Business Briefs Report: Northern Ireland dirty

By Stephen McKinley

We all know that it’s wet and rainy up North — but filthy as well? According to a government report, Northern Irish businesses and industries are the dirtiest and most wasteful in the UK and more than £45 million is lost in waste every year.

Only one in three companies, the report says, has any serious recycling or environmental policy, nowhere near enough to make a dent in the 750,000 tons of waste annually — half of which is from packaging. The top wasters are the retail sector, including supermarkets.

Tralee jobs

Good news for Tralee — two Irish high-tech companies have plans to create 80 jobs in the area.

Tanaiste Mary Harney made the announcement last week, according to the Irish Times, praising the foresight of Shannon Development, which had built Kerry Technology Park in anticipation of high-tech job creation.

Aspen Workflow will employ an additional 30 new people developing and providing web-based workflow and process-management solutions. Pulse Learning will create 50 new jobs, producing and maintaining e-learning products and value-added services for business.

"The fact that these two companies, founded by young Irish graduates, have been attracted back to Tralee by the quality of the infrastructure speaks volumes in itself," said Harney, whose portfolio includes minister for enterprise, trade and employment. "It supports the argument that industry can be attracted to, and sustained in, a regional environment once the strategy for doing so has been carefully defined."

U.S. unemployment up

Further concern was raised in Ireland this week in the face of news that U.S. unemployment claims had increased sharply — more evidence that a recession is under way.

First-time jobless claims rose 9,000 to 421,000 in the week ended April 28 from a revised 412,000 the previous week. The four-week moving average to April 28 increased for the fifth week in a row, according to economists. A payrolls report due this week is expected to receive close attention from Federal Reserve policymakers as they consider their next move on interest rates.

Irish economists suggest the state’s economic growth for 2001 is set to drop to 6-7 percent this year. Ireland will still be the fastest growing economy in Western Europe, where growth is expected to average out at only 2-3 percent.

Oracle Euro service

Oracle, the Irish technology company, is offering a new service to businesses: a package to convert their whole operation to Euro compatibility within just six weeks.

"We take a copy of the production process of the company and then, using this copy, perform a trial conversion offsite to see if the new process will work," said Karsten Roigk, product director for Oracle EMEA.

"Doing this, we can make sure that there are no errors in the changeover process," Roigk said.

"It also picks up any differences between the process when it has been converted to euros and what it was like beforehand, so problems can be avoided when the system is implemented."

The European Commission’s Eurobarometer study suggested that the migration process typically takes between three and six months for an average-sized company.

Oracle said despite this, only 26 percent of European companies currently claim to be ready for the euro, and many are planning to try to migrate at the last minute.

The changeover will require companies to interact with taxation authorities, customers, suppliers and employees, and needs careful planning.

Oracle said this early delivery of test environment allows companies to plan these activities with the assurance of no later surprises.

Crystal for the Kremlin

A recent trade mission to Russia could result in sales of Waterford Crystal to the Kremlin and the Imperial Palace in St. Petersburg. Waterford executives reported that they had positive meetings with various Russian entrepreneurs, and the Irish trade mission representatives said that they had identified excellent new customer contacts and sales partnerships.

The trade mission of 20 Irish companies was led by Tom Kitt, the minister for International Trade. It was organized by Enterprise Ireland, which has an office in Moscow and already works with approximately 100 Irish companies active in the Russian market.

"There are substantial opportunities for accelerated trade growth between Ireland and Russia," said Enterprise Ireland’s Southeast regional director, Michael McGuire. "The sectors of real potential include computer software and hardware, construction products and services, pharmaceuticals and telecommunications. Good opportunities also exist in the food sector, selected consumer goods and in consultancy, particularly banking and financial services."

Check’s in the mail

Employees in An Post, the Irish mail service, will receive almost £2,600 = in an employee share option plan established by the state-owned company, the Irish Times has reported.

A bill in the Dail has made the employee share options part of a comprehensive reorganization and cost-cutting measure. The bill allows the company to make equity-based alliances with other postal companies. Possible partners include Deutsche Post of Germany, TNT Post Groep in Holland, Consignia, the former Royal Mail in Britain, and France’s La Poste. An Post has been in talks with these organizations, but there is no word of a deal yet.

An Post is valued at £150 million.