BusinessEye VodCAST

Northern Ireland’s public transport operator is moving out of the Covid era with investment in the future at the centre of its agenda.

Translink’s Chief Executive, Chris Conway, talks to Business Eye’s Richard Buckley about the new Belfast Transport Hub at Weaver’s Cross, about the ‘tap & go’ ticketing system for bus and rail passengers, about the Belfast-Dublin Enterprise service, about sustainability and about the organisation’s continued investment across its station network and its fleet.

The Department of the Economy’s 10X Future aspirations mean tough targets right across the Northern Ireland economy, not least amongst our start up and early stage businesses. Business Eye teamed up with Enterprise Northern Ireland to stage a virtual round table discussion looking at the role of the enterprise network across Northern Ireland and how it can contribute to a 10X future for the region.

Business Eye’s Richard Buckley and Enterprise NI Chief Executive Michael McQuillan hosted the event from NIAVAC’s studio in East Belfast, and were joined virtually by:-

Jonathan McAlpin, CEO at East Belfast Enterprise & Chair of Enterprise NI
Jennifer McWilliams, CEO at Antrim Enterprise Agency
Jayne Taggart, CEO at Enterprise Causeway, Coleraine
Conor Patterson, CEO at Newry & Mourne Enterprise Agency
Cara Dallat, CEO at Craigavon Industrial Development Organisation

Business Eye joined forces with leading law firm TLT, in addition to experts from the NI and Scottish drinks sector and tourism. They considered the opportunities these changes could bring, with particular reference to experiences in Scotland, and what next steps those in NI need to take to capitalise on these reforms.

The Panel

In The NIAVAC Studio

Eoin Devlin, Legal Director & Licensing Law Specialist (NI), TLT LLP
Richard Buckley, Editor, Business Eye – Host

Via Zoom

Stephen McGowan, Partner & Head of Licensing (Scotland), TLT LLP
Bernard Sloan, Managing Director, Whitewater Brewery, Castlewellan
Simon Roberts, Head Brewer, West Beer, Glasgow
Gary Quate, Experience Development Officer, Tourism NI

Richard Buckley talks to Mark Regan, Chief Executive of the Kingsbridge Private Hospital Group, about how private healthcare has changed since the group’s Lisburn Road hospital opened its doors to patients 10 years ago. Today, on the back of the pandemic and longer than ever NHS waiting lists, more and more people are choosing to self-fund their private treatment.

Deloitte & Business Eye organised and staged a virtual round table discussion spotlighting the practical steps that NI companies of all sizes can take to lower their own climate impact, drawing on input from some of the regions leading- edge sustainability practitioners and a group of business leaders.

In Studio

Ian Kelsall, Audit Partner, Deloitte – Ian leads Deloitte’s audit practice in Northern Ireland providing audit and assurance services to a wide range of industry sectors including energy, utilities, transport, manufacturing, retail and pharmaceuticals.

Aisléan Nicholson, Tax Partner, Deloitte – Before joining Deloitte Ireland, Aisléan spent 18 years with Deloitte UK advising domestic and multinational companies on tax matters, including business restructurings, M&As, financing structures, transfer pricing models and tax strategy.

Richard Buckley, Editor, Business Eye – Host

Via Zoom

Richard Kennedy, Chief Executive, Devenish – A former EY Entrepreneur Of The Year for Ireland, Richard also sits on the board of InterTrade Ireland. He heads Irish-based agri-tech group Devenish, which provides leading edge nutritional solutions for the intensive livestock sector.

Lianne Taylor, Head of Environment, GRAHAM – An environmental and sustainability professional for more than 15 years, Lianne leads the Environment Sustainability team within GRAHAM, and has helped the construction and engineering group to achieve a 30% reduction in CO2 emissions over recent years.

Paul McElvaney, Group CEO, Learning Pool – Learning Pool’s Founder & CEO, Paul has helped grow the business from a modest team of five to its seven sites and 200 employees today. Learning Pool, headquartered in Derry, is a world leader in the field of learning software.

Brian Murphy, CEO, Balcas – The firm’s former Head of Finance, Brian has helped grow Balcas from sales of £8 million in 1992 to sales of £120 million today. Balcas is among the island’s largest timber processers and the leading producer of wood pellet fuel in the UK and Ireland.

Richard Buckley of Business Eye was joined in NIAVAC’s Belfast studio by Chris Conway, Group Chief Executive of Translink, with an influential panel of participants joining the discussion virtually:-

Noyona Chundur, Chief Executive, NI Consumer Council
Ann McGregor , Chief Executive, NI Chamber of Commerce & Industry
Declan Billington, NI Energy Working Group Chair, CBI
Gerry Lennon, Chief Executive, Visit Belfast
John Barry, Professor of Green Political Economy, Queen’s University Belfast

Connected Health is one of the Northern Ireland economy’s hidden gems. Proudly based in Belfast despite having expanded and grown in both GB and the Republic, the company is on a mission to revolutionise the concept of home care, combining the might of technology and the power of people to achieve its long-term goal. Business Eye’s Richard Buckley chats to Connected Health Directors Ryan Williams & Theresa Morrison.

Find out more about Connected Health

Business Eye joined forces with real estate specialists CBRE NI to stage a Virtual Round Table Discussion looking at the future of office working post-pandemic and at how the workplace – and our city centres – is likely to change in the future. Business Eye Editor Richard Buckley was joined in the studio by CBRE’s Robert Ditty and David Wright with a group of panellists joining remotely:-

Steve Harper, Executive Director of International Business, Invest NI
Derek Kennedy, Programme Director, Strategic Investment Board
Paul Beacom, Senior Asset Manager, MRP
Jackie Henry, Managing Partner (People and Purpose), Deloitte UK
Kate Smith, Head of Workplace & Portfolio Strategy, CBRE UK
Judith Cochrane, Director of Operations, MCS Group

Business Eye joined forces with NIE Networks to stage a virtual round table spotlighting Northern Ireland’s targets and progress towards a greener future and looking at the economic opportunities arising from positive climate action. What can this region achieve and what spin-offs benefits might it bring?

Business Eye linked up with leading law firm TLT to stage a virtual round table discussion event to look at what the future holds for office working and for the retail sector as Northern Ireland emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic.

When will we see a large-scale return to office working? Will patterns of work change for ever? What are the implications for the city centre? How can retail work to recover from the devastating effects of the pandemic?

Richard Buckley of Business Eye and TLT’s real estate partner Kevin Murphy hosted the discussion from NIAVAC’s studio in East Belfast and were joined remotely by:-

Brian Lavery, Managing Director, CBRE Belfast
Simon Hamilton, Chief Executive, Belfast Chamber
Niall Borthistle, Business Development Manager, Glandore
Laura McCarthy, Senior Asset Manager, Killultagh Estates
Cathy Reynolds, Director of City Regeneration & Development, Belfast City Council

With the end of the Brexit transition period getting closer every day, Northern Ireland business are being urged to ensure that they’re prepared for new customs arrangements.
Business Eye’s Richard Buckley talks to Ryan Kelly, Operations Director at Derry Brothers Customs Clearance. The Co. Armagh-based business is one of our leading specialists when it comes to guiding a wide range of companies seamlessly through the new customs regime that 1st January 2021 will bring.

Northern Ireland’s family businesses have been weathering the storm of the pandemic. That’s according to a survey carried out by Ulster University on behalf of the NI Family Business Forum which shows that while almost all businesses are concerned about the effect of the crisis on turnover and cashflow, relatively few are worried about losing their businesses and most say that tough times have united their management teams. Richard Buckley talks to Darren McDowell, Senior Partner at Harbinson Mulholland and chair of the Forum alongside Ian Smyth, a family business expert and business lecturer at Ulster University.

The SME Support Forum Northern Ireland was established by three leading local firms – McKees, Harbinson Mulholland and Kerr Henderson – as a direct response to the Covid-19 crisis. The Forum, established as lockdown was introduced back in the early spring, was able to provide immediate advice to business owners and managers across the key areas of law, finance and insurance.

Business Eye’s Richard Buckley chats about the SME Support Forum to Chris Ross, Managing Partner, McKees; Darren McDowell, Senior Partner at Harbinson Mulholland and John Kerr, CEO of the Kerr Henderson Group.