Business
Galway Enterprise Board heads into the county with Business Roadshow
Galway County & City Enterprise Board is marking next week’s SME Week, which runs from October 21 to 25, with a Roadshow around the county and a series of events which will provide information and inspiration to individuals with business ideas and existing business owners.
The Roadshow features local business owners, Pádraic Ó Máille, mentor trainer and motivator and Breda Fox, CEO of the Galway County & City Enterprise Board. All speakers are there to share their experiences and offer advice, support and encouragement.
Local entrepreneurs and will speak about the challenges and opportunities in the current economic climate and how they are positioned to make the most of opportunities with the support of their County & City Enterprise Board.
The Roadshow will first stop off at the Ard Rí Hotel in Tuam next Monday from 7pm to 8pm when speakers include the Friendly Farmer, aka Ronan Byrne, who produces free range meat poultry from his family 35 acre farm holding outside Athenry which once belonged to his grandparents.
It was in 2007, after Ronan returned from Poland (where he managed a large scale dairy farm) that the farm was switched to an ‘open pasture’ method of farming, in an attempt to redress the balance of intensive poultry production and the growing demand for better quality. The farm also has the most beautiful Pyrenean Mountain dogs, these dogs are classed as ‘livestock guardians’ and when properly trained will protect whatever livestock they live with.
On Wednesday, the Roadshow moves to the Lough Rea Hotel – again from 7pm to 8pm, when the key speaker will be Mike O’Neill, Managing Director of ONM Systems Ltd which he founded in 2006. The company is based in Loughrea, and now employs seven staff. The Company is 100% Irish owned.
The core business of ONM Systems Ltd is the development and installation of software systems on mobile devices. These systems are primarily used in a Van Sales / Sales representative environment but they have also developed Ticketing Systems, Courier Systems and Maintenance/Service Engineer systems. As they write all their own software, their systems may be tailored to meet specific customer requirements. ONM also provide staff training and a comprehensive after sales support & maintenance service.
At startup the company consisted of Mike O’ Neill and the office was a converted garage. Naoise Wrynne (Technical Director) joined the company shortly after startup. Due to growth the company moved offices in 2009 and the company now employs 7 people. Their main market is in Ireland but they have also installed systems in England and Scotland.
And then on Thursday, the final night of the Roadshow is at the Station House Theatre in Clifden – from 7pm to 8pm – when the speaker will be Graham Roberts, owner of Connemara Smokehouse.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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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