NI Business Round- Up. Week ending 7th October 2022
Our team has summarised the key developments for NI businesses in the news this week.
Business News
Well known Belfast student haunt The Eglantine has been acquired by the Clover Group for an undisclosed sum. (Source - The Irish News)
Hagans Bar in Dungannon goes on the market. (Source - WeareTyrone)
Brett Martin given green light for £5.8m expansion at of Mallusk operation – It comes as the plastic giant - which employs close to 1,000 people and has sales of around £200 million - is enjoying a period of rapid growth. (Source - The Irish News)
Lidl confirm October 13 reopening date for Omagh store. (Source - The Irish News)
Lisburn manufacturer CASC is investing £1.7 million in its business growth through the creation of 26 jobs and the skills development of its team - Established more than 20 years ago, the company provides project management and professional labour services for the renewables sector as well as metal fabrication to the engineering, construction and utilities sectors. (Source - The Irish News)
The northern operation of Dunnes Stores recorded a significant swing back into profit last year, a new set of company accounts have showed - The Irish supermarket chain, which has 15 stores in the north, reported a pre-tax profit of £6.5 million for the 12 months to December 25 2021. That followed a difficult 2020, when Dunnes registered an £8.1m pre-tax loss in Northern Ireland. The return to profit followed a 16.7 per cent rise in turnover to £118.8m in 2021. (Source - The Irish News)
Co Antrim IT services business Outsource Group has announced it’s creating 40 new jobs, bringing its headcount to over 100 people. (Source - Belfast Telegraph)
Historic hotel The Old Inn, Crawfordsburn, has announced it will open its new outdoor spa for residents from December 1 - The Old Inn’s Treetop Spa is part of a £2.5m revamp of the venue by owners Galgorm Collection following its takeover of The Old Inn last year. (Source - Belfast Telegraph)
Plans to build a solar farm in County Antrim have been approved by the Infrastructure Minister - John O'Dowd granted planning permission for the Kells Solar Farm. The proposal was for an area of "solar panels and ancillary development extending to some 35 hectares". (Source - BBC News)
A "landmark" office building in the heart of Belfast's central business district has been brought to market with a £24.3m price tag - Bedford House is a mixed-use commercial and retail hub which houses tenants such as EY, built environment consultancy firm Arup, investment bank Cowen and insurance broker and risk advisor Marsh. (Source - Insider Media)
More SMEs in Northern Ireland are selling on Amazon says report - More than 1,000 small businesses in Northern Ireland sold goods through online giant Amazon in 2021 - an increase of 16 per cent on the previous year. (Source - Irish News)
Economy
Jump in pension plans being accessed for the first time sales of annuities, which give a guaranteed income in retirement, rose by 13% annually in 2021/22, according to Financial Conduct Authority figures. (Source - Belfast Telegraph)
Survey: Two-in-three NI households worse off financially than last year. (Source - Irish News)
Shopper footfall slips again ahead of key 'golden quarter'- Data from the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium (NIRC) and Sensormatic IQ shows that footfall decreased by 13.4 per cent in September (measured against 2019), which is 1.9 percentage points worse than August and below the UK average decline of 9.8 per cent. (Source - Irish News)
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