Sunday 26 May 2013
Mark Ennis, chairman of Invest NI, reported that in 2012-13 Invest NI produced "a very strong performance with tangible benefits for business and the economy". He quotes results which are more upbeat than might have been expected.
FOYLESIDE Ltd is a large privately owned property company owned by Northern Ireland shareholders with a wide property portfolio across the UK with some held in subsidiary companies registered in Gibraltar.
Northern Ireland farmers produce a large supply of milk. Last year 1.95bn litres came from the farms and passed down the marketing chain.
Ten years ago, the analysis of the Top 100 locally-based commercial trading businesses showed that the chosen 100 were employing just over 121,000 people.
Manderley Food Group is now an English registered company with headquarters in Corby. The main shareholders are the Hutchinson family in Tandragee.
The governance and operational flexibility of the Housing Executive is now too tightly constrained because, organisationally, it is deemed to be part of, and controlled by, government and subject to government financial rules which are an obstacle to improved arrangements.
Liberty Information Technology is a subsidiary of the Boston (USA) based financial services group, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, and describes its activities as software development and associated services for the wider group. It has been in business in Northern Ireland since 1996.
The Electricity Regulator, Shane Lynch, has opened the door to a critical examination of the way in which the mixed electricity systems, partly regulated for households and small volume users and partly open to competition by rival suppliers, are working. Large industrial electricity users here are paying up to 30% more than in Great Britain.
Old Bushmills Distillery is engaged in distilling, maturation, blending, marketing and selling of Irish whiskey. The company, based in Bushmills village, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Diageo Group.
Northern Ireland has endured a deeper and longer recession than other parts of the UK. Only a comparison with the recent trends in the Irish economy offers a nearly comparable experience. Last week's unemployment statistics paint a worrying picture.
Mivan (UK) is a Northern Ireland based construction company with a large proportion of its workload and property development formerly conducted outside Northern Ireland, including trading joint ventures in Romania and a branch in Egypt.
The future of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE), or its successor institutions, is now being scrutinised. An informed debate on various alternative options is needed.
The Henry Group, based in Magherafelt, is one of Northern Ireland's larger locally owned and controlled construction firms.
Northgate Managed Services is a Newtownabbey-based registered subsidiary of an English parent company, Northgate Information Solutions group, which in turn is a subsidiary of a similarly named company registered in Luxembourg.
Edwin Poots has ambitious plans for Northern Ireland's biggest personal service provider: a better and improving health service.
The biggest bottlenecks in the provision of better transport services in the region are both in Belfast.
Andras House is both a property company and a group of hotel and hospitality businesses in Belfast owned and controlled by Lord Rana.
The official policy for revitalising the main urban centres in Northern Ireland is based on the inappropriate assumption that town and city centres need to be given support by restricting planning permission for new out-of-town centre developments.
Keystone Lintels is a company registered in Cookstown and with significant shareholders also from McAleer and Rushe might be regarded as a related business to the larger McAleer and Rushe Group.
Employment and Learning Minister Stephen Farry must be congratulated on his decision to ask for a major policy review on how Northern Ireland should organise a coherent programme of apprenticeship training.
Most children's money habits have been formed by the time they reach the age of seven, research from a Government-backed body has found.
The aptly-named Skoda Superb is the car that owners are most satisfied with, according to a survey. And another Skoda model – the Yeti – was second on the list compiled from owners' views by What Car? and JD Power and Associates. Third was the Jaguar XF, with equal fourth place occupied by the Citroen DS3 and the Lexus RX .
Halfords has warned of a long uphill slog to recovery as profits tumbled by 22% and its dividend was slashed by a third to pay for a £100m revamp. New chief executive Matt Davies pledged to refresh tired-looking stores and improve customer service over the next three years but warned that earnings were unlikely to recover until 2016.
Belfast Chamber of Trade and Commerce has welcomed Paul McMahon as its newly elected president.
The UK's return to growth has been underlined as revised figures confirmed the dominant services sector helped the economy expand by 0.3% in the first three months of the year.
TWO of the FTSE's biggest bosses have banked rather different pay packets, it has been revealed.
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