Contd. from page 8

Perhaps the oddest thing for Cork people to come to terms with is the appointment of a Dubliner to head up Cork 2005. John Kennedy is a primary teacher by profession, and taught for a while in the Dublin suburbs of Cabra and Tallaght before taking to the road as lighting and then touring manager with various rock and music groups. His longest stint was with U2 and it was while with this group that he answered the ad in 2002 looking for someone to head up the Cork project. Organising mega gigs for the band around Europe and, especially, in the US obviously gave him considerable expertise in arranging major entertainment events.

“I’m a born organiser who got the bug while at Rockwell College, where we did the usual school plays”, he recalls. But Kennedy admits, “The entertainment business is tough”. The constant travel and slog is hard for people who have families, he notes. “It’s a game for a younger man”.

Ireland was chosen to begin this cycle as far back as 2000. Four cities Galway, Limerick, Waterford and Cork - competed and in May 2002, the EU’s Cultural Unit chose Cork by an undisclosed margin over Galway. Reasons cited at the time included the city’s tradition of hosting cultural events of scale and diversity, ranging from jazz and films through coral and mid-summer festivals.

Cork 2005 was set up as an independent company with an initial operating budget of €13.5 million. The EU contributed a modest €0.5 million, with the balance equally funded by Cork City Council and the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism. The Department has since weighed in with an additional €1.5 million, while Cork 2005’s own fund raising has generated a further €6m in corporate support - of which €3.5 million is benefit in kind.

Kennedy pays tribute to the local agencies, including Cork Kerry Tourism, the local hotels and venue providers in the city, noting how they have embraced the project.

An on-line marketplace for trading Irish businesses is already attracting interest from restaurants and food establishments. www.thebusinessshop.ie aims to become the first port of call for anyone who wishes to buy, sell or invest in an Irish business.

Currently businesses for sale on the site include a south-east restaurant with a turnover of €530,000 and a Kerry takeaway. Meanwhile in another part of the site a coffee shop and a hot food takeaway are being sought in the Dublin area.

This is the first venture of its kind in Ireland and it will be invaluable to a range of business interests including those wishing to buy or sell a business and those sourcing franchise opportunities. It will also interest the private equity market as the site listings will attract investors seeking businesses and businesses seeking investment.

www.thebusinessshop.ie will fill a void in the Irish business market. It will considerably reduce the time involved in the first step of sourcing businesses for sale or in placing a business on the market.

The initiative is the brainchild of two Limerick businessmen John Ahern and John Ryan. John Ahern is the founder of Go2mobile, the first company in Ireland to deliver a range of mobile messaging solutions to the corporate sector. John Ryan is the Technical Manager for Go2mobile.

"We aim to make this site a central contact point for business investors and an interactive forum for existing and start-up businesses in many different business sectors", said John Ahern. 'In addition people who wish to open a franchise will have a place to seek out each another and there will be special sections for financial and legal services. It will also be invaluable for those seeking consolidation through acquisition", he said.

The costs of placing a business for sale, seeking a business or franchises varies depending on length of time a business is advertised. The standard rate is €149 per month for a three month listing, with a special rate of €49 per month for small businesses. The amount of information given in relation to any business is at the discretion of the person placing the advert.

There is also a free mobile/text alert service. Anyone registered with the site can be informed immediately if a business matching their requirements comes up for sales or if a buyer matching their requirements logs an interest.

John Ahern (left) and John Ryan founders of www.thebusinessshop.ie, a new on-line marketplace which will become the first port of call for anyone who wishes to buy, sell or invest in an Irish business.

Renaissance Products, established in 1991, specialises in servicing the Health Spa and Destination/Hotel Spa market in Ireland. The company’s impressive portfolio of products includes two exclusive pampering ranges: Yon Ka Paris, an Aromatherapy spa range; and Uspa, a botanical Spa range from Australia. Their full spa package is completed with Vered Cosmetiques, a US make-up range, waxing systems and spa equipment.

Renaissance Products’ strengths lie in its ability to work closely with each client. This is achieved through an excellent support structure, managed by a highly motivated professional team that places emphasis on the importance of training and ongoing client support.

For further information contact: Renaissance House, Tel: 01 8321412.e

CB Richard Ellis Gunne are Ireland’s leading hotel property consultants specialising in sales, acquisitions, valuations and strategic development advice. The CBRE Gunne team has a wealth of experience drawn from a long history of involvement with the hospitality industry. This invaluable experience and market knowledge, together with its worldwide affiliation with CBRE Hotels, allows CB Richard Ellis Gunne to offer its clients the very best professional and confidential advice, both local and international.

For further information contact: Dermot Curtin, Tel: 01 6185500, Email: dermot.curtin@cbreg.ie

Pegasus Solutions is a global leader in providing technology and services to hotels and travel distributors. Pegasus’ customers include a majority of the world’s travel agencies and nearly 60,000 hotel properties around the globe. Based in Dallas, Pegasus’ services include central reservation systems, electronic distribution services, commission processing and payment services, property management systems, and marketing representation services. The company’s representation services, including Utell by Pegasus™ and Unirez by Pegasus™, are used by nearly 8,000 hotels in 140 countries.

For information contact: Catt Campbell, Tel: +44 208 490 5870, Email: catt.campbell@pegs.com.

Avcom is Ireland’s biggest supplier of audio-visual services to the Irish hotel industry. Avcom recognises this as an opportunity to develop a unique business model whereby Avcom would invest in the equipment and the people for an individual property or hotel group and place both permanently on site. The benefit to the property is that there is no up-front investment or depreciation, and a permanent technical advisor is on site to help sell the product and profits go straight into the hotel’s bottom line.

For further information contact: Avcom, Tel: 01 2957213, Email: avcom@avcom.ie

As one of Irelands leading recruitment specialists, Noel Recruitment now boasts five offices in the capital along with its first regional office in Waterford, which covers the South East and Munster areas. The Hotel and Catering Division recruits for all aspects of the catering industry, from front line staff to senior and general management positions, for permanent, temporary and contract positions. The company’s high degree of success achieved in this industry is based on the excellent levels of personal service it provides in such a demanding environment.

For further information contact: Noel Recruitment, Tel: 1800 446666, Web: www.noelrecruit.ie

The use of functional foods or functional food ingredients could be one of the emerging trends for caterers in the future. Using functional foods gives increased value to food products, but what do we really know about them?

Though a single internationally recognised definition of functional foods does not exist as yet, they are generally considered to be foods that provide more than just a simple nutritional benefit to the human body. Currently, Europe trails countries like Japan and the US in the development and marketing of these foods but the gap may be reduced significantly in the coming years as the market potential for these foods is realised.

The clearest examples of functional foods currently on the EU market are the plant sterol containing foods such as certain yellow fat spreads and fermented dairy products authorised through the novel food process. Plant sterols are naturally occurring products found in a number of plant species and have been shown to reduce human blood cholesterol levels when consumed regularly.

From a regulatory perspective, functional foods do not constitute a separate food category within the EU and are thus regulated as any other food with regard to production, processing, authorisation and labelling. Because of the thin and sometimes grey line that separates food from medicine, it is likely that some of the functional foods developed in the future may be classified as medicines due to their effect on the human body or as a result of the health or medicinal claims associated with them. In addition, EU legislation governing health and nutritional claims associated with foods is being developed that will ensure that only justifiable claims will be allowed on food thereby affording greater protection for the consumer.

The period immediately after Christmas was a time that has given many people pause for thought. The horror and the havoc wrought by the Tsunami in Asia was watched by all of us in disbelief, as if some surreal dance of death was being performed before our eyes. Gradually the massive scale of the tragedy began to dawn on us and we heard of Irish families touched by this tragedy.

Then we learned the devastating news of the tragic loss of a wonderful member of the Irish Hotel family. Gerry O’Connor had been taken from us in a terrible accident while out walking in Kerry. Now we began to comprehend the sense of grief and loss that must have engulfed those touched by the Tsunami and that felt by the O’Connor family.

Amidst all the grief and sorrow there was this glimmer of hope, as we witnessed the outpouring of generosity and caring in Ireland and worldwide, toward the victims of the Tsunami and the magnificent show of support and love from our own industry for the O’Connor family in their time of great need.

It is reassuring to see proof of the innate goodness of people and makes one want to step back and re-examine one’s perspective and value systems.

There is always a necessity to measure our drive for success in business against a standard that guarantees a fair deal for our fellow workers, embraces diversity and ensures that our guests are delivered what we promise.

Rev par, payroll cost, food and beverage cost and bottom line targets should not be delivered at the expense of our team members or our customers. While we are doing all of this we need to take the time to cherish those who are near and dear to us and have a care for our extended hotel industry family and friends. We must resolve to add to the great fund of good that is in our world, and perhaps we will become more enriched and happier people ourselves.

As we leave what has been a difficult and bleak start to 2005, I wish you all everything that is good for you and yours for the rest of this year.

The intellect of man is forced to choose 
Perfection of the life, or of the work, 
And if it take the second must refuse 
A heavenly mansion, raging in the dark.

When all that story’s finished, what’s the news? 
In luck or out the toil has left its mark: 
That old perplexity an empty purse, 
Or the day’s vanity, the nights remorse.

Richard Bourke

President

All over Ireland hotels are successfully using technology to their advantage, including the Trinity Capital Hotel in Dublin

For the Trinity Capital Hotel, installing eircom wireless broadband has been a direct response to the needs of their corporate guests and is the main reason why the hotel located on Dublin’s Pearse Street, decided to have it installed.

“Our continuous aim is towards providing the services of a hotel at the upper end of the three star market,” Sales and Marketing Manager Ladonna Tallon explains. “It’s very encouraging and rewarding to be often likened to a four star hotel, but our preference is to operate well above the criteria within our three star category. In keeping with our aim to appeal to a corporate market, we felt that wireless broadband is a necessary facility to offer our guests. Increasingly, it’s a requirement that corporate travellers request in order to maximise their productivity during the day.”

She explains that guests using wireless broadband in the lobby can enjoy their second cappuccino on the house. She notes that the reaction has been very positive, both from guests and local business people who use the hotel’s conference facilities.

With further expansion planned at the hotel, including the addition of 102 bedrooms, a fitness suite and more conference options - all of which are set to include eircom wireless broadband “hotspots” Trinity Capital Hotel is ideally placed to compete, offering services that deliver genuine benefits to its clientele.

For further information or to order eircom wireless broadband please contact your eircom account manager or ring 1800 501 502