November/December 2015
www.iod.com
Published for members of the Institute of Directors Northern Ireland
INSIDE
Building Better
Businesses Page 7
02-03 Your diary dates
04
Annual Lunch
16-17 NI ranks high in Knowledge Economy Index
18-19 Coping in hard times – Food and Construction
22-25 Roundtable: the creative media
27
Twinterview with BT ‘Futurologist’
29
Moving the tax goalposts
31
Allow employees to make decisions
33
Can mindfulness help your business?
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IoD NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS
Diary dates
(CPD hours)
2015
November
16 **New member lunch
17 Transforming me, Transforming
you (6)
27 **Young Directors Forum
December
07 **New member lunch
18 Sporting Lunch
2016
January
20 The Role of the Company
Chairman (7)
25 **New member lunch
28 Mindfulness workshop (3)
IoD NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS
Events
Transforming me/ Transforming you
17 November
This one day workshop presented by Ann Dargan of Rapid Change Consultancy is aimed at
enabling female delegates to understand and deal practically with the hurdles that prevent
many from fulfilling their leadership potential. Using the latest research into leadership and
gender, the workshop will equip them with the skills, tools and confidence to step into being
a leader without having to change who they are.
Sporting Lunch
18 December
We may be still crying after the Argentina match but we can cheer up for Christmas with a
Sporting Lunch where we will enjoy the company of two Ulster Rugby stars - past and present.
In conversation with sports journalist Stephen Watson with a prize draw in aid of Mary Peters
Trust.
February
09 **New Director Boot Camp –
Derry (3.5)
11 The Annual Dinner
23 **New member lunch
Role of the Company
Chairman
20 January
Mind Your Own Business
workshop
28 January
Do you know what a Company Chairman
needs to know? The Chairman has a critical
influence on a Board’s style, composition,
balance and performance so if you aren’t
sure about the answer to this question, then
the IoD Role of the Company Chairman is
essential CPD for you.
Find out how mindfulness can profit your
business at this half-day workshop facilitated
by Frank Liddy of the Belfast Mindfulness
Centre. See article on page 33 for more
information about mindfulness and business.
The one day course will provide practising,
newly appointed or soon-to-be Chairs with
an opportunity to understand the role and
current good practice. The objective is to
help board Chairs to lead and create more
effective boards that will contribute to the
organisation’s success.
Our presenter, Francis Bergin, is not only
a very experienced presenter, he has also
served as a Chairman and non-executive
director for a number of private companies
and a national charity, and was Chartered
Secretary at Unilever plc.
“Francis Bergin is a very effective
communicator and is really tuned into the
job of Chairman. I have continued to find
the course documentation very useful.”
Peter Morrow,
MD Morrow Communications
March
11 Women’s Leadership
Conference (6)
New Directors Boot Camp
(Derry)
9 February
Our Boot Camp will be held at the North
West Science Park. The half day workshops
use a masterclass format to provide an
introduction to what it means to be a director
and why a company needs an effective board.
The Annual Dinner
11 February
We are delighted to announce the first
of our guest speakers for the Annual
Dinner. Leo Johnson specialises in making
business sense of sustainability, identifying
environmental and social megatrends and
the risks and opportunities for business
leaders.
Leo has hosted the BBC World Show
“Down to Business” helping scale up
BBC World Challenge’s ground-breaking
small businesses, including Green Gold in
the Colombian jungle and bio-gas from
waste in Kenya. He has commented and
written guest columns for the BBC, CNN,
CNBC, the Financial Times, and Wall Street
Journal.
A panel of local leaders share their
experiences of the ups and downs of the
director role, and there is an interactive case
study session to make delegates really think
about a tricky boardroom situation. An easy
introduction to the legal role of the director is
provided by an expert from Arthur Cox.
Suitable for anyone who is new to the director
role or would like a refresher, whose company
has not yet established a working board or
who is advising new start companies.
Sponsored by Arthur Cox
September
27 IoD Annual Convention
** free to IoD members
Book online at
www.iod.com/northernireland
If the event you are looking for does
not appear online, please telephone
the IoD office at 028 9068 3224.
Follow IoD Northern Ireland
on Twitter @iodni
Spot the family resemblance?
Yes it is Boris’s brother, Leo!
Build your CPD with IoD
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IoD exists to promote high standards of professionalism for business leadership and to
provide members with professional development opportunities to
retain their Chartered Director status, contribute to CPD points or
hours for other professional bodies, and generally to keep you up to
date with developments relating to your role as a business leader.
CPD hours are indicated (in brackets) in the list of Diary Dates in IoD
Northern Ireland News.
IoD events also provide valuable opportunities to network with and
learn from other business leaders.
Flexible and affordable
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*
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sponsorship opportunities, contact
Linda Brown on 028 9068 3224 or
email linda.brown@iod.com
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2 — November/December 2015
November/December 2015 — 3
IoD NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS
IoD NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS
Blowing the whistle
Former professional cyclist turned author
and multi-award winning sports journalist
Paul Kimmage was the guest speaker at this
year’s Annual Lunch. In his presentation,
Paul talked about his experience of exposing
drug taking in professional cycling and how
he was ostracised by colleagues rather than
praised. He said that if you love something
– as he did cycling – then you should want
to highlight problems when you see them
rather than conspire in a cover-up. Paul
encouraged business leaders to create an
environment in an organisation that does not
penalise employees who ‘blow the whistle’
when they see something wrong going on.
It was a fascinating speech by the man, who
publicly called out Tour de France winner,
Lance Armstrong, on his use of performance
enhancing drugs.
Chairman’s message
donors of prizes for the Charity Draw –
KLM, Galgorm Resort & Spa, Translink,
4Beauty Group, Hilton Belfast, Marco
Pierre White restaurant at the Park Avenue
Hotel, the SSE Arena and Rainbow
Communications.
The Institute would like to thank our sponsor,
Rainbow Communications, and the generous
by Paul Terrington, Chairman IoD Northern Ireland
Those of us who attended this year’s
Annual Lunch enjoyed yet another
capacity audience and will have shared
the pride of our most recent successful
candidates in the IoD Chartered Director
Programme. This is a remarkably
successful programme and is being
increasingly recognised as the gold
standard for executive and non-executive
director performance and I would urge
everyone to give serious consideration to
signing-up if you have not already done
so.
detail, sidesteps the implementation and
defers the hard choices until the next crisis.
I was also delighted to present an Honorary
Life Membership of the Institute to the
Chairman of the Irish News, Mr Jim
Fitzpatrick. Not only has Jim worked for the
same organisation for over half a century,
in his time he has seen 10 IoD Directors
General and enjoyed – perhaps endured –
17 NI Chairmen… a remarkable feat.
If Westminster and the Northern Ireland
parties applied the ethos of the Institute
of Directors to politics, Westminster would
be the investor, with the Northern Ireland
Executive implementing policies that
would see a return on that investment.
Westminster should not seek to play an
executive role but should - through good
and active governance - ensure that the
promises on which the investment is made,
are delivered.
Groundhog Day
Guest speaker Paul Kimmage (left) with Stuart Carson from the event
sponsor, Rainbow Communications and IoD NI Chairman Paul
Terrington
Gary Coburn (left) from Close Brothers, Jayne Gallagher of Legal-Island
and Stuart John, Abacus Professional Recruitment
Nora Smyth, Chief Executive of CO3, Ruairi de Burca from the British
Irish Intergovernmental Secretariat with Jim Fitzpatrick and Dominic
Fitzpatrick of the Irish News, and Paul Terrington
Dale Guest (left), Bank of Ireland with Carla Tully of AES UK & Ireland,
and past IoD NI Chairman Mervyn McCall of MNV Limited
50 years a
member!
Jim Fitzpatrick FIoD, Chairman of the Irish
News, has been made an Honorary Life
Member of the IoD in recognition of his
achieving 50 years as a member of the
Institute. Jim was presented with a letter
of congratulations from Director General
Simon Walker and his special membership
card at the Annual Lunch.
Left: Jim Fitzpatrick with Paul Terrington
4 — November/December 2015
Unsurprisingly, the Annual Lunch was
something of a Groundhog Day. At the time
of last year’s lunch, our politicians were
striving to negotiate what was to become
the Stormont House Agreement – at this
year’s lunch they were struggling to save it.
In the interim, the business community and
civic society urged them on, emphasised
the importance of political stability and
the need to deal with important issues,
not least implementing the devolution
of powers to set a reduced rate of
Corporation Tax.
In the days before our lunch, I met the
Secretary of State. That was shortly after
she told the Conservative Party Conference
that an agreement between the local
political parties had to be concluded by
the end of October. That deadline needed
to be heard by an audience wider than the
Conservative Party Conference and any new
agreement cannot be a cobbled together in
an 11th hour compromise that ignores the
The political business model is broken, but
like the rest of the business community, I
want to see devolution working. I want
a Northern Ireland plc with a vision and
investment strategy that delivers real
return. An agreement that does no more
than prevent the Assembly collapsing and
maintain Executive Ministers in role, merely
emphasises how broken the model has
become.
OBR role
In the world of the IoD, this would involve
the appointment of independent nonexecutive Directors and, in this context,
the Secretary of State should call on
Robert Chote of the Office of Budget
Responsibility to actively extend its remit
to NI. The OBR should examine and report
on the public finances, consider the costs
and implications of welfare reform and
help determine how best to put Northern
Ireland’s finances on a sustainable footing.
This is the real world where, when things
go wrong in the business, you bring in
expert advisors to identify problems and
recommend solutions.
Business is regularly challenged to speak
out on the economy and on public finances
but typically our engagement is not with
the Executive, but with individual Ministers
and is therefore, inherently party political.
The political business model is broken, but
like the rest of the business community, I
want to see devolution working. I want
a Northern Ireland plc with a vision and
investment strategy that delivers real return.
Inviting the OBR to examine the public
finances will bring independence and
authority to the economic debate.
We cannot continue staggering from crisis
to crisis. The Government’s challenging
approach to welfare and productivity
means we must shift our focus from the
distribution of dwindling amounts of
public money to claimants, the low paid
and the disadvantaged. We need the
independence of an OBR to help us shift
the debate from austerity to prosperity; to
identify and deliver on an agenda that is
about productivity improvement and wealth
creation that can take people out of the
traps of unemployment and working tax
credits.
Search on for
next IoD NI
Chairman
After two and a half successful years
under the leadership of Paul Terrington,
IoD Northern Ireland is looking for a new
Chairperson to succeed him in mid-2016.
The post requires someone special who,
amongst other strong leadership and
influencing skills, can handle the media as
well as demonstrating an understanding
of Northern Ireland, its politics and its
business and civic community.
The closing date for applications for the
role is 16 November 2015 and CV and a
covering letter should be sent to
linda.brown@iod.com
November/December 2015 — 5
IoD NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS
IoD NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS
Double achievement for Geraldine
Geraldine Gordon CDir
DEL skills support
for business
The Department for Employment and
Learning has provided the IoD with an
extensive and helpful matrix setting out
the various programmes available to help
employers bring in new skilled recruits and
to train their existing workforce.
Congratulations to IoD Northern Ireland
Committee member, Geraldine Gordon,
who has achieved two significant
career milestones. First she gained her
Chartered Director qualification and then
was awarded Fellowship of the Royal
Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
governance. I was so impressed with not
only the array of subjects covered but the
insight through peer interaction of relevant
real life business cases that I immediately
signed up to sit the Certificate exam. I
subsequently enrolled and completed the
Diploma course and exam.
Having spent many years in the construction
sector, Geraldine is currently Managing
Director at Gordon Business Consultancy.
“I would like to take this opportunity to
thank the whole IoD team, in particular Peter
Martin, Linda Brown and Colin Coffey for
their continued support and for a thoroughly
enjoyable and rewarding experience.
Talking about the importance to her of
continuing professional development,
Geraldine explains that she initially attended
an IoD accelerated training camp some
five to six years ago. “I had no plans
to sit any exams but simply wanted to
develop my skills in leadership and to gain
a better understanding of good corporate
The programmes cover Apprenticeships,
Assured Skills, graduate recruitment, job
advertising, Management & Leadership
training, knowledge exchange and even help
for those facing redundancy.
“I look forward to many years ahead of
continued development and training with
the IoD, ensuring that I can continue to
keep abreast of latest innovations and the
challenges of today’s fast moving markets”
scheme. You can access the matrix at
www.iodni.com/news
Information included in the matrix covers
the type of skills support that is available,
what it covers, any financial support, eligible
businesses and contact details for each
The IoD mantra is that ‘good Boards make
for good businesses’ and IoD Northern
Ireland has initiated a campaign to
improve the quality of Boards in Northern
Ireland.
The New Director Boot Camps developed
in partnership with NISP Connect and
supported by Arthur Cox are the starting
point for any individual or company that
wants to understand why it is important to
have a Board that works properly.
During 2016 and going forward, the Institute
will offer a series of workshops on what
makes an effective Board, including the
value of having at least one non-executive
Director (NED) on the Board, which is the
subject of a research report commissioned
by the IoD from Ulster University.
The report entitled Exploring the Role
of Non-Executive Directors in Firms
in Northern Ireland was produced by
Caoimhe McGuinness, as part of her MSc in
Management & Corporate Governance at
Ulster. Caoimhe is now working for Herbert
Smith Freehills.
The research findings also highlight the
importance of NED impact on Boardroom
decision making, challenging and monitoring
the Board. This is why the NED needs to
maintain their independence, and receive all
appropriate information from the Directors.
The Directors interviewed noted that
non-executives should only serve on each
board for a certain duration (with some
suggesting a five year limit) so as to keep
bringing in fresh eyes, new perspectives and
new resolve to challenge. It is worth noting
however, that the majority of respondents
stated that the NEDs had actually helped
them greatly by forcing them to arrive at
decisions faster, ‘pushing them over the final
hurdle’.
Credibility
NEDs can fill certain knowledge and skills
gaps on the board; executive Directors
noted the benefit that this brought to their
firms. A further benefit of NEDs that arose
across the interviews was the ‘mentoring
role’ of the non-executive to the executive
Directors. It was noted that often the NED
acted as a ‘wise counsel’ to the Directors, as
well as offering them a ‘shoulder to cry on’
and advice from someone who was internal
to the company, but not involved in the
operational delivery.
Findings from the report, which has been
endorsed by BDO and Invest Northern
Ireland, will be developed through further
research and IoD activity to build better
boards. The full report is available at
www.iodni.com/news from 12 November
2015.
The presence of NEDs on a firm’s board
is externally respected and helps enhance
the reputation and credibility of a company,
which is particularly beneficial when it comes
to the matter of sourcing external financing.
Benefits of a NED
Ken gets scared for charity!
Daredevil IoD member, Ken Roulston of
NewCMI, has taken on many demanding
challenges in aid of good causes. His
latest exploit was an airborne wing walk
(and an equally impressive 4 stone weight
loss!) in aid of the Mark Pollock Trust,
Building Better Businesses
which aims to fast track a cure for paralysis
caused by spinal cord injuries.
up in the air and there was little I could do, I
got to enjoy it strangely”.
Ken wants to pass on a ‘massive thank you’
to everyone who donated towards his £5k
target and adds, “It was scary but once I was
If you would like to add to the donations,
please go to Ken’s JustGiving web page:
https://www.justgiving.com/Ken-Roulston3
Ken (centre) gets a briefing before for take-off
- sadly no photographs are available of the
actual wing walk but there is a video. By 13
minutes in he seems to be enjoying himself!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZTXin9BBp4
After conducting in-depth interviews with
both executive and non-executive Directors
in a number of local companies, Caoimhe
points out that every Director and NED
interviewed felt that the NED contribution
undoubtedly added value to the firm, with
most believing the NED role helped improve
the firm’s profitability.
Key themes have emerged from the study
about the role NEDs carry out effectively
for the boards they serve on. Strategy
formulation was considered to be one of
the most important roles that a NED plays
in any firm. As the interviews revealed,
particularly within SMEs, Directors often get
caught up in the day to day management
of the company, and so it is easy to see why
bringing in an independent outsider who can
devote time and resources to developing a
strategic plan is considered to be so valuable
and beneficial.
Caoimhe McGuinness with Gordon Milligan of Translink, who chairs the IoD’s Developing
Committee, Laura Jackson of BDO, and Niall Casey from Invest Northern Ireland.
IT ’S OUR BUSINESS TO SUPPORT YOURS
Tel: 028 9442 9717
6 — November/December 2015
www.robinson-services.com
cleaning
hygiene
laundry
security
November/December 2015 — 7
IoD NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS
IoD NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS
Boot camp goes to Craigavon
Craigavon Industrial Development
Organisation (CIDO) was the location
for the recent New Directors Boot
Camp. Developed by IoD Northern
Ireland with the NI Science Park, the
Boot Camp provides an introduction to
the role and responsibilities of a director
through presentations, a case study and
masterclasses with experience board
directors.
Speakers at the event included Colin Coffey
CDir of the RDA Group, NISP Connect’s
John Knapton CDir, and Andrew Jennings
from Arthur Cox, sponsors of the event.
A panel of directors talked to delegates
about their experiences of being a director:
Helen Kirkpatrick from UTV Media plc and
Kingspan plc, Olga Murtagh from Armagh
Banbridge Craigavon Council and Paul
Vaughan from Reprographic Systems.
The work of the IoD NI Committees
Energy supply
Malone Golf Club
The stability of the energy supply –
including a long-term strategy for
improving the infrastructure for businesses
in Northern Ireland - is currently exercising
the Business Environment Committee.
Check out a recent article for Business
First magazine by Committee chairman,
Bill Beers, on iodni.com/news
Public procurement is another issue of
interest and the Committee is engaging
with the Finance Minister to discuss
members’ concerns about the whole
public procurement system. Members’
views on this would be appreciated.
FE and business
(from left) John Knapton CDir, NISP Connect; Olga Murtagh of Armagh
Banbridge Craigavon Council; Helen Kirkpatrick, Non-executive of UTV
Media plc; and Andrew Jennings, Arthur Cox
(from left) Colin Coffey CDir, RDA Group; Linda Brown, Director of the
IoD NI; John Knapton CDir, NISP Connect; Andrew Jennings, Arthur
Cox, and Brian Hunter, CEO of CIDO
Mary McIvor, Director of Further
Education at the Department for
Employment & Learning, attended
the last Education & Skills Committee
meeting and the discussion enabled the
Committee to finalise our submission to
the Further Education Strategy review.
Business leaders discuss
growth strategy
The Committee is currently working on
a joint project with The Prince’s Trust to
help address underachievement amongst
school leavers. When this project is ready
to run, the Committee will be seeking the
support of members and their companies
to work with local schools.
Some of Northern Ireland’s most respected
and influential leaders in the private and
social enterprise sectors gathered at
Riddell Hall in September for the Strategic
Leadership Summit, hosted by IoD
Northern Ireland and the William J Clinton
Leadership Institute.
Building Better Boards
The Building Better Boards campaign,
initiated by the Developing Committee,
will be officially launched in November
and will include events to increase the
skills and knowledge of Boards, and
promote the value of having a nonexecutive Director on SME Boards as
well as creating a database of potential
non-executives with relevant business
experience and training. Any member
interested in joining the database should
apply to the Director for an application
form.
Sponsored by leading law firm Arthur Cox,
the aim of the event was to generate a
strategy which will help change leadership
culture in Northern Ireland and contribute to
shaping the Assembly’s next Programme for
Government.
The recommendations from the Summit
will be published and used to engage with
politicians and leaders from the private,
public and third sectors.
Speakers on the day included Sir John
Elvidge from the Carnegie Trust, TUI Aviation
Chief Executive Chris Browne and Nicola
Millard, BT’s Futurologist. An energetic,
interactive element of the half day event was
introduced by Sophie Grenville and Harry
Lloyd from !WhatIf? Innovation Partners, who
introduced real creativity to the workshop
sessions.
8 — November/December 2015
This Committee is putting together the
Institute’s professional development
programme for 2016 and would welcome
any suggestions from members.
Golf outing
Pictured at Riddel Hall are (from left) Professor Patrick Johnston, President and Vice-Chancellor
of Queen’s University, Belfast, Anne Clydesdale, Director of the William J Clinton Leadership
Institute, Linda Brown, Director of the Institute of Directors Northern Ireland (IoD NI), speaker
Tony O’Neill from Dunbia, and Alan Taylor, Managing Partner of leading law firm and event
sponsors Arthur Cox
The Connecting Committee regularly
considers whether some of our regular
events need to be ‘refreshed’. Members
recently discussed the Annual Golf
Outing, which is usually held at Malone.
If members have any suggestions for the
format, venue or timing of the Outing, the
Committee would like to hear from you.
For any feedback about the Committees’
work, please email linda.brown@iod.com
The Economic Strategy Committee
Led by Ian Sheppard from Bank of Ireland,
the Economic Strategy Committee’s
remit covers those issues that impact
on the growth of business. Lobbying
work generally relates to the activities of
the Department for Enterprise Trade &
Investment, Invest Northern Ireland and the
Department of Finance & Personnel. The
Committee responded, for example, to the
Draft Telecommunications Strategy 20152017 published earlier this year.
Currently the question of how Northern
Ireland can better utilise the funding
resources and support from Europe for
economic growth and infrastructure
investment is one of the topics being
discussed by the Committee.
Members of this Committee – our largest
- regularly meet with senior government
officials. David Sterling, Permanent
Secretary at the Department of Finance
& Personnel joined members at the
September meeting to discuss the Northern
Ireland Budget situation. At next meeting
on 3 December, the DETI Permanent
Secretary, Dr Andrew McCormick will be
joining us. Any member of the Institute is
welcome to attend Committee meetings
on an ad hoc basis and should contact the
Director, Linda Brown.
Ann Shaw, Shaw Farms Ltd
Ben Collins, RICS
Bill Beers, Beers Engineering Consultancy
Brian Hunter
Caroline Keenan, ASM
Danny McCaughan, Kernel Capital
David Malseed
David Mills, Aon
Eleanor Gill, Erga Strategies
Frank Bryan, Executive Coach/Mentor
Gerry Lennon, Visit Belfast
Glyn Roberts, NIIRTA
Gordon Gough, Enterprise NI
Ian Sheppard, Bank of Ireland
Joanne Stuart, NI Science Park
Mark Spence, Maurice Flynn & Sons
Michael Bell, NIFDA
Michael Murray
Nial Douglas
Padraig McKenna, VFECTO Ltd
Richard Buchanan, IoD Policy Consultant
Sean Hogan, STHMS Associates
Sean McCready, John Burke & Co Ltd
Stuart Faloon, Mercer Ltd
Toby McMurray, Tughans
The Committee meets once every two
months at Riddel Hall and the members of
the Committee are:
Alan Hanna, Diabetes UK Northern Ireland
Alan Whiteside, Belfast International Airport
Andrew Walmsley, Eason Holdings plc
Ian Sheppard, chairman of the IoD NI
Economic Strategy Committee
November/December 2015 — 9
IoD NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS
IoD NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS
MEMBER NEWS
PBNI role for Ian
Justice Minister David Ford has announced
the appointment of Ian Jeffers as one of
six new Board Members of the Probation
Board for Northern Ireland. Ian is the
Chief Executive of the Prince’s Trust in
Northern Ireland and is a former IoD NI
Committee member and former chair of the
Connecting Committee, of which he is still
a member.
Welcome to our
newest members
JPR’s CIPR Fellows (from left) Rosemary Allister,
Jane Wells, Joris Minne and Chris Harrison
Gordon reappointed
to SRC board
Members on
Belfast Met board
Gordon Gough has been reappointed to
the Governing Body of Southern Regional
College. Gordon is Chief Executive of
Enterprise Northern Ireland, the membership
organisation for the local enterprise agency
network in Northern Ireland.
Several IoD members are amongst new
appointments and reappointments by
Employment & Learning Minister, Dr Stephen
Farry, to the Governing Body of Belfast
Metropolitan College.
Welcome to members who have joined
the Institute recently and welcome back
to some members who have returned to
IoD Northern Ireland.
Executive Coach and Mentor Frank Bryan
and John McGrillen, Chief Executive of
Tourism NI, have been reappointed for a
second term, while Kay Collins of Goldblatt
McGuigan and Jim McCall, NI Trustee
on the board of Diabetes UK, are new
appointments.
NI first for JPR
Members appointed
to FE Boards
Employment & Learning Minister, Dr Stephen
Farry, has appointed a number of IoD
members to the Boards of Northern Ireland’s
further education colleges.
Tyrone member joins
South West College
Seamus McCaffrey has been appointed
to the Governing Body of the South West
College Board, which has campuses in
Cookstown, Dungannon, Enniskillen and
Omagh. Seamus is a practising accountant
in his own accountancy firm, SP McCaffrey
& Co Accountants. He is also a livestock
farmer.
Gordon Gough
Frank Bryan
Northern Regional
College role for Yvonne
Yvonne Mallon has been appointed to the
Board of the Northern Regional College.
Yvonne has worked in the field of HR for 23
years most recently with B/E Aerospace (UK)
Limited. In 2012, she was IoD NI Director of
the Year for Corporate Responsibility.
JPR, the longest established PR
consultancy in Northern Ireland, has
achieved a Northern Ireland first with
the announcement that Director, Chris
Harrison, has been awarded a Fellowship
of the Chartered Institute of Public
Relations. The company becomes the
first consultancy in NI and the only one
in the UK to have four CIPR Fellows in its
ranks as Chris joins fellow IoD member
Jane Wells and colleagues Joris Minne
and Rosemary Allister who also hold the
honour.
CIPR Fellowship is awarded by the
Fellowship Nominations Committee in
London for outstanding contribution to
the CIPR and the public relations industry.
Fellowships are given to members who
have shown exemplary commitment to the
Institute and the Industry, through their
professional work and their voluntary work.
In 2000, JPR Managing Director, Jane Wells,
was the first female practitioner in Northern
Ireland to be awarded a Fellowship
followed by JPR Senior Consultant,
Rosemary Allister in 2006 and JPR Director,
Joris Minne in 2012. There are now fifteen
CIPR Fellows in Northern Ireland.
Jim takes on
NED roles
Kay Collins
As well as his appointment to Belfast Met’s
board, Jim McCall has also joined the boards
of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive
and Northern Ireland Water. Until March
this year, Jim was Managing Director of Four
Seasons Health Care.
Car to Plane…
Simple.
Book your parking online today
belfastcityairport.com
Seamus McCaffrey
10 — November/December 2015
Yvonne Mallon
Dale Ashford, NI Fire and Rescue Service
Kelvin Boyes, Press Eye Ltd
Aine Brolly, CPL Northern Ireland
Heather Carr, Ten Minutes More Ltd
Andrea Cooper, Belfast Metropolitan
College
John Donaghy, Axon Power & Control Ltd
Dane Duffy, Brook Design Hardware Ltd
Richard Gray, Carson McDowell LLP
Niall Greene, Adult ADHD NI
Clare Guinness, Fane Valley Co-operative
Society Ltd
John Haran, HMC Global Ltd
Einna Harrison-Mellon, Shebelle Ltd
Ashley Haslett CDir, EPC United Kingdom Plc
Roisin Jenkins, MCI Group
Niall McCaffrey, ProAptivity Ltd
Dawson McConkey, Carson McDowell LLP
Sinead McGrath, Carson McDowell LLP
John McGrillen, Tourism NI
Jennifer Mckeever, Airporter Ltd
Carmel McKinney OBE, NI Fire and
Rescue Service
Toby McMurray, Tughans
Iain Miller, HMC Global Ltd
Yvonne Mitchell, Out of the Box Consulting
Wayne Nickels, Cunningham Coates
Stockbrokers Ltd
Professor Paddy Nixon, Ulster University
Gareth Quinn, Digital DNA
Dr Stephen Seawright, AssetIQ Limited
Gary Toner, Brook Design Hardware Ltd
Dominic Walsh, Hospital Services Ltd
Herbie Watterson, Harvey Group Plc
Emma Weaver, Adult ADHD NI
Leigh Yeaman, Investec Wealth & Investment
All new members and any other
members who have not attended a New
Member Lunch are very welcome to join
us at one of these lunches in 2015. See
page 2 for dates. For information and to
book a place, email iod.northernireland@
iod.com The lunches are sponsored by
Director Development Ireland.
FOR
CHEA OUR
PARKPEST
IN
BOO G
ONLINK
E
Travel on your terms.
John McGrillen
November/December 2015 — 11
IoD NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS
IoD NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS
Robinson Services team ‘offload’ worries
IoD member, David Robinson, reports on
a team building day with a difference for
his senior management team at Robinson
Services – swapping the worries of the
office for the rugby pitch as they headed
off to Belfast Harlequins Rugby Club at
Deramore Park in Belfast for a session
with Offload Rugby.
Offload Rugby works with organisations
to improve productivity, communication,
team work and responsibility, through a
combination of fun classroom and pitch
sessions alongside motivational talks.
Participants are given the opportunity to
construct their own fun rugby based games
and apply the skills uncovered in these to
their workplace.
A key member of the team at Offload
Rugby is British and Irish Lion, Stephen
Ferris, who gained 35 Ireland caps and
106 Ulster caps. Stephen worked with the
Robinson Services Team on the day both in
the classroom and on the pitch.
David says: “We were delighted to tie up
with Alasdair and Stephen as they build up
their new business and we wish them every
success. They provided us with a day out
with a difference and the day was a great
success for everyone who participated. We
now look forward to putting the lessons
learnt on the day into practice on our own
‘pitch’ as we seek to grow our business
throughout Northern Ireland and beyond.
Offload Rugby certainly have a winning
lineout in my opinion.”
Offload Rugby
Offload Rugby was set up by Alasdair
McKee, who has worked in development
roles with Ulster Rugby as well as having
been Head Coach of Ulster Juniors and
coaching within the Ulster Club’s under
MEMBER COMPANY NEWS
MBO at Abbey Bond Lovis
Five directors of locally-based Abbey Bond Lovis (ABL) – including
IoD members Maurice Boyd and Stephen Carlisle - have acquired
the successful insurance brokerage and risk advisory firm in a
management buyout, supported by London-based Global Risk
Partners Limited (GRP) in a multi-million pound deal.
The company was established in Northern Ireland in 2006 and
provides private, commercial and corporate insurance to clients
across a wide range of clients from the commercial, industrial,
professional and charity sectors.
Robinson Services staff with Offload Rugby
team (front row)
16s and under 17s squads. He is IRFU
Level 2 accredited and also an IRFU Tutor
and Observer. He is the Head Coach of
Grosvenor RFC and has previously been
Head Coach of both Enniskillen RFC and
Academy RFC. Alasdair set up Offload
Rugby in May 2015.
Maurice says that “ABL has the largest on-the-ground workforce of
any commercial insurance broker in Northern Ireland and we view
our employees as our main asset, investing in them by ensuring
that we provide bespoke, individual training plans in place for every
member.”
He adds: “The backing of GRP provides us with the ideal environment
to grow with the support of an independent, strongly capitalised
partner. We believe that we can produce a viable alternative to some
of the established multi-national brokers with our blend of a highly
qualified team and local autonomy.”
MEMBER COMPANY PROFILE
JohnstonCampbell
A highly experienced team including
Director Ewan Boyle (pictured) helps
to achieve the personal and business
aspirations of their clients through a flexible
service designed to meet and exceed
expec-tations.
Ewan points out that the firm’s advisors
take time to get to know who and what
really matters to clients, ensuring they
IoD member Rozana Huq has
recently published her new
book entitled The Psychology of
Employee Empowerment.
Using several years of interviews
with Northern Ireland companies
– both employers and employees Rozana examines the complexities
of empowering employees,
which she feels have been largely
underestimated and something that
organisations struggle with putting
into practice.
Dr Rozana Huq
The book looks at the concept of
empowerment in a new way that
combines themes from the disciplines of management and social
work, the latter being a domain where empowerment is an
important construct. The effective utilisation of human resources
is a strategic issue for organisations and the growing trend for
downsizing and mergers means that they can no longer maintain
the ‘command and control’ approach. Employees are given
more responsibility and expected to take decisions. However,
simply burdening employees with extra responsibility without
empowering them does not deliver results.
In her book published by Gower, Rozana
offers a ‘practice model’ to help
people in management and nonmanagement understand the new
roles and behaviours that they need
to adopt if empowerment is to
become a reality.
Independent financial advisors,
JohnstonCampbell, have been managing
the wealth of a wide range of individuals,
businesses and trusts in Northern Ireland
for the past forty years.
Working across the fields of financial
planning, investment management,
tax mitigation and pension planning,
JohnstonCampbell ensure that clients
receive a world-class service - with local
knowledge and flair.
Rozana publishes on
employee empowerment
The five directors of Abbey Bond Lovis are (from left) Patrick McMillen,
Gary Crabbe, Maurice Boyd, Ken Alderdice and Stephen Carlisle
Ewan Boyle
provide the best financial advice on issues
including tax, managing complicated
estates, investment portfolios, cash flow
modelling and lifestyle planning.
The result, says Ewan, is a well-defined
wealth management strategy that is
designed to protect, enhance and
distribute an individual’s wealth according
to their wishes.
To contact JohnstonCampbell,
phone 028 9022 1010 or email
ewanb@johnstoncampbell.com
See Rozana’s article on
allowing employees to take
decisions on page 31 of this
issue of IoD Northern Ireland
News.
Oh yes they are!
BDO Northern Ireland employees are
showing that accountants aren’t really as
boring as they are made out by putting
on a production of Aladdin to raise
funds for BDO’s charity of the year, the
Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice.
The pantomime will take place on Saturday
14 November at the MAC in Belfast,
and will be directed by James Huish, the
distinguished Director of the Belfast School
of Performing Arts. IoD member David
Meade - a friend of BDO - is also assisting
and helping the BDO team.
Right: Aladdin cast members with James Huish
(left) Director and David Meade (right)
12 — November/December 2015
November/December 2015 — 13
IoD NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS
IoD NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS
“I think I will stick to the double. That is
what I will work towards. I will work on my
sculling and my technique and will make
sure the boat is as fast as it can be.
“Will Fletcher beside me is a really strong,
talented athlete and someone I can learn a
lot from. I think the possibilities with Will
are really exciting.
“However, it is all about selection and
there could be someone who comes along,
possibly my brother, who could bump me
out of it. That is the nature of sport and
then I would hope to go into the four and
get the most out of that.”
On his 25-year-old brother, who is emerging
as a team leader in GB’s lightweight four,
Richard commented:
Peter (right) and Richard Chambers with their London Olympics silver medals
Countdown to Rio
IoD Charity of the Year – Mary Peters Trust
JUST a quarter of a second!
That was the difference between the
winners and runners-up - and how close
Richard and Peter Chambers came to
winning Olympic gold in London 2012. So
near, yet so far...
At least they had a silver lining around
their necks on the podium, but, next time
round at the Games, the rowing brothers
from Coleraine are determined to cross the
finishing line in front.
We are now well into the one-year
countdown to Rio 2016. Although there
are many gruelling training sessions and
important competitions to come before
then, excitement is already building
amongst Northern Ireland’s Olympic
hopefuls, with the Chambers boys ready to
lead the charge.
Three years ago they shared a boat in the
gripping lightweight four final when, along
with Chris Bartley and Rob Williams, Team
GB were centimetres behind the South
African quartet. In Brazil there is every
chance that Richard and Peter, bronze
medal winners together in the lightweight
double at the 2013 World Championships,
will be competing in different disciplines.
Asked what boat he expects to be in when
competing in Rio, Richard said:
“My goal is to win
gold in Rio. I have an
Olympic silver medal
and I really want to go
one better and will do all
I can to make it happen.”
Richard Chambers
“Peter is doing really well. He’s in good
shape in the four. He’s bringing something
to that four and is standing out and leading
it. He knows what he needs to do to get it
on the podium and make it win.”
Peter and Joel Cassells secured gold this
year in the European Championships in
the men’s lightweight pair. This begs the
question - does he want to compete in Rio
in a four or two-man boat?
“It depends on how things go,” Peter
added. “I wouldn’t rule either out because
we have to do so many trials between now
and Rio. I haven’t had much time to think
about the Olympics but it will be a massive
occasion and very exciting.
“There will be a big build up to it and I’m
sure it will come around pretty quickly. It
was brilliant in London and it would be
fantastic to experience it all again. We
were close to winning gold in 2012 and the
dream would be to go one better in Rio.”
The Mary Peters Trust
is helping NI athletes
like Peter and Richard
Chambers on their Road
to Rio.
PKF-FPM shortlisted for top award
Leading island-based accountancy
practice PKF-FPM Accountants have been
shortlisted by Accountancy Age as one of
the top ten firms in its 2015 Best Employer
Survey. PKF-FPM is the first Northern
Ireland firm to be shortlisted for the annual
awards.
The 2015 Accountancy Age Best Employer
Survey set out to identify and flag up the
best accountancy firms to work for in the
14 — November/December 2015
by Stuart Carson, Rainbow Communications
As people become more and more
technology savvy, events like the
annual iPhone update take on greater
significance. This was definitely the
case at the end of September with the
introduction of the iPhone 6S which once
again saw record sales across the world
and a media frenzy on its new features.
With employees updating their
smartphones on a regular basis, businesses
around the world are finding the number of
devices owned by employees being used
for work increases rapidly and this could
have a significant impact on business. It is
believed that by 2016 38% of companies
will stop providing devices to employees
and by 2018 it is expected that the number
of devices owned by employees will be
twice as high as those owned by business.
Bring your own device (BYOD) refers to the
policy of permitting employees to bring
personally owned mobile devices (laptops,
tablets and smart phones) to the workplace
and using these devices to access company
information and applications.
Many businesses are now leveraging the
fact that their employees are using the
latest smartphones to their advantage,
as they don’t have to provide devices
or contracts which is ultimately creating
savings for business.
Risks of BYOD
Along with the obvious advantages of
BYOD there are also significant risks which
businesses should be aware of. With IT
departments not having direct control over
employees’ own devices, it means that
there is no way to be exactly sure what
security measures are in place to ensure
sensitive and important company data does
not end up in the wrong hands.
To ensure information does not end up
where it shouldn’t be, it’s imperative
that companies put security measures in
place. An effective BYOD policy allows the
company to better control how information
is shared and on what devices. Vodafone,
for example, offers a range of Mobile Device
Management (MDM) solutions to develop
a bespoke and secure mobile strategy
for all businesses ensuring the security of
information while enabling organisations to
stay in control of costs and resources.
Mobile manufacturers are also making moves
to improve their integration into the business
environment. Apple is one of the most
popular manufacturers of devices currently
used by employees around the world. To
deliver better for the business customer,
Apple recently announced a partnership with
Cisco to optimise Cisco networks for iOS
devices and apps, integrating iPhone with
Feargal McCormack
Cisco enterprise environments; providing
high performance connectivity, fast roaming
and service assurance while ensuring end-toend security of the enterprise service.
Act now
Now is the time to act. Does your business
have a mobile device management plan
for ensuring sensitive information does not
end up in the wrong hands? If not, make
sure you implement one now to protect
your organisation. As more and more
employees use their own devices for work
purposes, the risks of breaches of data
protection are getting higher and higher.
Stuart is Sales and Marketing Director at
Rainbow Communications.
Delta expands
to Poland
Belfast based Delta Packaging has expanded its international
operation with the opening of a new, 10,000 square metre
purpose built factory in Gliwice, Poland, which operates under
the name European Packaging Solutions.
Terry Cross, Chairman of Delta Packaging and a long-standing
IoD member, reports that the Gliwice factory will manufacture
sustainable, folding carton board packaging products for the retail
food, food service, beverage, pet food, confectionery, household
goods and electronic consumer product sectors.
UK. Shortlisted firms were judged on their
working environment, training, remuneration
and employee benefits package. The highest
ranked practice will be revealed at the
British Accountancy Awards ceremony on 24
November in London.
IoD member, Feargal McCormack, PKF-FPM
Managing Director, said the practice was
absolutely delighted to have been shortlisted
for the prestigious UK Best Employer Award.
Are you protected against employees
using their own devices?
European Packaging Solutions is a full-service carton packaging
plant offering integrated pre-press and CAD functions. The factory
has unique rotary flexo printing/in-line rotary die-cutting capability,
standard sheet-fed litho lines and Very Large Format (VLF). To
provide the flexibility required for scaled volumes, there are litho
production capabilities, unique barrier coating capabilities and a
broad range of finishing options.
Terry Cross of Delta Packaging with Grażyna Henclewska, Poland’s
Deputy Minister of Economy
The opening of the new facility positions Delta firmly as a global
player in the packaging industry and the company aims to grow
sales across a number of existing accounts, as well as securing new
contracts.
In Northern Ireland, Delta operates from a 200,000 square foot
factory in West Belfast.
November/December 2015 — 15
IoD NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS
IoD NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS
Good news from Knowledge
Economy Index
by Dr Joanne Stuart, Northern Ireland Science Park
The Knowledge Economy Index Report, published in September
contained good news, confirming Northern Ireland as the second
fastest growing Knowledge Economy across the UK.
MEMBER COMPANY NEWS
CCP Gransden wins major research grant
Newtownards firm CCP Gransden, led by
Managing Director Jim Erskine CDir, has
secured a grant of nearly £100,000 under a
National Aerospace Technology Exploitation
Programme (NATEP) initiative to carry out
R&D into innovative aircraft components of
the future.
NATEP is designed specifically to encourage
SMEs to develop new technologies, and
help them win new business. It is one of
the initiatives to come out of the Aerospace
Growth Partnership, a joint Government and
Industry alliance, with over 100 new product
and manufacturing technologies being created
in the supply chain all over the UK.
Steve Orr, Director NISP CONNECT, and Arlene Foster, Acting First
Minister and Minister for Finance and Personnel at the launch of the
KEI Report
The report, commissioned by NI Science Park and sponsored by
Bank of Ireland UK, showed that our Knowledge Economy makes
up 10% of total Gross Value Add. Better still, our Knowledge
Economy is export-led, with £17 of every £20 being earned from
outside the six counties. Knowledge workers, representing one
in ten jobs, are well paid with productivity the highest of all our
economic sectors.
This evidence underlines the importance of the Knowledge
Economy to economic development. A large, diverse Knowledge
Economy is the only way to re-balance our - or indeed, any economy in a globalised world and to combat the challenges our
more traditional sectors are facing.
No doubt our closest competitor for the fastest growing
Knowledge Economy, the North East of England, is happy they
made the investment, in light of the recent sad news about Redcar
Steel.
Growing our Knowledge Economy enables us to re-balance our
economy towards export-led sectors with higher productivity
sustaining highly paid jobs. With every job in the Knowledge
Economy creating another job in the wider economy, levels of
economic activity are increased, resulting in a broader tax base,
generating much needed revenue to fund public services.
Competitive advantage
In recent times, emerging nations have been able to compete on
cost but it is more difficult to compete on the basis of knowledge
and this gives NI a comparative advantage.
For a long time, we have been punching above our weight in
innovation and invention, generating ideas that are world leading.
However, we are not seeing enough of these ideas develop into
commercial successes or, crucially, scaling up.
At the NI Science Park, a growing ecosystem is supporting our
ambitious entrepreneurs, start-ups and early stage companies.
NISP is successfully connecting NI’s most experienced to expedite
NI’s most promising, but to achieve our ambitions to grow the
Knowledge Economy we need to significantly increase the level of
volunteering and collaboration.
We are optimistic about the competiveness of Northern Ireland
but we cannot afford to be complacent. The Knowledge Economy
has grown by almost half since 2009. In fact, it is arguable that we
ourselves are the determining factor for continued growth by our
investments and the choices we make, both personal and political.
If we do not increase investment in STEAM education, support
more PhD’s and challenge businesses to step up and invest more in
vital research and development, the gains of the past will slip away.
The Knowledge Economy Index Report can be accessed at
www.nispconnect.org
16 — November/December 2015
CCP Gransden specialises in composite
technologies and thermoplastics, and
currently designs, engineers and manufactures
equipment for the pharmaceutical, chemical,
agri-food industries, as well as for aerospace
clients. The 18 month research project will
focus on the use of thermoplastic materials for
the aerospace industry with a view to reducing
processing time; making parts lighter in weight;
and making parts easier to install and repair.
Celebrating the R&D funding award are clockwise from top Dr Leslie Orr , ADS; Dr Scott King,
NIACE Centre; Gavin Campbell, Bombardier Aerospace; Jim Erskine, CCP Gransden; Kevin
McCann, Invest NI; and IoD member Robert McConnell, CCP Gransden.
Hastings unveils GRAND plans for new hotel
Hastings Hotels, Northern Ireland’s leading hotel chain, recently unveiled
plans for its latest venture, the new Belfast Grand Central Hotel.
IoD member, James McGinn of Hastings Hotels points out that the Belfast
Grand Central will be the seventh hotel in the company’s portfolio in
Northern Ireland.
“This acquisition represents the biggest single investment to date by
Hastings Hotels of £30 million and, on completion in 2018, the hotel will
operate at the upper end of the 4-star market offering 230 bedrooms,
a restaurant and bar, 18 serviced apartments and a range of superbly
appointed office accommodation creating over 150 new jobs.
“The hotel will be a fantastic complement to the Europa Hotel which is
the city’s busiest event hotel. It is fantastic to be able to offer people an
additional 230 bedrooms in a convenient city centre location as this is
something the city currently needs.”
The Hastings family on the site of the new Belfast Grand
Central Hotel: Chairman Sir William Hastings (right) with
his children and company directors Howard Hastings,
Aileen Martin, Allyson McKimm and Julie Hastings
The new hotel will be located on the site of the old Windsor House in
Bedford Street.
ANA
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November/December 2015 — 17
IoD NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS
IoD NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS
Surviving challenging times
Two of our leading sectors have been particularly hard hit in
recent times for different reasons. Construction, we know, has
badly affected in the economic downturn, while the Food sector
has its challenges in relation to the value of sterling and the
prices offered to producers.
Here we get some insight from Raymond Millar at Farrans and
Michael Bell of the NI Food and Drink Association (NIFDA) on how
their sectors are dealing with these tough trading conditions.
Diversifying to
survive
by Michael Bell, NIFDA
by Raymond Millar, Farrans
Since 2007, Northern Ireland’s construction
industry has been the most severely
impacted sector in terms of both output
and employment. With this struggling
back drop it was only inevitable that
construction companies would have to
diversify by seeking out new, more buoyant
and more profitable markets in order to
keep their order books full. An estimate
by the Construction Employers Federation
of the top 20 construction companies
headquartered in Northern Ireland indicates
that an estimated 90% of their turnover is
actually being delivered in Great Britain.
Dr Esmond Birnie, PwC’s chief economist
in Northern Ireland, said “The impact
of the 2007 financial crisis on the local
construction industry was considerably
worse than in Great Britain; and, while
local construction companies have won
considerable volumes of new work in
Great Britain, the current level of output in
Northern Ireland alone remains around 40%
below the level experienced pre-2007”.
to operate in, so that you can recruit the
people that understand how to operate
in them beforehand. Probably the most
common and most effective way to expand
into new regions is to team up with other,
probably bigger, contractors. Being part
of a joint venture and only bringing your
knowledge and service to a project instead
of building up the whole infrastructure
and administration and providing the
necessary, financial, assets offers chances
for companies to look across their borders.
Challenge of new markets
NI contractors have turned to Great Britain
in order to better spread their business and
risks and to avoid being highly affected by
the local economic downturn. Whereas the
local market is still important, it is difficult
to see where the volume of work required
to bring the industry back to the pre-2007
Expanding into new regions is challenging
as each geographical market behaves
differently, and local knowledge of clients,
suppliers and industry is critical. Consider
in advance the new markets that you want
Construction skills shortage for the NI
construction industry is a major concern as
the overall number currently employed is
just over 60,000 compared to about 86,000
people in 2007; this is a significant loss of
jobs. We need to be encouraging more
young people into the industry but with the
limited local employment opportunities this
is challenging to say the least.
Rebuilding at home
Completed Farrans project for Clock View Hospital, Liverpool
18 — November/December 2015
Food and Drink:
Challenging but
Exciting
Raymond Millar
levels is to come from. Having established
themselves in new regions and sectors will
there be a desire for contractors to expose
their business to the uncertainly of the NI
market in the long term?
Public sector procurement plays a vital
element in supporting the construction
sector in Northern Ireland; we need
the Executive to commit to delivering
infrastructure projects that will support the
construction sector, improve public services
and the NI economy. The current crisis at
the Executive has only compounded the
issue of an already starved pipeline of
opportunities coming to the market.
Raymond is a Director with Farrans
Construction, a Division of Northstone (NI)
Limited.
Farrans work at Rabbsfarm Primary School in London Borough of Hillingdon
This is a time of great challenge
and opportunity for the food and
drink industry in Northern Ireland. A
major challenge for local companies particularly in recent months - is dealing
with market volatility, made even worse
by currency fluctuations. When you
consider that the average net margin
for most food manufacturers is below
3%, and that the euro/sterling exchange
rate has moved over 10% in the last
nine months, it is evident that these
fluctuations have a huge impact on the
local industry.
major retailers may represent 20-30%
of a supplier’s turnover, in many cases,
a supplier will be just a tiny fraction of
the retailer’s turnover. This is a major
imbalance which the GSCOP seeks to
address. However whilst the legislation
is now in place, suppliers may not
actually understand what their rights and
obligations are. With the assistance of
Invest NI we offered the first ever GSCOP
training course in Northern Ireland.
Feedback from those attending was
extremely positive, and we are already
planning further courses in the autumn.
Due to intense price competition many of
our major retailers have seen a sharp fall in
their profits; some even moving into losses.
As a result most are now shedding jobs and
reducing the number of lines they carry.
Food is generally falling in price partially
due to weakening commodity markets but
also as a result of severe price competition
between supermarkets leading to deep
discounting. For local food companies
wishing to survive and thrive in such a
challenging operating environment, there
are many hurdles to overcome.
Export body
A fair environment
Whilst NIFDA has no control over currency
fluctuations and global commodity markets,
we can help ensure that local companies
remain as competitive as possible by
providing support and guidance where it’s
most needed. Our efforts are focused on
creating a fair environment for local food
and drink manufacturers to do business
and giving a strong voice for our 100+
members. As an “industry self-help”
group we aim to facilitate the growth and
expansion of our members by lobbying
government to create a more business
friendly environment, encouraging the
transfer of best practice and thinking
outside the box to develop strategies to
address whatever challenges they face.
NIFDA recently pioneered training in
the Grocery Suppliers Code of Practice
(GSCOP) in Northern Ireland. Whilst
NIFDA has been lobbying for an exportfocused food and drink marketing body for
many years now, looking on in frustration
as competing neighbouring regions have
gone ahead and developed theirs. This
has been a long road with three significant
failed attempts along the way. It is vital our
Agri-Food community stakeholders support
the new body.
Whilst we welcome the announcement
earlier this year of the creation of a new
food and drink marketing body, we would
urge government to move ahead quickly
and establish a working model as soon as
possible if we are to effectively deal with
the challenges faced by the industry. We
also need to catch up with our competitors
who have already forged ahead – such as
Scotland who created Scotland Food and
Drink in 2007. Given that around 80% of
our commercial food and drink income
comes from outside Northern Ireland,
(some £4bn) the importance of our export
market cannot be overstated.
Just how effective such a body could be,
was demonstrated by NIFDA’s involvement
in Access 6, an EU funded INTERREG
project which provided training and
mentorship to 90 food and drink related
SMEs in border regions in Northern Ireland,
the Republic of Ireland and Western
Scotland. The fact is that many small food
companies are export-averse, so this
programme directly tackled that by guiding
them through the process. We developed
an e-learning training package around
exports and an online distribution tool
enabling companies to plan and cost the
transport of goods. The Access 6 project,
which involved an investment of €2.1m,
helped the 90 companies in the programme
achieve €23m in export sales growth and
a total of 362 new jobs. NIFDA has now
published an Access 6 exporting guide for
local companies.
Enormous potential
The potential for the new marketing body
to support the growth of our world class
Agri-Food industry is enormous, and we
look forward to seeing it up and running
as soon as possible. With the right support
we can ensure that local companies grow
faster and contribute towards the ambitious
targets set out in the Going for Growth
strategy.
Next Year we will have a major focus
on Local food and Drink. Northern
Ireland’s Year of Food and Drink 2016
is a celebration of everything delicious
about this place. The epic landscapes,
traditions and people that make our food
heritage so unique. With 366 days of foodie
experiences, there will be no better time
for visitors to enjoy a true taste of Northern
Ireland. Visit http://www.tourismni.
com/BusinessSupport/MajorEvents/
NIYearofFoodandDrink2016 for more
information.
Michael is Executive Director of the
Northern Ireland Food & Drink Association
(NIFDA)
November/December 2015 — 19
IoD NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS
IoD NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS
Alternative Finance –
Myth or Fact?
MEMBER COMPANY NEWS
Novosco staff aim for 1m steps per week
Staff at IT infrastructure company, Novosco,
are striving to take a combined one million
steps per week as part of an innovative
new wellness programme at the leading
technology business, reports Finance
Director and IoD member Karen Shearer
CDir.
Since the credit crunch hit back in 2008,
companies have been exhorted to look
for alternatives to bank finance to fund
their growth. Here Judith Totten of Keys
Commercial Finance considers whether
Alternative Finance is readily available
here.
All staff were offered Fitbit devices (normally
costing more than £100 each) and 65 of them
are currently competing in an activity league
table as a result, with even more staff currently
applying to participate. Fitbits are marketleading fitness devices which can monitor
steps, activity levels, heart rate, and other
indicators of fitness. They are manufactured by
US firm Fitbit Inc.
The investment by the company in the devices
for its team is the brainchild of Managing
Director Patrick McAliskey, who was inspired by
similar initiatives at Fortune 500 corporations.
A significant part of Novosco’s strategy and
culture is ‘wellness’ and staff are encouraged to
eat well, stay active, and look after themselves.
As part of this activity, the company provides
free deliveries of fruit, has a masseuse visit
Much is written about Alternative Finance
but in Northern Ireland terms does it really
exist?
In short - yes it does, but you have to go
looking and you have to talk to the right
people.
Patrick McAliskey (centre) with staff members Ellen Dickson, and Lee Glover, who are
participating in the initiative
their offices, and runs active staff events such
as charity walks and cycles, as well as providing
free health and dental insurance.
Novosco employs some 120 people. It is
headquartered in the Northern Ireland Science
Park, Belfast and has offices in Dublin and
Manchester. The company has appeared in
the Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For
listing in each of the past three years, and in
2014 appeared in the Deloitte Fast 50 for the
15th year in a row – the only company to be in
the prestigious listing every year since it started
in 2000.
From Asset Based Lending to Invoice
Finance to Stock Funding. From Supply
Chain to Reverse Factoring and much more.
From private investors to crowd funding.
From venture capital to private equity.
Angel investment even.
Plenty of cash
There is plenty of cash in the NI market
and beyond. The trick is in knowing how
to access it and then how to make it work
for you. You will kiss a lot of frogs but it
is undeniably worth it to underpin your
business with a sound capital base which
becomes critical as you grow and diversify.
With a robust capital position secured, you
can then turn to your trading finance needs
- to fund your raw materials and stock. You
can unlock cash in your debtor book as you
offer credit to your buyers and of course you
will need to finance any kit, machinery or
vehicles you need to operate efficiently.
There are funders and investors for all of
these needs and more.
Locally we have the traditional Banks now
welcoming third party alternative funders
to the table where historically they would
have been reticent to share security - after
all, ‘better to have a slice of the cake than no
cake at all.’
Banks open for business
You will always need your Bank for clearing
and trading accounts of course but you
can now augment their facilities with more
innovative and flexible services. The Banks
are definitely open for business again and
welcoming new clients but with a more
robust and appropriate credit assessment
process in place.
We are also lucky in NI to have access to
institutional funding through the various
Invest NI growth, loan and co-funds
and there are also various programmes
offering support for everything from capital
expenditure to marketing and export needs.
Certain sectors have been much maligned in
recent years but even these ‘non preferred’
industries are now seeing an easing construction and allied trades for example,
which is after all, one of the mainstays of the
local economy.
Typically the traditional funders are reticent
to look at Applications for Payment and
Stage Payment related contracts but we
have successfully funded these areas and
opened up new opportunities for several
Judith Totten
high profile construction and related
businesses in the Province. This has become
a niche area and we would be delighted
to talk through options with any business
owner who is fed up kissing those frogs …
Spread your eggs
So, gone are the days of having all your eggs
in one basket. Speak to a professional and
well connected Advisor. He or she should
take time to understand your business needs
then structure a tailored solution which
nowadays can incorporate an Asset Based
lender, an Institutional or private investor, a
Bank and maybe even a Mezzanine line for a
specific transaction.
There is a wealth of choice out there - you
just need to know how to avail of it.
That way, ‘Alternative Finance’ swiftly
becomes ‘Traditional Finance’. Try it! You
won’t be disappointed …
Judith Totten is Managing Director, Keys
Commercial Finance Ltd. Contact her on
028 9066 0791.
New Funding Guide
A new guide to funding for SMEs has been
produced recently by Carson McDowell and
the Ulster University Business School’s SME
Centre.
The guide highlights the comprehensive
range of funding options available to SMEs
and how to access them.
Car to Plane…
Simple.
Book your parking online today
belfastcityairport.com
20 —
November/December
2015
Belfast
George Best Add-8th June
2015-Final-AW.indd
1
08/06/2015 13:20
You can access the guide free of charge at
the Ulster University or Carson McDowell
websites or at www.iodni.com/news
FOR
CHEA OUR
PARKPEST
IN
BOO G
ONLINK
E
Travel on your terms.
November/December 2015 — 21
IoD NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS
IoD NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS
Invest NI is also starting to realise they don’t
know all the answers and they’re giving NI
Screen the freedom to go and do what they do.
It feels like we can’t do anything wrong at the
moment in this business.
Colin Williams (Creative Director, Sixteen South)
In conversation with the Media
and Film Industry
Leading business advisory firm, Grant Thornton, has partnered with the IoD to host a series of roundtable discussions
exploring the opportunities and challenges faced by local businesses.
In the third roundtable, John Gleeson,
Grant Thornton’s Head of Media and
Entertainment, was joined by industry
leaders at the firm’s Belfast office to discuss
activity within the Media sector.
Participants included Mark Huffam,
Producer with Generator Entertainment;
Colin Williams, Creative Director of Sixteen
South; Kevin Jackson, an independent
film and TV producer with Big Fish NI; and
Grainne McGuinness, Managing Director of
Paper Owl Films.
JG: What are the main strengths of
the indigenous film and TV production
industry in Northern Ireland?
John Gleeson (Head of Media and
Entertainment, Grant Thornton)
22 — November/December 2015
MH: The strength here is size - the industry
isn’t enormous so you can actually get to
speak to the people you want to speak
to. We also have a government which is
completely behind the industry and we
have Northern Ireland Screen which, while
we may all have our moans and gripes,
is the best screen agency in the world.
Invest NI supports them so you have a very
focused public sector on what is a private
sector industry. On top of that we have the
advantages of the UK tax credit and of NI
Screen funding. We also have probably the
best city in the world in terms of location.
Within 40 minutes in different directions,
you have the most amazing variety of
locations.
is our common language. As English
speakers we have access to a great
number of people around the world who
would prefer to be working in the English
language because there is more money to
be made. One could always dub, subtitle
or reformat shows, but initially it’s a very
popular language to be able to converse
in, not just in business terms, but also when
you’re looking at the end product. That is
key. We’ve learnt to be part of the world
and the world of broadcasting, film and
television making has learnt to trust us.
GM: I would echo that sentiment about the
location and about NI Screen. In terms of
putting together a co-production in another
territory, which is what we’re doing for
our show, our co-producer is only an hour
and three quarters down the road and it
just makes things so much easier. I would
particularly echo the sentiment about NI
Screen. It is really pushing to develop the
industry here and there are a few very smart
people who have put things in place to
CW: I’ve been doing what I’ve been doing
for seven years and the change during that
time has been immense. It feels like the
industry is coming of age in this part of
the world and I think that’s a combination
of lots of things. I agree that government
is really behind what we’re doing. I think
they’re also willing to learn and listen and
don’t feel as if they know all the answers.
Invest NI is also starting to realise they
don’t know all the answers and they’re
giving NI Screen the freedom to go and
do what they do. It feels like we can’t
do anything wrong at the moment in this
business. It’s not completely perfect but I
think it’s never been better.
KJ: I also believe that one of our strengths
make sure we’re all looking internationally.
That’s not just with regards to funding,
it’s also about providing expertise and
introducing the right people.
Colin Williams (Creative Director,
Sixteen South)
JG: What are the areas which need more
support and development to help grow
and strengthen our industry?
which is going to be an effort to introduce
you to practical media, it would be a terrific
advantage.
GM: One thing that has long been
identified is that, while there’s a great talent
pool, it’s very thin and there could be a lot
more. If there were two big productions
going on at once, what happens?
Therefore, I’d like to see more grassroots
talent being developed.
CW: There are probably different needs
and wants in the different sectors of the
same business. In terms of live action
it’s clear that there are more people than
ever working in high end production, but
whether they’re working at the right levels
is another question. There isn’t a huge
amount of producers and directors for
hire locally and that’s what we’d have to
go outside Northern Ireland to look for.
We want to make stuff which is going to
be the best in the world so we can’t fill
those positions with people who aren’t
experienced, therefore it’s a Catch 22.
Good editors, good producers and good
directors - how do you start to train people
in those areas?
KJ: One of the key things about developing
grassroots talent is giving them the
opportunity to not only experience
the jobs on a regular basis, but also to
see that there’s room for growth and
development. Training mechanisms are
vital. I know that NI Screen and other
bodies are trying to assist with training
programmes and continuous professional
development. However, what we’re lacking
is a Beaconsfield. If you had a centre of
excellence here where you were teaching
skills at a high level, not just something
MH: We (in live action) train people very
fast, which might be different to Colin’s side
of things. The truth is that in two weeks
One of the key things about developing
grassroots talent is giving them the
opportunity to not only experience the jobs
on a regular basis, but also to see that there’s
room for growth and development.
Kevin Jackson (Executive Producer,
Big Fish Films NI)
Kevin Jackson (Executive Producer, Big Fish Films NI)
November/December 2015 — 23
IoD NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS
IoD NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS
The participants
Mark Huffam (Producer,
Generator Entertainment)
John Gleeson (Partner, Head of Media and
Entertainment, Grant Thornton)
John joined Grant Thornton in April 2014
as a Partner and heads up the Media and
Entertainment Practice. John has over 20 years’
commercial experience in providing financial,
strategic and tax advice to individuals and
corporates across a broad range of issues.
He has particular experience in financing film
and television projects, having raised finance
and advised on a broad range of transactions
including large international television series
and animation series for the US market and
numerous feature films.
Mark Huffam (Producer, Generator
Entertainment and Game of Thrones)
Award-winning producer Mark Huffam
established Generator Entertainment in
2007. He has acted as producer on a number
of high grossing Hollywood films including
Saving Private Ryan (1998), Prometheus (2012)
and World War Z (2013). Mark returned to
Northern Ireland in 2008 and his presence and
international connections continue to attract
many big-budget shoots to the province
including the medieval comedy feature Your
Highness, and the highly-successful franchise
Game of Thrones.
Kevin Jackson (Executive Producer,
Big Fish Films NI)
With 25 years’ experience in broadcast
television and feature film production, Kevin
Jackson has worked alongside writers and
directors including Danny Boyle, Michael
Winterbottom, Jimmy McGovern and Alan
Clarke. A former Assistant Head of Drama
at BBC Northern Ireland, Kevin produced
John McIlduff’s awarding-winning debut
feature Behold The Lamb in 2011, which has
been screened at a number of high-profile
film festivals. He now works as an Executive
Producer for Big Fish Films.
Grainne McGuinness (Managing Director,
Paper Owl Films)
Grainne McGuinness established Indee
Productions in 2012, following five years as
producer and director at postproduction
company, The Picturehouse. Indee Productions,
rebranded as Paper Owl Films in September
2015, gave Grainne the opportunity to produce
a wide range of documentaries as well as
corporate, commercial and children’s content for
TV, film and digital platforms. Paper Owl Films
has recently been awarded a major contract with
CBeebies to produce the animated series Pablo.
Colin Williams (Creative Director,
Sixteen South)
Colin Williams formed Sixteen South in 2008,
following his passion to create influential and
relatable children’s television that was worth
watching. Sixteen South’s shows include Lily’s
Driftwood Bay and Jim Henson’s Pajanimals. As
Creative Director of Sixteen South, Colin has
won a string of high-profile individual awards,
while Sixteen South has won Best Children’s
Programme at the BAFTA Scotland in 2011 and
were recent finalists for the Best Pre-School
Programme BANFF Rookie Awards 2015.
24 — November/December 2015
it’s bringing in a huge amount of foreign
investment into the territory.
JG: So apart from some kind of training
and crewing, is communication in relation
to how the industry is doing another area
which needs addressed?
CW: Yes, and private investment is also far
up my wish list because it would help us get
things off the ground faster.
The truth is that in two weeks you’ll know
whether a person has a future or not. So of
those people who take a year out to work
in our industry – the good ones very rarely
go back to college because they get used to
earning and it’s decent money.
Mark Huffam (Producer, Generator Entertainment)
you’ll know whether a person has a future
or not. So of those people who take a year
out to work in our industry – the good ones
very rarely go back to college because they
get used to earning and it’s decent money.
JG: This is a question which applies to
Northern Ireland and the Republic of
Ireland. Due to our population size,
there is a risk that no matter what we do
– even offering the best training possible
and guaranteeing a long career – there
might still not be enough people in
Ireland to service the industry effectively.
So, what do you do? In animation, for
example, is there something that can be
done – over and above training – which
would encourage someone in Spain (for
example) to think that coming to work as
an animator in Ireland for five years is a
rite of passage for their career? Is there
some kind of programme that could
make that happen?
CW: It mightn’t have to happen. If we
didn’t pay the same as London or Dublin
we wouldn’t get them. There’s actually
such a shortage of good animators now.
Studios here, in Dublin and in the UK are
all after the same pool of people and there
aren’t enough people to go around. There
are people, but you want the best and you
want them to stay with you.
KJ: One of the things that we don’t have
yet in Northern Ireland is an effective
industry forum. We’re sitting around a
table together discussing strengths and
weaknesses but we still don’t have a forum
where we sit down and share things. NI
Screen will occasionally draw people
together and that’s very useful but we don’t
always share and talk. There are people
around this table, and elsewhere, who have
the international connections and they
should have the opportunity to be able to
talk to each other. There is no forum to do
that, it’s happened through friendship more
than anything else.
MH: That’s true. I probably see less of our
industry neighbours in this country than I do
in a lot of countries. We were the cottage
industry for a long time but I would say
we are probably the biggest business in
Northern Ireland at the moment. Game
of Thrones puts £120m into the local
economy. What bugs me is that Northern
Irish business men invest in film, but not
in Northern Ireland. The message isn’t
getting out that, actually, the industry is
doing really well, it’s a great employer and
GM: And if you had a body or forum, as
discussed, then its communication would
drive the good news stories which would
help drive the private investment.
KJ: We’re also very bad at making
ourselves available to some extraordinarily
talented people who come to these shores
and perhaps invite us to a seminar or
masterclass. Industry doesn’t turn out,
we’re really lazy.
JG: What opportunities exist, or
potentially exist, to grow and strengthen
the production industry in Northern
Ireland?
MH: Throughout the world, where there
is a successful film industry there is one
solid anchor - the existence of a studio.
The most successful ones not only give
you production facilities like stages, they
also give you post-production facilities,
dubbing theatres and cutting rooms. At
the moment we have the Paint Hall which
is doing a brilliant job but it is totally tied
up for the foreseeable future with, I think,
the most successful TV show of all time
probably (Game of Thrones). So that’s off
the market. There are plans and it’s all
hopefully happening, but we move at a
slower speed to everyone else.
KJ: The first thing is building the studio,
then it’s populating the rest of that
infrastructure. That means other people
taking risks, it’s not just about a smaller
company moving into those places, it’s
other people starting to build their own
sound stage, setting up their own dubbing
theatres, bringing in their staff and crewing
it up with excellence. Once you have a
studio space that’s being used on a regular
basis and there is sufficient room around
it for all of that extra infrastructure, it will
begin to build.
GM: The mix of business is a good mix.
There is capacity and it’s very similar to the
capacity in terms of animation talent. If
business people can come together and
say ‘we’ve got these three films, we can
make this studio happen’, could the same
thing happen in the animation industry
where people get together and encourage
new talent? Maybe it’s too ambitious to
think that you could share your scheduling
information and say ‘ok, well I’ll be finished
this by that date’.
CW: We actually have done. We’ve met
for coffee and laid our schedules out
together. We identified the type of people
each of us was looking for and we realised
that, actually, we’re after different skill
sets. We were completely transparent and
that’s the way forward. You don’t want a
situation where everyone is poaching each
other’s people, because that’s not good for
anyone.
JG: What is the current strategy for
industry growth in Northern Ireland? Do
you agree with it and what would you
do differently? Can I kick it off and say
that I think the strategy is different to
the South? I think the strategy here is to
grow a strong indigenous industry off the
back of a strong international industry.
CW: I’m not sure if that’s happening
though.
MH: I think it is because, whether we like
it or not, Game of Thrones has put us so
firmly on the map. The best experience
I’ve had in a long time was making a film
in Hungary and then going to Vancouver.
You see these places which are centres of
excellence and realise we’re already doing
what they’re doing – and doing it just
as well. And we could do it better if we
actually had the same amount of space as
they do. It was a real eye-opener.
CW: Is the indigenous industry growing,
though? The projects coming in are
amazing and we all play the Game of
Thrones card, especially when we’re
pitching to the States. It’s a great thing
to be proud of, but is the indigenous
industry growing? We still suffer from
people feeling that they have got so far in
Northern Ireland and that they need to go
somewhere else.
GM: If you celebrate success you will attract
more success and it comes back to that. Be
open and collaborative. We talked earlier
about communication and telling our own
stories in order to attract investment, but
better communication also helps attract
further success, ideas and talents.
JG: Co-opetition - isn’t that the word for
it?
KJ: NI Screen has a strategy. They’re
trying very hard to support the indigenous
production across all media and doing an
extremely good job of doing that and yet
they recognise that you can’t make people
be better. You’ve got to go out and be
better yourself, you’ve got to learn for
yourself and take those opportunities as
they come along.
One thing that has long been identified is that,
while there’s a great talent pool, it’s very thin
and there could be a lot more. If there were
two big productions going on at once, what
happens?
Grainne McGuinness (Managing Director,
Paper Owl Films)
Grainne McGuinness (Managing Director, Paper Owl Films)
November/December 2015 — 25
IoD NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS
IoD NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS
AES sparks up 10 year partnership
with nature
What started with the discovery of a
rare bee orchid at Ballylumford Power
Station back in 2005, this year sees
AES UK and Ireland celebrate a decade
of working in partnership with Ulster
Wildlife to help secure a better future
for local wildlife and wild places.
To mark the 10th anniversary, a range
of events have been lined-up to help
IoDNI: We’re joined by futurologist
@DocNicola for the latest #IoD #Twinterview.
Welcome Nicola!
IoDNI: Nicola, can you tell us a little bit about
what you do?
DocNicola: Hello! My crystal ball is broken, so
I research customer & employee trends as part
of BT’s Global Innovation team.
IoDNI: How did you get involved in futurology?
DocNicola: I combine research with pragmatic
and practical innovation skills after working in
both research & consulting in BT.
Carla Tully, AES UK and Ireland Vice President (centre) and AES HSE Adviser, Lucy Marsden, with
Kelly Muldoon (left)
AES staff and their families deepen
their connection with nature and the
local communities in which it operates,
including a family wildlife day at Antrim
Castle, environment awareness days at
Kilroot and Ballylumford and a practical
volunteering day at Straidkilly Nature
Reserve.
Find out how businesses can help
to secure space for nature at
www.ulsterwildlife.org/corporatesupport
They’ve passed!
Some of the successful participants pictured after receiving their Diplomas along
with Ewan Boyle of Johnston Campbell, who recently passed his Certificate
examination. Also pictured are IoD NI Chairman Paul Terrington, Annual Lunch
speaker Paul Kimmage and Peter Martin (right) of Director Development Ireland
26 — November/December 2015
This issue’s Twinterviewee is Nicola Millard, Head of Customer Insight & Futures at BT Technologies (@DocNicola). Nicola was
an entertaining and informative speaker at the Strategic Leadership Summit in September.
Nicola joined us over the IoD Twitter account
(@IoDNI) to discuss the impact of futurology
and what impact diversity and technological
innovations will have on businesses within
Northern Ireland.
From supporting the local charity’s nature
conservation work as a platinum corporate
member, the partnership has evolved
to include an innovative Biodiversity
Internship, providing a dedicated
biodiversity resource for AES people; an
ongoing schools education programme to
inspire local children about the power of
nature; and teams of AES people creating
space for nature on its sites.
AES and Ulster Wildlife work together to
protect the important species that live
and visit the AES generation sites, and
improve awareness of biodiversity through
external volunteering and education
programmes. The company hopes that
other energy companies will follow their
lead and put nature conservation at the
heart of their businesses too.
The Twinterview
Well done to the latest cohort
of participants on the IoD
Chartered Director Programme,
who have been awarded their
Diploma in Company Direction.
Neville McIlwrath
Karen Bailey*, Business Services
Organisation
Paul Dickson*, William Coates
Ltd
Kieran Gilmurray, Liberty
Insurance
Kieran Grant*, Warrenpoint
Harbour Authority
David Law, W J Law
Tony Marron, Liberty IT
Gillian McAuley*, Viridian Group
Robert McConnell*, CCP
Gransden Ltd
Neville McIlwrath*, Cooneen
Group
Raymond Mulligan*, Johnston
Campbell Ltd
Orla Nugent, ON Consulting
Robert Wasson, Independent
Consultant
IoDNI: How important do you think futurology
is to business?
DocNicola: Futurology is more like a compass
than a map. You need to know which direction
you want to go in before you invest in building
a road.
IoDNI: Are there any examples of businesses
who have benefitted from your work?
DocNicola: We work with a number of global
cos from all sectors – from retailers, to banks, to
government, to airlines. It’s never boring!
IoDNI: We were delighted that you took part
in our recent Leadership Summit, what did you
take away from it?
DocNicola: Very nice pudding ;-). Also loads
of interesting discussion about developing NI
skills to meet the future of work.
IoDNI: You delivered a very interesting
workshop on the day. Can you remind us what
the five Ds are?
DocNicola: The five Ds are Diversity, Dilbert,
Distance, Dr No & Droids. There is a 6th, which
is Dolly (Parton, i.e. the 9 to 5).
IoDNI: How will diversity impact our working
lives in the future?
DocNicola: We already have 5 generations
at work with different attitudes to work,
collaboration & tech. 1 size doesn’t fit all in
work anymore.
IoDNI: Do you think technology is erasing
distance in business and is this likely to change
in the future?
IoDNI: Can you tell us a bit about what you are
currently working on?
DocNicola: I’m currently looking at some of
the science behind effective and productive
collaboration. The problem is measuring it!
IoDNI: How do you envisage #NI business in
the next five years?
DocNicola: We can’t always meet physically
in a global market. We won’t kill face-to-face
entirely but we can use tech to work apart
effectively.
DocNicola: I think #NI needs to continue to
build & establish the skills and innovation that
will allow it to compete in a global market.
IoDNI: What do you think working
environments will look like in years to come?
IoDNI: Nicola, thank you so much for your time
today!
DocNicola: “Theatrically fluid”. More choices –
office, home or hub. We are untethered by tech
now. We just need to untether our thinking.
DocNicola: No problem. Lovely to tweet you!
The interview can be viewed on Twitter @IoDNI
Your files. Your Records.
Our Safe Hands.
Call 028 90 73 23 33 or visit morgandocumentsecurity.com
*pictured left
November/December 2015 — 27
IoD NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS
IoD NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS
Reducing your risks
Moving the tax
goalposts for SMEs
by Dr Evelyn Collins CBE
As employers most of you will be
conscious of the need to make sure
you comply with equality laws, whether
that be in recruitment, in the day to day
management of staff, or in maintaining
a good and harmonious working
environment. But anti-discrimination
laws also make it your responsibility if
your employees suffer discrimination or
harassment from other members of your
staff – even if this involves incidents you
were not involved in.
• indirect discrimination that cannot be
objectively justified
• discrimination arising from disability that
cannot be objectively justified
•harassment
by Richard Holley, Harbinson Mulholland
Circumstances of course vary, but there are
some key things you should have in place
to show you have taken reasonable steps
to prevent unlawful discrimination in your
organisation.
Reasonable steps
Under all the anti-discrimination laws,
anything done by a person in the course of
his employment is treated as being done by
his employer as well as by him, whether or
not it was with the employers’ knowledge or
approval.
What you need to know
There is a possible defence for an employer
faced with this situation, however, if they can
show that they took all steps they reasonably
could to ensure that all their managers
and employees staff know what their
responsibilities are under the law - what
they must do and what they must avoid.
That means that you and all your staff need
to be aware of what constitutes:
• direct discrimination
So what are ‘reasonable steps’?
• You should have in place policies on
the different areas of discrimination and
harassment, such as sex, race, disability,
community background, disability,
age or sexual orientation. The Equality
Commission is here to help you with
developing policies and has downloadable
templates to simplify the process.
• A training programme to ensure that
everyone who works for you knows your
policies, what discriminatory behaviour,
harassment and bullying look like and how
to avoid them.
• Ensure your grievance/investigation
procedures make it easy for your
employees to report incidents of
discrimination or harassment and include a
procedure for dealing fairly and effectively
with a complaint.
• Aim for a good and harmonious workplace
environment.
Need help?
The Commission provides expert training on
many aspects of equality law as it relates to
employment and running a business. The
Reasonable Steps Defence is just one of
more than 30 courses on offer to you and
your staff. Like all our training, it is free
of charge and can be used towards CPD
accreditation. Visit www.equalityni.org/
training for more information and details of
how to book.
Evelyn is Chief Executive of the Equality
Commission for Northern Ireland
MEMBER NEWS
Fire & Rescue role for Carmel
Carmel McKinney OBE has been appointed as
Non-Executive Chair of the Northern Ireland Fire
and Rescue Service for a four year term. She has
over thirty years’ experience within the education
sector, as a school principal, tutor and manager
within further and higher education, has served
as Chair of the Belfast Education and Library
Board and currently chairs the Northern Regional
College. Carmel is also a non-executive member
of the Safeguarding Board for NI and a member
of Victoria College Board of Governors.
Left: Carmel McKinney with the Chief Fire Officer,
Dale Ashford, another IoD member
Directors be aware
Directors and other business leaders need
to know the Fire Safety Legislation and what
their duties are under the current law.
Fire Safety Inspectors audit premises to
ensure compliance with the regulations and
will provide free fire safety advice to ensure
28 — November/December 2015
premises are up to standard. In continued
cases of failure to comply NIFRS will issue
enforcement notices and, in the most serious
of cases, will prosecute.
Information about the Fire Safety Legislation
can be found at www.nifrs.org/firesafe
Business urged to
help STOP Fire
During North South Fire Safety Week
2015, Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue
Service (NIFRS) targeted the business
community to remind them of their
responsibility to Fire Safety.
Since Fire Safety Legislation changed
here 5 years ago, anyone who has control
of non-domestic premises must ensure
those premises reach the required fire
safety standard by ensuring that they
undertake a fire risk assessment and take
the appropriate measures to reduce the
risk from fire and making sure people can
evacuate safely if there is a fire.
NIFRS has carried out 11,962 inspections
of premises to ensure they are legally
compliant and fire safe; 26 enforcement
notices and 14 prohibition notices have
been served and there have been 3
prosecutions.
We are often reminded that large
international companies look for stability
in a tax system when deciding where to
locate their operations. The argument
is that a stable tax regime will provide
the certainty these companies need in
planning for the future. But what of SMEs,
often family businesses, who equally have
to decide on structures and plan for the
future?
In determining the structure for a family
business, for a number of years there have
been tax considerations that point towards
incorporation. Back in 2005 and 2006 there
was a starting corporation tax rate of 0%
on taxable profits up to £10,000 and then
a reduced rate on taxable profits up to
£50,000.
The one piece of
good news is that
a £5,000 tax free
dividend allowance
will be introduced.
More recently there has been Capital Gains
Tax Entrepreneurs’ Relief with scope to sell
goodwill to newly incorporated companies
and pay tax at 10% and in some cases also
to achieve the added benefit of corporation
tax relief on the write off of the goodwill by
the new company.
Not least among the tax attractions of
incorporation was the ability to take
dividends from the new company. Tax
advisers produced detailed calculations
comparing the tax efficiency of bonuses and
dividends and taking into account the need
to avoid corporation tax at the expensive
marginal rate. This has gone now and the
decision to take dividends had become
easier with falling corporation tax rates and
rising employer’s national insurance rates
on salary/bonus. We even have a single
corporation tax rate now.
Changes
So far so good, but the 0% starting rate
did not last for long. Also, with effect from
3 December 2014 there were changes to
the tax position on incorporation so that
CGT Entrepreneurs’ Relief was no longer
available to the proprietors of the former
unincorporated business and also tax relief
was not available on the write off of the
goodwill in the new company. We then had
the recent Summer Budget, which, amongst
other significant measures, announced
changes to the taxation of dividends with
effect from the start of the next fiscal year, 6
April 2016.
The current position is that all UK dividends
are paid with a notional 10% tax credit so for
every £1,000 of dividend income received
it is assumed that £111 in tax has already
been paid (the total dividend is therefore
£1,111). For this reason basic rate taxpayers
had no further tax liability on dividends
received. This tax credit will be scrapped
with effect from April 2016 so that in future
all dividends will be treated as gross (i.e.
untaxed) income.
Marginal (top) rate of income tax
Tax band
Basic rate
Effective dividend tax rate now
0%
Post 5 April 2016
7.5%
Higher rate
Additional rate
25%
Good news
The one piece of good news is that a
£5,000 tax free dividend allowance will be
introduced.
These changes do seem to be aimed at
SMEs, often family companies, who pay a
small salary that is intended to preserve the
entitlement to state pension and a larger
dividend.
Whilst it is likely that dividends will remain
advantageous, companies in this position will
need to review their remuneration strategy
prior to the end of the current fiscal year. It
will also be interesting to see whether the
dividend changes along with changes in the
tax treatment of CGT and goodwill slow
down the rush to incorporate.
The recent changes will impact family
companies significantly.
For more information you can contact
Richard directly at rholley@harbinsonmulholland.com or 028 9044 5100.
30.55%
32.5%
38.1%
Richard is Corporate Tax Partner at
Harbinson Mulholland.
ANA
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November/December 2015 — 29
IoD NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS
IoD NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS
Recent Ofcom research showed that the
majority of SMEs (85%) feel well served
overall by the communications market.
One in six (17%), however, did not feel
well informed about how communications
services could help their organisation survive
and grow, while around a third (34%) did not
have confidence in identifying which new
products and services would be valuable to
their business.
Some SMEs have also experienced problems
in terms of the provision and reliability of
communications services.
Jonathan Rose
Make the most of
comms services
Small businesses can now access more
information and advice to help them make
the most of communications services,
following the expansion of Ofcom’s
dedicated online portal.
The site – www.ofcom.org.uk/
adviceforbusinesses – includes advice
specifically tailored for businesses on
choosing or switching to a new provider,
as well as information on navigating and
negotiating contracts, and resolving
complaints with a provider.
It sets out clearly Ofcom’s role and the rules
that communications providers must follow
when dealing with business customers,
offering advice on landline telephone,
broadband, mobile and postal services. A
summary of the rights of businesses, both
large and small, is also available.
Ofcom wants small and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs) to be able to benefit from
competition and innovation in the market
wherever possible and to receive regulatory
protection where necessary.
Ofcom Northern Ireland Director Jonathan
Rose said: “Ofcom is committed to
supporting and protecting the interests of
the SME community, a critical sector of our
economy.
“We’ve already identified that SMEs are not
benefitting as consistently as they should be
from high quality digital communications.
In particular, there is a greater need for
more widespread availability of high-speed
broadband and reliable mobile coverage.
“A significant programme of work is under
way to ensure the communications needs of
SMEs are better met.”
Ofcom’s revised revised portal includes
a ‘jargon buster’ for business customers,
and infographics showing the benefits
communications services can bring to
businesses.
The portal was launched last year to provide
advice to businesses on choosing and
switching provider, navigating and negotiating
contracts, and resolving complaints.
Easy access to UU
for business
Do you trust or allow
your employees to take
decisions at work?
by Dr Rozana Huq
During an employee empowerment
interview, one company leader said to me,
‘We all make big decisions in our lives;
we buy cars, houses, we rear families, we
make decisions about their education,
employment and many other things,
so why do we think people can’t take
decisions at work?’
He also supplied answers to the question –
main reasons are fear and lack of trust.
Leaders and managers would like employees
to take decisions at work, but the fear is
what happens if employees take the wrong
decisions? Worse, what if the leader/
manager has problems trusting their
employees?
There is also another quirky reason – what
happens if the employee takes a better
decision than his/her leader/manager? This
may lead to positive promotional prospects
for the employee and the fear of possible
redundancy of the leader/manager. This is
also a genuine fear not to be ignored!
But, whether leaders/managers like it or not,
employees do have to take some decisions
at work, because it is not feasible to run
up to the leader or manager every time a
decision needs to be made.
Empowerment and motivation
From the psychological perspective,
there is an argument if employees are
empowered and have the authority to take
• ‘Why’ – Why are they taking decision?
• ‘What’ – What are the required outcomes
of the decision?
• ‘Who’ – Who to approach for information
and resources?
• ‘What to do’ – What to do in case
decisions need to be changed? Or things
don’t go the expected way?
Open communication
There needs to be open communication and
employees should be aware of what kind
of decisions they are expected to take and
leaders/managers equally need to be aware
how much responsibility they are putting
on employees, within their job roles and
duties. And, by the way, it is important a
‘system’ of accountability and step by step
‘transparency’ is also created in case of
complicated decisions where other people
are involved, so that everyone can work from
the same ‘hymn sheet’.
People often forget that fear can apply both
ways. It is not always the leader/manager;
employees too can sometimes be afraid to
take decisions. What if they took the wrong
decisions; what if their leader/manager did
not like the decisions they took? These are
also questions that employees have to deal
with. Fear needs to be eradicated on both
sides.
It is important to remember that just as it
is in life, not all decisions may end up with
perfect outcome. We don’t always take
decisions that end up in the perfect house
or car, so too leaders/managers, employees
need to accept not all decisions will be the
‘best’.
But, the culture of the company should be
that employees can take decisions, they
have the talent and the ability. It is about
giving people respect and dignity at work.
Value your employees and declare your
value!
Rozana is an Organisational Behaviourist,
Motivational Speaker, Leadership Educator,
and Life Coach. Contact her through her
website www.rozanahuq.com
Version 6 of the Investors in People accreditation was
launched in at a conference in Titanic Belfast in September.
Keynote speaker at the event was IoD member Martin
Rice of Next Level Impact, one of the most experienced
IIP specialists in the world. Martin has supported a diverse
international client base using IIP good-practice.
In one easy to use platform, Access Ulster provides a gateway to:
• over 50 technologies for licencing or collaboration
• facilities/equipment in 26 centres
• over 20,000 research articles
• and internationally recognised experts
Next Level Impact is itself an IIP GOLD level accredited
organisation and the first organisation in the world to be
assessed against IIP v6 … outcome pending.
Developed by talking to business people, the portal responds to
your needs and queries rather than what the University thinks you
should know about.
30 — November/December 2015
Whether it is a small decision or a big
decision, each decision has an impact on
the organisation. It is in the best interest of
the organisation that a ‘system’ is created
whereby each employee asks the following
basic questions:
Dr Rozana Huq
6th generation of IIP
launched
Ulster University has launched Access Ulster - a new unique online
portal that is designed to help businesses and entrepreneurs
benefit from the University’s world-leading research, expertise,
specialist equipment and facilities.
Well worth having a look at – go to www.ulster.ac.uk/access
decisions, it makes them more motivated
to help organisations achieve their goals
and objectives. By way of contrast, ‘…
disempowered employees tend to become
over-reliant, dependent, demoralised and
not very willing to use their initiative’ (Heslin,
1999: 54).
Martin Rice speaking at the IIP conference
Martin would be happy to share his experiences with fellow
Directors and you can contact him at 028 9044 7655 or check
the website www.nextlevelimpact.com
November/December 2015 — 31
IoD NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS
IoD NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS
Innovation within Probation Board
for Northern Ireland
IoD member Cheryl Lamont, (Acting)
Director of Probation, explains the role of
the Probation Board for Northern Ireland
and how the organisation is innovating to
counteract the impact of reducing public
resources. Cheryl is also a member of the
Criminal Justice Board.
The Probation Board for Northern Ireland
(PBNI) is a Non Departmental Public Body
of the Department of Justice. Its aim is
to change lives for safer communities
and is responsible for rehabilitating and
reintegrating offenders into the community.
PBNI works at all stages within criminal
justice; in courts, in custody, in the
community and with the victims of crime.
All probation officers in NI are professionally
qualified social workers and use the most
effective practice in risk management to
keep communities safe.
Reset: a project funded through the NI
Executive Change Fund 2015-16 and being
piloted in partnership with criminal justice
and community partners to provide intensive
resettlement and rehabilitation support from
when an offender leaves prison. The initial
period following release is a critical time as
research shows a significant proportion of
male prisoners are recalled in the first weeks
because they fail to comply with supervision
or have reoffended.
Enhanced Combination Order: a pilot scheme
developed to direct offenders from shortterm custodial sentences by offering judges a
more intensive community order focusing on
rehabilitation, reparation, restorative practice
and desistance. The ECO commences in
October 2015 in two Court Divisions.
Like all public services, PBNI is operating
against a backdrop of reducing resources
so innovation in PBNI’s work is all the more
important.
Restorative approach: PBNI and two
restorative justice community partners are
piloting a restorative approach for adult
offenders on PBNI statutory supervision
and their victims. Evidence suggests using
restorative practices can potentially make
savings across criminal justice.
New initiatives
Probation works
Here are some of the new initiatives PBNI is
undertaking:
PBNI will continue to contribute to its role
within Policing and Community Safety
“I often describe CO3 as the third sector
sister of IoD! Established in 1985, CO3 is
a membership based charity that supports
third sector leaders. (The term third sector,
encapsulates the broad range of charities and
social enterprises that occupy that space).
Under the helm of our excellent Chief
Executive Nora Smith, CO3’s membership
base has grown significantly over the past
year. CO3 prides itself on strengthening
Is your business struggling with
stress, absenteeism and sub-optimal
productivity? Read on and discover how
mindfulness can significantly benefit your
organisation.
Mindfulness benefits ‘business’
Whether your ‘business’ is public service,
for profit or not-for-profit, there are
numerous scientific and clinical research
studies evidencing the significant, positive
impact of mindfulness – both to individuals
and organisations.
Cheryl Lamont
Some of the key benefits are:
Partnerships in order to make a real
difference to communities by providing local
solutions to local problems.
1. Physical and Emotional Wellbeing
2. Leadership Development
3. Innovation and Creativity
Probation in Northern Ireland works. It
is a central strand of the Criminal Justice
System here. Reconviction data that shows
69% of adults who received a community
sentence did not reoffend within one year.
Through collaboration, innovation and staff
professionalism, we will continue to change
lives for safer communities.
With these benefits, your organisation
has a powerful tool to reduce stress in the
workplace, improve working relationships,
improve employee wellbeing, enhance
creativity, increase productivity and
lower absenteeism – all of which support
organisations to be much more efficient
and effective.
What is Mindfulness?
and building its links between the third,
private and public sectors. Additionally
a number of private sector leaders, have
joined as Corporate members. This network
offers private and third sector leaders the
opportunity to forge stronger working
relationships.
As CEO of a leading NI social enterprise, I
have a particular insight into the common
ground we share. I strongly believe that
collaboration between the sectors is critical.
As we look beyond the state for solutions to
our growing challenges, there is a need for
innovation, enterprise, energy, coordination
and partnership.
CO3 has also recently set up a third Sector
Trustee Network; if you sit on a third sector
board, this growing network provides an
excellent platform for information, networking
and development in understanding your role
as a third sector trustee/executive. “
Nora Smith
32 — November/December 2015
John McMullan
How mindfulness can profit your business
by Frank Liddy, Co-Founder of The Belfast Mindfulness Centre
IoD’s third sector sister!
John McMullan, Chief Executive of the
Bryson Charitable Group, an IoD member
and the IoD UK Third Sector Director of the
Year in 2013, is currently Chair of CO3 (Chief
Officers third sector). Here John explains
the role of the organisation.
Mind your own business!
For further information on CO3, contact Nora
Smith, CEO on nora@co3.bz
Mindfulness is “paying attention in a
particular way; on purpose, in the present
moment, and non-judgmentally” (Jon
“Mindfulness
is a skill
that can be
learned.”
Kabat Zinn). All human beings possess
this capacity. However, for much of the
time, we live our lives on ‘autopilot’ unconscious emotional and physiological
reactions to everyday events. We therefore
need training to actively cultivate this skill
so that we can experience the benefits
of mindfulness. Mindfulness is a skill,
not a religion. Its benefits, therefore, are
available to everyone.
As with all new skills, the more you
practice mindfulness, the more you
reinforce the precise neural pathways
in the brain where mindfulness exacts
its specific and beneficial effects. As a
direct consequence of strengthening
and deepening your practice, you will
increasingly experience yourself being
more ‘mindful’, bringing with it all the
attendant benefits for you and those
around you.
Who is using mindfulness?
Across the globe, leading blue-chip
companies and major public authorities
(Google, Apple, Sony, Ikea, Transport for
London and the Department of Health to
name but a few) have already adopted
Mindfulness programmes.
Find out for yourself
A half day ‘Mind Your Own Business’
Workshop will be held at Riddel Hall,
Belfast on 28 January. The session has
been designed exclusively for business
leaders and senior decision makers in any
sector.
Through specially selected exercises
and specific techniques combined with
facilitated reflective practice, you will
experience directly for yourself:
• What mindfulness is
• How it affects the nervous system
Frank Liddy
• The benefits of mindfulness
• How it supports individuals and
organisations
• Creating the conditions for mindfulness
practice
• Techniques to practice mindfulness
• Some of challenges to practice and how
these can be overcome;
• Approaches to maintaining and
strengthening your practice.
Frank Liddy is a qualified integrative
humanistic counsellor, and the co-founder
of The Belfast Mindfulness Centre
www.mindfulnessbelfast.org
Frank will lead this bespoke workshop.
IT ’S OUR BUSINESS TO SUPPORT YOURS
Tel: 028 9442 9717
www.robinson-services.com
cleaning
hygiene
laundry
security
November/December 2015 — 33
IoD NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS
IoD NORTHERN IRELAND NEWS
Being part of the arts
by Michelle Hatfield, George Best Belfast City Airport
George Best Belfast City Airport is a firm
supporter of the arts and through our
business membership of Arts & Business
NI, we have become involved with arts
groups at a local level.
Since 2009, the Airport’s Community
Fund has invested more than £200,000
into local groups and projects, including
providing financial support for youth
theatre programmes, and we have hosted
Craft NI fairs in the terminal building which
facilitates approximately 10,000 passengers
every day.
The thriving arts and culture scene in
Northern Ireland offers the opportunity to
experience something completely different,
and to explore new ways of thinking and
working. This can deliver benefits for both
individuals and businesses. Arts & Business
NI has guided us in working with the arts,
and through their core programmes such
as Investment Programme and Professional
Development Programmes (Board Bank and
Young Professionals) they can really help to
drive your business forward.
Positive connections
Being involved with and supporting the arts
can be extremely beneficial and rewarding
for companies of all sizes. It is a wonderful
opportunity to encourage creative thinking
whilst building positive connections and
supporting those within the arts sector.
Whilst the arts cater to all ages, we have
placed significant emphasis on supporting
the development of young people through
the arts in recent years, as this is always a
key priority at the heart of our Corporate
Committee chairmen
Jonathan Guest, Harland & Wolff
(Connecting)
Bill Beers, Beers Engineering Consultancy
(Business Environment)
Regus working
spaces
One of the most popular benefits of IoD
membership is the access it provides to
both IoD and Regus premises around
the UK and worldwide for meeting and
working. Check out the locations at
www.iod.com/premises
Have you registered with Regus for your
free access to national and international
solo working spaces at 3,000 locations
in 900 cities across 120 countries across
the world as well as a 15% discount on all
Regus private meeting room bookings?
In Northern Ireland, members are welcome
to the facilities at Queen’s University’s
Riddel Hall at 185 Stranmillis Road in
Belfast, where the IoD office is based.
Qualifying *members can register by calling
the IoD Membership Team on 020 7766
8866 who will be happy to check your
eligibility and provide you with the necessary
registration information.
The facilities at Riddel Hall include free
parking close to the building, access to two
Executive Lounge areas on the ground and
first floors, free wifi, and a variety of rooms
that can be hired, all equipped with the
latest IT equipment. Catering is available.
The Institute of Directors exists to
support our members – the business
leaders – as they grow and develop their
organisations.
• A copy of the bi-monthly IoD NI News
• Your profile can be included in an issue
of IoD NI News
• Access to register on our NXD Directory
Michelle Hatfield at New Lodge Arts
Responsibility strategy. This has included
very successful partnerships with the likes
of Pintsized Productions, New Lodge Arts,
Music Theatre for Youth and Cinemagic.
Continuous development of the arts is
necessary to ensure cultural vitality, which
can be enjoyed by all ages across Northern
Ireland, and even by our passengers flying
in on business or for a short break with
family or friends.
Our Community Fund committee meets
several times throughout the year and we
always look forward to supporting projects
with an arts focus.
If your company would like to get
involved with the arts sector, then I would
recommend that you contact fellow IoD
member Mary Nagele, Chief Executive of
Arts & Business NI, at 028 9073 5158 or
mnagele@artsandbusinessni.org.uk
Michelle is Director of Human Resources
and Corporate Responsibility at George
Best Belfast City Airport and a member of
the IoD.
Geraldine Gordon, Gordon Business
Consultancy (Education & Skills)
Gordon Milligan, Translink (Developing)
Ian Sheppard, Bank of Ireland
(Economic Strategy)
Members
Noel Brady, Consult Nb1
Colin Coffey, RDA Group
Ashleen Feeney, KMPG
Caroline Keenan, ASM Belfast
Neal Lucas, Neal Lucas Recruitment
We have created a portfolio of
membership benefits which are designed
to provide members with the knowledge,
tools and advice to help them be more
productive, competitive and profitable.
Take advantage of IoD membership by
using these benefits whether you are at
your desk or on the move. Details of all
member benefits can be found on our
website www.iod.com
Benefits included as part of the annual
membership fee:
• Meeting space at 13 locations around
the UK and in Paris
• 25 business research sessions each year
• 4 one-to-one sessions with a business
expert each year
• 25 calls to our business legal advice line
each year
Marie-Thérèse McGivern, Belfast
Metropolitan College
Jill Robb, Origin Digital
Rose Mary Stalker, Catagen
Joanne Stuart, NI Science Park
Alan Taylor, Arthur Cox
• Access to our extensive online business
support resource
To contact any members of the
Northern Ireland Committee,
email iod.northernireland@iod.com
• Access to airport lounges across the UK
• Access to the IoD exclusive LinkedIn
group with over 7000 IoD members
• Access to the IoD Northern Ireland
LinkedIn group
• Monthly online newsletters from London
and your local region
• Advert on our business directory
• Subscription to Director magazine
34 — November/December 2015
For information about the IoD facilities at
Riddel Hall, phone us on 028 9068 3224
or email iod.northernireland@iod.com
To book rooms or catering, contact the
Riddel Hall administration office on
028 9097 5647.
*Benefit available to all full active UK, EU, and
Overseas members (excludes Students, Retired
and Channel Island members). Qualifying
members with less than one month of
membership remaining will be required to renew
their IoD membership before qualification.
IoD resources and benefits to support members
The IoD NI Committee
Chairman
Paul Terrington, PwC
Immediate Past Chairman
Mervyn McCall, MNV Ltd
Treasurer
Geoffrey Henderson, TotalMobile
Your IoD premises
And More...
• Representation at the highest levels
of national and regional government
and the opportunity to participate in
surveys and receive copies of our policy
publications Big Picture and Pulse
• Networking across the UK through our
regions and branches who run a whole
range of events from black-tie dinners
to breakfast briefings
• Discounts off our respected range of
director-level training and development
programmes including our Chartered
Director qualification which is
recognised internationally as the goldstandard in director level training
• Discounts off our conferences and
events with their high profile speakers
IoD Preferred Programme: specially
negotiated products and services:
• IoD Health Plans
www.iod.com/healthplan
• IoD Jobs and Recruitment
www.jobs.iod.com
• IoD Travel Services
www.iod.com/travel
• IoD Car Rental
www.iod.com/carrental
Join the IoD
You can apply to join the Institute
online at www.iod.com/join or telephone
our Membership Department on
020 7766 8888.
Disclaimer
Articles are published as a contribution
to discussions about business issues.
They represent the personal views of
their authors and do not necessarily
reflect Institute of Directors’ policy.
• IoD Directors Liability Insurances
www.iod.com/dli
Contact IoD
• IoD Professional Indemnity Insurance
www.iod.com/pi
Director:
Head of Business
Development: • IoD Office Insurance
www.iod.com/officeinsurance
• IoD Business Sales, Mergers and
Acquisitions
www.iod.com/buyandsell
• IoD Home and Contents Insurance
www.iod.com/homeinsurance
Linda Brown
Lisa Keys
IoD at Riddel Hall
185 Stranmillis Road
Belfast BT9 5EE
Tel: 028 9068 3224
Email: iod.northernireland@iod.com
November/December 2015 — 35
Unbeatable at
keeping your
calls connected
We know calls are important as we carry
over 73 million of them every day. So,
we’re unbeatable at connecting your
calls and keeping them connected.
Power to entrepreneurs
Vodafone
Power to you
Based on call connection performance and dropped call performance across 26 towns and cities as measured vs. three main competitors in April 2014
by Vodafone Group. For verification see vodafone.co.uk/network. Calls carried is based on average daily calls from 1 October 2014 – 18 December 2014.
To enjoy competitive business rates
call Rainbow Communications today
on 0800 012 1420