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President of Newry Chamber of Commerce and Trade, Emma Mullen-Marmion is calling for urgent reform of cross-border tax rules. Rules on cross border workers mean that they can be double taxed depending on their work circumstances. In a letter to Newry.ie the President says the attractiveness of border areas for foreign direct investment could be jeopardised.
Mullen-Marmion said:
The Newry business community is unique. Given our proximity to the border, many businesses here straddle two different jurisdictions and face the challenge of contending with contrasting regulatory frameworks daily. With challenges comes opportunities, however, as employers here look to utilize the vast talent pool available from across the wider region as they bounce-back from the pandemic.
In our experience, many Chamber members are cross border workers themselves, or employ them. Our strong relationship with our colleagues at the Dundalk Chamber reflects the shared goals and objectives that we hope to achieve through cross-border collaboration. To promote economic prosperity across the Newry City region, though, it is imperative that tax regulations are fair, harmonised, and grant cross-border workers the flexibility they need to meet the demands of the local economy.
This flexibility, however, is currently not attainable. Irish home-working tax rules mean that, if Republic of Ireland-based cross-border workers perform any work-related activities from home, be it checking an email or taking a phone call, their income faces a ‘double tax’. This means that cross-border workers often must take unnecessary, often long, commutes into the office to perform ta task that would have taken mere minutes at home.
These personal tax rules were suspended for the pandemic but are set to re-introduced from January 2022. The ‘double tax’ burden for those who work remotely makes it very difficult for local employers to attract and retain skilled workers who live on their doorstep and must be addressed urgently. Home-working flexibility is now a mainstay of modern working practises, and despite urgent calls from the Cross Border Workers Coalition, border businesses may be forced to deny remote working opportunities to their ROI-based employees from next year. This simply does not work for our local business community.
Border areas like the Newry have proven very attractive for Foreign Direct Investment in recent years. Recent initiatives such as the Dublin-Belfast Economic Corridor has shown that we have the potential to bring in many high-paying jobs and opportunities for skilled workers across the island in the coming years. Yet, the attractiveness of border areas as an FDI location could be jeopardised by these home-working tax rules, as they do not allow for flexible working practises that reflect modern, international jobs.
Irish Budget Day has passed, but Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe TD still has the chance to introduce permanent, positive change for cross-border workers across the North East. A long-term solution to this cross-border tax issue will not only incentivise companies to invest in our border regions, but will also encourage remote workers to return to the likes of Newry and Dundalk, spending their disposable income in local shops, restaurants and boosting our local economy.
The Newry Chamber supports the proposals of the Cross Border Workers Coalition and calls for urgent action from the Irish Government to address these damaging cross-border tax laws.
By Emma Mullen-Marmion, President of the Newry Chamber of Commerce & Trade
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The best of Newry’s Young Entrepreneurial talent will feature at a breakfast seminar being organised by the Newry Chamber of Commerce and Trade. The free event takes place on Thursday 11 November (7.45am to 9am) at the Canal Court Hotel & Spa as part of Enterprise Week 2021.
The panel of up-and-coming businesspeople includes Brendan Doherty, Connex Offsite Ltd, Natasha Daryaie, The Gym Guru, Dr Emma Cunningham-Idowu, Dr Emma Clinics and Aaron O’Malley, GreenQube Sustainable Living. They will share their inspiring stories so far and discuss what it takes become an entrepreneur. Each panellist was a finalist in the recent Greater Newry Business Awards.
Emma Mullen-Marmion, President of Newry Chamber, “Our region is well known for its entrepreneurial spirit. From the beginning of this year, the number of new business plans helped by the Go For It programme in the Greater Newry area has doubled from pre-pandemic levels.
We are proud of our entrepreneurial heritage, and this is something we want to nurture, cultivate and encourage as a Chamber, at all ages and stages of their careers. The Young Entrepreneurs event will highlight our local role models to inspire those thinking about setting up on their own businesses. They have built their businesses, created employment and have exciting plans for the future.
It is important that new businesses are supported in the early stages. This includes peer support and highlighting those organisations that can assist to help them grow further. We would encourage anyone thinking about or who have recently started their own venture to attend this free event”.
NMD Enterprise Week 2021 takes place between Monday 8 November to Friday 12 November 2021 and is a week-long collection of economic supports, activities and workshop events aimed at making it easier for all Newry, Mourne and Down residents and businesses to live, work, start up and grow a business in the district.
Tickets can be reserved by contacting the Newry Chamber office by email to admin@newrychamber.com.
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A Newry-based online rug retailer has announced the opening of a new distribution centre in Liverpool and plans to create new jobs and further increase online sales, with support from Danske Bank.
Kukoon located at Carnbane Industrial Estate supplies high quality, stylish rugs to customers in more than 60 countries, with the majority of its business coming from the UK, US and Europe.
Founded in 2007 by Paul Vallely and his sister Clare Vallely, the business has grown significantly through the pandemic, more than doubling its product range and increasing its workforce from around 30 people at the start of 2020 to almost 90 today.
The company is now making a £2m+ investment in its online sales capability, new stock and a new distribution and sales hub near Liverpool, supported by a £1.75m funding package from Danske Bank.
Paul Vallely, Managing Director of Kukoon, said: “Online retail, particularly for home furnishings, has been a good market to be in during the pandemic and we invested in both our products and our people to make sure we were well positioned to take advantage of growth opportunities.
“Our collection has expanded to cover hundreds of designs and sizes of rugs and we have taken new staff on board here in Newry and in Liverpool. If we continue to grow as we have been I can see us taking on another 20 to 30 more people in the next year.
“Danske Bank has been very supportive of the business and quite forward thinking for a bank. They have been able to see the potential of the business the way we do.”
Oonagh Murtagh, Head of South Business Centre at Danske Bank, said: “We’re really pleased to be able to support this fantastic family business, which has built a brilliant reputation for the quality of both its products and its service to customers in a range of export markets.
“Clare and Paul have already built Kukoon into a market leading company from their base in Newry and the team at Danske Bank look forward to working closely with them as they enter the next phase of growth.”
She added: “I would like to acknowledge my colleague Brian Connor, senior business manager in our Newry business centre for his efforts securing this deal while working from home during the pandemic lockdown and also the wider support from the switching team and other specialist departments within Danske Bank.”
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The ‘free-from’ bakery company Stone Bakery Ltd. has announced it is investing £4million to refurbish and extend the former Take N’ Bake factory in Crossmaglen, a long-standing employer in the area, creating more opportunity and new jobs in the locality.
Home to a range of leading baked goods for 80 years, the newly extended facility is set to become one of Europe’s biggest gluten free bakery sites and will produce a range of artisan-style vegan, dairy free, and gluten free flatbreads for local and international markets. With this investment, the company is aiming to double its turnover over the next three years.
Commenting on the investment announcement, Ronan McNamee, Stone Bakery business owner said: “The McNamee family has been baking in Crossmaglen for over 80 years and I’m incredibly proud to continue that tradition with the opening of the first dedicated ‘free-from’ manufacturing facility in Northern Ireland. This investment will allow us to continue the world class bakery tradition in Crossmaglen while fulfilling the fast-growing consumer demand for ‘free-from’ products.
“From my experience in the baking industry, consumer trust in the food chain is as much a driver for growth in our business as quality and taste. Delivering on our ambition to be the most trusted gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan bakery brand in the world, our new Stone Bakery manufacturing site will enable us to control the entire chain from seed to shelf and continue to supply the best quality flatbreads in the market with total processing transparency.”
Stone Bakery has been assisted by Invest Northern Ireland to establish its presence in Crossmaglen with an offer of support of £425,000 towards the new jobs and a range of specialised equipment required to manufacture its niche range of artisan flatbreads. Blending the long-established reputation for excellence enjoyed by Take N’ Bake, the equipment being installed, along with the expertise in the business, marks the continuation of world class baking, product innovation, and bakery management.
Welcoming Stone Bakery to Northern Ireland, Brian Dolaghan, Executive Director of Invest NI said: “We’re delighted to support Stone Bakery’s innovative new business in Northern Ireland. The growth of the ‘free-from’ food market is continuing, and Stone Bakery has its sights set on growing its share of this market across GB, Europe and beyond including North America."
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Newry based firm JMK Solicitors is celebrating 18 years in business this month.
JMK Solicitors was established in 2003 by Newry businessman Jonathan McKeown, with the day-to-day running of the firm led by Managing Director, Maurece Hutchinson and Legal Services Director, Olivia Meehan for the last number of years.
With 38 personal injury experts JMK Solicitors assist clients all over Northern Ireland who have had a personal injury, been in a car accident, had an accident at work or suffered a medical accident recover compensation. For the last 7 years, JMK Solicitors have been recognised as Northern Ireland’s number one personal injury solicitors, assisting more people than any other firm in the province.
The firm has invested heavily in their talent in recent years, bringing the total number employed within its Newry and Belfast offices to almost 80.
Paying tribute to her team, Maurece Hutchinson, Managing Director at JMK Solicitors commented, “The success of our firm is down to the hard work, dedication and professionalism of our team, who go above and beyond to help our clients. We are committed to ensuring that our clients fully recover their losses with the least possible stress from the legal process, and our customer surveys consistently show that 99% of our clients would recommend us to their friends and family.
We are proud to be Northern Ireland’s number one personal injury firm for the last number of years and have also achieved and maintained the Lexcel quality mark for the last 4 years, letting prospective clients know they are dealing with a respected, reputable firm that works above and beyond recognised standards.
Making people our priority is one of our core values that we strongly believe in, not only our clients, but our team also. We adjusted our working hours to a four day week in 2020 while still maintaining the same levels of productivity, allowing our team the time needed to take care of their health and wellbeing. This gift of time has helped with our staff retention and in attracting new talent to the team.
We look forward to the next 18 years in business and beyond”, Maurece concluded.
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Newry, Mourne and Down District Council Chairperson, Councillor Cathy Mason has launched NMD Enterprise Week 2021, which will run from 8 to 12 November. This year’s theme is ‘Make it Your Business’, with the aim of highlighting skills and career choices for future entrepreneurs.
Throughout Enterprise Week there will be a series of free business focused seminars, workshops, online networking opportunities and mentoring sessions to assist new business start-ups, established local businesses, social enterprises and students. Key themes include social economy support, growing your business online, accessing new customer bases, building new business networks, digital sessions, and how to grasp new business opportunities through tendering and engaging with customers.
As the district’s business and education sectors look ahead to recovery post COVID-19, the Council has partnered with key organisations such as Newry and Mourne Co-Operative Enterprise Agency, Down Business Centre, Southern Regional College, South Eastern Regional College, Newry Chamber of Commerce and Trade, local Schools and InterTradeIreland to provide the week-long programme of events. The aim is to help participants make informed decisions about how best to navigate a way forward through recovery and revitalisation.
This year also has an emphasis on inspiring young people to make their mark in the business environment. A number of inspirational talks, events and virtual workplace visits have been organised with a key focus on career guidance. It is hoped the student skills and advice clinics events will empower students to consider new business development opportunities at a critical time in their education. The events will also provide careers teachers and parents with a wide range of inspirational talks from expert business leaders at events and via virtual workplace visits.
Newry, Mourne and Down District Council Chairperson, Councillor Cathy Mason said, "It has been over 18 months since the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded and we now look ahead to the serious work of rebooting our local economy for a better, post-pandemic world. Many businesses have faced overwhelming challenges across all aspects of their operations. NMD Enterprise Week 2021 will be a fantastic opportunity for our local students, schools and businesses to foster and share skills, talents and focus in on how to plan, start and grow again across the district.
Cllr Mason continued, “Local businesses are the lifeblood and character of our local villages, towns and our city. Over recent months, the Council has actively encouraged local people to stay local, shop local through promoting our ‘Make it Local’ campaign and Artisan markets. For this year’s Enterprise Week, we are keen to ensure that established and future entrepreneurs know that there are business support networks in place to help residents and businesses start up and grow a business.”
To make the week as accessible as possible, all events within NMD Enterprise Week will be free of charge. For further information please visit NMDBUSINESS.ORG
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Warrenpoint based Deli Lites, is investing a new, next-generation digital technology to support its accelerated plans for international growth.
The company is bringing its digital tech assets right up to speed with a transformative deal to keep its staff well-connected with new mobiles, landlines and broadband – all of which will be delivered by leading telecoms and IT provider Radius Connect.
The technology will also allow Deli Lites’ transport team to roll out a new app which will remove paper delivery notes, saving more than 1.5 million sheets of paper per year.
The investment was timed to coincide with the launch of an additional fleet of 17 vehicles which are rolling out to keep up with growing demand for Deli Lites’ expanding range of products.
Earlier this year, Deli Lites, which is run by husband-and-wife entrepreneurs Brian and Jackie Reid, confirmed that Ulster Bank would be supporting its business needs and providing additional funding facilities to accelerate its future growth over the next five years.
Deli Lites’ Logistics Manager, Niall McKenna, said “Mobility, speed, security and the ability to scale-up quickly are key components to ensuring we can always meet our customers’ needs in a highly competitive marketplace. It’s why we’re continually and proactively investing in technology that sets us out from the rest and keeps our teams always reliably connected.
In a challenging business environment, it’s never been so important for our employees to stay connected no matter which jurisdiction they are in, which is why we’re so pleased with the results delivered to date by our preferred digital tech partner Radius Connect. We look forward to advancing our strategic relationship in the months and years ahead.”
With customers across the UK, Ireland and Europe, the company supplies a range of food-to-go products to a host of major retailers including Boots, Sainsbury’s, and Musgrave Group.
The business produces more than 20 million products annually from its extensive range of chef-led gourmet sandwiches, nutritious salad bowls, heat-to-eat sandwiches, award-winning bakery treats and a carbon neutral plant-based range.
Stephen McQuoid, Director, Ireland at Radius Connect said “We’re proud to be the preferred communications supplier to Deli Lites, one of Northern Ireland’s most successful and outwardly ambitious companies which has a keen eye for growth and expansion, and we wish Brian, Jackie and all the team continued to success.
At Radius Connect, our goal is simple. To increase efficiency and improve the profitability of all our customers and to support every business to compete and succeed with the best products that generate the best return.”
Radius Connect, part of Sunday Times Top Track 100 company Radius Payment Solutions, expanded on its operations in Northern Ireland earlier this year with the acquisition of leading IT and telecoms specialist Rainbow Communications.
Radius has operated for the past 25 years across the island, growing its customer base under the DCI brand, which is a provider of fuel card solutions.
As part of this acquisition, DCI customers will be able to make use of a broader variety of products and services from one single provider.
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The Newry BID ‘Random Taps of Kindness’ initiative will be taking to the streets this weekend as part of the ‘TAP into Newry’ Campaign.
TAP into Newry celebrates the arrival of the Spend Local High Street Voucher Card which started arriving through doors in recent weeks. Newry BID is encouraging people to come and spend their vouchers locally in Newry, before 30 November.
Over the last number of weeks, we have seen many businesses in Newry city centre offer fantastic discounts and/or incentives when we use our £100 Spend Local voucher in their stores. You can find a full list of local offers on newry.com but the kindness doesn’t stop there.
Over the coming weekends the Newry BID ‘Random Taps of Kindness’ team will be out on the streets in Newry promoting shop local, where they will be randomly tapping some lucky winners on the shoulder and handing them a free prize. If you are lucky enough to be chosen, you could win anything from a free coffee voucher from one of Newry’s many great cafés, to the top prize worth £100 - doubling the amount you can spend in Newry with your High Street Voucher.
Eamonn Connolly, Newry BID manager said “We know that retail, hospitality and service sectors were amongst the hardest hit during the lockdowns, and the Spend Local voucher scheme is a brilliant initiative to get shoppers into their local high streets and pumping more money back into the local economy.
“However, we at Newry BID don’t want the help to stop there. We wanted to do something extra to support Newry business and are running a complimentary marketing campaign. Our “Random Taps of Kindness” campaign will see members of the public receiving free vouchers to spend in Newry to complement their Spend Local High Street Voucher. By shopping in Newry, you are supporting local jobs and local families.”
Keep an eye out for the Newry BID team in their white and blue sweaters – you might just be a winner!
Whilst many have yet to receive their cards it is important to remember that you must use your cards £100 by 30 November 2021 or you will lose it.
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It has been a busy year for Killeavy Castle Estate with the luxury 4 Star Estate receiving awards both locally and internationally.
Killeavy Castle Estate has been named winner of the Luxury Castle Hotel (Europe) Award at the prestigious World Luxury Awards 2021, which took place in Mauritius in October.
The 4-star luxury Estate, nestled in the foothills of Slieve Gullion was recognised for epitomising the ethos of luxury and fine service throughout the Estate.
The World Luxury Awards recognise establishments for world-class service excellence and are presented on a country, regional, continent and global basis. Winners are selected by public vote and are judged on brand, location and overall guest satisfaction as received back from our online reviews, amongst other criteria.
“We congratulate this year’s winners. True luxury is not easily attained. It takes highly efficient and dedicated staff who are willing to go the extra mile and stop at nothing to ensure that every guest feels cared for and that no challenge goes unresolved. This is the definition of luxury. It is what makes the winners shine,” said The World Luxury Awards Marketing Director, Michael Hunter-Smith.
Killeavy Castle Estate has also shone on the local stage, picking up two awards at the Greater Newry Area Business Awards. The Estate, which has as its centrepiece the stunningly refurbished Killeavy Castle, was named Best Tourism and Hospitality Business and Best Place To Eat (Best Restaurant and Bistro).
Jason Foody, General Manager at Killeavy Castle Estate said, “We are delighted to have won three such important awards this month. It is fantastic to be recognised on an international stage at the World Luxury Awards, but for us, our local awards are just as important. It is the outstanding support of our local community here in the Greater Newry area that allows Killeavy Castle Estate to be the successful business it is.”
“We could not achieve the high standards we hold ourselves to without the fabulous team of people at Killeavy. Through what has been a challenging year for the hospitality industry, our colleagues have been outstanding and shown true commitment to delivering a first-class service to our guests” he continued.
Not only does Killeavy Castle Estate pride itself on giving guests a first-class experience, it is also leading the way in sustainable tourism. With sustainability initiatives built into its ethos, the Estate is further developing its plans for the future with a new Estate Garden, Farm Store and a reforestation initiative that will see the replanting of Slieve Gullion with broadleaf trees.
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