With Northern Ireland experiencing one of its hottest summers for some considerable time, the warm temperatures can leave employees wishing they were heading to the beach, rather than the office. This prolonged spell of unusually good weather can throw...
'Global trade recorded its highest growth rate in six years in 2017, both in volume and value terms'.
Ryanair unveiled its results for the three months to the end of June on Monday, July 22. These showed a 20% reduction in after-tax profits to €319m. This was despite a 7% increase in passenger numbers to 37.6 million. The share price fell 5% on the results.
Do you have a good boss? Perhaps you are a boss, wondering how to get the best out of your team. I'm sure we can all think of examples of bosses we would have run through brick walls for and those we had voodoo dolls commissioned for.
The budget for public services in Northern Ireland would normally be a central responsibility of the NI Executive and Assembly. This year, the Budget for 2018-19 has been subject to approval at Westminster.
The huge investment over recent years in making the C Series aircraft, designed and assembled by Bombardier, with a major contribution by Belfast, is now giving its sponsors a better assurance of both its qualities as a modern passenger jet and its competitiveness in an expanding sector of the aerospace industry.
It appeared first with a glint in the blue sky as a helicopter hovered overhead and music bellowed through elaborate rigging.
The possibility that the Brexit talks will not reach an agreed outcome has increased. Organisational links between the UK Government and the EU of 27 countries might simply crash in March 2019.
Aneurin Bevan's creation, the NHS, is 70 this week and it remains very popular. Former Chancellor Nigel Lawson said it was the closest thing we now had to a national religion. It was not for nothing that Danny Boyle included a celebration of the service in his...
When IDA Ireland chief executive Martin Shanahan says anything about US multinationals, we have to sit up and take notice.
The business community in Northern Ireland is facing unprecedented challenges. We have found ourselves at the crux of the ongoing Brexit negotiations, as the UK and the EU grapple over the complexities of how the Irish border will be navigated. This...
Two important sectors for our city economy - retail and tourism - are experiencing vastly contrasting fortunes at the moment.
The economic consequence of the UK Brexit decision for Northern Ireland is difficult to anticipate. Whether the business community should prepare for a complete break from the single market and customs union or whether there will be an agreement to retain...
Mr Justice Horner has decided that Carl Frampton's action against his former boxing manager, Barry McGuigan, can be heard in Belfast.
I appreciate Conor Murphy's article in last week's Business Telegraph on the draft industrial strategy - even if it centred mostly on criticising me - as at least a rare but welcome contribution from Sinn Fein on an issue that matters to the overwhelming majority of...
It's difficult to explain how it feels to be proud of a sector - it's much easier to show it. As I welcomed customers, colleagues, visitors and friends to this year's Balmoral Show during May, I was struck by how rewarding it felt to be showing such a hive of...
This month marks two years since the Brexit vote and, in the intervening period, we have become fixated with the relationship between the UK and the EU. However, in many respects what is going on within the EU itself is potentially even more significant,...
The construction and property sectors are still closely associated with gender imbalance in the workplace but, particularly in relation to new entrants to the industry, perceptions are rapidly changing.
Unemployment in Northern Ireland reached a record low this month when the seasonally adjusted rate fell to 3.1% in the first quarter of 2018.
Northern Ireland needs to continue to attract more incoming business investment in the years ahead. Following Brexit, should the incentive mechanisms that attract incoming investment remain as at present? If not, should or could the incentives be revamped?
Denvir Holdings is a Belfast-registered retail company which brings together a group of eight wholly owned subsidiaries.
It's been encouraging to see a rise in executive level appointments in Northern Ireland, both in the public and private sector being filled by women - National Museums NI, Titanic Belfast, Institute of Directors (IoD) NI, CBI NI and Belfast City Council to name a few.
The economy remains something of a puzzle at the moment. Despite Brexit, fractious global trade relations, poor productivity performance and an endless stream of gloomy predictions, employment continues to rise and confidence surveys still point...
Despite being one of Northern Ireland's most important sectors delivering significant economic and social advantage, the third sector remains one of the least understood.
Yesterday I was very pleased to visit Belfast. Walking through the city centre and the Titanic Quarter, it was clear just how much Northern Ireland has changed since the first time I visited some 25 years ago - all of that change for the better.
Brexit was high on the list of areas of concern for many senior policy-makers from the public and private sectors on both sides of the border when I took part in a large and well-informed all-island professional discussion group in Dublin.
The family-owned Uni-Trunk group of companies is based in Lisburn.Property and business operational details are consolidated in the parent company, Uni-Trunk Holdings.
Let's give Michel Barnier, the EU chief Brexit negotiator who's on a two-day visit to Northern Ireland, a practical answer to the border question. A workable Brexit deal that gives Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland, a series of useful favourable terms, or...
The Central Bank maintains that it is keeping all angles open in its enforcement investigations into the behaviour of the main banks on tracker mortgages. These angles include examining 'individual culpability' in the tracker scandal, the Central Bank said during week.
The weekend's news that Sainsbury's and Asda are to merge to become a retail superpower appears to have sent shockwaves throughout the retail industry. But, to me, it comes as no great surprise. Deals of this nature and kind are constantly on the cards.
An employment tribunal in Liverpool awarded £110,165 compensation earlier this year against the Department for Work and Pensions after former employee Mrs Carrabyne (Carrabyne v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Case 2401990/2016) was found to have been...
For consumers and consumer-focused businesses in the UK, the economic data for the first part of 2018 has told two slightly different stories. For consumers, there are some positives to take from the data. The latest numbers show that inflation fell from...
Hopefully the weather has turned for the better, and with the longer evenings and (somewhat) drier days, our agri-food industry will look forward to a long and productive summer.
Packie Donnelly plans to sell his three farms and retire by the time he is 60. And yet, it is going to take something special to push him to make the break and retire from a job that has been more than a means to an end for his entire working life.
If ever there was a pivotal moment in the future of digitalisation, that time is now. The Cambridge Analytica (CA) Facebook scandal, which has sparked controversy over foreign state interference and election rigging, has far wider implications. It brings under...
Earlier this month the deadline passed for large companies to report their gender pay gap to the UK government. The drip feed of announcements from these companies over the last number of months has led to increased discussion about the average pay of...
There will be no hard border, that bit is agreed… or is it? Sadly, the search to avoid a hard border is an ambition whose meaning varies depending on who advocates it.
Two months ago, 20 aspiring start-up founders took the brave step of launching a business - many of them leaving the security of a 9-5 job in pursuit of their new venture.
It has been encouraging in the first quarter of 2018 to hear of so many organisations in Northern Ireland - both SME and large-scale - announcing they have increased their revenues and annual profits, and as a result intend to grow their business.
It can be all too easy to get caught up in the negativity that has surrounded the world of business in the past few years. But while the concerns of business experts are often valid, when we peel back the layers of commentary the figures can sometimes paint a...
The consortium that bought Sean Quinn's former cement and plastics operations got a real bargain from the receivers back in 2014.
Although there are many signs that most people in Northern Ireland are better off than they were 20 years ago this does not prove that the Agreement itself caused greater prosperity.
Architecture over the last 20 years highlights the significant progress of our society as it emerged from conflict but also reminds us of the political instability and the divisions that remain.
Monitoring the problems facing the Northern Ireland economy is now unfortunately a passive activity.
Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe is going in search of a "middle way" when it comes to how banks interact with their small business customers. Mr Donohoe wants to get a briefing from the banks on how the closure of branches may be affecting the levels of...
After securing the phase one Brexit agreement in December, the UK and the EU have reached agreement again.
Big changes are about to take place in electricity generation in Northern Ireland. The existing Single Electricity Market (SEM) system will be replaced by the still to be fully presented Integrated Single Electricity Market (I-SEM).
At present it is easy to be downbeat when considering the retail property sector and there is no doubt the market is difficult.
Doing business in Africa is unique. Despite a history of commodity-dependence, many of its economies are on the rise and you will now find microcosms of industry and innovation hubs in almost every city.
It's the Northern Ireland Year of Infrastructure #Infra2018 and there has never been a better time to emphasise the environmental and economic imperative to invest in our waste infrastructure in NI - in particular energy from waste (EFW) facilities to deal with non-...
