Ulster Business - November 2014

NOVEMBER 2014 Price ÂŁ2.30 (â‚Ź3.75)

BDO at 25 How the business advisory firm has grown over the last quarter century

Conferencing: How does Northern Ireland stack up as a venue?

Sport: The sporting stars of yesteryear making it big in the boardroom

ISSN 1363-2507

9 771363 250005

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Contents 6 News

46 Gerard Ratner

75 Word from the Wise

More jobs, a US firm setting up base here and new car sales

Simon Rowe interviews the jeweller on a visit to Belfast

Gerard McCann from CBRE offers a word of advice

14 Cover story

56 Sports & Business

76 Business Breakfast

BDO is 25 years young and looking to the future

Who are the ex-sports stars making it big in business?

PR man Chris Harrison settles down to some bacon and eggs

22 Exporting

62 Conferencing & Events

90 Events

Why it’s essential to trade across borders

What does Northern Ireland have to offer a major business event?

The best of last month’s corporate parties and award ceremonies

40 Corporate Law

74 Small Business

92 Technology

An in-depth look at the world of Mergers & Acquisitions

The company bringing Nordic coffee to Belfast’s Ormeau Road

Adam Maguire checks out the latest must-have devices

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40

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EDITOR’S COMMENT

Export will help beat cuts

W

elcome to the November edition of Ulster Business. We’re welcoming in the winter months with a magazine jam packed with stories, features and profiles which we hope are relevant and interesting to you, the people who make up the Northern Ireland business community.

At the time of writing there are plenty of signs of growing health right across the region, from agri-food to IT, pharmaceuticals to financial services and even – whisper it quietly – for the construction sector.

But as always there are potential bumps in the road, not least, and not for the first time, the wrangling going on in Stormont.

Given the public sector in Northern Ireland is the private sector’s single biggest customer, any disruption to their spending habits are going to have a big impact on us all.

The £870m cuts proposed by the finance minister are certainly going to be hard to swallow – if they’re agreed – but will be a necessary pill to cure our badly balanced finances.

The ‘E’ word still frightens some businesses here but looking at the pacey recovery of our nearest neighbours in the Republic, there’s never been a better reason to try and sell our goods and services abroad, even if that really just means across the border.

Meanwhile, there are rumblings of an impending decisionon the great corporation tax campaign by the Prime Minister.

He’s promised to make a decision on the issue before the autumn statement on December 3 so an answer should be known before our next magazine.

Let’s hope he hasn’t been put off devolving more power in light of the arguing in Stormont around welfare payments.

Missing this once in a lifetime chance would be a travesty.

Publisher Greer Publications 5b Edgewater Business Park Belfast Harbour Estate, Belfast BT3 9JQ www.ulsterbusiness.com Tel: 028 9078 3200

Editor David Elliott

Art Editor Stuart Gray

Manager Sonia Armstrong

Production Manager Stuart Gray

Printer W&G Baird Greystone Press, Caulside Drive, Antrim BT41 2RS www.wgbaird.com

Deputy Manager Sylvie Brando

Cover Photography PressEye

Greer Publications © 2014. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of Greer Publications.

NOVEMBER 2014

On the upside, the recessionary times of the last few years have steeled us against such shocks, armed as we now are with an economy which isn’t just relying on Northern Ireland for its income but exporting right across the world.

Sales Executive Chris Black

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NEWS

Briefs IT infrastructure company Novosco has secured its biggest ever single contract as part of new deals worth £3.25m.

The company, which is headquartered in the NI Science Park, Belfast and has offices in Dublin and Birmingham, has secured business worth around £2.5m with Metropolitan, one of the UK’s largest housing associations. Recent contracts have also been signed with Northern Ireland charity The Cedar Foundation, worth almost half a million pounds, and Oaklee Trinity Homes Group, worth around £250,000.

ShotClip Ltd, a cloud-based software development company has announced that has moved its base from Dublin and is creating six high quality jobs in Newry over the next two years. ShotClip is a recently established company which has created social movie-making software that enables users to plan, record and edit a professional looking home movie through an interactive story-building app on their Smartphone or tablet device. The software enables multiple users to collaborate to make movies at special events, such as a wedding, or for larger scale global crowd campaigns.

The Economic Advisory Group has renewed its call for a decision to be reached soon on devolving Corporation Tax to Northern Ireland. The group is a team of business and economics experts who provide independent advice to the Minister aimed at challenging and developing public policy and strategic thinking on the Northern Ireland and UK economy.

Chair of EAG, Dame Kate Barker DBE said: “Following commitments made around the Scottish referendum there is now a clear drive to devolve more powers to regional governments, and this must start with the UK Government concluding on the long awaited plans for the NI Executive being offered the powers to set its own rate of Corporation Tax.”

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Growth Loan Fund lends £25m in two years

William McCulla, Director of Corporate Finance, Invest NI with Paul Millar, Chief Investment Officer, WhiteRock Capital Partners.

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he fund aimed at boosting the level of lending to small and medium-sized (SMEs) companies in Northern Ireland has already lent half of its £50m target, according to the company in charge of administering the loans.

That’s help it lend 50% of the total fund in only two years of a five year life cycle.

Whiterock Capital Partners said it has approved 80 loans worth over £25m since setting up the £50m Growth Loan Fund two years ago in front of backing from Invest Northern Ireland and private investor, Northern Ireland Local Government Officers’ Superannuation Committee (NILGOSC).

“Our success is thanks to the breadth of companies from whom we are receiving enquiries. We have been working across all sectors, from engineering companies like Williams Industrial Services to household names like Budget Energy and well-known consumer brands such as Vita Liberata.”

The loans have averaged £300,000 each and have been made to companies with turnovers ranging from £500,000 up to £30m.

And the fund’s success could mean other lending schemes emerge from Whiterock.

Its objective was to provide unsecured funding to established SMEs as a result of a bottleneck of lending from the more traditional institutions following the credit crunch and global recession.

Whiterock acknowledged the funding environment in Northern Ireland has changed over the last five years as the economy recovers but felt the change opened up new opportunities for the fund.

“We are planning to approve £10m worth of loans every year and so far we are ahead of that plan,” Paul Millar, Chief Investment Officer, WhiteRock Capital Partners, said.

“We are working with the British Business Bank to develop a £50m fund designed for SME trading businesses in Northern Ireland with a property overhang from the recession. We are also considering running a similar Growth Loan Fund for SMEs in the Republic of Ireland. So far, more than 350 companies have made enquiries about our funding opportunities and we are continuing to work our way through these applications. We aspire to be the lead provider of alternative funds in Ireland.”

NEWS

Entrepreneurial teachers come up with iPad device for classroom

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Bangor company has developed a device to make life easier for teachers who use iPads in the classroom. Modern Efficient Design (MED) was helped by Invest NI to develop Padvu, a system which allows teachers to use an iPad as a document camera or camcorder.

The company is run by teachers Sam Sinclair and John Titterington in 2012 who spotted a gap in the market and were keen to start up a technology business.

“As teachers, we used an iPad extensively in the classroom but struggled to hold it steady over student work and experiments,” Mr Sinclair said. “So we set about finding a practical and cost-effective solution for us and other teachers.

“What Padvu does is to transform an iPad, now widely used in classrooms across Northern Ireland, into an overhead projector and convert it into a more effective teaching tool for sharing and celebrating exemplary student work.”

Pictured (left) is Olive Hill, Invest NI, with Sam Sinclair, Modern Efficient Design (MED Ltd).

Picture: Michael Cooper.

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NEWS

A Month in Numbers £25m The amount of loans approved by Whiterock Capital Partners which is managing Invest NI’s £50m Growth Loan Fund.

Fiesta time for retailers as new car regs return to growth

£35m The amount of money invested by hard drive manufacturer Seagate in its Londonderry plant, £7.8m of which was backed by Invest NI. The investment will be spent on research and development and will also help create 35 new jobs.

33% The growth of Northern Ireland’s knowledge economy over the last five years, according to the Northern Ireland Centre for Economic Policy. The region has been has seen one of the fastest growth rates of all UK regions over that time.

2m The number of visitors to Northern Ireland in the first six months of 2014, an increase of 5% on the same period in 2013.

Expenditure was also up 10% to £348m.

5,170 The number of new dwelling starts in Northern Ireland in 2013-2014. That’s down 11% from the previous year and down 66% on the peak in 2005-2006.

10.1 The number of days of sickness absence across the NI Civil Service in 2013-2014.

That’s down from 10.6 days last year.

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he number of new cars registered in Northern Ireland jumped by 5% in September, reversing a dip in August and confirming consumers are feeling more confident.

A total of 6,388 new cars were registered here during the month, according to Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, with the Ford Fiesta once again the most popular model.

It was followed by the Volkswagen Golf and the Ford Focus, both cars which appear regularly in a top three ranking of the most popular cars.

The latest data brings to 47,996 the number of new cars registered in Northern Ireland since the beginning of the year, 9.5% up on the same period in 2013, the biggest jump of all UK regions.

Buyers tend to commit to so-called “big ticket” items such as cars when they’re feeling secure about their future finances so the jump bodes well for consumer confidence.

Colin McNab, Operations Director at Charles Hurst Group, welcomed the data but said there’s a lot of lost ground to make up.

“At almost 48,000 cars sold in the last year, Northern Ireland still has some significant way to go before we reach the full year, pre-recession sales peak of 68,700 vehicles registered in 2007,” he said.

“That said, the figures remain strong overall and demonstrate that consumer confidence is continuing to grow, which is welcome news for the wider economy.”

And he said a more savvy consumer is more wary nowadays about running costs.

“Many consumers have already worked out that the cost of running a new car can sometimes work out less than running an older model and are thus much more prepared to take the plunge and opt for a brand new model – and this trend is definitely borne out by the growing rise in sales which we are experiencing.”

NEWS

Cheers as Boston company creates 75 jobs

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elfast has beaten off competition from nine other cities around the globe as the location for a Boston company to set up a new base and create 75 highly-paid jobs.

Rapid7 has announced it is setting up a development centre in the city to support its cybersecurity business and will be paying average salaries of £40,000 a year, well above the average salary in Northern Ireland of around £24,000.

They’ll be skilled software developers and will design, build and test its software and cloud-based services for the Boston company’s clients which include 25% of the names in the Fortune 500, the annual list of the top 500 US companies.

It’s already taken on 30 of the staff and will hire the rest over the next three years as the base establishes itself.

CEO Corey Thomas said the quality of the workforce, the research work the universities are carrying out in IT security and a visit from the First and Deputy First Minister to Boston last year had all helped to put Belfast at the top of the list for the new base.

Enterprise, Trade and Investment Minister Arlene Foster and Invest NI Chief Executive Alastair Hamilton are pictured with Corey Thomas, President and CEO of Rapid7.

“We had the pleasure of meeting the First Minister and the deputy First Minister when they came to Boston last year,” he said. “With their encouragement we decided to consider Northern Ireland further. We were impressed with the excellent business environment, particularly the close working relationship between government, industry and academia.”

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NEWS

Briefs Tullymore House Limited, the company behind the Galgorm Resort and Spa and the £12m Scottish Mutual hotel development in Belfast city centre, is creating 35 new jobs with a new ‘Fratelli’ Italian restaurant. It will be situated on the site which formerly housed the Malt Room Bar & Restaurant and follows a £500,000 investment by the company.

Clock ticking for decision on corporation tax

UK retail sales volumes continued to grow in the year to October, with another strong rise expected in the month ahead, according to the CBI. Its Distributive Trades Survey of 124 firms showed a third successive month of firmly above-average sales growth.

But sales growth was mixed across different sub-sectors, and sales fell below average for the time of year.

Warrenpoint company Typeright has tied up £100,000 new business with Nordic countries for its thermal transfer ribbons. The company exports to 42 countries around the world and won the business after taking part in an Invest NI trade mission to the Nordic regions.

UK GDP climbed 0.7% in the third quarter of the year with a good showing across all four of the main industries. In the services sector output increased by 0.7%, 0.5% in production, 0.8% in construction and 0.3% in agriculture. Danske Bank said the Northern Ireland economy will enjoy positive growth this year albeit at a slightly lower level of 2.6 per cent.

Online retailer the Rug House has invested £350,000 in its first bricks and mortar store in Newry. The company which ships 150,000 rugs per year to 30 countries worldwide is capitalising on its online success.The new purpose-built Rug House in Newry will have more than 1,600 rugs on display in a bespoke showroom.

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Prime Minister David Cameron pictured second left with, from left, Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, First Minister Peter Robinson and Secretary of State Theresa Villiers.

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he Prime Minister has only a matter of weeks to decide whether or not to devolve the power to set corporation tax to Stormont.

David Cameron said last summer he would make a final decision on whether or not he’ll give a green light to the proposals no later than the Autumn Statement scheduled for 3 December 2014.

It’s thought a decision will emerge from Downing Street “in the next few weeks” and business organisations here are urging Mr Cameron to hand power to Stormont That would allow the Executive to cut the rate of corporation tax here to at least 12.5% from the current rate of 21%, a move which would level the playing field for businesses in Northern Ireland in line with those in the Republic where the main business tax rate has been at 12.5% for some years.

It would also remove a key advantage the Republic holds when competing to win inward investment against Northern Ireland.

“Devolving corporation tax will create tens of thousands of vital private sector jobs in Northern Ireland over the next decades.

Businesses of all sizes and from all sectors along with colleges and universities have worked long and hard for corporation tax varying powers to be granted to the Northern Ireland Assembly,” said Eamonn Donaghy, spokesperson for Grow NI, the umbrella group of a number of business organisations.

While momentum has been growing behind the ‘yes’ decision from Mr Cameron, there are concerns that the political impasse in Stormont surrounding welfare payments could delay a move.

Still, business is hoping a commitment to devolve more power to UK regions following the Scottish Referendum will bode well for the chances of success.

“His (Prime Minister’s) recent commitment to more devolution throughout the UK means that devolving corporation tax rate varying powers to Northern Ireland is the clear and obvious next step to take,” Mr Donaghy said.

NEWS

Ministers try to stop Gallahers closure

T

he Enterprise and Employment ministers have met with the owners of Gallaher’s tobacco plant in Ballymena to try and avoid the complete closure of the factory.

Arlene Foster and Stephen Farry said they would explore every available option to keep the facility open after Japan Tobacco Industries (JTI) announced earlier this month it was planning to move production from the County Antrim town to Poland or Romania.

It employs nearly 900 people at the site who command a total salary bill of £60m, one which works out at an average salary of around £67,000 a year, more than three times the Northern Ireland private sector average.

But JTI blamed the difficult economic environment, high levels of tax excise on tobacco products and new EU regulation which curbed the selling of some of the tobacco packs produced in Ballymena.

It said it planned to close the Ballymena plant in 2016 and the ministers were making use of the long lead time.

“We are in the unique position of having a considerable period of

time to explore every available option to maintain some presence at Lisnafillan,” Arlene Foster said. “Together with my officials in Invest NI, I will explore every option available to the company in terms of, for example, support for R&D, to avoid complete closure of the factory.”

“We had a very useful meeting and have identified the issues that would need to be addressed.”

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ANALYSIS

Corporate giving can build employee engagement Holly Mitchell, Campaign Manager of the Charities Aid Foundation, says that being more strategic when it comes to giving not only helps local charities and communities but it is of huge benefit to local business. continuity and personal satisfaction gained from an ongoing, consistent campaign.

Giving Northern Ireland is supporting #GivingTuesday as the organisation feels this is an ideal time for businesses to harness a group effort and join into this global phenomenon, which is coming to Northern Ireland for the first time on 2nd December.

The grassroots movement began nearly three years ago in response to the high volume shopping days of Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) and Cyber Monday – the busiest online shopping day of the year. #GivingTuesday has now swept across the globe creating an international day of giving.

Holly Mitchell, Campaign Manager of the Charities Aid Foundation and Sandara Kelso-Robb, Strategic Advisor of Giving Northern Ireland, launch Northern Ireland’s first #GivingTuesday – a global phenomenon which encourages people to give to charity on 2nd December.

A

more strategic approach to charitable giving will reap huge benefits for Northern Ireland.

With funding cuts hitting local charities hard, Giving Northern Ireland is calling for more tactical methods of helping those in need.

By focusing on High Net Worth Individuals, committed personal donors and corporates, the organisation is hoping to create a more planned, sustained way of giving.

Many businesses have Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes but is your strategy as effective as it could be and are you getting maximum benefit for the company? CSR can be a powerful tool for employee engagement, helping your team feel part of something that is helping people and the local

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community. More engaged employees are less likely to leave the company.

Charitable giving, especially when it involves giving time or talent can help employees gain new skills while transferring their skill set to non profit organisations. This is a win-win situation. But connecting charitable giving to employee engagement is the tricky part. The key is understanding what will motivate your workforce and what charitable activities will help them to feel interested and engaged.

A number of factors will help to engage employees: effective communication; opportunities for feedback and participation; ownership and allowing employees to choose who to support and how to raise funds; letting them decide the best use of their time and talent; individual recognition, and the

It serves as a call to action to inspire personal philanthropy and encourages bigger, better and smarter charitable giving during the festive season, showing that the world truly gives as good as it gets.

It’s been supported by business and celebrities alike with backing from The White House, Bill Gates, Hugh Jackman, Charlize Theron, Jennifer Lopez, Ringo Starr, Kevin Bacon, Heidi Klum, Lily Cole, Facebook and Google to name a few.

On #GivingTuesday we are asking everyone to come together to show the world why it is good to give. Whether it is making a donation, volunteering your time or just spreading the word, Giving Tuesday is a call to action for everyone who wants to give something back. It spread around the globe as people decided that the festive season isn’t just about consumption but about thinking of others and this is the first time that we in Northern Ireland have the chance to participate. We hope that local businesses will embrace this concept and get on board.

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25 forward looking years How BDO has grown during a quarter of a century of business in Northern Ireland and beyond.

Rebecca Smith, Audit Trainee at BDO with BDO’s Managing Partner Peter Burnside.

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Photography: Press Eye

COVER STORY

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he last 25 years have been transformational for the Northern Ireland economy.

From a heavy industry-focused business world peppered with only a few effective exporters to a broad-based and energetic group of indigenous and overseas companies with a high-tech bent and the world at their feet.

It’s been quite a journey, and one those who have been lucky enough to have been along for the ride are able to appreciate fully.

One such company which has been one of the driving forces behind these changes and which has just celebrated its 25th year – is BDO NI. The Belfast-based accountancy firm and business advisor is part of the BDO global network, the world’s largest European lead network.

It was in 1989 when the firm began its journey, formed by three partners who had left KPMG. BDO now numbers 150 staff advising businesses not just in Northern Ireland, but across the world and across a vast range of sectors.

But, according to managing partner Peter Burnside who can proudly claim to be BDO’s employee number nine when he joined the business six months after it was founded, the company hasn’t lost the unique selling point which made it so successful in the early days.

“Back then, as a start-up, because we had few clients we had the luxury of being able to spend time with people so we could really get under the skin of their businesses and the family behind the business to understand how they operated,” he told Ulster Business in the firm’s Callender Street boardroom. “That set us apart from many of our competitors and is something that we’ve made sure we still make time for.”

Being able to make time for clients hasn’t been a result of a lack of work, because right from the off BDO has been busy with some high profile names.

NOVEMBER 2014

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COVER STORY

attitude that its new hires should be high achieving graduates who also possess an ability to get on and relate to clients.

That stems back to the earlier point in regard to spending time with clients and means the company “tends to attract a certain type of person, ones who are comfortable meeting people and are able to work with customers”.

“For clients, dealing with a ‘people person’ in a business like ours makes a big difference,” Peter said.

One of those is Rebecca Smith, an audit trainee who also happens to be the same age as the company, 25.

The first of those came shortly after the business was founded when it was appointed as receiver for the Europa Hotel Group in Belfast, Derry and London.

They have travelled to Tanzania, Zimbabwe and South Africa to service clients and have built an enviable reputation within a tight-knit industry.

That was a big day for what was then a fledgling firm by giving the founders a stamp of approval to handle one of the biggest jobs around.

It’s also stretched its global reach through its close relationships with Northern Ireland companies.

The next day could have been even bigger when a fire bomb destroyed the lobby of the hostelry once described as “the most bombed hotel in Europe”, the receivership progressed smoothly with current owners Hastings taking over both the Europa and the Everglades.

Since then the business has gone from strength-to-strength, conquering the Northern Ireland market – particularly in corporate finance – and even managing to be classed as exporters by carrying out work around the globe.

Gold mines are one area which might seem far removed from a Northern Ireland company like BDO but are something of a speciality for the firm.

It’s helped take a number of mining companies public – such as Shanta Gold, the Tanzanian-focused miner which is now listed on the Alternative Investment Market – and has a number of staff members in the Belfast office who are experienced in the field.

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“It’s an example of how the globalisation of the Northern Ireland economy has taken companies like BDO into corners of the world and into sectors which we might not have been involved in otherwise,” Peter said, pointing to the company’s involvement in China, again through export-focused and globalised clients.

“Our clients are important to us and are the lifeblood of our firm. They value our deep understanding of Northern Ireland and the scale of our global network. This allows us to understand their business completely, be it in Northern Ireland or abroad. They have been a wonderful group of people to work with and a significant number of them have been with us for the entire 25 year journey. A number have gone through their own succession plans during this time.”

This diverse range of work helps to shape the people working within it and the type of people it attracts.

This is something BDO has always focused on, according to Peter, taking the

Her reasons for joining BDO after completing a summer placement are echoed by others throughout the company.

“It’s big, but not too big a firm, there’s a wide variety of clients and we get involved in a number of different sectors,” she said.

And while burdened with a number of accountancy exams alongside the day job, Rebecca said she had found plenty of support with the firm. “There’s an open door policy and there’s never any feeling of a strict hierarchy in the office.”

And without prompting, the trainee proves Peter’s point by mentioning how she’s looking forward to the client facing side of the business once she qualifies; something other auditors would not traditionally be as keen to embrace.

If history is anything to go by then she could be the subject of the half century celebrations for BDO, what with six of the current partners having started out as trainees.

With luck, Ulster Business will be there too and looks forward to hearing how the company has spent another 25 years serving its existing customer base, taking on new clients and breaking into new markets.

“We have a chance to grow with our clients and we’re going to take it,” Peter said. “It’s an exciting time and I’m looking forward to the future.”

NEWS

Beat the freeze, says NI Water

‘B

eat the Freeze’ is again this year’s message from NI Water as it launches its Winter Preparations Campaign.

The message reiterates the call to check that homes and businesses are prepared for the cold weather conditions.

By taking a few simple steps, we can all play our part and help ‘Beat the Freeze’.

Top tips for businesses: • Ensure pipes are well insulated.

• Locate your stop valve and make sure all staff know where it is and how to turn it off.

• Consider what you would do if you did lose your water supply for a prolonged period of time. You need to have a contingency plan, for example some businesses have a storage tank which will provide water for a certain period of time.

• If you have a meter, know where it is and check it regularly. A higher than normal meter reading can be the first indicator that you may have a leak.

• If you are closing down your business for a holiday period, you need to make plans in the event of cold weather i.e. set your heating timer, have someone check the premises regularly.

Regional Development Minister, Danny Kennedy, and NI Water’s CEO, Sara Venning, encourage the public to lag their pipes and use the stop valve tag to locate your stop tap in the home.

• Have the number of a plumber who knows where your premises is and is prepared to attend at night if needed.

• Make sure you have adequate insurance to cover your property in the event of a burst pipe.

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ANALYSIS

Energy security becoming critical Simon De Pietro is a director and CEO of DP Energy and believes moves to make the island of Ireland self-reliant when it comes to energy need to be accelerated. of Ireland and actually turn the tables by becoming an net energy exporter.�

Northern Ireland has a great advantage over many other peripheral European countries in that it has great capacity in wind and tidal power generation, more than in proven markets such as the Netherlands, Denmark and Spain.

Our proposal is to install an array of turbines in the tidal races about 1km off Fair Head, an area of water known around the world for the strength of its tides with an early demonstration phase operational in around 2017/18 and the full project built by 2019/20 Simon and Maureen De Pietro. The mother and son team who founded the Cork-based company DP Energy.

T

he island of Ireland is a single energy market so Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are both jointly exposed to the volatility in the cost of fossil fuel imports.

There’s also the growing threat of interruption of gas supplies through the pipelines from eastern Europe, as well as coal and oil supplies being made more vulnerable.

Consequently, any form of indigenous sustainable energy such as marine, wind, and solar is important in order to reduce this exposure. In addition to saving energy, we also need to find methods of best utilising our renewable energy resources by finding alternative uses or innovative methods of storage and by active management of generation and electricity distribution.

Tidal energy is particularly useful as it can be scheduled. It is not weather

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driven and is therefore predictable being primarily driven by gravity and the moon.

The Russians have signed a long-term deal to supply the Chinese market which takes the pressure off having to supply western European gas markets. The Russians are in effect securing new markets for their natural gas and are facing east. Meanwhile we in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are at the very end of the pipeline and the most vulnerable to any upsets in gas supply.

Northern Ireland’s electricity consumption varies dramatically between summer and winter. For instance, according to the Systems Operator Northern Ireland (SONI) on January 28 this year demand by the 700,000 homes and businesses in NI reached 1,690MW while on June 19 it dipped to 525MW. Our proposal is for 100MW and there are others in the developmental stage.

We could soon find ourselves generating more than enough energy for the island

The huge advantage of tidal power is that we can precisely forecast how much electricity we can generate for the entire life of the equipment. Unlike wind, which can produce significant energy, the tides can do likewise but are 100% predictable.

We can predict, for example, exactly what power we will be producing on the 14th of May 2036, at 4:15 in the morning.

Our main focus in the marine sector is on tidal energy in UK & Irish waters and the Canadian Maritimes (Nova Scotia and New Brunswick).

In addition to the 100MW Fair Head project, we are also working on an Orkney Islands site, the 200MW Westray South project and a 30MW project off West Islay in South West Scotland which is currently also going through a consenting process with Marine Scotland.

We have a number of other irons in the fire which we expect to make announcements on over the coming months but essentially the plan is to build a portfolio of de-risked, shovel ready, or perhaps bucket ready, projects utilising credible technology suppliers for a collective portfolio funding round.

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FANTASY TRADING

Taking stock

P

ut down your pens, close your papers and step away from your desks, because the results are in.

After the first month of trading our motley crew of traders has managed to turn £400,000 into £408,443 using a mixture of cunning, guile and good old fashioned luck.

While that might not sound like a lot, it’s 2.1% return for the month, a much better result than you’d get for putting that amount of cash in a bank.

It’s a shame it’s only fantasy cash.

Sprinting out of the blocks is Carol Fitzsimons with a whopping £8,489 profit, the bulk of

which was made on the postie’s pay master Royal Mail and the remainder on Severn Trent. Her strategy of plumbing for FTSE 100 companies run by women is paying off and it’s no wonder she’s holding firm for next week.

Economist Neil Gibson wasn’t far behind, scooping over £3,000 from Associated British Foods and some spare change from RBS. Meanwhile, Mentalist Meade made a hearty profit with Petrofac but fell foul of miner Anglo American’s slide.

because he’s offsetting the losses against tax. My money’s still on him.

The rules Each trader starts with fantasy money – £100,000 of it to be exact – to invest as they see fit in two FTSE 100 companies, £50,000 each. After a month we count up what will hopefully be winnings and the traders either stick with what they’ve got or exchange them for new shares. At the end of the year we count up who’s made the most and force them to buy the team and the editor dinner. Simple.

Dylan, my personal favourite in this capitalist race, dropped a few score, obviously

The traders Dylan Armstrong (5) student

CAROL FITZSIMONS, CHIEF EXECUTIVE

DAVID MEADE, MENTALIST

NEIL GIBSON, ECONOMIST

Profit/loss this month: -£4,728 Account: £95,272

Profit/loss for this month: £8,489 Account: £108,489

Profit/loss for this month: £1,440 Account: £101,440

Profit/loss for this month: £3,242 Account: £103,242

Last month: Carnival, Smiths Group

Last month: Royal Mail, Severn Trent

Last month: Anglo American, Petrofac

Last month: Royal Bank of Scotland, Associated British Food

This month: Aviva, BT Group

This month: Royal Mail, Severn Trent

This month: Anglo American, Petrofac

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This month: Land Securities, Associated British Food

Exports & Flags, firebombs & International flashbacks Business

EXPORTS & INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

Outward looking policy?

John Simpson discusses how making Northern Ireland more internationally competitive is crucial to the future success of the economy.

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he need to grow the economy should now be the starting point for a major rethink of how it can be achieved. Offering ‘more of the same’ will not lift the economy enough.

Northern Ireland is presently drifting to be a low cost, low wage, economy.

That may protect some jobs but will not close the average earnings gap.

The devolved government institutions hold major responsibility for the management of the regional economy. That devolved leverage will increase as the devolution arrangements within the UK are further

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refined, partly because of the emphasis on further devolution in Scotland and also in the changing context of the possible devolution of powers to set corporation tax rates, separately, in both Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Policy initiatives in Northern Ireland have evolved and benefitted from the early years of the regional Programme for Government and the linked economic strategy. Increasingly, economic management in Northern Ireland needs to be aware of, and match (or better) the delivery of policies in neighbouring areas such as Scotland and the Republic of Ireland.

There are a number of lessons to be learnt from the current (and recent) delivery of economic policies in Northern Ireland.

The inherited environment Critically, there is an important caveat about the inherited wider political and infrastructural environment. In the recent past, the Northern Ireland economy has been emerging from nearly five years of recession and financial strain.

Some growth has been generated.

However, that recovery has been slower than might have been expected relative to the wider UK economy.

EXPORTS & INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

will be less effective. Lack of agreement on parades and flags, lack of agreed workable and affordable systems of social security, along with uncertain consequences for the financial management of the devolved government budget, would each create a series of critical deterrents to a stronger economy. The combined impact of all these aspects of (for want of a better phrase) political instability would be formidable.

In the latter half of 2014, in preparation for the next Programme for government, Northern Ireland should be striving for political stability and stronger economic stimuli. To focus only on economic factors would be to take a blinkered approach.

Logically, the business community should not remain passive about these wider influences.

Influencing the economy For the next planning period, building on the current economic strategy, the core challenges remain those of generating higher levels of employment and higher average incomes.

The focus remains on competitiveness, higher value-added processes and adoption of modern knowledge based techniques.

There may be a temptation to endorse these generic aspirations with the reassurance that what is being commended is ‘more of the same’.

In this context, there should be an acknowledgement that the now nearly expired Programme for Government has given greater coherence to many aspects of policy formulation. However, there is a less emphasised, but no less important, linkage between the application of coherent economic management policy and the assurance that can be given by stability and consensus in the wider political environment.

If the negotiations on the outstanding political, social and financial questions do not make significant progress, then any improving competitiveness of the commercial economy

NOVEMBER 2014

That complacent conclusion would be wrong and should be challenged. A critical retrospective reflection on the implementation of the current economic strategy could find similar statements of ambition. However, what is more constructive (even if less complimentary) is an assessment that is sensibly critical of the inadequacies in the delivery of key changes.

In summary, the repositioning of policies to accelerate the development of the economy might emphasise: A. A re-orientation of the priorities of Invest NI. B. A really dynamic plan to expand the number of people gaining more advanced vocational skills.

C. A scheme to prioritise energy related investment and pricing.

D. A scheme to identify and implement infrastructure development priorities particularly in the provision of transport facilities.

E. Reconsideration of the interaction of social, environmental and economic needs for the Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan so that that Plan facilitates rather than constrains, stronger development initiatives.

Each of these topics merits detailed consideration and co-ordination into a coherent new planning vision. They are inter-dependent and integral parts of the new matrix.

Invest NI has been playing a modestly successful part of the current economic strategy. In a period of recession, Invest NI changed its priorities to maintain businesses and gain new employment through the subtle changes to create the Jobs Fund. However, whilst the degree of success was welcome, for the years ahead the ambition must be to put more emphasis on growth, value added and knowledge economy based projects.

Linked to this re-orientation of Invest NI there is a need to clarify the role of its policy instruments. The success of a policy shift would lie in making Northern Ireland more internationally competitive through the encouragement of more knowledge based investments, demand for more employees with more advanced skills. The outworking of these changes, mixing cause and effect, would see an increase in the market share for goods and services being sold on world markets. Increasing exports would be an indication that the switch was working.

Invest NI would, in the changed environment, put priority on incentives to encourage research and development, as well as taking the assured skills concept into a more comprehensive service.

Into this new environment, with refreshed objectives, Invest NI must plan in significant detail about the tactics to be deployed if, and when, corporation tax rate setting is devolved.

Indeed, Invest NI should now be prepared for the administration and marketing policies that can be operational just as soon as a firm go-ahead decision has been made.

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EXPORTS & INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

Cross-border trade tops export league table

By David Elliott

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he recovery of the economy in the Republic should bolster Northern Ireland as exports across the border continue to grow.

That’s the message from the latest export statistics from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) which show over £2.2bn worth of goods were sold across the border in the year to June, an 8% hike on the previous year.

HMRC said the bulk of the increase was taken up by food products, specifically dairy and meat. The Republic is by far the biggest customer of Northern Ireland, accounting for over one third of all exports from here and reflects the growth in total exports which have risen 5% to £6bn.

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The next biggest export destination is the US where £588m worth of products are sold and the last year has witnessed an impressive 11% hike over the last year, made up mostly of pharmaceutical products.

A slowdown in global commodity markets reflects the bottom end of the table where exports to Australia dropped 27% made up mainly of specialised machinery sales and power generating equipment.

Exports to Canada were down 3% to £360m a year while those to France climbed by 9% to £306m, but it was Germany which saw the biggest jump in exports by percentage.

Nevertheless, machinery and transport equipment remain the biggest export sector for Northern Ireland’s goods with £2.3bn worth exported over the year, the same as the previous year.

Food and live animals accounted for £1.2bn of exports, up 13% while chemicals made up £797m worth of exports and “miscellaneous manufactured articles £660m.

They were up 38% over the year to £300m as a result of a big hike in ‘other transport equipment’. Outside of the top five, the countries with the biggest increases in exports from Northern Ireland were Spain, up 27.6 per cent, and Brazil, up 80.8%.

Worryingly, the number of businesses exporting dropped across the UK by

EXPORTS & INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

Do MSBs have the export answer?

2.2% year-on-year to 48,838. The number of exporting business in Northern Ireland dropped 1.4%.

When it comes to imports, the Republic cements its position as our top trading partner. We bought £1.6bn worth of goods from across the border over the last year, 6% up on the previous 12 months.

China is our second favourite shopping ground with imports totalling over £976m, followed by the US at £408m, Germany at 358m and the Netherlands at £327m.

Overall, total imports to Northern Ireland climbed 2.4% to £5.8bn over the year.

Pictured at the second CBI Northern Ireland 24hr MSB Conference at the Slieve Donard Hotel in Newcastle are (L-R) Edel Doherty, Barrhead Travel; Ian Sheppard, Bank of Ireland; and Colin Walsh, CBI.

M

edium-sized businesses (MSB) could hold the key to boosting Northern Ireland’s exports and economic health, according to the CBI. It held the second CBI Northern Ireland 24-hour MSB conference at the Slieve Donard Hotel in Newcastle last month and concluded there is huge potential for “our future champions”.

It classes MSBs as companies with turnover between £10m and £100m or with 50499 employees and, in a previous report, said this “forgotten army” has the potential to inject between £20bn and £50bn into the UK economy by 2020.

NOVEMBER 2014

“Creating a dynamic environment that can foster and support ‘Our Future Champions’ is even more prescient given the recently published HMRC export statistics,” said Colin Walsh, chair of CBI Northern Ireland.

“It is vital that we build on the successes of others to drive new success stories that can take these figures even higher in the years coming.”

“We hope to increase ambition and build confidence in our MSBs while also encouraging and supporting them to boost their capabilities.”

In Northern Ireland, MSBs employ around 120,000 people, 15% of the total workforce, and generate revenues of over £16bn, despite making up only 1.5% of total firms.

Bank of Ireland sponsored the conference and Head of Business and Corporate Banking Northern Ireland Ian Sheppard agreed that MSBs are hugely important to the Northern Ireland economy.

Over 40 leaders from Northern Ireland’s MSBs attended the conference which included peer-to-peer expert sessions in an effort to support and develop growth within the local MSB sector.

“We believe that there is currently a significant untapped growth potential in Northern Ireland Plc. particularly in the MSB segment where innovation has the potential to deliver exponentially,” he said.

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EXPORTS & INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

Is exporting the real ticket to recovery?

By Kevin MacAllister, PwC

Northern Ireland is likely to deliver the lowest growth amongst the 12 UK regions in 2014 and 2015, with the latest quarterly measure of Northern Ireland’s economic activity suggesting that the region remains close to 12% below the pre-crisis peak. The past year has seen a dramatic fall in unemployment and an equally dramatic rise in job promotions – all without growth in productivity, real wages or living standards.

There is a correlation between R&D, innovation, exports, profitable growth and sustainable employment. However, PwC’s report suggests that, while 64% of family businesses globally cite innovation as a key challenge over the next five years, only over half of UK family firms say innovation is a priority for them.

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But while we know that exports have the potential to be a major growth driver, there has so far been little evidence of sustained exportled recovery. One way to achieve higher productivity, exports and competitiveness is by aggressively developing clusters of businesses in similar activities and sectors.

That was one finding in the latest PwC global family business survey, The Family Factor: Professionalising the UK Family Firm. The authors say UK family firms need to improve business processes, governance and skills if they are to stay ahead of hungry new competitors and remain relevant in a rapidly changing business environment.

There are already some well-established clusters in Northern Ireland, including aerospace, pharma and life sciences, creative sectors and quarrying machinery, with further development possible in food processing, tourism and producer services. The recent Centre for Cities report identified 31 clusters in GB that collectively accounted for 10% of all UK businesses, employed around 15% of the total UK workforce and delivered 20% of total UK output.

he performance and ambitions of UK family firms are falling behind their global counterparts, with fewer than one-in-six UK family undertakings selling into export markets.

The survey says only 16% of UK family firms’ turnover comes from exports, compared to 25% of family business turnover globally, while a mere 8% of UK family firms aim to expand aggressively in the next five years, compared to numbers as high as 57% in China, 40% in the Middle East and 40% in India.

With more than 90% of Northern Ireland’s VAT-registered undertakings falling into the family-owned or owner-managed category that should be a wake-up call to firms in a region where more than 60% of all exports are accounted for by fewer than a dozen large companies.

So, despite the good news that the UK economy grew by 0.7% in the three months to September and is now 3.4% ahead of its pre-crisis peak, Northern Ireland is not performing as well as we might have hoped. That’s despite of a dramatic 9,000 fall in local unemployment and a rate of job creation close to the record average in the decade to 2008.

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The Centre for Cities report says the best clusters have great companies, great collaboration within the clusters and great global brands. The greater the brand the more it attracts new investment, new investors, stakeholder collaboration, mobile talent and innovation – and, while they might be led by large exporters, all of the clusters have typical family businesses at their core.

The challenge for Northern Ireland now is to grow collaborative global brands that partner with universities and each other to accelerate growth and exports that will deliver productivity and sustainable employment.

Kevin MacAllister is a partner and private sector leader with PwC in Northern Ireland. Kevin can be contacted on +44 (0)28 9041 5560 or at: kevin.macallister@uk.pwc.com

EXPORTS & INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

Talking your business language

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n this difficult economic climate, companies big and small want to take their businesses into the international marketplace, whilst at the same time customers worldwide want to deal on their own terms and usually prefer to communicate in their own language. So what do you do?

Leave your marketing communications and website in English and hope that ‘everyone speaks English’ is a possibility.

Or you could use ‘online translators’ which will attempt to ‘translate’ your English text into various languages in an instant.

Whilst these technologies may help you understand the gist of a document, they are not a substitute for a professional

translation that will promote your business and reflect the quality of your products.

Poorly translated documents or websites which are full of inaccuracies can have an adverse effect on your business. There is nothing worse for the image of a company than the nonsensical translation of its corporate and other documents.

And imagine the serious issues which could arise from a badly translated sales agreement, contract, product specification, safety document etc. Don’t let such content embarrass your company.

At Ulster Language Services, quality and accuracy are at the core of our business.

All our linguists have a passion for their craft which translates (forgive the pun!)

into quality work as professionalism and attention to detail is paramount.

Over the years we have translated websites, company terms and conditions, contracts, tender documents, marketing brochures, correspondence and much more. We have a wealth of experience in allocating the right translator for the job.

For those who wish to improve their own skills in foreign languages, or those of key employees involved in marketing or exports, Ulster Language Services can also organize one-to-one or small group classes at your premises and at times that suit you. Our tutors will guide and help you communicate effectively in the languages you need for your export markets. The vocabulary can be tailored to the needs of your company.

Customers worldwide want to deal on their own terms and usually prefer to communicate in their own language So don’t be lost in translation We’re here to help Email us your document or send us a description of your language requirements and we will work with you to tailor the best solution for your needs.

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NOVEMBER 2014

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PROFILE

Connected...

By Neal Lucas

Neal Lucas, Managing Director of executive search company Neal Lucas Recruitment, talks to Tim Monroe, Marketing Manager at Smiley Monroe, about his career path and role with the company which manufactures heavy-duty conveyor belts for the mobile construction equipment sector.

Tell us about your career path to date?

I must confess to being an accidental marketer and before that, an accidental art director. I spent ten years as a freelancer in the film and TV industry working all over the world. Dad asked me to join the family business to help “raise its profile”. So I agreed to give it two years, moved back to Northern Ireland and I’m still here eight years on. I’ve never regretted swapping celluloid for rubber!

What do you regard as your biggest achievement?

It would have to be helping to build our family business into a niché brand that is known and respected globally within our industry.

What are the greatest challenges in your role?

Mobile and social media present opportunities to connect with customers anytime, anywhere. So the marketing challenge is shifting increasingly online – creating content that is relevant, engaging, consistent and tailored for different channels and getting the right software to do this efficiently. As our company continues to grow and expand its global customer base, material needs to

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be adapted accordingly. Elimination of waste is at the heart of our lean manufacturing processes, so applying this to a value creation activity such as marketing, is both a challenge and an opportunity.

What skills and experience do you look for in the next generation of marketers?

We’ve actually just hired a marketing assistant. I think the right attitude, passion and commitment are things you can’t train for, so that’s the first thing I’m looking for. We also recently recruited a native German speaker to our sales and marketing team after a lengthy search. Export is vital to local companies like ours and the wider economy, so it’s a no-brainer that a second language is going to make you more employable and make it easier for your employer to do business overseas.

Who has inspired you during your career and why?

My Dad has always been my mentor, providing lots of support and encouragement.

As a leader and entrepreneur, one of his real strengths is creating a vision and relentlessly driving it to completion. He never gives up.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

I know it’s a cliché, but no two days are the same, so it’s the sheer variety of the job.

Marketing is such a diverse discipline that is constantly evolving, which is challenging, but at the same time exciting to be a part of.

Ultimately though, there is nothing better than hearing positive feedback from our customers. That’s what it’s all about.

Networking Diary 27 November: The 2014 Northern Ireland Enterprise Awards, Belfast. www.enterpriseni.com 4 December: Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry Christmas Networking Party, Belfast. www.northernirelandchamber.com 5 December: IoD Northern Ireland Director of the Year Awards Lunch, Belfast. www.iodni.com

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SKILLS

Joined-up thinking How Belfast Met is helping Deloitte deliver exceptional outcomes for clients.

Leading Cities to Work speakers pictured at Belfast Met’s e3 building: Dr Bruce Leslie (RC2020), Sir Geoff Hall (The Information Authority), Marie-Thérèse McGivern (Belfast Met), Alastair Hamilton (Invest NI), Derek Bell (Department for Employment and Learning) and Jackie Henry (Deloitte)

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n some respects, it is a case of ‘back to the future’ for Belfast Metropolitan College. Founded in 1906 as the Municipal Technical College by a powerful coalition of industrialists, civic leaders and the equivalent of the best tech visionaries of the day, its purpose was to provide the city of Belfast with the technical skills and education to support and strengthen its position as a worldclass industrial powerhouse.

Fast forward over a century and Belfast Met is once again emerging as a critical player in equipping the city with a skilled workforce, and the local economy with the talent needed to support new and emerging sectors. And today, just as in the early 1900s, Belfast Met’s relevance is embedded in its collaboration with industry – an example of which is its relationship with global professional services firm, Deloitte.

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Belfast Met Principal and Chief Executive, Marie-Thérèse McGivern said: “Our partnership with Deloitte is exciting for all sorts of reasons, not least because it shows how employers and colleges can successfully come together in designing higher-level training which is carefully and deliberately aligned to business needs. This in turn helps bridge skills gaps in areas critical to any modern 21st century economy.”

Developed as part of the Department for Employment and Learning’s Assured Skills Initiative, the Deloitte DATA (Deloitte Analytics Training Academy) has so far recruited and trained two separate cohorts of 20 graduates. With backgrounds in disciplines ranging from Philosophy and Bio-Sciences to English Literature and Engineering, the intensive nine-week Academy has equipped students with skills and accredited qualifications identified by Deloitte for new opportunities

in its Technology Studio in Belfast.

Deloitte Senior Partner Jackie Henry explains: “The success of our DATA model is having a ripple effect across the company and is changing how our firm approaches its national skills development and staff recruitment agenda.

“Deloitte has established a globally renowned, Northern Ireland-based Analytics capability and the initiative continues to deliver substantial numbers of talented individuals ready to get involved in projects based not only in Belfast, but also in Edinburgh, London, Sweden, the US and Australia. This is increasing our ability to deliver excellent outcomes for our clients.”

The early success has given Deloitte the right to grow more as demonstrated by the firm’s decision to invest over £30 million in Belfast over the next five years, resulting in 500 new jobs.

SKILLS

DATA graduates with Dr Jonathan Heggarty (Belfast Met), Niall Lavery (Deloitte) and Minister Stephen Farry.

“We need to continue to grow rapidly and get access to the best talent available – so we are continuing to invest in Northern Ireland to make this happen,” said Ms Henry.

“The choice of Belfast for this investment is significant and was made in the face of strong international competition.”

individual and business level are crucial.”

Belfast Met is not alone in believing that further education colleges can play a powerful role in generating new and innovative coalitions to match the provision of skills with the needs of the economy and so contribute to strong and successful cities.

Marie-Thérèse McGivern is clear that Belfast Met has the ability and the appetite to play an even greater role in the city’s success.

In early October, the college hosted a threeday visit by delegates from the RC2020 group – a global network of urban-based community and technical colleges who come together under the banner of Renewal and Change. The focal point of the visit was a conference entitled ‘Leading Cities to Work’.

“For a city to be successful, it must have the capacity to create the conditions that allow wealth to flourish. On the one hand it must have the infrastructure and conditions to allow industry to grow, and on the other it must have the people and skills to match this growth.

“Regardless of whether the context is London, Sydney, Belfast or Oklahoma, each

college regards its core purpose as being the place people go to learn new skills,” said Ms McGivern. “Our relationship with Deloitte – backed by strong support from DEL – demonstrates the power of collaboration in delivering real economic benefits.

“Belfast Met has reclaimed its place as a key anchor institution in the city and we are creating a new paradigm which looks back to past success in order to bring future prosperity. The college was founded by a coalition of ambitious and powerful leaders to meet the needs of an expanding workforce in a modern industrial city. Similar partnerships today can ensure that Belfast thrives as much in the Digital Age as it did in the Industrial one.”

“Vocational Education and Training understands the nature of a city’s success and knows that one size does not fit all and that tailored, bespoke solutions at both

NOVEMBER 2014

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EDUCATION

Noel McQuaid of James Leckey Design, Philip McAleese of Limeforge Ltd and Minister Stephen Farry with representatives from Colleges NI, Queen’s University and Ulster University launching the Connected3 programme.

Time to get Connected Whether it is research and development, the use of high tech facilities or just tapping into some clever heads, colleges and universities can hold a wealth of potential for Northern Ireland’s businesses. We find out how Connected is bringing the world of academia and business together for the good of the economy.

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n the world of business, owners and managers can be so focused on the day-to-day operations of their companies that they overlook a wealth of help and support right on their doorsteps.

That’s particularly true when it comes to Northern Ireland, an area blessed with a rich

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vein of third level educational establishments which are able to offer a lot more to local companies than the steady stream of welleducated students they’re most famous for.

They have a vast depth of knowledge and skills in a wide range of sectors, cutting edge facilities and can offer a level of support which can not just help your

business survive, but can help it thrive and in many cases provide the key to success.

You could say it pays to get Connected, because that’s the name of the programme run by Colleges Northern Ireland and funded by the Department for Employment and Learning, to “encourage, ease and increase potential knowledge exchange links

EDUCATION

between academia and industry, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises”.

For businesses which work with Connected, the possibilities are endless as it opens up a vast pool of expertise, knowledge, research capability and world-class facilities which would be the envy of even the world’s biggest conglomerates.

“The heart of the Connected program is about recognising there is real expertise in our universities and further education establishments which business needs.”

It works with our six further education colleges across Northern Ireland, the University of Ulster and Queen’s University, matching up a business’s needs with the best experts in that rich portfolio of knowledge.

It’s not a new concept.

“Throughout the history of further and higher education there has always been a dependency on skills to fuel economic growth,” Tim Brundle, Director of Innovation at the University of Ulster, told Ulster Business.

“But lately we’ve become more appreciative and sophisticated in the ways we can help business as academic institutions. Connected helps sharpen the gaze of academia on the opportunities that businesses see and the problems they need to solve.”

“The heart of the Connected program is about recognising there is real expertise in our universities and further education establishments which business needs. It’s about joining it all up in a practical and coordinated way.”

Scott Rutherford, Director of Research and Enterprise at Queen’s University in Belfast agrees.

Gerry Campbell, the chief executive of Colleges NI, said the strength of Connected is its ability to bring business and academia together.

“At its core it’s about unlocking the research of academia and getting it out into companies,” he said. “From a university perspective our external focus is making sure our research has an impact and those who need it can access it easily and make as much of it as they possibly can.

“It’s all about engagement and building relationships between the universities, colleges and business so we can recognise where the skills of each lie and learn off each other. Individually we don’t have all the answers but when you bring all the organisations together we can all move forward.

“In that regard we’re all winners and that means the Northern Ireland economy is a real winner.”

It’s obvious that Northern Ireland’s universities and colleges are open for business, but how does it actually work in practice?

To find out, take a look at Water Tecnik, a relatively new company based in Banbridge which provides wastewater treatment to industry customers.

To help it develop a new product to remove >> contaminates from wastewater – the

NOVEMBER 2014

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EDUCATION

handily titled dissolved air floatation cell – it worked in collaboration with Southern Regional College to research the most suitable technology and to draw up 3D models.

Water Tecnik now have the best technical solution on the market and its business is going from strength to strength, even winning contracts outside Northern Ireland.

“Engage with the Connected team, let them understand your business and they’ll be able to tell you what’s on offer across the full range of further and higher education establishments.”

That’s just one example, but there are plenty more which show it pays to collaborate with colleges and universities here such as Limeforge Ltd’s collaboration with Queen’s University, James Lecky Design tie up with University of Ulster and B/E Aerospace’s work with Belfast Metropolitan College.

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Just some of the benefits they are able to take advantage of are: a flexible extension to research and development resources, access to specialist equipment and facilities, a reduction in costs through the short-term use of skills, a reduction in the time it takes to get a product to market, the opportunity to extend a network of contacts in academia and the business world and the chance to raise the profile of their business.

That’s quite a list of features, ones which might make you think that a lot of cost is involved.

However, the Connected program also takes full advantage of the various programmes on offer which can help fund such collaborative research.

across the full range of further and higher education establishments here in Northern Ireland,” Gerry Campbell said. “That engagement is key and has the potential to drive businesses and the economy here to a new level over the next few years.”

Lynn Connaughton, Connected Business Development Manager added: “Our colleges and universities are not just places that produce skilled graduates, we want to get the message across that they are open to business and are keen to share knowledge, expertise and best practice.”

For more information contact the Connected Business Development Manager; Lynn Connaughton on email: lynn.connaughton@collegesni.ac.uk

They include the Knowledge Transfer Programme, the Fusion programme run by InterTradeIreland and the use of Invest NI’s Innovation Vouchers, all of which offer financial backing for businesses tapping in to the resource on offer from colleges and universities.

So, in a practical sense, how do businesses get involved?

“Engage with the Connected team, let them understand your business and they’ll be able to tell you what’s on offer

Belfast Office: +44 28 9077 0999 Dublin Office: +353 1 668 5144 www.salesplacement.com Sales & Marketing Recruitment Specialists

In an independent survey 91% of our clients have recommended Sales Placement to another company

Martin McDonald, left, and Paul Henry.

Office politics Osborne King’s Martin McDowell and Paul Henry offer an insight into Northern Ireland’s office market.

T

he last time this particular scribe interviewed Martin McDowell was in 2008, a time when the Northern Ireland commercial property market was in the early stages of a reversal of fortunes which would catch most people unawares.

who also happens to be Chairman of Chartered Accountants Ulster Society.

Six years on and with a lot of water under the bridge for the sector and for the scribe – but not for Osborne King which can proudly claim to have avoided any redundancies even during the recessionary times – and we’re back.

While referring to the aesthetics of an interview’s setting might seem a little off topic, in this case the pleasing environment of the surveyor’s office is at the heart of one of the biggest issues faced by surveyors, companies and inward investors.

If you’ve been listening or reading any form of business news over the last few years, it won’t have missed your attention that it’s this grade-A office space which is in short supply in Northern Ireland. It maybe wasn’t such a big problem during the recessionary years when the economy was contracting but is becoming an issue now that things are looking up and a plethora of inward investors are heading here.

Osborne King’s offices are – whisper it quietly – grade A, the top grade of office space available and just the type of accommodation

Why has such a situation arisen? Surely higher demand would push up prices and natural market laws would sort the

We’re once again with the managing director in the same boardroom in Osborne King’s offices on Belfast’s Donegall Square South and joined by director Paul Henry,

36

No better experts to put a finger on the issues impacting commercial property in Northern Ireland at present and no finer setting in which to do it.

a newly arrived or expanding inward investor would expect when it sets up camp on these shores. And very nice they are too.

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

whole problem out sooner than you could say “one careful owner”?

Perhaps that would be the case in a free market situation but the Northern Ireland commercial property market doesn’t operate under such conditions.

Mr McDowell said that in Belfast, around 50% of office space is rented by government, a percentage which far outweighs that of any other UK city.

It stands to reason this higher demand should drive prices higher, encourage development and increase supply of office space, but there’s a catch.

The Modern Government Lease (MGL), an agreement owners who let their buildings to government bodies are forced to sign up to, is a Northern Ireland peculiarity.

It was designed during the days when some of this island’s commercial property was built to less stringent standards and public sector renters were forced to foot vast repair bills.

“The biggest single problem is that rental levels sit below the level of economic development. Grade A space in Belfast currently stands at £12 to £14 a square foot whereas it needs to be £18 and above to make economic sense.”

It was an admirable and effective means of protecting the public purse in its day but is now deterring investment in new-build office development by keeping rents below a viable level.

“The biggest single problem in the Northern Ireland office market is that rental levels sit

NOVEMBER 2014

below the level of economic development,” Mr McDowell said. “Grade A space in Belfast currently stands at £12 to £14 a square foot whereas it needs to be £18 and above to make economic sense to a developer. That’s a big shortfall.”

To compare, in Glasgow, a city with a similar economic makeup to and not a million miles away from Belfast, rental for Grade A office space stands between £26 and £30 and availability isn’t an issue.

“The government valuers have manipulated the market for their own benefit and prevented growth,” Mr McDowell said, referring to the cane toad analogy he has used in this very magazine to explain the impact of the MGL i.e. toads introduced to Australia to combat the cane beetle, a pest of sugar cane, ended up being more of a pest than the beetles they failed to eradicate.

The MGL sought to solve a problem but created a bigger development issue instead.

So, having established how such a standoff has arisen, how does he think it should be rectified?

Mr Henry knows one simple solution.

“Government should give an undertaking to stand aside from their Grade A offices when a private sector renter needs the space,” he said, adding that a

decentralisation of government departments, such as the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development’s impending move from Dundonald to Ballykelly, should be repeated when needed.

Another straightforward idea would be to make new offices exempt from rates until first let, an unnecessary expense which can put off potential developers. And he also suggested government could offer low-cost finance for developers and underwrite future rental.

Such strategic thinking doesn’t come without deep knowledge of the industry, something Osborne King has been building over many years.

“We’re the largest independent practice in Northern Ireland and over the last few years we’ve had to adapt what we do,” Mr McDowell said, referring to the likes of the property auctions the company was instrumental in introducing to Northern Ireland only a few short years ago.

That independence – rather than relying on a national parent company – is key as it means Osborne King relies heavily on its reputation and is therefore totally committed to providing a full, honest and efficient service.

Six years since we last met, it’s clear that approach has stood them in good stead.

37

PROFILE

Andrew’s Global Ambitions Andrew McIvor works at NiSoft as VP Sales Europe, Middle East and Africa and is the eighth student to be profiled in our ‘Studying Success’ series.

What are you studying at the Ulster University Business School?

I’m studying an MSc in International Business through the Magee Campus, using the online learning tool Blackboard Learn.

When I started the course I was living in Malaysia, so this has been a valuable tool to keep in touch with tutors and classmates.

Why did you choose this course?

My career has taken me from a fairly technical IT role with various companies, including Client Services Engineer initially at NiSoft after graduating from the University of Ulster in Computing in 1999, to a regional sales and business development role with NiSoft throughout Europe, Middle East and Africa. I’ve always had a

Andrew McIvor, NiSoft VP Sales Europe, Middle East and Africa, MSc International Business, Ulster University Business School.

keen interest in the theory and practice of business and saw the course as a way of adding academic knowledge to my 10 years’ experience of travel, customer engagement and partnerships across a large geographical region. One of my aspirations is to bring Irish companies to international markets and I believed the course could help increase my knowledge in this area.

What attracted you to the Ulster University Business School?

During a visit to the Ulster University at Jordanstown for a course fair in 2011, I met some of the Ulster University Business School team and was encouraged by their interest in my career and how I could further develop. My research into the school led me to conclude that it was an excellent investment as well as offering me the flexibility to study while travelling extensively and juggling a young family. Ulster University Business School has a good reputation throughout the UK, and the geographical diversity of students on the online MSc course is a real benefit.

What part of the course do you enjoy most?

The online engagement with my fellow students is probably my favourite part of the course. When you’ve studied the material and formed ideas about the weekly discussion topics, it’s humbling and enlightening to compare your thoughts with others of such an international and

38

diverse academic group. Learning is an ongoing part of life and most of mine over the past 10 years had been through short courses or on the job, so I particularly enjoy being part of a community of students.

How will this qualification help in your future career?

I’m currently studying International Business Environment and International Management modules which are already giving me a new perspective on my day job. These elements of the course have increased my knowledge on business theory and models which are familiar to me in my own role. This will hopefully give me a broader perspective on how to manage a business internationally. As I’m particularly keen on seeing small to medium-sized Irish companies thrive and prosper in overseas markets this will build on the experience I have gained in international markets.

Who do you admire most in the business world and why?

James Dyson has always piqued my interest.

He has built a brand where innovation, colourful design, fresh ideas and thinking differently are the norm. Redefining something as ordinary as choosing a vacuum cleaner into something which feels like purchasing a piece of well-designed technology has to be applauded. He has consistently led the trend for design and innovation in the marketplace in his field and continues to offer solutions that people hadn’t quite realised they needed – a sign of a great marketer.

Flags, firebombs & flashbacks

Corporate Law

CORPORATE LAW

Private equity gets busier

By David Elliott

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CORPORATE LAW

W

hile the mergers and acquisition market in Northern Ireland has witnessed less activity this year, private equity buyers are on the prowl.

They are becoming a more prevalent investor in Northern Ireland businesses, according to the latest report from Experian.

Despite the fall in activity, Experian said a spike in deal activity in 2013 made for an unfair comparison.

Antrim Resources, the third biggest deal in Northern Ireland this year, helped keep them at the top of that particular table.

“2013 was something of an anomaly and the year’s deal activity could be seen as a reversion to the mean in terms of mergers and acquisition volumes in Northern Ireland,” the report said.

KPMG were the busiest legal advisor to merger and acquistion transactions in Northern Ireland, followed by EY and Liberium Capital while Librium was top of the financial advisor league table with £140m under it’s control.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch were second in the latter table and Rothschild third.

In terms of sectors, manufacturing was once again the busiest, accounting for 25%, or 12, of all transactions while information and communications came a close second with nine deals followed by professional, scientific and technical sectors.

It said 12 mergers and acquisition deals had been accounted for by private equity during the first nine months of the year. “(This is) far in advance of the rest of the UK with Northern Ireland’s burgeoning renewables sector proving particularly attractive,” the report said.

Tughans retained the top spot when it comes to the number of deals carried out and has worked on a total of 12 so far this year, followed by CMS and Burstall Winger in second and third place respectively.

Meanwhile, this year is shaping up to be a more subdued period for deal makers in Northern Ireland according to the report.

The latter two legal firms shared the top place in the league table of deal value for the first nine months of the year, racking up a total of £32m each and were followed in third place by Tughans with £27m.

It said 43 deals were reported in the first nine months of the year, a slide from the 48 reported in the same period last year.

The total value of the deals fell also to £321.6m during the first three quarters from £321.6m in 2013.

CMS and Burstall Wingers involvement in First Oil’s £32.5m acquisition of

Legal advisors by number of Northern Ireland deals in the first nine months of 2014

The dip in the number of deals in Northern Ireland was reflected across much of the UK as a whole, although the likes of the north east, north west and south west of England witnessed a much deeper slide.

Even London, which accounts for by far the largest number of deals at 1,561, was nearly 3% down on the same period last year.

A fillip for Northern Ireland did emerge from the Republic, however, where 259 deals were reported, a 37% jump.

The biggest deals there were centred on the pharmaceutical sector and included the purchase of Shire by AbbVie for £41bn, Covidien by Medtronic for £32bn and Forest >> Laboritories by Actavis for £19m.

Financial advisors by number of Northern Ireland deals in the first nine months of 2014

POSITION LAW FIRM

NUMBER OF DEALS

POSITION FINANCIAL ADVISOR

NUMBER OF DEALS

1.

Tughans

12

1.

KPMG

4

2.

CMS

2

2.

EY

3

3.

Burstall Winger

1

3.

Liberium Capital

2

4.

Shearman & Sterling

1

4.

Horwood & Holmes

2

5.

Bermans

1

5.

Bank of America

1

6.

Miller McCall Wylie

1

6.

Rothschild

1

7.

A&L Goodbody

1

7.

UBS

8.

Addleshaw Goddard

1

8.

Target Advisors

9.

Mills Selig

1

9.

Beltrae Partners

10.

Turner Parkinson

1

10.

Davy

NOVEMBER 2014

1 1

1 1

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CORPORATE LAW

The top three deals in Northern Ireland in the first nine months of 2014

1

The Abbey Centre in Newtownabbey was bought by NewRiver Retail, along with two other shopping centres in Glasgow and Hastings, from Swallowtail. The deal totalled £140m.

2

The Sprucefield Centre outside Lisburn was bought by Intu Properties for a total of £70m.

3

Antrim Resources was sold by Antrim Energy for £32m to First Oil Expo.

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CORPORATE LAW

The right investment for your business Ciara Lagan, Director, in Tughans Corporate Department, takes a look at the best investment opportunities open to Northern Ireland business amid a volatile economy and public sector austerity.

First and foremost, why even look at investment?

WHAT ARE the opportunities for investment in ni?

The decision to seek investment from an external source can be influenced by different factors. The local market is demonstrating its potential for growth opportunities, whether for product development or export and investment is needed to support that growth.

The opportunities for businesses in Northern Ireland haven’t been better since the start of the recession. Invest NI introduced three new funds into the market, with the two Development Funds run by Kernel Capital and Crescent Capital, and the recently launched Techstart NI, which all run alongside their other funding opportunities like Co-Fund and the Growth Loan Fund.

There is also increasing interest in the Northern Ireland market from external funds, as evidenced by the investment in Lowe Refrigeration by MML Capital.

A number of businesses have been in survival mode during the recession, looking inward to manage their cashflows, rather than looking to expansion and taking on external investment.

Those businesses that have been looking to grow or expand during the past six years have looked at not only traditional funding but also angel investors, venture capital funds and trade partners. And they have been successful in doing so – a recent report identified Northern Ireland as one of the two fastest-growing ‘knowledge economy’ regions in the UK, thanks to a growing number of private equity and venture capital deals.

Venture capitalists and angel investors don’t just offer cash injections for businesses. They can bring invaluable management experience, sector knowledge and a wide network of contacts.

There are other UK government initiatives such as the Start-Up Loan Scheme and the support from the British Business Bank.

Halo at the Northern Ireland Science Park also continues to facilitate the support of local entrepreneurs by angel investors.

What continues to be an option ignored by more mature local businesses is a public listing on a stock exchange. Northern Ireland continues to punch well below its weight in terms of plcs – there are currently only two listed plcs that originated from Northern Ireland. The advantages of being listed is clear – better visibility, increased credibility with suppliers and customers and ready access to growth capital.

How can local businesses position themselves to attract investment?

If considering investment rather than going public, you need to identify the right investor.

Private equity houses often target specific sectors. For instance the Foresight Group and Green Investment Bank, which last year invested in the Evermore renewable energy power plant in Derry/Londonderry, focus on the infrastructure and environmental sectors.

You also need to consider the target market of the investors – Techstart NI is focused on early stage technology companies whereas the Development Funds are for later stage companies. The right commercial fit is crucial – tapping into an investor’s experience and network will be beneficial but it is also essential for the right chemistry between the management team and the investors.

Businesses should also carry out their own due diligence exercise – prepare a robust business plan, get their paperwork together and address any commercial, legal or financial issues. Presenting a clean and wellorganised business with growth potential will always be attractive to an investor.

The listing process may be more stringent and regulated but the same good corporate governance applies to a company looking to going public.

Preparation, as always, is key.

Tughans regularly assist local businesses during the investment process and through to exit, providing commercial legal advice to help facilitate a smooth transition and growth opportunity for the business. Contact Ciara Lagan (ciara.lagan@tughans.com; 028 9055 3300) for further information.

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CORPORATE LAW

What’s in a name?

By Celia Worthington, Worthingtons Solicitors

O

ne of the main considerations for entrepreneurs establishing a new business is the name. The main restriction in this regard is that the chosen name or one very similar may already be in use by another established business. This restriction applies no matter what format the business takes.

Those establishing a new business often mistakenly believe that if they don’t register the name anywhere or actually manage to register the name at Companies House, they are immune from any action being taken against them by anyone else using the name.

So what action can be taken by the aggrieved third party which believes that the new business is trading with a name which is the same or too similar to their name?

The main action normally instigated is under the UK common law right of “passing off”.

This law is based on the common sense basis that it should be an offence for one trader to misrepresent his goods or services as those of another and so deceive customers into purchasing his goods and services when they thought they were purchasing those of another. In order for the aggrieved party to succeed it must show (1) that its goods or services have acquired a goodwill or reputation in the market and are known by some distinguishing feature (2) that there is misrepresentation by the other party leading to the public believing that they are buying

NOVEMBER 2014

goods or services from the aggrieved party; and (3) that the business of the aggrieved party is likely to be damaged. Unless the business taking the action is very well known (and even this didn’t work for Harrods), to be successful in an action, the businesses need to be in broadly similar lines of trade and in overlapping geographical areas.

“Those establishing a new business often mistakenly believe that if they don’t register the name anywhere or actually manage to register the name at Companies House, they are immune from any action being taken against them.”

In a recent High Court case in England, the proprietors of a successful and trendy bar, restaurant and gallery in Bristol known as “Bocabar”, otherwise known as “Boca Bar” or simply “Boca”, sued the proprietors of another restaurant and bar in Bristol who were trading under the name “Boca Bistro Café”. The owners of “Boca Bistro Café” had

even registered the name as a trade mark. The Judge found in favour of “Bocabar” in that they established the three grounds mentioned above.

There was substantial goodwill and reputation attached to the claimant’s restaurant, bar, café, gallery and music venue services in the minds of the public under the name in the Bristol and surrounding areas, there was a very real likelihood that the public were being confused into believing that there was a connection between the two businesses and there was damage. Because the action of passing off was successful, the UK trade mark “Boca Bistro Café” was held to be invalid.

It is interesting to note that the claimants restricted their complaints to the geographical area of Bristol. They did not seek and were not therefore granted a monopoly on the use of the name Boca. It was noted by the Judge that there are other restaurants in the UK using the name, including one in Belfast.

Whilst the passing off tests mentioned above can be difficult to establish, this case does show the importance of making all necessary checks prior to choosing a business name and taking the matter seriously if another business alleges that your business is infringing its rights.

Celia Worthington, Senior Partner, commercial department of Worthingtons Solicitors, can be contacted on celia@worthingtonslaw.co.uk

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INTERVIEW

About turn Simon Rowe finds out how one of the business world’s most well-known retailers is reinventing himself.

G

erald Ratner is the quintessential 80s business wonder kid who went from bling to bust in spectacular fashion.

His name is synonymous with corporate gaffes and even now, over two decades later, the phrase ‘doing a Ratner’ is still commonly used and his story is cited in business schools around the world as an example of ‘what not to do in business’.

Ratner wiped £500m off the value of the high-street jewellery empire founded by his father and brought it to near collapse after he famously remarked in an afterdinner speech that some of his firm’s low-cost jewellery was “total crap”.

Overnight the poster boy of brash UK retailing became a tabloid villain.

His rise to corporate success may have been meteoric – appointed chief executive in 1984 at the age of 35 – but his downfall was even faster. An ill-advised joke to an Institute of Directors’ lunch in the Royal Albert Hall in 1991 cost Ratner his job, his reputation and his fortune. Gone went his £650,000 salary and the firm’s billion-pound turnover.

46

Within a year, Ratner was forced to resign from the family firm that he had transformed into a retail giant – from just six stores in 1964 to 2,500 outlets in the UK and America.

By 1993, nearly 300 Ratners stores had closed and the firm changed its name to Signet Group to escape the sullied Ratner brand.

As corporate disasters go, this epic fall was of “Greek proportions”, says a contrite and humble Ratner, sitting in Holywood’s Culloden Hotel.

Twenty three years after committing that corporate howler, Ratner appears a more humble man than the tabloid caricature of a brash eighties go-getter.

In an ironic twist, the former jewellery king now makes his living from giving motivational speeches to business people. He was in Belfast last month to speak at the Northern Ireland Region of Shopping Centres’ annual conference – the body that represents and promotes the shopping centre industry here.

“Ratners was the biggest jeweller in the world and to have it taken away in an instant, and also then to be humiliated and be called ‘Mr Crapner’ and people

making jokes at weddings and stuff like that, it was the biggest fall that you could imagine – it was of Greek proportions,” he says. “It just couldn’t have been worse.

If you had sat down and tried to work out a worse scenario you couldn’t.”

Even today, Ratner is perplexed at the level of hostility his remarks generated.

“I’m not suggesting it wasn’t a dumb thing to say. It was. But the reaction was ridiculously over the top. Everyone in the Royal Albert Hall knew that it was a joke,” he says, referring to the speech.

But tabloid newspapers such as The Sun and The Mirror didn’t see the funny side of it and Ratner’s name became a punchline in the media and in business.

Now aged 65, the former high-street tycoon admits the experience left him “mentally scarred” and led him to become a near recluse for seven years in the mid-90s.

“But I don’t sit here being bitter and blaming anybody now,” he says.

Interestingly, Ratner points out that he cracked the same joke in 1987 during a similar after-dinner speech but it merited no adverse public attention at the time.

So why did a throwaway remark, which he had used before, spark such a devastating chain of events in 1991?

“The country was in a recession. Suddenly the party was over. People were disillusioned,” he says. And Ratner, for many, represented the worst excesses of Thatcher’s Britain of the 1980s. As recession gripped Britain in the early 1990s, many people were happy to see the brash multi-millionaire fail, he admits.

“We were in a deep recession in 1991 and I represented much of that previous era. I think that’s the reason why my comment had such an adverse reaction.”

NOVEMBER 2014

Ratner was a big supporter of former tory Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. He backed her ideas and he backed her campaigns with his own cash.

“I was a great fan of Mrs Thatcher,” he says.

“In the eighties you had the opportunity of really growing a business and doing whatever you wanted if you were determined. I had a huge amount of determination at that age and Mrs Thatcher encouraged business.”

While Ratner may have had powerful friends in politics, he had made a lot of enemies in business, however.

“Obviously I wasn’t popular with my competitors as I had 50% of the jewellery market. We were also one of the few jewellers to succeed in America, so we weren’t popular.”

also performs about 100 public speaking engagements a year.

After nearly a decade of “wallowing in grief” following his media downfall, Ratner started to rebuild his life and his business empire. “I started a health club from nothing and sold it for £3.9m and went back into the jewellery business and made a success of that,” he says.

His new venture, the online jewellery store GeraldOnline, which he lends his name to and which is backed by Indian investors, turns over a reported £25m.

Truly back from the brink, Ratner says: “My message to business people in Northern Ireland is simple: if I can come back in business, anyone can come back in business. All business people have setbacks but you can recover.”

In a massive reversal of fortunes, Ratner is now back in the jewellery business and he

47

IT

Is your IT infrastructure aligned with your business strategy? which massively improves the hotel’s operational efficiency and productivity.”

Pim Dalm, left, and Peter Brown.

Pim Dalm, the owner of Clandeboye Lodge Hotel, shares Peter’s view. “We’re one of the few EFQM accredited hotels in Ireland, so it’s important to us to constantly review our processes so that we can maximise our service delivery. A major IT upgrade had been on the cards for some time. We decided to bring in EOS Systems because they had a solid track record with two well respected companies, the Hastings Group, and our advertising agency, Navigator Blue, plus they’re recognised by Invest NI. It has been a very good decision to work with them.”

T

here is a tendency for businesses to regard their IT infrastructure merely as a commodity, but that is a mistake. Yes, the technology purchased may be a commodity, but the ability to bring hardware, software and support together in ways that create business value isn’t – especially in these challenging times.

This view is endorsed by Peter Brown, technical director of EOS Systems in Belfast.

EOS Systems designs, implements and supports IT systems for both PC and MACbased companies throughout Ireland, and according to Peter, there’s much to be gained by aligning your organisation’s technology with its business processes. “We believe in using infrastructure creatively, so that it helps businesses to operate more efficiently and improve the customer experience. A well-

48

tuned IT infrastructure can provide that kind of flexibility. But we don’t believe in bringing in new technology just for the sake of it.

It’s more about helping customers change a fragmented IT estate into a scalable and integrated system that will support growth.”

EOS Systems recently adopted this approach with Clandeboye Lodge Hotel in north Down, as Peter explains. “The hotel threw out the bath water and refilled the bath. In other words, we completely replaced their IT system, including the hardware, working practices and support, and started from new.

We were able to do this seamlessly, with no interruption to their daily operations, and the hotel’s technology is now much more closely integrated with its business processes.

This has further improved our access to real-time information on everything from manpower planning to revenue forecasting,

So has the IT upgrade brought the hotel’s technology in line with its business strategy?

According to Pim, the answer is ‘yes’. “The change process was challenging, but it has been a major success. By upgrading and integrating our systems, we’re now able to capture comprehensive management information on guest reservations, events, quality performance and profitability. All our departments work with the latest technology and this gives us a sharp competitive edge at every level. Our next step with EOS Systems is to implement Guest Air, a guest authentication system for Wifi users with data collection and marketing tools that will allow us to expand our relationship with customers.”

To find out how EOS Systems can help your business or hotel with future IT requirements, call Peter Brown today on 028 9045 9222 or email: peter@eossystems.co.uk

RECRUITMENT

Mid-Ulster: heartland for economic growth Michael Smith, Senior Business Manager at Hays, sees the economic upturn boosting employment opportunities beyond Belfast, with Mid-Ulster in particular performing well.

W

hile it may feel bumpy at times, recovery is on the way. Permanent jobs are on the rise and high-profile employment announcements have made headlines recently.

the local economy that Belfast is no longer the singular jobs magnet that it once was.

In fact, talent based in Belfast and other regions are travelling into MidUlster to pursue promising prospects.

Looking west shows growing appeal for Lisburn/Dunmurry residents who realise Portadown, Craigavon, Dungannon and Cookstown offer genuine alternatives.

What is most satisfying is the fact the recovery appears to be spreading around the region, and some of the most dynamic growth is happening outside Belfast. At Hays’ Portadown office, which serves the Mid-Ulster region, we have noted an increasing number and diversity of quality career openings.

Mid-Ulster enjoys key attributes which have enticed business and industry and enabled a strong performance. Excellent infrastructure and good location are major advantages; recent roads investment has drastically reduced travel times, benefitting export industry and attracting logistics and transport firms. Armagh City is now only an hour from central Dublin.

Mid-Ulster’s range of industry sectors, encompassing quarrying, manufacturing, aviation, construction, agri-business and food, is a crucial stabilising factor for the local economy. Today 15-30% of Northern Ireland’s top 100 companies are here, including major manufacturers, notably Almac and Norbrook pharmaceuticals.

Heavy engineering firms like Powerscreen have located in the Tyrone area. While a

50

17-mile stretch around Omagh is our own ‘Silicon Valley’ for quarrying equipment.

The multiplier effect is powerful. Many second-tier suppliers are springing up to support big names based in Mid-Ulster and beyond. A prime example is Thompson Aero Seating, which supplies Bombardier and has three Portadown sites. The company announced 85 new jobs in June.

Here, agri-business and food production mean big business. Dunbia, Linden Foods and Moy Park are among Northern Ireland’s largest employers with thriving global markets.

At Hays, we are ideally placed to get a good picture of Mid-Ulster’s dynamic employment marketplace, as our Portadown office recruits from Enniskillen to Cookstown to Newry.

Lately, our team has observed a shift in commuting patterns. Such is the strength of

At Hays, our specialist approach gives us real insight into the potential Mid-Ulster can offer for ambitious professionals. Our Portadown team knows first-hand that many of the best new permanent jobs are being created here.

Because we also have offices in Belfast and Derry, Hays’ expertise reaches across the whole of NI. Our own performance reflects the positive picture. Permanent jobs registered in Northern Ireland shot up by 65% compared to the same period last year. Hays’ overall headcount grew by almost a quarter this year, marking the highest headcount since 2007. And this November we are relocating to larger offices in Portadown.

Northern Ireland has been Hays’ best performing UK region. And while, of course, there will continue to be challenges, we’re optimistic about the outlook for Northern Ireland and for the Mid-Ulster area in particular.

For further information visit www.hays.co.uk/northernireland

ADVERTORIAL

WE’RE THINKING BEYOND THE OBVIOUS

CURRENT GROWTH, INTEREST RATES AND EQUITIES While the economic upturn in the US has been volatile, the UK continues to experience one of the sharpest turnarounds in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Low interest rates, the lingering benefit of quantitative easing and reduced drag from deleveraging have supported a broad-based recovery across consumer spending, business investment and house building.

quality companies able to generate higher profits from sustained revenue growth rather than reducing costs. Fewer cost-cutting opportunities, low debt costs and growing corporate management confidence mean merger and acquisition activity will also be a prominent feature. A 5% increase in 2014 earnings would give UK equities a prospective valuation of 14x with a dividend yield of 3.5% and provide scope for further positive returns.

Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation is low but stronger GDP growth and the rapid fall in unemployment could mean a financially prudent ‘independent’ Bank of England will raise interest rates before the year-end. If the current growth trajectory continues, a 2% rate in 2015 would not be unreasonable.

Quilter Cheviot, which can trace its heritage back to 1771, is one of the UK’s largest independently owned discretionary investment firms and is based in twelve locations across the UK, Jersey and Ireland and has total funds under management of £15.7bn*.

GDP is expanding steadily in Germany and has picked up strongly in Ireland – perhaps sufficiently for the public debt/ GDP ratio to fall for the first time in 7 years. However, the picture continues to be anaemic elsewhere in the Eurozone.

Unemployment is falling, particularly in the peripheral economies, but there is still enough slack in the labour force combined with the strength of the euro to exert downward pressure on Housing Capital Improvement Program (HCIP) inflation.

The European Central Bank’s latest measures provided some reassurance but are unlikely to prevent inflation falling so some form of quantitative easing is still a possibility in H2.

With supportive financial conditions, accelerating growth and reasonable valuations, we continue to favour equities over fixed interest. In the short-term, the extended period of equity gains without a significant setback, high levels of investor complacency and low volatility have encouraged us to trim our equity exposure.

However, fixed interest ‘bears’ may be disappointed by only a modest rise in yields as central banks successfully unwind Quantitative Easing (QE) and inflation remains subdued.

We expect the next phase of the equity cycle to be driven by evidence of improving profitability with the focus on good

Our team based on Montgomery Street, Belfast, focuses primarily on structuring and managing bespoke discretionary portfolios for private clients, charities, trusts, pension funds and professional intermediaries. We enjoy successful relationships with independent financial advisors across Northern Ireland and beyond.

We take an approach which is both entrepreneurial and bespoke when it comes to the investment solutions we offer clients. We believe our exemplary regulatory track record, the absence of institutional conflicts of interests and the transparency of our charges all bear positive comparison with some of the larger institutional bodies, such as banks.

For more information on how Quilter Cheviot can guide your investments, contact Nigel Crawford at the Belfast office on 028 9026 1150 or email nigel.crawford@quiltercheviot.com. *as at 30 June 2014 Investors should remember that the value of investments, and the income from them, can go down as well as up and that past performance is no guarantee of future returns.

You may not recover what you invest. This document is not intended to constitute financial advice; investments referred to may not be suitable for all recipients.

SEE HOW WE’RE DOING THINGS DIFFERENTLY CALL NIGEL CRAWFORD, HEAD OF BELFAST OFFICE TEL. (0)28 9026 1155 OR VISIT WWW.QUILTERCHEVIOT.COM Quilter Cheviot is the trading name of Quilter Cheviot Limited, a private limited company registered in England with number 01923571, registered office at One Kingsway, London WC2B 6AN. Quilter Cheviot has established an office in Dublin, Ireland with number 904906, is a member of the London Stock Exchange, is authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority, is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland for conduct of business rules, under the Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998 by the Jersey Financial Services Commission for the conduct of investment business in Jersey and by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission under the Protection of Investors (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 1987 to carry on investment business in the Bailiwick of Guernsey.

Accordingly, in some respects the regulatory system that applies will be different from that of the United Kingdom.

SELF EMPLOYMENT

Meeting etiquette, or how to give good off-site meetings

By Julie Stewart

M

eeting rooms are soulless places. You can tell the carpet is so tough to withstand any amount of blood or coffee stains and chairs pulled out in rage. The lighting is always hovering at a level somewhere between dentist’s chair and Sunday doze. As a freelancer you don’t tend to have a special room for meetings. You conduct your business in restaurants and coffee shops, good for your working soul but bad for your waistline.

Getting to avoid such architecturally creative vacuums comes at a price, and I’m going to guide you through the new rules of off-site meetings.

Firstly, the venue. Pretend you are going on a date, as you sort of are. Your bank account is definitely looking for some loving. Let your client choose the venue, but if it is left up to you, choose wisely. That cool hipster joint down the alley may say ‘I am down with the zeitgeist’, but trying to balance on an uncomfortable upside down, painted, up-cycled farming tool may distract from the serious and amazing services you are trying to discuss. It is also likely that these places will serve your coffee in a thimble, which means you’ll spend a lot of time trying to get more and will leave with the caffeine shakes. At the same time go somewhere nice. Being served by someone who hasn’t seen a day off or a hairbrush in weeks may not make you feel very successful business person-y. By the same token make sure you’ve brushed yours. Just because you are meeting in the coffee shop you frequent hungover does not mean the jogging bottoms you wear on those occasions are appropriate.

Right, so you’ve found a suitable venue, now let them have the good seat. This may seem simple, but it not only flatters them but it can prevent you from accidentally bumping into

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people you know whose fluid use of swear words may be fun on a night out, but could really take the shine off the professional veneer you are trying to construct. Also try to sit a little away from other patrons. They don’t want to hear you talking about big data or how you are going to go forward and get all your ducks in a row while you incentivise. You don’t want anyone to hear you say this either. Because of the shame.

The venue may be a relaxed one, but that doesn’t mean you have be relaxed with your preparation. Every meeting may be the start of a beautiful and lucrative relationship so don’t leave important documents on the printer at home. Be careful with what you do bring however.

At an off-site meeting I witnessed recently a document was produced that had a quite surreal crayon drawing on the back of a cat. I thought it was hilarious. The person in the actual meeting did not. Oops.

organisation and are meeting in Betty’s Coffee Snug that you aren’t a ‘proper’ business. Knock that out of your head straight away. Once you realise that everyone is winging it your off-site meeting will go much better. Have a little confidence in yourself. Maybe you’ll even relax enough to enjoy a scone. Just don’t order a chocolate éclair. They aren’t cool and cream squirting out onto your spreadsheet isn’t going to make your deal any sweeter.

Sometimes geography means you can’t just pop down and press the flesh. For those meetings where you don’t even have to leave the house there is always Skype, and you only have to dress from the waist up.

Just make sure your clothes horse isn’t in the background.

Julie Stewart is a social media consultant

As a freelancer there is always the danger that because you don’t come from a big

and copywriter and can be found at alittlesocialtlc.com

The E-Class Saloon.

From £369* a month and with an advance payment from just £369*.

The numbers work.

With its distinctive new styling, the E-Class Saloon demands attention. And with COMAND Online satellite navigation, leather upholstery and an impressive CO2 figure of 116g/km^, it demands serious consideration too

Contact us today to find out more.

Mercedes-Benz of Belfast on 02890 689000 6 Boucher Crescent, Belfast, BT12 6HU www.mercedes-benzofbelfast.co.uk Mercedes-Benz of Portadown on 02838 337373 Carn Court Road, Portadown, BT63 5YX www.mercedes-benzofportadown.co.uk *Business Users only. Advance payment applies. Official government fuel consumption figures in mpg (litres per 100km) for the E-Class range: urban 20.3(13.9)-68.9(4.1), extra urban 36.2(7.8)-70.6(4.0), combined 28.3(10.0)-68.9(4.1). CO2 emissions 234-109 g/km. Official EU-regulated test data are provided for

comparison purposes and actual performance will depend on driving style, road conditions and other non-technical factors. ^Model featured is a Mercedes-Benz E 220 BlueTEC Saloon SE with automatic transmission at £34,915 on-the-road including optional metallic paint at £645 (on-the-road price includes VAT, delivery, 12 months’ Road Fund Licence, number plates, first registration fee and fuel). *All payments subject to VAT at 20%. Finance based on an E 220 BlueTEC Saloon SE with optional metallic paint on a 36 month Contract Hire agreement with an advance payment of £369. 10,000 miles per annum. Excess mileage charges may apply. Rental includes Road Fund Licence for the contract duration. Guarantees and indemnities may be required. Orders/credit approvals on selected E-Class Saloon models between 1 October and 31 December 2014, registered by 31 March 2015. Subject to availability, offers cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. Some combinations of features/options may not be available. Please contact your Mercedes-Benz retailer for availability. Credit provided subject to status by Mercedes-Benz Financial Services UK Limited, MK15 8BA. Prices correct at time of going to print.

TECHNOLOGY

Take control of your IT

By Kyle Johnston, Sales Director, Leaf

L

eaf’s customers don’t need to hold a masters in computer science to understand the benefits of embracing modern technology. For many business decision makers, understanding the benefits before investing in new IT comes down to:

New fund invests in two startups

1. How it can decrease capital expenditure.

2. Improve efficiencies through agility and ease of access.

3. Provides a trustworthy and reliable service.

4. The ease in which new technology can be adopted by the workforce.

The benefits Leaf’s clients enjoy by deploying Office 365 include: Reduced capital expenditure: Office 365 is available as a simple monthly subscription. Avoid large up-front costs for new software while moving the cost of IT from capital to operating expense.

Cut in hardware and energy costs: Without servers to run for email, websites, and document storage, you can reduce energy costs.

Always up to date: Since Office 365 is in the cloud, it is always up to date. No patches or software upgrades necessary.

Licence per user: Simplify licencing while providing each user access to business-critical technology on 5 PCs/Macs and 5 mobile devices.

Financially-backed SLA: Get peace of mind knowing your services are available with a financially-backed 99.9% uptime service level agreement.

Online document storage and file sharing: 1TB of space in the cloud to store, backup, and easily share files. Files are accessible from almost any device.

Business-class email: Large, 50GB mailboxes that can send messages up to 25MB in size, with contacts, shared calendars, and spam and malware protection that stays up to date. Built with Exchange email technology, the leading email solution for business around the world. Use your own custom domain for your email address, connect with Outlook for fully featured offline support, and access via the web through any modern browser. Available on your PC or Mac, as well as Windows Phone, iPhone, Android, and Blackberry devices.

To find out more about Office 365 contact Leaf on 028 9089 7650 or e-mail: info@leafconsultancy.com to receive your free info pack.

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Enterprise Trade and Investment Minister Arlene Foster is pictured with (L-R) Eddie Anderson, Pentech Ventures; Chris McClelland, Brewbot and Hal Wilson, Pentech Ventures.

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echstart NI, a new seed and early stage investment fund, has invested over £300,000 in two Northern Ireland businesses.

Inflyte, a music promotion platform, and Brewbot, an app to help home beer brewers, will use the money to grow their businesses.

Established by Invest Northern Ireland as part of its Access to Finance strategy, techstart NI is providing support for early stage technology businesses and university spin-outs. The £23.6m initiative is made up of a £13m SME equity fund, two university funds of £1.5m each, and a proof of concept grant fund of £7.6m.

The new suite of funds will operate for 10 years and will be managed on a wholly commercial basis by Pentech Ventures LLP. Enterprise minister Arlene Foster welcomed the investment.

“Today’s announcement is not only good news for Inflyte and Brewbot, it is also good news for the Northern Ireland economy because the potential value of early stage technology business and university spin-outs is being recognised. They may start small but they have big growth ambitions, which should be encouraged.”

Flags, firebombs & flashbacks

Sport & Business

SPORT & BUSINESS

From changing room to boardroom Simon Rowe finds out how some of Northern Ireland’s former sports stars are putting the skills they learned on the pitch to good effect in business

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rom playing field to boardroom, the attributes required to succeed at the highest level are the same – ambition, a competitive edge and a constant drive to improve performance.

Andy Park

When sporting heroes transfer that ‘never say die’ mentality from the pitch to the office it can make for a winning combination in business. We speak to four Ulster sporting heroes who have

made it big in business after winning in their respective fields. They reveal the qualities they bring to their companies and how they made the transition from sporting glory to corporate success.

U

lster Rugby star Andy Park, who played on the famous European Cup final winning team in 1999, has hung up his boots and now manages his own firm, INC Marketing.

But lining out in the boardroom and converting his sporting prowess into business success takes as much effort and focus, says the former winger. “Just as in sport, in business you need to work hard and have your goals and objectives set out, whether they are short-term ones or long-term ones.”

“In professional sport, especially in a team environment, you must have personal discipline, a discipline to work with others,” says Park, from his office in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter. “You must be able to work with different personalities, and mould yourself to work with those guys, always keeping in mind the bigger picture of what the team is striving for. It’s the same in business.”

“For individual sports people, discipline is even more important,” he says. “A golfer for example only has themselves to blame if something goes wrong but in a team environment it’s very easy to hide and, similarly, in the business world you’ve got to stand up and be counted.”

Passion in sport is vital and it’s equally necessary in business, says Park. “I’m a great believer in that if you’re not passionate about something you’ll never achieve anything. And that passion drives you to be the best or want to the best. You’ve got to have a real interest in your job or a real interest in the task ahead of you if you want to be the best.”

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SPORT & BUSINESS

Jim Kirkwood

B

efore pursuing a highly successful career in banking, Jim Kirkwood – now Business Acquisition Manager at Danske Bank – was best known as the Belfast man who brought home a gold medal for the British hockey squad at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.

Inducted into Irish hockey’s Hall of Fame earlier this year, Kirkwood ranks alongside Northern Ireland’s three other Olympic gold medallists – Robin Dixon, Stephen Martin and Mary Peters.

In an illustrious sporting career which saw him winning 130 Irish caps, his first at the age of 19, and being capped 40 times for Great Britain, Kirkwood also played for the Irish cricket team, representing Ireland three times. Indeed, had it not been for his excellence on the hockey field, he would likely have made his mark on international cricket too.

A self-confessed “sports nut” from an early age, who played for Friends’ School Old Boys, Queen’s, Belfast YMCA and Lisnagarvey, he recalls: “I didn’t have a holiday for five or six years when I was at the peak of my sporting career.”

“I have since learned to channel my inherent ‘competitive gene’ in positive ways when it comes to working in a business environment,” he says.

But Kirkwood is adamant that sports heroes can’t trade on past glories. “Sport offers great networking opportunities which can be useful when you first move into the business world but if you can’t back it up in terms of delivering on what you say nobody is going to give you work just because you once played international >> hockey,” he says.

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SPORT & BUSINESS

Tony Kernan

A

rmagh GAA footballer Tony Kernan is celebrating.

He has just been named on a list of 45 top players in contention to make the 2014 GAA/GPA All Stars Awards.

When the half-forward is not playing a blinder on the field – or admiring his packed trophy cabinet after a successful career with Armagh and local team Crossmaglen Rangers – he’s blazing a trail as a retail property agent with Lambert Smith Hampton.

He says he brings the same competitive edge on the field to the property business, where he manages a portfolio of retail properties in Belfast, Derry and across the water. “That sense of competitiveness does carry over from sport to business, especially in the business I’m in. We’re constantly been motivated to see where can we grow the business and maximise new opportunities. That motivates me.”

Kernan, who studied Property Investment and Development in Jordanstown, says teamwork is key. “If someone’s under pressure in the sporting context there is always someone there to help them and that’s the same in my work with my colleagues in Lambert Smith Hampton. It’s something that I would very much take from my sporting background, trying to help others out or other people helping me out. It’s vitally important to be able to work as part of a team, you’re not just an individual in this business.”

After a decade of playing GAA at the highest level, Kernan, now aged 28, says sport is a useful networking tool. “Sport is great for networking and getting to meet people. It’s a great conversation starter with clients and colleagues.”

Mark Raphael

M

ark Raphael is a former hockey star who earned 81 senior caps for Ireland. He gained his first cap in 1998 against Wales and retired in 2006. Mark is widely known as one of the most skilful players Ireland has ever had and currently plays for Lisnagarvey Hockey Club.

Now aged 38, Mark is commercial operations manager at Mutual Energy where he manages the 140km natural gas pipeline that feeds Northern Ireland with natural gas across the Irish Sea from the UK energy grid.

Mark’s training as a chemical engineer, coupled with his skills as an ace hockey player has proved a successful in scoring commercial success.

“When I moved from team sports into business I found that all the skills I learned on the hockey pitch could be translated to the business environment, especially with the project work I do. With project work you must know when you have to step up to the plate, when it’s your turn, and also to know when to step back and let others take over. Sport teaches you the importance of not letting the team down which is so vital when it comes to project work.”

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Setting clear goals is another translatable skill from sport to business, says Raphael. “Goal setting would be a big thing in sport that translates very well into business. You must have individual goals and team goals both in sport and in business. And in sport, performances are measured all the time which would be similar to project management in that you’ve got goals – team goals and individual goals – and they’re measurable all along the project timeline.”

SPORT & BUSINESS

Remus Uomo teams up with Ulster Rugby

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emus Uomo has been announced as the official clothing partner for Ulster Rugby.

The partnership sees the Ulster Rugby squad, led by captain and Ireland International Rory Best, tailored on match days in Remus Uomo outfits designed for Ulster Rugby.

Key pieces from Ulster Rugby’s Remus Uomo collection include a pure wool Shetland tweed jacket, a white cotton shirt with a distinctive trim detail, a wool silk tie embroidered with the Ulster Rugby logo, a merino-wool sweater and a rinse wash denim jean.

Pictured launching the partnership is Ulster Rugby stars Robbie Diack, Jared Payne and Andrew Trimble.

028 9046 0044 NOVEMBER 2014

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SPORTS & BUSINESS

NI Company Global Experts in Performance Monitoring Units

By Marketing Consultant Geoff Wilson

help develop and position the company as the global leader in the market.

The Sports Scientist team at Statsports at a recent Marketing training day with Geoff Wilson

This is a local company with a massive future who are not only experts in their field, but who are also looking to make their mark by introducing more new innovative products over the coming year.

One such example is their ambitious move into the consumer market. In fact, in October last year the company presented to me their product roadmap which included the Viper 3 unit for the consumer market which is going to be the bridge between elite and consumer athletes, in short giving the consumer the ability to be monitored similarly to elite athletics.

W

hat has Man Utd, Man City, Barcelona, Athletic Bilbao, Arsenal, the Irish Rugby Team, the England International Team and Liverpool got in common?

The answer – they all use performance monitoring units supplied by a Northern Ireland company based in Newry called Statsports!

Formed in 2008 by Alan Clarke and Sean O’Connor, the company has rapidly grown its client base to become the leading provider of performance monitoring and analysis solutions in the sports industry across the world with their Viper product range which incorporates GPS, accelerometers, gyroscope, cardiovascular analysis.

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Despite having an impressive array of clients, the company is not resting on their laurels with the USA market firmly in their sights.

Indeed, they already have the New York Red Bulls, Chicago Bulls, Carolina Panthers to name but a few using their product ‘state-side’. But the USA market presents a huge opportunity in terms of engaging with other sports popular in the country such as baseball, basketball and American football.

I have been working with the team at Statsports over the last year, helping to create a marketing plan which targets potential clients through a range of traditional and digital platforms. In addition, work has been completed on creating new communication platforms as well as a content strategy to

The Viper 3 product will essentially give you and I access to the same technology and statistics as Messi, Van Persie, Suarez, Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers and Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls! Now that’s something to shout about from the stands!

Follow their progress on twitter @ statsports or visit www.statsports.ie and check out their impressive list of clients!

Geoff runs his own Sports Consultancy, working with clients such as FIFA across the world. He is also on the board of SportNI. You can follow Geoff on twitter @geoffwnjwilson or Linkedin at www.linkedin.com/in/geoffwnjwilson

Conferencing Flags, firebombs Event && flashbacks Management

Sponsored by

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Delegate destination?

Simon Rowe asks whether Belfast can compete for conferences on an increasingly busy global stage.

I

f conference marketing was an Olympic sport, Team Belfast would be on the home straight and coasting for a gold medal.

its new Business Ambassador initiative in the summer which aims to attract more international conferences, meetings and events to Northern Ireland.

Competition in the global conferencing and events sector is extremely intense. But Visit Belfast – the destination marketing company – has been quick out of the blocks and is already on track to deliver new conference business worth over £40m to the city following the launch of

The Visit Belfast team are no strangers to awards, however, having recently being crowned ‘Destination Marketing Team of the Year 2014’ – beating off stiff competition from the likes of London and Rotterdam at the prestigious 2014 Conference and Incentive Travel

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(C&IT) Magazine awards in London.

Moreover, last year Belfast was named ‘Best UK Conference and Incentive City Destination’ with the judging panel recognising that more than £1bn has been invested in the city over the last decade and is now one of the fastest growing meetings and conference destinations in the UK. Business tourism is an important aspect of the tourism economy in the city

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as conferences and meetings bring important mid-week, year-round trade for our industry and complement the buoyant leisure tourism market.

“Business conferences and events provide an opportunity to invite customers, investors, partners and suppliers to Northern Ireland, giving us a fantastic opportunity to showcase first-hand what we have to offer as a place to do business,” said Invest NI chief executive Alastair Hamilton.

NOVEMBER 2014

Business visitors are typically high spending visitors and the benefits of hosting conferences in the city extend right across the industry from airlines, hotels, venues, bars, restaurants, event suppliers and transport operators.

The strategic benefits for the city extend far beyond just visitor numbers and spend, however, as conferences attract global business and medical and academic leaders to our city, which support

the work of our universities, research institutions and businesses.

“Visit Belfast conference wins for the city are up over 130% in the past three years,” said Rachael McGuickin, director of business tourism at the marketing body.

“We are on track to deliver new conference business to the city worth £40m on economic impact – on a par with cities double our size. These wins are

>>

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for conferences taking place right up to 2020. And we are just getting started!”

The £29.5m expansion of the Belfast Waterfront is “a game-changer” for business tourism in the city, said McGuickin.

The Belfast Waterfront, which currently caters for 2,200 delegates in its main auditorium and has capacity for 350 more in its smaller studio space, will offer far greater capacity next spring when its expansion programme is due to be completed. Two new interconnecting conference halls are being built, one measuring 1,800sqm and the other 700sqm, with a capacity for an extra 2,800 people as well as 235 exhibition stands.

The Belfast Waterfront expansion is vital if Belfast wants to win more conferences and international convention business – and meet the growing demands of conference organisers and international delegates, said McGuickin.

Large-scale exhibition space is essential as it generates valuable income for

organisers, and studies have shown that international delegates prefer large, flexible breakout rooms and meeting spaces in order to mingle and network with colleagues outside the main auditorium.

“The Belfast Waterfront expansion will enable Belfast to attract more international, longer staying four to five day conference business to the city and ‘convention’ type events of 1,000 and 2,000 delegates – the benefits of which will not be felt just by the Waterfront but which support the business in our hotels, bars/restaurants, other social venues and transport,” said McGuickin.

“It enables us to compete in new international markets and provides the necessary infrastructure we need to realise our ambitions of being a Top 100 international conference destination in the world by 2020.”

Janice Crowe, communications manager for the Belfast Waterfront, says: “This development is going to raise our game in the international market. We’ve always competed with a lot of the GB-based venues for trade

shows and conferences that take place GB-wide. That has always been a market for us but this will enable us to compete on a European and international level.”

“We anticipate that by the time the new build is fully operational and has had a bedding-in period that it should be bringing in about £45m worth of extra revenue into the city,” said Crowe.

NI Hotels Federation chief executive Janice Gault said: “We see conferences and business meetings as an integral part of the tourism mix. The Monday to Thursday economy that they contribute to is a vital part of our members’ businesses as a business delegate spends roughly four times as much as a leisure visitor.”

Visit Belfast’s Rachael McGuickin is equally upbeat: “Last year was our most successful year for conference sales and with the exciting expansion now under way at the Belfast Waterfront, this is just the beginning of our ambitious plans to treble the number of conference visitors to the city by 2020.”

An oldie but a goodie

Factfile:

O

Some examples of major international events secured for the new Belfast Waterfront extension include...

ne of Northern Ireland’s artistic and cultural landmarks, The Ulster Hall offers an enviable setting and is sure to make your event a truly spectacular occasion.

Refurbished to the highest standards, adding modern features yet retaining all of its original character, the Ulster Hall offers a range of flexible meeting and exhibition spaces.

Whether for 10 or 1000 delegates, the multi-purpose facilities are equally suitable for conferences, exhibitions or gala dinners.

Alongside the Grand Hall the former Group Theatre has been carefully renovated to create a modern and spacious event space, the ideal setting for small scale entertainment, corporate hospitality, press conferences or meetings. Seating up to 100, it’s also the perfect location for an intimate wedding ceremony or reception or a private art exhibition.

A suite of new purpose built meeting rooms adds to the flexibility of this unique venue.

With all the benefits of a prime city centre location, the Ulster Hall can meet every requirement and the in-house technical and event management team, equipped with a wealth of technical knowledge and operational expertise, provide all the support you need to deliver a memorable and successful event.

To find out more call 028 9033 4400 or email conference@belfastcity.gov.uk

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World Council of Credit Unions – 2,000 delegates from over 100 countries are coming to Belfast in July 2016. This is a major win for the city as it was previously held in Barcelona, Hong Kong, Sydney and Vegas. It will have an estimated economic impact of £2.3m.

IMEKO World Congress 2018 – global conference of 1,000 scientists and engineers in the city for five days from 50 countries. Belfast fended off stiff competition for Glasgow, Brighton and Budapest to secure the event – which will generate £1.9m for the city.

City centre meetings with a difference CITY CENTRE MEETINGS WITH CHARACTER...

ROOM HIRE FROM

£25/PER HOUR

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rom sumptuous boardrooms to contemporary open-air decking areas, Scottish Provident Building – adjacent to City Hall – could be the perfect venue for your next meeting or event. The beautiful, historic building’s perfect location is only one of many factors that set it apart. With different styles and sizes of rooms to choose from and all kitted out with the necessary technology and equipment to make your meeting go seamlessly, Scottish Provident Building has something for everyone – and every budget.

If you’re looking for something different, somewhere special or inspiring for your next meeting, you couldn’t find a more prime location, with more character and ambiance than Scottish Provident Building – truly a first class environment and a five star experience.

7 Donegall Square West, Belfast Tel: 02890 918 200 scottishprovidentbuilding.co.uk

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NOVEMBER 2014

Monday, 20 October 2014 14:39

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Creating the perfect place for the world to meet

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ith eyes firmly on the prize of becoming one of the best business tourism destinations in the world, work is well underway on Belfast Waterfront’s 4,000m2 extension, the city’s pièce de résistance, to help create the perfect place for the world to meet.

The ambitious plan to more than double the venue’s usable space to 7,000m2 is about to become a reality.

From 2016 onwards clients will enjoy this world-class venue in all its glory. Having 4,900m2 of exhibition space, a 2,200seat auditorium, 380-seat studio and 20 meeting rooms for 10 to 200 delegates, will enable the venue to accommodate larger events with more complex requirements and in turn enhance the city’s ability to bid for many more major international events as well as maximise the economic potential of the city. It is anticipated that the new enhanced venue will deliver up to £45m annually in economic impact.

Stretching out almost to the edge of the River Lagan, the new extension will seamlessly integrate with the existing centre.

Designed with the customer in mind, the venue will offer stylish and flexible spaces fitted to a high specification to create the perfect place for the world to meet.

Of course the venue already plays host to some of the biggest names in show business, sport and politics, and most notably has been the venue for two US presidential visits. This year alone, Belfast Waterfront welcomed a star-studded line-up comprising of Britain’s Got Talent, Giro d’Italia Big Start (Grande Partenza), the biggest

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Game of Thrones exhibition yet, and the first International Business Women’s Conference to the island of Ireland.

Roseann Kelly, CEO of Women in Business Northern Ireland, commented: “This was a prestigious event so we needed a prestigious location that could host over 750 delegates, Belfast Waterfront delivered on this front. As it was an international conference we also needed access to hotel accommodation for our delegates, again the Waterfront is ideally located for this and for easy access to the city centre. The venue delivered all the conferencing room requirements and the management team and staff were excellent, I would highly recommend the Waterfront as a conference location.”

location, it comes as no surprise, that the extension’s highly-anticipated opening in 2016 has already attracted world-wide attention, with international and national events scheduled for 2016 and beyond.

Among these are IMEKO (International Measurement Confederation) World Congress and World Council of Credit Unions Annual Global Conference.

Throughout the construction period, Belfast Waterfront will remain open for business and will continue to deliver an exciting events programme. To book an event or to find out more about the extension call +44 (0)28 9033 4400 or email conference@waterfront.co.uk.

To get a taste of what’s to come, check out

Recognised for its outstanding customer service, flexibility and prime city centre

the 3D flythrough of the new extension – www.waterfront.co.uk

Whether it’s a gala dinner against a backdrop of grand Victorian architecture in the Ulster Hall, or a conference in Belfast Waterfront boasting the best views of the city, we guarantee our customers top notch service and unforgettable memories.

And with Belfast Waterfront’s exciting new 4,000m2 extension opening in 2016, we will continue to deliver the best conference experience for our clients.

So no matter which of our venues you choose – let our experience work for you.

To find out more contact our sales team today: T: 028 9033 4400 E: conference@waterfront.co.uk www.waterfront.co.uk www.ulsterhall.co.uk

www.waterfront.co.uk

www.ulsterhall.co.uk

Our top ten tips for managing a successful event

By Samantha Livingstone, Rumour Mill PR

4. Set objectives and measure your success: Know in advance how you’ll measure the success of the event in both financial and marketing terms. What are the key objectives of the event? Select the indicators that matter most to your organisation, whether this is membership enquiries or increasing social media engagement.

5. Use trusted suppliers: We recommend building a database of trusted suppliers whom you can rely on to deliver excellent service, whether it’s providing a top notch venue, ensuring audio and visual equipment works perfectly or preparing a great lunch time spread.

Everyone looks forward to the refreshments at an event, so getting this right is paramount. Build a good relationship with your suppliers and ensure that you communicate clearly on exactly what’s required.

6. Go through the detail with a fine toothcomb: No stone should be left unturned when it comes to planning an event. Make sure that every eventuality is catered for. Inevitably, last minute issues will crop up – agree who will deal with these and put contingency plans in place. Try a mental or even a physical walk through of the event to help spot potential issues and find solutions ahead of time.

Managing a successful event means ensuring the event programme is completely on target for your audience. The schedule should run like clockwork and the whole experience should leave attendees eager to learn more and impressed by your level of professionalism.

However, behind the scenes at every event there are always unforeseen challenges to keep even the calmest event manager busy! We have condensed our top tips from years of running national and regional events, and created a quick guide to event management. We hope you find it useful.

1. Know your audience: Understanding what makes your audience tick is vital to delivering a well-received event. Through regular dialogue and market research, you’ll soon get to grips with the kinds of issues and advice that are most likely to interest your audience, and most importantly, the kind of content that will prompt them to leave their busy working day to attend an event.

7. Use confident, respected speakers: The presenters you invite can make or break a day, so make sure they are confident speakers and give them a clear brief as to the kind of content you need.

Speakers who will educate and inspire the audience stand the best chance of boosting attendance levels.

8. Ensure content is on message: All content should be streamlined to fit with your overall communications plan. Develop all event materials to reflect your organisation’s key messages. Bias or not – we do recommend using professional PR and marketing services.

9. Drive engagement: Drive engagement and audience participation at the event by encouraging attendees to ask questions and to tweet about the day. Create a Twitter hashtag for the event and ask attendees to use it within all tweets.

10. Seek feedback: It’s important to seek feedback from your attendees and gauge their perceptions of the event. Make sure that any questionnaires are quick and easy to complete. Good Luck!

At Rumour Mill PR, we take our bubbly enthusiasm and translate it

2. Define the benefits of attending: Your audience should be left in no doubt as to why you’re running the event, what key challenges it will address and how they will benefit from attending.

Ensure that this is clear right from the first invitation, making sure to spend time researching similar events and identifying what makes your event unique.

3. Set a budget: Keeping to the budget is all important when it comes to managing a successful event. Agree in advance how much budget will be invested and how return-on-investment will be measured. Ensure that any attendance fees effectively cover costs, while any contracted services fit neatly within the budget available.

into client work that’s fun, approachable, and full of personality. We’re known for big ideas, smart, resourceful campaigns; seamless events and for delivering game-changing results. Get in touch today, if you want us to add a new dimension to your brand communications or upcoming event – call 028 9068 2185 or email: hello@rumourmillpr.com

Innovative • Creative • Professional

Innovative • Creative • Professional Conference & Live Events

CONFERENCING & EVENT MANAGEMENT

Inspirational business at “Killy-heaven”

I

n the business world you need a business hotel that inspires. Whether your event is large or small, business or pleasure, the dedicated conference and banqueting team at the heavenly 4* Killyhevlin Hotel will ensure it is an inspirational one. Located only 1km from Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh, the Killyhevlin Hotel & Spa has gained a reputation for being one of Northern Ireland’s most professional, versatile and flexible four-star hotels.

The Killyhevlin offers the choice of six conference suites accommodating up to 500 delegates in a variety of styles. All conferencing suites and meeting rooms have natural daylight, with many of them boasting panoramic views of scenic Lough Erne. The hotel also offers both residential and non-residential packages with the possibility of private dining from personally selected menus and wines.

Residential delegates can enjoy complimentary use of the hotel’s exclusive health club, complete with swimming pool and outdoor hot tub, or can go that one step further and enjoy a luxurious pampering session in the all-new Elemis Spa complete with relaxation room.

As a venue for conferences, exclusive summits, management training, team-builds and hospitality, the Killyhevlin Hotel ultimately offers the

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perfect escape, with space to think and peace to focus. The team at the hotel come with a wealth of experience and will be only too delighted to assist organisers in the planning and co-ordination of their event.

For all bookings and enquiries, call the Killyhevlin Hotel today on +44 (0)28 6632 3481 quoting “Ulster Business” or visit www.killyhevlin.com

ON-SITE SHREDDING IS FOR YOUR EYES ONLY.

OUT OF SITE SHREDDING IS FOR THEIR EYES TOO!

SMALL BUSINESS OF THE MONTH

From corporate law to coffee

By Amanda Ferguson

I

t has been quite a journey for south Belfast entrepreneur Orla Smyth.

She has just ditched a successful law career of 10 years to open Nordic inspired coffee shop Kaffe O on the Ormeau Road.

Orla Smyth with graphic designer Paul McNally

The self-confessed perfectionist is a former pupil of Our Lady and St Patrick’s College Knock. She studied law at Queen’s University Belfast, later completing a postgraduate in criminal justice before going to the Institute of Professional Legal Studies.

And following a kidney transplant the sports mad 35-year-old also holds current World Transplant Games records in 400m, 800m and 1500m.

Orla said: “I was mad about sport and thought I would go into PR, marketing, events, but I fell into law.

“I studied in Florida for a year and when I came back for my final year at Queen’s in 2001 I discovered I was in renal failure.

“I went to law because it was the safe option. I was lucky enough to do well in the entrance exam, got funding for it and thought I may as well do this.”

Orla qualified with John McKee and Son Solicitors in Belfast and from there moved in-house, working for Lagan Technologies for a year, before working for Northern Bank, now Danske, for five years.

“That was how I ended up in Copenhagen and fell in love with Ricco Sorensen’s coffee,” she said.

“I wanted to make sure I was a year transplanted so it would have been

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2008 I went over, nearly a year and three months after I was transplanted.

“I was working there for six months as a markets lawyer so I was negotiating contracts for hedging contracts for banks and other institutions around the world.

“I fell in love with Scandinavia, their attitude to food, their lifestyle, their coffee, the people. When I came back I was more unsettled. It took me another five years to change things but the seed was sown in Copenhagen.”

After Danske Orla lectured at the University of Ulster before working in risk management for Allen & Overy. In April she quit law and self-funded Kaffe O to open up in June.

“I wanted to open on the Ormeau Road because I am from here and I love the area and mix of people. It is an up and coming part of the city.”

Orla thrived at the planning side of the business, developing the brand, working with designers, architects and builders, but operationally the first days of trading were “horrendous”.

“Operationally it was a complete culture shock,” she said. “Going from being a lawyer in a corporate environment to running a small business has been a massive learning curve.”

Kaffe O’s quality coffee is hand roasted in Copenhagen by Ricco Sorensen and their “real food” menu offers tasty, healthy food, largely sourced from local suppliers.

Flat white is the most popular order at the coffee shop which attracts a varied crowd.

“It is very short,” Orla said. “It’s really double espresso with the same amount of milk. We get a lot of sporty people in, lots of runners, Gaelic footballers, triathletes, rugby players. We get lots of women in the shop and lots of hipsters!”

PROFILE

Name: Gerard McCann Position: Director, Asset Services CBRE.

A word from

The Wise How did you start out in business?

I started out as part of my degree with a work placement at Ortus, The Business Development Agency – the Belfast-based commercial social enterprise. This was initially a year’s appointment but I was offered a permanent position where I was able to get a thorough grounding in the fundamentals of commercial property. Following a five year stint at PricewaterhouseCoopers working on Real Estate Outsourcing contracts, I moved into a role at Whelan Property Consultants, one of Northern Ireland’s longest established property consultancy practices, where I specialised in Property and Facilities Management. Following the transfer of the majority of Whelan’s business to CBRE in 2010, I took on my current role overseeing the provision of Property and Facilities Management services for clients and institutions across Ireland.

What did you find the most challenging during your years in business?

In 20 years in the commercial property sector, I’ve seen the many ups and downs which are a feature of every property cycle. I have to say, however, that the impact of the recession and the challenges facing us as a result of the economic crisis since 2007/8 have been the worst I’ve experienced. Working in the sector we were really in the eye of the storm and to come through relatively unscathed has been challenging. Thankfully we now seem to be returning to a period of stability and improved economic sentiment.

How would you describe your management style?

I think the key is to focus on the person, identifying their strengths and ensuring that they feel empowered to do more.

NOVEMBER 2014

The column with an ear for experience...

Management, like any skill in business, is something that you need to work on and although I am a chartered surveyor, I’ve completed an MBA, as well as Diplomas in Management, to ensure that I am able to motivate the people I work with and get the most out of them. At CBRE, we work collaboratively and it is very important to me that my team feel that they can come to me with any issues and get the support they need to do their best work.

What would you change if you could go back and do it all again?

There really isn’t much I would change about my career path to date, I’ve been very fortunate to work with fantastic colleagues and in teams and can honestly say I don’t have any regrets about the choices I have made or the jobs I’ve taken.

That said I love cooking and would probably have been a chef in a different life!

Have you done it all on your own?

My mum and dad have had a major influence on my life and gave me a lot of support as I started out in the world of work. Their advice and encouragement were invaluable in shaping me into the person I am today and coupled with the backing and support of my wife I’ve been lucky enough to be able to pursue opportunities to develop my skills and move up the career ladder.

How would you like your business career to be remembered?

I really hope that people remember me as someone who always did what I said I would and above all acted with integrity.

In business and in life, you are nothing if you don’t stick to your word.

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REVIEW

Business

Breakfast

with Chris Harrison Chris Harrison picks up the CIPR UK Excellence award from Colin Jackson.

The column which doesn’t have time for lunch.

T

he fact I turned up ten minutes early for our breakfast to find Chris Harrison already there and waiting shouldn’t really have been a surprise.

That’s because he’s not one to waste a journalist’s time, choosing instead to be timely, to the point and efficient when dealing with the hack world, even on the sodden morning when we met.

The director of Belfast-based PR company JPR was already armed with the newspapers and tapping an iPad when Ulster Business arrived, again I’d have expected nothing less.

In keeping with the theme we ordered swiftly, the PR guru bacon, scrambled eggs, toast and a latte, Ulster Business a humungous bowl of porridge complete with banana and strawberries, with tea to wash it all down.

A season ticket holder at the Kingspan, or Ravenhill for us oldies, Chris was hurting from Ulster’s loss to Toulon the previous Saturday, but nothing a good breakfast couldn’t sort out.

For me the porridge hit the spot, holding a bit of a bite rather than suffering from a long stew, as well as a bit of interest with the incorporated fruit. I was so consumed with my own breakfast that I forgot to ask Chris how his food was but from memory there was a clean plate and a happy director.

But we weren’t just here for the food, we also want to find out a bit more

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about the man who’s more used to facilitating interviews for his clients rather than being the subject of one.

to this particular scribe of last year’s show when I found myself walking alongside both said economist and Henry Hippo.

How, in the name of all things public relations, has Chris ended up where he is?

Ever the professional, Chris also drops in effusive praise for his clients and only reluctantly returns to the subject of himself when pushed.

A degree in history at the University of Ulster was accompanied by a growing interest in journalism but thankfully common sense and the good advice of a kindly brother-in-law prevailed and the world of PR became the goal.

A masters degree in communications, marketing and public relations followed, again at UUJ where Chris came upon a notice board where JPR were offering work experience.

Little did he know then that more than 12 years later he’d be a director at the company, although by pocketing the note advertising the position to prevent a deluge of competition, Chris was certainly upping the chances of that happening.

He’s proud of how JPR have picked up the baton of digital media and run with it, hiring a digital specialist to make sure they are able to provide not just press releases to journalists, but also video and audio clips.

And there’s no doubt he loves his job, and an early start, having already sent out a press release at 6.37am before coming for breakfast.

After another round of coffee we wrap up the interview and head out into the monsoon.

For once, it’s been a pleasure to interview the man behind the interview.

David Elliott

Having impressed at JPR he was offered a permanent post after finishing his masters and since then he’s hasn’t looked back.

Looking after some of the biggest names in Northern Ireland, Chris said he loves the variety of the job, one in which no two days are ever the same.

“You can find yourself working with an eminent economist one minute and then organising a photo shoot at Balmoral Show the next,” he said, bringing back memories

Flags, firebombs & flashbacks

Executive Motoring

By Pat Burns

Sponsored by

EXECUTIVE MOTORING

Business Contract Hire – back to basics In recent months I have had a lot of new enquires from new businesses asking ‘what is contract hire’? I deal with contract all day, every day and it is second nature to me. I am fascinated by the return to growth in Northern Ireland and the emergence of many new small businesses that are starting to prosper. It has got me thinking again, business contact hire really is for every business, not just our large local companies. So for those businesses who are new to contract hire, here’s a brief summary of the basics to help you:

Honda gives Civic a big boot

• You should consider contract hire for a business rather than buying a van or car as we all know the value of a car or van always goes down i.e. it is a depreciating asset if you buy it.

• Business Contract Hire allows you get a car or van for your business without having to pay a large amount of money or deposit.

The money you have should be used in other ways to grow your business.

• If you are VAT registered you can re-claim 50% of the VAT on the hire cost, if you take a maintenance package you can re-claim 100% of the VAT. • The major USP is that if the car has a CO2 of 130g/km or below, you can offset 100% of the hire costs against your taxable profits! If the car has a CO2 of 131g/km or above, the percentage drops to 85%.

For vans, it is once again 100%.

• Contract Hire – 95% of our transactions are for brand new cars and vans.

• Funders – due to our strong credit rating, we have access to a large suite of funders so we use local banks to secure the funding to facilitate the transaction.

• You have no residual risk – at the end of the term the car comes back to Fleet Financial.

• Your monthly rental is calculated based on the term (typically three years) and annual mileage that you need. If you find that you need to do more mileage during the term due to an upturn in business, we can restructure the agreement to the new higher mileage.

• Company car tax – taking a vehicle with a low CO2 is advantageous from a company car tax perspective, we can advise on how much company car tax is due per car.

• Fleet Financial’s full maintenance package includes hire, service, maintenance, tyres, road tax, breakdown assistance and accident management cover. All you need to do is fuel, insure and drive.

Who can contract hire? If you are a sole trader, Limited company, Partnership, LLP or part of a major Group, you can avail of the benefits of business contract hire. 2015 is rapidly approaching, is it time for new processes in your organisation such as contract hire?

If you need further advice or a quote please feel free to contact Paul Griffiths at Fleet Financial on 028 9084 9777.

T: 028 9084 9777 E: info@fleetfinancial.co.uk W: fleetfinancial.co.uk

A

lready a strong seller thanks to its build quality, reliability and economy, Honda has launched an estate version of its Swindon-built Civic. With a strong combination of emissions, refinement and power, along with its versatility and practicality, the Civic Tourer looks set to be a strong contender in the corporate car market.

The super-frugal 1.6 i-DTEC engine provides a useful 120PS of power and 300Nm of torque, yet still delivers 74.3mpg on the combined cycle, a range of 817 miles on one tank of fuel and CO2 emissions of just 99g/km. As a result the new model offers corporate customers low running costs, vehicle excise duty, BIK and competitive monthly rental; while contributing strongly to efforts to reduce overall fleet emissions.

The recently introduced Civic 1.6 i-DTEC hatchback is already a firm fleet favourite and the Civic Tourer benefits from the same unique centre fuel tank layout used in the Civic hatchback. The fuel tank is located under the front seats allowing the Civic Tourer to offer unparalleled interior space and Honda’s Magic Seat configuration.

The Magic Seats deliver further practicality and space within the Tourer, enabling a range of seating configurations for maximum versatility. The rear seat assembly folds down in one easy movement, and the interior trunk floor has been raised to create a completely flat area when the seats are folded down. The rear seat cushions can also be flipped up to reveal ample floor space for carrying tall objects. A 60:40 split in the seat base offers even more options for carrying both people and cargo, and provides an alternative load area if access via the tailgate is limited.

Prices for the Civic Tourer start at £20,270.

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Let’s put a better deal together.

Contract Hire | Fleet Management | Personal Contract Hire | Sale and Leaseback | Accident Management

Whatever the size of your business Fleet Financial have the right package for you, at the right price.

For a better deal contact us today.

T: 02890 849777 W: fleetfinancial.co.uk

EXECUTIVE MOTORING

A trip down electric avenue

By David Elliott

“Y

ou want me to drive an electric car for a week? Not a hybrid, but, like, a fully electric car? In Northern Ireland?”

That was my first reaction to being offered the keys to a Nissan Leaf for a week by the good people of Charles Hurst.

It’s fair to say I was slightly dubious about the practicalities of spending a week living with the Leaf, especially since my last experience of electric vehicles was a Scalextric set in the mid 80s.

Since graduating to full scale cars I’ve been raised on diesel and currently run a less-thansexy-yet-pokey 2.0 litre Volkswagen Passat.

Measured against the Leaf it appears like a raging diesel-aholic, supping from a metaphorical bottle of heavy fuel oil covered in a brown paper bag.

That’s because it costs me £11.57 in diesel to cover 90 miles while the Leaf will take me there in under £3.

Fairly compelling stuff and reason enough to find out what this Faraday-inspired car can do.

To start with the reason why I chose to express the Leaf’s frugality over 90 miles rather than a round 100 and the answer to the most asked question an electric car driver faces: how many miles do you get out of a full charge?

Against a combustion engine 90 miles isn’t much but it struck me as fairly impressive for an electric car.

Off course, that’s the manufacturer’s claim and in my experience could only be achieved if the driver has a very light right foot.

Keeping the Leaf in ECO mode. I struggled to get anywhere near the magical century.

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Charging the Leaf in Little Donegal Street carpark.

Still, for an average day’s commute it was more than enough.

When it comes to charging, I live on a terrace street so wasn’t able to easily plug the Leaf in overnight, choosing instead to play a game of “find the on-street charger” on a daily basis.

Initially I went for one on Adelaide Street in Belfast city centre where I thought the lunching workers could do with a laugh.

Plugging the Leaf into the charger isn’t complicated, involving pulling out the lead from the boot, waving a card in front of the charging point and walking away with confidence, but my initial clumsy fumbling managed to draw a crowd at one point, mostly of people wanting to know how many miles a full charge would get me.

That in itself shows the growing interest in electric cars and when I was also able to tell them how long it took to charge from flat to full – eight hours at home, four hours at one of the regular on-street charge points and only one hour for turbo chargers like the one at Ikea I managed to find at the end of my week – their interest was certainly piqued.

Handling wise the Leaf has a conservative amount of power in ECO mode and a quite frankly surprising amount of power when ECO mode is turned off.

On the financials, the entry-level Leaf comes in at an on-the-road price of around £22,000 after the government’s £5,000 incentive has been taken off.

A lot of money in some ways but when you look at the finance offers available for business users – around £200 a month – then the figures do start to add up, particularly when you consider charging at the on-street charge points is free.

If you do take the plunge, you can feel relatively happy that Northern Ireland has the mostly densely populated number of charge points in the whole of the UK. And if you’re unlucky enough to run out completely, Nissan promise to come and pick you up during your first year of ownership.

That’s commitment which even Apple can’t match.

EXECUTIVE MOTORING

New Audi TT goes hi-tech locations in the vicinity and the latest news, flight and train information to streamline every journey. It also adds Audi music stream and access to social media services such as Facebook and Twitter.

Another highlight exterior option is matrix LED headlights, each of which features 12 separate LED bulbs which dim individually when sensors detect oncoming or following traffic to automatically divert light around obstacles without the need to deactivate the high beam setting.

T

he third generation of the Audi TT sports car has just gone on sale and features new styling, revised chassis and an all digital virtual dashboard.

It will even set the agenda in terms of efficiency – despite appropriate performance the new 184PS ultra version will be capable of in excess of 67mpg with CO2 emissions of just 110g/km.

Two specification levels – Sport and S line – will initially be offered here. Both include the Audi virtual cockpit, which is based around a 12.3-inch, high resolution LCD display that completely fills the driver’s instrument binnacle and replaces the traditional analogue dials. Its brilliantly sharp images are courtesy of a powerful Tegra 30 graphics processor from Nvidia’s Tegra 3 series.

Drivers can choose between two display modes: In the classic view, the speedometer and rev counter are in the foreground; in “infotainment” mode the virtual instruments are smaller. The space that becomes free as a result provides ample room for other functions, such as the navigation map. At the

NOVEMBER 2014

lower edge of the Audi virtual cockpit, the displays for outside temperature, time and mileage are permanently visible. Warning or information symbols are also displayed there.

S line specification is the most comprehensive and the most performance-oriented in the initial TT line-up. It adds larger 19-inch alloy wheels with a five-arm star design, all-weather LED headlights and LED tail lights flanked by dynamic rear indicators with a directional sweeping function and S line body styling. It also offers committed drivers the no cost option to swap to tauter S line sports suspension bringing a further 10mm reduction in ride height.

From the options list, even more of the remarkable Audi virtual cockpit’s potential can be unlocked by the Technology Package, which includes hard disk-based navigation mapping that can completely fill the 12.3-inch TFT monitor, and also beams the Internet to the car via Audi connect.

This brings features such as Google Maps, Google Street View, Audi traffic information online, price-graded refuelling

In the TT the 2.0TFSI unit is combined with either front-wheel-drive and a six-speed manual gearbox or quattro all-wheeldrive and a six-speed S tronic twin-clutch transmission. Developing peak torque of 370Nm from 1,600 to 4,300rpm, it powers the front-wheel-driven version from 0 to 62mph in 6.0 seconds, and on up to a top speed of 155mph. Combined economy is a creditable 47.9mpg, delivered with CO2 output of 137g/km.

In the version with six-speed S tronic transmission and quattro all-wheel drive, performance is even more brisk: the sprint from 0 to 62mph takes 5.3 seconds; top speed is 155mph; in this version combined economy tops out at 44.1mpg with CO2 emissions of 149 g per km.

The second engine option – the 2.0 TDI – powers the front-wheel-driven and sixspeed manual-equipped ultra model. This diesel TT can accelerate from 0 to 62mph in 7.1 seconds and reach a top speed of 150mph. Equally importantly it can also return up to 67.3mpg according to the combined cycle test, which translates into CO2 emissions of 110 g/km, a new record low level in the sports car world.

Prices for the new TT start at £29,770 OTR.

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EXECUTIVE MOTORING

Superior Versatility from Golf SV System, a camera-operated Lane Assist system and a Dynamic Light Assist system.

A first for the Golf SV is a blind spot monitor, dubbed Side Scan, with an assistant for exiting parking spaces.

This monitors the area behind and to the sides of the vehicle, ensuring easier and safer egress when reversing from a parking bay. It will be packaged as an option together with Lane Assist.

P

reviously known as the Golf Plus, the new SV packs in all the advanced technology of the award-winning Golf hatchback range, but in a larger, even more practical body. The Golf SV is the third variant of the seventh-generation Golf, alongside the hatchback and the Estate. The new SV is 134mm longer than the Golf Plus that it replaces. Its wheelbase is longer than that of the Golf, helping to generate more interior space, while the SV is also wider and higher.

That greater interior space provides for greater flexibility. The rear seats (a 40:20:40 split bench) can slide forwards and backwards by up to 180mm, to increase either passenger or luggage space as required.

Compared with the boot of its predecessor, capacity is increased by 76 litres to 500 litres with the back seats at their rearmost position (versus the Golf’s 380 litres

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and the Estate’s 605 litres). Moving the rear seats forwards increases the luggage capacity to 590 litres, while folding the rear seats frees up to 1,520 litres of room.

Like the Golf, the Golf SV comes with a raft of standard and optional passive and active safety systems. These include a standard automatic post-collision braking system which automatically brakes the vehicle after a collision to reduce kinetic energy significantly and thus minimise the chance of a second impact, and a PreCrash system which, on detecting the possibility of an accident, pre-tensions seatbelts and closes the windows and sunroof, leaving just a small gap, to ensure the best possible protection from the airbags.

Other electronic aids include Adaptive Cruise Control, Front Assist and City Emergency Braking, all of which are standard from SE specification and above, and which can reduce or eliminate the chance of accidents occurring. Also available are a Driver Alert

Powering the SV is a range of petrol and diesel engines, all of which incorporate Stop/Start and battery regeneration systems. There are two turbocharged 1.2-litre petrol engines with 85 and 110PS; two 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol engines with 125 and 150PS; and three turbodiesels: a 2.0-litre 150PS, a 1.6-litre 90PS and a 1.6-litre 110PS. When fitted in the Golf SV BlueMotion, this last engine is expected to return fuel economy of 76.3 mpg and emit 95 g/km of CO2. All engines apart from the 1.2-litre TSI 85PS can be ordered with a DSG gearbox.

Trim levels for the Golf SV mirror those of the hatchback, progressing from S through SE to GT. A BlueMotion model based on the S specification is also available.

All models include Bluetooth; DAB digital radio, SD card reader and CD player with 5.8-inch colour touchscreen; iPod connector; a front centre armrest; dual rear ISOFIX fittings; seven airbags including one for the driver’s knees; XDS electronic differential; an automatic post-collision braking system; and air conditioning. Roof rails are also standard: black-coloured on the S and SE, and silver on the GT. Prices start at £18,875.

SUBSCRIPTION OFFER Dine FREE at Malmaison with Ulster Business

Malmaison Brasserie on Victoria Street provides a perfect setting for business lunch or dinner. The surroundings are unique and stylish and can offer allocated booths to you and your clients for seclusion to conduct your meeting. Coupled with iconic dishes prepared with a modern twist and served with passion and personality as well as a mouth watering wine list, you will certainly impress your guests.

Malmaison use local ingredients carefully selected and prepared by Head Chef Stephen Jeffers. This infusion of

bistro classics with locally inspired cooking, creates a very memorable dining experience.

As a business destination, Malmaison Belfast also offers two stylish meeting rooms with wow-factor as standard. Your meeting or private event should be pure theatre with absolutely no dramas. Our team are dedicated to providing amazing hospitality and putting the show back into your business. For more information or to make an enquiry, please call Julie Lynch on 028 9022 0204 or email: jlynch@malmaison.com.

$ Title:

Subscribe online at www.ulsterbusiness.com quoting ‘Malmaison Offer’ or complete and return this form and a cheque for £27.50 (made payable to Greer Publications) to: Malmaison Offer, Greer Publications, 5b Edgewater Business Park, Belfast Harbour Estate, Belfast BT3 9JQ.

Surname:

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

First Name:

1. A lunch voucher will be posted to subscribers on receipt of full subscription fee.

Position:

2. The voucher will entitle two guests to a three-course set lunch

Delivery Address:

3. The offer excludes all drinks and beverages.

Monday to Friday.

4. Advance booking is required.

5. Bookings cannot be made during the month of December.

6. This offer is only applicable to new Ulster Business subscribers.

Postcode: Contact Number: Email:

Signature: Date:

APPOINTMENTS

Joy Allen has been appointed Course Leader by the Institute of Directors and will deliver its ‘Role of the Director and the Board’ course from its headquarters in London and overseas offices.

The Simon Community has appointed JoAnne Watson as their Director of Income Generation and Marketing. She brings over twenty years’ experience in the voluntary sector to this new role.

Mervyn Perry has been appointed as Business Development Manager for the Cleaning Division at The Mount Charles Group.

Belfast-based packaging machinery manufacturer, Sepha Ltd. has appointed Stephen Smyth as Operations Manager.

Stephen will be responsible for managing production and operations.

Karen McMenamy joins Smarts Communicate as an Account Manager, working across a range of global FMCG clients.

Darryl Campbell has joined NakedPR as their Junior Account Executive. He has recently been professionally accredited as an Associate Member of CIPR and has previously worked as an Assistant Brand Manager.

Moy Park has appointed Brian Acheson to the role of Director of Information Systems and Business Solutions to lead Moy Park’s multi-site based team of IS professionals.

Natasha Jordan has joined Belfast law firm Cleaver Fulton Rankins as a trainee solicitor in the Company/Commercial department.

Jade Gabriel has joined Belfast law firm Cleaver Fulton Rankin as a trainee solicitor in the Property department.

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APPOINTMENTS

Rachel Lewis has joined Belfast law firm Cleaver Fulton Rankin as a trainee solicitor in the Litigation department.

Nathan Campbell has joined Belfast law firm Cleaver Fulton Ranking as a trainess solicitor in the Private Client/ Consultancy Department.

John McCorry has been appointed as a Network Engineer for firmus energy. He has more than five years’ experience working in the natural gas industry in Northern Ireland.

Laura Hughes has been appointed as Revenue Protection Lead for firmus energy. She is a recent graduate having completed a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Mathematics and Physics from QUB. Brian Beattie has been appointed All Ireland Marketing Director for Northern Ireland drinks company Tennent’s NI, part of the C&C Group.

Jeff Tosh has been appointed Head of NI On-Trade for Northern Ireland drinks company Tennent’s NI, part of the C&C Group.

Sarah Shimmons is now in the role of Beer Marketing Manager for Northern Ireland drinks company Tennent’s NI, part of the C&C Group.

Phil Ervine has been appointed Beer Brand Manager for Northern Ireland drinks company Tennent’s NI, part of the C&C Group.

Gemma de Meulemeester has been appointed Marketing Support for Northern Ireland drinks company Tennent’s NI.

NOVEMBER 2014

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PHOTOCALL 1. Danske Bank recently hosted a corporate banking business breakfast at the newly refurbished Ramada Plaza hotel in Belfast. Pictured at the event is Danske Deputy CEO Kevin Kingston, former Ireland international rugby stars Stephen Ferris and Paddy Wallace and Danske CEO Gerry Mallon.

2. The Mayor of Ballymena, Councillor Audrey Wales MBE, recently opened the new offices of Diamond Recruitment Group in the town. Pictured from left are Alan Stewart, Audrey Wales and Eunice Campbell.

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3. Northern Woman recently hosted an intimate Sunday afternoon style event in association with Porcellana Tile Studio and Rebecca Jane Boutique. Pictured on the left is Eileen Wilson, Manager of Northern Woman magazine, handing over a cheque of £900 raised at the event to Action Cancer’s Stacey Graham.

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4. IT was lights, camera, action for Andrea Hunter, Business Development Manager at Aer Lingus and Joan Burney Keating, Chief Executive of Cinemagic at George Best Belfast City Airport as they announced the airline’s sponsorship of the premiere screenings for Cinemagic’s new Northern Ireland feature film, A Christmas Star.

Also pictured is Erin GalwayKendrick from Newtownards.

5. Ardmore Advertising picked up seven awards at the annual Publicity Association of Northern Ireland awards.

Pictured left to right with the awards are Paul Bowen, Mark Irwin, Larry McGarry, Richard Finlay and Miriam Pearce.

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PHOTOCALL

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6. The winners of the Ulster Bank Business Achievers Awards are, from left, Brian Moreland, Moy Park; David Caulfield, BA Kitchen Components; Garth Cairns, Slurrykat, Andy Mills, Ulster Bank; Doug Cookson, Almac; (front) Dawn Cann, Avondale Foods; Ellvena Graham, Ulster Bank; Marie Marin, Employers for Childcare; Sean McNicholl, Cornerstone Automation Systems and Lucie Follett, Arklu.

7. Action Cancer is on target to reach almost half a million schoolchildren with its Health Action programme, sponsored by independent retail group Centra. Pictured are Emily (7) and Jessie McDowell (4) and programme puppets Mambo and Jazz.

8. BT has announced that 128 students from 24 schools in Northern Ireland have entered 59 projects into the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition 2015.

Pictured are Colm O’Neill with John O’Dowd, Molly Graham and Rebecca Patterson.

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9. Rory McNaughton (centre), Danny McLean (left) and Paul Kane of Belfast-based installation and maintenance company Contract Services have announced the creation of up to 50 new jobs in Northern Ireland.

10. Figures from digital media giants are among those coming to Titanic Belfast to Digital DNA. Pictured are Frank McManus, BT’s Head of Wholesale Sales in Northern Ireland; Gareth Quinn, founder of Digital DNA; and Rich Dale, CEO of innovative local company Flowlens.

NOVEMBER 2014

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PHOTOCALL 11. Students from Lurgan College have helped to launch Almac’s schools outreach programme, Pathway. From left, Permanent Secretary of the Department for Employment and Learning, Derek Baker, Jamie Davison and Samantha Bann from Lurgan College and Stephen Barr, Managing Director of Almac’s Sciences business unit.

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12. Amer Al Barrish (far left) and Oruba Al Musa, both from Jordan, were welcomed to Belfast by Department of Education’s Deputy Secretary, Katrina Godfrey, and Catherine Bell, the Deputy Secretary at the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) (far right).

13. Belfast-based Betterhomes has been awarded the ‘Best in Ireland’ trophy in the highly coveted, national Network Veka awards, for the third year running. Pictured with the award are David Boyd and Gary Sinerton.

14. Martin Walsh, Centre Manager at Rushmere Shopping Centre, joins Emma McClean, Assistant Manager at Pandora, to welcome the arrival of the UK jewellery brand to the Craigavonbased retail complex.

15. Former Olympic hurdler and Welsh rugby union winger Nigel Walker addressed business leaders at the IoD Northern Ireland Annual Lunch. The keynote speaker was joined by IoD NI Chairman Paul Terrington and Sales and Marketing Director of the event’s sponsor, Rainbow Communications, Stuart Carson.

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PHOTOCALL

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16. A ground-breaking £1,880,479 programme initiated

by Lloyds Bank Foundation for Northern Ireland has helped improve the lives of hundreds of people in Northern Ireland.

Pictured at the event are (from left) David Calvert (Kids in Control), Rachel Barrett (Caring Breaks), Lloyds Bank Foundation for NI Trustee Robert Agnew, Delores Finnerty (Caring Breaks) and Grainne Woods (Kids in Control).

17. Tracy Meharg (Department for Social Development) is joined by event speakers Kelly Davies (MD of Vi-Ability and Former Professional Footballer), Euan Isles (Deloitte) and Helen Humphrey (Former VP of McDonald’s) at the latest Social Enterprise Masterclass.

18 18. Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster is pictured with Rodney and George White after announcing 20 new jobs at Fermanagh-based electrical contracting company, G R White & Son.

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19. Ian Haldane, Managing Director at Haldane Fisher, is photographed with Suzy McIlveen, Senior Partnership Manager at Marie Curie.

Together they celebrate a fantastic £20,000 raised in support of Ian’s Rome Marathon run in March 2014, for Marie Curie.

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20. Nick Oldfield (left), contracts manager for O’Hare & McGovern with some of the electrical students from Belfast Met who were given a tour of Windsor Park which is currently undergoing development by the Newrybased Construction Company.

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EVENTS

Canapés and cocktails The cream of the last month’s business events.

Oasis Travel

Musgrave bag awards

Julie-Anne Vaughan, a travel specialist based at Oasis Travel’s Lisburn branch is the first recipient of a new ‘NI Travel Consultant of the Year’ award, at this year’s Northern Ireland Travel and Tourism Awards organised by Northern Ireland Travel News. Pictured are (from left) Zara Shaw; the Awards evening’s host Gerry Kelly; Julie-Anne Vaughan and Ciaran Mulligan of category sponsor Blue Insurances.

Musgrave Retail Partners, which supports a number of SuperValu and Centra stores throughout Northern Ireland, is celebrating following a bag of recent awards. Darren Given, store manager of Swift’s SuperValu, Lisnaskea was named Independent Store Manager of the Year at the Retail Industry Awards 2014 in London. The UKwide awards has firmly established itself as the ‘Oscars’ of the grocery industry and Darren was recognised for his management style, developing a strong team with a hands-on and innovative approach to managing the store’s 80-strong staff. He’s pictured with comedian and host Andy Parsons, Phil Nicolle, Impulse Director of awards sponsor United Biscuits and David Shrimpton, Editor of Independent Retail News.

Business Excellence Wilson Construction, which is part of the Wilson Group with headquarters on the Antrim Road in Belfast, has won a Business Excellence award at the South Eastern Regional College (SERC) graduation event. The award is in recognition of the company’s commitment to supporting education and employability in the Student Mentoring category. Pictured left is Employment minister Stephen Farry with Gerard Graham from Wilson Construction.

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The SuperValu Newry team receive their NI Retail Supermarkets Sapphire Award at the recent Q Mark Awards ceremony in Dublin.

EVENTS

CIM “Christmas Comes Early”

Hunt Solicitors 10th Anniversary

Niall Campbell, Laura McManus, Una McGettrick and Victoria Nelson celebrate Hunt Solicitors’ 10th Anniversary at The Bay Tree, Holywood.

Members of the Ireland Board of CIM (L-R): Geoff Wilson, Andy Hill, Nicola Bothwell, Lydia McClelland (Vice Chair), Christine Watson (Chair) and Nicola McCleery at the CIM ‘Christmas Comes Early’ event.

PANI Awards

Advertising agency Lyle Bailie walked away with the PANI Grand Prix 2014 Award. Pictured with PANI Awards host Colin Murray are David Lyle; PANI Awards Committee Chair, Lynne Doherty and Julie-Anne Bailie.

Pictured are Tony Axon, Nuala Meenehan, Lynne Doherty and Basil Singleton.

NOVEMBER 2014

Kirsty Scott, Lorraine Tierney and Sharron Andrews of celebrate Hunt Solicitors’ 10th Anniversary at The Bay Tree, Holywood.

Patrick Hunt and Darren Rainey Of Hunt Solicitors celebrate Hunt Solicitors’ 10th Anniversary at The Bay Tree, Holywood.

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TECHNOLOGY

Looking smart Our tech guru Adam Maguire takes a rundown of the best smartphones on the market.

Reviews iPhone 6 Despite deriding them only a few years ago, Apple has finally followed the market and made a larger screen device – and done so convincingly.

Steve Jobs famously said that no-one would buy a large-screened phone as they were too big for the average hand. When Apple made the iPhone screen longer in 2012, it claimed to do it just enough so that it could still be comfortably held in one hand.

When it unveiled another size upgrade via the 4.7” iPhone 6 (and the 5.5” iPhone 6 Plus), such broad statements were avoided.

Perhaps this was the company learning from its mistakes, as the iPhone 6 disproves Jobs’ theory about large phones, proving extremely comfortable in the hand despite its added bulk.

This is in no small part due to its impossibly thin frame – but is also helped by some careful software design considerations that make navigation that much easier.

Screen aside, the iPhone 6 gets a healthy boost in power, while a new chip holds the promise of the device becoming a hub for your payments. The one missed opportunity is the battery – which is only as good as the iPhone 5S when it really should be better. That aside, the iPhone 6 is proof that Apple still sets the smartphone agenda, even when playing catch-up with its rivals.

The iPhone 6 is available from most major networks.

Asus / Google Nexus 7 Google uses the Nexus brand as its benchmark for what an Android phone or tablet should look like – and the Nexus 7 certainly puts it up to other manufacturers.

Sitting at the smaller end of the tablet table, the Nexus 7 is almost pocket-sized – but it packs a decent amount of punch under its hood. It has a 1080p HD screen, a quad-core 1.5GHz processor and plenty of battery power (wirelessly-rechargeable, by the way) to cater to even demanding users.

It does all of that despite its surprisingly thin and light body – while there is plenty of room for expanded functionality, like using it as a media streamer when hooked up to a HD TV. Best of all, it manages to do this for a much lower price than many mini-tablet alternatives and while it may not have the premium polish of those options, it easily matches them in every other way.

The Nexus 7 can be bought online from £199.

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TECHNOLOGY

Previews Sony Xperia Z3 Sony has been quietly building an impressive range of smartphones under its Xperia tag – the Z3 promises to be yet another step forward for the premium brand.

With a 5.2” display the Xperia Z3 is certainly on the larger end of the scale in terms of smartphones – though it ranks below the likes of the iPhone 6 Plus and the Samsung Galaxy Note 4.

However screen ‘real estate’ isn’t its key feature, the user-friendly features are. Sony has made this device water and dust proof, all without compromising on its premium design (or weight and size, for that matter).

It also promises up to two days of usage on a single charge, along with high-quality camera and audio technology.

All of this makes for a really promising iteration in the Android family – though Sony may still struggle to topple Samsung despite this.

Blackberry Passport Once the smartphone of choice for executives, Blackberry hopes its odd-looking ‘Passport’ will help it pull off a Lazarus-style revival in a world ruled by Google and Apple.

When the touchscreen took over the smartphone industry, Blackberry and its miniscule keyboard lost its way.

Following a few painful years, a slimmed-down firm is now pinning its hopes on an oddly-shaped flagship device.

The Passport, which slightly eschews the modern smartphone shape to offer something a little bit squarer, is that very device.

It has a 4.5” touch-based display, with a new take on Blackberry’s physical keyboard sitting below. The idea is that it offers users the best of both worlds, with decent screen real estate as well as the tactile benefits of a real keyboard.

Its odd shape will certainly help it to stand out – but they may need more than curiosity to convince users to return to the Blackberry fold.

NOVEMBER 2014

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BUSINESS TRAVELLER

Name: Jack Butler Position: Chief Operating Officer, Market Resource Partners a connection with those customers, team members, etc. which are native to the area.

Ship key reference materials to your hotel or local office in advance of a multi-day trip. You will appreciate having this information at your disposal and also not having to transport it from place to place.

Identify a consistent token of each trip to use when sharing the experience with your children and family. It helps to provide context for why Mommy/Daddy had to be away.

What’s your favourite App for passing the time?

Twitter and Spotify.

Have you ever unexpectedly run into someone you know from home in a far flung destination?

Yes – on a number of instances. I have chance encountered college friends in San Francisco, clients in Disney World and former work colleagues in Ireland. Each time is a great reminder that these types of unexpected events make business travel more interesting.

How often do you travel and why?

Two to three times per month, primarily to visit clients or our team in Belfast.

Other than your phone, what are the three things you couldn’t do without when travelling for work?

Laptop – to work wherever I find myself. iPad – loaded with Skype to connect with family. Running shoes – for early morning trip to fitness centre or for a jog through whatever city I am presently in. International converter – can never have enough of these.

Have you found a good way to work while you are on the move?

Saving reports or other written material to review that can easily be started, stored, and then started again when you have free pockets of time (at the airport, in transit, etc.) during a trip.

What would be your top tips for anyone embarking on a job that involves a lot of travel?

Get away from the hotel and set-up shop in a café or other local venue. It is a great way to connect with others and appreciate your temporary surroundings while you work.

Make the location home – read the local news, see a site of interest, for your personal benefit and also to be able to form 94

What do you enjoy most about working internationally?

Meeting new people, connecting with various business cultures and learning from the local team and witnessing how what was once a small business (MRP) now operates on a global scale. Most notably, appreciating the number of similarities found in the business environment no matter where in the world you may be.

What’s your favourite city/country in the world and where has disappointed you?

No disappointments come to mind and my favourite has to be Belfast where over 100 sales and marketing professionals work tirelessly each day to provide value for our clients and to help move our organisation forward.

What do you look for in a good hotel?

Reputation as a business hotel. This is of particular importance when traveling to more tourist oriented destinations.

Location – preferably within walking distance to the centre of town or, at minimum, enough conveniences to reduce my reliance on the hotel services. Comfort – need not be luxurious, though at least the basics should be done well.

TRAVEL

Airport director wins IoD award

Touchdown for Flybe at London City Airport

Pictured is Maxine Smith of award category sponsor Nyumbani Estate, with award winner Michelle Hatfield and ceremony host, Michael Portillo.

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irector of Corporate Responsibility for George Best Belfast City Airport, Michelle Hatfield, has been recognised by the Institute of Directors for her exceptional achievements, hard-work and dedication to the role in the UK final of the annual Director of the Year Awards.

Michelle Hatfield was awarded UK Director of the Year for Leadership in Corporate Responsibility after the panel of expert judges heard of her commitment in developing and implementing the airport’s community engagement programme, which includes the George Best Belfast City Airport’s Community Fund.

Belfast’s Lord Mayor Nichola Mallon and Regional Development Minister Danny Kennedy officially name Flybe’s “Spirit of Belfast” aircraft before its inaugural flight to London City Airport. Also in the picture is Andrea Hayes, Flybe’s UK General Manager and Paris Anatolitis, Flybe Director of Route Performance.

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lybe’s boss has hailed the launch of new routes from Belfast City Airport to London City Airport as part of the rebirth of the airline.

Saad Hammad said the start of the service to the East London hub, along with others from Inverness, Aberdeen, Exeter and Dublin, marks a “new dawn” for the airline after a prolonged period of restructuring.

Michelle Hatfield, who is a previous winner of the Northern Ireland Young Director of the Year title, said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to be named a UK Director of the year. The category was very strong so I can certainly say this is a career highlight!

“We’ve returned to growth having gone through some significant cutbacks,” he told Ulster Business. “We’re coming out the other side and we’re back to the kind of sustainable growth.”

“The importance of being a good neighbour and providing support for the local community is ingrained within our corporate mission at Belfast City Airport and we have worked really hard on our community engagement programme over the last number of years to promote a variety of issues

Mr Hammad has been chief executive of Flybe since 2013 and has managed to turn what was a loss-making company back into profit.

He has focused on costs, cutting routes which have failed to make money and focused the airline on city destinations, particularly London City Airport.

“Our Community Fund, which was established in 2009 as a means of supporting a variety of local causes which focus on the promotion of education, sport and environmental welfare, has now invested more than £170,000 into neighbouring groups and projects such as Cinemagic, the Stroke Association, the Short Strand and Knocknagoney Community Centres and MT4Uth.

“This is actually London,” he said at the launch of the new route at London City Airport. “It’s not Essex or Sussex or Bedfordshire or even Hounslow, it’s real London.”

“In addition to our Community Fund, we facilitate a High Flyers Apprenticeship Scheme in order to equip young people with the skills and experience required to find permanent employment.”

And Mr Hammad didn’t rule out adding new routes from Belfast.

“We think customers in the regions are underserved by airlines and other roads of travel,” he said. “Our sense is there’s a real demand and we are well placed to answer it.”

NOVEMBER 2014

Along with the Belfast City, the airline also launched new routes to London City from Edinburgh, Inverness, Aberdeen, Exeter and Dublin.

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CLASSIFIEDS

TO PLACE A CLASSIFIED ADVERT CONTACT ULSTER BUSINESS ON 028 9078 3200

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TECHNOLOGY

TOTAL FLEET MANAGEMENT ANY VEHICLE, ANY MANUFACTURER

Business Diary December 2014 date

event

venue

CONTACT

28 November 08.30 - 10.00

Beyond Sponsorship Organiser: Arts & Business NI

James Street South, Belfast Cost: Members FREE Non-Members £15 +VAT per breakfast

For more information email: a.connor@artsandbusinessni.org.uk or visit www.artsandbusinessni.org.uk

Every Thursday (except 25 Dec) 07.20 - 08.30

Weekly Networking Breakfast Organiser: Belfast Business Group

Ramada Hotel, Shaws Bridge, Belfast Cost: £10 includes cooked breakfast

Contact Paul Griffiths on Tel: 028 9562 2169 or visit www.belfastbusinessggroup.com

2 December 08.30 - 12.30

Effective Financial Management – Understanding Financial Statements Organiser: Invest NI

Tullyglass Hotel, Ballymena

Contact Michele Newell on email: Michele.Newell@investni.com

2&3 December

Leading High Performance Teams – Intensive Masterclass Organiser: University of Ulster

University of Ulster and Team Build Ireland Cost: £1,600 +VAT per delegate place on the open programme £2,750 +VAT per in-company programme

Kirsty McManus on email: k.mcmanus@ulster.ac.uk or visit www.business.ulster.ac.uk/sme

4 December 09.30 - 14.00

Titanic Marketing Event with i3 Digital, Kentico, and the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Titanic Belfast Cost: £15 per person including networking lunch

Book online at www.cim.co.uk/cimireland or email: markl@i3digital.com

5 December 12.00 - 14.45

IoD First Trust Bank Director of the Year Awards Lunch Organiser: IoD

Merchant Hotel, Belfast Cost: Members £50 exc VAT Non-members £65 exc VAT

Contact Lorrraine Corry on email: lorraine.corry@iod.com or visit www.iod.com/connecting/events

10 December 18.00 - 20.30

Christmas Networking Dinner Organiser: Women In Business NI

Ulster Hall, Belfast Cost: Members £10 +VAT Non-Members £ 25 +VAT

For more information or to book visit www.womeninbusinessni.com/events

11 December 09.00 - 12.30

Communicating with Confidence Organiser: Women In Business NI & BT

BT Riverside Tower, Belfast Cost: £ 25 +VAT

For more information or to book visit www.womeninbusinessni.com/events

If you would like to promote an event or conference please contact Sonia Armstrong (soniaarmstrong@greerpublications.com)

FEBRUARY 2014

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MY DAY

OUTLOOK FOR 2014 OUTLOOK FOR 2014

OUTLOOK FOR 2014

Uncovering the 9-5

them with an update on the business strategy for George and discuss how it fits in with their group of Asda stores.

1.00pm Just before lunch I dial into a daily conference call with my nine regional managers. This is a great way for us to come together as a team to share any ideas or issues which have come up that morning. I take great pride in seeing how passionate our George colleagues are about their job, the brand and the range in store.

When I first joined the George team at Asda I was delighted with the fantastic support network that is in place and the training opportunities that are available; from ‘Women in Leadership’ courses to ‘Brand Me’ development programmes. The opportunity to learn and progress has really motivated me to succeed and I try to encourage each and every George colleague to take advantage of the same opportunities I had.

2.00pm

NAME: Maggie Jardine POSITION: Senior Manager for George Retail, the clothing division of Asda

5.30am I currently hold the position of ‘Senior Manager for George Retail – North Division’ which covers Northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, so I spend the majority of my week travelling around the UK. This means my day tends to start bright and early at 5.30am. To guarantee that each day begins as smoothly as possible, I pack my bag and lay out all of my outfits on a Sunday evening so that I can be out the door by 6.00am – it’s important to put thought into your daily look when you work for a fashion label.

George has been growing in popularity here since its entrance to the market in 2005 with the arrival of Asda to Northern Ireland. 16 stores carry the George brand in Northern Ireland and I currently oversee around 268 George outlets in total.

George continues to be the go-to label for fashion lovers everywhere and we work hard to make sure that the very latest trends are on the shelves as soon as possible. This means that during my store visit we also tend to discuss what new collections will be arriving and what targets have been set for the range.

8.30am I usually arrive at my first store at about 8.30am and I tend to walk the shop floor with the George team first thing, before reviewing the sales from the previous week.

11.00am During my visit to a region I always factor in time to meet with the Senior Director of Asda for that area to provide

As we have been a major part of Belfast FASHIONWEEK for the past six seasons I make time to call the Senior Manager for that region to talk through our learnings.

I talk through our involvement in Belfast FASHIONWEEK, from stock management and sample ordering to selecting the individual models and styling each look for the runway. We take time to go through some of the model shots from the night and discuss how the latest pieces to arrive could work in the show.

6.00pm If I am working from our office in Antrim then I try and get home by 6.00pm-6.30pm. I have two children, Jacob, who is 9 years old, and Abbey, who is 19 so it is really important for us to get together as much as we can to enjoy some quality time. However, I try to fit in time to go for a run each evening, whether I am at home or away, as it really helps me to relax and to clear my mind!

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Thank You Carson McDowell has been named ‘Northern Irish Firm of the Year’ by The Legal 500, the leading guide to the UK legal profession. The awards are based on independent research and recognise excellence in the profession.

We would like to say a big “thank you” to everyone who helped put us in the top spot.

We do more.

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