Category: News

New Restaurant to open in Cineworld Dublin

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

Wings International, a UK all you can eat style buffet will open a new 250 seater restaurant on in Dublin. Cineworld Dublin which is located on Parnell Street is Ireland’s largest Cinema complex, housing 17 screens across 4 floors. Wings, it is believed, will open in the basement of the premise across 1,300 sq. m of vacant space

The space which has been vacant for years would be Wings first entrance into the Irish market. Wings specialises in World cuisine with over 150 dishes prepared daily. The cinema experiences massive footfall and is believed to be the fifth busiest cinema in the UK & Ireland.

Full story here.

Dalata To Focus On UK

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

 

Ireland’s largest Hotel group Dalata is to switch focus and concentrate on building their UK portfolio. Dalata own over 5,000 Hotel rooms across the country and their high profile acquisitions throughout 2015 saw them amplify their market share as specialists in 3*/4* Hotels across Ireland.

Dalata bought the Moran & Bewley group for €455 million in 2015 along with other purchases. Deputy Chief Executive Dermot Crowley said a warchest of €130 million is there is there is value in the market and is conducive to business.

Last week Dalata acquired the leasehold on four hotels for around €40m, including the Gibson Hotel in the Point Village in Dublin and the Clarion Hotel in Cork.

Full story here.

 

580 jobs to be cut as XtraVision appointed a liquidator

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

The High Court have appointed a temporary liquidator to XtraVison. It is believed that the majority of 580 retail jobs will be lost. The company owners, Hilco Capital petitioned the court for the appointment of Mr Michael McAteer of Grant Thornton Ireland as provisional liquidator.

There are over 80 XtraVsion outlets across the Republic and Northern Ireland. Justice Paul Gillgan appointed Mr McAteer after being told the movie rental firms are insolvent and unable to pay their debts.

Full story: http://businessetc.thejournal.ie/xtra-vision-liquidation-2570122-Jan2016/?utm_source=facebook_short

New Boutique Hotel Set For Ranelagh

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

Ranelagh is set to get a new boutique Hotel, after planning permission had been granted to Irish businessman Paddy McKillen Jnr. The boutique Hotel will be built in the heart of the South Dublin suburb in Dublin 6. The residence in question is 117 – 119 Ranelagh Main Street, former site of Laser Video.

McKillen also owns the Harcourt Street and this new Hotel is believed to be modelled in a similar format. The top floor will encompass a rooftop restaurant and outdoor terrace, with the first and second floors comprising of 41 rooms. The Hotel’s basement will also contain a 50 foot cinema and conference facilities.

Planning permission was highly contested with 30 individuals including TD Ruari Quinn arguing against it. The two buildings which currently reside in 117-119 Ranelagh will be demolished to make way.

Source: http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/homes-and-property/paddy-mckillen-jnr-to-open-boutique-hotel-in-ranelagh-1.2503654

Musgrave To Buy O’Loughlin Foods

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

The Musgrave Group are set to acquire O’Loughlin Quality Foods. The Wexford based, family run foodservice business has served the South East region for over 50 years. Representatives from CJ O’Loughlin Food expressed their delight at the acquisition by Ireland’s largest food wholesaler. Charlie O’Loughlin, MD of O’Loughlin’s and Jack O’Grady who is Sales Director commented that their team would “continue to deliver the very best in customer service”, and that the acquisition allowed them to amplify their customer reach.

Musgrave CEO Chris Martin said that “C.J. O’Loughlin Quality Foods is an excellent strategic fit for our business and complements our market-leading foodservice offer.” The acquisition is still set for clearance by the Irish Competition Authority.

News Source: http://www.hospitalityireland.com/musgrave-to-acquire-foodservice-provider-c-j-oloughlin-quality-foods/23645

Dunnes Stores, Homebase and Harvey Norman – Retail Roundup

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

Dunnes Stores to buy Whelan Food and Meat

Dunne Stores to Buy WhelansDunnes Stores have eyed up another acquisition to add to their retail portfolio. The Irish retailer have proposed a deal to buy two meat wholesale businesses, Whelan Food & Meat Processors and Tipperary Sustainable Food Company. Both companies are under the control of Pat Whelan, owner and operator of Whelan’s Butchers who operate in the luxury Avoca Food stores.

Dunnes recently acquired Café Sol and plan on bringing expansion plan for the brand into place throughout 2016 and integrate some outlets in their bigger stores. The proposal was made to the Competition Authority this week to acquire Whelan’s and has entered the preliminary phase.

Wesfarmers buy Homebase

Australian home retail brand Wesfarmers have agreed to buy Homebase for £340 million and will invest £500 Homebasemillion transforming it into the Bunnings brand. The deal is still seeking approval from shareholders and if accepted would make Bunnings the second largest DIY and Garden Retailer in the UK and Ireland. Homebase, who have 265 stores have struggled in recent years against B&Q. Representatives from Wesfarmers’ said company analysts had studied the UK market for over a year, prior to the bid.

Homebase’s management team are to be replaced by Bunnings’ staff. However, it is understood Homebase’s current chief executive will stay in place. A statement from Wesfarmers’ it could ‘improve on Homebase’s store operations, cut prices, widen ranges, improve service, appeal more to tradesmen and do more online’.

Harvey Norman in Cork on sale for €8.2 million

Harvey Norman in Cork is on the market for €8.2 million through estate agents Savills. The store which is located on the Kinsale Road, is one of 12 stores across Ireland and produces a rent roll of €678,699 annually. The retail warehouse has another 9 years guaranteed under the current lease, with an upward only rent review due in 2020.

Harvey Norman

Supermarket Christmas 2015 Figures Revealed

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

 

SuperValu has once again come up triumphs, cementing themselves as the top grocery retailer in Ireland after a bumper Christmas period. SuperValu commanded more than 25% of the overall grocery market in the 12 weeks till January 3rd. Kantar Worldwide Ireland released the figures which denotes the Christmas period for all of Ireland’s supermarket chains.

SuperValu sales were up 4.3% compared to the same period in 14/15, where Tesco still commanded the top spot. Sales across all grocers were up 3.5% on last year.

Kantar Worlwide Figures

 

Image Source: Kantar Worldwide Panel.

New Year Retail Round Up

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

Minimum Wage

National minimum wage has increased by .50 cent per hour. Since 1 July 2011, the national minimum wage for an experienced adult had been €8.65. This has now been increased to €9.15 per hour as the statutory minimum wage. There are a number of wage rates and stipulations with further elaboration and explanation available here.

money

____________________

Glanbia to create 200 new jobs

Glanbia announced that they will hire 200 new staff in a variety of positions, with 90 of these based in Ireland. The dairy giant who have a number of locations nationwide also stated that they hope to attract Irish expats for a number of the domestic positions. Their statement read “Glanbia has delivered sustained growth by creating new nutritional products and solutions, and in doing so has become a world leader. ”To sustain our growth, we need exceptional people to join our team in Ireland, the US and indeed worldwide.” Browse job opportunities with Glanbia here.

glanbia

____________________

SuperMacs to create 200 new jobs

Pat McDonagh, MD of SuperMacs announced plans to open six new restaurants in 2016, creating 200 new jobs and bringing their staff numbers just shy of 3,000. Their predominant attention will focus on motorway service stations on national roads. McDonagh noted that the upswing in the economy was a crucial factor, citing that “There’s increased employment out there and there’s a bit of confidence coming back into the market again.” Between 70-100 jobs will be at a new €8million ‘Galway Plaza’ restaurant which will reside along the busy commuter and tourist belt of the M6. You can visit the SuperMacs career page here.

Supermacs

____________________

Cork get go-ahead for €50 million redevelopment

Cork’s Capitol Cinema has got the go-ahead to undergo a drastic €50million redevelopment bringing 1,000 new jobs on board once complete. Approximations suggest it will bring €21million to Exchequer revenue and will hopefully completed by the end of 2016. The site which is being developed by JCD Group will include retail space, office space and food areas. Full story here.

corkkkk

Source of Image: Jakuzaa

SuperValu back on top in the supermarket wars.

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

Figures released by Kantar Worldwide show that SuperValu have capitalised on strides made throughout the year and have cemented themselves as top in the supermarket wars. In the week ending December 6th it shows the Irish Grocery retailer has a 24.7% stake of overall market share and experienced sales growth of 3.7% in the 12 weeks previous to December 6th.

Discount German retailer Lidl have experienced the highest level of sales growth in the same 12 week period, registering double digit sales of 10.6% with equates to 37,000 extra shoppers in store. Dunnes Stores have also continued to show considerable growth with an overall market share of 23.8%.

Kantar Figures

Image via TheJournal.ie

Managing Director of SuperValu, Martin Kelleher said ‘’ We are able to differentiate ourselves from the competition with unique selling points like having butchers in every store to provide expert advice, providing locally produced Food Academy products and an unrivalled level of customer service.’’

SuperValu regain top spot in supermarket ranking

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

SuperValu has regained their top spot in the supermarket rankings, pitching Tesco by .5%. SuperValu comprise a market share of 24.6% with Tesco ranking second with 24.1%. The results are based on the 12 weeks till November 8th, with Kantar Worldpanel detailing the figures.

SuperValu had previously held the top spot in the 12 weeks leading up till March 29th 2015. Director of Kantar Worldwide David Berry noted that SuperValu are ‘encouraging more repeat shopping trips. The average consumer has visited the retailer on two additional occasions and spent an extra €16 over the past quarter when compared with last year’.

Lidl outperformed all competitors with sales growth of 11.2% and were the only supermarket to boast double digit growth, resulting in an overall market share of 8.7%.

Berry furthered ‘The grocery market is arguably the most competitive retail sector and the latest figures emphasise this, with the three biggest retailers each within one percentage point of each other’.

Supermarket Table

Source: http://www.checkout.ie/supervalu-reclaims-top-spot-in-latest-market-share-figures/21533