Business

Payzone said today that it has sold its payments services business in Sweden, Payzone Nordic AB, to Pan Nordic payment transaction services provider Nets for an undisclosed sum. Payzone Nordic AB provides payment services customised for the retail, hotel and restaurant sectors. Set up in 1989, the company is headquartered in Stockholm and processes over 150 million transactions a year. According to Payzone, the company, which operates solely in the integrated payment service provider (PSP) sector, is one of the largest electronic funds transfer networks in Sweden. It generated sales around approximately SEK70m (€8m) in 2013 and employs nearly 50 people. Payzone Nordic’s CEO, Carl-Greger Leijonhufvud, will remain with the…

Daybreak Information Technologies, a provider of global information technology services to the biotech sector that is headquartered in Dublin, has announced that it has signed an alliance agreement to partner with San Diego-based Bell Canyon Consulting LLC, a provider of data management products and software services provider to global life sciences companies. The companies said that the partnership creates the first comprehensive IT solutions provider dedicated to the biotech and pharma markets. “This partnership expands Daybreak’s capabilities in the commercial segment of the biotech value chain. Bell Canyon has proven expertise in the commercial data management market and we will leverage its assets to establish a strong capability in the…

Deloitte Ireland has announced that Leyton Ireland, a specialist in the provision of R&D; tax credit advice, has merged with its existing R&D; tax credit practice to form Deloitte Leyton Consulting Ireland Ltd, a joint venture owned by Deloitte Ireland and the Leyton Group. Established in Ireland in 2007, Leyton offers dedicated R&D tax credit services in the Irish market. “Leyton’s expertise and experience complement Deloitte’s existing strong capabilities in this area. We believe the combination of skills in the two teams creates a market leading proposition for our clients,” said Brendan Jennings, managing partner, Deloitte. “As the economic situation improves and capital is increasingly available to invest in R&D…

Botswana Diamonds said today that it will start a drilling programme in Orapa, Botswana in the third week of September. The two targets to be drilled are in the northern part of the 2.9 sq km PL117 block. The targets, identified from recent work by Sunland Minerals, the 50/50 joint venture between Alrosa and Botswana Diamonds, are prospective for the discovery of kimberlite bodies. Verification drilling depth will be 100 metres and after the core is studied in Botswana, specimens and samples will be sent for analysis to St Petersburg. The final report from Sunland Minerals prepared by Alrosa geologists that will outline opportunities arising from the detailed analysis of…

London City Airport has held the top spot as the most punctual airport in the UK, with the most flights on time in Q1 2014. The airport said it has been the most punctual one consistently since April 2012. It has also recorded the shortest average delay at six minutes. “The latest statistics from the Civil Aviation Authority show that London City Airport has been the most punctual of all UK airports for the last two years running,” said Declan Collier, CEO of London City Airport. “In addition, we have the shortest average delay in the country, at just six minutes, compared to an average of nine minutes. It’s a…

Cloud-based computer service software provider Zendesk has today officially opened its Dublin development centre at Grand Parade in Ranelagh, which has capacity to allow the company to grow its headcount from its current 52 to 150. The company’s CEO Mikkel Svane was joined by Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton at the new office this evening. Zendesk announced the opening of the Dublin office at the end of 2012 with two engineers and a plan to grow to 25 by the end of 2013. Having reached that number a month early, the company has more than doubled its headcount in the last six months to 52…

British Airways Expands Dublin-London Connectivity British Airways launches new Dublin to London flights British Airways is to start flying to the financial heart of London from Dublin this winter. The airline announced that it is to add an additional link between the two capital cities with the launch of new direct flights from Dublin to London City Airport. From the start of the winter schedule, 26 October, British Airways will launch five-a-day services to London City Airport using a mix of Embraer 170 and 190 jets from its new fleet of 17 aircraft. Business and Connectivity Benefits The aircraft will be based in Dublin overnight for an early morning departure,…

US library technology company Innovative is to double its workforce in at its Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) headquarters in Dublin to 50 by the end of 2015. Founded in 1978 and headquartered in Emeryville, California, Innovative is a global provider of integrated library management and automation software. Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD met with the company’s CEO Kim Massana on his recent marketing business trip to the US with IDA Ireland. “We have had a very positive experience of the business environment in Ireland since we first set up our EMEA headquarters in Dublin in August 2012,” said Massana. “Dublin has a rich talent pool and we have been able to…

Opel Ireland and its parent company General Motors (GM) have announced a partnership with the Higher Education Authority’s (HEA) Springboard programme. It will mean the introduction of new free graduate programmes in University of Limerick (UL) and NUI Galway involving 30 graduate positions a year over the next four years. The Higher Diploma in Software Development (Middleware integration) will be delivered at UL starting in the middle of July while the Diploma in Applied Sciences will be delivered by NUIG with a high performance computing stream being developed in conjunction with the Irish Centre for High End Computing based on the NUIG campus starting early August 2014. Applicants eligible to…

The Irish Stock Exchange (ISE) has reported pre-tax profits of €7.2m for 2013, a 15pc increase on 2012. Revenues were 12pc higher at €22.9m. The increase was driven by strong growth in primary markets business (in particular from listing debt securities), where revenues grew 17pc to €15.4m and accounted for 67pc of total ISE revenues. Primary markets business relates to international debt, fund and equity listings. At the end of December 2013 the ISE had approximately 30,000 securities from 4,000 issuers in 78 countries listing their securities on its markets. Traded markets business (income from market data sales, transaction income, infrastructure and membership fees), represented 33pc of ISE revenue in…