Business
Coffee baron is keynote speaker at business leadership conference
Galway’s Clayton Hotel will be the venue for next month’s first Horizon Summit, a leadership conference aimed at helping businesses in Galway and across the country reach their full potential in 2016.
The keynote speaker will be Bobby Kerr, Chairman of Insomnia Coffee Company, former Dragon and Newstalk presenter while other contributors include sales coaches Eric Fitzpatrick and Dermot McConkey as well as productivity expert Ciara Conlon.
“I am delighted to be speaking at the Horizon Summit this October, the event is for business owners, senior management and employees looking to develop their skills and grow their business,” said Bobby this week.
With 2016 on the horizon, the line-up of internationally-renowned speakers will provide business leaders, managers and executives with a boost of energy just at the time when planning for the year ahead is in full swing.
“As we enter the last quarter of 2015 with a new year in front of us, Horizon Summit 2015 is the must-attend conference for all executives to reassess if they are getting the most out of themselves and their businesses,” said Ronan Walsh of Galway’s Sales Master Minders, the organisation behind the conference.
Horizon Summit evolved from local sales network Sales Master Minders, a networking group of sales and business professionals who meet monthly with a focus on improving sales and business performance.
“We had a great response to our monthly meetings,” says Darragh O’Connor one of the founders of Sales Master Minders. “Our regular attendees told us they wanted more in depth sessions with some of the more popular speakers and we believe that the Horizon Summit delivers this for a wider audience.”
Dermot McConkey is one of the foremost authorities on assisting people in achieving positive, measurable change in their attitude, in their behaviour and in their results. He recently published The Selling Conversation, which was co-authored with international communications expert, Yanky Fachler.
Eric Fitzpatrick helps brand and market leading organisations to create and deliver Presentations that match their reputations. His session will pack a punch and show how you can make your business stand out from the crowd,
Ciara Conlon is a productivity coach and author who helps organisations and their people to get better results by focusing on the right things at the right time, creating habits that create success as well as making time for creativity and innovation.
Horizon Summit 2015, takes place at the Clayton Hotel Galway on October 22 from 9.30am to 5pm. To book tickets and for more information go to www.salesmasterminders.com
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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