Breakfast Business

The advertising agency BBH has made many famous commercials over the years including the famous Levis commercial in the laundrette with Nick Camen.  But how do these agencies work and how do they persuade companies to take risks? To explain all Joe was joined on the show by Karen Martin the Chief Executive of BBH Ireland. 

Ministers within the European Union will vote on whether to impose swingeing tariffs on Chinese made electric Cars. They were found to have been subsidised by Beijing earlier this year.  The problem is China may respond with trade sanctions on European products including goods from Ireland, which could set off a trade war.  Finbarr Bermingham from the South China Morning post joined Joe this morning to discuss the details about the vote today.

There was a time when mobile phones were new and people had to drive to be near masts in order to get a reliable signal.  Nowadays they carry a lot more than just mobile signals and they prefer to be called mobile infrastructure or Towers.  Vodafone is the first operator to sign a deal with Vantage Towers to carry renewable energy from Flogas to power their stores as well as their telecoms infrastructure. It’s called a Corporate Power Purchase Agreement and Brian McHugh, Managing Director of Vantage towers. 

Recently we spoke about Hydrotreated Vegetable oil as an alternative, cleaner fuel for companies and households. But what about Biomethane or Bio Compressed natural gas made from food and animal waste?  It cuts nasty emissions for trucks by 90% and Flogas is already one of the companies offering Bio CNG a filling station.Paddy Phelan from South East Energy Agency wrote a report into Bio CNG and Paddy joined Joe this morning on the show.

Joe Lynam takes a run through Thursday's main business headlines this morning.

To look back on what Budget 25 brought we were broadcasting live from the very well appointed HQ of Grant Thornton on City Quay. Joining Joe with analysis was Andrew Webb the Chief Economist and Robert Fitzgerald Tax Partner with Grant Thornton. 

AIB have today published the September AIB Irish Manufacturing PMI. Emmet talks through it with David McNamara, AIB Chief Economist joins me with the details.

Today is the highly anticipated today we have all been waiting for Budget 2025. Emmet Oliver looked ahead to what it may bring with Dr Lorretta O’Sullivan, EY Ireland Chief Economist.

Yuno is the newest energy provider in town.  It’s only been around for a year offering what it claims to be the cheapest electricity on the market.  But now the company is launching a Gas offering as well.  It claims that its opening gas price of €8.23 per unit is again the cheapest.  But switching among energy customers is notoriously low.  So will it work?  Joe was joined by Cathal Fay - chief executive of Yuno energy.

Joe was joined by Russ Mould to review the stories making the business pages.

How many of us hate sitting through online Ads before we can watch even the shortest of videos on YouTube? Of course you can skip those ads if you pay the monthly premium to the Google-owned company. Now Youtube is raising its prices for its premium service. And it’s not a small price rise it’s a highly inflationary 44% rise from €18 to €26 per month for a family subscription. Is it worth it? All to discuss with Newstalk Technology Correspondent and Presenter of Tech Talk, Jess Kelly. 

Kate English from Deloitte joined Joe this morning to look at the main business stories.

The Credit Union consumer sentiment index was one of the few voices to suggest earlier this year that the economy wasn't as robust as other higher profile surveys might have suggested.  It warned of consumers withholding their spending because they were still stuck with the aftereffects of Inflation.  This time, the survey is a bit more bullish about the beloved consumer.   However, it warns that spending power is not increasing in line with population growth. To take a look at the report findings Joe spoke to the renowned economist Austin Hughes compiles and edits the report for the Credit Unions. 

We hear from the ESRI that it expects growth whether measured using GDP or Modified Domestic demand will be at a steady path this year and next. Unlike the Fiscal advisory Council, the think tank believes that spending patterns by the government are sustainable. However it warns that housing completions have slowed compared to last year and it warns about a possible Trump victory in November.Speaking to Joe this morning was Dr Conor O'Toole is Associate Research Professor with the ESRI .

Next week the Minister of Finance will have record sums in his war chest to give away in the budget. That’s mostly down to soaring corporation tax receipts. But is that money ephemeral or it is real and makes Ireland into a tax haven for wealthy American companies without much benefit for indigenous companies? To discuss further with Joe was Brian O’Boyle economist and a lecturer with the Atlantic Technical University in Sligo and has written a book called ‘Tax Haven Ireland’. 

Joe Lynam takes a quick run through of the main business headlines this Thursday morning.

The FDI sector in the country was rocked 2 weeks ago after Apple was ordered to pay Ireland up to €14bn in back taxes over a perceived special deal. While that may be great for the government ahead of next week’s budget it might have upset other big investors in this country. That is one of the reasons why the Enterprise Minister Peter Burke is in the West Coast of America at the head of a trade delegation with Enterprise Ireland and the IDA. Joe spoke to Minister Burke this morning.

As part of the transition away from fossil fuels and towards fully electric heating and energy, hydrotreated vegetable oil or HVO is being rolled out for both consumers and companies. Today CERTA Ireland launches its 10th filling station Nationwide for car and truck drivers to slash their noxious emissions by up to 90% by filling up with HVO.  Households may soon also be able to use greener fuels instead of concentrated kerosene to heat their homes this winter. Joining Joe this morning was Orla Stevens the Managing Director of Certa Ireland.  

Getting mentoring or advice is more important to female business startups than money?  That’s one of the findings of study carried out by the credit card giant Visa as part of its ‘She’s Next’ programme to support women entrepreneurs.   Joe was joined on the show by Mandy Lamb Managing Directors of Visa UK and Ireland.

Last week Amazon surprised many people by ordering all its white collar staff back into the office from January next year. And only yesterday a survey found that many Irish employers would give better pay and benefits to those workers who regularly show up in the workplace. It’s a massive U-Turn for some employers to pivot away from encouraging working from home following lockdowns. But is it good or bad for the economy to clamp down on Hybrid working? Joe discusses this with Donal O’Donoghue runs Sanderson recruitment.