Business

Supermac’s founders Pat and Una McDonagh have announced plans to develop three motorway service stations over the next two years, creating 220 jobs. They made the announcement as construction begins on their €8m motorway service station on the M6 with the laying of the first block by Minister of State for Transport, Tourism and Sport Michael Ring this afternoon. The Junction 16 Kiltullagh Plaza will open in early 2016 and will provide 100 jobs. According to its developers Pat and Una McDonagh of Supermac’s, it will be the country’s largest motorway service station. Its food offerings will include Mac’s Place Deli, Bakery & Fresh Carvery, Supermac’s, Papa John’s Pizza, SuperSubs…

The Irish Infrastructure Fund (IIF) has secured the concession contract to operate and maintain the Convention Centre Dublin (CCD) in a deal which also includes a licence to build and operate a 330-bed hotel on a site nearby. Managed by Irish Life Investment Managers and AMP Capital, the IIF was launched in 2012 with a €250m commitment from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund. Since being announced as the preferred bidder for the CCD last February, the fund has increased investor commitments to over €400m with 14 institutional investors participating in the funding round to complete this transaction – which also includes a long-term lease of the car park underneath the…

Discount supermarket brand Aldi has opened its seventh store in Co Kerry, in Kenmare, which will create 20 new jobs. To mark the opening Aldi provided breakfast samples and family entertainment and Radio Kerry broadcasted live from the site. Five shoppers won €100 Aldi vouchers each. This brings the total number of Aldi stores in Ireland to 116, with the first having opened in 1999. Since 2008 Aldi has almost doubled the number of Irish suppliers it works with and more than 50pc of Aldi’s supplier spend is now with Irish suppliers, producers and manufacturers. Sorcha Corcoran

Bad debt judgments awarded by courts in first half of 2015 up 32pc to €220m Increase in Value of Judgments for Bad Debts The total value of judgments awarded by the courts in the first half of 2015 for bad debts amounted to just over €220m, up 32pc on the same period last year, according to figures released today by Vision-net.ie. The average value of judgments during the period was €95,333, up 27pc on the same period in 2014 (€74,818). Rise in Consumer Judgments Some 1,692 judgments were awarded against consumers in the first half of the year, up 6pc on the same period in 2014. Consumer judgments during the…

Shared services centres (SSCs) are on a clear expansion path in Ireland and are set to create more jobs, according to a survey that was carried out jointly by PwC and the ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants). However, there is room for improvement in how they operate and also in their use of technology. The findings highlighted that SSCs are becoming more popular in Ireland as multiple delivery centres, particularly for multinational companies looking to centralise not only cross-border functions such as accounting and HR, but also areas such as treasury, payroll, supply chain management, procurement and tax. “With a highly talented workforce and competitive tax regime, the…

The number of housing projects started in the first four months of 2015 have dropped by 51pc to 1,698 compared to the same period last year, while planning applications have gone up by 18pc to 4,602 nationally year on year, according to the National Housing Construction Index published by Linked2Plans. Danny O’Shea, managing director of Link2Plans, said this continued a trend from the start of this year. “Link2Plans considers the first half of 2014 to be very much an outlier in terms of construction activity on account of the structural changes in the market, which saw the introduction of new buildings regulations on 1st March 2014. “These one off changes…

Aer Lingus is to operate a new Cork to Düsseldorf service, which will operate twice weekly on Wednesday and Sunday from May 2016. Düsseldorf is located in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr region, Germany’s largest metropolitan area, with a population of about 11 million people. The news has been welcomed by Cork Airport, Tourism Ireland and Cork Chamber of Commerce. “We expect there to be strong demand for this route from both inbound and outbound passengers,” said Cork Airport managing director Niall MacCarthy. “We already have 50 routes from Cork Airport, making us the largest airport outside of Dublin, and this new service to Düsseldorf is further recognition of our…

Malin has bought a 38pc stake in Irish medical technology company 3D4Medical for US$16.4m. The deal also gives Malin a further call option to increase its stakeholding to 50pc. 3D4Medical, which was founded in 2004 by its John Moore, CEO, and Niall Johnston, director of business development,  specialises in the development of medical, educational and health and fitness apps for healthcare professionals as well as student and patient education. The company’s apps, including its flagship offering, Essential Anatomy, have so far been downloaded over 9 million  times globally. The apps use proprietary 3D technology to show the human body.  A number of them have been developed in collaboration with Stanford…

The world’s largest meat packer, Brazilian company JBS, has bought Moy Park in Northern Ireland from its owner Marfrig Global Foods for around US$1.5bn. Marfrig said the sale would enable it to significantly reduce its debt (currently at about US$5bn) and focus more intensely on pursuing growth opportunities – in particular expanding the food service business of Keystone in both Asia and the US. The transaction is subject to approval from authorities, including antitrust bodies in the EU, and is expected to be signed by the end of 2015. Headquartered in Craigavon, Moy Park is Northern Ireland’s largest private sector employer, with a total workforce of 12,000 people in Ireland,…