Breakfast Business

A look at today's business papers and markets with Aidan Donnelly from Davys.

 In the financial year ending in Aug, IKEA Ireland saw its sales jump 16% to €252m. Much of that surge came from the new click-and-collect service in smaller towns around the country which meant not everyone had to come to Ballymun.   Joining Joe in the studio this morning was Marsha Smith is the deputy chief executive of IKEA UK & Ireland.  

Planning was back in focus this week as the RTE investigates programme exposed the fact that some so-called environmental objectors simply wanted money to drop their objections to housing developments.  And in the background, the new Planning & Development Act has been published.  But will it make life easier for planners and will it speed up the notoriously slow planning process in this country? Joe spoke to Gavin Lawlor from the Irish Planning Institute.

A run-through of some of the business stories today with Newstalk Business Editor Joe Lynam.

Softbank is paying almost half a billion euros to take a 51% stake in Cubic Telecom.  It was a big day for the management and staff but also for the state-run Irish Strategic Investment Fund which had a stake in the business.  Shane Sorohan Chief Operation Officer for Cubic Telecom joined Joe this morning. 

Ireland formally submitted its bid to host the newest EU agency - the Anti-Money Laundering Authority.  Given our growing status as a European financial hub and the fact that we only have one other EU body based here, hopes are high that we might pip Frankfurt to get the agency. It comes as European banks are trying to streamline how they spot fraud in the system before the criminals nick our money  Speaking to Joe this morning was Sinead Ovenden, PWC partner for anti-money laundering. 

A run through of some of the business stories today with Joe Lynam.

With the Christmas rush well under way, millions of online payments are being processed in December.  And hovering overhead are cybercriminals hoping to pounce with some new fraud including phoney payment methods.   Fraudulent transactions are estimated to be around €200bn between 2021 and 2025 Riten Gohil, Business Development Director with the digital signatures company Signicat joined Joe on the show this morning.

A look at today's business stories with Newstalk Business Editor Joe Lynam.

  Waterways Ireland was set up as part of the Good Friday agreement to promote cross-border usage of our rivers and lakes. It manages navigation and recreation on the Shannon, the Erne, the Bann, and even the Grand Canal.  Now it’s got a 10-year plan to boost usage on these waterways.   John McDonagh the Chief Executive of Waterways Ireland spoke to Joe this morning about the 10-year plan.

Does your SME sell enough of its stuff online or does it predominantly depend on physical sales face to face?  The government and the EU are keen that all companies - no matter how big digitise their business. But sometimes that costs too much money and some owners are a bit scared of making the technological leap. Speaking to Joe this morning was Garrett Bridgeman is the MD of An Post Commerce. 

A run through of some of the business stories today with Newstalk Business Editor Joe Lynam.

For years bankruptcy meant a financial life sentence for small business owners and little prospect of a second chance.  But it’s been almost 2 years since the introduction of the new Small Company Administrative Rescue Process - known as SCARP, which has radically simplified and shortened the insolvency process for SMEs.  Today the accountancy firm formerly known as Baker Tilly and now known as Azets published its SCARP index, which claims that 561 jobs have been saved as a direct result of the new scheme. Speaking to Joe this morning was Dessie Morrow Partner for Corporate Recovery with Azets. 

  It’s Romania’s national holiday today. The home of Transylvania, Georgi Hagi, Dracula, and Dacia cars is also Ireland’s 19th largest trading partner.  Trade between the 2 nations is worth €1.4bn.  Laurențiu Ştefan is the Romanian ambassador to Ireland joined Joe this morning.

A look at Friday's business news and markets with Joe Lynam and Aidan Donnelly from Davys.

Earlier this week we reported that pausing or blocking the construction of further data centres in Ireland would have a major economic impact on the future health of the economy.  The boss of one of the biggest data centre companies in Ireland Equinix, Peter Lantry said the own goal had already been kicked and the ball was about to hit the back of the net. Speaking to Joe this morning was Peter Lantry from Equinix.

The alphabet soup of new names in the world of renewable and affordable energy gets thicker and thicker.  You know LNG, you might know HVO and now we need to add Bio CNG to the list.   Bio-compressed Natural Gas is a type of methane that we get from food waste.  It could be one of the solutions needed to cut emissions on heavy goods vehicles and Flogas is building a major new CNG terminal at St Margarets in North Dublin. John Rooney, Managing Director of Flogas which is part of the DCC group joined Joe this morning on the show.

A look at today's business papers and websites with Joe Lynam.

Arklow Bank may not be a financial institution but it could be the source of wealth in energy terms for many years.  The shallow waters off the coast of Wicklow will be home to much of Ireland’s renewable energy wind farms and the company behind the project reckon it could even create more than a thousand jobs and nearly €5bn in spending over its lifetime. Joining Joe this morning was James O’Hara is the Director of the Arklow Bank Wind Park 2 Project which is part of the SSE Group.  

Hibernia is one of the largest property developers in Ireland with sites all over Dublin.  It’s currently redeveloping the former Garda HQ on Harcourt St but it’s also bringing draughty older buildings up to a much higher specification.  And lingering in the background is a notable downturn in the commercial property market here.  Joe spoke to Neil Menzies from Hibernia at their 1CP site which is home to Twitter and will be home to TikTok Europe as well.