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A funding pot of £270K has been announced by the Department for Communities to assist businesses in Newry and Warrenpoint.
Supported by Newry, Mourne & Down District Council and local traders, the funding aims to assist traders and businesses in the improvement of their buildings and shop fronts, and it will also enable Council to carry out a range of marketing activities and events to help improve business activity.
This latest scheme will build on the public realm works that have already been completed to the streetscapes in both Newry and Warrenpoint. It will help make the centres more vibrant and welcoming places to visit and assist local shop owners promote their businesses.
Director of the Department’s Regional Development Office, Damian Mulholland said: “This investment in Newry and Warrenpoint will be a welcome boost to the area. The Department is committed to supporting our towns and cities to become attractive destinations for everyone to enjoy. I look forward to seeing these improvements in due course and hope that this will be reflected in greater confidence by the public to use local retailers and businesses.”
The Chairperson of Newry, Mourne & Down District Council Councillor Mark Murnin said: "On behalf of Council I am delighted that the Department for Communities has approved revitalisation funding for the Cathedral Corridor, Newry and Warrenpoint Town Centre. Traders in both locations put up with some inconvenience when the recent public realm schemes were being undertaken and I am pleased that this funding has been made available to benefit the businesses in both areas. The proposed works, which include shop front improvements and marketing activity, will contribute to the economic vibrancy of the locations and I look forward to seeing the implementation of the revitalisation activities."
The scheme is due to complete by the end of March 2019.
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Newry Business Improvement District (BID) have been engaging with their members on their vision for Newry City to help them priortise what needs to be done to fulfil that vision.
It's been a busy two years for the organisation since it started operating in 2016 and at their recent AGM in Canal Court Hotel Newry BID manager, Eamonn Connolly spoke to members about some of the major wins Newry BID has had, in the second year of its five-year term, including offering free training to over 100 businesses in the BID area, providing over 400 free car parking spaces, creating engaging marketing campaigns during key trading times to promote Newry as a destination on both sides of the border, and successfully lobbying to secure the future of Public Space CCTV within the City Centre.
Mr Connolly also discussed some major projects that have already started in Year 3 of Newry BID. Including the recent Engage events that were held in conjunction with Ulster University. These events were designed to enable Newry BID members have their input on creating a vision for Newry City Centre and in prioritising what Newry BID can do to help create this vision. The highly successful events had over 100 members attending, which saw real time results from the discussions taking place. The results from these discussions showed that key areas businesses would like tackled included parking, vacant properties / cleanliness within the City Centre and business rates. Speaking about the event Mr Connolly said “We were delighted to see a strong turn out from our members which highlights the importance businesses attach to the key issues they face. Newry BID will now look at the results from the events and use them to prioritise our strategic plan for the rest of our term”.
To close out the AGM Mr Connolly encouraged members to engage with the BID to help achieve better outcomes for Newry. He was also delighted to welcome three new members to the Board namely, Ciara Aiken, Best Property Services, Neil Rooney, Prestige HR and Patrick Murdock, The Hub.
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Dominic Raab, Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union was on a visit to Warrenpoint and Newry today.
The visit was facilitated by Newry Chamber of Commerce and Trade and the minister met with local businesses to learn about their businesses and the challenges they face. Key concerns raised included supply and access to labour and raw materials, regulation of products, no delays at borders or ports and the maintenance of existing trade North- South and East -West.
Commenting on the visit, which was hosted by Newry Chamber of Trade and Commerce, Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber, Colm Shannon said “Secretary of State Raab’s visit was a welcome opportunity for local businesses to highlight our concerns about the border and future trading relationships with the EU.
“The Greater Newry Area is a region that has been transformed from one of high unemployment in the late 1980s to virtual full employment today. Peace, an open border and access to markets has contributed greatly to that prosperity.
“The Secretary of State for DExEU was shown around Warrenpoint Port which is Northern Ireland’s second largest commercial port. The port handles approximately 1000 ships per year and 40% of the freight originates in or is delivered to the South of Ireland. An open border and freedom to trade east west are essential for this trade to continue."
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Newry Chamber of Commerce & Trade is once again looking forward to one of the busiest events in the local business calendar with just a month to go to the 19th Annual Newry Business Charity Christmas Dinner in the Canal Court Hotel.
Taking place on Thursday 6th December at 5.30pm It's one of the largest charitable events in NI. Well over £1M has been raised by the event over the years.
CEO Colm Shannon, Members of the Charity Christmas Lunch committee, Jessica Kane and Canal Court General Manager Louise Young launched the event last week. Speaking at the launch, Mr Shannon said: “Each year this event is a huge undertaking by a small committee of very dedicated members and the support we receive from the big hearted business community drives us to do more each year for our very deserving charities.
“It’s truly unique to gather over 700 people for dinner in the name of these very deserving local Charities and we hope that Newry businesses will again come out in support of this special Charity Christmas dinner event.”
This year’s chosen charities include St Vincent de Paul and The Salvation Army.
“The Toy Mountain created by guests is a huge spectacle and we’d love it to take up even more space so we’d remind everyone attending to take an unwrapped children’s toy and our charity elves will ensue these are delivered swiftly by 25th December,” Colm added.
Tickets and tables can be booked via the Newry Chamber Offices, tel: 028 302 50303 ext 2 or email: admin@newrychamber.com
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Revenue is up by 20% at £105.6M at Newry based First Derivatives according to their latest interim accounts for the six months ended 31 August 2018.
The company shows a gross profit of £43.9M for the period, up 21% on H1.
FD who have recently opened new premises on Hill Street in Newry now employ over 2400 people worldwide with a sizeable proportion of those based in Newry.
Contributing to this was a strong growth in software revenue, up 21%, with license revenue up 39% driven by increased demand for their Kx technology. FinTech revenue was also up 24% to £82.7m (H1 2018: £66.8m), driven by growth in software revenue and an expansion of services provided to clients. Demand for their managed services and consulting activities also resulted in revenue growth of 19%.
Accelerated investment across the business in R&D, sales and marketing and software delivery in response to growth in the Kx sales pipeline across multiple industries
High-profile new client wins including Fingrid, the Canadian Securities Administrators and, post the period end, BISTel and Survalent
The company has also entered an agreement to acquire the minority shareholdings in Kx Systems, taking 100% ownership by end of June 2019.
Seamus Keating, Chairman of FD, commented: “Our confidence in the growth prospects and the long-term potential of FD continues to increase, underpinned by demand for our Kx technology across multiple industries and our domain knowledge and growing reputation in managed services and consulting. This confidence drove an acceleration of our investment plans in H1, in response to new opportunities across the business. While the benefits from this investment will be received in future periods, the Group has delivered a strong first half.
The pace of major contract wins across the business, together with our high levels of repeat and recurring revenue provide confidence and position the group well to continue achieving strong growth. We expect to deliver revenue and adjusted EBITDA slightly ahead of consensus forecasts* for the year to 28 February 2019.”
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A specialist Newry-based civil engineering contractor has secured a new contract to deliver Southern Water’s Victorian sewer rehabilitation project in Thanet, south-east England – a major infrastructure project valued at over £30 million.
Terra Solutions Limited based at Carnbane, which has been trading since 2008, has entered into a new joint venture – TPMD. Made up of Terra Solutions Limited, Pfeiffer GmbH and Matt Durbin Associates, TPMD will deliver phase two of Southern Water’s Thanet Sewer Rehabilitation Project which aims to repair and reline the century-old network.
The Ulster Bank-supported company began work on the contract in July this year. Relining works are due to commence in the coming weeks with the contract anticipated to complete in spring 2020.
Terra Solutions Limited is receiving additional support from Lombard, providers of asset finance, to fund the development of specialised lining equipment to fulfil the contract.
Barry McAllister, Managing Director of Terra Solutions Limited, says: “We’re investing heavily in our Sewer Rehabilitation Lining Division as more and more contracts necessitate the latest techniques and technological advances. We’re now a registered Thames Water Framework Contractor too, an important status to hold as we continue to grow our presence in southern England.”
He continued: “We’ve worked closely with Ulster Bank over the past decade, and they have provided us with the working capital that has enabled us to successfully tender for and deliver major contracts throughout the UK and Ireland. Our latest contract with Southern Water incurs substantial turnover in a short period – around 18 months. The working capital allows us to invest in the right facilities, equipment and people to successfully deliver the contract.”
Caroline McKeown, Business Manager, Commercial Banking NI at Ulster Bank, says: “Terra Solutions Limited has established itself as a leading-edge specialist contractor with a proven track record for delivering large-scale infrastructure and rehabilitation projects. Ulster Bank is pleased to support the company to deliver its latest contract with Southern Water, one of many substantial public and private sector projects we have provided working capital for in recent years.”
Earlier this year, Terra Solutions Limited also won a €3million contract with Dublin City Council and Irish Water to deliver the Liffey Siphons Rehabilitation Project.
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Meat processor, ABP UK with it's Newry base at Greenbank, has won the prestigious accolade of Food Manufacture Company of the Year. It was the highest award possible at the 2018 Food Manufacture Excellence Awards in London last week.
The company was praised by the judging panel, led by Iain Ferguson, Joint Chairman of the Food & Drink Sector Council for championing a tough stance on modern slavery and driving a comprehensive programme of environmental initiatives.
ABP UK came first in the Meat, Poultry & Seafood, the Large Manufacturing Company category and was also highly commended in the Training category. The panel then went on to award ABP UK the highest accolade because it “stood out for the judges, clearly going above and beyond its category remit to tackle issues of vital importance and relevance to the entire industry.”
Commenting on the achievement, George Mullan Managing Director of ABP in Northern Ireland said, “We are delighted to win such a prestigious award and to receive independent recognition for the many exciting innovative initiatives which are taking place across all of our UK sites. These range from the introduction of our new DC Super Hero range with Warner Brothers – an industry first - to the significant progress we are making with our sustainability programme where we are on course to reach our 2020 climate and energy targets ahead of schedule. This award is fitting recognition for all ABP colleagues and their commitment to ensuring our customers receive the highest quality products with the very best in customer service.”
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A member of staff at Murdock Builders Merchants Ltd has been nominated for an Achiever of the Year Award at the UK Builders' Merchants Awards. The event will be hosted by Sir Lenny Henry and takes place in London 23 November.
Group Timber Manager, Paul Sheppard has been nominated for his crucial work in getting matters back to normal after a traumatic fire at Murdock's in 2017.
A Spokesperson for Murdock Builders Merchants recalls the day of the fire "It all started on 12th May 2017 when the fire alarm sounded at 1.05pm. Thinking that it was a random fire drill we evacuated the building but as we stepped outside we could see thick black smoke rising above the roofline. It transpired that our timber mill, one of the most critical arms of our business, was already fully ablaze.
"In the weeks that followed Paul assumed a leading role in keeping our Branches adequately supplied with timber while trying not to over-promise and under-deliver. He worked in tandem with our Timber Buyer to make sure that he was continuously well informed about what pre-regularised sizes we needed to replace our unplanned stock.
"For 6 months after the fire, Paul was critical in guiding us as we reviewed the various plant replacement options from across Europe, drawing up specifications, travelling to the factories to see how they were manufactured, and then visiting mills where they were operational so that he could see them in action. "
Two million was invested in a brand new replacement plant as a direct result of the fire, but it was not fully operational until early 2018 due to long manufacturing lead times. In the intervening period, Paul coordinated the supply of timber into their Branches without access to any significant machinery.
The group had already committed to the investment of an additional £1m in their Truss division before the fire and Paul had to manage the installation of the huge new plant alongside what he was already doing as a result of the fire.
The Spokesperson concluded "The management of the whole process was a team effort but Paul undoubtedly shone through as the man at the centre of everything. Everyone at Murdock’s is delighted that Paul has been nominated as one of only three Finalists from across the whole of the UK for the title of 2018 Achiever of the Year by the NMBS Annual Builders UK Merchants Awards."
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A recent engagement event by Newry BID confirmed to them that parking as the number one issue for businesses in Newry. Over 100 BID members attended the event. This week again Newry BID facilitated a meeting with Newry, Mourne and Down Council on their long term “Off Street” parking strategy.
A spokesperson commented "Whilst we believe that “On Street” (Department for Infrastructure) enforcement is the major issue for traders there are also concerns with “Off Street” (Car Parks) parking. The recent pressure on the BIDs FREE Car Park for members at North Street confirms this."
A short online survey is available at WWW.SURVEYMONKEY.CO.UK and everyone who uses car parking facilities in Newry are asked to submit their thoughts.
Newry has 6 of the 11 pay car parks in the Council district from Cullaville to Saintfield meaning that Newry is effectively subsidising all other car parks in the Council District.
Newry is one of 3 Central Parking Zones in NI (with Belfast & Lisburn) which means parking is heavily enforced 'on-street'.
The BID spokesperson also explained that some daily bus commuters to Dublin and Belfast are also effectively creating quasi park and rides in the centre of Newry and preventing the re-use of spaces for shoppers and visitors.
Newry BID are commissioning an independent professional report to submit to the consultation process.
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