local entrepreneurs – inviting the best people, agencies and supporters of business in Northern Ireland to come in and talk to our people about how they can articulate their business ideas.

NI Chamber 35

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NORTHERN IRELAND BUSINESSES MOVING THROUGH THE GEARS

Despite the uncertainties, local companies are looking towards growth, says Michael Jennings, Partner at BDO Northern Ireland.

36 NI Chamber

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n almost10 years since the first chill of the economic downturn breezed across the Atlantic, business and life have changed greatly in Northern Ireland.

It has been a busy period for us as we helped breathe life back into struggling companies and enabled some of the region’s best-known family businesses to protect jobs.

We took a tally at one stage and we were well past 4,000 jobs that we had saved as a result of voluntary arrangements or trade sales or being able to rescue businesses with new buyers.

That was midway through the crash but today demand for growth and advisory services – often seen as a bellwether for economic performance – is again firmly on the up.

The duration of the recession was unprecedented and that was extremely surprising for most people.

It made people more cautious and to think twice about growth or taking risks. While the restructuring and insolvency side of our businesses was extremely busy, the last 18-24 months have seen quiet but significant improvement and we’re now seeing a big change with more take up in our corporate finance, growth advisory

and forensic accounting services.

We’re doing a lot of business plans, projections, raising finance and also selling profitable businesses. It’s been a total flip from the work that we were doing just a few years back.

With a strong portfolio of family owned businesses, the revival of local companies has been particularly pleasing.

We invest time and that makes a difference when dealing with people as relationships in Northern Ireland are very important. We’re always keen to understand their needs, their business, what they are about and what they hope to aspire to and achieve. That can be extremely rewarding.

While we have a lot of repeat business, word-of-mouth and reputation help us find new clients.

We’re doing a lot of work with hotels and we’re busy as a firm on the agrifood side and also in the property, waste and energy sectors.

The people focus – internally and externally – has helped set BDO Northern Ireland apart. We have a shared ethos that unites and propels all levels of the business.

It’s clients and staff that are our primary focus. There’s a great culture across the firm, it’s family-friendly, we

value staff and we get a lot of support from them. They are also proactive in their encouragement for our local charitable partnerships each year.

That unity comes through regularly in feedback from our clients and from other professional relationships.

It also enables quicker and closer cross-departmental collaboration that ultimately benefits clients.

Working across teams is important.

We have 10 departments that are all very different, but we can easily draw on that expertise from colleagues in accounting, audit, wealth management, tax and throughout the firm. Sometimes you can find that there are angles from a tax perspective that the client may not have thought of or there’s something different that can be done around a funding or financing proposal. Perhaps we can find more working capital to help a business develop or support forensic accounting assignments through cross team working.

Looking ahead, people are asking what the next 12 months is going to bring. That’s a difficult one, but we know people are determined and resilient. There may be political changes, but businesses won’t let that deter them.

keeping in touch with technology. I also enjoy the different challenges that every day presents.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE PART OF THE DAY? The part of the day I look forward to most is the half hour before my children’s bedtime when we all cuddle up on the sofa, watch TV and relax. There is nothing I enjoy more than us all being together and relaxed. We make a point of having dinner together as often as possible and I hope that someday we achieve my dream of chatting and catching up over dinner. We are not quite there yet with too much rushing around and struggling to finish homework but I’ll keep dreaming.

WHAT DO YOU DO TO ENSURE A WORK/LIFE BALANCE? For me the key to this is to be honest with yourself and set your priorities. Organise your day and never feel guilty for asking for a meeting to be held at a certain time to allow you accommodate your children. I am fortunate that my work allows me a certain amount of flexibility and I can dial into meetings occasionally from home or in the evening at a calmer time to fit in a school meeting or event. Lastly, you need to mentally focus in each area; work is work and home is home. Of course I can say this knowing that I have a very supportive husband, whose job also allows a certain amount of leeway, and a family who facilitate this flexibility and help remove some of the worry.

mums with power

Cate McCandless is the Centre Manager for Schlumberger. She is married to Mark and they have two children, Rachel (9) and Matthew (7).

DESCRIBE YOUR JOB I am the Centre Manager for Schlumberger’s manufacturing centre in Belfast and also a Director of their UK legal entity, Schlumberger Oilfield UK plc. Schlumberger is large global organisation with over 90,000 employees in over 85 countries which provide oil field services and products to the oil and gas industry. In Belfast we are a machine shop, with 50 machine tools, and engineering facility with over 200 employees where we design, machine, assemble and test downhole oil well equipment for supply to the completions segment of the oil industry. In practice this means I am fully responsible for the running of Schlumberger’s business unit in Belfast as each entity is treated as a standalone business. This includes everything from health and safety, the customer interface and managing of the employees right through design and production to the financial performance of the location.

Having graduated as a Mechanical & Manufacturing engineer I love the fact that my job allows me to lead the team here whilst

HOW DOES HAVING A CHILD IMPACT YOUR PERSONAL AND WORKING LIFE? I think it gives you something else to focus on. A different goal for life. I will always do my best at my job and give my all to my company because I take pride in my work and it is in my nature.

However, I am very clear that my first priority is my family. The difference since my children arrived is that I have had to work harder on balancing work and life. It is now a conscious effort whereas before it was never something I really considered.

On a personal level, I believe it is important to find time for yourself. For many years I was not successful at this and it is only recently that I have finally set aside a portion of the week for myself and made a point of making time for myself and my husband to go out with friends. I think this results not just in a more balanced life but in a more balanced mummy!

ARE WORKING MUMS IN GREATER NEED OF STATE SUPPORT THAN STAY-AT-HOME MUMS? I am fortunate to have the support of my family for childcare and can split my children’s care between my parents and the local day care facility. Having spoken to friends and colleagues the cost of childcare can easily reach levels where it becomes prohibitive to work. I think the government is missing out on a wealth of talent and should look to extend support either to working mums or, conversely, review subsidised childcare facilities, as is done in other European countries.

DO YOU THINK YOU WILL ALWAYS REMAIN IN EMPLOYMENT? I will always need something to channel my attention. If I didn’t work, I would probably drive my family mad. After all, there is only so much organising I can do at home. I love to face daily challenges and whilst my children can easily provide this, I love seeing the results of hard work come to fruition at work. It adds structure to the day and provides variety to life.

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CITI BANKING ON FURTHER GROWTH As the third largest bank in America, Citi is a mammoth corporation. Leigh Meyer, its chief in Northern Ireland talks to Adrienne McGill about the company’s success HERE.

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hen Leigh Meyer left his native Zimbabwe in Southern Africa more than 30 years ago to take up a career in banking in London and Frankfurt, he never thought it would eventually lead him to Northern Ireland.

But now as Managing Director for the Belfast operation of global financial services giant Citi, he is permanently settled in Co Down with his family and for the last 9 years has made Northern Ireland his home.

“I love this place,” he says in his distinctive Zimbabwean accent.

“Northern Ireland is a wonderful place in which to live, work and be educated.

The high quality of the graduates we have in our offices highlights the rich pool of talent that this region has to offer. From the moment I arrived, I knew Northern Ireland was really special.”

Citi, an American multinational investment banking and financial services corporation, established its operations in Belfast in 2005 to support its capital markets trading activities in London, across Europe and New York.

Following several phases of expansion, including an investment in 2014 of £54 million and the creation of 600 jobs, the company now employs 2,150 people at its three offices in Titanic Quarter with a fourth contingency site in Donegall Square.

Looking ahead, there are plans to create a further 600 jobs.

“For Citi, the ability to tap into the graduate programmes at the universities here is very important,” says Mr Meyer who holds a degree in economics and business administration from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa.

“The time zone is also a huge benefit. It is widely recognised that part of London

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and Belfast’s competitive advantage in financial services is derived from the time zone. The business day overlaps with those of other financial markets. At 9am GMT in London and Belfast it is 5pm in Singapore and Hong Kong and 6pm in Tokyo. At 5pm in London and Belfast it is midday in New York and 9am in San Francisco.

“Furthermore the logistics between Belfast and London are great. You can fly from Belfast and be at your desk in Canary Wharf by 8.30am where you can do a full day and be back in Belfast by 10pm. It is a long day – and ideally you would not want to do it every day but you can’t do it from many other cities other than Belfast.

“We also have people who are very competent at building relationships with clients – and that is crucial in our business.

“So with a business culture, common language, excellent air connections to London and proximity to our key markets – Belfast is a key business base for Citi.”

The Titanic Quarter facilities play a vital role in the development and implementation of sophisticated financial software used by traders in exchanges around the world to buy and sell millions worth of stocks and shares every day.

Around 1,000 staff are involved in the design, development, testing, rollout and support of computer systems associated with capital market activities, from trading platforms through to settlement and reconciliation.

The capital markets business covers the Rates, FX and Equities side of the business with teams of Citi’s highly skilled software developers in Belfast writing the software that is used in the trading, settling, and confirming of trades in stock markets.

The company also provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products

and services including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, foreign currency exchange and wealth management.

“We move millions of dollars here every single day. Citi is a hugely important part of providing liquidity in the market and our teams in Belfast play a critical role in that,” says Mr Meyer.

Citi is committed to Belfast and its operation there. It is currently reassessing how it executes business from the UK into the EU in order to support its client base in light of Brexit. The company is in the process of ensuring there is no disruption to the services it provides to its EU clients.

The giant bank, which employs 9,000 people in the UK, has been in discussions with the authorities in Ireland, Italy, France, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands as potential locations for an additional broker-dealer business.

Speculation has been rising that the triggering of Article 50 – which is planned for March and will signal the formal negotiations to leave the EU – will lead to major US, Japanese and Swiss banks in the UK implementing their Brexit contingency plans.

Citi, which employs 19,000 staff across the EU and has a presence in 21 of the 28 members of the EU, has not disclosed how many of its staff would be affected by any move.

Executives from banks including Citi, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley have said they will move staff from London if the UK is stripped of so-called passporting rights.

Passporting is the means by which banks such as Citi are able to conduct business out of London with other members of the EU without the need for extra regulatory approval.

“We don’t think Brexit will impact

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Picture by David Cordner www.davidcordner.com

Belfast. We don’t sell services from here – we provide support functions to clients. Supporting is very different to selling,” says Mr Meyer.

“It has been a long standing strategic objective to build out Belfast. We have grown from a staff of 375 in 2005 to more than 2,000 now. Over the past 12 years we have grown appreciably.

“We will continue to expand in Belfast and in other cities where there are Citi service centres including Budapest and Dublin. We are not filling the same roles now that we filled even 5 years ago. We have diversity in role creation and career development. We have looked at how we can grow and have compliance, legal and HR professional services now operating out of Belfast.

Last year we started to introduce another wave of roles in the form of internal audit and risk.

“So we are adding roles to different kinds of disciplines all the time but they are all inter-related and are major career opportunities.”

Sophisticated and ground breaking technology is at the core of everything Citi does hence its desire to embrace blockchain which is transforming the financial services industry by making transactions faster, cheaper, more secure and transparent.

Because it is a global bank, Citi is keen to look for opportunities to use this technology to move money from country to country across its network.

There is also the potential to eliminate counterparty risk. The bank has been examining scenarios where a large bank like Citi can transact with smaller local banks without worrying about risk or requiring cash collateral and performing immediate FX transactions.

“There is a lot of excitement about the new technologies – especially blockchain. We are keen to see how this will impact banking. However, the pace at which we adopt them will be dictated by the market and by the security around the applications,” says Mr Meyer.

“Robotics is also on the agenda at the moment and how we can automate key processes that a lot of people have to do. We are looking at how robotics can support us – it is a very exciting field.”

NI Chamber 39

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E Environmental economics: What role can ICT play? Sinead Dillon, Principal Consultant, Fujitsu examines the question.

40 NI Chamber

A SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP

conomic growth is often viewed as bad for the environment but is this necessarily the case? In a world where digitalisation now plays a vital role in achieving economic success can ICT innovation and digitalisation actually support environmental sustainability?

There is no doubt that the environment plays an enormous role in supporting economic activity. Firstly, the world’s natural resources are used as inputs fundamental to production and service delivery. On the other hand, the environment processes and absorbs pollution and waste generated by economic activity. At face value, it is not surprising then that economic growth could be viewed as harmful to the environment. But that relationship is changing not least through companies assessing their environmental impact.

The principles of environmental sustainability now form part of most commercial strategies with companies addressing environmental aspects resulting from and associated with their activities, products and services.

At Fujitsu, sustainability sits at the heart of our business. We are committed to conserving energy and natural resources, and practice the 3Rs approach (reduce, reuse and recycle) to create best-of-breed eco-friendly products and solutions. We also enable our customers to reduce the environmental impact of their business activities and improve environmental efficiency through our ethical supply chains, increasing the deployment and delivery of sustainable services and solutions.

There is also increased recognition that economic and environmental prosperity can go hand in hand, especially in increasing energy and resource efficiency in the design, production, and deployment of new solutions.

This challenge of ‘more for less’ stimulates advances in design, production and technology.

Implemented innovatively, ICT solutions can generate revenue, cut costs and reduce emissions. According to the SMARTer2030 Report, published by the Global e-Sustainability with support from Fujitsu, it is estimated that ICT technologies could benefit the world’s economy by generating $11 trillion in additional

revenues and savings in 2030. This is achievable through the utilisation of digital technologies such as cloud computing, the Internet of Things and mobile services which enable innovation, spur economic growth and generate sustainability savings.

The rise of cloud computing has arguably the greatest potential to fuel business development and economic growth as it underpins mobile productivity and big data. As an example of the sustainability-enabling effect of cloud services, Fujitsu has developed a Food & Agriculture Cloud (Akisai), which allows data to be shared and used for more effective and productive farm management.

Similarly, the Internet of Things which expands the quantity and quality of real-time information available from a diverse range of devices, can also aid the environment. Data harvested and analysed from smart devices in turn allows us to act ‘smarter’ and transforms information gleaned from data insights into meaningful

action. One industry that is putting IoT innovation to good use in order to generate economic growth and sustainable practices is the Utilities sector. By building a network of physical objects embedded with software, sensors and network connectivity, enabling them to collect and exchange data, the sector is transforming how businesses and individuals think of and consume energy.

Smart ICT technology is also an enabler for businesses to act in an optimal way in order to reduce their resource requirements, and, ultimately, the impact on the environment by producing less waste and pollution.

While the use of ICT is not a magic wand to make all business processes sustainable, it helps break the link between economic development and resource depletion. To borrow an environmental term it can – and is – fostering a symbiotic relationship between the two.

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OPEN FARM WEEKEND SET FOR SUCCESS AGAIN

BY RICHARD PRIMROSE, AGRI ADVISOR NORTHERN IRELAND AT BANK OF IRELAND UK. A surprising year both globally and domestically, 2016 was certainly not short of interest and activity. This was the case too in the world of Agri business with another busy year for Northern Ireland with the Year of Food & Drink.

The year’s activity helped to further highlight the importance of Agri Food as Northern Ireland’s most important manufacturing industry with its annual contribution of £5 billion to the local economy.

The celebratory year culminated in the recent Year of Food & Drink Awards (YOFADA) where the spotlight continued to showcase the quality and depth of the sector across the region.

We were delighted to see the Bank of Ireland UK Open Farm Weekend nominated for the best event/festival award, building on the success of winning Food NI’s ‘Grow Make Eat Drink Award’

for best food promotion by a festival/ event.

The initiative has grown from strength to strength since it began in 2012 with over 13,000 visitors and 23 farms participating in 2016. It has become a key event in the NI Agri calendar building awareness of the farm to fork process, showcasing the industry to the general public, many of which have little or no access to working farms.

In each of the 5 years since its inception, farmer and participant feedback has played an important part in ensuring the initiative learns, adapts and innovates so as to remain relevant and continue to grow to meet the demands and opportunities in the market.

As a result for 2017, a new farm mentor has been appointed to work in partnership, provide key support to participating farmers, especially those

new to hosting the public on their farms.

The role is intended to inspire and help farmers who decide to take part and become an additional layer of support for farmers beyond the event organisers.

There is a great opportunity to continue to build on the momentum and success of the Year of Food and Drink throughout 2017 and beyond and BOIUK are delighted to confirm our continued support of Open Farm Weekend for the next 3 years.

• Confirmed for Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th June, BOI Open Farm recruitment is currently open.

For more information email info@ openfarmweekend.com.

TAKE A WALK IN A HOSPICE NURSE’S SHOES

N

orthern Ireland Hospice is calling on people from all walks of life to get behind its popular annual fundraising Hospice Walk campaign this Spring.

The charity, which cares for babies, children, teenagers and adults with life-limiting conditions, aims to raise £100k from walks across Northern Ireland to help continue to provide people here with the highest quality palliative care at home and in the hospice when they need it most.

The 2017 Hospice Walks will take place in 9 stunning locations across the province in April, May and June, with the additional option for supporters to hold their own walk events in their local areas or organisations.

With walking distances ranging from 1.5 miles to 9 miles, the Hospice Walk is something anyone of any age or ability can take part in.

Hospice nurse Deborah McAllister is appealing to families, friends and local businesses to lace up and experience what it’s like to walk in her shoes for just one day.

“On average, a Hospice nurse walks 3-4 miles per shift, which is equivalent to 8,000 steps per

42 NI Chamber

star said: “This is my 21st year participating in day, and the length of one Hospice Walk route. the Hospice Walk, having clocked up a total of With each step we take, we are providing specialist, 24-hour palliative care to children and 100 miles during the course of my time. I’m appealing to all families, businesses and friends adults with life-limiting illnesses. By choosing to to join us for this fun-filled event.” support the Hospice Walk, this will allow us to continue to provide specialist palliative care to To register for your local 2017 Hospice children and adults with terminal illnesses.”

Walk, visit www.nihospice.org or call Paralympic hero Michael McKillop has 02890 777123 or go online to NI Hospice’s also stepped up to offer his support for the Facebook and Twitter pages.

Hospice Walk. He said: “I’m delighted to be involved in this year’s Hospice Walk, and to support Northern Ireland Hospice. I urge everyone to take a walk in a hospice nurse’s shoes and help raise as much funds as possible for this great charity.”

Local TV personality Olivia Nash, who is the Vice President of Northern Ireland Hospice, will also be taking part in a Paralympic hero Michael McKillop with TV personality Hospice Walk. The Olivia Nash, the vice president of Northern Ireland Hospice Give My Head Peace and Hospice nurse Debbie Mc Allister.

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SUPER SIX THE THINGS I’VE LEARNED IN BUSINESS Eleanor McEvoy is an entrepreneur with a track record of building successful and profitable businesses. She is currently CEO of Budget Energy, one of the main suppliers of electricity to the Northern Ireland market, and is presently recording her second stint on the panel of RTE’s Dragons’ Den. Previously, she started Pembroke Distributors, a food distribution and vending company, and Phonecard Warehouse, a reseller of mobile phone top-ups. She is a Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurship at Ulster University, a two-time finalist in EY Entrepreneur of the Year, and was UTV Business Personality of the Year 2013.

1. The most important lesson to learn is that there are times you still know nothing!

Every day is a learning experience in business. Just when you might be tempted to think you know it all, you very quickly learn how much you still have to learn! I have started three very different businesses from scratch, so learning quickly and continuously is second nature to me.

2. Change is inevitable …

Change is inevitable and it is good. Some of the best business operators are serious disruptors. They look at things in a different way, shake it all up, and bring something new and exciting to the table. Also, the nature of any successful business is that it continually changes and grows…if it doesn’t change, it slows down, stops, starts going backwards and eventually dies.

3. Embrace the fear and do it anyway.

I have had my share of waking up in the middle of the night wondering if I am doing the right thing – I think every business person does. I have learnt to embrace the fear and do it anyway, because being afraid doesn’t affect the outcome.

4. You’re only as good as the people you have.

The team you have around you are your most valuable asset – nurture them, support them and help them grow. You can’t achieve anything meaningful without attracting good people who will back you up and help the business to succeed.

5. Lead by example if you want respect and productivity.

I don’t expect any member of my team to do anything that I haven’t, wouldn’t or couldn’t do. If you roll up your sleeves and lead from the front, they will too – and they will respect you for it.

6. It’s vital to know your own and your people’s weaknesses.

There are very few perfect all-rounders in the business world. I know, for example, that I do some things better than others. I also know that every business has horses for courses. It is important to know when you, or members of your team, need to be better at something and to seek help from someone who can deliver that expertise.

news

Word from brussels AMBITION LOOKS AT RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN BRUSSELS AS THE UK PREPARES TO LEAVE THE EU. A SERVICES ECONOMY THAT WORKS FOR EUROPEANS The European Commission has presented an ambitious and balanced package of measures that will make it easier for companies and professionals to provide services to a potential customer base of 500 million people in the EU. The proposed measures aim to make it easier for services providers to navigate administrative formalities, and to help Member States identify overly burdensome or outdated requirements on professionals operating domestically or across borders. Rather than amending existing EU rules in the area of services, the Commission is focusing on ensuring they are applied better, as evidence shows that implementing them to their full potential would provide a significant boost to the EU economy. The four concrete initiatives adopted by the Commission are a new European Services e-card, a proportionality assessment of national rules on professional services, guidance for national reforms in regulation of professions and improved notification of draft national laws on services.

PUBLIC CONSULTATION ON THE EUROPEAN SOLIDARITY CORPS The European Commission has launched a public consultation for organisations, employers, young people, teachers, youth workers and other stakeholders on the European Solidarity Corps to define the key

priorities and shape the implementation of the Corps. The European Solidarity Corps is the new European Union initiative, launched in December 2016, which creates opportunities for young people to volunteer or work in projects in their own country or abroad that benefit communities and people around Europe. The results of the consultation, which runs until 2 April 2017, will feed into the Commission’s legislative proposal on the European Solidarity Corps. It will be complemented by targeted consultations with key stakeholders involved in youth work in the EU. Since the launch, more than 21,000 young people have already registered with the European Solidarity Corps and the objective is to have 100,000 young people joining by the end of 2020.

END OF ROAMING CHARGES As the last step towards the end of roaming charges by 15 June 2017, representatives from the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission have agreed on how to regulate wholesale roaming markets i.e. the price operators charge each other when their customers use other networks when roaming in the EU. EU negotiators agreed on the following wholesale caps: 3.2 cents per minute of voice call, as of 15 June 2017; 1 cent per SMS, as of 15 June 2017 and a step by step reduction over 5 years for data caps decreasing from €7.7 per GB (as of 15 June 2017) to €6 per GB (as of 1 January 2018), €4.5 per GB (as of 1 January 2019), €3.5 per GB (as of 1 January 2020), €3 per GB (as of

1 January 2021) and €2.5 per GB (as of 1 January 2022). This is the final step to make “roam-like-at-home” work from 15 June 2017 and will mean that, when travelling in the EU, consumers will be able to call, send texts or surf on their mobile at the same price they pay at home.

COMMISSION WELCOMES ENTRY INTO FORCE OF NEW TRANSPARENCY RULES FOR TAX RULINGS As of 1 January 2017, EU Member States are obliged to automatically exchange information on all new cross-border tax rulings that they issue. This will be done through a central depository, accessible to all EU countries. Pierre Moscovici, Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs, said: “We have a duty to make corporate taxation fairer and more transparent, and to use every means possible to block tax abuse and profit shifting. The entry into force of the automatic exchange of information on cross-border tax rulings on 1 January marks a major step forward. It equips Member States and their national tax administrations with the information they need to detect certain abusive tax practices and take the necessary action in response.”

Every six months national tax authorities will send a report to the depository, listing all the cross-border tax rulings that they have issued.

Other Member States will then be able to check those lists and to ask the issuing Member State for more detailed information on a particular ruling. This first exchange should take place by 1 September 2017 at the latest.

NI Chamber 45

columnist

tECH SCENE ROUND UP

AI GETS REAL AT BEL TECH, IT STRIKES AGAIN WITH EARTHQUAKE PREDICTIONS AND AMAZON MUSCLES IN ON SKYPE. IT’S ALL HAPPENING IN THE TECH WORLD AS PHIL HOEY FROM SYNC NI REVEALS.

COULD AI HELP PREDICT EARTHQUAKES? Speaking of Artificial Intelligence, a growing number of seismologists believe recent advances in the field of machine learning, coupled with our growing ability to centralise unstructured and unrelated datasets, manipulate and analyse that data and extract insights from it, means we could soon be able to predict where and when an earthquake will occur…possibly weeks or months before the ground begins to tremble.

Paul Johnston and Chris Marone, two geophysicists in the USA, have been experimenting with feeding vast quantities of earthquake-related Big Data into an open source machine learning algorithm that they hope could help predict an earthquake…with some surprising results.

When working with data from simulated earthquakes the machine learning algorithm has been able to detect sound patterns that consistently recur prior to an earthquake. The team hasn’t been able to replicate the same sound patterns using data from realworld earthquakes yet, which is much more complex, but the early results seem promising.

If the approach works, the geophysicists believe it could be possible to employ Artificial Intelligence to predict earthquakes months or even years before they happen.

BELTECH COMES BACK TO BELFAST Northern Ireland’s potential to become a global leader in the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies will be a major talking point when BelTech returns to our capital city on Thursday 6th April.

Now in its fourth year, the annual BelTech conference has grown to become one of Northern Ireland’s foremost technology events, bringing together tech and business leaders from across the UK, Ireland, other parts of the EU and further afield.

Curated by the Northern Ireland-headquartered technology firm, Kainos Software, and hosted by Aisling Events, BelTech 2017 will feature influential international speakers from the worlds of software engineering, machine learning, connected systems, immersive technologies and cybersecurity.

But it’s Artificial Intelligence that could be the true talk of the town this year, with the event’s organisers suggesting that Belfast is well placed to become a centre of excellence for AI technologies if the province’s tech industry plays to its strengths in sectors such as healthcare and cybersecurity.

Tom Gray, Group Chief Technology Officer at Kainos, explains: “If the UK is going to be a hub for AI, it’s inefficient to have all regions focusing on the same tech segments. So, I think it’s appropriate to talk about Northern Ireland being the centre of excellence for AI in areas such as cybersecurity and healthcare, sectors where we already have great skills and capabilities.”

BelTech 2017 will take place at Titanic Belfast on 6th and 7th April 2017

Want to be the first to find out what’s happening in Northern Ireland’s tech scene?

Stay up to date with www.syncni.com or follow us on Twitter @syncni

AMAZON MAKES THE EARTH TREMBLE FOR SKYPE Microsoft may be feeling the earth tremble right about now, with the news that a very big, very heavyweight competitor has decided to stomp all over its Skype-branded turf.

Skype was launched in Scandinavia in 2003, but became a subsidiary of Microsoft in 2011 following an $8.5 billion acquisition. Given that huge price tag, it’s clear that video calling and video conferencing have a lot of commercial value…and now Amazon has launched its Chime service to muscle in on the video conferencing market.

With many Skype users lamenting the service’s unreliable audio quality, Amazon’s new Chime service boasts a noise-cancelling wideband technology that promises users crisp and clear audio.

Of course, Skype for Business hasn’t cornered the video conferencing market, and the service already has a number of competitors including WebEx and GoToMeeting. However, it’s fair to say that Amazon’s reach, its available investment capital…and its willingness to invest it…makes Amazon’s Chime a very heavyweight contender to Microsoft’s Skype.

46 NI Chamber

www.mauriceflynn.com

City Hospital Intensive Care Unit, Belfast

feature

My Ambition is to...

Leonard Campbell, financial planning and analysis accountant at firmus energy.

H

aving grown up in the beautiful surroundings of Glenariff, it would have been hard to imagine back then that I would have chosen a numbers-based career, set mainly in an office! However, it was clear from an early age that this was the path for me and one that I am thoroughly enjoying following I took my A levels at St Killian’s College at Garron Tower and applied to Queen’s University, where I was accepted to study Economics. I loved my time at Queen’s and enjoyed all the life experiences that come with being a student but I took care not to neglect my studying, which really paid off when I graduated with first class honours.

48 NI Chamber

After leaving university and having enjoyed living in Belfast so much, I decided to take a job in London for a year as a financial analyst. This was a great grounding in accountancy for me and I loved the fast pace of life but, after a year, I was ready to consider coming back to Belfast. I applied for a role in the Corporate Finance department at KPMG and this is where I gained my professional accountancy qualification. Within the broad exposure the Corporate Finance department offered, I also undertook some financial modelling, which I found fascinating and carried out some work on renewable energy projects which piqued my interest in the energy sector.

When the position of financial planning and analysis accountant came up for firmus energy, I was immediately keen to learn more. I saw that it could offer me the prospect of specialising in the rapidly-growing natural gas sector and the company’s values of integrity, empathy, clarity and teamwork were very much in line with my own.

I quickly realised that my degree and experience from my other roles were extremely applicable to the firmus energy position, and that my skill-set fitted their criteria. I was delighted when I heard that I had got the role and I started last December. I am still very much on a learning track and getting to grips with the ins and outs of financial planning within the natural gas sector as there is a great deal of regulation surrounding the industry.

Everyone in the company has been very welcoming and I’ve fitted in really well. It’s a very positive team-working environment and everyone has been very supportive. We are also encouraged to become involved with company-wide CSR initiatives and these are a great opportunity to develop new skills and meet colleagues in other departments. I’ve had to hit the ground running and while that is challenging and complex, it is also an opportunity to demonstrate just what I can do.

At the minute I’m completing monthend accountancy work and reporting on statistics as well as preparing some financial models. I am really enjoying the work and I have to say the best thing about the job is how quickly my days go in – it’s Friday again before I know it!

My ambition is to become a financial director but I know I still have a lot to learn in terms of the industry and people management. I am lucky to be part of a very experienced team and have really broadened my horizons over the last few months and would love, perhaps in ten to 15 years, to be in my dream position.

Once I settled on accountancy as my career, I always had the intention of climbing the ladder as high as I could go. It certainly makes a difference from climbing trees each summer in Glenariff when I was younger but even then, I didn’t give up until I reached the top!

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NI CHAMBER’S CORPORATE CHAMPIONS In the first in a series, Ambition highlights NI Chamber’s Corporate members who represent leading companies that are powering ahead with investment, innovation, entrepreneurship and job creation and in the process are helping to develop the northern ireland economy.

50 NI Chamber

by researching into the inactive candidate market, but attract, assess and on-board these individuals for specific senior or specialised business-critical roles.

COMPANY NAME: 4c Executive WE EMPLOY: 9 WE ARE BASED IN: Belfast OUR MD/CEO IS: Gary Irvine WHAT WE DO: We are Northern Ireland’s leading independent provider of professional executive search services. We find the best people for roles that are almost impossible to fill if a company were to use traditional recruitment methods. We not only identify and uncover untapped talent

OUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENTS ARE: Being retained on over 140 roles in just three years; successfully launching three new divisions under the 4c brand last year – 4c Boardroom, specialising in placing NEDs and Chairs across Northern Ireland, 4c Third Sector, enabling charitable and not-for-profit organisations to benefit from a bespoke executive search service that we have specifically developed, and 4c Interim, providing management and executive interim solutions.

OUR AMBITION IS TO: Continue supporting our clients’ growth and success by finding and placing the best

Europe and North America. Our home base

leaders in Northern Ireland to fill their senior-level, business critical roles.

WHAT SETS US APART: Since our inception at 4c, we have always focused on our USPs and stayed true to what we set out to be – that is to be the only true executive search and selection firm in Northern Ireland. We don’t dabble in the contingency type recruitment offered by a traditional recruitment agency, our focus is on sourcing talent who would not apply through conventional methods, those not looking for a new opportunity or those who may not appreciate the opportunities available outside of their own company.

FIND US AT: W: www.4cexecutive.com T: @4cexecutive

tourists to the Island of Ireland every year.

in Dublin Airport is the only major airport in Europe to offer U.S preclearance which

OUR AMBITION IS TO:

enables passengers to save time on arrival

Be the leading value carrier operating across

COMPANY NAME: Aer Lingus

in the U.S by completing all the necessary

the North Atlantic.

WE EMPLOY: 4,000

immigration and customs checks prior to

WE ARE BASED IN: George Best Belfast

departure. Our guests can choose from over

WHAT SETS US APART:

City Airport (Belfast base) and headquartered

100 routes in Europe and 11 North American

Our value proposition – low fares boosted

at Dublin Airport

destinations with more than 100 onward

by our award-winning service and innovative

OUR MD/CEO IS: Stephen Kavanagh

connections across the U.S and Canada,

product offering at each stage of our guests’

WHAT WE DO:

available with our partner airlines.

journey with Aer Lingus make us the

We fly 12 million guests across our European

smart choice – from booking their flight at

and North American network every year.

OUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENTS

aerlingus.com, checking in via the Aer Lingus

We operate flights from Belfast to London

ARE: Flying satisfied guests to their

app, using the Express Bag Drop facility to

Heathrow, Malaga, Faro, Alicante and Palma

destinations for more than 80 years; joining

enjoying Wi-Fi on board our long haul flights.

Majorca. Aer Lingus is the national airline of

an elite group of less than forty Skytrax

Ireland, founded in 1936 and is a member of

4-Star rated airlines globally, re-launching

FIND US AT:

International Airlines Group (IAG), one of the

our Business Class product across our

W: www.aerlingus.com

world’s largest airline groups. We operate 62

transatlantic flights, bringing millions of

T: @AerLingus

globally. Services range from R&D, biomarker discovery development and commercialisation, API manufacture, formulation development, clinical trial supply including IRT through to commercial-scale manufacture.

WHAT SETS US APART: We have almost 50 years’ experience, are financially secure and privately owned. We have world renowned contract services tailored for each individual client and specialist expertise at every stage of drug development process from inception to delivery. With continual innovation in every aspect of our business, we employ inspirational people who possess exceptional skills and talent. They are the driving force behind our success with over 30 different nationalities at our global headquarters. We have 12 facilities and 60 depots globally.

aircraft on routes to destinations in the UK,

COMPANY NAME: Almac Group Ltd WE EMPLOY: 4,700 (2,850 based in NI) WE ARE BASED IN: Craigavon (headquarters), UK, Ireland, US & Asia OUR MD/CEO IS: Alan Armstrong OBE WHAT WE DO: We are an established contract development and manufacturing organisation providing an extensive range of integrated services to the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors

OUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENTS ARE: Working with 600 global biopharmaceutical companies and continued global expansion with an investment of over £150 million.

OUR AMBITION IS TO: Continue partnering to ‘Advance Human Health’.

FIND US AT: W: www.almacgroup.com T: @almacgroup

NI Chamber 51

and we do this by never losing sight of our goal - ‘Save Money. Live Better’. We place our customers at the centre of our business and since expanding into the Northern Ireland market in 2005 we have continued to listen and respond to their needs and wants.

COMPANY NAME: Asda Northern Ireland WE EMPLOY: 4,500 colleagues WE ARE BASED IN: Antrim (headquarters), Ballyclare, Bangor, Coleraine, Cookstown, Downpatrick, Dundonald, Enniskillen, Kilkeel, Larne, Newtownards, Omagh, Portadown, Shore Road/Belfast, Strabane, Westwood/Belfast, Asda Living, Belfast.

OUR MD/CEO IS: Sean Clarke WHAT WE DO: Asda is one of the UK’s top four supermarkets. We are committed to offering shoppers ‘Every Day Low Prices’

OUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENTS ARE: Becoming part of the local communities where each of our stores operates.

Thanks to the efforts of our Community Champions, our award-winning Community Life programme, and with the backing of the Asda Foundation we are connecting and supporting organisations, good causes and charities across Northern Ireland.

Together we are making a positive impact on the people who live and work around our stores. We’re also fully committed to supporting the local agri-food sector,

every aspects of an organisation’s IT from the desktop to the datacentre.

COMPANY NAME: Capita Managed IT Solutions WE EMPLOY: 800 WE ARE BASED IN: Newtownabbey, Dublin, Hemel Hempstead, Birmingham and Glasgow OUR MD/CEO IS: Ed Brown WHAT WE DO: We provide cloud based and end-to-end infrastructure services to public, private and third sector organisations and specialist managed services in the education, government and utilities sectors. Our portfolio of services and solutions spans

COMPANY NAME: Citi WE EMPLOY: 2,100 WE ARE BASED IN: Belfast OUR MD/CEO IS: Leigh Meyer WHAT WE DO: Citi, one of the leading global banks, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than

52 NI Chamber

OUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENTS ARE: The many long standing relationships we have with our customers. For the past 16 years we have been working in partnership with Classroom 2000 (C2k), delivering a managed service to over 1,100 schools in Northern Ireland, delivering the first education private cloud in Europe. Over the last 12 years, our wealth of experience in delivering large scale and complex ICT managed services and solutions to the energy and utilities sector has resulted in successful partnerships with companies such as NIE Networks, Viridian, Energia, ESB, NI Water and CCWater.

160 countries and jurisdictions. We provide consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services and wealth management.

OUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENTS ARE: Establishing in Belfast in 2005, with the original goal of creating 350 jobs purely in the technology sector, to employing over 2,100 today in a diverse range of roles including Operations, Technology,

annually sourcing circa £300 million of produce from over 100 island of Ireland suppliers and working in partnership with them to develop business opportunities across our UK-wide store network.

OUR AMBITION IS TO: Be the UK’s most trusted retailer – delivering value and quality to our customers while treating our suppliers fairly, reducing waste and minimising our impact on the environment.

WHAT SETS US APART: Our colleagues are the heroes of our business; they consistently go above and beyond, enhancing the experience for all who come into contact with Asda.

FIND US AT: W: www.asda.com T: @asda

OUR AMBITION IS TO: Provide our clients with the tools and technologies to underpin their business success.

WHAT SETS US APART: We have the ability to provide complete end-to-end infrastructure services and solutions from server, storage, networking and security to connectivity and end user services. We pride ourselves in the level of service excellence provided to our customers and our industry leading service management capabilities underpins everything that we do.

FIND US AT: W: www.capita-mits.co.uk T: @Capita_MITS

Legal, Compliance, Risk, Audit and Human Resources. Since 2005 we have raised a total of £400,000 for 11 charities.

OUR AMBITION IS TO: Become the leading employer of choice in Belfast.

WHAT SETS US APART: A job at Citi enables you to live locally while working globally in one of the world’s largest banks.

FIND US AT: W: www.citigroup.com T: @Citi

COMPANY NAME: Dublin Airport WE EMPLOY: 15,700 WE ARE BASED IN: Dublin OUR MD/CEO IS: Vincent Harrison WHAT WE DO: Dublin Airport is the key gateway to the island of Ireland, as more than two thirds of all air passengers who arrive in Ireland use Dublin Airport. Last year, passenger numbers at Dublin Airport increased by 11 per cent to a record 27.9 million.

OUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENTS ARE:

COMPANY NAME: Emirates WE EMPLOY: 35 (Ireland) and 63,000 (worldwide) WE ARE BASED IN: Dublin and Dubai (headquarters) OUR MD/CEO IS: Sir Tim Clark (President) and Enda Corneille (Ireland

Becoming the fastest-growing major airport in Europe in 2016. Dublin Airport has direct flights to 185 destinations in 41 countries operated by a total of 47 airlines. Last year Dublin Airport welcomed 19 new routes and four new airlines and extra capacity was added on 31 existing services. Dublin Airport is now the fifth largest airport in Europe with North America connectivity after Heathrow, Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam. This year, Dublin welcomes three new long-haul services – a new daily year-round direct service to Doha with Qatar Airlines, a new daily summer service to Boston with Delta Air Lines and a new 3 times weekly summer service to Miami with Aer Lingus.

OUR AMBITION IS TO: Be the best performing Airport in Europe.

Country Manager) WHAT WE DO: Carry 25,000 passengers from Dublin per month to Dubai and onward to 150 destinations.

onto the Dublin Dubai route next year.

OUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENTS ARE: Growing our Northern Ireland business by in excess of 50 per cent since we based a Sales Executive in the region.

OUR AMBITION IS TO: Further grow our business and welcome the A380, the company’s flagship aircraft,

Government Reform Programme in 2015 which reduced the number of Councils in Northern Ireland from 26 to 11 and which aimed to deliver ‘thriving, dynamic local government that creates vibrant, healthy prosperous, safe and sustainable communities that have the needs of the citizen at their core’.

COMPANY NAME: Fermanagh and Omagh District Council WE EMPLOY: 870 WE ARE BASED IN: Enniskillen and Omagh OUR MD/CEO IS: Brendan Hegarty WHAT WE DO: Fermanagh and Omagh District Council was established as a result of the Local

OUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENTS ARE: Despite experiencing significant change in a difficult financial climate, the Council continues to provide quality services to deliver on its ambition and to build stronger partnerships through its community planning partnership.

WHAT SETS US APART: Dublin Airport is the only European Capital airport with all day US Pre-clearance and the first dedicated US Pre-clearance lounge outside North America. The airport was placed first for customer service among airports of its size in Europe in 2015 in a survey conducted by Airports Council International and Best in Europe for Accessibility at the Airports Council International (ACI) Europe Awards in 2016.

FIND US AT: W: www.dublinairport.com T: @DublinAirport

WHAT SETS US APART: Quality customer service, 150+ destinations, modern aircraft, 2500 channels of inflight entertainment and award winning inflight-dining all at an extremely affordable price and underpinned by a valuable and trusted brand.

FIND US AT: W: www.emirates.com T: @emirates

Establish a cohesive area, building on our strengths to make it; a place where people choose to live, a place where businesses choose to invest, and a place where visitors choose to spend time.

WHAT SETS US APART: Fermanagh and Omagh District Council area is recognised for its unique and beautiful natural environment; for its quality facilities and services; for the talents, skills and creativity of its people; and as a place where quality of life is promoted and valued.

FIND US AT: W: www.fermanaghomagh.com T: @fermanaghomagh

OUR AMBITION IS TO: NI Chamber 53

and commercial customers across the province, with around 31,000 of these from areas new to natural gas and the remainder in Belfast who have chosen to switch from their previous supplier.

COMPANY NAME: firmus energy WE EMPLOY: 100 WE ARE BASED IN: Antrim OUR MD/CEO IS: Michael Scott WHAT WE DO: Natural gas distribution and supply company OUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENTS ARE: Investing in excess of £110 million over the past 11 years enabling properties in more than 30 towns, cities and villages to connect to the benefits of natural gas. To date, firmus energy has over 80,000 residential

OUR AMBITION IS TO: ‘ Take natural gas further’ with ambitious plans to grow our network which already extends to more than 1100 km. This will allow us to bring our environmentallyfriendly, practical fuel to additional new areas and thousands more properties. firmus energy currently supplies over 58 per cent of the natural gas consumed in Northern Ireland (excluding power generation stations) and as a result has displaced upwards of 670,000 tonnes of CO2.

because of the specialist nature of the post, have sought our assistance.

COMPANY NAME: Forde May Consulting WE EMPLOY: 4 WE ARE BASED IN: Belfast OUR MD/CEO IS: Gerry May WHAT WE DO: Forde May Consulting specialises in senior executive headhunting and selection across all business sectors, and functional specialities. It has been in existence for over 20 years. Over the years we have focussed on ‘Hard to fill’ posts which employers have been unable to fill, or

COMPANY NAME: Fujitsu WE EMPLOY: 700+ WE ARE BASED IN: Belfast and Derry/ Londonderry OUR MD/CEO IS: Greg McDaid (Client Managing Director) WHAT WE DO: Fujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company offering a full range of technology products, solutions and services. We deliver consulting, applications, technology products, systems integration and managed services, including cloud-based solutions,

54 NI Chamber

OUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENTS ARE: Being in business over 20 years is an achievement in itself, but the fact we’ve been able to sustain and grow our business without the need for excessive advertising and self-promotion means we’ve successfully delivered top talent to clients, who in turn recommend and refer us to the broader business community, and this has ultimately grown our business and brand.

WHAT SETS US APART: We are a local company and we pride ourselves on our continued excellent customer service. We believe in giving back to the many communities in which we are active through a range of grassroots sponsorships, including the firmus energy Mid Ulster Youth League and the firmus energy Super Six athletics series. We are also socially responsible and undertake many CSR activities including fundraising for a nominated charity, which for 2017 is SANDS NI, the organisation supporting families who have suffered the tragic loss of a baby.

FIND US AT: W: www.firmusenergy.co.uk T: @firmusenergy

best service and we’ll do this by utilising our extensive global network, our inhouse expertise and future technology to ultimately deliver the best global talent.

WHAT SETS US APART: Our pedigree sets us apart. The company’s success is built on the following ethos: ‘Understand, identify and select with integrity, tenacity, pride and passion.’

Forde May Consulting is responsible for securing many of the highest level positions in Northern Ireland’s private, public and voluntary sectors.

OUR AMBITION IS TO: Stay at the forefront of executive search.

We want to ensure our clients receive the

FIND US AT: W: www.fordemayconsulting.com T: @niexecjobs

for customers across both public and private sectors, including retail, financial services, telecoms, government, defense and consumer IT.

and connectedness. As such, through collaboration with customers old and new we want to continue to harness technology to help people fulfil their potential. We passionately believe a human-centric approach is the only way to deliver on the promise that digital holds for our society.

OUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENTS ARE: Touching the lives of 99 per cent of the population in the UK and Ireland with our solutions every day. Fujitsu has a 35+ year track record working with public and private sector organisations in Northern Ireland helping them to achieve their business objectives.

OUR AMBITION IS TO: Create business and social value by empowering people with digital technology.

It is about bringing together three key value drivers - creativity, intelligence

WHAT SETS US APART: Our company has survived for over 80 years because of our collaborative approach with customers, partners and governments globally and locally who have helped us deliver technological innovations and world firsts.

FIND US AT: W: www.fujitsu.com/uk/about/local/ fujitsu-northern-ireland T: @Fujitsu_NI

COMPANY NAME: GE-AET Ltd – Globe Energy WE EMPLOY: 45 WE ARE BASED IN: Burgess Hill, west Sussex OUR MD/CEO IS: David Jones WHAT WE DO: We save big companies around 80 per cent of the energy they consume heating and ventilating their High Volume Buildings

COMPANY NAME: Interface WE EMPLOY: 190 WE ARE BASED IN: Craigavon OUR MD/CEO IS: Adrian Marks (Manager) WHAT WE DO: We are the worldwide leader in design, production and sales of environmentallyresponsible modular carpet for the commercial and institutional markets.

We combine visual appeal, functional performance and design freedom.

OUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENTS ARE: Our dedication to sustainability. This has evolved into a Mission Zero commitment,

COMPANY NAME: MCS Group WE EMPLOY: 30 WE ARE BASED IN: Belfast OUR MD/CEO IS: Barry Smyth WHAT WE DO: We are a firm of ethical recruitment specialists, specialising in IT & Digital, Technical & Engineering, Professional Services, Accounting & Finance, Banking, Legal and Executive Search.

(HVBs) such as warehouses, production plants and aircraft hangars from 5m – 50m high.

OUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENTS ARE: Having worked in Europe, UK, Ireland and the USA for many large corporations.

OUR AMBITION IS TO: Lower emissions for industry and commerce. High Volume Buildings account for 35 per cent of global fossil fuel annual demand.

patented technology that can save 80-90 per cent of customers’ energy costs. This can be achieved off balance sheet and without the need for any customers’ own capital and is fully paid for from the energy savings achieved.

FIND US AT: W: www.globe-energy.com

WHAT SETS US APART: We own and provide a unique, world

a promise to eliminate any negative impact Interface has on the environment by 2020.

Our Craigavon site is on target to meet this deadline. We also run a NetWorks programme alongside the Zoological Society of London which has collected over 125 tonnes of waste fishing nets in SE Asia, not only providing income for coastal communities but materials which are then recycled into yarn, used to manufacture our products in Craigavon.

OUR AMBITION IS TO: Become the first name in industrial ecology – a corporation that cherishes nature and restores the environment. On target to reach Mission Zero, we commit to a new mission, ‘Climate Take Back’. We don’t only want to stop global warming but reverse it.

OUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENTS ARE: Growing by over 500 per cent in the last 3 years and working with 91 per cent of Northern Ireland’s top 200 clients. Customer service is the most important part of the business and we are very proud winners of the Customer Services Excellence category at the Belfast Business awards.

OUR AMBITION IS TO: Be recognised as the preferred recruitment partner for talented professionals and clients in Northern Ireland.

WHAT SETS US APART: We were founded with a view to improving standards and setting a new benchmark for quality within the Northern Ireland recruitment industry. Key elements

WHAT SETS US APART: We stay ahead of the competition by constantly seeking new and more efficient processes to design, manufacture and deliver environmentally friendly products to the marketplace. We support communities through our outreach work and our staff through ambassador training programmes, including apprenticeship schemes.

FIND US AT: W: www.interface.com

that make this vision a reality include commitment to deep specialisation in the company’s core disciplines; IT & Digital, Technical & Engineering and Professional Services. In addition, we have built expertise and market knowledge through many years spent working in partnership with clients ranging from locally owned start-ups and SMEs to major global organisations. MCS Group professional recruiters are exactly that, professionals, all with experience gained in industry.

They apply their deep knowledge of their industries and markets with an ethical and energetic approach geared towards delivering results, consistently.

FIND US AT: W: www.mcsgroup.jobs T: @MCSGroupBelfast NI Chamber 55

our customers and creates exciting career opportunities for our people.

consistent customer focus and a fantastic work ethic.

WHAT WE DO: Software Delivery, Analytics, Consultancy and Training

OUR AMBITION IS TO: Sustainably grow our business both locally and internationally. We have the ambition to double our turnover and direct employees within the next 3 years.

FIND US AT: W: www.neueda.com T: @neuedaconsult

OUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT IS: Building a successful business that delights

WHAT SETS US APART: Our people – who have unique skills,

COMPANY NAME: Neueda WE EMPLOY: 85 WE ARE BASED IN: Belfast OUR MD/CEO IS: Brendan Monaghan

spanning from Crossmaglen in South Armagh to Saintfield in South Down. We serve 7 District Electoral Areas: Crotleive, Downpatrick, Newry, Rowallane, The Mournes, Slieve Croob and Slieve Guilion.

COMPANY NAME: Newry, Mourne and Down District Council WE EMPLOY: 1,200 WE ARE BASED IN: Newry and Downpatrick OUR MD/CEO IS: Liam Hannaway WHAT WE DO: We are one of the 11 new super councils.

With a population of around 171,500 and a coastline of 100 miles, we are the third largest council area in Northern Ireland

COMPANY NAME: NIE Networks WE EMPLOY: 1,200 WE ARE BASED IN: Across Northern Ireland with main sites in Campsie, Omagh, Craigavon, Ballymena and Belfast.

OUR MD/CEO IS: Nicholas Tarrant WHAT WE DO: We look after 49,000 kilometres of overhead electricity lines, underground cables and substations. We keep the power flowing from where it is made to where it

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OUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENTS ARE: Attracting investment and supporting jobs creation; becoming a premier tourist destination; protecting our natural and built environment; and improving the capacity of our communities and supporting health and wellbeing.

OUR AMBITION IS TO: “Lead and serve a District that is prosperous, healthy, as well as sustainable from an economic, environmental and social perspective.”

WHAT SETS US APART: Tourism is a key part of the economy in Newry, Mourne and Down and our District is renowned for its scenic beauty, numerous Blue Flag beaches, and an unrivalled link to St Patrick. We are home to a number of significant built heritage sites including Struell Wells in Downpatrick, Dundrum Castle and Bagenal’s Castle in Newry.

Our District is also an attractive location for business and has excellent primary, secondary and tertiary educational establishments.

FIND US AT: W: www.newrymournedown.org T: @nmdcouncil

is used in homes and businesses. If there’s a power cut, it’s our job to fix it.

that is good value for money and supports a low carbon future.

OUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENTS ARE: Investing c.£100 million annually in the electricity network to improve, update and develop infrastructure for the benefit of everyone. We maintain and grow the electricity network and keep it safe and reliable for customers. As an Investors In People Gold accredited company we are proud of our people, our 40 year record of employing and training apprentices and our strong health and safety record which we are constantly working to improve.

WHAT SETS US APART: We operate in every corner of Northern Ireland and strive to deliver the best and most efficient service for our customers anytime of the day and in all weathers.

We also operate our own training centre to deliver apprenticeships and technical training for our own workforce and our supply chain.

OUR AMBITION IS TO: Deliver a safe and reliable electricity service

FIND US AT: W: nienetworks.co.uk T: @NIElectricity

WHAT WE DO: We are a Further and Higher Education College.

COMPANY NAME: North West Regional College WE EMPLOY: 550 WE ARE BASED IN: Derry/ Londonderry, Limavady and Strabane OUR MD/CEO IS: Leo Murphy, Principal and Chief Executive

COMPANY NAME: Phoenix Natural Gas Ltd WE EMPLOY: 170 WE ARE BASED IN: OUR MD/CEO IS: Michael McKinstry WHAT WE DO: We are the largest gas distribution business in Northern Ireland, operating a distribution network across the Greater Belfast Area which extends to 3,500km of pipeline and brings natural gas to over 50 per cent of the population of Northern Ireland. After 20 years in Northern Ireland, Phoenix Natural Gas has successfully developed the market and built its

COMPANY NAME: PwC WE EMPLOY: 1,400 WE ARE BASED IN: Belfast and Dungannon OUR MD/CEO IS: Paul Terrington WHAT WE DO: We are Northern Ireland’s largest professional advisory firm, delivering accounting, tax, consulting and digital solutions to PwC clients in the region and worldwide.

OUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENTS ARE: Creating, together with Google, one of

OUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENTS ARE: Having become a multi award winning College.

OUR AMBITION IS TO: Become a leading college that makes lives better through supporting the creation of more and better jobs.

network, connecting 200,000 customers and establishing natural gas as the fuel of choice for customers in the licence area.

The company also recently announced its extension of the pipeline into additional towns in County Down, bringing the benefits of natural gas to a further 28,000 homes and businesses. Phoenix Natural Gas also embraces its corporate responsibility and connects with the local community in its outreach programmes.

OUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENTS ARE: Connecting five new customers every working hour and constructed 750 metres of pipeline every day for the past 20 years.

We connect around 10,000 properties on average every year. Phoenix Natural Gas has led the way in developing a wider natural gas industry across Northern

only three Innovation Labs worldwide.

We work collaboratively with international organisations, using digital technology, virtual and augmented reality and artificial intelligence to transform the way they work.

The Belfast office is PwC’s global centre for Blockchain technology and its digital innovation team is helping to revolutionise and transform the world’s banking, insurance and security industry. Our achievements helped make PwC in Northern Ireland the fastest-growing PwC region in the UK. OUR AMBITION IS TO: In commercial terms, aim to grow our business, headcount, expertise, influence and innovation. In people terms, we aim to be the key recruiter of local school-leavers, graduates and experienced talent and to use our talent to become a global influence in digital innovation. In domestic terms, we aim to connect our local clients with

WHAT SETS US APART: We possess excellence in professional and technical education and training, are UK STEM Assured and are a UK Leadership College in Creative Industries.

FIND US AT: W: www.nwrc.ac.uk T: @mynwrc

Ireland, now worth £1 billion and employing over 3,000 people.

OUR AMBITION IS TO: Be recognised for excellence as a world leading energy utility.

WHAT SETS US APART: At the core of the company, Phoenix Natural Gas resembles a family run business with a shared common goal of wanting to do the right thing and delivering excellent customer service. What sets us apart is the strong duty of our staff who continually go the extra mile to deliver the high standard of customer service that the company is renowned for.

FIND US AT: W: www.phoenixnaturalgas.com T: @phoenixni

our global expertise, helping local firms become internationally competitive, creating wealth and sustainable employment. In community terms, our purpose is to share our knowledge, experience and facilities and to do the right thing by our people and our local communities.

WHAT SETS US APART: Part of a network of firms in 157 countries with more than 223,000 people, PwC in Northern Ireland is one of the region’s major exporters, supporting national governments and global corporations – while retaining a local focus by advising more of the region’s family-owned and owner-managed undertakings than any other firm of professional advisors.

FIND US AT: W: www.pwc.co.uk/ni T: @PwC_NI

NI Chamber 57

Postal Service Provider, supporting customers, businesses and communities around the country. The one-price-goesanywhere universal service has particular significance for Northern Ireland given our high percentage of rural addresses and that fact that we are the only region to be entirely served by air and sea.

COMPANY NAME: Royal Mail Group WE EMPLOY: 3,000 WE ARE BASED IN: All areas of Northern Ireland, including our mail centre at Mallusk and main delivery office in Donegall Quay, Belfast. We also have a further 25 delivery offices and 35 smaller rural offices.

OUR MD/CEO IS: Moya Greene WHAT WE DO: We are the UK’s designated Universal

OUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENTS ARE: Associated with our rich and varied history, characterised by a tradition of service and innovation spanning 500 years. For five centuries, our postal network has been connecting families and friends, powering business and driving innovation across the country. We are proud to provide the Universal Service Obligation in Northern Ireland and recognise its importance to individuals, small and medium-sized businesses and the wider economy.

community education, online learning, tailored training for businesses, support for SMEs, technology transfer and IT solutions.

South Eastern Regional College (SERC) is one of the largest Further Education College in Northern Ireland and is committed to bringing top-class education and learning opportunities to the local community.

COMPANY NAME: South Eastern Regional College WE EMPLOY: 1,000 WE ARE BASED IN: Bangor, Downpatrick, Lisburn and Newtownards OUR MD/CEO IS: Ken Webb WHAT WE DO: We provide high quality and innovative services to over 32,000 learners utilising our 1,000 experienced staff and specialist facilities. Services include further and higher education courses, apprenticeships, professional development training,

COMPANY NAME: Staffline Group – Ireland WE EMPLOY: 220 (corporate staff) and 5,500 (contractors) across Ireland and 5,000 in Northern Ireland WE ARE BASED IN: Newtownabbey with 20 offices across Ireland.

OUR MD/CEO IS: Tina McKenzie

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OUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENTS ARE: Having industry leading success, achievement and retention rates, with 98 per cent of students last year progressing onto either further education or employment on completion of their course.

SERC is currently the only accredited Siemens Training Academy in the UK and the only provider of coded welding training in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Companies can also benefit from specialist heat recovery training at SERC after it was named as an accredited Fujitsu Training Academy.

WHAT WE DO: We are a Group of three companies – Diamond Recruitment, Staffline Recruitment, and PeoplePlus NI – and deliver recruitment, staffing and public services. Our clients include the largest employers in Northern Ireland across the public and private sectors.

OUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENTS ARE: Growing from a standing start to a turnover of over £60 million since opening our first office in Belfast in 2013. Our two staff members from then are still with us today, in a much larger core team of over 220 people.

OUR AMBITION IS TO: Be recognised as the best delivery company in the UK and Europe. Our three-part strategy – centred on parcels, letters and customers – aims to deliver this, whilst generating sustainable shareholder value, and supporting the continued provision of the Universal Service. We are the UK’s leading parcels carrier. We intend it to stay that way. We are committed to delivering a high-quality service for all our customers.

WHAT SETS US APART: We are the only company delivering a ‘one-price-goes-anywhere’, six days a week service to more than 29 million addresses across the UK, including delivering to c.

812,000 addresses across Northern Ireland.

FIND US AT: W: www.royalmail.com www.royalmailgroup.com T: @RoyalMail

OUR AMBITION IS TO: Be a key driver of economic development by empowering and enabling individuals and businesses to fulfil their ambitions, making Northern Ireland a successful, globally competitive and sustainable region.

WHAT SETS US APART: SERC provides its curriculum in response to the demands of local stakeholders and government strategies. The design of programmes ensures that the learning experience provides current knowledge and skills expected by industry. Businesses can call on our expertise across a variety of areas and issues from supporting business innovation and upskilling employees to knowledge transfer partnerships.

FIND US AT: W: www.serc.ac.uk T: @S_ERC

OUR AMBITION IS TO: Reach the target we set back in 2013 – £100 million turnover by the beginning of 2018. We won the UTV/Business Eye Fast Growth Business of the Year award in 2015.

WHAT SETS US APART: Our commitment, our integrity, and our reliability.

FIND US AT: W: www.PeoplePlusNI.com and www.diamondrg.com T: @StafflineIRE

ILLUSTRIOUS HOSPITALITY CONTRACTS FOR MCCUE CRAFTED FIT

Holdfast Limited

MCCUE Crafted Fit has secured two prestigious multi million contracts to fit out the public area interiors of London’s fivestar hotel in an iconic Grade II listed building at Ten Trinity Square, as well as a section of Lillie Square, Earls Court, London, which comprises of apartments, townhouses and penthouses.

Managing Director at McCue Crafted Fit, Les McCracken said: “These are excellent projects for McCue. Ten Trinity Square is a beautiful building which deserves the utmost attention to detail, whilst Lillie Square is a highly exclusive development which will demand incredibly refined fit out.

Both Central London contracts are significant for McCue, highlighting the company as a reliable supplier of incredibly high quality fit out services in this sector.

Company Registration Agents

Company Formation Specialists since 1963

Specialists in: • Northern Ireland, Great Britain and Ireland Company formations

• Updating of memorandum and articles of Association • Limited Liability Partnerships (LLP) • Provision of registered office address and service address

For more information visit www.mccuefit.com

138 University Street Belfast BT7 1HJ Northern Ireland Tel: 028 9032 9984 Fax: 028 9023 2221 Email: holdfast@cra-ni.com Website: www.cra-ni.com

ohrd

occupational health, risk & disability management consultance

managing health - enabling business

Our Services

Managing Health – Enabling Business OHRD are a quality, cost-effective Occupational Health Serviceand the first independent in NI to achieve the industry quality mark ‘SEQOHS’ – Safe, Effective, Quality Occupational Health Service.

Fitness for Work Medicals: • Sick Absence & Rehabilitation – mental and physical ill health and disability; • Pre-employment – advising in suitability and adjustments; • Health Surveillance Assessments – hearing, respiratory, skin, HAVS and eyesight; • Pension and Insurances Assessments – eligibility for award; at heights; and others; • Drug and Alcohol Testing.

Dr Tony McGread (Consultant Occupational Physician) and Currie (Administration Manager).

Mrs Gayle

And also: • Risk assessment – Workstation and workplace visits; • Policies, Procedures and Management Training – stress, alcohol, manual handling; • Health Screening and Health Promotion – blood pressure, cholesterol and stress checks.

OHRD offers a comprehensive range of occupational health related services, including risk analysis and assessment of disability related to employment. The

We already work with public and private enterprises of all sizes, and insurance, pension and legal professionals. With clinics throughout NI including Belfast, Londonderry and Enniskillen, contact us to discuss further on:

OHRD Princes House, 44-46 Princes Street, Belfast, BT1 3FP

Telephone: 028 9026 8460 Email: enquiries@ohrd.net Web: www.ohrd.net 194 Ulster Tatler

NI Chamber 59

feature feature

WHEN RISK BECOMES SAFE The merger between Willis and Towers Watson has created one of the world’s largest global advisory, broking, and solutions companies. Adrienne McGill talks to its Head of Office in Belfast, Harry Weir, and hears how preventing or controlling risk ensures protection for businesses.

Picture by David Cordner www.davidcordner.com

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he insurance business is confronting a marketplace which is changing more drastically than perhaps ever before.

In addition to macroeconomic, social, and regulatory changes likely to impact the industry, insurers are coping with longer-term, game-changing trends including the increased connectivity among household and workplace devices, continuously expanding data and the rising threat of cyber-attacks.

Reacting to these changes is Willis Towers Watson. The firm is the result of the merger last year between insurance

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broking and risk management giant Willis and pension and human resource consulting business Towers Watson, which has created a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company with 40,000 employees in more than 140 countries.

Willis, which has been involved in a range of mergers and acquisitions over the years, is the older in the partnership. It was founded in1828 by Henry Willis who began his career as a merchant selling imported goods on commission in the UK at the Baltic Exchange in London.

In the early 1900s, the company had a huge marine account and was broker for the ill-fated Titanic which struck an iceberg and sank off the coast of Newfoundland in 1912 – the hull claim of $1 million was settled in full within 30 days.

Willis also acted as the lead broker in the placement of insurance on the World Trade Centre (WTC) in New York, which was destroyed in a terrorist attack in 2001.

The WTC cover was the biggest insurance policy ever on a single real-estate complex and eventually after intense legal wrangling American businessman Larry Silverstein, who famously signed a 99-year lease on the World Trade Centre complex in June 2001, was awarded a payout of $4.55 billion.

Given its leading role therefore in two of the largest insurance claims in history, it’s no wonder that Willis has become an expert in the negotiation of sensitive and complex claims.

Meanwhile, Towers Watson similarly enjoys roots from the 19th century growing through the provision of human resource, actuarial and investment consulting services.

“Willis Towers Watson is a leading risk advisory insurance broking and risk

management company,” explains Harry Weir, who heads its Belfast office which has a staff of 50.

“We specialise in designing and delivering solutions to manage risk for our clients.

“In Belfast we traded as Willis for many years mainly working in property, liability and fleet insurance for corporate clients.

“Now, in addition to risk identification, we complement that with risk management services and also with loss management services.

“Last year we acquired a business called Trade Credit Brokers who specialise in credit insurance and arrange insurances against bad debt.

“The merger of Willis with Towers Watson brings a much wider range of services including pension related advice – both defined contribution and defined benefit pension advice. We have now moved to an unparalleled position in terms of providing risk management, insurance and advisory services in the Northern Ireland market,” says Mr Weir.

“In Belfast we are part of Willis Towers Watson in Western Europe. We work very closely with our colleagues in Dublin and also in London which remains the centre of the world insurance market.

We work with units in our London office who specialise in, for example, marine insurance for our port and harbour clients in Northern Ireland. Our Aerospace division assists us with arranging insurance covers required by airports, including a major airport in Northern Ireland and our financial risks team arranges insurance for professional services firms in the province.

“We integrate with specialist trade units within Willis Towers Watson linking into our food and drink practice group, our utilities practice group and our

feature transportation practice group assisting our many clients in those sectors. That brings the best of Willis Towers Watson to Northern Ireland.”

Willis Towers Watson provides insurance for companies across virtually every business sector in Northern Ireland such as entertainment, tourism, manufacturing, food and drink, construction etc. The firm also holds a dominant position in providing insurance and risk management services to the public sector, currently providing cover for all of the 11 local authorities in the region.

Whether pressure comes from internal or external sources, insurers have become subject to ever-increasing scrutiny from clients, investors, rating agencies, auditors and business partners on their Enterprise Risk Management practices.

“Working with Willis Towers Watson’s Analytics unit in London, we analyse loss trends, claims trends and from that we gain an understanding of prevention or how to gain control of risk. That is very important,” says Mr Weir.

“Several new risk trends have emerged in recent years – cyber risk concerns

everyone at the moment and that, linked with crime, is a serious threat to virtually every business.”

“We are seeing new types of cybercrime ranging from ransomware attacks where cyber criminals freeze a company’s IT system and demand a ransom to release it, through to data breaches. The list goes on – cybercrime is a huge area of risk.

“The insurance market is responding with a range of products, but we are still surprised to see a lot of businesses in Northern Ireland who have not really completed a proper review or assessment of their cyber related risks and threats – and that is obviously very concerning.”

So how does Willis Towers Watson help clients around the world turn risk into a path for growth?

“Risk is present in all business decisions – our role is to help clients to better identify risk, to consider whether they can retain or control the risk and, if not, help them to transfer that risk into the insurance market so the insurers take responsibility for that risk,” says Mr Weir.

“The events around Brexit means there appears to be less certainty in the market

and in making business decisions. We are finding that clients are interested in whether we can offer them a multi-year deal or a long term stability agreement going forward.

“Similarly the recent currency shifts which have resulted from Brexit have created opportunities around credit risk – we are very much linked into what is currently happening from a business perspective.”

Going forward Mr Weir says the merger with Towers Watson has created many exciting opportunities including the design of unique products which offer enhanced cover.

“That, combined with the acquisition of Trade Credit Brokers, our specialist units and our involvement in the various industry practice groups, puts us in a really strong position to understand the needs of clients and gives us an advantageous position.

He adds: “The dynamic of risk is constantly changing whether it is to do with the environment or IT or natural disasters. That means the risks attached to business are also changing – and that requires being prepared for them.”

sponsored feature

CONTINUED INNOVATION AND EXPANSION Armstrong Medical Ltd is a medical device manufacturer based in Coleraine. Despite the current climate of uncertainty Armstrong Medical is refusing to let Brexit fears to discourage continued innovation and expansion.

Already exporting to 60 countries their recently launched POINT system for anaesthesia has caught the imagination of the medical world.

Of the 234 million global surgeries, each year, sustaining oxygenation is a critical challenge. POINT was first used with positive effect in Galway (Spring, 2016). Since then the list of international users has grown and includes Kuwait, Oman, Jordan, Qatar, UAE, South Africa, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway & Finland with many other markets expected to adopt POINT in 2017.

The Middle Eastern connection led to Armstrong Medical hosting its first ever Advanced Airways Management Workshop in Doha, Qatar in January. Plans are in place to host a similar event in Northern Ireland in June.

Armstrong Medical expects recent successes to further increase its 130 plus workforce with expansion of its UK, Ireland and Export sales teams and additional roles in design, engineering & production.

Nigel Armstrong Business Development and Marketing Director said;

“We appreciate the support of Invest NI in recent years and today we have the confidence that Northern Ireland is a great place to manufacture. Other Northern Ireland companies seeking a manufacturing partner closer to home should contact our Commercial Director Ross Armstrong, perhaps Armstrong Medical can help”.

For more information visit www.armstrongmedical.net

NI Chamber 61

columnist

CAPTURING ATTENTION THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX HELPS YOU CREATE GREAT CONTENT WHEN IT COMES TO SELLING YOUR BRAND SAYS RICHARD O’DONNELL, STRATEGIC PLANNER AT INTEGRATED MARKETING COMPANY ICAN.

T

here is so much content out there now we are becoming numb to it; it’s just another distraction on the way to finding what we’re actually looking for. Good content takes time and needs the necessary planning and creativity to make it engaging for customers.

Here are three recommendations for creating the content your customers want.

1. Be Strategic A good content strategy should be narrow in focus and have a clear purpose. It should be routed either in customer pain points and unmet needs or growing a company’s brand in the marketplace. The best content marketers focus on one purpose instead of trying to be all things to all people. They might decide their content is about educating customers, or building awareness, or building trust, or providing customer support.

A lot of inexperienced content marketers try to do all of these things at once and end up with content that serves no purpose.

To avoid this, companies need to

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clearly define their content purpose and develop definitive criteria that serve the overarching content strategy. This narrows focus and gives content creators clear parameters to what content should and shouldn’t be produced. A health food brand might develop its content purpose as “We will help people lead healthier lives by educating and inspiring them to improve their diet”; all of their content should support this purpose.

you build out associations you could identify associations such as freedom, relationships, security, and long-term thinking. Now you can produce content around whichever one of these associations will best serve your content strategy. Capital One bank built their content strategy around people going on amazing trips, seeing great places, and enjoying life. They associated their brand with enabling customers to do this.

2. Think Creatively Thinking laterally and mapping out associations with your brand will help to broaden your content possibilities.

These associations do not have to be tied intimately to your brand but the relationship cannot be so distant that it doesn’t make sense. RedBull is a good example of this. They produce no content relating to their product, all of their content relates to high energy and pushing life to the limits; a good association for an energy drink.

Or take a bank. A traditional approach would be to produce content related to banking products such as mortgages, loans, savings etc. but if

3. Take a stand In every industry we are drawn to people who stand for something, who aren’t afraid to say what they think.

Yet, in the age of not wanting to put a foot wrong companies suck every bit of life out of their content and kill any chance of it resonating.

A great example of taking a stand is US insurer Esurance who released a video for election insurance parodying the idea that if Donald Trump gets elected their insurance will allow you to move to Canada.

Put simply: focus, creativity and taking a stand is what your customers want.

face to face with...

MAKING TAX DIGITAL HAS ‘NEGATIVES’ AND ‘POSITIVES’ In the most revolutionary move by HMRC in the past 20 years, business taxpayers will be expected to file tax returns every three months online. Adrienne McGill talks to Conaill McGrady, Director with M B McGrady Accountants, who says the new system will be an “initial headache” but with proper planning it will pass.

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he 1st April 2018 will herald the first introduction of HMRC’s Making Tax Digital initiative, which will require many businesses and taxpayers with an income of more than £10,000 to file quarterly online tax returns instead of annually, as is done currently under selfassessment.

Its aim is to make the tax process more efficient and less time-consuming for SME owners, as well as ensuring that people comply with financial legislation.

The UK tax regime is penalty driven for late filing. This will continue to be the case under Making Tax Digital and with significantly more filing deadlines the potential for penalties is high. Making Tax Digital is deferred for limited companies until 1st April 2020.

Conaill McGrady, Director with M B McGrady Chartered Accountants, which has offices in Belfast, Downpatrick and Newtownards, says: “The new system will be an initial headache for a lot of people in the implementation stages…but with proper preparation it will pass.

“This is an additional compliance burden for SMEs, no matter what spin HMRC puts on it.

“Not only are the record keeping obligations going to be much more onerous but in the future, making submission errors could become much more expensive – although initially HMRC have indicated this initiative will have a penalty free

implementation.

“However, Making Tax Digital is mandatory for businesses, therefore, rather than dwell on the negatives, business owners should focus on the positive impact this may have on their business information.

Businesses must have up to date financial performance information in order to comply with this new tax regime and that’s not a bad thing for running a successful business.

“Up until now, accountants have worked towards a single date to have their clients’ returns made by 31st January. But now because returns are going to be made quarterly, it is going to present a different challenge to us as an industry on the tax compliance side and also create a challenge for many people who have difficulty in meeting one deadline a year never mind four.

“Completing up to date accounts and getting to grips with accounting software will be a challenge for some small businesses.”

At the end of January this year, HMRC published the long awaited responses to the Making Tax Digital consultations.

Some limited concessions appear in the consultation responses and it is notable that whilst the initial exemption currently remains at £10,000, the consultation response confirms that this is still under consideration. Also still up for grabs is the possibility of deferring the changes for some small businesses.

Also businesses may be able to continue to use spreadsheets for record keeping, but

they must ensure that their spreadsheet meets the necessary requirements of Making Tax Digital – this is likely to involve combining the spreadsheet with software.

Free software will be available to businesses with the most straightforward affairs.

“As with all things in life, finance is also moving online,” says Conaill.

“A company’s financial transactions are all available electronically i.e. online banking, electronic invoices, scanning software etc.

The key is to maximize the availability of electronic data and reduce the time burden of data entry.

“Going digital may add costs to a business – whether that is in terms of time or money.

How can you move from a once a year submission to four times a year without it costing something?

“Essentially, I am telling my clients to plan for this regime change now. I strongly believe the solution for a lot of SMEs is online accounting software intelligently combined with online banking and scanning software to create business systems which efficiently deliver tax compliance and management information on a regular basis.

In this way the compliance burden will be minimized and perhaps more information will be available to support important business decisions.”

Despite the challenges, HMRC says personal digital tax accounts will make greater use of existing information, making life easier — not more difficult — for taxpayers and form filling will be eradicated.

NI Chamber 63

feature

what’s in it for me?

HOW NI CHAMBER HAS HELPED BY BUSINESS WITH…Alison McFadden, Director, Continu.

Describe your Business Continu, based in Belfast, is a back-up power supply company that designs, supplies and installs equipment to safeguard the IT infrastructure of businesses against power problems from the electrical grid.

excellent platform to network with a variety of businesses that would otherwise be difficult to approach. It has helped to raise our brand awareness and certainly led to actual sales.

WHAT MAKES YOUR BUSINESS STAND OUT? Although we are a small business, we operate with the professionalism of a large organisation whilst having the flexibility to quickly respond to customer requirements.

Our engineers are trained to the highest level and we pride ourselves on offering a bespoke, dedicated approach to customers from sales through to aftercare. While electrical contractors may offer power back-up as an ‘add-on’, it is our primary focus and we pride ourselves as the experts in the market. From small server rooms to multi-site operations such as the Hospital Trusts and NIE, we provide customers with peace of mind – safe in the knowledge their data and services are being protected.

WHAT WOULD YOUR ADVICE BE TO OTHER NI CHAMBER MEMBERS TO HELP GET THE MOST FROM THEIR MEMBERSHIP? We find it’s not about turning up to ‘sell’ to people. It is about sharing ideas and knowledge. If you attend events with the attitude of ‘what’s in it for them’ it is a lot more productive. Listening to other members talk about their business and offering suggestions on things other than what you sell is good way to build relationships. We also find it useful for getting recommendations for say, a good photographer or website developer.

When the event is over - the networking starts and the next step is to follow up!

Connect with your leads on LinkedIn and start conversations. If you promised to offer some advice or suggestions - do it!

HOW HAS NI CHAMBER HELPED YOUR COMPANY ACHIEVE ITS GOALS? Operating in a niche market, it is often hard to get across how we are helping all businesses! NI Chamber provides us with an

HOW HAS CHAMBER MEMBERSHIP HELPED YOU AND YOUR STAFF DEVELOP A PROFESSIONAL SKILL SET? The Chamber provides us with an invaluable platform for our staff to engage

64 NI Chamber

and communicate with other businesses.

Introducing oneself and the company is a great way to build confidence, for both experienced members of the team and colleagues who are new to their roles.

For example, presenting at a recent NI speed networking event in Fermanagh was a great opportunity to test our 60 second elevator pitch directly to an audience of potential contacts. Members of our team have also benefited from attending tours at other business sites. In a number of cases, these events have led us to purchase services from suppliers with confidence, having seen them present. Of course some of the members are already customers and attending the wide range of events is a nice way to catch up and simply share a coffee with them. We recently attended the launch of the Chamber’s ‘Learn, Grow, Excel’ programme, so we’re looking forward to seeing what the series has in store for companies like ours who are developing leadership skills and export potential.

Ambition SPECIAL focus

ON THE CASE WITH BREXIT

ON THE CASE WITH BREXIT

“Prime Minister Theresa May has defiantly insisted her timetable for triggering Brexit will not be blown off course despite suffering her first Parliamentary defeat over the Article 50 Bill in the House of Lords.”

T

here are still an enormous number of unknowns but the impact of Brexit on the UK’s legal system and ultimately on business could be wide ranging in many areas, whatever form Brexit takes.

All attention right now is on the proposed triggering of the Article 50 process by the end of March, which will mark the start of formal negotiations for the UK to leave the EU. Prime Minister Theresa May has defiantly insisted her timetable for triggering Brexit will not be blown off course despite suffering her first Parliamentary defeat over the Article 50 Bill in the House of Lords.

Mrs May intends to notify the EU of Britain’s intention to withdraw on March 15, triggering two years of negotiations that would end with Brexit in 2019.

Regardless of the exit strategy, there are some areas of EU law that will continue to have an effect on UK businesses.

In this section we look at the legal issues around employment, data protection, corporate activity, energy and Intellectual Property and hear from Partners in some of Northern Ireland’s leading law firms about the impact of Brexit and how the landscape will look after ‘B’ Day.

Contents: 66 PROTECTING PROTECTION – A&L GOODBODY 68 ENERGY MARKET IS A HOT ISSUE – CARSON MCDOWELL 70 GETTING TO WORK ON EMPLOYMENT LAW – CLEAVER FULTON RANKIN 72 FIRMS STILL HAVE BIG PLANS TO EXPAND – TUGHANS 74 CLAMPING DOWN ON DATA SECURITY –

PINSENT MASONS

66 NI Chamber

PROTECTING PROTECTION Many businesses have been wondering whether Brexit will affect their IP rights? Adrienne McGill hears from Mark Thompson, Partner at A&L Goodbody about what may lie ahead.

N

ow that the UK has voted to leave the EU, one area that has come under scrutiny concerns Intellectual Property (IP) rights, which includes amongst other elements, trade marks, patents design rights and copyright.

For the next two years at least, the UK will remain a full member of the EU and during this time no material changes to any existing IP legislation are expected; it is also expected that the UK will continue to implement new directives as they come into force during this period. As no member state has withdrawn from the EU previously, the impact on IP rights cannot be precisely predicted. The eventual impact will depend on the outcome of negotiations and agreements made between the UK and the EU. Mark Thompson, Partner with A&L Goodbody says the vote to leave the EU has had no immediate impact on IP. “IP rights are getting a focus in the discussions because there will be an impact on the Community Trade Mark (CTM) regime.

The only thing beyond that which is certain about Brexit is the uncertainty.

“It is unlikely that UK IP laws post-Brexit will diverge significantly from those in Europe because of the interconnection of trade and the universal recognition that harmonization is beneficial. Provided the government continues to recognise this, there should not even be a need to create new or different laws to the present regime, which is in any event significantly influenced by English law and jurisprudence.

“The government has announced that the Great Repeal Bill will repeal the European Communities Act 1972 (the ECA) and incorporate European Union law into domestic law, ‘wherever practical’. The government has indicated that these legal changes within the Bill will take effect on ‘Brexit Day’: the day the UK officially leaves the EU. “We anticipate that in the IP arena where European law is involved, that law is likely to be cloned into domestic law to the extent that it is not there already.

“On day one, post-Brexit, IP law should therefore stay the same.

“If you have an existing trade mark or patent, the fact that there is an exit occurring should not affect your existing registrations and the government should be taking steps now to ensure this is the case.”

As already stated, IP protected through European mechanisms such as the European Patent Office, will continue to prevail after Brexit. However Britain will need to legislate on what happens to protections granted through EU directives such as the Community Trade Mark when the countries making up that community change. Many IP lawyers believe Britain will adopt these EU directives into its own law, so there should be a fairly smooth transition of protection under Brexit.

“The Community Trade Mark covers you across Europe. But

when we leave the EU, the UK will cease to be part of that structure – so you cannot logically be part of the Community Trade Mark regime. That will need to be addressed by the UK government possibly by automatic creation of a separate reciprocal UK trade mark to mirror the EU level, right on Brexit day,” says Mark.

“IP is an international commodity. You are talking about recognised types of propriety rights. I don’t think we can go too far off the path we are currently on in a global market without creating issues for ourselves. We are still going to be doing business with European countries and will need to have mutually recognisable and respected arrangements. You are still going to have to keep within the internationally recognized framework for IP. There should not therefore be anything too radical.”

The CTM rights currently held by owners will continue to exist – they will not fall away because of the UK’s decision to leave the EU. Even once the UK has left the EU, UK entities will continue to be entitled to own CTM’s. The difference will be that they will cover 27 countries and will exclude the UK. EUTM’s will thus effectively shrink in scope, leaving their owners with no legal protection within the UK unless they also owned UK trademark rights – either via UK trademark registrations, as a consequence of the Great Repeat Bill or based on use in the UK. However, it is anticipated that there will be a mechanism by which EU trade marks can be separated to ensure that coverage in the UK is continued, but quite how or when that will happen remains to be seen.

On the issue of patents, at the end of last year, the UK surprised and delighted the business and legal worlds by announcing that it will ratify the single European patent agreement, which will establish a “unitary patent” enforced by a Unified Patent Court (UPC).

The UPC, when established, will have a division in London and will serve as a new judicial framework to underpin a new unitary patent system regardless of Brexit.

Businesses will be able to apply to the European Patent Office for unitary patents which, if granted, would automatically confer on them patent protection for their inventions which will apply across every country that gives recognition to the unitary patent regime around the world and at the moment looks set to include almost every

EU country.

The new system will have to accept rulings issued by the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.

The existing European patent framework enables businesses to obtain EU-wide patent protection, but only after patents are given ratification in each EU country, which can involve significant translation costs for businesses.

Businesses have welcomed the UK’s decision because it offers a cheaper and easier way to protect intellectual property than the present system administered by the European Patent Office (EPO).

“The new system will provide an option for businesses that need to protect their inventions across Europe and beyond. The UK has been working with partners in Europe to develop this option. This new court system will be the central global hub for the arbitration of patent disputes,” says Mark.

With regard to copyright, quite a lot of the law and related rights has been the subject of EU harmonisation for some time – with a mixed degree of success. There is EU-derived law such as the Software Directive, the Database Directive and the Information Society Directive all of which have already been incorporated one way or another into UK law. Such UK law will not be affected at least in the short term by

Brexit.

The UK has had a number of reviews of its copyright laws over the last ten years or so partly as a result of the challenges of extending copyright to deal with the increasingly digital environment in which the laws operate.

The European Commission has sought to reform and harmonise copyright law across the EU under the Digital Single Market strategy but whilst the ambitious aim of a single EU-wide harmonised copyright law with a single EU-wide Court jurisdiction is at best a long way off, the English Courts have actually been at the forefront of implementing some of the novel remedies made available as a result of the Enforcement Directive. These have made a significant difference in enforcing copyright online – for example the English Courts have enthusiastically supported website blocking injunctions on P2P sites under EU-derived law.

“So it is likely that, in terms of copyright UK divergence is unlikely to be too significant. The reality is that in considering any reform, the UK would be likely to take into account changes that the EU makes and possibly adopt those aspects that it sees as successful and vice versa.

“As with all things Brexit, at this stage we will have to wait and see how things play out,” says Mark.

NI Chamber 67

ON THE CASE WITH BREXIT

ENERGY MARKET IS A HOT ISSUE Brexit presents undoubted challenges and uncertainties for the energy market North and South of the border. Neasa Quigley, Energy Partner with Carson McDowell, tells Adrienne McGill what they are.

W

hile energy markets have been heading towards further integration for some time, Northern Ireland is a separate market from the rest of the UK for electricity purposes.

That’s because it has been integrating with the Republic of Ireland and both form the Single Electricity Market (SEM), which has allowed customers to benefit from improved market efficiencies and system stability from shared resources across the island.

The Irish and Northern Ireland governments and regulatory authorities have been engaged in a programme to align the SEM with the EU Network Codes, creating the Integrated Single Electricity Market (I-SEM). Essentially a single set of markets (forward, dayahead, intraday and balancing) will cover both Ireland and Northern Ireland with a number of the key roles being carried out on an all-island basis by EirGrid, the Irish Transmission System Operator, and its Northern Ireland subsidiary, the System Operator for Northern Ireland.

Brexit raises the same issues for Northern Ireland as it does for GB with the added dimension that the Northern Ireland markets are closely integrated with the Irish electricity markets, which will remain in the EU. The all-Ireland electricity market is important for Northern Ireland as it will improve security of supply for the region which relies heavily on imported fuel to generate electricity and it will allow the SEM to reach its potential by removing the constraints on the network and allow more power to flow between North and South.

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Neasa Quigley, Energy Partner with Carson McDowell says Brexit has important implications for the all-Ireland energy market.

“There is the physical interconnection and also the market itself. The market is where electricity trading happens.

“Currently in Ireland we have an all-island market, called the SEM. All the generators, North and South, have to offer their energy for sale into a pool and suppliers buy their power from that pool.

“Because of European Directives, the SEM has had to change so that it can integrate with the European model.

“Brexit does have an impact for I-SEM because until Prime Minister Theresa May’s announcement in January about the form of the UK’s exit from the EU, everyone assumed we would be staying in the Single Market.

“The fact that we are leaving the Single Market is significant for the I-SEM project because the European internal electricity market is a creature of European statute.

A country like Norway, which is not in the EU but is a member of the European Economic Area (EEA) and therefore subject to the controls of certain European regulators and state-aid rules, is permitted to participate in the European electricity market. If the UK exits the EU in the way that the Prime Minister has indicated, that throws into question how one region of the UK can continue to be part of a market that is subject to European jurisdiction.”

The UK government’s White Paper on the plan for Brexit refers to considering “all options for the UK’s future relationship with the EU on energy and is particularly mindful to avoid disruption to the all-

Ireland single electricity market operating across the island of Ireland.” While this is important for Northern Ireland, it is not specific enough to deal with any of the uncertainties that leaving the EU will cause for international energy markets.

“The UK has been a champion of liberalising electricity markets,” says Neasa.

“I don’t see that reversing – I don’t think the UK will now adopt an insular approach to the electricity markets. Bilateral arrangements will have to be entered into. But what that means for the I-SEM in Northern Ireland will be another layer of complexity because you will have part of the UK (Northern Ireland) and the Republic of Ireland (part of the EU) jointly participating within a European market from which the UK at a national level has chosen to exit. It is very complex.

“The difficulty is that there is no model to follow. However, it makes sense to remain part of the EU internal electricity markets both from a UK and Northern Ireland perspective.

“Ultimately, I think the necessary arrangements will be reached but only after lengthy and detailed discussions and frameworks that will need to be signed up to.”

One of the most critical energy projects in Ireland at the moment is the North South Interconnector which will connect the two electricity grids in Northern Ireland and the Republic with a new 400 kV overhead line running along 138km between Co Tyrone and Co Meath.

Planning permission has already been granted for the southern half of the £200 million project while the northern section

has still not been granted approval, Northern Ireland is facing an energy supply crisis, as old conventional fossil fuel generators retire, which is why proponents say the interconnector is vital.

However, Brexit is unlikely to have a negative impact on the project says Neasa.

“The project is has been driven by utility regulators and governments, North and South of the border rather than by Europe. So, to that extent, Brexit should not impact on whether or not it proceeds or succeeds.”

Regarding promotion of green energy, following Brexit, the UK will be released from its renewable energy targets under

the EU Renewable Energy Directive and from EU state aid restrictions, (though still bound by WTO rules) potentially giving the government more freedom both in the design and phasing of renewable energy support regimes. The availability of funding from EU institutions may impact the development of capital intensive projects such as offshore wind. However, given that the UK would still be bound by national and international decarbonisation obligations, it is likely that renewable and low carbon energy development would continue to form part of UK government climate change policy.

“In theory the UK will be able to set its

own targets but there is nothing to stop it from saying we will continue with the EU’s renewable energy targets. Again, the UK has been committed to decarbonisation and increasing the use of renewable energy and I see that continuing,” says Neasa.

While it may be some time until the impact of Brexit on the energy sector will be known, we are unlikely to see any major changes in the immediate future as the terms of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU take time to negotiate. However, it would seem that now is the time for the energy sector to identify its priorities for those negotiations and to communicate them effectively to Government.

NI Chamber 69

ON THE CASE WITH BREXIT

GETTING TO WORK ON EMPLOYMENT LAW Few areas of UK law can boast a level of European influence as substantial as employment law. Adrienne McGill talks to Michael Black, Employment Director with Cleaver Fulton Rankin.

W

hen it comes to Brexit, Northern Ireland is different from the rest of the UK and also faces distinct challenges. The open land border and very close trading relationship with the Republic of Ireland make questions about border and customs controls especially relevant – but so are questions about employment law.

Many areas of Northern Irish employment law such as anti-discrimination law, Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE), working time and the laws governing agency workers have been heavily influenced by the EU. This is because they are based upon EU directives or case law.

A directive is a legal act of the EU, which requires member states to enact laws to achieve a particular result without dictating the means of doing so.

Michael Black, Employment Director and Head of the Employment Law Department in Cleaver Fulton Rankin, says protecting and enhancing workers’ rights are at the core of employment law which has been derived from the EU. “EU legislation creates a benchmark of protection which must be met by Northern Irish law. For example the Working Time Regulation (Northern Ireland) 1998 (as amended) gave rights to Northern Irish employees in respect of a maximum working week of 48 hours and entitlements in terms of rests breaks and annual leave.

“However, although this is Northern Irish law it was made to implement an EU Directive.

“Cases have arisen throughout the UK from time to time that have ended up being adjudicated upon by the European

70 NI Chamber

Court of Justice (ECJ). However, when the UK leaves the EU, the ECJ will no longer be part of our judicial system. It is expected that domestic courts will have full control over the interpretation of our laws.

It is unclear what will happen to previous legislation and case law which already relies on the decisions of the European Court, but the government is expected to clarify

that later this year so we will certainly be moving forward.

“The removal of the ECJ will take away one layer of potential litigation and uncertainty for employers operating in the UK, particularly in areas that have gone to the European Court quite often like working time, paid holidays and discrimination. This may allow those

advising employers to be able to predict with some more accuracy the outcome of employment litigation.”

Legislation emanating from the EU has arguably become the leading source of UK employee protection legislation over the last fifteen to twenty years.

However some UK employment laws are purely domestic in origin such as the right to shared parental leave and shared parental pay.

Much of the employment protection which flows from Europe reflects accepted standards of good employee relations practices. In this respect, they can almost be considered fundamental rights rather than administrative rules which employers have to comply with. The right for employers not to discriminate against staff on the grounds of a protected characteristic (e.g. race, gender and age) is an obvious example of this. To underline this point, one only has to look at non-European countries that embody similar protections to understand that such rights are

considered so fundamental to developed societies that the UK government will not, in reality, have a choice about whether to keep existing laws in largely their current form.

“As far as Brexit is concerned, because of the culture of the workplace and the rights that workers have due to the protections derived from EU law and which have become embedded in both public and private sector, people will be expecting to have those rights post-Brexit,” says Michael.

“Also a lot of these rights are contractual so it means employers would have to go about changing contracts of employment which would be very difficult to do.

“You can change contracts for people who are about to be employed in an organisation and perhaps remove certain entitlements or rights from those contracts but then you will be left with a multi-tiered workforce with some people who have rights and protections and others who may not have. That lack of harmony can cause

issues in the workplace and that may not be a favourable option for employers.”

Some fundamental employment laws of the EU merely supplement rights which were already embodied in UK law before the EU chose to legislate in that particular area. UK equal pay rights and disability discrimination are two such examples.

Michael says given this, it is difficult to see why and how any UK government would legislate to substantially alter the current framework on the UK’s exit from the EU. The issue of immigration has been a highly contentious issue throughout the Brexit debate.

Free movement of workers is a central pillar of EU membership, ensuring that EU citizens and their families can live or work in any other member state without needing immigration permission. But with the level of net migration to the UK reaching a record high, those in favour of Brexit want to end the automatic right of EU citizens to travel and work freely in the UK. Although the UK is making preparations to leave the EU, the status quo is likely to remain during the complex and lengthy negotiations about the UK’s future relationship with the EU. “Prime Minister Theresa May has given some assurances that she wants to guarantee the rights of EU nationals who are already living and working in the UK, and the rights of British nationals living and working in the EU,” says Michael.

“She wants to secure these protections as soon as possible and has indicated that could be done (on a mutual basis) before the Brexit process is completed – which will give businesses certainty in relation to their existing workforces.”

From a UK employment law perspective, the government’s position is essentially that the existing employment laws and protections derived from EU law will not be removed following Brexit. No substantive changes to existing EU-sourced worker rights are expected.

Michael says it is likely that post-Brexit the UK courts will have a much freer hand to interpret UK employment law.

“The courts are unlikely to stretch their construction of domestic employment law to ensure it gives full effect to the potentially wider EU law from which it originated. There is also no suggestion that the UK would adopt further EU-wide employment protections which may come into force in the future.”

NI Chamber 71

ON THE CASE WITH BREXIT

FIRMS STILL HAVE BIG PLANS TO EXPAND IN EUROPE Brexit will not hamper the strong appetite for growth by many companies in Northern Ireland, John McGuckian, Corporate Law Partner with Tughans, tells Adrienne McGill.

A

s with many areas of law, the precise impact of Brexit on corporate law and transactions remains unclear at this stage.

However, there are a number of areas which may be affected depending on terms negotiated post-Brexit.

Merger and acquisitions (M&A) activity, investor confidence and an appetite for deals are sensitive issues.

The UK legal framework for private M&A transactions itself is not typically subject to much EU regulation and Brexit is therefore unlikely to have a significant

72 NI Chamber

impact.

There are EU measures in place to facilitate cross-border M&A transactions via the Directive on Cross-Border Mergers of Limited Liability Companies. This provides a framework for cross border mergers to take place between companies in the UK and companies from other European Economic Area (EEA) states.

The UK will be unable to take advantage of these provisions following Brexit if it becomes a non-EEA state but this may be the subject of negotiation.

John McGuckian, Corporate Law Partner

with Tughans, says in the case of Northern Ireland there are no indications that deal flows are about to falter because of Brexit. “Transactions in Northern Ireland generally involve either large foreign parties buying companies here or indigenous companies growing and setting up subsidiaries elsewhere. “Local companies have not waned in their approach to growth. We have acted for a number of companies post-Brexit who have continued with their growth plans and who have bought businesses in England and beyond.

“Brexit is not stopping people doing business. For instance, last year before the vote on Brexit on June 23 took place, there was a solid flow of transactions.

“The first 6 months of the year was very busy. After the vote there was a quiet period – not because of the outcome of the referendum and the decision to leave the EU, but because we were in the summer period when deals normally slow. In the last quarter of the year a large number of transactions were completed and a number of these saw Northern Ireland companies continue to make acquisitions in Europe.

“There is a realisation of the importance of having a connection with Europe.

Companies know there is no better business connection than having a footprint or subsidiary in Europe.

“We have seen clients set up companies in the Republic of Ireland in order to preserve an EU base.

“Brexit is not stopping activity when it comes to business growth.

“The one clear message is that while

businesses are uncertain about what Brexit will mean, they still want to form partnerships and expand in Europe.

“If they didn’t – there would be paralysis in the business community and nobody wants that.”

The main piece of legislation in the UK on company law is the Companies Act 2006 and related secondary legislation.

Some of the provisions of the Companies Act 2006 are based on EU Directives, such as the Accounting Directives, the Shareholder Rights Directive and the Company Law Directives, but company law is mostly regulated by individual member states within the EU. The Companies Act 2006 has recently been reviewed and amended following a lengthy consultation process. It is therefore not anticipated that there is a need for further reform.

The purpose of the Companies Act 2006 was to repeal, simplify, modernise and consolidate existing company law.

However, Brexit is likely to have a major impact on public limited companies with cross-border contracts or businesses with EU-based subsidiaries and interests. Small private limited companies selling to UKbased customers will largely be immune but there will be tax implications for those selling into Europe.

Small businesses with EU interests will probably be most concerned about reclaiming VAT on EU sales.

EU membership requires businesses to comply with EU law whether those businesses operate solely within the member state or across the EU. Legislation around how businesses operate within the EU has been imposed either by EU Regulations or EU Directives.

EU Regulations are “directly applicable” to all members and do not need to be separately enacted in the legislation of each member state to have effect while EU Directives are automatically implemented into each member state’s legislation.

Section 2 (4) of the European Communities Act 1972 states that EU law takes precedence over all UK domestic sources of law and when domestic law conflicts, EU law prevails.

Regarding the competition law landscape, the objective of competition law in the EU has been the protection of the Single Market using undistorted

competition to create a level playing field and remove any artificial barriers which threaten the foundation of that system.

Since the entry into force of the UK Competition Act 1998 (CA98), UK Competition Law has been modelled on the EU system and in terms of substance not much will change because of Brexit.

“A lot of the competition law we are governed by is European and flows into Northern Ireland through the UK Competition Commission. Although there may not necessarily be changes in terms of how it operates, the changes may centre on the markets in which companies operate,” says John.

“Much has been made about the over regulation which Europe has brought, but it has in fact benefitted businesses because it has become easier for the UK to sell into Europe and for Europe to buy from the UK. “The whole idea behind competition law is to ensure there are no cartels, no monopolies, no price fixing etc. That will still have to continue to ensure fair trade in certain jurisdictions.”

John stresses that despite Brexit, Northern Ireland export companies will continue to sell into Europe.

“The fact that we are moving out of the EU won’t change the fact that we still have world leading companies, especially in the pharma and tech sectors, who produce cutting edge products and they will continue to export due to the demand in Europe for their products.

“It may become harder to export to Europe but it won’t stop companies from doing so.

“Any company of scale in Northern Ireland has to export. Good companies and young companies that need to grow realise that they have to export and they have to work around any export barriers.

“There will be some new barriers with regard to trading arrangements and tariffs – we don’t know what they will be – but the one certainty is that companies, as they always do, will find a way through any future impediments.

“There is no reason why firms should not consider setting up operations in Europe. We have clients who are making strategic purchases within mainland Europe or moving into the Republic of Ireland.

Good businesses and progressive businesses will not be thwarted by Brexit.”

NI Chamber 73

ON THE CASE WITH BREXIT

CLAMPING DOWN ON DATA SECURITY Changes to the governance of data will have far-reaching consequences for businesses Laura Gillespie, Litigation and Regulatory Partner at Pinsent Masons, tells Adrienne McGill.

I

n just over a year’s time, a massive new piece of EU data law, known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), will come into force. The law, which in the UK takes over from the Data Protection Act, will enforce strict new rules and give new powers to data regulators. It relates to all personal data – that is, any information from which you can be identified. Businesses relying on consent for processing citizens’ information will have to obtain that consent clearly and unambiguously, disclose when serious data breaches occur, and could be fined up to €20million or 4 per cent of their global revenues for regime failures. In other words, companies are going to have to pay heavily for failing to protect our information such as name, address, salary, medical records, mortgage details or financial records.

Laura Gillespie, Litigation and Regulatory Partner at Pinsent Masons says: “The UK Government declared its intention last year to adopt the EU General Data Protection Regulation when it comes into force on 25 May 2018, irrespective of where the UK sits in the Brexit time line.

The significant changes which Northern Ireland businesses face are considerable but the one which is causing most concern is that of data security and the potential cost arising from a breach.”

The new EU data protection regulation is designed to strengthen the rights individuals have over their data. The idea is to make companies take the issue of data protection far more seriously. The legislation will apply across the UK and

74 NI Chamber

to any company that handles EU citizens’ data, even if that company is not based in Europe.

“The central premise behind GDPR is that personal information will be kept safe.

In many ways people undervalue what personal information is but if you think how it can be misused and the stress it can cause if it gets into the wrong hands, then that really underlines why it is so important to keep it secure,” says Laura.

“The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) currently has the power to impose monetary penalties of up to £500,000 for serious breaches of the Data Protection Act. “The ICO issued its largest ever fine in 2016; TalkTalk was fined £400,000 following for a major data breach arising from a failure to ensure appropriate technical safeguards within its IT system.

“However, under the GDPR, if a serious breach occurs, data protection authorities will be able to impose fines of up to 4 per cent of the annual global turnover of a business, or €20 million, whichever is the higher.”

A data breach means a breach of security leading to the destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure of, or access to, personal data. This could arise from a physical loss of records, a cyber attack, inadequate IT security or simply human error.

Laura acknowledges that data breaches often happen because of human error and not necessarily due to cyber criminals; in recent statistics published by the ICO, human error is the cause of a significant number of security issues. However, she says the increase in cyber attacks should

put businesses on their guard.

In addition, an organisation which suffers a breach will be forced to notify the ICO where a breach has the potential to have significant detrimental consequences for the individuals concerned. This notification will have to happen within 72 hours of the breach occurring.

“The new legal requirement to notify the ICO of a serious breach is a very significant change to the current law; the impact is compounded by businesses having to do so within such a short timeframe as 72 hours,” says Laura.

“When helping businesses plan for incident response, it is clear that there is a standard procedure to follow if a business has been compromised. Very often it does not matter how the breach has happened but the steps you need to take to close the issue are the same and vitally important to protect your business.”

Laura Gillespie says that with data breaches becoming more sophisticated and their impact more damaging, companies need to review threats and vulnerabilities regularly.

Analysis carried out by Pinsent Masons, has revealed that the top 100 companies by revenue in Northern Ireland could face a substantial hike in fines – indeed the total fines which could be faced collectively by the top 10 companies in Northern Ireland by revenue at the maximum of 4 per cent of turnover would be close to a staggering £300 million for their Northern Ireland figures alone – a drop in the ocean when you add in global revenues.

“GDPR will not only have the potential to hit to the bottom line through breach enforcement but there will be other

cost consequences too. The rules make it mandatory for public authorities and those involved in large scale processing of sensitive personal data to appoint a Data Protection Officer (DPO),” says Laura.

“The DPO will police data protection within the organisation, they will notify the board of what the legal requirements are, give advice on what the organisation should be doing to comply and be the point of contact for the regulatory authority; in Northern Ireland, that will be the ICO.” Laura also points to the fact that there has been a lot of debate about privacy outside Europe. At the moment the current Data Protection Act says you cannot transfer information outside Europe unless you are satisfied that there are appropriate measures to keep it safe.

But what about doing business in the US? In 2016, the European Commission

presented the “EU-US Privacy Shield” to the public. The Privacy Shield is the successor to the “Safe Harbor Framework” which was declared void in a decision by the European Court of Justice in 2015. The Privacy Shield serves as an instrument to overcome the high requirements that have to be met when transferring data from the EU to the US. Even though the Privacy Shield has been criticised by a number of European data protection regulators, it serves as a valid and easily available mechanism to justify data transfers from the EU to the US. “America is safe because of the Privacy Shield but once you go outside Europe there is no guarantee that information is secure when it is transferred to other countries,” says Laura.

“However, you can enter into an agreement, the body of which is laid down in legislation, which ensures that

the person to whom you are transferring the information deals with it in a lawful way. There is no automatic presumption outside Europe – so you have to be very careful.

“This places particular challenges for companies with cloud-based technology because you can’t pinpoint where the information is held.

“GDPR means that data protection compliance is rocketing up the board agenda, given the potential risk of huge fines, damaging publicity and loss of customer confidence if a breach occurs.

This is only one of a range of changes which GDPR will bring for organisations in Northern Ireland. Businesses need to start preparing now for the upcoming change.

“So the real worry for businesses is not Brexit, it is GDPR.”

NI Chamber 75

sponsored feature pinsent masons burns night

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2.

International law firm Pinsent Masons celebrated Burns Night with over 120 guests enjoying a night of poetry, song and fine food in the hallowed setting of Queen’s University. String Quartet Arco, created a convivial ambiance with music at the drinks reception in the Senate Chamber. Once seated in the Great Hall, Paul McBride welcomed guests before Ewan Alexander conducted the Burns formalities including the Selkirk Grace and the Address to the Haggis. Ross McDowall soulful trio of Burns love songs was a treat, and local wit and raconteur Tim McGarry had guests in fits of laughter. Andrea McIlroy-Rose concluded with a note of thanks to the venue and organisers, and to the clients for their company and their support during the previous year.

1.Joanna Robinson (Legal Director), Andrea McIlroy Rose (Partner) and Paul McBride (Partner) listen as Christie Jack warms up to pipe in the Haggis at Pinsent Masons Burns Supper.

2.Danny McKay – McMahon McKay, Laura Cameron – Pinsent Masons, and Alan Hewitt.

3. Paul Gillen – Pinsent Masons, Derek Weir – Queen’s University Belfast, and Stuart Neilson – Pinsent Masons.

4. Peter Dixon – Phoenix Energy Holdings, Fiona McCabe – Brain Injury Matters and Roger Kennedy – AKFP Ltd. 5. David McClean – Baker Tilly Mooney Moore, Rob Heron – EY and Stephen Hughes – Ulster Bank.

6. Kieran McCracken – BA Components, Deirdre Cormican – Pinsent Masons, and Tim McGarry.

7. David Kirkpatrick – Pinsent Masons, Brian Kennedy – O’Connor Kennedy & Turtle, and Criona Collins - Lambert Smith Hampton.

8. Ewan Alexander performs Burns’ Great Address to the Haggis.

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6.

www.pinsentmasons.com

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4.

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columnist

OBAMA - A GOOD AND DECENT MAN In office as US President, Barack Obama faced many political, diplomatic, social and economic challenges but he left in high esteem.

Ian Rainey, former international banker, evaluates his tenure.

The title is unlikely to be used for his successor but Barack Obama merits it because of the values he stood for and represented as a president of the United States. The mutual respect and the premium that he placed on relationships, particularly with his wife and children, will always remind us that power can go hand in hand with modesty, integrity and politeness. The media would have us believe that Obama stands for all that is right and that he could easily have defeated Trump who often stands for all that is darkness and wrong. But that is obviously not the case as there is no doubt that in voting in a new president, the voters rejected Obama as much as they did Mrs Clinton. In fact of the nearly 700 electoral districts that twice sent Obama to the White House, a stunning one third flipped over to support Trump in last November’s election.

President Obama made income redistribution his top policy priority, above economic growth. Yet the result has been the slowest expansion since World War 2 and some would say even more inequality. Many AfricanAmericans looked to President Obama to ensure their economic rights as Martin Luther King secured their civil rights. But this was not necessarily delivered. In foreign policy it could be argued that Obama created more problems than he inherited. The post Cold War equilibrium is over. America is no longer the sole superpower, as Chinese hegemony slowly replaces American dominance in Asia and Eurasia. The US-Russian relationship under Obama was at a very low ebb and a defiant Vladimir Putin is altering the global geopolitical order by aligning with China. Obama can also be blamed for creating the monster that is ISIS through his premature extraction of American forces before installing a stable Iraqi Government. The Iran nuclear deal could have been his sole legacy but even here opinion is divided over his actual achievements.

For all his oratory, Obama unfortunately created so much animosity that he had to rule by fiat towards the end of his second term which will probably mean that Trump will aim to overturn most of the good that he did domestically. But to his credit, one must argue that over eight years he withstood an unprecedented storm of furious resistance and nastiness, much of it driven by an unwillingness in certain quarters to accept the legitimacy of a black president. He fought hard for what he perceived to be right while pushing to make his country more inclusive. As one writer put it: “I saw a man who loved his country and his family and that love withstood

gale force winds of hatred and disrespect”. Above all, the Republicans loathed Obamacare. They loathed it so much that, in 2010, not a single Republican voted for the Affordable Care Act. To us this might seem amazing but it should be noted that there were some Republican Governors who turned down the federal money made available to expand Medicaid in their States. Obama provided health insurance for around 20 million people and today the portion of Americans without any coverage is the lowest in the history of the country.

As the second youngest president after Kennedy, Obama retires at 55. It is easy to say that we haven’t heard the last of him. As a gifted writer he is already thinking about his next book and unlike President Truman he will not retire in penury. The Former Presidents Act was passed in 1958 to ensure that President Truman and ensuing presidents would have a pension which would help them to maintain the dignity of the Office. This pension, as of 2016, stood at $205,700 per annum.

Bill Clinton was reportedly awarded $15 million for his memoirs. Given Obama’s unique character and literary talents, he is likely to receive a more lucrative offer.

As a young professor, Obama taught for 12 years at the University of Chicago Law School and the city is set to boast The Obama Presidential Centre incorporating a $500 million library. It is seen as a project that could help reinvigorate the south side neighbourhood area where it is to be situated.

Obama is leaving Donald Trump a strong economy with few risks on the horizon apart from ones that may arise as a result of choices made by Congress and the Trump administration itself. Obama will leave the White House but will remain in Washington where his children are still in school. He has signalled that he will be an active ex-president – in the vein of Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. But as Mark Updegrove, who has just stepped down as Director of Lyndon Johnston’s Library, states: “I think Barack Obama’s greatest hobby will be his greatest passion, which is his family”. Having had a less than glorious start in life as the African-American son of a single mother, I believe his future will ensure a contribution to American life and society which will far outshine his humble beginnings.

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columnist

WHO WOULD YOU TRUST? Have you considered what would happen if you had an accident, became seriously ill or simply became unable to deal with your financial matters? It makes sense to put your affairs in order by making an Enduring Power of Attorney as Ashling Gray, Solicitor, Probate and Wills division, Hunt Solicitors explains.

E

veryone likes to think that the worst would never happen to them, that they will always be in control.

Unfortunately for some this is just not the reality and for those who have not prepared in advance for this it can have devastating effects on their families.

In the event you ever lost the mental capacity to handle your financial affairs have you prepared for someone to take your place to make your decisions?

Are you even aware that this can be done?

A recent news article reported that ‘just 246,000 powers of attorneys were registered in 2013 - but there are currently 850,000 people in the UK living with dementia’* In England and Wales they use a document known as a Lasting Power of Attorney whereas in Northern Ireland this protection is currently offered by way of an Enduring Power of Attorney. The Lasting Power has some administrative differences as well as the ability to allow your Attorney more control over your health decisions. This specific control is not yet available in Northern

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Ireland however may be available in the near future.

What this document offers is the control and security of knowing that if you ever lost mental capacity that you have appointed someone you trust to make the best financial and business decisions on your behalf which could help to prevent unnecessary delays or even worse business grinding to a halt.

You can decide if your Attorney can have general powers to deal with all of your property and affairs which would include any business interests you may have. Alternatively you could decide to limit your Attorney’s powers to specific aspects of your financial affairs. The document should be tailored to suit your needs and what you are comfortable with.

You can even have several Enduring Powers of Attorney which can allow one or more persons to deal with certain personal financial affairs and then perhaps another Attorney to deal solely with any business interest you may control. You just need to ensure the documents are properly drafted to achieve this result.

An Enduring Power of Attorney can only be signed when a person still

has the capacity to understand the document and why they are signing it. Once someone has lost mental capacity it is too late and their families will have to go through the alternative route of appointing a Controller on their behalf. This process is longer, more expensive and you could end up with a Controller that you would not have ultimately chosen yourself.

Putting an Enduring Power of Attorney in place is a straightforward process. You simply need yourself and whoever you wish to appoint as your Attorney to sign the document in the presence of a witness. You can appoint more than one Attorney if you wish.

The Enduring Power of Attorney can be reviewed and amended just like your Will and if it’s never needed then at least you can be assured that you took the precaution.

Forward planning in matters such as your finances can help assist a family at a time when life is chaotic enough. * http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/ pensions/article-2938541/Whylasting-power-attorney-help-looklegacy.html

Celebrating our 21st Birthday Trusted name, bespoke service.

A business built on integrity, tenacity, pride and passion.

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feature feature

ULSTER CARPETS WEAVES LUXURY ACROSS THE WORLD With a full order book, Ulster Carpets continues to nail down prestigious contracts across the world as Adrienne McGill hears from its Contract Sales Director Elaine Patterson.

U

S President Trump may be stepping on a lot of toes at the moment as he sorts out his administration in the White House – but he has also been stepping on luxurious carpets created

by Northern Ireland’s world renowned company, Ulster Carpets, in the Trump organisation’s newest hotel.

The Portadown-based manufacturer of high-end Axminster carpets, working alongside designers HBA Atlanta, recently completed a prestigious contract to design and install carpets for the magnificent Trump International Hotel following the redevelopment of the Old Post Office in Washington DC. The building’s transformation, complete with 263 luxurious guest rooms, opened its doors last September and became the newest addition to the rapidly growing

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Trump Hotels empire.

The beautiful historic building is located in one of the most prestigious areas of the nation’s capital and the carpets in the public areas were designed in keeping with the classical architecture of the property.

Elaine Patterson, Ulster Carpets’ Contract Sales Director, says: “Ulster Carpets has been a supplier to the Trump organisation in the past and designed and installed carpets for the Trump Turnberry Hotel in Scotland but we were delighted to be involved with Old Post Office in Washington DC. “We supplied 20,000 sq m of carpet to all the public areas and corridors of the property.

“It is a wonderful building and is a really good reference for us in the US. President Trump is a customer like any

other customer and we try to service our customers equally. We deal with many high profile and wealthy clients all over the world and they are all equally important to us. No matter who we are doing business with – we always use the same approach.

Our business is based on service and the relationships we have with the people we are dealing with. That can range from the interior design company who is operating on behalf of the owner of a hotel or dealing with the purchasing company. We have to be at the top of our game in terms of our service. We produce a high quality product but along with that we have to offer a very high service level to our client base.

“In many instances we win business on the basis of our expertise and our ability to create exceptional designs incorporating many colours.

“We can produce exactly what the client wants and exceed their expectations.

They are generally looking for something that has a ‘wow’ factor in the design.”

Ulster Carpets employs 350 people at its manufacturing facility in Portadown, and a further 200 at offices across the world.

The company has been producing custom designed, wool-rich Axminster carpets for almost 80 years and manufactures 400 rolls of carpet weekly at its Castleisland factory. The firm is responsible for amazing creations with a dazzling array of vibrant colours, intricate designs and luxurious textures which are testament to the quality of the craftsmanship for which the company has gained global acclaim.

Prestigious installations include palaces, hotels, casinos and cruise ships. Amongst these are the Ritz, Gainsborough, Claridges and Savoy hotels in London, the Waldorf Astoria in New York, the Marriott Hotel Jabal Omar in Mecca, the Bellagio and MGM casinos in Las Vegas, and ships for Royal Caribbean International and Carnival Cruise Lines.

The company has also made bespoke carpets for palaces owned by Saudi Arabia’s late King Abdullah and the King

feature Abdullah Convention Centre in Jeddah.

Founded in 1938 in Portadown by George Walter Wilson, the late grandfather of the current Managing Director Nick Coburn – who is President of the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry – the company is now in the third generation of the Wilson family and has grown to become a legendary name in top quality carpet manufacture for the contract and residential markets.

It employs 35 top designers who devise eye-catching combinations based in a range of studios across the world including Paris, London, Dubai and Atlanta.

The company places staff who originally worked at its Portadown factory in key markets across the world in order to highlight the link with Northern Ireland and place a further emphasis on its customer focus.

“In all of our markets we have homegrown talent across sales, design and planning. These people have moved to those markets through employment with Ulster Carpets in Portadown. We have seen an opportunity for them and they have welcomed the chance to work abroad for the company,” says Elaine.

Other recent prestigious contracts for Ulster Carpets have included the renovation of the Ritz Carlton in Budapest, the Sofitel in Frankfurt, the Waldorf Astoria in Amsterdam, the Intercontinental Grand Hotel in Paris and the Grand Hyatt Martinez in Cannes which is being refurbished in the spring with the carpets designed by Ulster Carpets in conjunction with famous interior design company Pierre Yves Rochon.

However, the carpets produced for the sumptuously remastered Queen Mary 2 cruise ship which underwent a £90 million refurbishment in Hamburg are – even by the standards of Ulster Carpets – truly exceptional with many boasting intricate and three dimensional elements. Ulster Carpets produced 22,000 sq m of bespoke carpet with geometric prints epitomising an era of luxury and sophistication.

“The Queen Mary 2 was an amazing project to be involved in from the development of the designs to the final inspection,” says Elaine.

“We had 22 containers of carpet dispatched to the vessel and I had the privilege of being invited on board for the relaunch of the ship. The carpet was mainly for the public areas and it was quite a task to create the designs. They were done with a very high level of taste and quality reflecting the grandeur of the Queen Mary 2.”

While all of its main UK competitors have either moved to cheaper locations in Asia or Eastern Europe, Ulster Carpets has remained committed to manufacturing in Northern Ireland with a focus on export markets which account for 70 per cent of

A stunning carpet from Ulster Carpets which adorns one of the rooms at the Trump International Hotel.

its business.

With a full order book going forward into next year and longer term projects nailed down, production in Portadown is in full swing. Germany is a new market which the company is currently targeting and Elaine, who has worked for Ulster Carpets for almost 30 years and is fluent in German and French, has been exploring opportunities there.

“We see a lot of business potential in Germany. Berlin has the third highest number of tourist and business travellers in Europe. Germany is a country we have identified where we need to have a presence. Frankfurt is another city where many hotel developments and refurbishments are taking place over the next 12 months – so there are

opportunities we want to look at. We are in early stages but I am involved in going out to investigate the market.

“We are currently working on many contracts in cities across Europe including Paris and London and also in the US.” Europe of course poses its own problems for exporters with the prospect of new trade deals because of Brexit and the UK leaving the EU. However, Elaine is sanguine about what it will mean for a major exporter such as Ulster Carpets.

“It is hard to tell what Brexit will mean for us. We are a family run business and a privately owned company which means we have the flexibility to react quickly to changes. I don’t foresee Brexit being a problem for us – it won’t deter us from what we have to do.”

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appointments

new appointments

Leading recruitment firm, Abacus Professional Recruitment has made three new appointments and three internal promotions in its Belfast Office. (L-R) Natasha Johnston has been appointed Trainee Recruitment Consultant (Accountancy); Alex Noble has been promoted to Senior Recruitment Consultant (Business Services); Richard Bodles assumes the position of Senior Recruitment Consultant (Accountancy); Eoin Fleming has been promoted to Senior Recruitment Consultant (Accountancy); Adam Scorah has been appointed as Trainee Recruitment Consultant (Business Services); and Aisleen Tierney also joins the firm as a Trainee Recruitment Consultant (Business Services). The team is pictured with Justin Rush (centre), Abacus Business Director.

Simon Cunningham has been appointed as a Client Executive with Lighthouse Communications.

Bronagh Bourke has been appointed Audit Director at Grant Thornton Northern Ireland.

Maeve Hunt has been appointed Associate Director at Grant Thornton Northern Ireland.

Eoin O’Sullivan has been appointed as the new General Manager of the 5-star Culloden Estate & Spa, part of the Hastings Hotels Group.

REGISTER | BROWSE | APPLY WWW.GRAFTONRECRUITMENT.COM ambition strip ad June 2016.indd 2

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30/06/2016 07:51:00

RECRUITMENT AN ART OR SCIENCE?

BY MARTIN GREER, LEAD HR CONSULTANT, GRAFTON RECRUITMENT.

Recruitment, in particular selection, is often described as an ‘art’ with interviewers relying on gut feel to identify the top talent as a perfect fit for our organisations.

Interviewers are faced with using a ‘conversation’ to establish the following difficult conundrums: ‘Are this candidate’s competencies and behaviours consistent with the role and what I am looking for?’, ‘Do I really think that this candidate will fit in and contribute?’, ‘Do I identify with this person?’. Taking recruitment and selection down to its most basic purpose – we are trying to predict whether the person in front of us will perform effectively in the potential role and fit into our organisations.

Johnathon Harkness has been appointed as a Software Developer with FUEL.

Almost all organisations use interviews, though some commentators highlight the defects of interviews, with science lovers pointing out humans are far too subjective and susceptible to errors in judgement. The ‘Halo’ effect is often in play (‘I like me, you are like me, therefore I like you’). Consequently the ‘Horns’ effect works in the opposite way.

Many managers are happy to have a forty minute ‘chat’ with an individual and invest / take a punt on a significant amount of company funds in the form of salary. Yet when you want to invest £40k in a new IT system, there are numerous organisational hurdles and rigour to get through before making the investment.

Why don’t we apply the same logic to our people? Organisations would spend far less time training and performance managing if they invested more time and cost upfront in the recruitment process, trying to get it right from the outset.

Does this sound the death blow to interviews? Not really, would be the sensible answer to that question.

Recruiters are now using a blend of art and scientific approaches to increase the accuracy of their assessment processes.

Behavioural science gives us a unique

Ryan Smyth has been appointed as a SAP Consultant with FUEL.

and valuable perspective for people management and understanding human behaviour lies at the heart of all HR processes. Tapping into the best practice recruitment techniques underpinned by behavioural science can only be a good thing for our organisations, ensuring sound investment decisions in people.

While selection tools can be used for a multitude of different purposes, the main goal of any assessment process should be to tease out key predictors of performance in an appropriate and costeffective manner.

Incorporating a well-designed assessment centre element into the recruitment process enables the opportunity to utilise assessment tools that are reliable, valid, free from bias and most importantly, will objectively measure the key behaviours for the role. Assessing a candidate taking part in a simulated meeting to measure their management and leadership skills is much more effective than asking the same candidate to describe their leadership style at an interview. It truly gives you the opportunity to see candidates ‘walking the walk’, rather than ‘talking the talk’.

Paul Murnaghan has been appointed as Regional Director of BT Business in Northern Ireland.

Paul Currid has been appointed to the Corporate Trading Team at Danske Bank.

REGISTER | BROWSE | APPLY WWW.GRAFTONRECRUITMENT.COM ambition strip ad June 2016.indd 2

30/06/2016 07:51:00

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feature Ship refurbs can transform tired looking vessels into floating palaces. Gary Annett, Chief Executive of MJM, tells Adrienne McGill about the company’s success in winning oceans of contracts in this specialist market.

IN SHIP SHAPE M

JM Group, the leading marine fit-out firm, is riding on the crest of a wave as the buoyant global cruise travel market continues to grow and evolve at record pace.

The global cruise industry generated revenues of $39 billion in 2016 while the number of passengers carried is expected to exceed 25 million in 2019.

Newry-based MJM, which employs 240 and was founded by its current

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Chairman Brian McConville 37 years ago, is a specialist in the refurbishment and upgrade of ships operated by most of the world’s major cruise lines including Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Cunard, P&O and Holland America with projects ranging in value from tens of thousands to tens of millions of dollars.

Over the years the company’s expertise has been in high demand with the result that revenue has jumped to almost £60 million.

One of the company’s most prestigious recent contracts involved Cunard’s Queen Mary 2. The luxurious ship was totally remastered by MJM in just 21 days while dry docked in Hamburg. Work was undertaken by a contract team of over 800 people and involved the refit of 900 plus cabins including15 suites and the complete build of 15 single traveller cabins. The contract involved working with Cunard’s world class designers to create breath-taking contemporary and

feature

sophisticated spaces on the liner and encompassed a full fit-out. This included structural modifications comprising new fire boundaries, flooring, ceiling and wall panel fittings, lighting and electrical installation and bespoke joinery and furniture provision. There was also quite a unique facility in the form of a set of dog kennels and associated owner areas.

“The refit market over the last number of years has been non-stop for us,” says Gary Annett, MJM’s Chief Executive.

“We have had a steady rise in revenue over the last 18 months and with a significant number of new ships being built by cruise lines, these will have to be refitted at some stage. Looking ahead that gives us a strong potential pipeline of work. We have been very busy since the start of the year and are in the process of getting new projects over the line.

“We can handle all types of design elements in a project, from interior design and project management through to sourcing/purchasing and the logistics of all of the elements required within a ship’s interiors. Our project enquiry to completion window is often a short cycle.

Every week a ship is out of service is a week of lost revenue for cruise operators so working to very tight deadlines is a critical part of what we do.”

While the company specialises in new build, refurbishment, refit and fit-out services mainly for the marine industry, MJM also operates a specialist joinery division which provides services to landbased commercial and private clients.

From fitting out a vast range of spaces including accommodation, recreation, dining, leisure and entertainment using a variety of materials and wood finishes, MJM has over the years secured repeat business from all major cruise lines.

Starting from an initial enquiry to project delivery and handover, the company offers clients a full range of services which, for cruise operators, can range from a soft refurbishment in some areas of a ship to a major transformation on all decks and involve the public areas, restaurants, bars, theatres and cabins.

Every contract requires a huge amount

of pre-planning, organisation and logistical precision to ensure that the right personnel, the right tools and the right materials get to the right place at the right time.

“Logistics start from the moment we get an enquiry – we have to send survey teams out to a vessel anywhere in the world to assess how we are going to price the job and what issues there may be and what we need to allow for,” says Gary.

“Ship refits take place in a dry dock situation which could be anywhere in the world – the Bahamas, Singapore, Spain, Germany or Italy – so we have to get our personnel there which, on larger projects, can sometimes involve chartering an aircraft for them. In recent years we have also successfully undertaken refits whilst the vessels are in service. This requires an additional level of understanding of a live ship and project management to ensure the passenger experience is undisturbed.

“On board the ship we are also responsible for the electrics, plumbing and safety systems which can present quite a technical challenge. The interior fit-out can involve new furniture, carpeting, lighting, cabins, bars, dining areas and public spaces.”

Most of the fittings are manufactured in MJM’s 100,000 sq ft plant in Newry’s Carnbane Business Park and then transported to shipyards across the world where vessels are in dry dock ready to be transformed. However, this can sometimes involve encountering situations which can’t be controlled.

“Our team were preparing to fly out for the refit of a ship last October when Hurricane Matthew hit the Caribbean and the eastern US,” says Gary.

“That had a major impact on us and the cruise operator after a reassessment of what scope could be achieved given the diversion of the material containers.

We just had to make up for lost time and complete what areas we could with the materials available. The ship eventually got some of the missed areas done while in service.”

The largest cruise ship refurbishment MJM has worked on involved the Oasis

of the Seas and the Allure of the Seas which are owned and operated by Royal Caribbean and are the two biggest cruise ships on the water, each capable of carrying over 8,000 passengers/crew.

Small projects require a skilled fit-out team of 10-50 people while major refits will involve a workforce of up to 1,200 plus.

In addition to employing skilled workers such as joiners, machinists, decorators, upholsterers and welders – MJM also relies on sophisticated technology for the design, tracking and costing of projects.

Outside of the marine business, the company made two major investments last year with the purchase of Damolly Retail Park in Newry and the former Shackleton Barracks in Ballykelly where it plans to establish an aviation fit-out division. MJM’s founder Brian McConville also owns the Mivan fit-out business which is based in Antrim.

“We have been successful because we have a can-do attitude and possess an ability to push boundaries within a tight time scale,” says Gary.

“We have always been able to do anything a client has asked us to do. There aren’t too many things we would not attempt – we enjoy a challenge.”

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VEHICLE TAX IS CHANGING What is changing?

• Cars registered on or after 1st April 2017, will have a firstyear rate according to the vehicle’s Co2 emissions, but will also be split into three bands for the subsequent standard rate: zero emission, standard (cars up to £40,000) and premium (priced above £40,000).

Agnew Corporate has updated their vehicle quotations system to reflect current VED figures. The system will still use the vehicles Co2 emissions to determine the tax payable, but also takes into account the value of the car. Cars registered before April 1st 2017 will continue to be taxed under the old system.

• If the vehicle list price is over £40,000 at first registration, the customer will pay £450 a year, after the first vehicle licence. This is made up of the £140 standard rate and £310 additional rate.

After five years the vehicle tax will revert to the standard rate of £140 per year.

For more information visit www.agnewcorporate.com/ news/ or call Agnew Corporate on 028 9038 6600.

• Zero emission vehicles will have a standard rate of £0.

• Vehicles with a list price exceeding £40,000 with zero emissions (including electric) will pay the additional rate of £310 a year for a 5 year period, after the first licence. After the 5 year period these vehicles will pay zero vehicle tax.

• Standard cars pay the first-year rate according to their emissions banding and then the standard rate of £140.

RECRUITMENT TRENDS FOR 2017 Despite the continued uncertainty in press reports, online and seemingly everywhere we look, about the potential impact of Brexit, Trump and now the new elections for Stormont, the wheels of industry keep turning. New deals still happen and new talent is still required. Riada are certainly finding this is the case with more and more clients ready to recruit.

According to research from UK job sites, which analysed the average number of jobs in the UK’s key sectors in 2016, applications in leisure/tourism saw a 31% rise, followed by an increase of 24% in design and 13% in catering last year. Sectors that also saw a substantial increase in applications during 2016, included agriculture (up 41%), manufacturing (up 30%) and automotive (up 23%), with figures expected to maintain momentum in 2017.

Frances Lundy, Founder & Director of Riada Resourcing comments: “Riada has always had a strong and growing temporary division however during 2015-16 we have seen a resurgence in the permanent sector. I founded the business on finding the perfect person for my clients, as a recruitment professional it’s what I love to do. The growth we are experiencing has enabled me to strengthen the team, bring in new talent and restructure the business so we now have specialist recruiters in specific business divisions listening, searching and delivering for our growing client base.”

The Riada Resourcing HQ is on the Causeway Coast and delivers talent to businesses of all sizes across the UK. The Riada Professionals team are ready to take your call. Tel: 028 7032 6600

lifestyle

MASSIVE MINI New Countryman completes MINI’s transformation from car of the people to premium brand player, writes James Stinson.

M

INIs, even the bigger ones, aren’t the most practical or versatile cars around while the smaller ones aren’t the most compact either. But MINIs don’t have to be the very best on these kinds of measures.

They have to look the part – be stylish, quirky, desirable and fun to drive.

And so it is with the new MINI Countryman. This second generation Countryman is by far the biggest MINI yet – an SUV-type motor that aims to appeal to the growing number of buyers drawn to these bigger and higher cars.

The new model is based on the same platform as the BMW X1. It means the Countryman is a good bit longer, by some 20 cm, and a little wider than the car it replaces, which goes some way to addressing one of the main gripes with the previous model. It just wasn’t that spacious or practical, especially in the back.

The extra bulk also gives the new Countryman a more rugged and chunky look. It won’t be to everyone’s taste but it certainly isn’t bland.

The biggest changes are on the inside though, where quality is significantly improved, with plusher materials and

88 NI Chamber

neatly styled knobs, dials and levers to the fore.

Practicality is greatly improved, too.

There’s significantly more knee room for rear seat passengers, while even tall adults have plenty of headroom.

An optional sliding rear bench allows you to prioritise either boot space or passenger room. The boot itself is 100 litres bigger than before (and 70 litres bigger than a VW Golf).

The new platform also brings the Countryman’s chassis and engines right up to date with the rest of MINI’s range.

At the moment, four turbocharged engines are available split between two petrols and two diesels. The cheapest 1.5-litre petrol, with 134bhp and priced from £22,465, may feel a little underpowered for some drivers in what is quite a bulky car. The 0-60 time just nudges under the ten second mark. The 2.0 litre version knocks two seconds off that time and adds around £2,000 to the asking price.

Most buyers will likely opt for one of the two-litre diesels, available from £24,425, which offer better mid-range push and fuel economy.

MINI’s all 4 four-wheel drive system,

available throughout the range, adds a further £1,500 while a plug in hybrid model is also offered.

As anyone who has ever bought a new MINI will know, these figures are only vaguely indicative of what you’ll eventually pay.

Standard features include alloy wheels, bluetooth phone connectivity, cruise control, rear parking sensors and even sat-nav but most buyers will add further upgrades and styling touches.

You’ll get best value by opting for one of the off the shelf options packs – Pepper, Chili or Sport.

The most popular of these is set to be the Chilli Pack, which costs £2,980 and includes automatic air conditioning, the MINI driving modes, sports seats (trimmed in part-leather or cloth/ leatherette) and LED headlamps amongst a long list of items.

And so as this story builds, so does the price. Most new Countrymans will cost close to £30,000 by the time they’ve left the showroom, putting it head-to-head with rivals like the Mercedes GLA and Audi’s Q3. Proof, if it was ever needed, that MINI’s transformation from a car of the people to premium brand player is complete.

lifestyle

SMALL CAR CLASS FROM KIA If you’re looking for a sensible second car, check out the latest Kia Rio. It’s pretty, hugely practical, and won’t break the bank.

Air conditioning, a 3.8-inch display screen, Bluetooth and daytime LED running lights all come as standard in the entry level ‘Grade 1’ version, which starts at £11,995.

There’s also a raft of new petrol and diesel engines, with the pick of the bunch Kia’s 1.0 litre three-cylinder petrol turbo.

Available in 99bhp or 118bhp

tuned versions, this tiny motor highlights just how much petrol engine technology has moved on in recent years, delivering likely real-world mpg north of 55, low emissions and decent performance.

The new Rio is a very spacious car too, with plenty of room fore and aft while the boot is among the biggest in the class, which includes the Clio, Polo and Fabia. Factor in Kia’s world beating 7-year (or 100.000 mile) warranty and you’ve got a real contender.

NEW GOLF TARGETS THE DIGITAL GENERATION A modest mid-life refresh of any car would hardly warrant a mention but the VW Golf, having sold more than 33 million and counting, is no ordinary car.

There isn’t a lot that’s different on the outside of this updated Mk7 version but there’s plenty of change in the cabin, reflecting our desire to be connected everywhere we go.

To this end, the Golf now has a new and larger dashboard mounted 6.5 inch colour infotainment system, which you can mate to tablets and smartphones to allow others, in the back for example, to fiddle with the sat-nav etc. Wireless smartphone charging is another small but noteworthy addition.

Other improvements include a suite of driver assistance features.

Traffic Jam Assist combines lane assist features with automatic distance control to take over from the driver in dense traffic and long queues.

These are small but potentially life-saving technologies are a sign of what’s coming down the line with driverless cars.

And best of all, the cheaper versions are still relatively affordable, with prices starting from £17,625 for the entry-level Golf S 1.0 TSI three-door version.

CAR TAX RATES GOING UP Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) rates are changing from April. The current road tax regime is costing the Exchequer a packet as carmakers have slashed the CO2 emissions of their cars to take advantage of the generous VED tax bands for lower-emissions vehicles.

Unlike the current system, where low-emission petrol and diesel cars are tax exempt, the new VED system will only be free for vehicles with no tailpipe emissions - that means electric and hydrogen cars only (like this Nissan Leaf pictured).

The changes will mean a car that is CO2 rated at 100g/km or lower – and thus free of road tax for life under the current VED band system – will cost its owner £400 over three years, £680 over 5 years, or a whopping £1,380 over ten years. If you can buy the same car before the April 1st deadline, you’d be mad not to.

It’s also worth mentioning now that the 2017 car tax changes will not affect your current car. It’s only people buying a new car after that date who will be taxed under the new system.

90 NI Chamber

Q60

DRIVEN BY A SENSATION NOT A DESTINATION The precise feel of the 400 horsepower V6 throttle. The customisable feel of the world’s 1st Direct Adaptive Steering™ System. The race-inspired look of a cockpit lined with a black carbon and leather. The all-new Infiniti Q60.

Book your Test Drive now at Infiniti Centre Belfast

Starting from

£33,990

Infiniti Centre Belfast 11 Boucher Crescent, Belfast, BT12 6HU T 02890 684300

www.infiniticentrebelfast.com

lifestyle

spring stripes CUBANA BOUTIQUE

Marks & Spencer

This issue JOANNE HARKNESS looks at fashion inspiration for spring. this season its all about stripes and the perfect accompaniment is a vibrant red accessory.

Red suede heels, £25.99, New Look.

Jumper, Dubarry of Ireland.

Rocio Coco Clutch, available from iBagzy, a designer handbag rental company, www.ibagzy.com

Stripe shirt, £32, Next.

Stripe shirt, £39.95, White Stuff.

Cubana Boutique, Lisburn Road.

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Stripe detail watch, £139, Amara.

ADD MILES. ADD EXPLORING. ADD STORIES. The new, bigger MINI Countryman has arrived at Bavarian.

From spontaneous days out to week-long road trips, our latest model is as adventurous as you are.

All-wheel driving options and higher suspension gives you a perfect view of the mountain road or the dirt track.

Whatever you’re into, innovative technologies like MINI Connected and MINI Navigation available as standard, plus the optional MINI Picnic Bench and Driving Assistant package help you take the road less travelled.

Visit our showroom to explore our biggest, boldest model to date, or call 028 9095 6464 for a test drive*.

Bavarian 12 Boucher Way, Belfast BT12 6RE www.bavarianmini.co.uk

THE NEW BIGGER MINI COUNTRYMAN. WHO’S IN? Official Fuel Economy Figures for the new MINI Countryman range: Urban 30.1–58.9 mpg (9.4–4.8 l/100km). Extra Urban 45.6–68.9 mpg (6.2–4.1 l/100km). Combined 38.2–65.7 mpg (7.4–4.3 l/100km). CO2 Emissions 113–169 g/km. Figures are obtained in a standardised test cycle. They are intended for comparisons between vehicles and may not be representative of what a user achieves under usual driving conditions. *Test drive subject to applicant status and availability.

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13/02/2017 17:26

lifestyle

Saving on time and money will do much to ease costs for international business travellers.

Keith Graham, Managing Director of Selective Travel Management, checks in with some top tips.

BE CANNY AND PACK IN SAVINGS

D

espite our easy access to video conferencing, mobile phones and a raft of communications technology, international business travel continues to thrive. Nothing beats the real-world connection of getting face-to-face with customers and many organisations won’t sign off significant contracts without personal representation.

The benefits may be beyond question, but costs can be significant and, for those who foot the corporate bill, it’s important to make your financial investment work.

There are plenty of self-help ways to make your investment work and here are my top tips…

1. Cheap doesn’t always equate to cost-effective. When planning a business trip it’s well worth factoring into projections the cost of having a senior executive hanging around an airport awaiting the arrival of what initially seemed to be the cheapest flight. Remember that ‘time is money’ adage.

2. Low-cost airlines are notorious for bending the rules of geography when it comes to locating airports.

Consider booking a slightly more expensive flight with a different airline, but one that actually gets you where you need to be.

3. Building up loyalty air miles with a specific airline or group of ‘code sharing’ airlines, however, can secure

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valuable privileges for the frequent business traveller, ranging from fasttrack boarding and more generous baggage allowances to access to their well-equipped Business Lounges.

a little flexibility too. Unless you are travelling to a key event it can pay to be flexible when you are planning to meet a business contact in an overseas location.

4. Before you travel, make sure you know about public holidays at your destination. Also, be aware of the impact on business life of days of religious obligation, particularly in the Middle East where, incidentally, ‘the weekend’ is usually Friday and Saturday.

10. Before you travel, check out the costs of staying connected via mobile phone. Your network can advise on the most appropriate and cost-effective plan to reflect your international requirements, but you’ll need to remember the basics, such as switching off ‘data roaming’ when you don’t need it - Apps can burn through data surprisingly fast. Maybe this is the moment to embrace WhatsApp?

5. Accept ticket restrictions. Avoid fully flexible tickets, or purchase only when absolutely necessary. It may be more economical to purchase a semiflexible ticket, which can be changed for a fee.

6. Consider taking a carry-on case rather than checking in luggage. Smart packing and a light holdall will cut the price of your ticket.

7. If you need product samples or literature during your trip consider sending them ahead via a courier service rather than lugging them in your case.

8. Staying at an airport hotel? Choose one that provides a complimentary shuttle service so that you avoid costly cab fares.

9. Book ahead – generally speaking, the closer to departure, the more expensive the trip. It pays to build in

11. Withdrawing money abroad can cost a lot in charges. Although using a debit card can be cheaper than a credit card, be aware that most banks will charge for each cash withdrawal on top of a commission fee. Best practice is to take out larger sums so you’re charged less frequently, only take care and don’t keep all your money in the same place.

12. Never pay for Wi-Fi! Where there are cafes, bars and restaurants, there’s free Wi-Fi – you’ve just got to know where to look. There are free smartphone apps that can point you in the direction of the nearest gratis hotspot.

lifestyle

CULINARY DELIGHTS DUCK RAGU WITH PAPPARDELLE WITH WINTER WINDS STILL SWIRLING AROUND, WARM TASTY FOOD SHOULD FEATURE ON EVERYONE’S MENU. JAMES ST SOUTH OWNER AND HEAD CHEF NIALL MCKENNA HAS DEVISED TWO DELICIOUS DUCK RECIPES TO CREATE ONE DISH – THERE’S NO BETTER WAY TO EAT AND BEAT THE CHILL.

Duck Ragu

2 duck legs Salt and freshly ground black pepper Flour 2 onions, diced 2 carrots, diced 2 sticks celery, diced 1 tsp garlic 100ml canned tomatoes, peeled with juices 2 bay leaves 1 sprig thyme 1 sprig rosemary 1 tsp crushed red pepper, or to taste 1 tsp dried oregano 50ml chicken stock 1 pound of dried pappardelle pasta Parmesan to taste

Duck Confit

2 duck legs 1 garlic clove 1 tsp white peppercorns 2 bay leaves 1 sprig thyme 4 tblsp course sea salt fat from the duck carcass 150ml water peanut oil or chicken fat

Method: In a pan, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil.

Season your confit duck legs with salt and pepper. Dredge the duck legs in the flour and shake off any excess. Add the duck legs to the pan and cook until the duck is golden brown – about 5 minutes per side.

Transfer the duck to a plate lined with paper towels and set aside.

Reduce the heat to medium; add the remaining olive oil, onions, garlic, carrots and celery and cook until the vegetables are caramelised, stirring occasionally, usually about 5 minutes. It’s important to caramelise the vegetables slowly; this is the basis of the sauce.

Add the tomatoes, bay leaves, thyme, rosemary, crushed red pepper and oregano, cooking for an additional 3 minutes. Add the duck legs back to the pan along with the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until duck is very tender – about 45-55 minutes.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and add the pasta. Cook until al dente and drain. Toss the pasta with a bit of olive oil and salt, to taste. In a large mixing bowl, toss the pasta with the duck ragu. Season with salt and mix well. To serve, mound onto serving plates and garnish with the grated Parmesan.

This dish needs to marinate the day before you want to serve. Place the duck legs in a dish and add in chopped garlic, the crushed peppercorns, the bay leaves and pick the thyme off the stalk. Add in the sea salt and cover in cling film and leave in the fridge for 24 hours.

To cook, chop up the duck fat and place in a pan with the water and simmer for 2 hours or until the duck fat becomes clear. You can buy duck fat from all good supermarkets and

delicatessen if you do not want to use the fat from the carcass. Using a sieve, strain the fat into a clean pan and add the duck legs, ensuring the marinade and salt has been cleaned off.

If the legs are not covered in the fat, top up with peanut oil or chicken fat and simmer for 90 minutes or until the legs are tender. Once tender, take off the heat but let the legs cool in the fat. When you are ready to serve the legs, instead of using for the ragu below, reheat in a hot oven, (200degC) for 5 minutes.

NI Chamber 95

columnist

NEED FOR SMARTER THINKING H

It’s time the vexed issue of business rates and taxes got a shakeup says Journalist and Broadcaster Jim Fitzpatrick.

96 NI Chamber

ow should businesses pay their taxes? From the transnational corporations with their fiendishly complex tax management to the small independent retailer paying twice as much on rates than rent; this is a question that’s worth careful consideration.

There are no easy answers. But in a world of rapid technological change and free-moving capital, if we don’t come up with good answers soon we will all be worse off.

Bill Gates has even questioned whether robots in the near future will need to pay income tax. After all, they could be taking the jobs of humans who otherwise would.

We’re not at that stage yet, but we need to get to grips with some of the more pressing issues in order to build some consensus on how business taxes can be fair and effective.

Take rates for a start. Local governments love rates. It’s money received with no strings attached.

They couldn’t survive without the taxes levied on households and businesses. Local government provides vital services, and is democracy close to home. Good local government can do a lot for a

local economy.

But the concept of business rates is based on a pre-internet model of the economy. High street retailers are competing with online giants.

Many of the big names run their own online operations. However, to take a presence on the high street means not only the huge costs of rent, staffing, shop fitting, and the rest, but also the rates bill levied by local government.

Nowadays that rates bill is likely to be equivalent, if not more, than what the retailer will pay in rent. It’s not a question of whether the retailer can afford the rates, though many can’t, but it’s also a question of whether they would make more money simply going online – or even finding another business sector to invest in.

The result is that local government is providing a strong financial incentive to drive business out of town and city centres. It’s a real problem. Count the empty shop premises as you walk down any high street. The solution in Northern Ireland has been for government to pay money to erect fake shopfronts and tempting, but artificial, window displays imagining a bustling bygone era. Cheaper, it seems, to promote

fake shops than real ones.

That’s not a real solution and smarter, more radical, thinking needs to be applied.

At the international level, the problem is more complex.

Transnational companies can legally avoid paying corporation tax. It’s cheaper for Apple to offshore its cash and pay dividends out of debt.

A bizarre financial construction, but one the global tax system currently incentivises.

Big companies should pay their fair share of tax. But perhaps a tax on profits isn’t the solution. After all, profit is an opinion rather than a fact.

Finding a clever alternative will take smart minds and international cooperation. But it’s worth a serious attempt.

Business is often portrayed as greedy. In some ways it is.

Companies have a responsibility to maximise returns for their shareholders. But they have other responsibilities too and must take them seriously. One of them is to contribute a fair return to society. I suspect most firms are happy to play their part, they simply want a level playing field.

Americahhhhhh.

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*New airlines to USA, Ethiopian Airlines and Norwegian, do not currently offer U.S. Preclearance facilities.

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02/03/2017 17:42

SPB_Ambtn_A4_0217.indd 1

Friday, 17 February 2017 11:34

MAGAZINE OF NORTHERN IRELAND CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

The Ultimate Driving Machine

March/april 2017 ISSUE 21

£2.95

MARCH/APRIL 2017 Magazine of northern ireland chamber of commerce and industry

THE NEW BMW 5 SERIES. NOW AVAILABLE.

This is a car that has been designed with pure ambition. Ambition to be the most innovative car in its class, and connect driver, road and outside world in a truly seamless way. Thanks to its extremely lightweight core, the car’s driving dynamics have been fine-tuned to provide maximum stability, class-leading efficiency and sublime agility. The brand new design has athleticism at its heart and a character that is as confident as it is refined.

For more information, or to book a test drive* call 028 9038 1311.

BAVARIAN

2 Boucher Crescent, Belfast County Antrim BT12 6HU www.bavarianbmw.co.uk Official fuel economy figures for the new BMW 5 Series range: Urban 60.1-29.7mpg (4.7-9.5l/100km).

Extra Urban 74.3-47.8mpg (3.8-5.9l/100km). Combined 68.8-39.2mpg (4.1-7.2l/100km). CO2 emissions: 108-164g/km.

Figures are obtained in a standardised test cycle. They are intended for comparisons between vehicles and may not be representative of what a user achieves under usual driving conditions. *Test drive subject to status and availability.

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08/02/2017 11:15

CITI’S LEIGH MEYER on banking, business and build out ulster carpets ‘fit’ for president trump mjm on the crest of a wave