Breakfast Business

Newstalk's Business Editor Joe Lynam takes a look at this morning's business papers and websites.

Newbridge silverware started making cutlery 90 years ago in Co Kildare.  Now it makes jewellery and lots of other gifts and is frequently given to newly married or engaged couples.  But competition and lower prices from all over the world have been testing the company’s resilience.Joe spoke to Ronan Mackey from Newbridge Silverware.

Wind turbines are the nodding donkeys or oil rigs of the present and the future. But they’re big very big typically the blades are 52m long but can be the length of a football pitch.  It means getting them ashore is a big undertaking and requires major changes at our ports.That’s what’s happening in Rosslare as Iarnrod Eireann has signed an MOU to develop the facilities to handle these turbines with Source Galileo.  Kevin Lynch is the Chief Executive of Source Galileo  and he joined Joe on the show.

A look at today's business stories and websites with Newstalk Business Editor Joe Lynam.

National Broadband Ireland has been charged by the government to reach all homes in Ireland  even the most remote with high speed internet by 2028. The latest report from NBI says it’s on target and that 240,000 people are ready to connect a service with at least 500 Megabits per second.  But is it future proofed and what difference will it make for Ireland’s increasing economic dependence on high speed web services?    Peter Hendrick CEO National Broadband Ireland joined Joe on the show this morning.

Trinny Woodall and her entourage swept into town at the end of last week ostensibly to launch her skincare range Trinny London in Ireland.  Hundreds turned out to see the former presenter of What Not to Wear in Brown Thomas and Arnotts.  She’s a branding and social media phenomenon who is also quite a successful businesswoman. Trinny joined Joe in the studio to chat about her business journey.

The international business stories this morning with Joe Lynam and Ross Mould from AJ Bell.

We are all familiar with Irish cream liqueurs made famous worldwide by Baileys of course.  But there are other derivatives of that drink including an Irish chocolate whiskey liqueur.  One of them is called Coole Swan and it’s just been ranked the ‘Number one Irish Cream Liqueur’ by the influential US journal Tasting Table.Joining Joe this morning on the show was Mary Sadlier the Chief Executive of Coole Swan Liqueurs in Co Meath.

Behind every giant financial transaction by well known banks, there are a slew of less well known companies which specialise in clearing funds or minding securities such as stocks or bonds on behalf of their clients.  Clearstream is one of them.It settles translations all over the world and is the plumbing of the financial system.  Based in Luxembourg, Clearstream has almost 700 people working in Cork and Philip Brown is the CEO Clearstream Banking.

A look at today's business stories and websites with Kate English from Deloitte.

When cruise ships land at a port in Ireland, on average each passenger spends €81 at that destination and each crew member €29.  That adds up when you have thousands of passengers and hundreds of crew members.  And now Cruise Ireland which represents the sector has signed a memorandum of understanding with Cruise Britain in the hope of boosting business.   Conor Mowlds - Chair of Cruise Ireland spoke to Joe this morning.

It’s been going for 27 years and previous winners have included Denis O’Brien and the Collison brothers.  And this year’s finalists for the EY Entrepreneur of the Year award have been announced and it’s a disparate bunch as usual including a solar panels company, a well known food maker and a business which captures Carbon. Roger Wallace, partner at EY responsible for the EOY finalists joined Joe on the show this morning.

This morning Joe Lynam takes a look at today's business stories and websites.

They've been making concrete and roads for 60 years in Co Louth, now Kilsaran is moving with the times by promising to use EVs only to move their heavy products around despite these trucks costing twice as much. That’ll be no mean feat given the problems that order electric cars experience when it comes to charging points and range anxiety Ken Mulkerrins, Group Head of Innovation at Kilsaran Concrete joined Joe this morning.

When you order something online from IKEA- the vast majority of it gets shipped from somewhere else be that Britain or Sweden.  That should change from today when IKEA opens up its 27,000 m2 warehouse in Rathcoole on the Kildare Dublin border.  It will house 9,000 different product lines and enable quicker shipping. Speaking to Joe this morning was Marsha Smith, Country Deputy Retail Manager for IKEA Ireland. 

A look at today's business stories and websites with Newstalk's Business Editor Joe Lynam.

The RAI’s report shows that 212 restaurants, cafés and other food-led businesses have shut their doors for good so far in 2024, meaning a total loss of up to €288 million to the economy and State already this year.  Gina Murphy, Owner of the restaurant Hugo gave Shane her reaction to these report findings. 

Telefónica Tec has been announced as the successful vendor for the tender to provide numerous infrastructure technology solutions to Children’s Health Ireland  Speaking to Shane this morning was Ellen Dickson, Vice President of Enterprise Health Practice with Telefónica Tech. 

Construction activity moved into positive territory for the first time in almost a year last month.  According to the BNP Paribas Real Estate Ireland Construction Index residential building is driving the market upwards but input costs such as steel and concrete are also rising rapidly. John McCartney is director of research at BNP Paribas real estate discussed these findings with Shane Beatty this morning on the show.

The great and the good in European transport planning convene in Dublin this week for the TRA 2024 conference.  Whether it’s bikes, scooters, cars, trams or trains, how people move about is central to the efficiency of any economy - and heaven knows that Ireland lags many of its EU neighbour when it comes to public transport.    Speaking to Shane ahead of the conference was Dr Albert Daly is the Director of TRA2024 and also the head of Transport Infrastructure Ireland, where his focus is on Research and Standards.