January 22nd 2013
Who says the Bottom Line team don’t get around? We do ….. Tom Molloy talked to us this week from Davos. He was disappointingly down beat about the state of Irelands efforts to get a deal on the promisory notes. To be continued no doubt ….
Last week as we went on air the news was just breaking about the now infamous “horseburger” story. The potential ramifications for people in the food industry are enormous. Supermacs founder Pat McDonagh wasted no time in coming out and seeking to reassure his customers about the quality assurance of the burgers sold in the dozens of Supermacs outlets throughout the country. Full marks to Pat for coming out in public and addressing the concerns of his customers and the public head on.
The trade figures between Britain and Ireland are truly enormous. €1billion per WEEK according to Steve Aiken, CEO of the British Irish Chamber of Commerce. For such a trading zone it’s amazing to reflect on the fact that the British Irish Chamber of Commerce was only established in 2011 ! The British Irish Chamber are organising a Conference under the auspices of the Gathering. Steve told us all about the event and how membership of the British Irish Chamber is relevant for all types of businesses from small one or two people start ups, artisan food producers all the way up the line to companies with hundreds of employees. If you’d like to find out more here
“Doldrums” hardly begins to describe the state of the Irish property market in recent years ! There are still conflicting signals over whether the property market is showing signs of recovery or whether property values still have a way to go before they reach the “bottom”. Peter McCreery of Sherry Fitzgerald McCreery joined us on the programme to discuss details of the Irish Residential Property Review and the €64,000 question: what the outlook is for property in 2013?
As January 2013 moves steadily towards February many people are still doing nicely with the New Year’s Business Resolutions. Some are finding t=he going tough. Coping with difficult business circumstances requires one quality more than anything else: resilience. We spoke to Richard Burke who is running a training course called “The Resilient Mind” in Waterford in February. You can find out more on http://www.stressmatters.ie/
Speaking of resilience I came across this “Small Steps” a book by business man Paul McNeive about how the tragedy of losing his legs drove him to lead a €50 million business. Paul was a guest on the Sue Nunn Show on KCLR. We’re hoping to have Paul as a guest on the Bottom Line in the future.
Regards
John
