Business
Supermac invests in Galway health supplement company
The owner and founder of Supermac’s has backed his belief in a Galway healthfood company – by buying ten per cent of the business.
Pat McDonagh, Managing Director of Supermac’s, Claddagh Irish Restaurants and Pubs, and the Castletroy Park Hotel in Limerick, has taken a stake in the Galway Natural Health Company which is behind the recently launched advanced dietary supplement, Revive Active.
The investment also marks the appointment of Pat McDonagh as a non-executive director of the business which was founded in 2011 by Daithi O’Connor and Liam Salmon.
Revive Active is a high quality blend of 26 ingredients delivered in one convenient sachet. The unique blend of vitamins and minerals combine to provide a multitude of health benefits including natural sustained energy without the use of sugar and caffeine, a boosted heart and cardiovascular system, amongst other benefits.
The revolutionary product also brings two key Nobel prize-winning ingredients together for the first time. The combined inclusion of Coenzyme Q10 and L-Arginine further improves Revive Active’s ability to enhance energy and vitality and support a healthy immune system in regular consumers.
“I am very excited to be involved with this exceptional new product. Revive Active is highly beneficial as a daily supplement to people seeking to achieve and maintain high levels of mental and physical performance in sport, business and in life in general. I began taking Revive Active six months ago and after only a few days I began to notice the increase in my energy levels on a sustained basis throughout the working day,” said Pat McDonagh this week.
“As a Galway man I believe it is vital to support local industry and I am encouraged further by the determination and business knowledge demonstrated by Revive Active Founders Daithi O’Connor and Liam Salmon. I am completely convinced of Revive Active’s merits and potential, and am confident that the product will have wide ranging global appeal and success in other countries outside Ireland,” he added.
Daithi O’Connor said they were delighted to welcome Pat on board.
“With his business acumen and extensive experience, we believe we are well placed to develop the reach of Revive Active in Ireland and overseas; we are currently stocked in over 400 outlets in Ireland and 35 in the UK.
“The reaction we have been receiving to our product has been incredible encouraging and word-of-mouth endorsement from our customers seems to be one of our best-selling tools,” he added.
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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