News

Our team has summarised the key developments for NI businesses in the news this week.

Business

Co Down construction group Graham has surpassed £1 billion in revenue for the first time - The Hillsborough-based contractor and developer generated revenue of £1.094bn for the year ending March 31 2023, 15.3 per cent up on its income from 2022 (£945.3m). The company said it followed the successful delivery of major projects across its core market sectors, including building, civil engineering, interior fit-out, facilities management and development management. However, Graham said inflationary pressure hit its profitability, resulting in a 20 per cent drop in its annual pre-tax profit, which fell from £19m in 2022 to £15.1m in the latest financial year. But, the latest accounts for the building giant, showed its cash reserves remained extremely healthy, rising by 28 per cent to £177.1m in the bank. (Source: Irish News)

Revenues up 20 per cent at Crust & Crumb as Fermanagh food manufacturer continues to expand - Launched in 2011 by Mary McCaffrey, Crust & Crumb has grown into the island of Ireland’s largest manufacturer of ambient, chilled, frozen flatbread and garlic bread products.  The Derrylin-based bakery makes pizzas, wraps and speciality breads for the likes of Tesco and Lidl. New accounts published by Companies House show the food manufacturer’s revenue jumped by around £10 million (19.4 per cent) to £60.5m for the year ending June 30 2022. But rising costs ate into Crust & Crumb’s profit margin, with its pre-tax profit dropping from £3.8m in 2021 to £1.3m last year. (Source: Irish News)

Fast food giant McDonald’s is set to get the green light to build a new 24 hour drive-through restaurant in Enniskillen - Planning officials at Fermanagh and Omagh District Council have recommended the food chain be given permission to proceed with its plans to demolish the former TP Topping car dealership on the Dublin Road for a new build. (Source: Impartial Reporter) 

Milestone for flagship transport hub - Construction of the new Belfast Grand Central Station has reached a major milestone, with the hub on track for completion in 2025.

A Tyrone businesswoman has been awarded two high-profile angel investment awards in Berlin and London, making her the first person ever to do so - Mary McKenna was crowned UK Angel Investor of the Year at the UK British Business Angel Association in London and European Female Angel Investor of the Year at the Business Angels Network Deutschland in Berlin. The entrepreneur who runs Awaken Hub — a community of women founders— and more recently Awaken Angels — an organisation described as a crowdfunding, angel syndicate for investment in female-led businesses by female investors, is the first person to win both awards in the same year and the first person to win from here. (Source: Insider Media)

Cookstown-based Decom Engineering has invested more than £1 million to develop its largest-ever chop saw, which is currently deployed cutting pipes underwater in the North Sea - Established up in 2012 by Sean Conway alongside his father and brother, Decom has developed patented sub-sea and offshore cold cutting saws that aid in the decommissioning of old or unused oil and gas pipes. (Source: Irish News) 

 PET retailer Jollyes will create 10 jobs when it opens a new store at Boucher Road in Belfast at the end of July - its 14th in Northern Ireland and 92nd in the UK. (Source: Belfast Telegraph) 

 

Economy

Ulster Bank’s latest Purchasing Managers’ Index showed output in the Northern Ireland private sector continuing to grow in June, with employment also accelerating. But that growth was driven by the services sector and manufacturing, with construction in particular experiencing a very weak month. Output in the retail sector was also down in June. (Source: Irish News) 

Property professionals in the north have reported a fall in the supply and demand for housing in June - The latest monthly survey by Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and Ulster Bank, said house prices in Northern Ireland are expected to be broadly flat over the next three months as a result. (Source: Irish News) 

Car dealers in the north hoping for a return to pre-Covid sales figures face “a long, hard slog” due to rising interest rates and the cost-of-living crisis, an economist has said - New industry data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show 24,845 new cars were registered in Northern Ireland during the first half of 2023. While that marked a 17.5 per cent improvement on the same six months in 2022, and the best first half since the pandemic, the industry remains well below its pre-Covid performance. (Source: Irish News) 

Mortgage payments to rise by £500 a month for one million households by 2026, Bank of England warns. (Source: Irish News)