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John Simpson

Homeowners pay 24% of income on their mortgage

Many housebuilders are facing frightening losses as market prices have fallen to the point where past costs cannot be covered at realistic prices. Where does blame fall: greedy or careful developers trying to anticipate the market place? Planners because they have over restricted the issue of planning approvals?
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Inside John Simpson

From the rubble of recession we have to build new homes

Tuesday, 17 November 2009

There are 38,000 people registered on the waiting lists for public sector housing. In the private sector hundreds of houses are on the market but sales have been slow.
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Translink under pressure for a better and cheaper service

Tuesday, 10 November 2009

Last year, Translink cost the taxpayer over £109m. Northern Ireland Railways, Ulsterbus and Metro are the main providers of public transport services and, currently, face little competition (other than from private cars).
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Invest NI's answers fail to address serious questions

Tuesday, 3 November 2009

The chairman of Invest Northern Ireland, Stephen Kingon, has criticised the report by the Independent Review Economic Group. He argues "that the achievements of Invest NI staff have not been fully recognised in the report," and referred to "the achievements set out in our annual performance reports."
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Company Snapshot: Northstone Ltd

Tuesday, 3 November 2009

Northstone, formerly known as Farrans, is one of Northern Ireland’s largest building and civil engineering contractors. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of CRH (Cement Roadstone Holdings), registered in Dublin.
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Employee and employer both face same dispute confusion

Tuesday, 27 October 2009

Neither employers nor employee representatives believe that laws on employees rights and offering dispute resolution mechanisms work as well as they should.
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Company Snapshot: United Dairy Farmers

Tuesday, 27 October 2009

United Dairy Farmers operates effectively as a co-operative organisation buying, processing and selling milk from just under 2,000 registered suppliers across Northern Ireland.
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Companies learn how to go green and still stay in black

Tuesday, 20 October 2009

Can businesses reasonably be expected to fight the recession, improve competitiveness, capture new markets and improve their profitability, and at the same time tackle climate change problems and gain credibility through operations which respect the need for environmental sustainability?
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Company Snapshot: Patton Group Ltd

Tuesday, 20 October 2009

The Patton Group has been one of the fastest growing building companies based in Northern Ireland. In addition to local contracts, it now also has three subsidiary companies working in England and the Republic. Recently the group won the premier award in 2009 for Building Excellence in the competition organised by the Construction Employers Federation.
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STEM report highlights the problems, but not solutions

Tuesday, 13 October 2009

The delayed report of the STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) review team, commissioned in early 2007, has been published.
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Company Snapshot: Killyvally Holdings Ltd

Tuesday, 13 October 2009

Killyvally Holdings is based in Garvagh. It is the parent company and owner of TBF Thompson (Garvagh) and has its principal business activities in the distribution of plant, commercial vehicles, and forklift trucks, along with the supply of parts and servicing back-up.
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Companies must look within for solutions to revenue losses

Tuesday, 29 September 2009

Budgeting difficulties mean that the Northern Ireland Executive cannot now avoid a reassessment of the remaining year of the Programme for government.
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Electricity tariffs:Is the regulator too complacent?

Tuesday, 22 September 2009

What is expected of a modern electricity sector in Northern Ireland?
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Company snapshot; Armaghdown creameries ltd

Tuesday, 15 September 2009

Armaghdown Creameries is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Fane Valley Co-operative Society.
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The Republic’s financial crisis comes north of the border

Tuesday, 15 September 2009

The Irish Government is coping with an unprecedented and frighteningly serious set of problems.
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Company Snapshot: Almac Group Ltd

Tuesday, 8 September 2009

Almac Group brings together a number of subsidiary companies each with specialist interests in different aspects of pharmaceutical and biotechnology developments.
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Rapid urban transport is now en route to Belfast city

Tuesday, 8 September 2009

Belfast has major traffic management problems because of the size of the city and the numbers of people who commute daily. Other cities and towns, such as Newry, Armagh, Ballymena and Coleraine, have congestion problems of a different scale.
Comments: 2

Planning proposals that don’t fully justify the claim

Tuesday, 1 September 2009

The Minister for the Environment, Edwin Poots, has issued a 200-page consultative document outlining proposed major changes in the planning system.
Comment: 1

Company Snapshot: Hastings Hotel Group Ltd

Tuesday, 1 September 2009

The Hastings Hotel Group, including the Culloden, Stormont and Europa Hotels in Belfast and a joint venture share in the Merrion Hotel in Dublin, has continued to trade successfully.
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It’s time to power ahead with a masterplan for our energy

Tuesday, 25 August 2009

Energy policy for Northern Ireland needs to be carefully managed. Muddle and postponed difficult decisions are the route to even higher prices, higher carbon emissions and a breech of obligations within the UK Climate Change legislation and the related EU commitments.
Comment: 1