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In recent years and certainly since the pandemic, work life balance and employee wellbeing has become increasingly more crucial for employees and employers across the world.
JMK Solicitors, were one of the first employers in Northern Ireland to commit to and implement a four day week for all employees, with no reduction in pay. Since January 2020 all JMK staff had their work hours reduced by 20%, from 37.5 hours to 30 hours with no impact on their salary. The four-day working week has improved JMK’s employee wellbeing with productivity and client care remaining of a high standard.
Similar pioneering approaches have been seen in other countries where the Government has implemented four day working weeks on a pilot basis. In March 2021 it was announced that the Spanish Government will be trialling a four day week pilot project, and in April 2021, Nicola Sturgeon, leader of the SNP, committed to a four day week pilot in Scotland.
Fórsa, the Irish trade union, have launched ‘The Four Day Week Campaign’ seeking a similar four day week pilot project across the island of Ireland and hope to avail of a research partnership between University College Dublin and Boston College for the initiative.
Joe O’Connor, Chairperson of Four Day Week Ireland said, “The four-day week may have seemed like a radical notion for many not too long ago. But more and more workers and businesses are now seeing that it is not only achievable, but is a reasonable, rational response to the challenges our society faces today. It’s time to work smarter, not longer. Numerous academic studies, including from John Pencavel of Stanford University in 2014, have shown that there is no correlation between working long hours and greater productivity.”
Speaking about why JMK Solicitors decided to adjust their working hours to a four day week, Maurece Hutchinson said, “Making people our priority is one of our core values that we strongly believe in, we have fantastic staff, but we never want to be complacent. We felt that with increased pressures on people in all areas of their life reduced hours should be considered by more employers. And we wanted to take a leading role. The gift of time is the greatest gift we and any employer can give to their team. We are happy to share our experiences with others and are delighted to offer our assistance and insights to our learnings to The Four Day Week Campaign.”
Speaking about the positive impact that a four day week has had on the team, Head of Operations and HR Michelle Murphy said, “The reduced working hours have improved work life balance for all the team, it was brilliant to have had this in place when the pandemic hit as it really gave our team the time they needed to take care of their health and wellbeing and to be there to support their loved ones. “
“We have at the very least been able to maintain the same level of productivity we saw in 2019 before the reduction in working hours. We must acknowledge that the work place and work patterns have also been greatly impacted by COVID 19 and we will continue to measure productivity in light of this also in the months and years ahead.”
Established in 2003, JMK Solicitors assist clients from all over Northern Ireland. To contact JMK Solicitors, please call 028 9032 0222
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BRÓ Coffee – the brain child of Pilates instructor and coffee lover Brenda Johnston & her husband Michael – is the first coffee producer in Ireland to offer fully compostable packaging.
The NI brand, first launched in 2016 to the convenience, retail and coffee shop market has invested significantly in the new packaging as part of their launch of the BRÓ at Home range of coffee and coffee gift boxes – the couples most recent Covid project.
Brenda explains: “During COVID we’d more time to consider developing the BRÓ at Home offering. It’s something we’ve wanted to do but it was always put on the long finger with other aspects of the business being so busy. Our convenience and retail/coffee shop customers brew some 15,000 cups of coffee every month.
“With COVID and subsequent lockdown, we had the time to develop this and it became really important to us to launch something that was sustainable and eco-friendly.
“It’s a family business and our kids are very much part of the BRÓ discussions at home and they’re very focussed on sustainability and respect for the beautiful area we live in,” Brenda adds.
Brenda explains that sustainability is important throughout – from the roasting method the company employ (energy friendly and provides a real smoothness to the coffee) to the cups, coffee grinds and the gift boxes – all of which are fully compostable.
“We delayed launch of BRÓ at Home until we could make the same claim about our packaging – for us it was the last link.
“We sourced it in China and we’re really proud of what we’ve created – quality coffee which is brewed locally in small batches and is now bagged in fully compostable packaging. We’re the first company in Ireland to offer fully compostable coffee packaging. The kids call it Eco BRÓ - we like to think that we’re green and black,” Brenda smiles.
With the new packaging tried and tested the couple have now launched their BRÓ at home offering online WWW.BROCOFFEE.CO.UK
The Loughinisland couple have joined forces with a local community interest company Wee ChoCo in their gift box offering.
Michael met with Wee ChoCo founder Step Fulton and was really taken by the story as well as the quality of chocolate product. “It felt like a natural alliance and I liked what the company stood for – giving work opportunities to young people with additional needs and autism.
“They have a wonderful product range and it supports our ‘at home’ gift offering – coupling quality coffee with quality chocolate. We’re really happy to continue to support their work,” Michael adds.
BRÓ at Home is a collection of quality coffees, roasted in NI, for the discerning coffee drinker. Bro utilise dual roast techniques to remove more chaff from coffee beans creating a smooth coffee with no bitter after taste.
BRÓ at Home offers a full range of coffees, from blends perfected over a year to single origin specialities, as well as natural soya candles and coffee/chocolate gift boxes (free delivery). To see the full range heck out their website.
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County Down based Rademon Estate Distillery has secured a contract with Asda to supply two new gin products to the retailer’s stores across Northern Ireland for the first time.
The listings will include the first gin to be distilled in NI, the Shortcross Classic Gin and the first sugar-free gin produced in Ireland, Shortcross Rosie’s Garden Pink Gin.
Rademon Estate Distillery, which was founded in 2012, is Northern Ireland’s first award-winning craft distillery, with the original Shortcross Gin recognised as Ireland’s most awarded gin.
David Boyd-Armstrong, Head Distiller and co-founder of Rademon Estate Distillery, said “Our Shortcross Gin features botanicals which are hand foraged from our estate, meaning customers can be confident in knowing our ingredients are locally sourced. As well as this, our Rosie’s Garden Pink Gin is packed full of strawberries and raspberries, so you get that natural sweetness without the added sugar.”
“We’re delighted to see our Rosie’s Garden Pink Gin and our original Classic Gin option on Asda shelves across Northern Ireland and hope they become a firm favourite for shoppers this summer.”
Emma Swan, Asda’s Buying Manager for NI Local, added “Here at Asda, we love to support our local suppliers and the arrival of Shortcross Gin to Asda aisles is something to celebrate. We’re confident our customers will enjoy the new options for their G&Ts this summer thanks to the award-winning Rademon Estate Distillery.”
The 70cl Shortcross Classic Gin (46%) and the 50cl Shortcross Rosie’s Garden Pink Gin (42.5%) is available in Asda stores now.
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Newry-born entrepreneur Paul Malone from Tall Paul Marketing has been shortlisted in the Marketing Project of the Year category at the prestigious 2021 Digital DNA Awards.
The Marketing Project of the Year category for the highly-anticipated awards, in association with Belfast City Council, recognises marketers that have enjoyed considerable success with their digital marketing strategy.
In their 6th year, the Digital DNA Awards are a major highlight on the tech calendar and have been described as the most important and highly sought after awards for the Northern Ireland Tech Industry.
Tall Paul Marketing is joined on the list by some of Northern Ireland’s most successful digital marketers.
A delighted Paul Malone comments, “It’s been a challenging year for everyone, so this has been great news personally and professionally for me.”
Speaking about his marketing project, Paul says he set himself an ambitious goal last year; to get to the top of Google search results.
He achieved that goal in just nine months, a feat that has led to an influx of enquiries for his content writing and copywriting services.
“We all know how important Google is,” he continues.
“It can make or break a business at times.
“So it was with that in mind that I decided to be a guinea pig and focussed on creating long-form, engaging and informative blog content.
“The more content I published, the higher I ranked on Google, which was absolutely brilliant for my business,” he insists.
The awards will take place at Belfast’s Ormeau Baths on Thursday, 1 July 2021.
But due to the pandemic, there will only be a small live audience.
“I won’t be able to get suited and booted for the glitzy ceremony, but I’ll be tuning in online to watch the show with everyone else,” Paul adds.
Simon Bailie, CEO of Digital DNA, emphasised the importance of the Digital DNA Awards and said he is excited about the return of a live audience.
“The Digital DNA Awards have become an important part of the NI Tech sector.
“We are thrilled that we can bring this year’s event to such a significant venue as Ormeau Baths, which has played a central role in the growth of the tech sector here in recent years.
“It’s also fantastic that we can bring back an element of our live audience, which will help create that unique atmosphere of a Digital DNA event,” he adds.
Despite the challenging business environment over the past 12 months, the tech industry in Northern Ireland has continued to grow, with organisers confirming nominations for the 13 categories were as strong as ever.
Sean Devlin, Associate Director at MCS Group, explains, “After the year that it has been, the 2021 shortlisted nominations will have deserved the recognition as the competition has been stronger than ever.”
He adds, “Personally, I can’t wait to celebrate the best and brightest in the technology industry in Northern Ireland!”
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CRASH Services is celebrating a significant milestone this year; its 25th birthday! Breaking the mould in the provision of accident management services, CRASH was established in 1996 by local businessman Michael McKeown and was bought over in 2015 by his son Jonathan McKeown who has grown the enterprise further over the last few years.
Since the beginning CRASH has been offering a complete ‘one stop’ service to motorists involved in collisions which now includes full accident management, vehicle recovery, liaising with accident repairers, replacement vehicles, insurance claims, legal and medical assistance.
CRASH Services aims to take away the hassle after a collision and get motorists back on the road as quickly as possible. There is no fee for the accident management service as all costs are recovered from third party insurers involved.
The locally-owned company has assisted more than 100,000 Northern Ireland motorists and increased staff across all divisions by 37% in the last 5 years, bringing the total number employed within its Newry, Belfast and Derry offices to 86.
Paying tribute to his team, Jonathan McKeown, CEO at CRASH Services commented, “We are so proud to have reached this significant milestone and it is real testimony to all our customers, staff and trading partners that our business continues to grow. And of course the foundations put in place by my father and other family members over the years was a steady place to take the business forward.
All our staff at CRASH share a common goal, to act with care for motorists involved in road traffic incidents. Their abilities were highlighted in a recent independent audit which described CRASH as ‘best in class’ and found that our customer’s vehicles were repaired an impressive 43% faster than those assessed in other similar businesses.
Our customer surveys consistently show that 99% of our customers would recommend us to a friend. We believe this is because they know motorists are in safe hands when they use CRASH Services.
Through the years we have built up strong relationships with many vehicle repairers, insurance brokers, motor dealerships and recovery operators. Many of these relationships have existed for 25 years and we hope will continue for many years to come.”
CRASH Services assist motorists all over Northern Ireland in their time of need. If you’ve been in an accident, CRASH Services can take care of everything, at no cost to you.
To find out more visit crashservices.com or call 028 9066 0244.
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You have until next Wednesday 23 June at 12 noon to register for the Newry Chamber of Commerce and Trade's 'NI Small Business Conference'.
The Conference, supported by NMD District Council and FSB, takes place virtually from 9am-1pm Thursday 24 June 2021. It is completely free to attend.
To date more than 200 delegates are confirmed and workshop slots are now limited.
This promises to be an insightful mix of practical advice and keynote addresses to support recovery and set out a pathway for growth for small to medium sized businesses across Northern Ireland.
To book your free place please log onto WWW.NEWRYCHAMBER.COM
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South Down MP, Chris Hazzard has told InvestNI that they must get serious about delivering economic opportunities for the people of South Down and the South Down representative said there are more than 70 acres of InvestNI land yet to be utilised in Newry and Downpatrick.
Mr Hazzard had a meeting with with senior InvestNI officials where they discussed job creation and the urgent need for InvestNI to promote indigenous small businesses in light of the unique opportunities now available due to the Protocol.
The MP said “InvestNI’s job creation record in South Down is nowhere near good enough. Last year just 10 jobs were created locally compared to 1200 jobs in Belfast. So I made it clear to InvestNI that they need to get serious about delivering investment and jobs in South Down
“While Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) offers lucrative opportunities for many parts of Ireland, South Down will benefit more from nurturing our local indigenous businesses to fulfil their potential and ultimately create more, better jobs in our local community.
Mr Hazzard pointed out that many small enterprises in South Down have considerable capacity for growth giving the example of companies like Finnebrogue, First Derivatives, and the STATSports Group.
“It is this greater focus on our local entrepreneurs and small flourishing businesses that will develop South Down into a regional hub for enterprise and investment, and help create a much more diverse and sustainable local economy." said the MP
Mr Hazzard added “I was encouraged to hear InvestNI recognise that a more proactive engagement with small indigenous businesses in South Down is required, and that they are looking to engage with myself and Newry, Mourne & Down Council in this endeavour as soon as possible.
“Sinn Féin are focused on creating employment opportunities for local people, and we discussed the importance of support from InvestNI for small start-up businesses and the expansion of local projects throughout South Down in order to stimulate opportunities.
“Many of our local businesses across South Down are also ideally situated to take advantage of the new trading realities created by the Irish Protocol in response to Brexit. So it is vital that InvestNI urgently engage with our business to ensure they have the appropriate advice, support and investment to realise these unique opportunities.
Speaking about InvestNI land still to be utilised Mr Hazzard concluded “I also made it clear that InvestNI must work with our local Council and other public bodies to ensure we can help offer local enterprise the opportunity to grow and flourish in our local community - indeed the vacant sites have become symbolic of InvestNI’s failure in South Down in recent decades. This must change.”
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A Bessbrook based modular bathroom pods manufacturer is investing £4.6 million to create 50 jobs in the Newry area to to help it grow its business in international markets.
Connex Offsite Limited located at Loughbrook Industrial Estate, Bessbrook was established in 2017 and specialises in the design, offsite fabrication and supply of steel framed bathroom pods for the GB and RoI construction markets. The new jobs will see the company grow its team from three employees in 2017, to 53 employees by the end of 2022.
Welcoming the company’s investment, Kevin Holland, Invest Northern Ireland’s CEO said: “For an early stage SME, Connex has achieved remarkable success over the last three years securing multi-million pound contracts in the RoI and GB markets. This is driven by the ambition and entrepreneurial flair of Connex’s Managing Director, Brendan Doherty.
“We have been working with the company since 2019 when our Southern Regional team offered it business advice and guidance on how to grow its business, support to successfully rebrand and gave it access to the right industry expertise to undertake research into its first pod prototype. Since then, its success is driving the company to increase its workforce in Newry with the creation of 50 highly skilled jobs. Once in place, the jobs will provide a welcome boost to the Newry, Mourne & Down District Council area and contribute over £1.3million in additional annual salaries to the Northern Ireland economy.”
Invest NI has offered the company £355,000 of support towards the 50 jobs and a marketing development grant to help it explore new markets and develop its brand. 28 of the jobs are in place with skilled trades, admin and designer roles still to be recruited.
Managing Director of Connex, Brendan Doherty said: “We have an ambitious five year growth strategy which will position Connex as the premier UK supplier of bathroom pods. We have seen huge growth in recent months; COVID-19 has forced restrictions on the level of labour on a construction site, which has been a catalyst for a shift to modular construction.
“Our pods are completely finished in a controlled environment at our site in Newry, shrink wrapped on the factory floor and are shipped to construction sites, which helps reduce the numbers of trades required on site. Last year, we finished a major refurbishment of our Newry factory and we have just finalised the purchase of an additional 45,000 sq ft facility opposite our current building, which will enable our production capacity to significantly increase per annum to meet projected demand.”
Connex Offsite’s services are proving very attractive to companies such as London based property developer Mount Anvil; with a recent £3million contract secured to deliver pods for its Royal Eden Docks scheme in London.
“This new investment and expansion of our team will help us build on our London success and target opportunities in the high rise residential, hotel and student accommodation sectors, particularly in the GB and RoI markets whilst also exploring opportunities in North America.” added Brendan.
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An app where you earn rewards from your favourite retailers has been launched in Newry by local entrepreneur, Cormac Quinn.
The loyalBe app aims to drive local recovery by encouraging the public to support local businesses within Newry, as restrictions ease and businesses continue to trade.
loyalBe Founder and CEO, Cormac Quinn, who is from Newry, is a champion of supporting local businesses and is delighted to launch the loyalBe app in the area. Cormac said “It’s important that we celebrate local businesses and show our support by spending our money where it matters most. When you buy from a small business, you’re supporting the local community and ensuring that your favourite café or restaurant survives. Supporting local businesses within Newry and ensuring that they have the necessary tools they need to thrive in this economy is our main priority at loyalBe - and I am thrilled to launch the loyalBe app within Newry.”
The app has onboarded a number of local businesses in the Newry area, including: La Dolce Vita, Finegan and Son, Grounded Espresso, Donut Face, Maya Café, Friscos and many more.
To celebrate the Newry launch, the loyalBe team visited the streets of Newry to encourage the ‘shop local’ message, speak with local business owners and welcome new businesses onto the loyalBe app.The platform improves customer engagement between retailers and their customers, by replacing outdated loyalty tools (for example, inconvenient paper cards and QR codes) with an easy-to-use mobile app.
The app uses bank-linking technology, allowing customers to automatically earn rewards with their favourite retailers, simply by paying with their debit card. This technology removes the need for any Point of Sale integrations or equipment in-store, allowing for a rapid and straightforward set-up.
Cormac believes that loyalBe’s innovative loyalty platform will help businesses in Newry to drive customer footfall: “With loyalBe, SMEs can feel confident in increasing customer footfall by utilising promotions and campaigns sent through push notifications, reminding customers of their offering and encouraging customers to visit again.”
As part of its launch in Newry, and to celebrate businesses reopening alongside its #WelcomeBackNI campaign, loyalBe is offering the tool to SMEs free until the end of 2021, with access to the business dashboard and customer insights. This is a limited-time offer for Newry businesses.
Businesses in Newry that are interested in discovering how loyalBe can help drive customer footfall, are encouraged to visit LOYALBE.IO to book a free demo and avail of this limited-time offer.
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