business month january 2015

13 November 2014 BUSINESS MONTH

January 2015 • ISSUE 50PRICE £2.50 (Where sold)

• ANGELA AND RICHARD WATCH THE ECONOMY • PAUL GOSLINGON CORPORATION TAX • DAY IN THE LIFE TAKES TO THE SKIES

How Invest NI has to change its game to keepthe jobs coming after its bumper 2014

Business Month 124-144 Royal Avenue,Belfast, BT1 1EBEditor - Margaret Canning

Sales manager - Jackie ReidContact: +44 2890 264070 or email:[email protected]

Design and production: RE&DBusiness Month is an imprint ofIndependent News and Media (NI)

Editor’s noteMargaret [email protected]

CONTENTS

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WELCOME tothe first issueof BusinessMonth for2015, which

promises to be an interestingyear for Northern Ireland plc.

The Chancellor’s positivenoises on corporation tax atthe start of December pavedthe way for devolution of thelevy - and politicians kept theirside of the bargain by reachinga political and economic accordin the Stormont House Agree-ment just before Christmas.

But there have been plentyof warnings about banana skinsalong the way, especially thepotential cuts to educationcontained in the draft budget.

Angela McGowan - whojoins Richard Ramsey inEconomy Watch - called out theExecutive on the reality of theirproposed cuts. And there’s noquestion that we do need ourpoliticians to avoid sugarcoat-ing the impact proposals forDEL cuts in particular will haveon areas like apprenticeshipsand training.

Invest NI is also facing avery different 2015 after thesuccesses of 2014 - our coverstory looks at just how muchtougher life is going to get onBedford Street.

Paul Gosling’s Inside Reportreminds us of the hard workwhich comes with a changeto corporation tax...and weare also delighted to presenta new column from YoungEnterprise’s Aoidin Gormley onrunning a business.

And before I forget - HappyNew Year!

FEATURES

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48 58

37

10 Corporation Tax: EconomistAndrew Webb says cuttingcorporation tax is an economicdevelopment solution

16 The year ahead: Economistsoffer their predictions for 2015

48 A day in the life: We meetBrenda Morgan, Partnershipmanager for Northern Ireland atBritish Airways

FOCUS12 Office space: Brian Lavery,managing director CBRE Belfastlooks at prospects for the city’srentals

22 Lend us a tenner: Alan Wattsexplores whether the crowdfund-ing boom is here to stay

64 Why? John Sherrocks asksmore than 40 years after theEqual Pay Act, are women stillpaid less than men?

OFFLINE46 Out to Lunch: Joris Minneheads out to lunch at Bennett’swith Bobby Willis, director ofCircuit of Ireland

54 Off Piste: Nick Boulosimproves his technique on theslopes - and enjoys his first tasteof a black run during a visit toVerbier in the Swiss Alps

12 January 2015 BUSINESS MONTH

CREATING JOBSInvest NI announced its bestever jobs performance making2014 its most successful year- page 18

THE BIG STORY

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NEWS BITES

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NI Science Park set toexpand as profits rise

THE Northern Ireland SciencePark is to expand in the new yearafter turnover hit £4m.

Pre-tax profit increased from£226,039 to £612,083 in the yearto March 2014 and occupancy isat 100%, ahead of a move intothe Concourse III developmentin 2015.

The Science Park (NISP) ishome to companies of all sizesand from all sectors, from majorbanking firm Citi, which runsa training centre in White StarHouse, to two-man renewablesfirm Pure Marine.

Plans are being laid out tobuild on the remaining land bankin Belfast in support of sectors in-cluding bioscience and advancedmanufacturing.

As well as physical expansion,NISP is also aiming to attractfurther private investment andwill launch a global marketingcampaign.

‘Black Friday’ bringsboost to retail salesRETAIL sales climbed attheir strongest pace for 11months in November as the highstreet was boosted by the ‘BlackFriday’ surge, official figureshave shown

Sales volumes grew by 1.6%month-on-month as retailersstepped up their pre-Christmasoffers, the biggest increase since a2.7% boom in December last year.

There was growth in all typesof stores for the first time sincelast December, according to theOffice for National Statistics.

Year-on-year growth of 6.4%was the best since May 2004,although last year’s Novemberfigures did not include BlackFriday trading.

Customers were attracted byaverage store prices which weredown 2% compared with thesame month last year.

This was mainly driven bypetrol stations, although prices infood stores showed their largestdecrease since June 2002 — downby 1%.

Mining sector hit asproduction levels fall

PRODUCTION levels amongfirms in Northern Ireland fellby 1.4% during the third quarterof the year, figures have shown.

The production index fromthe Northern Ireland Statisticsand Research Agency said outputfrom all four major productionsectors decreased in the quarter,with manufacturing suffering aslump of 1.2%.

The worst decline was felt bythe mining and quarrying sector,which was down by 7.6%.

However, output had grown by1.6% over the year, even though itwas down on the quarter before.

And Northern Ireland’s year-on-year growth was healthierthan in the UK as a whole, whereit grew by just 1.2%.

Ulster Bank chief economistRichard Ramsey said output formining and quarrying was nowat levels previously seen in 2002,despite a recent rebound.

Tyrone firm in £28mdeal for London hotel

CO Tyrone construction firmMcAleer & Rushe has signed a£28m deal to build a hotel de-velopment in south east London.

The deal is the latest in a seriesof London contracts for the firm,which has looked further afieldfor work given the muted state ofbuilding at home.

The firm will build a 14,500square metre mixed-use devel-opment anchored by a hotel forMarlin Apartments.

McAleer & Rushe — whichfamously built the W Hotel inLeicester Square — will also de-molish a 1950s office block underthe terms of the contract.

Martin Magee, constructionmanaging director at McAleer &Rushe, said: “This is a very hand-some, well-located scheme whichwe are very proud to deliver.”

It will consist of a 218-roomapart-hotel, six office suites, arestaurant and shops.

Hotel project facing£500k cash shortage

A £12m project to turn the listedScottish Mutual building in Bel-fast into a luxury hotel is facinga funding shortfall of around£500,000 for key restorationwork amid a government grantfreeze, it can be revealed.

Plans are under way to turn thesix-storey building behind BelfastCity Hall into a 40-bedroom hotel.

The building was bought bythe Ballymena-based Hill family,who also own the Galgorm Resort& Spa.

But it could now be one of thefirst of several key redevelop-ments to suffer from a NorthernIreland Environment Agencygrant freeze during the currentbudget impasse at Stormont.

Although the Department forthe Environment claimed nogrant had been officially offered,it’s thought the firm was well pro-gressed in discussions to securein excess of £500,000.

High-achieving businesses have been urged to enter the 2015 Belfast Telegraph Business Awards in as-sociation with British Airways. Entries close at 12noon on March 19 ahead of a glittering ceremony at theCulloden Hotel on April 30. Business editor Margaret Canning (r) joined Brenda Morgan of British Airways tolaunch the prestigious awards programme. To enter, go to www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business-awards

£7.9bnAverage weekly retailspend in November2014

4.3%Size of increase in amountspent in November 2014compared to a year earlier

20Number of successivemonths of growth inamount bought in retail

1.6%Increase in quantitybought between Octoberand November

2%Amount of fall in averagestore prices in Novemberthis year compared to ayear earlier

Source: Office for National Statistics Retail Sales November 2014

BUSINESS MONTH 12 January 2015

NEWS BITES

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Belfast is classed as the world’s most business-friendly city

Other positive indicatorsinstanced by the commentaryinclude the 3.4% increase inresearch and development spend-ing in 2013, the significant levelof innovation activity amongstNorthern Ireland’s micro busi-nesses, the strong performance bya small number of large and highgrowth companies and NorthernIreland recording the second fast-est growth in knowledge economyactivity in the UK. It also noteda net increase in employee jobsduring 2014 of 12,780.

But the commentary adds: “De-spite the largely positive growthperformance, economic activitystill remains well below its pre-re-

cession peak in Q2 2007 by 12.6%.By comparison, UK GDP is now2.7% above its previous peak,whilst Republic of Ireland GDPis just 3.5% below.”

Although the transformation isslow, Northern Ireland’s economyis rebalancing away from thedominance of the public sector.Total economic growth in the lastyear of 1.4% represented a growthof 2.2% in the private sector, buta contraction of 0.8% in publicsector activity. A negative note isstruck with a report on the con-struction sector. Output withinNorthern Ireland is continuingto fall and is now just half of itspre-recessionary high.

NORTHERN Ireland’s economicrecovery is well under way, ac-cording to the latest economiccommentary from the Depart-ment of Enterprise, Trade andInvestment. The study concludesthat there are positive signsacross a range of indicators.

Highlights of Northern Ire-land’s recent economic perfor-mance include growth in regionaleconomic activity, as measured bythe Office for National Statistics’gross value added measure andin the Nisra annual business in-quiry statistics. These estimated,respectively, that the NorthernIreland economy grew in 2013by 1.2% and 1.6%.

Economic recovery ‘well under way’

▲ STERLINGThe pound has risen againstthe euro from €1.18 a year agoto around €1.26. Sterling hasstrengthened against 42 of theworld’s 74 major currencies

▲ MANUFACTURINGNorthern Ireland manufacturingsales rose in the last year 4% to£18.1bn. Sales outside NorthernIreland rose by 5.4%, to £14.3bn.

▲ INCOMESAverage weekly householdincomes rose slightly in 2012/13in cash terms. They increased by2% to £395 in 2012/13 - and by3% to £358, after housing costs

t JOBLESSNESSNorthern Ireland’s unemploy-ment rate was down to 6.3%in the quarter ending October,according to the Labour ForceSurvey.

t DOLE CLAIMANTSClaimant count unemploymentalso dropped, falling by 700 inNovember to 51,200.

t INACTIVITYThe number of economicallyinactive people fell by 1,000 inthe last quarter, though at 27.1%NI still has the highest in the UK

t INFLATIONUK inflation fell to 1.0% in theyear ending November — thelowest rate for over 12 years

t HOUSE PRICE GROWTHUK house prices rose by 8.5%in the year to December, downfrom 9.0% in the year to Novem-ber, according to NationwideBuilding Society

t ECONOMIC GROWTHThe rate of economic growthin Northern Ireland has fallen,according to the latest UlsterBank purchasing managersindex. While there had been 17months of growth, it had sloweddown for output, orders andemployment

BELFAST has been highly ratedas a business city in two studiesexamining its culture and qualityof life.

Northern Ireland’s capital isclassed as the world’s most busi-ness friendly city in the small tomedium sized city category andone of the 10 top cities of anysize. The study was conductedby the fDi intelligence divisionof the Financial Times, drawingon analysis from 130 global cities.

Belfast Lord Mayor NicholaMallon said: “We believe Belfastoffers an attractive package ofcost-competitive business in-frastructure, alongside a highlyskilled workforce and great qual-ity of life, all in one compact andconnected city.”

The city was also highly rankedin the 2014 Good Growth for Cit-ies index compiled by PwC andthe Demos think-tank. Belfastwas considered to be the mostimproved UK city since the end ofthe recession. It was rated as theUK’s sixth best city in which towork and live, three places higherthan last year. Assessments weremade on the basis of jobs, health,income, skills, work-life balance,house prices, travel-to-work timesand pollution.

One of the factors benefitingBelfast has been the sharp fallin property prices and big jumpin affordability since the onset ofthe recession. As a consequence,there has been a rise in the num-ber of owner occupiers.

Dr Esmond Birnie, PwC chiefeconomist, said: “Many of the

larger English cities that boastexceptional economic success paya steep price in terms of trafficcongestion, pollution, incomeinequality, high house prices andchallenging travel-to-work treksfor workers living in outlying citycatchments. The index shows thatpeople are looking for a packageof attractions in their preferred

city, ranging from available jobs,affordable housing and a goodquality of life; our research alsosuggests that investors have sim-ilar priorities in the hunt forskills, talent and infrastructure.Collectively that suggests that thetop Good Growth Cities are goodfor employers, workers and theirdependants.”

Belfast rates highly as business cityPAUL GOSLING


NEWS BITES

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“The Department for Employ-ment and Learning (DEL) paid£20m of the £44m capital costup-front. The Belfast Met wasthe largest and most expensivefurther education public/privatefunding project ever undertaken.”

Committee members conclud-ed that the project’s preferredbidder, ICL, was given preferredbidder status prematurely. Thisenabled ICL to dictate the paceand outcome of negotiations withthe college. Consultancy costson the project were also allowedto overrun considerably from£300,000 to £1.5m, reported thecommittee.

The MLAs also expressed un-happiness at the means by whichDEL assessed the value for moneyof the project. The committee saidthat taking a holistic view of theproject, DEL was left with a finan-cial shortfall of £14m. But DEL

argued that the cost of removingsurplus properties should not beconsidered as part of the value formoney assessment.

In their conclusions, the com-mittee said that any future PFIprojects must provide muchgreater financial transparency.

Ms Boyle said: “While thereare some serious questions tobe asked on our long-term PFIcommitments, we welcome anundertaking from The Office ofthe First Minister and the deputyFirst Minister to improve trans-parency around this.

“While we are pleased to seethe OFMDFM taking this for-ward, we will be keeping the issueof private finance initiatives onour radar. It is crucial that weensure that value for money isobtained and that the publicknow how and where its moneyis being spent.”

ONE of Northern Ireland’s largestprivate finance initiative (PFI)projects may not have represent-ed value for money for the taxpay-er, a report from the Assembly’sPublic Accounts Committee hasconcluded.

The questions were raisedabout the funding for the con-struction of the new Belfast Met-ropolitan College at the TitanicQuarter.

Michaela Boyle MLA, chairper-son of the Public Accounts Com-mittee, said: “We can all agreethat the new Belfast Met campusis a beautiful building which haswon awards for its design and isdelivering a high level of staff andstudent satisfaction.

“Nevertheless, there were veryserious shortcomings in the waythe project was managed.

Doubts over value of PFI college projectPAUL GOSLING

NORTHERN Ireland’s schoolsare happy to engage with busi-nesses and other employersas they strive to improve,says Education Minister JohnO’Dowd.

The minister said: “I believethat employers and the busi-ness world in general have animportant part to play in thecomplex area of educatingour young people. I am keento engage and make sure wemaximise the benefits to ed-ucational outcomes.”

Mr O’Dowd was respondingto the ‘Step Change’ reportfrom the CBI. “I share theCBI’s wish for all of our youngpeople, once they leave school,to be equipped to be valuablecitizens and to contribute toand lead business and theeconomy,” he said.

“We are making excellentprogress in achieving thisvision, thanks to the hardwork and dedication of localschools and that of pupils andtheir families.”

He added: “There is nodoubt that employers cancollaborate in the delivery ofeducation so young peopleare enabled to get on afterleaving school. I welcome thisopportunity to engage onceagain with the CBI on how wecan best achieve this and lookforward to doing so again inthe future.”

CBI regional director Ni-gel Smyth said: “When re-cruiting young people, firmslook above all else for theright attitudes and behav-iours — for example, 85% offirms in Northern Irelandrate attitudes to work as themost important factor whenrecruiting school and collegeleavers — and this should bea key focus of our schools andcolleges. Our young peopleneed to learn resilience, en-thusiasm, curiosity and crea-tivity. These are the traits thatwill help them get ahead andthese should be the outcomesour education system drivestowards, alongside academicprogress.

“The best education sys-tems globally start with a clearidea of the desired outcomes— we need to do the same hereand then ensure all aspectsof the system are aligned todeliver those outcomes.”

Schools engagewith businesses

OVERNIGHT stays in the Derryand Strabane area rose by 50%during the City of Culture year,the latest figures from theNorthern Ireland Statistics andResearch Agency (Nisra) haverevealed.

The year generated an addi-tional £47m into the economy,says Nisra.

But even during the City of Cul-ture year, the Giant’s Causewayand Belfast remained NorthernIreland’s premier tourist attrac-tions.

Belfast is the most populardestination for overnight stays,followed by the Causeway Coastand Glens of Antrim district,the Newry, Mourne and Downcouncil area and Fermanaghand Omagh.

Some 754,000 people visitedthe Causeway during 2013. Thenext most commonly visitedsites were Titanic Belfast, whichattracted 604,000 visitors, theUlster Museum (416,000 visitors)and Derry’s City Walls (411,000).

Tourism is particularly impor-tant for the Causeway Coast area.There are five times more over-night visitors to the district thanthe number of people residentin the population. This visitorto resident ratio is the highest

of any part of Northern Ireland.During 2013, £722m was spent

on overnight stays in NorthernIreland. Of this a third — £227m— was spent in Belfast. Some£110m was spent in the CausewayCoast and Glens of Antrim, while£86m was spent in Fermanaghand Omagh.

Enterprise Minister ArleneFoster said that there are hopes

that tourism will grow even morein 2015 compared to the strongresults in both 2013 and 2014.She said: “Tourism Ireland aimsto build on this year’s growth inoverseas tourism and to welcomealmost 1.9m visitors to NorthernIreland in 2015. This figure willrepresent growth of 6% over 2014and deliver £552m to the North-ern Ireland economy [in 2015].”

City of Culture year gives a£47m lift to Derry economy

Derry’s historic walls attracted 411,000 visitors to the city


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WHEN the moderneconomic historyof Northern Ire-land is written,the campaign to

lower corporation tax will eitherform an interesting yet inconse-quential footnote, or take centrestage as the policy that helpedredefine the economy.

Although much of the debatehas centred on rebalancingNorthern Ireland’s excessivelylarge public sector, the policy doesoffer another more potent poten-tial — the power to rebalance ourprivate sector.

Invest NI has enjoyed tremen-dous success recently in drivinginward investment, but the na-ture of that investment has beenfocussed on sectors such as soft-ware development and back officeservices. Over the long-term weneed to rediscover our historicalgenius for making things.

Securing corporation tax pow-ers could accelerate growth inthose knowledge-economy sec-tors in which we already excel,but, more importantly, it couldgive manufacturing a badly need-ed adrenalin shot.

Opponents argue that the costof corporation tax isn’t worth therisk to the Westminster blockgrant. As a firm which specialisesin advising inward investmentbodies and FDI clients across theglobe, including the World Bankand Invest Hong Kong, OCO’sexperience is that corporation tax— if implemented strategically —could be a game changer.

OCO’s forecasts suggest thatglobal FDI is back on coursefor a path of steady, if unexcit-ing growth. The model, whichincludes 115 countries and 29sectors, predicts that by 2024there will be 16,000 FDI projectsand c.200,000 jobs up for grabs.These are projects which a morecompetitive Northern Ireland,thanks to lower corporation tax,could be targeting.

Investors consider a wide rangeof factors when selecting poten-tial regions, from the availabilityof skills to the quality of infra-structure. Corporation tax is butone of these factors — and by nomeans the most important — but

it is the last great differentiatorbetween Northern Ireland andour main competitor south ofthe border. On a per capita basisNorthern Ireland is performingsignificantly worse than the southin attracting FDI jobs.

The Republic’s tax rate hasundoubtedly been a major factorin its huge successes in securingFDI projects and it’s why the IrishGovernment has fought so hardto maintain its preferential rate.As a policy, however, it’s not justthe sole preserve of Dublin. Otherclients of ours, such as the Neth-erlands, Costa Rica, Hong Kongand Lithuania have all utilised itas an effective economic lever toencourage growth.

With a more competitive prop-osition OCO estimates that lowercorporation tax should enableNorthern Ireland to directly at-

tract 40,000-plus new jobs overthe next decade. There are, how-ever, indirect benefits too andour work with the Dutch Govern-ment suggests that each FDI jobcreates a further 1.5 jobs in thewider economy and that everyextra £1m in salaries generates afurther £1.6m elsewhere.

Perhaps though the greatestappeal of lower corporation taxis the opportunity to changethe type of projects we competefor and to start the process ofrebalancing our private sector— a process that will ensure amore equitable spread of projectsacross Northern Ireland.

We currently do well in sectorsthat are city-centre friendly —much to the chagrin of thoseliving beyond greater Belfast.Lower corporation tax wouldgive Invest NI the tools it needs

to realistically target projects insectors such as advanced man-ufacturing, engineering or lifesciences — sectors that don’t relyupon Grade ‘A’ office space inBelfast city centre. OCO’s recentwork with the local life and healthSciences sector suggests that alower tax rate coupled to a new,dedicated strategy, could delivereconomic success in the sector,an area where the Republic hasreaped huge rewards, but North-ern Ireland has not.

This, of course, depends onwhether the policy can be im-plemented.

Those who have argued forNorthern Ireland’s ability to lowercorporation tax have faced manyhidden summits on their journey.They were told it would neverhappen — the EU, Treasury andWestminster parties would notcountenance it. But countenanceit they have, and at last, the prin-ciple has been conceded.

The summit has now beenreached, but a vista of prob-lems has come into sight. TheExecutive’s financial credibility,the difficulties in balancing itsbudget and the related absenceof any more “big cheques” fromWestminster until tough politicaldecisions are taken locally, havepiled on the pressure. The dangeris that corporation tax may fall atthe last hurdle.

In the absence of any alterna-tives that would be a tragic ac-ceptance that Northern Ireland’seconomic performance will fallever further behind the rest ofthese islands.

While we currently do well forFDI projects, we could do so muchbetter. In a world where investors,particularly US investors, tendto view Northern Ireland in anisland-wide context, we’re simplynot competing on a level playingfield. If we want an economyriddled by a systemic lack of am-bition our choice is the status quo.

If, however, we want an econ-omy that can afford excellentpublic services and can givemore of our young people gainfulemployment at home, we need tostep-up and embrace the radicalpotential lower corporation taxoffers.

NEWS ANALYSIS

Let’s redefine our economyEconomistAndrew Webb sayscuttingcorporationtax isaneconomicdevelopmentsolution


Andrew Webb ofeconomic devel-opment advisorsOCO Consulting

NEWS ANALYSIS

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Northern Ireland during 2014comprised retail properties.Demand for prime investmentopportunities continued toemanate from UK institutionsduring 2014 although therewas also a notable increase ininterest from new investorsfrom other jurisdictions suchas the US over the course of theyear. The biggest frustrationamongst investors was thescarcity of prime investmentgrade assets being releasedfor sale to match the volume ofdemand in the market.

Activity in the occupiermarkets was more mutedthan in the investment sectorduring 2014. Office take-upin the region was somewhatdisappointing in the first halfof 2014. However, there wasa notable take-up activityrecorded in the second half ofthe year, bringing total officeleasing transactional activityin Belfast during the year toover 350,000 square feet. Therewere a number of significantjob announcements in Belfastand Derry over the course ofthe year which will in timeboost office activity in bothlocations. Office rents in thecity increased to approximately£161 per square metre (£15 persq. ft.), during the year.

Demand for owner-occupierunits in the industrial sectorremained strong throughout2014 with vacancy continuingto be eroded in some of thebetter industrial estates across

the region. However, take-upwas somewhat disappointingdue for the most part to ascarcity of bank funding toenable industrial occupiers topurchase properties. Althoughthere was an increase in activi-ty in the retail occupier marketexperienced during 2014 with anumber of new store openings,this uplift was predominantlyexperienced in Belfast citycentre.

As we look to 2015, it regret-tably remains in the balance ifNorthern Ireland will be givenautonomy to set its own rateof corporation tax to matchor compete with the 12.5%prevailing in the Republic ofIreland. If this materialises,subject to other budget agree-ments in Stormont, it couldprove a very significant boostfor FDI and job creation acrossthe region.

The overriding issue in theoffice occupier market in Bel-fast in 2015 will continue to bethe scarcity of Grade A accom-modation to satisfy occupierrequirements. This will putfurther upward pressure onoffice rents in the city over thecourse of the next 12 monthsand we anticipate prime rentsreaching £16 per square foot byyear-end. This is getting veryclose to the level which makesoffice development an econom-ic reality and more forwardlooking developers may there-fore go on site during 2015.

Many retailers are likely to

experience some reduction intheir rates bills following therevaluation effective in April2015, which will make storesmore affordable for occupiers.

However, there will be someexceptions on high streets suchas Arthur Street in Belfast andin some retail park schemeswhere rates bills are expect-ed to increase. We have notwitnessed any growth in retailrents over the last 12 monthsand it is likely that any growthduring 2015 will be verylocation specific. Althougheconomic conditions have beenstrengthening recently, there isstill concern around prospectsfor growth in the region overthe coming years, particularlyif proposed austerity measuresare implemented, which havethe potential to impact nega-tively on consumer sentimentand retail spending patterns.

A similar volume of activitycould be achieved again inthe investment sector in 2015considering the volume of de-leveraging that has yet to occuracross the region. In addition,a considerable volume of sec-ondary trading is anticipatedwith assets purchased throughloan sales over the last numberof years being offered for sale.There are several assets due tobe offered for sale during 2015,the majority being retail prop-erties although we anticipatesome landmark offices willalso come to the market.

The relative value ofcommercial real estate willbecome increasingly topical in2015. While there is currentlya notable arbitrage betweeninterest rates, bonds and realestate, which is encouraginginvestors, it is important toremember that this arbitragewill be eroded once interestrates and bond rates ultimatelystart to increase. It is anticipat-ed that UK interest rates maystart to rise in 2015. However,rises are not anticipated to bevery dramatic and the relativeyield arbitrage offered by realestate investment will remain,even if prime yields as antici-pated contract slightly over thecourse of the year in NorthernIreland.

2014 was a very busyyear in the NorthernIreland commercialproperty sector. Newsthat the National Asset

Management Agency (Nama)had appointed Lazard to han-dle the sale of its entire North-ern Ireland property portfolio,following an approach by a po-tential investor, was announcedearly in 2014, taking many bysurprise.

Several assets which werebeing prepared for sale early inthe year were then put on holdto see what effect the Namaloan sale would have. Indeed,much of the almost £600m ofinvestment activity recordedin the region during the 12month period was concludedin the second half of the yearfollowing the disposal of Pro-ject Eagle to Cerberus, whichconcluded in June.

The year ended on a similarnote with Cerberus agreeingthe purchase of project Aranfrom Royal Bank of Scotland,making them potentially thelargest controller of propertyloans in Northern Ireland.

Some of the more notable in-vestment transactions to com-plete during the year includethe sale of Foyleside ShoppingCentre in Derry and ForestsideShopping Centre in Belfastfor £145m and the sale of theAbbey Centre in Newtownab-bey for over £64m as part ofa disposal known as ProjectSwallowtail; the sale of ShaneRetail Park (one of the bestbulky good retail parks in Bel-fast) to US investor Marathonfor £30m, reflecting a yieldof 7.36%; the refinancing ofConnswater Shopping Centreand retail park in Belfast, for£31.5m; the sale to Marathonof Cityside Retail Park (part ofa mixed-use scheme in NorthBelfast anchored by Tesco)for £24m, reflecting a yieldof 7.87%; the sale of a TescoSuperstore in east Belfast for£24.74m and the sale of theObel development in Belfastagain to Marathon for a pricebelieved to be in excess of£22m. As in other years, themajority of large investmenttransactions completed in

Office space in demandBy BrianLavery,managingdirectorCBREBelfast

Office rents hit £15 per sq ft in 2014 and are expected to rise further in 2015


NEWS ANALYSIS

14

A New Year ResolutionPinsent Masons commercial and corporate director Hilary Griffith givesher view of the prospects for mergers and acquisitions in 2015


TRADITIONALLY Jan-uary is a time whenmost people takestock of the previous12 months. A pressure

on the waistline may cause usto reflect if all those festivefeasts and Quality Streets weresuch a great idea. We may beconsidering some changes inlifestyle and approach in a fitof self-improvement. In fact avariety of research shows thataround 40% of people will besetting new year’s resolutions.Businesses are no different.Four new quarters glistenpristinely on the business plan,and leadership teams will bethinking about new opportuni-ties, and new directions.

Looking forward to the yearahead, what will this mean interms of merger and acqui-sition activity? Answeringthat question is a speculativeexercise, but what can we learnfrom the platform of 2014?Globally, 2014 was a bumperyear for M&A, with activityacross the first three-quartershitting $2.66trn, fuelling op-timism that 2015 levels wouldclose the gap on pre-downturnfigures. However at a nationallevel, UK M&A figures couldbe described as anaemic atbest, with domestic acquisi-tions in particular reaching arecord low in the latest thirdquarter reports. At a regionallevel Northern Ireland was byfar the worst performer witha drop of 56.7% reported byExperian over quarters oneand two compared to the sameperiod in 2013. That figurecould be even more dramatic ifcompared to the second half of2013, where Northern Irelandenjoyed a surge of 30 dealswith a total of 78 for the year.

So what factors are in playif M&A activity is to pick upin 2015? The first is obvious- confidence is key. Businessconfidence rose generallythroughout 2014 although theautumn saw a slight turn in thecurve. Availability of credit isalso likely to be crucial to busi-nesses considering a purchase.While banks in Northern

Ireland express an appetite forcorporate lending, the experi-ence of local businesses is thatthis is curbed somewhat whenpushed beyond familiar bound-aries of property assets. Ourculture of raising finance forinvestment would benefit frombroadening beyond tradition-al debt models, tapping intoequity funds that are hungryfor opportunities.

The life-cycle of fami-ly-owned businesses can alsohave an influence. Youngergenerations can disrupt long-held succession planning ideas,opting for different careerpaths, or perhaps no clear op-tions exist for passing over thereins. Regulatory certainty is abig issue, particularly in somesectors like energy.

In its recent report the NevinEconomic Research Instituteidentified agri-food, life-scienc-es and energy as strategicsectors for the Northern Ire-land economy. The importanceattached to these industriesmakes them likely candidatesto generate transactions, butfor different reasons.

For instance, the NI Agri-food Strategy Board aims tocreate a sustainable supplychain to facilitate long termgrowth - however, limitedavailability of capital canimpose a barrier. Our local

sector must cast an enviousglance at the experience of theIrish agri-food market whichin 1990 had a stock marketvalue of €734m compared nowto €23.2bn. Northern Irelandcompanies have a uniqueadvantage in being eligible forinclusion on both FTSE andISEQ Index and in Decemberat the Agri-food Conferencethe ambitious target of addingthree plcs to the sector wasmooted. Perhaps Moy Park willlead the way in 2015, but in themeantime there will be activityin the sector with the potentialfor existing businesses withambition for growth to attractinvestors on a global scale.

Life sciences have benefitedin particular from significantinvestment by government, ac-ademia and industry in recentyears. We expect 2015 to showcontinued activity as North-ern Ireland’s pharmaceuticalsector grows particularly inthe biomedical and biologicalsciences field. The region is atthe forefront of research andinnovation and has alreadyproduced some exciting spinout companies with more inthe pipeline.

Energy will continue to bean attractive investment pros-pect in Northern Ireland. Re-newables in particular are setto generate an increased flow

of M&A and project financingtransactions throughout 2015before the transition fromRenewable Obligation Cer-tificates (ROCs) to contractsfor difference (CfDs) in 2017really takes hold on investmentopportunities.

Corporation tax is oftenregarded as having a poten-tial X-Factor effect on theNorthern Ireland economy,but for 2015 it is best regard-ed in a mathematical ratherthan showbiz sense, ie, anunknown. The Chancellor’sAutumn statement made clearthe commitment to devolutionof the powers in principle, butimposed the hurdle of a budgetaccomodation. A reductioncould spark a flurry of activity,as overseas businesses seek tomaximise the lower tax regimein Northern Ireland by way ofacquisition. However, with thecorresponding cut to the blockgrant, and the diametric posi-tions occupied by the main po-litical blocs, the setting of therate could be a political boneof contention for many yearsto come. Without the means ofknowing how far or how fastthat radical economic lever willbe pulled, for growth in M&Aactivity the best we can hopefor is slow and steady.

It’s not a bad approach to2015 New Year’s resolutions.

16 BUSINESS MONTH 12 January 2015

ECONOMY WATCH

X

THE year 2013 wasdubbed the ‘spread-sheet recovery’. Thecomputer said ‘yes’,we are technically

in recovery, but the consumersaid ‘no, I don’t feel it’. But2014 saw the recovery begin todownload, becoming increas-ingly evident in more tangibleindicators such as employment,house prices, new car sales andbusiness activity.

The local economy is esti-mated to have grown by 2% inreal terms in 2014. A similarrate of growth (1.5% - 2.0%)is expected in 2015, only thedynamics of this growth ratewill have changed. Consumerspending, stemming from realwage growth will account fora greater share of economicgrowth, whilst the corporatesector should see its contribu-tion moderate.

In terms of the labour mar-ket, a lack of wage rises blight-ed an otherwise strong picturein both the UK and NorthernIreland last year. The localclaimant count unemploymentregister has been falling fortwo years, with 2015 expectedto be a third straight year ofunemployment declines. Theheadline International LabourOrganisation (ILO) unemploy-ment rate has fallen to 6.3%in late 2014. A dip below 6%for the first time in six yearsis anticipated later this year,with the unemployment rateexpected to average around 6%in 2015.

Last year, Northern Ireland’srate of employment growthexceeded all expectations withthe pace of job creation accel-erating from 1.3% in 2013 to2.0% for 2014. The latter repre-sented the fastest annual paceof growth since 2005. The paceof job creation will slow in 2015to around +1.6% year-on-yearand again more sharply in2016, when a sustained periodof job losses in the publicsector will act as a significant

drag on employment growthand limit opportunities for theyounger generation.

As in previous years, theyounger generation will re-main at the back of the queuewith regards to the employ-ment recovery. The unemploy-ment rate for the 18-24 years ofage cohort is likely to remainclose to 20% throughout 2015.It remains to be seen whetherresources will be re-prioritisedto tackle this problem.

Inflation has been publicenemy number one for mostof the last seven years, withconsumer price rises con-sistently outpacing wageincreases. However, since thesecond half of 2014, the cost ofliving recovery has begun witha vengeance, and food andpetrol prices have gone intoreverse. The annual rate of CPIinflation has fallen from 2.6%in 2013 to around 1.5% for 2014.A huge drop in the oil price,which has still to fully feedthrough into fuel prices, willhelp to push the annual rate ofCPI inflation to around 0.5%for 2015. This will represent

the lowest annual rate of CPIsince the series began in 1989.So 2015 should therefore be thefirst year of a meaningful wageprice recovery.

In terms of the local housingmarket, it continues to recoverfrom the steepest house pricecorrection in UK history anda slump in house building.2014 marked the first full-year of house price rises inseven years. This trend shouldcontinue, with average pricesexpected to rise by 6% in 2015following last year’s growthestimate of 7%. Residentialproperty transactions are setfor their fourth successive yearof double-digit growth.

The recent reform of stampduty should increase activityaround the £250,000 pricethreshold. Following last year’srise of 27%, the pace of growthshould ease to around 15%,taking the annual number oftransactions to around 23,750.A modest pick-up in housebuilding is expected for thesecond successive year in 2015.However, this growth is com-ing from extremely low levels.

Regardless of who wins thenext general election, fiscalausterity is going to move up agear. The UK, and by extensionNorthern Ireland, will seemore public expenditure cutsin the next five years than havebeen delivered over the lastfive years. As with the publicexpenditure cuts, tax rises arealso inevitable and unavoida-ble, not least to dilute publicexpenditure cuts that aredeemed to be both undelivera-ble and politically unpalatable.

This year is likely to see arise of English nationalism,which politicians are likely tohave to listen to. There will beincreasing attention paid tointer-regional public expendi-ture and revenue comparisonswithin the UK as a result.Northern Ireland is potentiallyvulnerable to this, given thatit is the lowest taxed region ofthe UK and each man, womanand child receives more publicexpenditure than their coun-terparts in other UK regions.Additional devolutionary pow-ers and the UK’s membershipof the EU will remain majorpolitical issues in 2015.

The Stormont Executive’sfive-party coalition up untilnow has kept the economyas its number one priority. Ten-sion over this priority is likelyto build in the coming year associal policy and maintainingpublic services are rising upthe agenda. If corporation taxpowers are devolved to North-ern Ireland, this will quicklybe followed by the question ofhow will it be paid for?

The Northern IrelandExecutive, like governmentelsewhere, will be in the busi-ness of delivering unpopularpolicies into the foreseeablefuture. Populist social policies(eg, free prescriptions, nowater charges, lower tuitionfees and free public transportfor the over-sixties) are nowsimply unaffordable and willincreasingly come under

Richard RamseyChief economist at Ulster Bank

Last year saw signs that the ‘spreadsheetat last, but what are the prospects for the

The year

Taxing times

ECONOMY WATCH

17

THE global economyslowed in 2014 butat Danske Bank weexpect a gradualimprovement in the

world economy during the firsthalf of 2015. The US economywill continue to lead the globaleconomy during the next 12months while European andemerging market growth willremain below par. Overallglobal growth is forecast toreach 3.9%.

The UK economy will proba-bly see more moderate growthof around 2.8% in 2015. Lowinflation in the coming monthswill lend support to householdspending power and the labourmarket should continue toimprove, with unemploymentlevels forecast to average 5.5%in the year ahead.

There are always risksand the UK’s general elec-tion in May in particular hasthe potential to inject someuncertainty into the equation.Public sector cuts will alsoundoubtedly take their toll andtogether these could weigh onconfidence levels and act as adrag on economic growth.

Danske Bank forecastssuggest that after growing at2.5% last year, the NorthernIreland economy will grow byjust over 2% in 2015 and 2016.

Growth in neighbouringregions (the rest of the UK andthe Republic of Ireland) willlend support to the local econ-omy and indeed the generallyimproving global picture alsoaugers well for local trade andforeign investment levels nextyear.

But as always there will somefactors placing downwardpressure on economic growthand for Northern Ireland in2015 these factors will mostprobably include significantpublic expenditure cuts.

In the private sector we canexpect further employmentgrowth this year — althoughemployment levels are expect-

ed to grow at a more subdued0.5% (compared to 2.2% growthover the last 12 months). North-ern Ireland’s unemploymentlevel is expected to average5.6% to 5.8% over the next 12months, but any improvementsto the labour market will be de-pendent on a continued privatesector expansion.

Danske forecasts suggestthat the sectors seeing thehighest rates of employmentgrowth include professionalservices and ICT. On the otherhand public sector cuts areexpected to result in job lossesand the scale of these cuts willbe determined by policy mak-ers. Danske forecasts suggest aloss of almost 8,000 jobs fromthe public sector by 2017. Thereis however an expectation thatthe majority of job losses willbe in public administration.

At the time of writing it issomewhat uncertain as to howlocal departments are going toaddress the significant declinesin their budgets. Although it ispossible that the bulk of publicsector scaling back could beachieved through recruitment

freezes, early retirements orpay cuts.

Households will take somecomfort from the fact that in-flation will remain subdued formost of 2015. Bank of Englandforecasts suggest that over thenext 12 months inflation willaverage 1.2%. But the decline ininflation is not of the dan-gerous kind, as lower energyand food prices will serve as apositive supply shock that willsupport economic growth.

The housing market recov-ered well last year with pricesrising by 9.5% and transactionsup 21% over the year. Our fore-casts suggest this recovery isset to continue with local houseprices rising at more sustain-able levels of 4% in 2015 and2.3% in 2016.

In 2015 the Northern Irelandpublic will be looking for astrong and united politicalfront when it comes to growingour economy. Professionalnegotiations with HM Treasuryare required around publicspending and devolved taxationissues.

In the year ahead we could

Cuts will bite

Angela McGowanChief economist at Danske Bank

see legislation introduced forsetting our own corporationtax and this would be a hugestep for Northern Ireland interms of attracting foreigndirect investment, buildingclusters in high value addedsectors and raising our game interms of exports.

However, such a dramaticchange to our fiscal positionrequires the Executive to beupfront and honest with theelectorate around who paysfor the shortfall in our blockgrant. The public need to knowif the gap in our public financesis to be filled by raising localrevenue streams or by slashingpublic expenditure.

To ensure more opennessaround fiscal decisions (and toget around the fact that poli-ticians repeatedly avoid fiscalchanges that are perceived tobe ‘vote losers’), it would seemprudent to create an Independ-ent Fiscal Council for NorthernIreland.

Such a council would inde-pendently review and monitorthe Executive’s fiscal plans,objectives and performance.With resources stretched, itwould be perfectly reasonableto request that a NorthernIreland division of the Office ofBudgetary Responsibly shouldbe set up here to both assessthe impact of UK governmentfiscal adjustments on the localeconomy and the Executive’sfiscal plans.

Northern Ireland has comea long way in the last two yearsin terms of moving from reces-sion to recovery.

Jobs have been created, con-fidence has risen and even thehousing market has recoveredwell from its dramatic implo-sion back in 2007.

However, the local economyis now at a crossroads and in2015 astute and informed deci-sions will have to be made if weare to create the right condi-tions for sustainable long-termeconomic growth.


recovery’ was being felt by consumersNorthern Ireland economy in 2015?

ahead

COVER STORY

18

Invest NI faces a new set of challenges this year. Jamie Stinson explores howbudget cuts and EU rule changes will affect the economic development agency

FUTUREREALITIES


The Invest NIheadquarters onBedford Street,Belfast

19

INVEST NI announced its best everjobs performance in its mid-yearresults in September, making 2014its most successful year. In the sixmonths between the start of the

financial year and end of September, theagency said companies which received itssupport had promised to create 10,800jobs, in comparison to 2,890 during thesame period in 2013.

This has seen new companies fromoverseas, such as US law firm Baker &McKenzie and software company PuppetLabs, setting up in Northern Ireland forthe first time, bringing 256 and 100 jobsrespectively.

Over the half year period, it highlight-ed it added £1.11bn in investment to theNorthern Ireland economy, more than itscontribution in the full year of 2013/14.

However, 2015 is likely to present adifferent set of challenges to the economicdevelopment agency. This year will seeNorthern Ireland face up to uncomfort-able economic realities in the province.There will be radical changes throughoutthe public sector, as the size of the statewill be reduced.

Nearly all departments’ budgets inthe Executive are due to be slashed, asthe public sector in Northern Irelanddecreases.

Invest NI has been given a budget of£96m — and as the agency itself ex-plained, at that level the budget is 93%committed at the start of the year, leavinglimited levels of funding for new business.

Invest NI is not escaping the budgetaryequivalent of the Red Wedding — a mas-sacre in cult TV show Game of Thrones,which is filmed in Northern Ireland —unscathed.

According to economist John Simpson,the cuts proposed in the draft budgetcould potentially have serious effects onthe agency.

“Budget cuts could be a serioushandicap if applied as set out inthe draft budget. However, thedraft budget is, in total forthe executive, an unlikelyif not impossible objective.Some serious modifica-tion or postponement willbe needed. Otherwise,Invest NI will have to meetexisting commitments and‘go slow’ on accepting toomany new commitments,” MrSimpson pointed out.

Another issue facing Invest NIin 2015 is the European Union’schanges to State Aid rules. Thesechanges, which came into forcein the middle of last year, restrictsupport offered by governments to firmsalready operating in the region.

Mr Simpson explained the changes willstop grants being given to firms that pro-vide the same service as a company whichhas already received assistance from thestate. “The ceiling on financial capitalassistance is now applied more restrictive-

ly to large companies that already have alocal organisation. State Aid rules meanthat investment grants are allowed onlywhen a new investment is being made for

a product or service that has notalready been assisted. Follow-on

investments will be excludedunless the project is in adifferent product or servicearea.”

This played a major partin the strength of InvestNI’s mid-year results in2014. In ensuring deals

were rushed through beforethe June deadline on the

State Aid changes, it promotedmore jobs than previous years.As a result of this, there willbe an inevitable decline in thefigures of the second half of theyear.

Alastair Hamilton, CEO at In-vest NI, acknowledged as much when theresults were released: “When we becameaware of the changes the EU planned tomake to our ability to support reinvest-ments by large companies we made aconcerted effort to bring forward projectsbefore the EU deadline. Projects such asthe 807 jobs by PwC and the 628 jobs by

Moy Park are examples of expansions bylarge firms that Invest NI will not be ableto support in the future.

“This drive to ensure we were able toget these projects over the line before June30, and in turn secure the projects forNorthern Ireland, has meant we have hada spike in the number of jobs promotedand the investments made. Consequentlywe expect to see a slowdown in the secondhalf of this year,” Mr Hamilton added.

The changes to State Aid will impact oninvestment to firms already in NorthernIreland, so should not impinge on attract-ing new companies to make the move tothe province.

“The State Aid restrictions are likely toaffect assistance to businesses already inNI for whom new assistance will not beallowed to replace or duplicate existingcapacity. The State Aid rules will pushInvest NI to rely more on assistance otherthan capital grants,” Mr Simpson added.

This year will certainly be differentfor Invest NI, and will present manynew challenges. Coupled with budgetarychanges, and, potentially, a different gov-ernment at Westminster after the generalelection in May, Invest NI is to a certaininfluenced by the political and economic

David Kirk, former Silicon Valley executive

n Invest NI has had a free ride since it wasformed in 2002 — to support businessgrowth and inward investment. By any realmeasure of performance or productivity(in the real world) it would be fired longago.n Despite its predecessor (IndustrialDevelopment Board) receiving a stern awarning and admonishment from West-minster’s Public Accounts Committeein 2000, the Department of Enterprise,Trade, and Investment (DETI), its absenteeoversight, allows Invest NI to fool thepublic with a bureaucratic sleight of handknown as “jobs promoted”. Invest NI’sperformance is never measured againsthow many jobs are actually created, justby how many jobs the companies receivingits grants tell them they will create. Itcannot even tell how many jobs are reallycreated so their incompetence opens up ahole for massive abuse in awarding grantswithout accountability.n InvestNI has also intervened to “savethe investment ecosystem in NorthernIreland”. Unfortunately its strategy hasnot only failed, but it has amplified themarket failure it was trying to save.Using a flawed and universally criticisedtechnique of subordinating taxpayersmoney to clueless investment managers,and by setting goals for those managersto “make zero profit”, Invest NI have bothlost public money, and paid fund managersfor losing it.

n Given the impending budget cuts, onewould hope that — for the first time —someone is asking hard questions ofInvestNI’s performance and plans. Andperhaps the real challenge is — is thereanyone in DETI that can even understandthe hard questions to ask?

David Richards, CEO and co-founder ofWANdisco

n Back in 2012, the support of Invest NIhelped WANdisco in setting up a softwaredevelopment centre in Belfast which hasgone from strength to strength. Currently25 people are employed in our expandingBelfast office, and Belfast plays an abso-lutely core role in our global operations.However, it wasn’t Invest NI alone that at-tracted us to Belfast. The region possess-es excellent local talent, driven by highclass universities. The development workconducted in our office is being driven bygraduates and professionals from Belfast.n Invest NI has been very helpful in facil-itating access to local talent and makingthe introductions required to recruit thetalent required to fuel the growth of a fastgrowing business such as WANdisco. Theglobal expansion of a company can be adifficult process in terms of recruitment,maintaining culture and access to infra-structure. Being part of a local networkis always beneficial in turning thesechallenges into accelerators to growth.Moving forward, our Belfast centre is a keypart of our plans.

Differing views: what the business community thinks

>> Turn to page 20

Alastair Hamilton,CEO at Invest NI


COVER STORY

20

circumstances surroundingStormont.

Invest NI’s previous meth-ods of job creation, throughits own financial investment,will need to change. One newmagnet to attract foreigndirect investment (FDI) is thepotential of a reduction in therate of corporation tax.

The devolution of corpora-tion tax has come a step closerwith the Stormont HouseAgreement but much focus willbe required from politiciansto finalise the process. But intheory a bill, which is suppos-edly already drafted, couldpass through UK Parliamentbefore it dissolves for the gen-eral election later this year.

Employment and LearningMinister Stephen Farry said alower rate of corporation taxwill be big advantage not justfor FDI, but also for indigenousfirms in the province. “Wewill become more attractive todifferent types of investment,particularly those investmentswhich are bringing profitcentres into Northern Ireland,obviously to take advantage ofthe tax concessions.

“It’s also a huge opportunityfor our local businesses to ex-pand, and certainly to upscale,and look to see how they canbecome much more exportfocused. So I think it will bea real boon, in all aspects ofthe private sector, whether it’sinward investment or localindigenous business.”

Corporation tax will be ahelpful bargaining tool forInvest NI, but there are otherswith which Northern Irelandcould improve its competitive-ness, according to Mr Simpson.

The economist pointed out:“Lower corporation tax will bea help, provided Northern Ire-land takes all the other steps toenhance our competitiveness.The continuing questionsrelating to NI’s competitive-ness whether in labour costsand productivity, energy policydeficiencies and employmentlaw modernisation, alongsideanticipated tax changes.”

Energy costs are a particularworry. For example, NorthernIreland has the second highestelectricity costs for manufac-turers in the Europe, accordingto the Utility Regulator in theprovince.

One person critical of theeffectiveness of Invest NI, andquestioning of its methods,is technology expert David

Kirk. The Belfast-born formervice-president of AOL said:“Invest NI’s problem is, andalways has been, that theyhave zero experience in (a)venture capital investing, (b)technology startups and (c) UScorporate multinationals.

“If it has a chance of fixingitself that need to, firstly,acknowledge that it does notknow what it’s doing. Andsecondly, that by keeping doingthe same things and expectingdifferent results is the usualdefinition of insanity.”

One inevitability for 2015will be the decline in the num-ber of jobs created, due to lastyear’s exceptionally high jobnumbers.

Mr Simpson said: “2014will be seen as an unusuallysuccessful year because of thecombination of changes inState Aid rules and the arrivalof economic recovery. Invest NImay have a smaller budget butwe should expect it to set out anew series of key performanceindicators by which it might beassessed and monitored.”

“Invest NI will, in the main,need to emphasise alternativeincentives. Watch for moreemphasis on training, R&D ap-plications, innovation aid, and‘assured skills,’” Mr Simpsonadded.

One of the main motiva-tions overseas firms give forwhy they choose to locate inNorthern Ireland is the highlyskilled workforce presentin the province. DEL, whichworks along side Invest NI inbringing investment to North-ern Ireland, plays a big role inhelping with the maintenanceand improvement those skills.Like Invest NI, in 2015 it willface budgetary pressures.

Dr Farry said he will try andprotect those areas of the de-partment’s budget which assistin providing investment in theprovince.

“I will act as strategically asI possibly can to protect thoseareas that are most relevanttowards inward investment.For example, I’m asking ourcolleges and universities to dowhat they can to protect our

offering around what we callnarrow STEM, which involvescomputing, science, mathemat-ics, engineering. They are oftenthe very particular subjects alot of companies require.”

DEL offers training assis-tance through its assured skillsprogramme for companiesmaking the move to NorthernIreland, an area he will try toprotect. “Assured skills is verymuch at the pinnacle of ourcurrent offer (to firms). It isproviding real success and is sointrinsic now around inwardinvestment. So I do want togive some assurance thatassured skills will be some-thing that we will be seekingto protect come what may,” DrFarry added.

One area which will need tobe addressed will be NorthernIreland’s poor export figures.According to the NorthernIreland Chamber of Commerce,the province has seen the larg-est fall of any UK in the num-ber of goods exporters. Whileall UK regions saw the numberof exporters fall over the lastfive years, there were around1,600 active goods exportersin Northern Ireland in 2013,down from 1,700 in 2009.

Northern Ireland has seenthe slowest recovery in exportsthroughout the UK regions,according to the Chamber.However, the province was theonly region to see exports inthe year to September 2014, ris-ing 2%, against the UK figureof -3%. Manufacturing exportsrose by almost 9% to just over£6bn, but this was mainlydriven by large firms, withmedium and small firms bothseeing a decline. Large firms inNorthern Ireland account for60% of manufacturing, withonly 10 companies making uphalf of manufacturing exportsfrom the province.

Alastair Hamilton, CEO ofInvest NI, said: “We continueto see slow progress in growingNorthern Ireland manufactur-ing exports towards the 20%Programme for Governmenttarget. However, feedback weare receiving from companiesas part of our quarterly surveysindicates that they are expe-riencing growth in exporting,and also in external sales toGreat Britain. We have seencompanies make good progressin winning new business, suchas the £30m contract in Singa-pore for Wrightbus; and breakinto new markets like Clonal-lon Laboratories’ first deal inthe Middle East.

Corporation tax will be a great tool for the province, supporters claim

>> Continued from page 19


COVER STORY

21

“Despite this, the continueddifficulties in key Europeanmarkets, current restrictionson exports to Russia, anemerging growth market forus, and a slowdown in China,do mean that we expect to seeslow growth and that it willtake some time for our exportsto reach the target levels setby the Programme for Govern-ment.”

One area Invest NI helpsNorthern Ireland export-ers break into new overseasmarkets is through its trademissions.

Lisburn-based beer producerHilden Brewery took part inone of its trade missions andspoke highly of effects in help-ing it break into new markets.In 2014, the brewery broke intothe Czech Republic, a countrywhich drinks more beer perperson than any other in theworld.

Lisa Maltman, sales andmarketing manager atHilden Brewery, said: “InvestNI played a crucial role inHilden Brewery’s deal withour distributor (JASO) in theCzech Republic. On the trade

mission in June 2014 to Polandand the Czech Republic InvestNI, along with their partnersNITC, organised six meetingswith potential distributors,which were excellent. Four outof the six distributors we met

would have been a great matchfor Hilden Brewery, and in theend we were able to reach anagreement with JASO.”

Ms Maltman said the trademission was easy to process togo through. “Invest NI support

you through the process, fromorganising meetings withmarket experts to preparefor your visit, to appointing atravel consultant to assist withbooking flights and accommo-dation.

“Members of the Invest NITrade Team were also on handduring the trade mission,and without their help andthe guidance from Invest NI,we would not have been asconfident tackling the CzechRepublic market, especially asit has such a well establishedbeer culture. The whole pro-cess from start to finish wasmade very easy. I would highlyrecommend an Invest NI trademission to any companies whoare just embarking on theirexport journey.”

Whatever the changes forInvest NI, what is apparentis 2015 will mark a definitivechange in how it creates jobs.With the transformation ofState Aid and the likely trans-formation of its budget, workerskills and lower corporationtax will play a bigger role thanever in maintaining invest-ment.

Hilden Brewery benefited from Invest NI’s help


NEWS ANALYSIS

2222

WHATEVER wayyou look at it,the growth incrowdfundingis amazing. But

is this a bubble and is it goingto burst?

In the UK alone, crowdfund-ing has grown from £267m in2012 to £1.7bn in 2014. Lastyear alone it grew 160%.

Of course there is no suchthing as ‘crowdfunding’. Thesedays it’s a general term whichencompasses a number ofdifferent forms of funding.However they all have onecommon characteristic: that alot of people pitch in relative-ly small amounts of money,and as a result, worthy andexciting ventures come to lifewhere traditional methods offunding simply wouldn’t havegot involved.

Most people assume thatcrowdfunding is investment.However, when you analysethe figures in more depth,it’s clear that lending, ratherthan investing, is the maindriver. Last year in the UKthese different types of lendingaccounted for over £1.5bn.

And the fastest growingand largest sector of lending ispeer-to-peer business lending.This is where people lend tobusinesses but bypass thetraditional banks.

Don’t think that this is high-risk lending to early start-ups.Actually it is sticking to goodold fashioned banking princi-ples of lending to companieswho have the cash flow to beable to service the loan.

Where crowdfunding doesget involved in higher riskcompanies is in two of themost interesting and high pro-file areas — equity and rewardcrowdfunding.

To highlight equity in par-ticular, equity crowdfundingis where ‘the crowd’ invest forshares. Another good old-fash-ioned concept. And this is thehighest growth area of all, ex-panding at over 400% annuallyfor the last two years.

The analogy here is withbusiness angel investing,

although it can be argued thattraditional face-to-face angelinvesting provides a lot morethan just money.

Now there is a perceptionthat with the crowd you havea lot of investors, so that manyput in very small amounts ofmoney. Since the minimuminvestment is often as low as£10, it’s easy to see how thisidea has grown.

However for equity crowd-funding this turns out to bea myth. Two thirds of theseinvestors have invested morethan £1,000.

Early research into the ef-

fects of this investment suggestthat over 70% of funded com-panies have gone on to increasesales and 60% to increase theiremployment.

So amidst all the froth andpublicity about crowdfunding,a more sustained picture isemerging with at least twosignificant trends.

It seems that real investmentis taking place by serious inves-tors. The internet-based crowd-funding platforms are notsucking in the gullible masses.Instead their reach, speed andconnection are facilitating andimproving the marketplace for

investors to discover interest-ing companies.

And large sums are beinginvested in a low overhead,highly matched and efficientmanner. Most informedobservers agree that there willbe some spectacular failuresfollowed by a correction in thegrowth of crowdfunding.

But it’s clear that this isn’t abubble and it certainly isn’t go-ing to be burst any time soon.

Alan Watts is the director of Halo,the Northern Ireland BusinessAngel Network. More informationcan be found at www.haloni.com

Bypassing the banksAlanWatts exploreswhether thecrowdfundingboomisheretostay

Many projects in the UK have been funded through the successful use of crowdfunding


BREAKING THE MOULD

2424

I got into a technology businessbecause…

My dad worked as a systemsanalyst when I was young andhe worked a lot of overtimeat the weekends so I spenttime with him, programmingon my Spectrum 48k. I havealways been interested intechnology, and in particularprogramming. This is a fieldwhich is constantly changingand it offers the opportunity tobe innovative in the solutionswe find for our clients. As wework in the area of biometrictechnology solutions we are atthe cutting edge of the capa-bilities of this sector, creatingproducts more commonly seenin James Bond films, includingfingerprint readers and eyescanners. The Lava Group hasbeen developing unique soft-ware for the criminal justicemarket for the past 15 yearsand we are looking at movinginto the area of connectedhealth.

I haven’t always done this….

I have always enjoyed workingwith numbers so I thought thatI’d try accountancy at universi-ty. At that stage I didn’t reallyknow what I wanted to do andI thought accountancy wouldgive me plenty of options. Oneof the modules in that coursewas programming, which Iloved and did quite well in, soit was always in my mind onceI graduated to move in thatdirection. The backgroundin accountancy has helped inmy role as managing direc-tor. It has given me an earlyunderstanding of business andfinance and I feel comfortablemanaging budgets and work-ing on projections with ouraccountant.When I graduated I travelledto Australia for a winter toplay cricket. Experiencing a

different culture I feel helpedme understand the importanceof working hard. I realised atthat point that you only get outof life what you put in.After university I then did anIT conversion course for non-ITgraduates with BIC Systemscalled the RAP program. Myfirst job was as a programmerand I progressed into manage-ment within various technol-ogy companies. Working inthe Lava Group is particularlyinteresting because we arenormally tasked with creatingbespoke software solutionswhere other companies have

tried and failed. This meansthat we are often working totight deadlines.

The best thing about my work is…

Working with great people whoshare my passion for prob-lem solving. Our technologyis successful because of thetalented people we employ.We have a blend of youth andexperience in an enthusiasticteam whose prime objectiveis to deliver high qualitysolutions to our customersthat exceeds their expectations

and solves their problems. Ourtechnical director EdwardHanna is a founding memberof Lava Group. His skills as asystems architect and designerhave underpinned some of ourmost innovative and successfulproducts.The Lava Group was the firstin the custodial sector to usebiometrics to create an inde-pendent audit trail, the firstin the UK to record real timecustody interactions at the cell,the first in the UK to providebiometric secure login to ena-ble staff to access computersand the first to provide a Powerover Ethernet custodial lock.

The person I take inspiration from…

From a technology perspective,Mark Zuckerberg has shownjust how quickly a softwareproduct can dominate on aglobal scale. He has managedto change the way we com-municate with one successfulproduct. His ambition meansthat he isn’t afraid to takerisks. This is a sector whereyou need to be ready to takerisks. We will be pushingforwards as a company in 2015,reaching out to a global marketand exploring opportunitiesfor our products in Canada andAustralia.

My advice to anyone starting out intechnology…

Never accept that somethingcan’t be done. I have heard ourengineers on many occasionssaying ‘we will find a way’. Sofar we always have. If you keeppushing and have the rightpeople, then you will alwaysfind a solution to a problem.We are now exploring oppor-tunities within the connectedhealth sector. The experiencewe have gained in the custodialcare sector, where inmate careand accountability are para-mount, is helping us developsolutions in the increasinglyimportant area of connectedhealth.

At the cutting edge‘We create products that would be at home in a James Bond movie’

Gareth Morrison graduated as an accountant before moving into the ITsector, starting as a programmer

Name: Gareth MorrisonCompany: Managing director ofthe Lava Group


AND I’LL TELL YOU ANOTHER THING...

26

difficult years, many thoughtthat our business model wasdated and too traditional. Butnothing could be further fromthe truth. Progressive celebrat-ed 100 years in business lastyear and our strategy pavedthe way for the society to be theonly sizeable financial institu-tion in the whole of Ireland toremain profitable throughoutthe last decade. We now beginour second century in businessin a very strong position to en-able us to grow and to meet thedemands of an ever-changingmarketplace.

In 10 years the world will...Probably be moving at a faster

pace than it already is now. Weare living in an extremely excit-ing time in terms of science andtechnology and no doubt socialmedia and mobile technologywill continue to advance overthe next decade.

However while technologyhas a vital role to play in thesocial and business world, inmy opinion nothing beats faceto face and direct contact withour members and customers.

That is why we believe inproviding excellent customerservice and we are passionateabout direct engagement withour members and potentialcustomers through our branchnetwork which we continue to

invest in right across NorthernIreland.

My one business regret is...I don’t believe in regrets -everything happens for a reasonand normally works itself out inthe end. My one piece of busi-ness advice is...Don’t be afraidto pursue your dream job orto go after the career that youreally want.

I couldn’t start the day without...A strong cup of coffee and areview of the latest news fromlocal and national websites. Ifind this is a great way to easeinto what is normally a verybusy schedule of meetings.

Name: Declan MooreCompany: Operations director atProgressive Building Society

My first job was...I joined Progressive in 1992 andhave held the positions of areamanager and head of sales andmarketing until my most recentappointment as operationsdirector earlier this year.

After I graduated I movedto London where I startedas a trainee manager with anational building society beforeworking my way up to a moresenior position. While the ex-perience of working in Londonwas invaluable, after six years Iwas keen to return home.

At the time ProgressiveBuilding Society was recruitingand I was fortunate enoughto be offered a position andhaven’t looked back since. Iam now responsible for theplanning and execution of thesociety’s operational activitiesincluding the delivery of thesociety’s sales and marketingobjectives.

The person who taught me tosucceed was...Undoubtedly my parents havehad a major influence on meand they both worked extreme-ly hard to provide for a familyof five children and instil in allof us a strong work ethic.

My business mantra is...Treat others the way you wouldwish to be treated, with fair-ness, honesty and integrity.

It’s all changed since I started out...While I have seen considerablechange over the last 20 yearsboth within Progressive andthe broader housing Marketin Northern Ireland, I amextremely proud of the factthat we have always remainedtrue to our principles andresponsive to the needs of ourcustomers and members.The last decade has seen boththe highest house price appre-ciation and the largest houseprice reduction of any regionin the UK. During the more

‘Our model works’Declan Moore of Progressive Building Society on his career

Declan Moore, operations director at Progressive Building Society, which marked 100 years in business in 2014


SME WATCH

Soundhouse MD Steve Martin (right) with Brian Cummins of Citybeat

28

FROM the HolywoodRoad, Belfast toHollywood, USA.The award-winningSoundhouse and Pic-

turehouse provide audio-visualservices to film makers, adver-tising agencies and corporateclients across the UK, Irelandand the US.

MD Steve Martin runs thefirm with partner Hugh Matierand 16 staff. They offer onlineand offline editing, grading,compositing and visual effects(VFX), animation, motiongraphics, dubbing, recording,sound design, music composi-tion, jingles and more.

“We make television and ra-dio commercials and we wouldalso do post-production on TVprogrammes,” Mr Martin said.

“We would also work withall of the major film companieslike 20th Century Fox, Para-mount, Sony Pictures, WarnerBrothers and HBO.

“We do something calledADR (automated dialoguereplacement). We worked for acouple of years on the Game ofThrones, when they finishedfilming and they are editingit up. One year Sean Bean wasdown swashbuckling in Tolly-more Forest and they discov-ered the sound of the river wastoo loud so he came into thestudio and replaced his lines.

“We have done that for along, long time for the big play-ers in America so we have a bitof a reputation for that.”

Soundhouse also work forthe majority of Northern Ire-land advertising agencies andcompanies in Great Britainsuch as Trust Ford UK andSPAR. “We work for a broadrange of clients,” Mr Martinadded.

The company, which usedto be known as Jingle Jangles,is celebrating 30 years in busi-ness this year. “We started offas Jingle Jangles, myself andmy partner Hugh Matier,” hesaid. “We started doing jinglesfor ad agencies for their clientsand then we progressed fromthat and became Soundhouse.

“We went into the soundend of things and then createdPicturehouse about 17 yearsago, that’s the vision side ofthe business. The Picturehousedoes post-production.”

Sound fellaAmanda Ferguson speaks to Soundhouse managing directorSteve Martin as he celebrates 30 successful years in the business


29

2015 is shaping up to beanother busy year for thecompany. “We are gearingourselves up to hit the groundrunning in the New Year withad agencies and direct clientsacross the water,” Mr Martinsaid.

“It’s a big, big market for us.We are delighted we work withthe main players here in North-ern Ireland and hopefully theythink we produce good stuff.

“It is something differentevery day,” Mr Martin said.

“You could be working on aradio commercial, or linkingup with New York to recordLiam Neeson for a touristboard ad. It is very exciting.

“With HBO we had the greatand good in. Everyone fromSean Bean and Peter Dinklageto Charles Dance. It’s fantastichaving them in and workingon major productions from thislittle corner of Belfast.”

Soundhouse was linked to91% of Publicity AssociationNorthern Ireland (PANI)award winners last year.

“We were checking backand out of 23 awards made fortelevision and radio, we wereinvolved in 21 of them in one

way or another, either soundand or vision,” Mr Martin said.

“91% is some achievement. Itis our best year yet. Normallyit is around 75-80% so I wasdelighted.”

Over the last 30 years MrMartin has witnessed a varietyof changes in the industry.

“I am delighted jinglesand music beds seem to becoming back into their own,”Mr Martin said. “For quite a

few years there wasn’t jinglesbeing made, it was really stocklibrary music, but people arenow getting their own originalpieces done.

“My business partner Hughis a composer so he wouldput it together and if we needsomeone we would bring localmusicians in.

“For laying vocals down ona jingle, we would put a guidevocal on it and send it across

Simon McCormick shows the Soundhouse sound studio in action


to London or America orwherever and a vocalist wouldlay it down and send it back tous to make sure we are happywith it.”

The business has been a suc-cess thanks to the dedicationof the Soundhouse customerfocused team.

“We work very hard at it,”Mr Martin said.

“We work for peoplethroughout the whole ofIreland and across the waterwhich delights us and it issomething very few peopleknow or realise.

“We work regularly forthe likes of BSI — the BritishStandard Institution — anduniversities both locally hereand in the south producingsound and video.

“Apart from our ability andhaving talented people in ourteam, we concentrate on theway we treat people and theservice we provide.

“I have a wee saying here —nothing is too much trouble,there are no problems hereonly solutions.”For more about the team visithttp://www.thesoundhouseni.tv/

ASK THE EXPERTS

All questions should be addressed to: [email protected] and advice are publishted in good faith but should not replace the advice of your professional financial advisor.

I’VE recently set up a new business and have employed a workingparent. How do childcare vouchers work and how can I set up ascheme?

Childcare vouchers are an acceptable method of paying for registeredchildcare and offer savings for working parents who use registeredchildcare. There are also employer savings to be made.

Childcare vouchers work through a salary sacrifice scheme, whichmeans parents swap part of their salary, tax and National Insurance-free,to contribute towards their childcare costs, eg childminder, day nursery,holiday schemes, afterschool and breakfast clubs.

Each parent can save up to £933 per year through the scheme bybeing exempt from tax and National Insurance contributions on the valueof the vouchers purchased. A total of £243 per month can be sacrificedfrom parent’s pay packet.

Employer savings occur through exemption from National Insurancecontributions on the value of the vouchers purchased by employees.

In order to establish which weekly or monthly exempt amount applies,employers will be required to carry out a basic earnings assessment forall employees who join the scheme.

Employers For Childcare vouchers applies an administration fee onthe value of the vouchers ordered. VAT is applicable to the administra-tion fee only. Employers should note that they are exempt from payingthe Employers’ NICs of 13.8% on the value of the vouchers ordered -therefore even after paying the administration fee, the employer will stillmake a saving. There is no administration fee charged during the weeks/months where no vouchers are ordered. To set-up the scheme visithttp://vouchers.employersforchildcare.org or call 0800 028 3008. MR

ASK THE EXPERTS

30

EVEN if you feel you are in anarea with a low risk of flooding,remember that anywhere it rains,it can flood. Just because youhaven’t experienced a flood in thepast doesn’t mean you won’t in thefuture.

Flood maps have been createdto show the flood risk for yourcommunity — visit www.nidirect.gov.uk

To prepare for a flood, youshould sign up for advanceflood warnings by visiting www.environment-agency.gov.uk/flood,create a flood plan by down-loading a template from www.environment-agency.gov.uk/flood,prepare a flood kit with essentialitems such as your insurancedocuments, a torch, (and if you liveon the premises), warm clothingand blankets, a first aid kit any pre-scription medicine, bottled waterand non-perishable foods.

Then prepare your premisesfor flooding, elevate the furnace,water heater and electric panel ifyour business is an area that hasa high flood risk, and elevate orremove expensive items such as ITor specialist equipment. Considerinstalling ‘check valves’ to preventfloodwater from backing up intothe drains. Flood insurance, ofcourse, is the ultimate preparationfor your business. Check your

I’m very concerned about the risk of flooding to my businesspremises — what should I do and what are my options?

commercial cover to make sureyou are covered for flood damage.Flooding poses a substantial—but not ruinous—threat to UKbusinesses.

Purchase a comprehensivepolicy that accounts for business

interruption and is tailored to yourspecific industry and location. Tak-ing risk-reduction measures mayhelp cut down your premium orexcess. Visit www.willisinsurance.co.uk/floodinsurance to downloadour flood toolkit. MW

WHAT factors do I need toconsider when appointing asuccessor to my business?

MANY business owners dedi-cate their lives to building theirbusiness and have a desire tosee it grow, even after theyretire. The key considerationfor succession planning isselecting the right successor.Some people know exactly whothey want to appoint, but forothers it is a difficult decision.Would you appoint a memberof your family, a close friend,a senior member of staff orsimply sell the business? Doesyour preferred successorhave the correct skill set andexperience? It is important tothink about the impact yourdeparture would have on thebusiness and discuss yourwishes with your potentialsuccessor, well in advance ofyour succession date, to planfor the changes ahead.

It is never too early to plan.Changes can happen at anytime and it is prudent to havecontingency measures in place.Your plan should have provi-sions in place for most conceiv-able scenarios and not be leftuntil the last minute. The taxposition for you, your familyand your business should all betaken into account.

When moving on you shouldconsider what, if any, furtherinvolvement you will havein the business. Will you beleaving altogether, work parttime or even retain an interestas part-owner? It is importantthat your role is clearly defined.

You must consider howyour departure will impactthe business. Will processes,operations or roles be affectedby the change and if so how willthese be explained? The effecton staff, customers, suppliersand other key stakeholdersshould be considered anda coherent communicationstrategy devised.

You should have an expertassist you and your businesswith the planning and imple-mentation of any successionplan.

Our corporate team at MKBLaw have extensive experienceof advising business owners onsuccession planning. SH

Sound advice can be a valuable commodityWe put your questions to the experts with the answers

Stuart HornerSolicitor at MKB Law

Mark WillisClaims director, Willis Insuranceand Risk Management

Michelle RayLittle Rays Nursery


INSIDE REPORT

32

THERE has been nearunanimity from theNorthern Irelandbusiness communitysupporting the devo-

lution of corporation tax to theExecutive.

Wilfred Mitchell, the policychair for the Federation ofSmall Businesses, spoke formany when he said: “We rec-ognise the range of challengesfacing our politicians, butwould stress that one of themain ways to boost our localeconomy is by increasing theflow of wealth from outside ofNorthern Ireland.

“One of the primary ways inwhich this can be achieved isthrough increased export salesand foreign direct investment,both of which will be achievedif we cut the rate of corpora-tion tax, as this will increaseour competitiveness.”

The CBI has taken a positive,though carefully nuanced,position. Colin Walsh, the CBI’schairman in Northern Ireland,referred to the “many years ofsustained, united lobbying bybusiness in Northern Ireland”which led to the agreement inprinciple to devolve corpora-tion tax. He said: “This recog-nises our unique geographicposition within the UK and thesignificant strategic challengeswe face.”

But the CBI also representsmembers in Great Britain,whose businesses could be neg-atively affected by the move.This no doubt explains themore cautious words expressed

TAXINGMATTERS

As Northern Ireland’s businesses anticipate the devolution of corpora-tion tax, Paul Gosling looks at the benefits and the concerns

by the director-general, JohnCridland.

“In devolving corporationtax to Northern Ireland,the Government has had tobalance the unique needs oflocal business in the face ofgrowing competition south ofthe border.

“But firms across the rest ofthe UK view a unified businesstax regime as an essential pil-lar of Britain’s single market.”

Both the CBI and others havestressed that any devolution ofcorporation tax is insufficienton its own to deliver a stepchange in economic perfor-mance in Northern Ireland.

Mr Cridland urged the Ex-ecutive to invest in skills andinfrastructure to make North-ern Ireland more attractive toinvestors.

Paul Terrington, regionalchairman of accountancy firmPwC, also pointed out that de-volving corporation tax is onlypart of any solution.

He said: “The fact thatWestminster is willing to takethis step should stimulatean informed debate on whatNorthern Ireland needs to doto ensure that, if corporationtax is devolved, we get thegreatest benefit for the regionat the lowest cost to taxpayersand business.”

There are also practicalissues to ensure that devolu-tion of corporation tax deliversgenuine benefits, rather thansimply the facilitation of taxavoidance through what isoften termed ‘profit shifting’.

That profit shifting mightinvolve so-called ‘brass plating’— with British companies ‘set-ting-up’ in Belfast, with a brassplate on the door and occasion-al meetings in a building, butno actual employment.

However, this is not a newconcern for tax authorities.Many multinationals have foryears claimed to operate in onejurisdiction — which is lowtax — while actually operatingtheir businesses and gener-ating their profits in anotherjurisdiction.

This general issue wasaddressed by the Chancellor inhis Autumn Statement, withthe proposed introductionof what is being termed the‘Google tax’, or, to give it thecorrect name, the divertedprofits tax.

Enforcement of the divertedprofits tax will involve HMRevenue & Customs makingjudgments on whether multi-nationals are avoiding taxesthrough the use of artificialtransactions with relatedcompanies overseas in order todisguise where profits are gen-erated. Tax professionals ex-pect many of the tax officials’judgments to be challenged inthe courts and to be difficult tolegally enforce.

Chas Roy-Chowdhury, headof tax for the Association ofChartered Certified Account-ants, said: “We see these rules— which have been devisedto bring into the UK around£1bn of economic activity —being challenged by the MNCs

[multinational corporations]it impacts as being extra-ter-ritorial and wrapping-up theUK in significant levels oflitigation.”

The question of whether adifferential rate of corpora-tion tax within the UK willsimilarly lead to more levelsof artificial accounting is oneof the reasons the devolutionmove has been questioned bythe Institute for Fiscal Studies,


33

the leading independent bodyexamining UK policy on taxand government spending.

In a briefing following theChancellor’s Autumn State-ment, the IFS’s senior researcheconomist, Helen Miller, said:“In principle, corporationtax isn’t a great candidate fordevolution. That is becausecompany profits are particu-larly mobile. Devolution [ofcorporation tax] opens up

concerns of profit shifting andtax competition within the UK.This concern will be increasedif Scotland and Wales alsowant this devolution.”

But there is another reasonfor scepticism about the choiceof corporation tax as a toolof tax competition. Such hasbeen the level of corporationtax competition in recentyears that governments haveincreasingly moved away from

relying on corporation tax forrevenues. This is illustrated bythe UK having cut its main cor-poration tax rate from 52% in1982, to 30% by 2000 and just20% from this coming April.

Given the ease, and will-ingness, with which multina-tionals can relocate corporateheadquarters, governmentshave shifted the tax burdenonto other financial activitiesthat are more difficult to avoid.

One example is sales taxes.The UK’s Vat rate has risenfrom 8% in 1979, to 20% today.

The overall impact of thisshift in tax burden is illustrat-ed by a recent study conductedby PwC of total tax contribu-tions by the UK’s 100 largestcompanies. This found that in2005 corporation tax repre-sented 50% of the companies’

>> Turn to page 34


INSIDE REPORT

34

tax payments, the figure fellby 2013 to just 26%. Other taxcontributions are generated bynational insurance and busi-ness rates, as well as Vat.

It could therefore be argued,as some do, that devolving thesetting of national insurancerates would be more effectivethan corporation tax devolu-tion. It would also potentiallyprovide a specific incentivefor job creation, rather thanhaving the unintended effectof assisting tax avoidance.

There is clearly an assumedlevel of economic displacementfrom Great Britain to NorthernIreland in the figures used tocalculate the cost to NorthernIreland of the devolved policy.This is evident from the com-ments by Enterprise MinisterArlene Foster’s explanation ofthe lowered assumption of jobscreated for Northern Irelandas a result of the fall in recentyears in UK corporation taxrate. Matching the Irish rateis now expected to generate40,000 jobs in Northern Ire-land, compared to the 58,000that had been projected threeyears ago – when the UK’s cor-

poration tax rate was higher.There is a sting in the tail,

here. The UK Government hasmade it clear that any losses incorporation tax revenue thatit receives as a result of profitshifting or displacement arelikely to be imposed upon the

Northern Ireland Executive.Nor should it be forgotten thatwhile Northern Ireland will getthe jobs resulting from attract-ing investment through lowercorporation tax, much of thefiscal benefit would accrue tothe UK Exchequer. Additional

income tax, national insuranceand Vat revenues would all goto the UK government.

Although it seems as ifcorporation tax devolution ison its way to Northern Ireland,the road ahead is neither easynor without obstacles.

Implementing a corporation tax cut could prove to be controversial



TICKERS

36

Ulster Bank economist Richard Ramsey looks at the story behind the statistics

DECEMBER’S labour marketreport for Northern Irelandarguably contains the mostimpressive set of labour marketstatistics since the econom-ic recovery began. Furtherimprovements were made withemployment on the rise asunemployment continues tofall. The preferred survey formeasuring Northern Irelandemployment is the quarterlyemployment survey. The latestsurvey for September 2014represents the strongest set ofjob creation figures since therecovery began. In the thirdquarter the total number ofemployee jobs increased by6,460 or plus 0.9% (up 2.0%y/y) relative to the previousquarter. This represented thefastest quarterly rate of growthsince the first quarter of 2005.Furthermore, in numericalterms, the net gain in employ-ment of 6,460 jobs representedthe largest quarterly increase

since the second quarter of1997. The latest quarterly risein employment in quarter three2014 represented the 11th suc-cessive quarter of employmentgains. During this period fromquarter four 2011 to quarterthree 2014 there has been a net

gain in employment of 28,880jobs. This means almost 70% ofthe jobs lost during the down-turn (41,780 jobs) have beenrecouped. There are now morepeople employed in the servicesindustry (591,800) than therewere at the pre-recession peak

(584,500) in the second quarterof 2008. Conversely, employ-ment within the constructionsector, although increasing byover 1,000 in quarter three,remains some 36% below itspre-recession peak in quarterfour 2007.

The month’s local indicators at a glance

UK consumer prices increasedby just 1.0% year-on-year in No-vember which was the lowestannual rate of inflation sinceSeptember 2002. The plunge inthe oil price is a key factor be-hind the weaker than expectedrate of inflation. However, thelack of inflationary pressures isbroad-based, food prices havefallen by almost 3% since Feb-ruary. Given that the sharp falls

in oil prices that have occurredthis month have yet to feedinto consumer prices, a furtherdecline in the rate of inflationis anticipated in December.Consumer price inflation is ex-pected to average around 0.6%in 2015. Given this inflationaryoutlook the Bank of England’sMonetary Policy Committee isnot expected to raise interestrates until 2016 at the earliest.

THE UK has continued toborrow heavily, with some£91bn required for the currentyear alone. Whilst borrowing isset to fall, with a surplus finallyarriving in 2018/19, this is onlypossible due to even morepublic expenditure cuts. Thesepublic expenditure cuts, as yetunspecified, are on top of exist-ing cuts yet to take effect. TheOBR notes that we are now in

the fifth year of a 10-year fiscalconsolidation. Furthermore,60% of the planned cuts in pub-lic expenditure are still to takeplace in the next Parliament. Itis noted that total public spend-ing as a share of UK GDP is setto fall to a level not seen sincethe data began in 1948. Thisraises question marks over thefiscal credibility of the currentChancellor.


BUSINESSPEOPLE

37

all, but do you want to comeand work for us?” It was a real-ly easy decision for Sheena andI. We quickly made a completecareer change.

By this stage, Boundary al-ready had a board of directorswho had been meeting for fivemonths. They encouraged thedecision too. My only concernwas that Brewbot may slowBoundary down. I was reallyclear about this concern withChris from the beginning. Werevisited that conversation acouple of times during my yearat Brewbot.

So I started working withBrewbot in December 2013. Istruggled to keep afloat in acompletely new world to me,the tech start-up world. It’s acrazy world. Crazily beautiful.

Before I knew it, I wasbrewing beer for events allover the world. My beer wasbeing served in the USA, Spain,and palaces in England. Eventhe King of Spain was given abottle of my beer. Suddenly Iwasn’t wasting time by readingan entire book about yeast. Itwas my job.

Within a few months atBrewbot, I had made friendsfor life. I was also learninga lot. Whilst studying, I hadlearnt a lot about time manage-ment, efficiency, and work-lifebalance. This was tested andimproved at Brewbot. I slowlyfound that I was able to domore with less.

In early 2014, we were ac-cepted onto a Tech AcceleratorProgram called Techstars. It isthe world’s leading tech accel-erator program. The Brewbotguys were really excited. Sowas I, but if I was really honest,this world was still very new tome, and the idea of being com-pletely immersed in it for threemonths in the States, awayfrom my family, was a massivecommitment.

Sheena and I decided it wasworth it. So I moved to Austin,Texas. It was hot. Actually,it was humid. Most of theexperience was absolutelyincredible. I discovered evenmore about myself; mainly adriven-ness for perfection andan impatience and intolerancefor half-assery.

IWAS halfway through aMasters in Theology atQueen’s — however, I wasgetting more and moredistracted by beer. Instead

of reading the Early ChurchFathers, I was reading entirebooks about hops, or beerstyles, or Belgian beer-brewingmonks.

I had moved back homefrom Reno, Nevada with mywife in 2010. The beer sceneback in the States was electric.Back home, not so much. Ibegan to dream about a life oflecturing New Testament andrunning a brewery on the side.

I finished my Masters andimmediately started my PhD.I was allowed to lecture fromthe beginning, which wasgreat. I was struggling tobalance my time between stud-ying, writing, teaching andlooking into what it would taketo open a brewery in Belfast.

The more I looked into thebrewery, the more I realisedthat I would be absolutelyinsane to try to balance thetwo. I am married. Sheena waspregnant. I slowly began torealise that academia and beerwouldn’t both work for me if Iwanted to be healthy.

The choice was easy. Theidea of creating somethingfrom scratch, that no-one haddone here yet, was enticing.

It only took me just over ayear to make the decision.

The decision was almostmade for me a year later, inNovember 2013. It was at BeerClub. The decision to leave mystudies came in the shape of arobot that brewed beer.

Brewbot was a local Belfastbased company who had de-signed this robot that brewedbeer. Being a dork, and seeingthat the company was local,I had obviously kept an eyeon their progress. That night,Chris McClelland came to me,“I know you’re studying and

The Northern Ireland businessperson who...

Matthew Dick on co-founding Boundary Brewery

Matthew Dick will have his range of beers on the market by March

...took his dog for a walk and opened a brewery

I also got the world’s bestcrash course in starting abusiness; financing, seedrounds, raises, go-to market,pivots, marketing, PR, marketresearch, branding, venturecapitalists, angels, UI (userinterface), coding, networking,email. I even knew what UX(user experience) meant now. Inow had a deep confidence inthe details of Boundary. Andwhen I left Austin in Septem-ber, I knew that I needed todo this Boundary thing. And Ineeded to do it now. I felt thatif I didn’t get Boundary off theground quickly, I was going tospontaneously combust.

So within two months, I leftBrewbot and threw myself intoBoundary.

I reconnected myself back tothat one moment I had in early2013 when I was walking mydog. Time stood still. Almosteverything about Boundarycame to me at that one moment— the name, the design, themarketing, the size of bottle,the styles of beer. I knew fromthe beginning that Boundarywas something I needed toshare. Something I wantedto share. We are fighting a lotof battles opening a brewerylike this in Northern Ireland.We needed all the support wecould get from the beginning.It was in the summer of 2013that I met Matt Scrimgeourwho convinced me that doingBoundary as a co-operativewas the way to go.

So in November 2014,we went into overdrive. Wefinished our community shareoffer document, got a websiteup, and opened membership toour co-operative.

We raised £100,000 in eightdays.

And we will have beer in theworld in March 2015.

Almost two years exactlysince that one day I took mydog on a walk.


FOCUS ON: MEDICAL DEVICES


IT’S one of the unsung heroes of theNorthern Ireland economy, but the lifesciences industry, incorporating med-ical device manufacturing, is certainlyin rude health.

From pharmaceutical firms like Almac,to testing kit business Randox, can-cer-seeking software designer PathXL andmedical camera makers Andor, now partof global giant Oxford Instruments, ourcompanies are world leaders in their fields,partly due to strong links with Queen’s andUlster University.

Last summer, 13 businesses and organi-sations took part at the BIO InternationalConvention, a major life sciences exhibi-tion, in San Diego.

Part of the success of the sector is thefamily ethos and personal touch of thecompanies, no matter how big they get.

Ulster academic Professor John Ander-son, who died in 2012, was a co-founderof HeartSine and in the 1960s developedthe world’s first portable defibrillatordesigned for use outside hospitals.

The first cardiac ambulance in theworld was developed and delivered in Bel-fast and to this day, the process that emer-gency departments use to treat cardiacarrest is known as ‘The Belfast Protocol’.

Based in newly-expanded premises inthe east of the city, HeartSine, which re-cently announced 40 new jobs, is the onlymanufacturer of defibrillators in the UKand Ireland and the products are sold toover 70 countries across the world.

But despite its global reach, each andevery life saved by a HeartSine product isrecorded.

When the data from a device is relayedback to Northern Ireland from wherever inthe world it was used, the Belfast workersare gathered together and the people whomade it are given a round of applause.

Declan O’Mahoney, chief executiveof HeartSine Technologies, said that hewants to double sales of the existing prod-uct portfolio in target markets over thenext three years.

With around 100,000 people dying fromsudden cardiac arrest in the UK and Ire-

land each year, compared to few hundredfire-related fatalities, he wants a defibril-lator in every public building, like a fireextinguishers or smoke alarms.

Mr O’Mahoney said that the growinglife sciences sector was providing an in-

spiring business atmosphere.“There is constant growth in this sector

and a great supply of talented people,” hesaid. “It is a very supportive environmentand Northern Ireland continues to leadthe way in innovation.

LIFE SCIENCESClare Weir describes how Northern Ireland firms - from testing kit businesses and cancer-seek-

39

>> Turn to page 40


“We certainly wouldn’t want to beanywhere else.”

Another company which started fromhumble beginnings has grown into oneof Northern Ireland’s biggest businesssuccess stories.

Back in the 1970s, Dundonald phar-macist Tom Eakin began working onimproving wound pouches for people withostomies – an opening in the body forthe discharge of bodily waste followingsurgery.

FORGE AHEADing software designers - are world-leaders in medical devices, exporting across the globe

Northern Irelandcompanies continueto lead the way ininnovation

Fast forward to today and the EakinGroup has a turnover of £72m and sellsto 40 countries, with a huge market inAmerica.

Indeed Tom’s sons Paul and Jeremyhave seen their wealth rocket by £100min just a year, putting them at third placein the annual Sunday Times Rich List forNorthern Ireland.

Earlier this year the company invested£12m extending its Comber manufactur-ing facility to over 100,000 sq ft and ac-quired English firm Cliffe Medical, whichowns Respond Plus in Larne.

Larne is also home to Japanese bloodproducts firm Terumo.

The acquisition of Cliffe is the EakinGroup’s first since 2007, when it took overPelican Healthcare in Cardiff.

A new kid on the block is ARC Devices,which develops and manufactures nontouch, infrared digital thermometers.

The company was established in 2013by Kevin Paul, who decided to base thefirm in Northern Ireland.

The firm has an international share-holder base, backed by independent inves-tors from the US, UK, Canada, Ireland andThe Netherlands, and sells to 22 countries.

Staff are currently carrying out design,support and market development activi-ties.

Future research and developmentprojects include the design of devices tomonitor vital signs including pulse, heartrate, respiratory rate, blood pressure andblood saturation.

ARC acquired Brooklands Inc inFlorida, giving it ownership of VeraTemp.It is the world’s best-selling non-touch

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FOCUS ON: MEDICAL DEVICES

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thermometer, and uses aninfrared sensor to measuretemperature. The firm plansto expand sales of VeraTempinto mainland Europe, Russia,and the Middle East.

In May 2013, EnterpriseMinister Arlene Foster andthen-Health Minister EdwinPoots revealed that the healthand social care sector spendsalmost £4.5bn, provides for 9%of the workforce and generatesalmost 10% of total economicoutput. They called for furthercollaboration between healthand life sciences in the privatesector and academia to driveinnovation.

Mr Paul said that ARC was agood fit with existing medicaland healthcare companiesalready operating here.

“ARC Devices provides amuch-needed boost to thehealth care sector in North-ern Ireland and supports theminister’s economic vision forthe future, contributing to thecompetitiveness of North-ern Ireland and increasingemployment and wealth in theregion,” he said.

Jeremy Eakin, managing director of TG Eakin, with Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster



FOCUS ON: ACCOUNTANCY


Numbers add up

The biggest jobs announce-ment in the sector was madeby PwC, which plans to create800 jobs over the next fiveyears at its Waterfront Plazahub.

More than 300 of the postsare aimed at qualified account-

IF accountancy is a num-bers game then Belfastwas number one in 2014.With more than 1,600new jobs announced by

three of the ‘Big Four’ ac-countancy and professionalservices firms in the past 10months, Belfast can rightfullystake a claim to being the mostattractive business locationfor global financial companieslooking to base their back-of-fice, tech support and dataanalysis operations.

Global giants such asDeloitte, EY and PwC areinvesting an estimated £90min setting up new businesshubs in the city, with InvestNI supporting the recruitmentsplurge to the tune of £10.5m.

Alternative global locationswere considered by the firms,so securing the jobs for theregion represents a real coupby Invest NI and is seen as afurther boost to Northern Ire-land’s booming services sector.

But rather than seeing it as afresh explosion in ‘back office’hubs, industry insiders insistthat the investment marks astep-change in the transfor-mation of financial services inNorthern Ireland, whereby themajority of the new roles willbe “client-facing” and “highvalue”.

“Back-office work suggeststhat you do relatively low-leveldata processing,” said one in-sider. “This is not the case withthe majority of these new jobs.Many of them are client-facingroles. The new employees willeither be out with the clients

delivering a service to them orwill be delivering the client’sservice out of a Belfast hub.But it will not be the routineprocessing which most peopleunderstand to be back-officework,” he said.

Regardless of the debate

surrounding back-offices andthe need for high-value jobs,Northern Ireland is reapingthe rewards as the economytransitions from its traditionalindustrial base to one dom-inated by a diverse range ofglobal services.

Firms likeDeloitte and PwChave invested£90m in settingup new businesshubs in the city

Belfast is now a officelocation for top global

financial firms,writes Simon Rowe


for accountants

ants, as well as graduates, ina new cloud advisory servicecalled My Finance Partnerwhich is tailored to the needsof early-stage and fast-growingbusinesses.

The other 500 jobs are aimedat graduates and school leavers

who will be recruited for ‘staffaugmentation’ teams in PwC’sglobal client businesses. Manyof these ‘staff augmentation’teams will be mobile, travellingthe world and servicing PwC’sglobal client base, as around70% of PwC Northern Ireland

revenues come from exportmarkets. Other ‘static’ teamswill be based in businesssilos at its Belfast hub servingdomestic and internationalclients.

PwC’s staff headcount inBelfast currently stands at1,000, with 300 of those staffrecruited in the last two yearsalone.

In another massive voteof confidence in the highstandard of our local graduatepool and the region’s businessinfrastructure, financial con-sultants Deloitte is set to cre-ate 338 new jobs at the firm’stechnology hub in Belfast overthe next five years as part of a

£30m investment.This will bring the firm’s

Northern Ireland workforce,where the average salary isaround £30,000, to more than700.

The jobs are in addition to177 roles created in 2013.

Deloitte’s Technology Stu-dio, which focuses on analyticsand financial statistics, wasstarted as a pilot in Belfast in2011 and is now being expand-ed into a fully fledged centre.

Deloitte senior partner Jack-ie Henry said choosing Belfastfor such a massive expansion

revenues come from export

Continued on page 44 >>

FOCUS ON ACCOUNTANCY

44

Continued from page 43 >>

that Belfast is not only openfor business but is open for bigbusiness.

“This significant invest-ment in digital and analyticsservices as well as finance,pensions and actuarial con-sulting tells the world thatwe have the skills and theambition to succeed in glob-ally competitive markets,” shesaid. “The choice of Belfast forthis investment is significant,and was made in the face ofstrong international compe-tition.”

One of the first of the ‘BigFour’ firms to capitaliseon our talent pool was EY,formerly Ernst & Young. LastApril it announced plans tocreate 486 jobs over the nextfour years in a major expan-sion of its Belfast operation.EY has created a new businessunit offering advisory andassurance services to clientsoutside of Northern Ireland.

EY already employs 145people at its office in BedfordStreet, among a total work-

force of 1,450 people across itsfive offices, north and south.

Mike McKerr, managingpartner of EY Ireland, said the“business case” for expandingin Belfast was simple: “As acompany with a presence in

more than 150 countries, wecontinually evaluate the bestlocations for expansion toensure maximum productivityand growth,and Belfast tickedall the boxes,” he said.

The creation of more than

480 new jobs at EY will deliveran additional £19m in salariesand make a huge contributionto the wider economy.

With numbers like that — infinancial services terms — itlooks like Northern Ireland

Our ‘talent pool’ figures add up for the likes of EY, which is creating 486 new jobs here inside the next four years



WINTERWONDERLANDS

JET OFF SKIS ON

TAKE OFFWITH BRENDA

DAY IN THE LIFEA day with BA’s partnership manager

SKI OFF FORA BREAK

GET OFF PISTEExperience a black run in the Swiss Alps

MANABOUTTOWN

THE CHAIRMANInside track on Northern Ireland business

OFF LINE SECTION

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Rallying supportput motorsportback on the map

Joris Minne heads out to lunch at Bennett’s with Bobby Willis, director of Circuit of Ireland

SPORTSMEN and women come inall shapes and sizes. You can usu-ally tell a competition cyclist froma pro darts player at 100 paces. Butwhat of international class rally

co-drivers and navigators? Belfast-basedmotor sports impresario Bobby Willis, theman who resurrected the Circuit of Ireland,may be the perfect specimen.

He is compact (takes up less room in thetight confines of super lightweight, highlytuned cars), alert (has to know what’s aroundthe next bend with split second timing) andcalm (lifting off in a Toyota doing the ton overa bridge requires nerves of tungsten, especiallywhen you’re in the passenger seat).

The mild-mannered Willis has a rallypedigree which any 60-year-old motor sportsveteran would consider as seriously accom-plished. He has raced in the world’s top ralliessince the 1970s in Europe, the Middle Eastand Africa.

Having caught the bug from his father whoraced in the 1949 Circuit of Ireland, BobbyWillis is the man behind the resurgence ofthat same event in recent years.

He may have guided drivers through highspeed chases in some of the most challengingmotor sports events ever devised includingseveral Paris-Dakar rallies with the VW factoryteam, but he says his proudest achievementis getting the Circuit of Ireland back in the

public consciousness.“The Circuit of Irelandwent off the radar for a bit but our ambi-tions to reinstate its international standinghave now been fulfilled,” he says. “The 2012Circuit of Ireland was a turning point: sincethe International Rally Championship wasamalgamated into the European Rally Cham-pionship, the 2014 event held here representedIreland and the UK.

“This was broadcast by Eurosport to mil-lions of viewers across the globe and the 2015event from April 2 to 4 promises lots morepositive exposure.”

But before any of this, the event almostsank out of sight until its resurrection in thenorth by Willis whose Rally Maps businessrelied on the continued success of not justthe Irish event but the 13 other rallies in theEuropean series.

His Rally Maps are a specialist service pro-vided to race organisers and require a forensicapproach to map-making, in this case, mapswhich will have the precision demanded fromdrivers, co-drivers and event management.

“The event is more to do with PR and pro-motion than anything else,” he says, citingStephen Smith as the PR brains behind there-emergence of the event. “I learned a lotfrom Stephen who showed me how PR workedand how to make the event attractive to thenews media.”

It hasn’t been all plain driving, though.

Bobby lost £25,000 of his own money in theill-fated 2013 circuit of Ireland which hadpromised so much. The Easter date seemedsafe enough weather-wise, until the snowfell and stayed in huge, impenetrable driftsacross main sections of the route. The 2013circuit had to be cancelled.

“But we came back with a vengeance in2014 and the impact the TV coverage hadwill be remembered as equal to that of theIrish Open, the Giro and other large-scale,international events,” he says.

“It’s all down to the backdrop: can theevent show off Northern Ireland to its best?In our case the 2014 Circuit during which thesun shone and the place looked heavenly, thebackdrop was the Ulster scenery in its fullspring-time splendour.”

Motor sportsimpresario BobbyWillis enjoys foodand conversationat Bennett’s Cafeon Belmont Road,east Belfast

Bennett’s CaféHake 11.50Scallops 9.00Fries 3.00Apple crumble 4.50Cheesecake 4.50Glass wine 4.95Sparkling water 4.10Tea & coffee 3.40Total 45.45


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The leather workshop haswhat may be described as‘character’, a place where alltypes of leatherwork is carriedout. Biker’s leathers; vintagecar repair or theatrical propssuch as armour and swordscabbards made for Game ofThrones all complement the re-pair of saddles. Such a varietyof work befits members of theSociety of Master Saddlers andthe Society of Master Crafts-men.

Quality Argentinean leatheris used in this one-stop-shopfor equine needs. Saddles are

fitted on a province-wide basis,both for rider and horse. Re-pairs are carried out althoughsome older side saddles, whichcan cost £3,000 to £4,000 new,may be beyond repair if theyhave started to rot.

Customers come from allover the province, from Dublinand the border counties.The equine laundry service,which also includes repairs, ispopular.

Bracken caters for bothprivate and commercialcustomers with clubs, ridingschools and competition riders

JUST outside southBelfast, up a tree-lineddriveway near Purdys-burn village, is one ofIreland’s top saddleries.

Crawford Jackson runs BrackenEquestrian from his ancestralhome and has been in the busi-ness since the early 1980s.

The original farmhouse hasa pleasant wooded setting withthe salesroom and workshoplocated in a courtyard withstables. The signage may beslightly faded and the expan-sive showroom not ‘modern’ bytoday’s standards but there is asense of warmth generated bythe look and smell of leather.

The shop’s main section islarge with a vast array of stockas one looks into the distance:it is ‘busy’ with shelving andfloor displays and both saddlesand tack hanging from theceiling. This is one of the fewworking saddleries remain-ing with two of the four staff,Crawford and Tina, mastersaddlers.

Ron McBride

Streetview No.52: Bracken Equestrian Saddleryamongst their customers.As with many businesses,the recession has made itsmark. Owning a horse can beexpensive, given livery fees inaddition to veterinary costsand feed, riding kit and tack.Crawford estimates that own-ership has fallen by around25% in recent years.

The business has a goodwebsite which gives potentialcustomers good information indifferent sections dedicated to:saddlery, riding kit, horse feedand supplies, equine laundry,leatherwork and theatricalprops.

Customers, be they bikers,theatre producers, riders orvintage car owners will findsomething of interest in thisfriendly, professional business,be it on a visit or checkingtheir website.

Bracken Equestrian Saddlery87 Ballycoan RoadPurdysburnBELFAST BT8 8LP02890812485


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‘Notwodaysarethesame.I lovetheversatility,theexcitement and thepeople I meet ’

Brenda MorganPartnership manager for Northern Ireland at British Airways,sponsor of the Belfast Telegraph Business Awards 2015

7am:I usually wake up to the alarmbeeping. I prepare the break-fast the night before as cater-ing for the varying requestsof the Morgan children canprove to be a challenging task.Mornings until 8.30 are gener-ally busy in our household, sobeing organised is key to theday starting smoothly. Then Itake the kids to school and myworking day begins.

8.45amI work from home when I’mnot travelling to the Dublin orLondon offices. I don’t hit traf-fic and I tend to arrange anymeetings for post-rush hour,which means checking emailsbefore heading out for the restof the day. Between Octoberand December is the busiestperiod for me in the commer-cial department as we preparefor 2015 activity and round off2014 - so a full day in my officecan be a luxury.This morning however, I’moff to London for meetings.Its great getting breakfaston-board the British Airwaysaircraft (at no extra charge) aslunch may be on the run later

in the day. It’s my first timearriving into Terminal 5 fromBelfast City Airport followingthe recent move of the BelfastLondon Heathrow flightsfrom Terminal 1. We have hadgreat feedback following theterminal change and it reallyis a positive move for North-ern Ireland passengers. Themove means passengers nowenjoy the benefits of quicker,smoother connections throughthe airport to over 100 citiesworldwide served by BritishAirways from Terminal 5.Connection times have beenreduced to 60 minutes aspassengers will not have totransfer between terminalsbefore getting onward connec-tions. This means that thereare now more global connec-tions available from Belfast viaLondon Heathrow, as well asa greater choice of fares andof course transiting throughthe best terminal in theworld. A lot of passengers alsodon’t realise you can get theHeathrow Express and LondonUnderground direct from T5into central London, so it’s stilla new experience for many ofour customers.

11amNext on my agenda is ‘A Brand,Product and the Know MePresentation’ to colleagues atWaterside. Waterside is BritishAirways’ HQ in London and isa building that I love visiting.It is where the majority of Brit-ish Airways, American Airlinesand Iberia staff reside. It’s aspectacular building with somuch going on. My presenta-tion is a discussion around the‘Know Me’ campaign, whichBritish Airways has embarkedon to get to know our passen-gers better. While it is a rela-tively new project, it is showingvery positive results ascustomers are getting quickerresponse times and it ensuresthat they receive a personalresponse. It is really making adifference. Our meeting alsodiscusses investment and im-provements on our shorthaulaircrafts, now in place on ourBelfast flights.

2pm:I’m now moving on to an ‘OnBusiness’ product update withthe team. The British Airways‘On Business’ programme isour loyalty scheme for the busi-

nesses. It allows a company toaccumulate miles and rewardsfor flights employees take.Plus the passenger can stillaccrue their Executive ClubMiles - Avios points. Today weare receiving updates on theprogramme as it is undergoingexciting changes, which will begreat news for the SME marketand Northern Ireland.

4pmNow I’m homeward bound andback at T5. I love airports atthis time of year as there is somuch excitement especiallywith families welcoming lovedones back for Christmas. SoonI’m on my flight home witha gin and tonic, crisps andbiscuits in hand. A nice end tothe day.

7pmTonight there are no eveningevents. At this time of the yearthere can be two to three dur-ing the week. So it’s straight tocooking dinner and oversee-ing homeworks. No two daysare the same and I love theversatility, the excitement andthe people I meet. Here’s totomorrow.


MOTORING NEWS

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Donnelly and Taggar claimdealer of the year awardDONNELLY and Taggart Eg-linton has received the Suzuki‘small dealer of the year award,’highlighting the success of oneof the latest dealerships to jointheir multi-franchise site.

They impressed Suzuki withtheir levels of customer servicevolume of sales, presentationof vehicles and attention todetail, all of which were testedon a number of manufacturer‘mystery shops’.

As a result, Donnelly andTaggart Eglinton is nowofficially number one on thecustomer satisfaction index insales and after sales out of allSuzuki dealers in the UK.

Cadillac driven by Elvisgoes under the hammerThe 1977 Cadillac Sevillebought and driven by King ofRock ‘n’ Roll Elvis Presley is thelatest exhibit at the NationalMotor Museum at Beaulieu inBrockenhurst, Hampshire.

The Cadillac was purchasedby Elvis in October 1976 for hisown use and he chose the bur-gundy and silver colour schemethat the car still retains.

It is in original conditionand still has the CB radio thatElvis used to communicatewith the kitchen at Gracelandand to the guard house outsidehis estate to open the gates.

Its features include electron-ic windows and mirrors and agrey interior with wood grainaccents on the dashboard,doors and steering wheel.

Previously auctioned inLas Vegas in 1994 and sold for$101,500 to a private collector,it again came up for sale inAugust when Graceland heldits first ever auction.

The auction coincided withElvis Week at Graceland, whichcommemorates the death of thelegendary musician on August16, 1977.

Aston Martin marks 60years with sports carsASTON Martin Works — whichmarks its diamond jubilee in2015 — is celebrating 60 yearsat Newport Pagnell with thecommissioning of six limitededition sports cars.

The first of the cars has justbeen revealed to mark the startof 12 months of anniversary ac-tivity at Aston Martin Works.

The six bespoke cars, all ver-sions of the current VanquishSuper GT in either Coupé orVolante form, are being createdin association with the luxurybrand’s Gaydon-based designteam, and its personalisationservice, ‘Q by Aston Martin’.

Each of the six cars is subtlydifferent, and tailored toreflect one of the six decadesbeing celebrated.

The result is a collection ofrare and ultra-desirable sportscars that will be instantlyrecognisable as ‘Works 60thAnniversary’ models.

Artists gather at CharlesHurst specialist exhibitionARTISTS from across North-ern Ireland were showcasedalongside some of the mostbreathtaking cars in the worldat Charles Hurst’s first ‘special-ist’ art exhibition.

The exhibition, the first ofits kind for Northern Ireland’sbiggest car retailer, was to helplaunch the new Ferrari Cali-fornia T — and give motoringenthusiasts and specialist caraficionados a sneak peak of theFerrari’s latest Grand Tourer.The recently introduced Ma-

serati Ghibli was also on showhighlighting the pinnacle ofItalian car design.

Hosted in Charles Hurst’snew £1m Ferrari and Maseratishowroom in Belfast, the eventattracted dozens of art lovers— as well as the artists them-selves, including Laura Breen,Karen Nickell and AnthonyScott. Sculptures, portraits,landscape and even moderninterpretative jewellery fromLaura Breen dominated theshowroom and wowed theFerrari and Maserati fans.

Wrangler retains the topoff-road award for JeepTHE legendary Jeep Wranglercontinues to demonstrate itsaward-winning credentials aftertaking 4x4 Magazine’s 4x4 ofthe Year, Hardcore class for thethird year running.

The award comes as thespecialist off-road driving pub-lication’s panel of expert judgesonce again put the rugged US-built off-roader top of its classahead of international rivals.

In the same awards, Jeep’snew Cherokee received a highlyrecommended accolade in theTop Range SUV category.


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WITH the 500 and500L sitting atnumber one intheir respectivesegments in

Europe, Fiat has decided to buildon the success of its retro-in-fluenced range and extend itfurther with the addition of the500X. Despite each deriva-tive growing in size from thelatter-day 500 hatchback, headof design Roberto Giolito hasmanaged to maintain the family

relationship in the signaturedesign elements. The 500Xtakes the range into a segmentwhich in the past 10 years hasseen crossover models increasefrom 5% to 20% and introducesa Fiat competitor against thelikes of the Renault Captur andNissan Juke.

At the car’s Europeanlaunch in its native Italy,the full range was rolledout featuring all engine andtransmission options, the all-

wheel drive models designat-ed Cross Plus.

Test choice was thetop end Cross Plus modelpowered by Fiat’s latestdevelopment of its 2.0 litreMultiJet diesel engine. This140 hp unit drives through a9-speed automatic transmis-sion and covers the 0-62 mphbenchmark sprint in under10 seconds with the potentialto reach 118 mph. To reduceenergy wastage and improve

fuel consumption, the poweroutput is to front wheels onlywith all-wheel drive transfercutting in automatically assoon as the need is identifiedby the electronic manage-ment system. Additionallythere is what Fiat refer toas a ‘mood selector’ driveoption which acts on engine,steering and transmissionto give the driver a preferredresponse. The auto settinggives overall optimum

Fiat 500X Cross PlusFiat has extended its iconic 500 range into the crossover market, Jim McCauley reports


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FIAT 500X

Engine: 2.0 litre turbo-diesel MultiJet, 140 bhp @ 4000 rpm. 350Nm torque@1750 rpm.Drive: : Via 9-speed automatic gearbox, on demand to all four wheels. Start/stop technologyPerformance: 0-62 mph (100 km/h) in 9.8 seconds; max, 118 mph (190 km/h)Fuel on combined cycle: 51.4 mpg ( 5.5 l/100km)CO2: 144 gms/km; VED Band F for £130 annual car taxTrim: Cross PlusPrice: £25,845Insurance: N/AWarranty: 3-year/60,000 miles.Benefit-in-kind: 24%Euro NCAP: N/AAvailable extras: Lane assist, adaptive cruise control, blind spot assist,reversing camera, brake control accident avoidance system.

comfort and economy, whilethe sport setting enhancesperformance and the allweather setting is for poorgrip conditions.

On-road, and oncecruising, engine refinementimproves with the 9-speedautomatic responding seam-lessly to throttle demands.Overall insulation is good,maintaining a quiet cabin,and on poorer surfaces thereis little intrusion of suspen-sion noise. The dual clutchtransmission adds a sportingfeel to the car with its slickchanges, while manual over-ride is also available. Bodyroll is well controlled and thecar impresses with its overallperformance.

Off- road, and on Fiat’sBallaco test facility inNorthern Italy, the compact

dimensions of the 500Xproved invaluable for placingit through the wooded areasand the 4-wheel drive systemprovided the confidenceto cope with loose graveland deep muddy tracks. Inaddition to the standard ESCprovision, the 4X4 versiontested also features dynam-ic steering torque systemswhich improve safety andhandling performance byactively correcting over- andunder-steer. The car also haselectronic rollover mitigation(ERM), hill start assist, elec-tronic parking brake, tyrepressure monitoring system,and front fog lights withcornering function.

Appearance-wise, the 4X4variant features specificbumpers and protective skidplates which enhance the

retro style of the standardvehicle while the interioralso relates to the exteriorstyling cues to provide a ho-listic entity. The driver’s sidefeatures an instrument paneldivided into three circularsections with the 6.5 inchinfotainment screen sittinghigh in the centre of the dashto give easy sighting and ex-cellent control access. Frontseats wrap neatly around theoccupants, while plentifulcabin storage units comple-ment the 350 litre boot.

Safety provision on thismodel includes six airbagsand electronic stability pro-gram as standard while theinfotainment package withduplicated steering wheelcontrols is based on Fiat’s‘Uconnect’ system whichallows integration through

a smart phone to use manyapps including real-timenews updates from Reu-ters, access to over 100,000internet radio stations andthe availability of millions ofmusic tracks on Deezer.

In the 500X, Fiat hasmaintained its successfulrecipe of a retro blend withmodern technology in avehicle that will not onlycompete successfully againstthe likes of the Renault Cap-tur and Nissan Juke, but willsee comparisons made withthe MINI Clubman.

The new addition to the500 range will go on sale inApril, but the order books arenow open for delivery in thesecond quarter of the year.Prices start at £14,595, whilethe range topping 4X4 testedis listed at £25,845.


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TECHNOLOGYof

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1. Knomad Mini with Power£119 @ www.knomobags.com

3. Bluesmart Connect-ed Suitcase approx£216 @ www.blues-mart.comIf you have travel plans thissmart technology promises tomake things a whole lot easier.The Bluesmart ConnectedSuitcase crams in a smart lockso you can lock and unlock itusing your phone, and you caneven share access with otherhandsets, letting your travelcompanion open your caseif required. It’s the locationand proximity tech that couldprove even more useful, as theBluesmart will alert you if youstray too far from the bag andit lets you know exactly whereyour luggage is even if you arenot sitting with it. Although itis only designed as a carry-on,so in theory youshould alwayshave it withyou – it’s al-ways goodto have thetechnology inplace in casethe worst hap-pens.

4.Taggled secures partnershipBelfast-based technology company, Taggledhas secured a partnership with US-basedShopStyle. Taggled’s ground-breaking technology makes video content“shoppable” for viewers. The team at Taggled have worked with ShopStyle tocreate a tailor-made solution that will provide ShopStyle’s customers with astreamlined process to purchase directly via click-through from its videos. Tag-gled’s interactive video tagging technology will integrate into ShopStyle’s fashionand beauty video blogging community, who will be able to use the tool to addclickable tags to their product-orientated videos. This will not only increasesales for participating retailers on ShopStyle but also offer independent videopublishers and vloggers an opportunity to monetise their video content.

2. Kono Aura H2O eReader£139.99Kobo Aura H2O is the first premiumeReader that truly allows for worry-freeeReading because of its waterproofand dustproof design. Although it isnot advisable to leave it in water for aprolonged period, it is waterproof forup to 30 minutes in one metre of waterwith the cover closed. It also featuresan impressive extra-large, no-glare 6.8”Carta E Ink touchscreen that reads likeprint on paper – even in direct sunlight.

Eyestrain is minimized in any lightwith the fully adjustable ComfortLightdirecting light at the page, not your eyes.Plus, with ClarityScreen+, Kobo AuraH2O provides a high definition readingexperience, with crisp, clear text for easy

and enjoyable reading.


Organisation for digital and travel essen-tials. Fits an iPad mini or 8” tablet alongwith a smartphone, pen, credit cards,passport, etc. Includes a 5000ma slimbattery pack to keep your devices charged,even if you are on the move.

This is the perfect organiser for digitaland travel essentials, as it allows you tocarry your must-haves in a compact andfashionable way. The organiser comes in arange of colours and is made using coatedcotton canvas twill fabric combined withantique brass hardware and natural raw-edge leather trim.

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Chilling outBy Grainne McGarvey

WITH every NewYear comesthe fear ofplummetingtemperatures,

and if you aren’t lucky enoughto be jetting off to the slopes,the secret is to wrap up warmagainst the elements. Fair Isleand snowflake prints will con-

tinue to be my frosty favourite,but if you want to get extrafashion points then faux fur oncollars and cuffs is a great wayto look cool as well as stayingcosy. Remember that most ofyou body heat is lost out ofyour head so beanie or RussianCossack hats are a great choiceof headwear.


Bobble hat £14 @Miss Selfridge

Fauxfur coat£89.99 @Zara

Navy paddedjacket £60 @River Island

Red Herringwool hat £16@Deben-hams

Vintage patternjumper £18 @Primark

Snow boots £13@Sainsbury’s

North Face jacket £220 @www.surfmountain.com


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SEEING yourself on camera israrely a pleasant experience, par-ticularly if it’s footage taken whilehurling down a mountain with allthe grace of an elephant on ice. I

had no choice though.“We film all our pupils in action and

analyse the footage. It’s the most effec-tive way to improve your skiing,” saidprofessional coach Warren Smith, who’sbeen transforming nervous novices intoseasoned skiers at his academy in Verbiersince 1998.

I had come to the Swiss Alps hoping tobreak through my intermediate plateau,a problem that afflicts most keen skiersat some stage. I can get down a redrun, but still find myself, involuntarilyand far too frequently, reverting to asnowplough. It was time to address theproblem.

Catering for anyone from complete be-ginners to professional athletes, Warren’sfive-day courses are designed to buildconfidence and master key techniques,such as carving and, in my case, parallelturns.

The day had started on Les Ruinettes

piste with Fiona, one of the academy’s10-strong team of instructors.

“People think of Verbier as a resort foradvanced skiers but it’s also full of goodterrain for beginners and intermediates,”she said as our group of six set off alongthe groomed slope. In the basin of thevalley far below, the treetops and pitchedroofs of Verbier were coated in sparklingsnow.

After observing our skiing andteaching us the art of pole-planting (atrick that helps improve balance andcontrolled turns) Fiona paused and rum-maged in her pocket, retrieving a videocamera. It was the moment I was dread-ing. She raced on ahead before stoppingto point the camera directly at me.

That evening, everyone gathered in thecosy bar of the Chalet Hotel de Verbi-er. The entertainment on offer wasn’tkaraoke or a movie, but the videos of usskiing up on the big television. There wasnowhere to hide; I shifted uneasily in myseat. I entertained an image of myself onthe slopes as a vision of skill and agility.I knew this was far from the truth, ofcourse, but I never had to confront the

ugly reality, until Warren hit play.After several impressive but not fault-

less displays from my fellow skiers, it wastime for my critique. I flashed up on thescreen: a dark smudge inching across thesnowy backdrop, all wobbly knees andsnowploughs.

“Good effort, Nick, but your bodyweight is in the wrong place,” Warrenremarked, rewinding and playing theclip again, this time in slow motion, pro-longing my embarrassment. “Your handsdrop back and your legs aren’t flexed.Tomorrow, we’ll work on getting you onthe front of the skis.”

I digested my lacklustre display overdinner at the nearby Le Farinet Hotel. It’sdue to reopen next month after a majorrefurbishment that will be crowned withthe Après Bar and Lounge where livebands and Cream DJs will perform everynight.

It’s symbolic of Verbier’s glitzy appeal:this is the resort where Richard Bransonkeeps a chalet, and where W debuted itsfirst ski hotel last winter. The Cordée desAlpes hotel opened the previous season,a design property filled with locally

Going off pisteNick Boulos improves his technique on the slopes - and enjoys his firsttaste of a black run during a visit to Verbier in the Swiss Alps

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5512 January 2015 BUSINESS MONTH12 January 2015 BUSINESS MONTH

sourced stone, wood and marble whosewalls are etched with murals of the ValaisMountains. The spa offers a cocooningbody massage using “oxygenating” Swisschocolate. However, this month, there’s anew three-star in town. The MontpelierHotel has just opened its doors, with 47rooms that feature stylish Alpine touchesand fine mountain views.

Warren and I had the slopes to our-selves the next morning. “Everyone hits aplateau because they pick up bad habitsand lack fundamental skills – things likerange of movement, symmetry, and con-fidence,” he explained. “Successful skiingis also about the psychology of being onskis.”

One-on-one time with Warren doesn’tcome cheap — £599 a day in addition tothe cost of the five-day course — but hisapproach, one of science, philosophy,and practical advice made easy, deliversresults.

Returning to Les Ruinettes, we beganby working on posture and flexibility.I traversed the slope on one leg beforeraising and lowering my arms at preciseintervals to ensure the optimum centreof balance.

“Imagine you’re pedalling a bike,”shouted Warren over the crunch of myskis on the packed snow. “Push down onyour leg and extend as you initiate a turn.Then gently roll the other knee out to stayparallel.”

Repeating Warren’s instructions likea mantra (“push, extend, roll”) I glanceddownwards to see my skis turning andcoming together naturally rather thanspreading apart in the dreaded V-shape.

Keen to push me further, Warren intro-duced more complex exercises, includingthe “braquage” turn — the simultaneous

pivoting of skis in one swift movement.“It’s crucial for negotiating narrowterrain and a move you should be ableto do on a 10p piece,” he said. My initialattempts were laughable but subsequentefforts were decent, or so Warren told me.

Speeding on ahead, Warren veeredoff the main piste and down a short butsteep slope that ran parallel. Followinghis lead, I criss-crossed the challengingpassage making tight and controlledturns, relishing every second of my new-found confidence.

Waiting at the bottom, Warren brokeinto applause. He pointed back to thevertiginous piste and smiled. “You’vejust had your first taste of a black run.” Itbarely seemed possible.

Fuelled by adrenalin, we pressedon until Warren’s video camera madeanother appearance. This time, however,I skied with conviction. We reviewed thefootage on the camcorder’s grainy screen.It wasn’t perfect but each parallel turnwas followed by another. I hadn’t justovercome my plateau; I’d smashed it.

Getting thereNick Boulos travelled with Inghams(01483 791111; inghams.co.uk) whichoffers a week in Verbier from £544. Theprice includes return flights from Gat-wick to Geneva on December 6, transfers,and half-board accommodation at theChalet Hotel de Verbier.

Visiting thereFive-day courses with the Warren SmithSki Academy (inghams.co.uk/war-rensmith) start at £419.

Hotel Le Farinet (00 41 27 771 6626; ho-telfarinet.com). Doubles starting

from CHF410 (£272)

The Montpelier Hotel (00 41 27 771 6131;montpelierverbier.ch). Doubles fromCHF225 (£149), including breakfast.

La Cordée des Alpes Hotel (00 41 27 7754545; hotelcordee.com). Doubles fromCHF350 (£232), including breakfast.

More informationVerbier Tourist Board (00 41 27 7753888; verbier.ch)

Hotel Le Farinet will reopent after a majorrefurbishment

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TRAVELof

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Make a travel resolution: Learn a new skill or be more adventurous


Learn a new skillLearning a language covers several potentialresolutions: gain a new skill, improve yourqualifications, and maybe even move abroad.Based in the Western Loire, Let’s Speak(00 33 2 43 026027; letsspeak.net) offerslearning by immersion. Stay with a host familyand absorb French language and life, visitingbakers, winemakers and musicians. Sevennights from €723 excluding travel.Or get two for one with Cactus Language(01273 830960; cactuslanguage.com), whichoffers combination trips: Spanish and tango inArgentina, Italian and opera in Verona,Portuguese and football in Brazil. A Spanishand scuba trip in Playa del Carmen, Mexico,including five days of language lessons and aPadi dive certificate, costs £648 in Januaryfor the course and a six-night half-board staywith a host family. Flights not included.

RelaxThe Healthy Holiday Company (0208 9680501; thehealthyholidaycompany.co.uk) hasseveral options for trips aimed at achievingpeace of mind. The week-long MindfulnessProgramme at Villa Padierna Palace Hotel inSpain combines meditation and yoga torelieve stress (from £3,050 per person,including flights, accommodation andtransfers), while the five-night Embracing

Change package at Kamalaya on the Thaiisland of Koh Samui aims to “enrich youremotional wellbeing” through expert consulta-tions, massage,Chinese medicine and holistic fitness (from£2,025 including flights, transfers andfull-board accommodation).Alternatively, if you are looking for an excuseto switch off, a digital detox is much easierwhen you have something else to keep youoccupied. Huab Lodge in Namibia has no TVsor mobile reception, and instead offersactivities including hot spring dips and safaris.Bungalows with two double beds are N$3,498(£202) a night in January through i-escape(0117 946 7072; i-escape.com).

Spend time with familyMultigenerational trips are a great way tospend quality time with loved ones. Oliver’sTravels (0800 133 7999; oliverstravels.com)offers many villas that tick the family box.Its Le Rosseau Cottage, near Beaune inBurgundy, sleeps 11, with downstairs bed andbathrooms and a private heated pool that’schild-safe and fitted with handrails. There’salso an acre of garden, a barn-cum-gamesroom and a walkable boulangerie and bar.From £638 per week.Cruises are a good option too. Royal Caribbe-an’s enormous Allure of the Seas (0844 4934005; royalcaribbean.com) has family

staterooms and ocean-loads of fun for allages: from kids’ clubs to a zip-line, surfsimulator and ice rink. It also has adult-onlysolariums and restaurants plus childcareservices, if you do need to take a night off. Theseven-night Western Caribbean cruise, fromFort Lauderdale, Florida, costs from £484 perperson, excluding flights, with severaldepartures between January and April.

Be more adventurousIf your resolution is to push your boundaries,take the plunge and head off on a soloadventure.Solos Holidays (0844 815 0005; solosholi-days.co.uk) offers itineraries based on variousthemes (sun, hiking, dancing, ski) in age bands(over 30s, 40s and 50s). Its four-night MagicalLapland trip to Finland lets you choose from arange of activities including snowshoeing,kick-sledging and a Northern Lights safari. Fora 26 January departure the price is £839,including B&B and flights. Activities extra.Just You (0844 273 5553; justyou.co.uk) alsospecialises in trips for single travellers. On its11-day Kerala: a Taste of South India trip youcan tour Cochin, learn to cook, marvel atKathakali dance and enjoy a traditional dinnerwith new friends. The price of £2,399pp for a26 February departure includes flights andfour-star accommodation. Additional datesavailable in September and November.

OUT AND ABOUT

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The Chairman has been kicking back his heels and enjoyingsome festive gatherings as well as some food and nibbles

DECEMBER markedthe 10th anniversaryof Belfast’s Conti-nental Market, andan elegant soiree

in the City Hall celebrated theoccasion.

The market has become aChristmas tradition, and eventhe Chairman has been knownto knock back a few steins inthe beer tent.

However, it isn’t to every-one’s taste.

The acid-tongued formerNewsnight presenter JeremyPaxman did his best to trywind-up the population ofBelfast upon a recent visit tothe city.

The journalist dismissivelydescribed the market asoffering “the odours of 40varieties of food you could notthink of eating”.

It may not have been up tothe standard of the UniversityChallenge host, but the marketattracted 800,000 punters in2014.

The event at City Hallsparkled with festive dec-oration, as guests at thecelebrations included LordMayor Nichola Mallon, BelfastTelegraph columnist PamelaBallantine, and the market’smanager, Allan Hartwell.

The charity Barnardos,which raised money at themarket, was represented byJeanie Rogers and AnneDawson.

Traders from the Continen-tal Market John and GemmaDeeks of Coffee Express joinedin the festivities.

...

THE CHAIRMAN felt a bit outof place at the launch of newnightclub, Sixty6, as the young

Appointments

Tracy Hurst has been appoint-ed head at recruitment special-ist Alexander Mann Solutions’new services centre in Belfast.She has 14 years experience inhuman resources and has livedin Northern Ireland since 2008and has worked for AlexanderMann Solutions for five years.

Symon Ross has been appoint-ed head of corporate PR atMCE Public Relations. He hasbeen a business journalist for15 years, working in Belfast,London and New Zealand. Be-fore joining MCE he worked forBBC NI, Ulster Business maga-zine, The Belfast Telegraph andDow Jones Newswires.

Brian McKimm has been ap-pointed chief financial officerat private financial cloudprovider Options. Mr McKimmwas previously director andhead of internal audit in KPMGIreland’s advisory division.Options recently opened anoffice in Belfast.


g

Lisa Morrow, Ruth Jackson, Caroline Reid at the launch of Sixty6 Social, atnew cocktail bar and nightclub on Belfast’s High Street

Pamela Ballantine with Lord Mayor Nichola Mallon and Continental Mar-ket manager Allan Hartwell at the market’s 10th anniversary celebration

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Appointments

Andrew Fisher has beenappointed to the businessadvisory board of Davy PrivateClients. Mr Fisher is a formerchief executive of Coutts &Co and chief executive of UKinvestment specialists TowryHoldings. He will help the Bel-fast office build its share of thewealth management market.

Shauna McNeilly has beenappointed as European en-gagement officer of CreativeEurope Desk UK, based atthe Arts Council of NorthernIreland. She has 14 years ex-perience of working in arts andevents and is a theatre studiesgraduate of the University ofUlster.

Paula Gibson has beenappointed as a solicitor in theprivate client department ofCleaver Fulton Rankin.She graduated in law fromQueen’s University and workedas a solicitor in a family prac-tice. Her specialisms includewills and powers of attorney.


people of Belfast drank theircocktails, and danced the nightaway.

Revellers at the new club,based above the NationalGrand Cafe on High Street,included EmmaMcGreevey,Claire Kitson and JullianThompson.Sorcha and PetraWolsey

kept a watchful eye over thehospitality group Beannchor’slatest venture.

...

WITH THE CHAIRMAN

caught up in a social whirl ofdinners, drinks and debauch-ery — whoops, I mean debonairdoings — for the festive season,it was off toMichael Deane’snewest venture Eipic to enjoythe company of Gerry Lennonand AnneMcMullan fromVisit Belfast for their annualChristmas Media Lunch.

It was a rotten day outsideand the golf umbrella wastaking quite the battering, sothe Chairman was delighted toenjoy such a convivial atmos-phere once inside the HowardStreet venue.

Guests were greeted withbubbling prosecco andseaweed canapes in thespacious bar while Mr Deanewatched on in his chef’s whitesand his delightful wife KateSmith kept the journosentertained.

The team from LK Commu-nications was in fine fettle,with Nikki Larkin and AlisonFleming greeting the guests,while David Cullen was beingkept on his toes by determinedBBC business hack JulianO’Neill.GaryMcDonald and Simon

John and Gemma Deeks of Coffee Express, along with friend, enjoyed the Continental Market’s 10th birthday

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Cunningham from the IrishNews, Rankin Armstrong andTina Calder from the NewsLetter, as well as ClareWeirfrom the Belfast Telegraphwere all present.

Newly-married DavidYoung of the Press Associ-ation regaled his table withanecdotes from his vineyardnuptials in Portugal, includinghow the romantic candle-litreception in a cave was in factdue to a power cut.

Other guests included PeterMcVerry of U105, JimMc-Dowell from the Sunday Worldand Victoria Square managerand uber-shopperMichelleJackson, who gave helpful tipson last-minute Christmas bar-gain hunting for us hopelessmales and wily advice to thewomenfolk on how to eke outthe perfect present.

Following a short videopresentation from our hostshighlighting another suc-cessful year for Visit Belfast,diners soon tucked in to theseven-course taster menu,helpfully explained betweeneach setting by our exhuberantservers.

The courses included Je-rusalem artichoke and garlicsoup, sea bass, some exquisitebeef and a slab of chocolatecake which was perhaps biggerthan all the other courses puttogether, followed by a selec-tion of cheeses.

With that the Chairmanwas forced to squeeze on hisgaloshes and wobble backto base camp for a carbohy-drate-fuelled snooze.

Appointments

Lorraine McGoran has joinedVisit Belfast as marketing andcampaigns manager to managestrategy across NI, the Repub-lic, Britain and Europe. Shepreviously worked as marketingmanager at the Lyric Theatre,and at the Odyssey Arena.

Jaimé Bennett has been ap-pointed conference and eventsmanager at Visit Belfast. Shewill look after destinationand event management andsupport conference organisersin the city. She has more than10 years experience.


Sorcha Wolsey and Petra Wolsey of Beannchor Group at the launch ofthe business’s latest venture, Sixty6 night club and bar. The new venue isabove the National Grande Café on High Street

Aoidin Gormley of RathmoreGrammar School, Belfast

HAVE you ever wondered what itwould be like to have been SteveJobs or Bill Gates? Running oneof the most successful businessesin the world, making millionsand being on top? That’s my job.Except I’m not making millionsand my company consists of 20hormonal, stressed teenagers.This year I am managing directorof my school’s Young Enterprisecompany and it’s my job to leadour team to success. This isn’tgoing to be easy.

We have entered the companyprogramme and, as a team, wehave to develop our own brandand product. It has given me an

insight to the business worldand the different opportunitiesyou can reach out and grab. ButI never realised how challengingthis would be. Everyone has theirown ideas and opinions yet no-body wants to do any work.

It’s very different to a nor-mal business in that we have tobalance Young Enterprise with

school work, football trainingand whatever else we have on –typically more than your averageadult. That’s stress. So how doesit work?

In four weeks I have learntso much about myself andothers, trying to answerthat question. And I stilldon’t have the answer. Sofar we have battled overpicking a name, designinga logo and comingup with productideas. But I havefound the hardestpart to be tryingto separate myYE life from mysocial life. I gofrom being the

boss who gives out jobs and nagspeople to work, to friend andpeer. I have to work with peopleI’ve never talked to before, peopleI’m best friends with and peopleI’m not fond of. But that’s the job.

In just one month I havelearnt patience, leadership,teamwork, motivation andcompromise. This has beenone of the most exhilarat-ing experiences of my life.There will undoubtedly

be more issues to dealwith but I am so excit-ed to see what thrilland adventure comeswith it. So keep an eyeout in Business Monthfor more news aboutmy adventure.

Enterprising youth gets to grip with business

THE LAST WORD

with JohnSherrocks

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In its defence, the government hasrecently announced measures to help busi-nesses analyse their pay gap and “empowerwomen to challenge their employers if theyfeel they are not being paid correctly”, toquote Jo Swinson, Minister for Women andEqualities and Business. The governmenthas also extended the right to requestflexible working and is introducing sharedparental leave and tax-free childcare.

Once again, moves in the right direc-tion, but far more needs to be done. At themoment it feels as if the closest we’ve gotto equality between the sexes is men andwomen being charged the same price fortickets to Made in Dagenham, the WestEnd musical which recounts the 1968landmark strike.

There needs to be a shift in mindsetby all of us. It shouldn’t be down to thegovernment or the TUC to eradicate thisdiscrimination. As shareholders, boss-es, employees and concerned citizens,let’s resolve this New Year to ensure thatdiscrimination in earnings ends. After all,we’ve all got mothers, if not sisters, daugh-ters, nieces ...

LOOKING back on 2014, it was inmany respects a year that reflectedwell on us as a species. Yes, theworld certainly had its share ofmisery, horror and tragedy over

the past 12 months, but there were alsoacts of great compassion, heart-warminggenerosity and mind-boggling ingenuity.We chased a comet travelling at speeds of135,000km an hour for some 6.4 billionkilometres through the solar system tomake history by landing a scientific probeon its surface, while back on Earth selflessmedics travelled to distant lands to comfortand care for ebola victims. In the BritishIsles, thousands of caring individuals, manystill suffering from the sting in the tailof the global financial crisis, each playedtheir part in helping Children in Need raise£32.6m.

Wonderful achievements of which we ashuman beings can all be proud. But thesedeeds also accentuate our failings — notleast the fact that more than 40 years afterthe Equal Pay Act was passed, many UKcompanies are still guilty of paying menmore than women for doing the same orcomparable jobs.

I’d hope that no business would evencontemplate paying one employee less thananother on the basis of race or skin colour.So why do so many differentiate betweenthe sexes when it comes to earnings?

Apparently progress towards eliminat-ing this discriminatory practice was madein 2014; for the first time since recordsbegan being kept in 1997, women in their30s earned more than men. According tothe Office for National Statistics, femaleworkers are now outdoing men by 0.2% inthe 30 to 39 age bracket. However, it’s ashort-lived victory because as soon as theyhit their 40s, women once again fall be-hind their male colleagues, a trend whichis maintained until they retire.

Overall, the gender pay gap did narrowin 2014 to its lowest level since the statswere recorded, with men across all agesnow earning 17.5% more than women onaverage per hour. When full-time work istaken in isolation, women earn 9.4% lessthan men, down from 10% in 2013. Causefor celebration? I think not, especiallyconsidering that in 2013 the chasm inearnings grew for the first time in fiveyears to 19.8%. Two steps forward, one stepback comes to mind.

To put this difference into context, forevery £1 earned by a man working part-or full-time, a woman earns 82p, which

means that, on average, it takes a womanalmost two decades longer than a man toearn £1m.

And not only are salaries a problem,there is also a persistent bonus pay gap.According to the Chartered ManagementInstitute (CMI), the average bonus for a fe-male director is £41,956, while male boardmembers pocket £53,010.

It was heartening to discover thatNorthern Ireland is leading the way whenit comes to equality in earnings — unfor-tunately my sense of pride was somewhatdampened by a civil servant pointing outthe real reason women in Northern Irelandon average earn 3.3% more than men;it’s not down to employers here having agreater sense of fair play, but rather thatthere are more women in the employ of thepublic sector where salaries are general-ly higher than those paid by the privatesector.

For the 187 women sewing-machinistswho in 1968 went on strike against une-qual pay at the Ford Dagenham plant ineast London, it must seem like the world’sstood still for decades. Their determinedstand back then ultimately led to the 2010Equality Act. In 2015, it seems we’re con-tent to merely ponder ad infinitum as tothe reason why unequal pay prevails.

Raising children is cited as a significantcontributory factor. Another cause is thata far higher proportion of women do part-time work. Then there’s the fact that mengravitate to industries which pay more.

However, I believe that the lack of trans-parency in our pay system is the primaryreason this injustice has prevailed for solong; secrecy over pay allows companiesto get away with paying female employeesless than their male colleagues, withoutstaff even being aware of it.

The TUC wants the government to legis-late and make audits compulsory additionsto annual company reports. A move whichI imagine the CMI’s chief executive AnnFrancke would welcome, given her recentobservation that “a lot of the FTSE 350 are[paying women managers less than men]...there are very few good guys”.

Tesco is among the good guys. Thesupermarket chain publishes data on itsgender pay gap, as does the law firm Lin-klaters, which reveals the percentages ofwomen it employs at different levels. Pub-lishing annual gender pay gap informationand conducting regular pay audits wouldenable companies to identify any genderpay gaps, and take action to close them.

Why, more than 40 years after the Equal Pay Act, are women still paid less than men? It isnow time the business world made a New Year’s resolution to resolve this, once and for all

To put the differencein pay into context,

for every £1 earned by aman working part- or full-time, a woman earns 82p

Too many women are still paid less than men


business month january 2015

Documents

changeto corporation

howmuchtougher life

apprenticeshipsand training

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business monthjanuary

runsa training centre

remaining land bankin