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Flybe launches biggest sale of the year with 1m seats

Leading regional airline sale puts one million seats on sale from £27.99 giving customers the chance to fulfil New Year resolutions and visit new cities and create new memories! Flybe, Europe’s largest regional airline, has today launched its biggest sale of the year with one million seats available across its network from £27.99 one way including taxes and charges. Bookings can be made from…

New year is the ideal time to take stock and plan

by Thomas Hunter McGowan, CEO, InterTradeIreland Carl Bard is credited with saying: “Although no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.”  This is particularly apt for this time of year when talk turns to New Year resolutions and what changes we are going to make to improve our lives or our well-being or how we will stop smoking, drink…

Are you canny enough of crazy enough to be an entrepreneur? – Nick O’Shiel

Each week Nick O’ Shiel, Chief Executive, Omagh Enterprise Company, blogs on issues related to enterprise, technology and the economy. This week Nick asks if you are canny or crazy enough to be an entrepreneur. Starting your own business was, for many years, considered to be an odd occupation: one reserved for the canny or the crazy. How times have changed as entrepreneurship is now the preferred…

The Dos and Don’ts of Job Hunting: Neal Lucas

Looking for a job can be an arduous process and rightly so, says Neal Lucas Managing Director of Neal Lucas Recruitment .  Work is where you spend most of your time and getting it right can play a big part in your overall happiness and contentment.  It is not a decision to be taken lightly (especially if you are in employment) and therefore requires you to follow a certain process.  Here is a…

CBRE comments on £400m of commercial property transactions in 2015

A high volume of commercial property investment activity in excess of £400 million transacted in Northern Ireland in 2015, which bodes well for 2016 according to commercial property firm CBRE. A number of headline deals led the way in terms of major investments including Erneside Shopping Centre, Enniskillen (£34.25m), Fairhill Shopping Centre, Ballymena (£45.8m) and Showgrounds Shopping Park,…

4Rs of optimising the profit from your customer base

Most business owners hear the word marketing and believe it’s all about lead generation; pulling in new enquiries and gaining new customers. However according to Shweta Jhajharia of The London Coaching Group this is not the whole picture. Marketing is actually about getting more business. And that includes getting more value out of your existing customer base. In order to understand how to…

All-island sectoral approach crucial for high growth sectors in Ireland

Pictured at the launch of the Clusters report are:Aidan Gough, Strategy and Policy Director, InterTradeIreland; Minister Carál Ní Chuilin MLA; Minister Richard Bruton TD; Minister Jonathan Bell MLA andThomas Hunter McGowan, Chief Executive, InterTradeIreland.Photo by Aaron McCracken/Harrisons 07778373486 InterTradeIreland has launched a comprehensive overview of sectoral ecosystems – where a…

Rating system goes under the microscope at Belfast event

With a review of the rating system already out for consultation, a major policy conference is set to bring together public and private sector organisations alongside policymakers. The aim of the conference is to highlight the needs of business and public service delivery, and to help inform the policy agenda. Taking place in Riddel Hall on January 12, the half-day conference will examine…

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

That’s it from us for 2015. Many thanks for your support throughout the year. We hope you, your family and friends wish you a very Merry Christmas and a happy, peaceful and prosperous New Year. We’ll be back on January 4 2016 to start it all over again – but meantime, enjoy the rest and turn your phone off! Gavin, Jenny & Margaret

Law Society to support Clic Sargent in 2016

John Guerin, President of the Law Society with Nadine Campbell, Fundraising Manager for Clic Sargent at launch of new charity partnership The Law Society of Northern Ireland has announced that Clic Sargent will be its chosen charity of the year for 2016. Commenting the President of the Law Society, John Guerin said: “Clic Sargent is the UK’s leading cancer charity for children and young people,…

To rebrand or not to rebrand… that is the question.

If you run a business, or are part of an organisation, you will undoubtedly have a company brand. People often think of branding as just being their logo; the visual manifestation of their business – the sign above the door or the name that appears on their office stationery. Branding job: done. Not to put too fine a point on it but, well, no.   A logo is but a small part of a business or…

easyJet launches new Belfast – Lyon route

easyJet, Northern Ireland’s largest airline, has launched a new route from Belfast to Lyon. Flights to Lyon, which launched on 12 December, operate once a week each Saturday throughout winter until 26 March 2016 on an A319 aircraft. easyJet believes that the new route will be particularly popular with skiers and expects to carry around 4,500 passengers on the new route in the first winter of…

Exciting developments at McComb’s Coach Travel

From its humble beginnings 19 years ago with one driver and a people carrier, McComb’s Coach Travel is now recognised as one of Northern Ireland’s leading family-owned coach tour operators employing 25 people. Over the next 12 months, that success is about to be consolidated with a further £1m investment by the husband and wife team Rodney and Caroline McComb in a move which will also create 10…

Genesis scoops CIM Marketing Agency of the Year 2015

Belfast-based creative ad agency Genesis has won Marketing Agency of the Year including Digital at this year’s Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) Ireland Marketing Excellence Awards held in Belfast. The CIM Ireland Marketing Excellence Awards celebrate, recognise and reward proven marketing achievements across various industry sectors in Ireland and acknowledge the contribution made by both…

eir recognised by Cisco with Gold Partner of the Year Award

eir, the principal provider of fixed-line and mobile telecommunications services in Ireland, has announced that it is the recipient of Cisco’s Gold Partner of the Year award. Cisco unveiled six winners of its Ireland Partner Awards at its annual Ireland Partner Forum on 26th November. Presented to exemplary channel partners, the Cisco Ireland Partner Awards recognise the achievements of a select…

Be careful, Arthur Cox warns Northern Ireland manufacturers

Emma-Jane Flannery, Employment Law Associate at Arthur Cox, speaking at Thursday morning’s legal briefing seminar for manufacturing firms, hosted by Arthur Cox in partnership with Manufacturing NI Arthur Cox has warned manufacturing firms about the potential dangers of holding off-the-record discussions with staff, ahead of an anticipated ruling on the issue in Northern Ireland. The leading law…

Fastest rise in employment for 14 months: Ulster Bank

Today sees the release of November data from the Ulster Bank Northern Ireland PMI®. The latest report – produced for Ulster Bank by Markit – pointed to a general pick-up in growth momentum. Output, new orders and employment all rose at faster rates than in the previous month, while backlogs of work increased for the first time since August. Meanwhile, the rate of cost inflation accelerated…