Business
Firms net online awards
Kinlay Hostel in Eyre Square became the first winner of Galway’s Online Marketing Leadership Award at the Online Marketing in Galway Awards for 2014 which were announced at a ceremony in the Town Hall Theatre on Tuesday evening.
Other winners on the night were Topform from Gort for the Best Email Marketing; Spellbinding Music for Best Blog; MyKidsTime.ie for Best Social Media; and Pocket Anatomy for Best Website.
The Dough Bros, the wood-fired mobile pizza oven business, won the People’s Choice Award following energetic campaigns by all contenders which attracted over 6,000 online votes in total.
The event was organised by Online Marketing in Galway, a voluntary group which organises seminars and events throughout the year for anyone interested on online and mobile marketing.
“We felt that there was a need to recognise the achievements and energy which is put into digital marketing in Galway,” said OMiG’s founder Maricka Burke Keogh.
“We see that enthusiasm and innovation every month at our events and thought it deserves a wider audience.”
Over 200 nominations were received across all categories from businesses all over Galway and judging was carried out by a panel of 19 judges, many of them experts in the particular categories. The evening was hosted by digital marketing consultant, Robin Chedgey and included a lively panel discussion with Anthony Quigley of the Digital Marketing Institute, Ciarán Quilty from Facebook and Zara Sheerin from NUI Galway.
Breda Fox of the Local Enterprise Office Galway, formerly the City and County Enterprise Board, was particularly happy to be a main sponsor of the event as many of the nominees were existing or former clients.
“Effective marketing ability is one of the skills most sought by our clients and an area where we devote a lot of resources to helping them,” she said.
Dave Hickey of the Connacht Tribune Group, the other main sponsor of the awards, said that effective marketing – online, offline or on mobile – is key to the success of any business.
“The awards tonight recognise businesses which understand where their markets are and actively seek to engage with them at every opportunity,” he said.
OMiG’s next event is at the end of May – for more information, log on towww.galwaymarketing.ie.
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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