Business
National award for Galway business
A Galway business has won the Export Award at the 18th National Enterprise Awards, announced by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton, last week.
Vision Built Manufacturing, the light steel gauge manufacturer, was co-founded by Gerry McCarthy in 2013, and he was presented with the Export Award at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham in Dublin yesterday evening (June 11th 2015).
Vision Built – supported by Local Enterprise Galway – is based in Oranmore and represented County Galway in the awards.
The company designs, manufactures and prefabricates structures compliant with building requirements in the UK and Ireland.
Vision-Built provides full design advice and accurate estimation while minimising project risk, improved quality and speedy construction for all types of residential and commercial projects.
Breda Fox, Head of Enterprise at the Local Enterprise Office Galway, paid tribute to Gerry McCarthy and his team at Vision Built Manufacturing.
“These awards showcase local business heroes Vision Built on a national stage. The Local Enterprise Office Galway is here to help identify and support the heroes in our society, who take the brave step of starting and developing their own enterprises.
“Small business owners are the risk-takers, the innovators and the job creators that form a key part of the enterprise ecosystem here in Ireland. Vision Built have all demonstrated true grit and determination, choosing not just to survive but to grow and establish their businesses even further,” she said.
In 2014, the Local Enterprise Offices collectively supported over 24,000 small business owners, entrepreneurs and managers, through various training programmes, mentoring services, networks, web-related grants and financial assistance. Through the LEOs, 7,305 jobs were created during 2014 in gross terms (4,012 extra jobs in net terms).
The Local Enterprise Office is the First Stop Shop for anyone seeking information and support on starting or growing a business in Ireland. The Local Enterprise Offices, which are part of the Local Authorities Network, provide advice, information and support to those starting up or growing a business.
■ Further details about the supports available to start-ups and small businesses are available through www.localenterprise.ie/ Galway
The new President of Local Ireland, the association representing local news publishers around the country, is Head of Irish Times Regionals Dan Linehan.
Mr Linehan takes over the presidency from Declan McGuire of the Connacht Tribune. His appointment was confirmed at the recent Annual General Meeting of Local Ireland at Bloomfield House Hotel near Mullingar, Westmeath.
Mr Linehan, who has served as Vice President of the organisation for the last two years, said: “The coming years are a very important time for local publishers with many important issues to be addressed, including the implementation of the Future of Media Commission recommendations, defamation reform, the role and support for local publishers in public service reporting and helping publishers develop commercial digital offerings.”
Speaking at the AGM, Mr McGuire acknowledged the work done by the Executive in the past two years under the direction of Executive Director, Bob Hughes, on several projects related to the publishing industry but most especially the successful conclusion of the long-running campaign for the abolition of VAT on newspapers.
He also wished Mr Linehan the very best in his new role as President of the association for the next two years.
Mr Hughes thanked Mr McGuire for his leadership and support during his term of office and said he looked forward to working with Mr Linehan on the key policy priorities for the association, including Government supports, Government advertising, fair remuneration for content from the tech platforms and the reform of the legislation for defamation.
Local Ireland members also elected Seán Mahon, Managing Director of the Southern Star, as Vice President for the next two years.
The shortage of affordable housing is the single biggest impediment in attracting and retaining workers in the West, according to business group Ibec.
At a ‘Regional Insights Series’ meeting in the Galmont Hotel in Galway last week, employers were told that capacity constraints and labour supply are the key challenges facing business growth in the region.
Ibec Head of Regional Policy Helen Leahy said: “There must be greater focus by government on enhancing quality of life issues such as housing and infrastructure which are driving labour shortages in the region.
“Ibec’s vision for the West is to realise its potential to become a globally competitive location. An inadequate supply of affordable housing is now the single largest impediment to attracting and retaining talented workers, without whom business investment and expansions are not possible.
“Labour shortages are a real concern for businesses in the region. People decide where to live and work based on quality of life and access to high quality services and amenities. Industry tends to follow talent, and in this regard, the region needs to have all the building blocks in place as the attraction and retention of world-class talent becomes increasingly competitive on a global level,” said Ms Leahy.
Amongst Ibec’s priorities for the West are:
- Addressing housing and infrastructure challenges
- Transitioning towards a new growth model with Net Zero energy powered by Atlantic offshore wind resources
- Adapting businesses to the new economic realities
- Enhancing capacity and skillsets to achieve sustainable development objectives
- Investment in people and skills
- Creating competitive advantage through digitalisation
- Innovation as a key driver of productivity growth
One in five Galway businesses want to go fully cashless, as the move towards card payments and tapping continues unabated post-Covid.
In all, 22% of Galway businesses would like to be fully cashless, according to a survey carried out by BOI Payment Acceptance (BOIPA), a provider of payment technology solutions, which asked Irish businesses about the current payment landscape as well as business confidence and concerns.
Over one-third (36%) of Galway businesses were unaware there is no contactless limit on mobile wallets – just below the national average – while 54% believe the increase in card over cash transactions has helped them run their business.
Six out of ten Galway businesses expect to grow this year despite the cost-of-living crisis and running costs dominating as key concerns; 62% believe their business will grow over the next twelve months despite global economic uncertainty.
Unsurprisingly cost-of-living increases and running costs were the main concerns the majority of businesses had.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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