Business
West fares best as corporate insolvencies show 21 per cent decrease year-on-year
Total corporate insolvencies for the first eight months of 2013 stands at 920 – a 21% drop when compared to last years’ total of 1,170 – according to the latest statistics published by www.InsolvencyJournal.ie,.
Total Company failures for the month of August this year stand at 108 compared to 126 in August last year, a drop of 14%.
Regionally, Leinster accounted for 60% of the 108 overall monthly total, with Dublin making up for 52% of all Leinster business failures. Munster followed with 31% of the overall total. Ulster and Connacht were the provinces least affected.
There was some good news for the construction sector, which has seen a 17% year on year drop in corporate insolvencies – from 282 construction business failures for the first eight months of 2012 compared to 234 recorded so far this year.
There were a total of 35 construction related business failures in August this year, up 14% compared to August 2012.
However, according to research from Ulster Bank, the construction sector saw tentative signs of recovery in July with new orders up for the first time in 19 months and house building edging back into positive territory.
The Ulster Bank Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index – a seasonally adjusted index designed to track changes in total construction activity – remained below the 50.0 no-change mark in July, but rose sharply to 47.5 from 43.4 in the previous month. This signalled a marked easing in the rate of decline in activity, with the latest fall the slowest since December 2011.
There was also some good news for the manufacturing sector which experienced a significant drop from 16 insolvencies recorded in August 2012 to 5 business failures in August 2013.
In addition data published by the Central Statistics Office, showed production in the industrial sector had grown by 1.2 per cent in July compared to June – meaning a year-on-year increase of 6.4 per cent.
Retail corporate insolvencies so far this year stand at 133, a 10% drop compared to the 149 recorded during the same period last year. Despite this positive year on year comparison, the overall KBC Ireland/ESRI Consumer Sentiment Index decreased to 68.2 in July, from 70.6 in June.
The motor industry has seen steady improvement with a 50% reduction in level of business failures from May to August this year. More than 11,500 new cars were sold in July following the introduction of the new 132 plate.
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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