Business
Chanelle is cream of the crop
The Loughrea based Chanelle Group added another award to its collection when it took the overall prize at the Ulster Bank Business Achiever Awards last weekend.
And to make it a memorable night for Galway, Specialised Sterile Environments were also among the category winners at the Mansion House in Dublin.
The awards saw a record number of entries this year as 676 businesses competed nationally, culminating in the announcement of the winners at a gala dinner on Thursday, 3rd December.
And Chanelle Pharmaceuticals Manufacturing Ltd came out on top – the company founded and managed by Michael Burke specialises in the development, production, marketing and distribution of generic animal and human pharmaceutical products.
The company has over 3000 human and animal health licenses registered worldwide – the largest number of registered veterinary licenses of any company in Europe.
Chanelle Group, based in Loughrea, , have a consistent and rapidly growing customer base in over 80 countries worldwide, with key markets in EU, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Africa and the Middle East, and they currently employ 350 staff.
“We are delighted to be named Overall Business Achiever in these prestigious awards, particularly when pitched against other outstanding companies across all of Ireland,” said Michael Burke, Managing Director of Chanelle Group.
“This is a fantastic recognition of the hard work by our teams and dedicated employees, without whom this success would not be possible. Huge congratulations to everyone at Chanelle Group on making winning this coveted award possible – it is a true honour for all of us,” he added.
Winning the Women Led Business award was Specialised Sterile Environments.
The company – based in the Ballybane Industrial Estate – offers a bespoke range of services including contract cleaning and facilities management and other industry related services to a wide range of clients within the medical device, pharmaceutical, educational, retail and software sectors.
SSE, established in Galway in December 2003, has experienced year on year growth and now employs over 250 staff across Ireland.
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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