Eighteen of the top 25 World’s Best Multinational Workplaces revealed last night by the Great Place to Work Institute have significant operations in Ireland. Winner of the Best Place to Work in Ireland for the past three years, Microsoft, was named the number one global workplace at ceremony at the New York Stock Exchange last night.  Microsoft employs 1,000 people here. “We’ve always believed that a great place to work is as relevant in an economic downturn as it is when times are good.  There’s a common misconception that focusing on this area is a nice to have rather than a critical element of what makes a company successful.  Our…

Customer relationship management (CRM) software provider Commence Corporation said today that it is establishing its international office in Dublin and will create 20 jobs over the next two years. Commence International will be responsible for the sales and service of the company’s web-based CRM software. Commence CRM is targeted at mid-size companies and small enterprises and competes with products like Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Salesforce.com. Commence International will be led by Noel Shannon, a software industry specialist with more than 30 years’ experience, together with a team of professional sales and support personnel. IDA Ireland CEO Barry O’Leary said Commence Corporation “complements the growing cluster of early growth multinational technology companies which have…

Pat O’Doherty has been appointed chief executive of ESB to succeed Padraig McManus who is retiring. The company has not specified O’Doherty’s commencement date in his new role. McManus has been chief executive and board member since 2002, having joined the company in 1978. O’Doherty, meanwhile, joined the ESB in 1981 and has worked throughout the business in senior management roles. Currently executive director of ESB Energy International, he has previously been executive director, ESB Networks; executive director, ESB Power Generation; and general manager, Synergen. “Padraig has led the transformation of ESB from being a monopoly to being the leading Irish energy company in a competitive market. He has modernised…

It is anticipated that there will be a 50pc growth in smartphone ownership in the next 12 months in the Irish market. The Interactive Advertising Bureau’s Irish branch has published a mobile advertising handbook aimed at helping marketer’s plan their mobile strategy. For Ireland, where the traditional Irish advertising industry is still struggling to catch up with their international counterparts in grasping internet advertising, never mind social and mobile, the handbook could prove very timely. The acceleration of smartphone ownership in Ireland – expected to grow 50pc in the year ahead according to Red C – prompted the local Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) to produce the guide, which is sponsored…

PM Group, which is currently working on a range of projects in the Gulf region with a capital value close to €360m, has started work on a €45m food facility in Saudi Arabia, the company announced today. The announcement was made during this week’s Enterprise Ireland trade mission of 45 companies to Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which is being led by Minister of State for Trade and Development, Jan O’Sullivan. The new facility is being developed for Halwani Bros, one of the Gulf’s oldest food manufacturing companies with major production plants in Jeddah and Egypt.  The complex incorporates separate sections for tahina and halawa; jams and foods; dairy and cheese…

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has today welcomed the successful conclusion of the acquisition of 10.51bn Bank of Ireland shares by a group of investors led by Fairfax Financial Holdings, and including WL Ross, Capital Research (part of The Capital Group), Fidelity Investments and Kennedy Wilson, from the National Pensions Reserve Fund. The investors paid 10c per share or a total of €1.051bn. As a result of this disposal the State’s holding in Bank of Ireland will drop from 36pc to 15.13pc. The investors now own a 34.96pc stake in the bank. “As I noted on 25 July 2011, the commitment by a number of significant private sector investors to…