Did you know… 93% of payments made by Government Departments were paid to suppliers within 15 days? This is according to the latest quarterly report on prompt payments by Government Departments and the agencies under the aegis of the Dept of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation published by Ged Nash, Minister for Business and Employment. A total of 45,743 payments were made by Government Departments in Q3 amounting to over €689 million. Of total payments made, 39,914 payments, or 93%, valued at over €638 million were paid to suppliers within 15 days of receipt of a valid invoice. Figures also released in respect of the agencies under the Department show a total of 11,981 payments were made in the third quarter of 2014, amounting to just over €42 million. Of these 92% or 10,941 payments amounting to €38.6 million were paid within 15 days. Minister Nash said, “Anyone in business knows that cash flow is the life blood of a business. Any disruption to that cash flow, particularly for small businesses, can mean the difference between solvency and bankruptcy. Therefore, it is vitally important that businesses continue to be paid on time .” Minister Nash recently established an online portal to host the Prompt Payment Code of Conduct which will be launched in the first quarter of 2015. The Code of Conduct is a joint initiative between the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, the Institute of Credit Management Ireland (IICM), the main business representative bodies (ISME, SFA, Chambers Ireland & IBEC) in Ireland and the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) aimed at ensuring businesses are paid on time.
Did you know… The Coca-Cola Thank You Fund has donated €125,000 to five organisations including Canoeing Ireland, Killarney Rugby Football Club, Omagh Wheelers Cycling Club, Spraoi agus Spórt and Swim Ireland, each receiving €25,000. The Coca Cola Thank You Fund was founded in 2011, and awards grants to organisations for new initiatives aimed at encouraging people to incorporate physical activity into their day to day lives. Ailish Forde, public affairs and communications director at Coca-Cola HBC Ireland said: “Thousands of people stand to benefit from programmes that will variously: train a range of new kayak instructors to introduce young people to the sport; equip Kerry with its very first ‘Trim Trail’, a one kilometre path for use in exercise; get the whole family cycling; train people who don’t exercise to run a 5k; and encourage the nation to swim in their local pool through the Swim for a Mile programme.” The Thank You Fund has donated €500,000 in funding since it began.
Did you know… 1,500 people are expected to attend the Cork Innovates networking showcase and conferences? The event aims to inspire and support business development in Munster according to Siobhán Finn, Cork Innovates project director. She said, “The free event will provides an opportunity to meet business support organisations, to network and to hear from successful entrepreneurs and new start-ups about their business breakthroughs.” The event will also feature panel discussions expiring topics including: growth models, emerging trends in industry, entrepreneurship and innovation. The speakers include Alex Musgrave of Dog Day Media, Brendan Finucane of Vconnecta, Scott Baignet of Eight Degrees Brewing, Jacqueline O’Farrell, Grove House Health Spa and Dr Breda Kenny, head of Hincks Centre for Entrepreneurship Excellence at CIT. In addition, seven Cork Innovates finalists will be pitching for a €30,000 grant as part of a package including advertising, financial advice, mentoring, PR, mobile and data packages, Cork chamber membership supports.The finalists are Mountain Man Brewing, Bia Beauty, TIC Ltd, Ottera Technology, Inspect4, AventaMed and Pundit Arena.
Did you know… Tanaiste Minister Joan Burton attended The CEO Forum today to announce the recipients of the Business Working Responsibly Mark? The Business Working Responsibly Mark is Ireland’s National Standard Authority of Ireland NSAI accredited certification for responsible and sustainable business practices. Other speakers included Brendan Jennings, Deloitte and Geoff McDonald, Former Global Vice President Human Resources, Unilever; Geoff McDonald, Former Global Vice President Human Resources, Unilever, and Olivia O’Leary, Journalist, Broadcaster, Writer as well as Tina Roche, CEO, Business in the Community Ireland. The forum was held in the State apartments in Dublin Castle and preceded BITCI’s Major Corporate Responsibility Conference on Building Trust, Reputation and Culture in Business.
Did you know… over 15,000 companies have been created in Ireland this year so far? This is the highest number of start ups since 2007 and is expected to grow to 17,000 according to the latest Business Barometer from vision-net. The survey shows that every month this year there have been more start ups formed that the same period in 2013. The Barometer said, “If start ups for the last two months of this year remain in line with what we’ve seen for the rest of the year, we will see over 17,000 new companies formed in Ireland in 2014 - the highest we’ve seen since 2007. Since 2007, company start-ups have not been able to reach the 15,700 mark.” Wholesale, retail, social and personal services are the second most popular types of company start ups, after professional service which accounts for a quarter of new companies.
?Did you know… Treasury Wines, the Australian wine company, is closing its Ryecroft winery in McLaren Vale wine region, South Australia? The company will transfer production of wine to other wineries in South Australia in time for the 2015 grape harvest. Ryecroft facility has been producing wine for 120 years and has been the main facility fir the production of Rosemount wines. Peter Taylor, Treasury's director of wine production in Australasia, said the decision was difficult and that the Ryecroft facility was operating at about half of its production capacity for several years. “Rosemount wines previously made at Ryecroft will continue to source their fruit from McLaren Vales and surrounding regions, the only change is the location where the wine will be made.” Treasury wines has 83 brands in total including Penfolds, Wolf Blass, Seppelt and Lindemans, among others.
Did you know… Musgraves Retail and wholesale group has warned that SMEs need protection when banks sell on loans to international funds? The group told said in a submission to the Department of Finance, that changes are urgently needed and that independent retailers are being encouraged away from refinancing with banks, leaving them vulnerable to price rises. Additionally, Musgrave Group said that it wants funds that buy SME loans to be regulated, and for ownership of that debt to require Central Bank authorisation, to protect consumers, including SMEs. The group said it has witnessed an increase in cases where companies have been asked to finance away from their own bank over the past 18 months. The submission to the Department of Finance is just one of many concerned with the debt issues facing SMEs.
Did you know… Marks & Spencers has posted an increase in underlying first-half profit for the first time in four years? The retail group, also saw an increase in its guidance for non-food gross margin for the full year 2014-15 to 150-200 basis points from 100 point before. Marc Bolland, M&S chief executive said the group is improving “step by step” but a new clothing team he set up in 2012 hasn’t delivered a sustained increase in sales and, for the first time, M&S earned less in the year to the end of March than faster-growing rival Next. However, M&S had better success with its food business, which contributes over half its sales and is performing better than clothing. The food sales increases on the same basis 0.2%, as expected by analysts. Meanwhile the online sales dropped 4.6% in the second quarter, a further drop on the first quarter’s 8.1%.
Did you know… The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has warned of high levels of gluten in Melvit Maka Kukurydziana (corn flour). The batch; 1110504A, 400g, best before: 04/01/2015, was found to contain high levels (>150 mg/kg) of gluten. This may make it unsafe for consumers who are allergic or intolerant to gluten. This product has been exported from Poland and corn flour is written on the package in Polish: maka kukurydziana. For more information, visit www.fsai.ie.
© 2014 - Checkout Magazine by Genna Patterson and Niamh Clarke.
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