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Business & Finance – The demise of the Irish pub

– April 27, 2012Posted in: Magazine, Website

Business & Finance

As drink licences are being transferred from on to off-premises, pubs are fighting for customers writes Christopher Goodfellow.

The shuttered pubs on local high streets are an ominous sign for the industry. Publicans have faced a perfect storm of increasing costs, falling consuming spending and changing drinking patterns.

Since the start of the recession the closing bell has tolled for the final time at 809 Irish pubs –10% of the entire market – and they have been closing at a rate of one per day since 2005.

Even among successful pubs, trading conditions are daunting. “Your overheads are pretty high and it’s quite crippling. You won’t get money for your hip pocket if you can pay your bills, your staff and suppliers, call yourself lucky,” says Jurgen Schwalm, owner and manager of The Roundwood Inn in Wicklow.

And industry experts expect the trend to continue, predicting in the region of 200-300 further closures per year over the next few years.

Continue reading .pdf of the print edition.

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Recruiter – UK’s big four recruiters go for global growth

– April 1, 2012Posted in: Magazine, Website

Staffing firms strive to diversify international operations as domestic profit growth flatlines

The UK’s biggest recruiters have set their focus on international expansion during 2012, hoping to reduce risks and increase profits amid poor domestic trading conditions.

In 2011, the international net fee income of the big four — Hays, Michael Page, SThree and Robert Walters — grew by 29% year-on-year, topping £1 trillion for the first time, according to analysis by Recruiter.

In contrast, domestic profit growth (in some cases this includes both the UK and Ireland) has not recovered since the start of the recession, increasing overseas business’ share of profits from 44% to 69%.

UK operations are suffering from the country’s poor macro environment, which has limited businesses’ hiring confidence and candidates’ willingness to change roles, while international markets continue to grow. Hays’ UK and Ireland operation fared the worst out of the top four, making a £3.1m loss in the second half of 2011 (public sector net fees dropped 18% year-on-year and permanent placements fell in its banking and City-related operations).

Continue reading .pdf

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Business & Finance – UK: A budget of Tory ideals

– April 1, 2012Posted in: Magazine, Website

Business & Finance

George Osborne’s much-leaked budget puts more money in the back pockets of the country’s wealthiest at a time when the rhetoric is very much anti-big earners, writes Christopher Goodfellow.

British Chancellor George Osborne left number 11 Downing Street, red brief case in hand, to a heckle of “will the rich pay their fare share?” We already knew the answer of course. He was holding one of the most leaked budgets in living memory.

Later that morning in parliament, Osborne delivered a budget light on economic policy and heavy on politics. He harked back to the words of Scottish Enlightenment-era economist Adam Smith, saying tax policy should be “simple, fair, and predictable”.

And, in an age of unparalleled economic strife, it’s the second of Smith’s points – fairness – that caught the eye of both voters and economic commentators in the post-budget debate. Osborne committed to delivering a fiscally neutral budget, so it was a case of takeaways and giveaways – who gets what and why.

First through, let’s tackle the impact on business.

It’s a year since Osborne delivered his Budget for Growth. At that point, the UK’s GDP was expected to grow by 1.7% in 2011. However, final performance was markedly weaker, at 0.8%.

Continue reading on BusinessAndFinance.ie.

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Business & Finance – Mortgages: Debt in the family

– February 29, 2012Posted in: Magazine, Website
Business & Finance

The problems facing households in negative equity is potentially more fatal to the economy than bank or government debt, writes Christopher Goodfellow.

The public outcry about mortgage relief is important for two good reasons – it points to both a social failing and hints at an underlying problem which has been left ignored.

The focus of the euro zone crisis has been on governments – the key metrics debt-to-GDP ratios and deficit levels. This preoccupation with public sector debt is worrying because it has covered up a central plank of a sustained economic recovery; the deleveraging of private-sector debts, an area in which Ireland is badly exposed.

While the international spotlight shines on Greece and another riot-stricken austerity debate, Ireland’s debt burden is far greater.

The aggregate indebtedness of Ireland – the sum of all household, company, government and bank debts – stood at 663% of GDP in Q1 2011, double Hellenistic levels, according to management consultants McKinsey. And this fact has been given very little attention by policy makers.

In part, this is because it is unclear whether a nation’s total indebtedness provides a good gauge of its sustainability. It’s not just the troika, but the ratings agencies and indeed the wider economic debate that is firmly focused on government debt and spending. Here there are clear empirical guides as to bad performance.

The key is that private sector debt must be serviced in some fashion by the product of the economy. In addition,  the level of the debt, combined with weak growth, makes it difficult for the deleveraging process to begin.

Continue reading on BusinessAndFinance.ie.

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Recruiter – Collapsed recruiters spark buying bonanza

– January 1, 2012Posted in: Magazine, Website

Recruitment firms that went into administration last year conversely offered acquisition opportunities to those companies who had fared slightly better, as Christopher Goodfellow reports

Investors’ interest in distressed recruitment agencies is increasing after a series of successful high-value acquisitions of companies in the sector that have gone into administration.

Recruiter’s analysis reveals that in the year to October every one of the recruitment agencies that went into administration and had a turnover greater than £5m has now been acquired.

Demand from investors is set to a background of increased business failures — 19 recruitment agencies went into administration in the third quarter of 2011, more than double the same period in the previous year.

Continue reading on Recruiter.co.uk.

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Totally Dublin – Souper Troopers

– December 1, 2011Posted in: Magazine

Totally Dublin

  • View .pdf of print edition

Are you hungry?

It’s a simple question and one that allows the volunteers and workers that staff the city’s soup kitchens and homeless centres to engage with their customers.

At the Capuchin Day Centre in Smithfield the queue of people waiting for the centre to open its doors for lunch stretches along the pavement. The street homeless, Roma and those living in hostels, stand next to the ‘new poor’ who have lost their jobs and face poverty for the first time.

When the food is served, it’s the mix of people inside the centre that’s the most striking. It doesn’t seem strange to see parents with push chairs or children queuing for food, next to men and women that carry the heavy look of those that sleep rough on the city’s streets or in hostels.

As a recessionary index, demand for the centre’s services paints a daunting picture. Each Wednesday volunteers give out around 1,000 parcels of tea, butter, sugar…

Continue reading here (.pdf)

Photos by Ian Keegan

Souper Troopers

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Business & Finance – Touristes de force

– December 1, 2011Posted in: Magazine, Website

Business & Finance

This year’s much lauded tourism statistics paint a positive picture for the future of the industry, but mask a structural shift that’s affecting the accommodation demand in the stilltroubled sector.

In the first nine months of 2011 the number of visitors coming to Ireland increased by 10% compared to 2010, and marked the first year-on-year quarterly growth since mid-2008.

Positive news indeed, but here’s the caveat. Year-on-year comparisons with 2010 are problematic because the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud plagued airlines across Europe, grounding flights and prevented tourists from reaching the country.

The sector also benefited from a number of big name events, including a visit by Queen Elizabeth – which according to Tourism Ireland generated €298 million of publicity alone – and President Barack Obama.

Visitor numbers in the first three quarters of 2011 are down 7% on 2009

View .pdf of print edition.

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Integer Research – DEF Tracker

– November 30, 2011Posted in: Magazine

DEF Tracker

Editor and project manager: DEF Tracker

DEF Tracker provides price benchmarks and market analysis on Diesel Exhaust Fluid, a chemical used to reduce emissions from heavy-duty trucks. The DEF Tracker includes:

  • DEF prices
  • Trends and key figures
  • Emerging benchmarks
  • Market intelligence
  • Supply network development

DEF Tracker DEF Tracker

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Atlantic Business – N.S. Special Report: Downtown developments

– November 9, 2011Posted in: Magazine, Website

Investment is on the rise throughout downtown Halifax and Dartmouth. So much so that the view – from both sides – is about to change dramatically.

On one side of the harbour construction is beginning on two 14-storey apartment blocks which will tower over the water’s edge. On the other, plans are being drawn up to pump $290 million into Queen’s Landing on Halifax’s already well-developed waterfront.

The future for the area looks bright. In truth though, the slew of new investments comes after several years of significantly depressed construction levels which haven’t yet properly recovered from the recession.

As Canadian GDP growth faltered in mid-2007, non-residential construction investment in Halifax plummeted, falling 21 per cent between Q1 and Q2 and a further 13 per cent between Q2 and Q3. The sector began to recover in 2009 and 2010, but activity in both years remained around 30 per cent lower than pre-recessionary levels.

In 2011, the private sector pipeline has been particularly active. In downtown Halifax, the 19-storey Trillium condominium complex is nearing completion while United Gulf has requested a permit to start work on a 33-storey tower. And in Dartmouth, Fares Inc. has broken ground on the $500-million King’s Wharf development.

For those operating in the residential development market, it’s a good time to be doing business; vacancy rates are down and rents are up.

Continue reading on AtlanticBusinessMagazine.ca

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Business & Finance – UK: Easing the crunch

– October 29, 2011Posted in: Magazine, Website

With GDP growth as low as 1% and the Bank of England in charge of interest rates, quantitative easing may be the only option available to UK chancellor George Osborne, writes Christopher Goodfellow.

British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne is facing a difficult question. What do you do if you’re in charge of an economy in which GDP growth is beginning to look dangerously like a skimming stone?

The last two successive UK governments have employed a range of monetary tools to stimulate demand – the interest rate has been cut dramatically, taxes reduced and money printed.

Now the Conservatives are in a difficult spot. Economists believe UK GDP growth could be as low as 1% in 2011, and in September, the British Chamber of Commerce revised its growth forecasts downwards (predicting a “modest” 0.3% in Q3 and 0.5% in Q4).

The problem is when Osborne looked to the toolbox to try and decide how to best to shore up the country’s ailing economy, he had few options left.

Continue reading .pdf version.

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