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John Simpson

A drop of realism is required to keep water service running

Northern Ireland Water (NIW) is one of Northern Ireland’s largest trading enterprises. With an annual turnover of over £330m and 1,600 employees, NIW ranks among the top 30 local trading enterprises.
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Inside John Simpson

Legacy of our property boom could yet blow up the banks

Tuesday, 2 February 2010

The shock of a dramatic fall in value of property loans is being absorbed by the banks and, with government intervention, it seems the worst is over.
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No relief for big spenders as living costs remain high

Tuesday, 26 January 2010

Northern Ireland has the highest weekly household spend in the UK outside London and the South-East.
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Barnett has the formula to stop hawks circling wounded Invest NI

Tuesday, 19 January 2010

The recommendations of the Independent Review of Economic Policy (IREP), chaired by Professor Richard Barnett, now need to crystallise into decisions by Enterprise Minister, Arlene Foster, on how Invest Northern Ireland is to be improved.
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A strong economy will only STEM from better training

Tuesday, 12 January 2010

Sir Reg Empey, Minister for Employment and Learning, faces big challenges in strengthening his skills, training and qualifications agenda.
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Winds of change are blowing for a New Deal on our climate

Tuesday, 15 December 2009

Minister for the Environment Edwin Poots is persuaded that global climate change is a serious problem.
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Why we need a proper policy to plan our shopping centres

Tuesday, 8 December 2009

Plans to allow suburban shopping centre developments tend to be controversial.
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To compete globally we need to work together

Tuesday, 1 December 2009

The Matrix project is aimed at building a more enterprising industrial community in Northern Ireland
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There’s no easy way to balance the books

Tuesday, 24 November 2009

When it comes to Northern Ireland’s finances, 22% more is spent on every person compared to the UK average.
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Change at top in Civil Service

Tuesday, 24 November 2009

Three of Northern Ireland’s government departments will shortly be managed by new Permanent Secretaries after a reshuffle.
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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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