Business

Permanent TSB has agreed to buy the deposit business of Northern Rock Ireland, the company announced today. The retail banking arm of Irish Life & Permanent is to buy €650m of deposits from Northern Rock’s Irish business, which currently has 17,000 customers. This is the second major acquisition of deposits by Permanent TSB Bank in the past six months. The bank acquired €3.6bn in deposits from the Irish Nationwide Building Society in February. “This is a very significant transaction for Permanent TSB bank and is an important strategic step for the bank as deposits are critical for all Irish banks going forward,” David Guinane, chief executive of Permanent TSB, said today.…

The Mount Wolseley exits examinership; 175 jobs securedIan Lawlor, examiner to The Mount Wolseley Over 170 jobs have been safeguarded at The Mount Wolseley Hotel in Carlow further to an investment package worth €7.5m being made by Brehon Capital as the hotel successfully exits examinership. This is the first successful provincial hotel examinership in the country, showing hotels can successfully restructure their operations within a three-month time frame under the protection of the court, according to examiner Ian Lawlor, the managing partner at JPA Brenson Lawlor accountants. He said that this is an “extremely valuable alternative” to a receivership process that can often take some years to conclude and probably…

€35m investment for Irish dairy sector innovation The Irish Government has announced a new €35m investment in two innovation initiatives for the Irish dairy sector. The two projects are an Enterprise Ireland-funded €25m Dairy Processing Technology Centre (DPTC), hosted by the University of Limerick. The second is a €10m investment by Teagasc and dairy industry shareholders in the expansion of the Moorepark Technology Ltd (MTL) pilot plant facility in Fermoy, Co Cork. The investment by the Irish Government and the Irish industry is designed to position Ireland as a world leader in dairy innovation. It will also greatly help to maximise the long term growth opportunities created by anticipated increase…

Bord Bia , in partnership with Google Ireland, has today launched the Digital Food Hub, a new training programme aimed at helping Irish food businesses to maximize their online presence and sales. Following an application process, 21 Irish food companies have been selected to participate in the inaugural seven month programme, which will include workshops, training modules and one-to-one mentoring delivered by Google digital experts at its European headquarters in Dublin. The companies, representing dairy, meat, confectionary and chilled food sectors, range from large multinational players such as Kerry Foods and Cuisine de France to new businesses like The Little Milk Company and Elivar.According to Bord Bia’s Tomorrow’s Shopper 94pc of shoppers…

Aer Lingus Regional launches new Dublin-East Midlands route Aer Lingus Regional, operated by Stobart Air, has announced the addition of East Midlands Airport to its Dublin route network with twice daily flights due to begin on 5 February 2015. The airline expects to carry up to 70,000 customers annually on the new route and will operate all services on the company’s brand new fleet of regional aircraft. All flights to and from East Midlands will operate from the Aer Lingus hub at Dublin Airport’s Terminal 2. The addition of East Midlands to the airline’s route network follows the ongoing success of the franchise agreement between Stobart Air and Aer Lingus , which saw a…

Aer Lingus Regional to operate new route from Dublin to Robin Hood AirportPictured: Steve Gill, managing director, Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield Airport and with Ciara O’Connor, senior cabin crew, Aer Lingus Aer Lingus Regional will run a new service between Dublin Airport and Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield from 29 May. The airline, which Stobart Air operates, will now serve 14 UK destinations from Ireland. The new route will operate five times a week. “Along with direct traffic to Dublin, we will also target the transatlantic market from Doncaster,” said Peter O’Mara, business development director, Stobart Air. “Passengers can travel to Dublin and seamlessly connect to Aer Lingus’ mainline services to the US and Canada.…

Irish renewable energy group Gaelectric has announced the acquisition of biomass energy solutions provider Imperative Energy Ltd for an undisclosed sum.

Irish software company Enverian has announced what it says is a landmark partnership agreement with renewable energy developer Mainstream Renewable Power. The deal will see all of Mainstream’s onshore wind and solar energy portfolio being tracked, ranked, and valued using Enverian’s cloud-based Renewable Portfolio Manager application. The system has already been deployed and will be developed further for Mainstream in partnership with Enverian with the aim of bringing greater value and efficiencies to the organisation. According to Enverian, Renewable Portfolio Manager is the only solution in the market developed to help project managers, development executives, and chief financial officers in renewable energy companies maximise their investment by capturing real-time project…

Leitrim medical devices firm VistaMed is to create 79 new jobs as it invests €7.2m in research and development and the expansion of its production capacity. The investment, which is being supported by the government through Enterprise Ireland, will increase the company’s R&D activities to ensure continued growth in export sales and Irish employment and also expand its manufacturing facilities in Carrick-on-Shannon. Making the announcement this morning, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton said it is a significant day for the Irish economy. “As I have said before, in order to create the jobs we so badly need we must not only deliver high levels of multinational investment, but also create…

US medical giant ResMed buys UCD spin-out in all-cash deal San Diego-headquartered medical device manufacturer ResMed has acquired UCD spin-out BiancaMed in an all-cash deal. Original investors including DFJ ePlanet Capital and Enterprise Ireland are believed to receive a significant premium on their €11m investment in the company. BiancaMed is one of an emerging generation of young Irish medical device companies who are developing breakthrough technologies. It has developed a contactless, accurate device to measure sleep and breathing and combat deaths arising from the sleep disorder sleep apnea. Dr Philip de Chazal, Dr Conor Hanley and Prof Conor Heneghan founded the company in 2003 to commercialise research that emerged from the UCD…