Business

Dublin City Council has reduced commercial rates for 2013 by 0.5pc and now other local authorities must follow suit, according to Dublin Chamber of Commerce . “The current revaluation of commercial properties that is taking place in the Dublin City Council area could lead to an increase in the rates bill for some businesses from 2014 onwards so any reduction in advance of this is positive,” said Chamber chief executive Gina Quin. “The remaining three Dublin county councils will vote on their 2013 budgets in the next three weeks and be put to the test as to how supportive they really are of commerce.” In the past four years, commercial rates have been reduced…

The urban population of Ireland is now 62pc of the total population, in just 2.4pc of the total land area, according to the most recent figures released by the Central Statistics Office . The migration of people to cities is a global trend where people are following the investment, employment and innovation opportunities of cities, according to Dublin Chamber of Commerce . Aebhric McGibney, Dublin Chambers director of policy, said: “There has been a global urban shift, cities have become the lightning rods of investment, the centres of innovations, the epicentre of employment and the engines of national economies. Cities are responsible for generating more than 80pc of global gross domestic product yet they occupy just 2pc…

Cable broadband and TV player UPC has ratcheted up its broadband subscriber numbers and now reaches 148,000 subscribers. CEO Robert Dunn said €400 million has been invested in upgrading the company’s Irish network. The company now passes some 877,400 homes overall, out of which 713,300 are termed revenue-generating units. Subscribers for UPC’s digital cable services stood at 276,900 while subscribers for its analog services stood at 153,600. The company has 74,300 MMDS subscribers. UPC currently serves 148,100 homes with high-speed cable broadband and has a total addressable broadband market at present of 593,000 homes. The company is also currently building out a next-generation network that will offer speeds of up…

Cork-headquartered global supply chain solutions company PCH International has bought TNS Distribution for a consideration of up to €21m. The acquisition involves an immediate payment of €6m by PCH, which has its operational headquarters in Shenzhen, China. PCH will also pay up to €5m over three years for the company, which is a European distributor of consumer electronics products and accessories, depending on the latter’s performance. An additional payment will be made over the same period based on the overall performance of the PCH Group, and will range from between €5m and 10m. Ernst & Young managed the transaction on behalf of PCH. TNS Distribution is based in Ireland, and has offices in the…

Vodafone Smart Accessibility Awards launched a 200,000 prize fund The Smart Accessibility Awards 2012, a competition worth €200,000 that calls for developers from across Europe to design smartphone apps that take into consideration the needs of older people and people with disabilities, was launched today by the Vodafone Foundation and its partners. To encourage Irish interest in this international competition for new apps, the National Digital Research Centre (NDRA) has linked with Vodafone and its partners – the NCBI, IIA, and mobile open community group Mobile Monday – and will be hosting a two-day workshop at NDRC’s HQ on Crane Street on the 21 and 22 August. These leading Irish…

Pharmaceutical multinational MSD is closing its manufacturing facility in Rathdrum, Co Wicklow, by the end of 2015, affecting 280 jobs on the site. The move is part of MSD’s ongoing review of its worldwide manufacturing capabilities that has resulted in sites being sold, closed or consolidated in all regions all over the world. The plant in Rathdrum makes ingredients for respiratory care, infectious disease and cardiovascular medicines. Manufacturing activities will start to be phased out in 2014 but no staff reductions are expected until the end of 2014, according to MSD. It plans to relocate products manufactured in Rathdrum to its sites in Ballydine , Co Tipperary and Singapore, as well as…

A €100m pharmaceutical R&D; centre at MSD in Ballydine, Co Tipperary was officially opened by Taoiseach Enda Kenny this morning. Construction on the facility on the existing Ballydine site began in September 2007 and 70 new, high-calibre roles have been created since then. MSD, which employs 2,300 people at eight operations throughout Ireland, said another 50 jobs could be created as further innovative medicines are developed at the centre. Six new medicines are currently in development at MSD Ballydine , including new candidate medicines for the combined treatment of high cholesterol and type II diabetes, and for the treatment of hepatitis C. An additional €6 million investment is already in the planning phase…

TNS Distribution has announced its expansion into the Asia Pacific region by opening offices in Sydney and Singapore. Based in Dublin, TNS Distribution has global operations with bases in the UK, Germany, France, Singapore, Sweden, Australia, Spain, and China. It is a trade-only distributor of consumer electronics and accessories for Apple products. The company has also started to offer services using PCH International entities in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Japan. PCH International acquired TNS Distribution in June 2011. “We have developed a highly successful and sophisticated business model in Europe which we can now offer to our global retail partners for the Asia Pacific region,” said John McHugh, co-founder of TNS Distribution . Ivan Eustace, the co-founder…

500 vacancies on offer at CCMA Ireland call centre jobs fair Amazon, BSkyB, PayPal and EA Games are among the companies that will be taking part in the CCMA Ireland Contact & Shared Services Centre Jobs Fair later this month, at which more than 500 vacancies will be on offer. The event will take place in the Burlington Hotel in Dublin from 10am to 7pm on 26 February. Companies with vacancies that will be participating include: Amazon (Cork), Arise (Limerick), BSkyB (Dublin), CarTrawler (Dublin) , Chill Insurance (Dublin) , EA Games (Galway), eBay (Dublin), Eishtec (Waterford and Wexford), Marriott International Global Reservations & Customer Care (Cork), PayPal (Dublin and Dundalk), ServiceSource (Dublin), TrendMicro (Cork), VoxPro (Cork)…

Overall trust in government in Ireland has risen 15 points to 35pc over the last year, while trust in banks has risen by three points to 9pc, according to the Irish findings of the 2012 Edelman Trust Barometer. The survey of trust in institutions across 25 countries and 30,000 people reveals that globally, trust in government now stands at 43pc, down 9pcc. This is the largest global fall in government in 12 years. Overall levels of trust in Ireland improved very marginally over the past 12 months, rising two points to 41pc. While Ireland was previously the least trusting country globally, trust is now lower in Germany, Spain, Japan and…