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Did You Know? September 16, 2014

By Publications Checkout
Did You Know? September 16, 2014

Did you know… Aldi has opened a new store in Wexford, creating 20 jobs for the local area? The store is based on Newtown Road and is the third in Wexford Town and seventh in the county. Aldi now has a total of 111 stores in Ireland. To celebrate the opening of the new store, Aldi brought its 'Taste Trucks' to town and served customers free breakfasts made with the retailers’ products in store. Aldi store manager John Flynn said: "We are delighted to open our new store and look forward to welcoming many new customers from the local area. Each week, more and more Irish families are visiting our stores, swapping their weekly shop to our award winning range of own-brand groceries and making huge savings on their weekly shopping bill."

Did you know… Liberty Wines has taken on the distribution for Champagne Charles Heidsieck in Ireland? Liberty Wines will present the range from Charles Heidsieck at its portfolio tasting on October 8. This will be the first time the wines have been presented in Ireland in their new livery, and the new non-vintage blends, which were devised by Thierry Roset. The Charles Heidsieck wines have recently won an unrivalled haul of awards and accolades. Chef de Cave Thierry Roset was this year named ‘Sparkling Winemaker of the Year’ at the International Wine Challenge, the fifteenth time that this award has gone to Charles Heidsieck, and for two years running FINE Champagne Magazine has named the Brut Réserve as the world’s top non-vintage champagne.

Did you know… One51 has reported a decrease in turnover for the first half of the year, following its disposal of the Irish Pride Bakeries business? The group's exceptional items for the period included a loss on a disposal of Irish Pride Bakeries of €1.9 million. Irish Pride was sold in April 2014 to WHW Bakeries, a business controlled by Garret and William Lloyd. Commenting on One51's performance, Alan Walsh, group chief executive, said that deal has helped the business become a "transformed group with operations in plastics and environmental services together with an investment portfolio largely focused on the renewable energy sector."

Did you know… Rye River Brewing Company (RRBC) have partnered with the Swinkels Family to distribute Bavaria beer in Ireland? The agreed partnership is expected to see the value beer brand increase its position to regain its place as the fifth largest beer brand in the Irish market. Frank Swinkels, CFO of Bavaria N.V. said: “We are extremely excited by our partnership with the Rye River Brewing Company. What we needed is a challenging distributor who is prepared to disrupt the market by creating positive waves and extolling the value proposition Bavaria offers to the Irish market. We believe Rye River Brewing will introduce our beers to a whole new generation of loyal fans and deliver a refreshing choice for people at home or in the pubs.” Niall Phelan, co-founder and managing director of RRBC commented, “We believe there is a great synergy between both our brands and with customers continuing to change the way they spend. [...] As a fast growing and energetic Irish business we have the potential to grow Bavaria in the market and gain back significant share through our unique vision, experience and commitment to deliver a greater choice and more importantly the great taste Irish beer drinkers expect.”

Did you know… Dublin City Council removed a number of sandwich board advertisements from Temple Bar last Wednesday?  The confiscated sandwich boards were unauthorised under Section 71 of the Roads Act 1993, DCC having issued 80 notices to business owners in Temple Bar on September 2, requesting their removal. Business owners were informed that any unauthorised sandwich boards would be collected on or around September 10. The confiscated boards are now being stored at a Council Depot. Business owners can reclaim their boards, subject to a fee of €63 per item, “up to a maximum of €190.” David Brennan, CEO of the Dublin City Business Association, told the Journal.ie, that whilst he sympathises with small businesses trying to advertise themselves to the public, street advertising has the potential to harm the city’s overall image. Brennan added, “We are a capital city endeavouring to boost tourism, and we need Dublin to look as well as it possible can.”

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Did you know… Employers are now increasingly looking to employ full-time staff, as opposed to part-time? This change in Ireland’s structure of employment growth has resulted in a boost for the retail sector, with sales having increased for nine consecutive months. The new Ireland Retail Market in Minutes report by Savills shows that 76,000 new jobs have been created, since a low point in 2012. Dr John McCartney, economist and research director at Savills Ireland commented, “We are now seeing part-time jobs being converted to full-time employment, as the recovery becomes more deeply established.” The change has lead to consumer confidence and disposable incomes improving. McCartney added that the recent job growth has driven consumer confidence to the highest level since early 2007, saying, “We see this reflected in increased sales of larger, more expensive items such as cars and furniture.” The report also notes that demand in the retail property market was focused “on prime high streets and shopping centres both in Dublin and in the main regional cities”.

Did you know… Some of Ireland’s leading technology thinkers will offer Irish SMEs insight into "tech trends" at Fingal Enterprise Week 2014? Organised by Fingal Local Enterprise Office, the event will run from October 6-10, and is sponsored by Vodafone Ireland, Regus and Bank of Ireland. The five days of events will be launched with a ‘Future Tech Trends’ panel discussion, at the Helix in Dublin City University. The meeting aims to help business owners and managers identify key technological developments that will affect their business in 2015 and beyond. The ‘Future Tech Trends’ panel will be facilitated by QED Training’s Noel Davidson, and features Senior Account Strategist at Google, David O’Mahoney; John Beckett, Owner and Founder of Eirtight and technology commentator, Andy O’Donoghue. Oisin Geoghegan, Head of Fingal Local Enterprise Office, commented: “It is vital for small business that they stay up to date on what is emerging in terms of technology but with many demands on their time, other aspects of the business are often prioritised."

Did you know… A shipment of five million cigarettes was seized by the Customs Service at Rosslare Europort last Thursday? The cigarettes, with a retail value of over €2 million, were hidden in six 5’ x 6’ x 7’ tanks, which were listed in the ship’s manifest as “thermal storage tanks”. Officers discovered the illegal haul when they scanned a ‘curtain sider’ truck when it arrived on ferry from Cherbourg, France. Revenue officials interviewed a Lithuanian national and investigations are ongoing.

Did you know… More than 100 farmers took part in a demonstration outside Dunnes Stores in Ballina, Co. Mayo last Thursday? The IFA-led protest highlighted the agriculture sector’s concerns about low beef prices and the restrictions on the sale of cattle for beef. The Ballina protest was one of a series of of wider demonstrations outside supermarket chains around the country, accusing retailers of profiting from cuts in the price of beef and lamb to the livestock farmer.

Did you know… Tesco has donated over 150,000 meals to local charities since partnering with foodcloud in July? The partnership initiative enables Tesco to redistribute surplus food from its 146 stores to charities via the foodcloud app. Tesco corporate affairs director, Christine Heffernan said: “We are thrilled with the successes we have seen so far through our partnership with foodcloud –150,000 meals is a significant milestone but, more importantly, is a representation of the people within our community who are benefiting from this perfectly good food which would otherwise go to waste. It is incredibly rewarding to see the impact it is already having on the partner charities across the country, and even better knowing the scope we have to help many more.”

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© 2014 - Checkout Magazine by Emily Horne and Nathan Evans.

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