The Best Shops in Ireland: The Shortlist

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

Best Food/drink shop

George’s Fish Shop, Monkstown Farm, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin.

Sheridans Cheese, 11 South Anne St, D2.

Gusto d’Italia 30 William Street, Limerick.

Roy Fox, 49 A Main Street, Donnybrook, D 4.

Fallon & Byrne, 11-17 Exchequer Street, D2.

Select Stores, 1 Railway Rod, Dalkey, Co Dublin.

Blackrock Cellar, 23 Rock Hill, Blackrock, Co Dublin.

Ardkeen Quality Food, Dunmore Road, Waterford, Co Waterford.

64 Wine, 64 Glasthule Road, Glenageary, Co Dublin.

Wines Direct, 9 Lough Sheever Park, Mullingar.

Toons Bridge Dairy Shop, Toons Bridge, Co Cork.

Caviston’s Glasthule Road, Co Dublin.

James Whelan Butcher, Various locations.

 

Best fashion store

Samui Fashions, 17 Drawbridge Street, Cork.

Muse, 92 The Quay, Waterford.

Gallery 9, 2 Poplar House, Sallins Road, Naas, Co Kildare.

Style Ikon, 18a The Crescent, Monkstown, Co Dublin.

EJ Menswear, 11 Grattan Street, Sligo.

Edward Donnellan & Co, Main Street, Roscommon, Co Roscommon.

Frewen & Aylward, 44 George’s Street Lower, Dún Laoghaire.

Folkster, 27 Patrick Street, Kilkenny .

Nowhere, 64 Aungier Street, Dublin 2.

Envoy of Belfast, 4 Wellington Street, Belfast, Co Antrim.

Vanilla Fermoy, Co Cork.

Om Diva, 27 Drury Street, D2

 

Best specialist shop

Knobs & Knockers, 19 Nassau Street, D2.

Hang Tough, 7b South Richmond Street, D8.

Amphibian King, Raven Hall, Upper Dargle Road, Bray, Co Wicklow.

Cloon Keen Atelier, 21a High Street, Galway.

The Rathgar Bookshop, 100 Rathgar Road, Rathgar, D6.

Right Click, 70 Camden Street, D2.

Susan Hunter Lingerie, 13 Westbury Mall, Grafton Street, D2.

The Rock Shop, Derreen, Liscannor, Co Clare.

Big Bang Comics, Sandyford Road, Dundrum, D14.

 

 

Best café/teashop

Hazel Mountain Chocolate, Oughtmama, Co Clare.

Queen of Tarts , Cow’s Lane, D2

Nick’s Coffee, Main Street, Ranelagh, D6.

Pudding Row, Main Street, Easkey, Co Sligo.

Clement & Pekoe, 50 South William St, D2.

The Fumbally, Fumbally Lane, D8.

Cupán Tae, 8 Quay Lane, Galway.

Firehouse Bakery, Old Delgany Inn, Delgany, Co Wicklow.

Glebe Gardens and Cafe, Baltimore, Co Cork

Shells Café and Little Shop, The Seafront, Strandhill, Co Sligo.

 

 

Best newcomer

Kiln & Loom, 287 Ormeau Road, Belfast, Co Antrim.

RunLogic, Smock Alley Court, Essex Street West, Temple Bar D2.

Whelehan’s Wines, Silver Tassie, Bray Road, Loughlinstown, Co Dublin.

Finn McCool Surf Shop, Rossknowlagh, Co Donegal

Lotts & Co, 7 South Lotts Road, D4.

Camerino, 158 Capel Street, D1.

Castle & Drury, 6 Castle Market, D2.

Scrumdiddlys, Crofton Road, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin.

Sister Sadie, 45 Harrington Street, D8.

Ballymaguire Food to create 100 new full time jobs

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

Ballymaguire Foods will create 100 new full time permanent jobs in Lusk, North Dublin. The largest Frozen Ready Meal provider in the country will also create 100 temporary jobs during the construction phase. The state of the art 70,000 sq. ft plant will bring an additional €4 million to the local economy.

Ballymaguire currently employ 150 staff and are the largest producer of chilled ready meals in Ireland. The will be recruiting sales and marketing professionals, food scientists and technicians, research and development, chefs and general operatives over the forthcoming months. The company was founded in 2008 and clients include Tesco, Lidl, SuperValu and Centra.

Ballymaguire, which is fully Irish owned have approx. 80 different offerings. Director Managing Ed Spelman said: Our production capability will now grow to over 500,000 meals per week and this will mainly be used to fuel the opportunities we see in the UK and add to our existing business there. We managed to buck the trend during the recession, as we used it to find new opportunities and successfully grow.

Supermac’s are expanding and bringing 320 new jobs to market

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

Pat and Una McDonagh, founders of much loved Irish food retailer Supermac’s are to develop three new motorway service stations. They will be rolled out across the next two years creating 220 new jobs. The announcement was made as work began on a new €8 million motorway service station on the M6.

The new Motorway Service Station at Junction 16 Kiltullagh Plaza has an opening date in early 2016 and will see the introduction of 100 new jobs. It will be the country’s largest motorway service station. As well as the tasty fresh fast food offerings Supermac’s are renowned for, it will also offer Deli, Bakery, Carvery, Pizza and SuperSubs as Supermac’s extend their brands beyond their core offering that they are most associated with.

A further 220 jobs at three more plaza sites will be developed over the next couple of years which will include Ennis and Limerick. They currently have 3 Motorway service stations in place, with encouraging news that they are in a position to double this over the forthcoming years with the creation of hundreds of new Irish jobs.

Source: http://www.businessandleadership.com/business/item/51480-supermacs-founders-to/

Supermac’s are expanding and bringing 320 new jobs to market

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

Pat and Una McDonagh, founders of much loved Irish food retailer Supermac’s are to develop three new motorway service stations. They will be rolled out across the next two years creating 220 new jobs. The announcement was made as work began on a new €8 million motorway service station on the M6.

The new Motorway Service Station at Junction 16 Kiltullagh Plaza has an opening date in early 2016 and will see the introduction of 100 new jobs. It will be the country’s largest motorway service station. As well as the tasty fresh fast food offerings Supermac’s are renowned for, it will also offer Deli, Bakery, Carvery, Pizza and SuperSubs as Supermac’s extend their brands beyond their core offering that they are most associated with.

A further 220 jobs at three more plaza sites will be developed over the next couple of years which will include Ennis and Limerick. They currently have 3 Motorway service stations in place, with encouraging news that they are in a position to double this over the forthcoming years with the creation of hundreds of new Irish jobs.

Source: http://www.businessandleadership.com/business/item/51480-supermacs-founders-to/

Penney’s Boston – All you need to know

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

Primark (*Penney’s in Ireland and referred to as both throughout this piece) will make Retail history by opening their first of many Fashion Stores in the United States. The fast fashion retailer synomous with affordable trends begin their ascent in the US market in just under one month and are promoting their mantra of ‘Amazing Fashion, Amazing Prices’.

The now iconic retailer which first opened in Dublin’s Mary Street in 1969, will have a dilatable 77,000 sq. ft 5 storey unit in the historic Burnham Building, a former retail space housed by US retailer Filenes. The opening on September 10th is naturally being monitored closely by both sides of the Atlantic. With such a revered history and name in retail, Penney’s naturally have become an anchor tenant.

Burnham building

 

The Burnham Building, located at the bottom of the €570 million Millennium Tower Skyscraper. Source: www.industrytap.com

Primark’s US website went live yesterday (August 10th 2015 – http://www.primark.com/en-us/homepage). So far they have made a conscientious effort to slot seamlessly into the US and the website includes Boston City guides, ‘Coming to America’ blog posts and tailored content by their Style Guides pertinent to the US fashion market.

Penney’s will continue their trend of physical only sales, with no online shopping facility available. Currently Primark have 289 stores across nine countries and their retail trajectory remains unrivalled. Excitingly the USA will be Penney’s tenth country and Italy will become their eleventh, with a store planned for Arese in Spring/Summer of 2016.

Numerous stores will be opened across the US. The Penney’s board have located suitable retail outlets in Philadelphia and New York which will open in due course (believed to be before the end of 2015) aiming for a cohesive Retail shopping experience for customers across the USA.

Primark have already begun their press previews of their Autumn/Winter collection. Furthermore the have designed a tailored guide that will be distributed to key social media influencers and online bloggers. The Boston Store will open at 10am on September 10th.

Primark 2 Primark 3 Primark 1

*Some images were sourced from The Irish Independent article that is viewable here: http://www.independent.ie/style/fashion/fashion-news/irish-retail-chain-penneys-makes-history-with-first-american-store-31441912.html

Retailers to fight against City Centre Car ban

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

Retailers have expressed concern at Dublin City Councils new plans to impose a car ban in Dublin City Centre. The proposal would see a ban on private cars from large parts of the city centre citing ‘serious implications for the future viability of city centre retailing’.

Retail Ireland have written to employers lobby Ibec. The County Council propose investing €150 million to make the Capital more pedestrian and public transport friendly. Chairman of Retail Ireland Conor Whelan wrote “Plans to enhance the city’s public transportation should never result in the displacement of private traffic to the point where large portions of the city centre are entirely inaccessible to shoppers who prefer to take their car’’.

The lobby also informed the council that shoppers who drive spend more than those that travel via public transport, with cars being the second most popular form of transport into the city centre. They have called for consumer information to be carried out that would research the implications should a ban come into place. Retailers, justifiable fear that such a ban would drive consumers to more suburban shopping centres and outlets.

Retailers argue that shops selling bulkier items would be particularly hard hit by a car ban, as shoppers won’t carry such items home on public transport.

“Public transport does not suit all shopping types. It isn’t about location, location, location anymore. It’s convenience, convenience, convenience”.

LinkedIn Etiquette

Essential LinkedIn etiquette. The definite ‘dos’ and the definite ‘don’ts

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

 

Essential LinkedIn etiquette. The definite ‘dos’ and the definite ‘don’ts

LinkedIn is a recruiter’s staple, their bread and butter for sourcing candidates for prospective jobs. Understandable some people shy away from yet another ‘social network’. To an outsider, LinkedIn may be viewed as one of yet another plethora of online mediums where you are asked to share personal information with the world. But it is not to be overlooked. LinkedIn is the most enveloped Social Medium platform, encapsulating all demographics and tiers of professionals. It is therefore a fundamental for recruiters and candidates, in fact any prospective or current job seeker.

It is the most infinite source of jobs you will see across any platform and more specifically jobs that are tailored to your interests and experience. Job Boards cost money for companies to advertise. LinkedIn doesn’t and is often the only platform where you will see jobs advertised. Furthermore, with Pulse (LinkedIn’s personalised feed for news and insights) you see what is tailored specifically to you. Apportion a fraction of the time you spend on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram or Snapchat to LinkedIn. The Difference? Tangible results, beneficial connections and perhaps the catalyst for landing your new dream job.

Approach Slow

If you are a new user, go slow. At first LinkedIn can be hard to navigate and get your head around. Build rapport and trust, as you would in real life. Establishing relationships on LinkedIn can prove majorly beneficial, so remember you can’t get that first impression back. The expression ‘all guns blazing’ might be useful to remember here. Do not ask for too much too soon. There is an etiquette to adhere to and which is expected by others. However, don’t be afraid to reach out either. LinkedIn was built on the foundations of networking and connecting. Connecting with useful HR managers, following companies and broadening your online community will put you on the radar. Finding your equilibrium between these points will land you with sound LinkedIn activity.

Photo

LinkedIn isn’t Facebook. Nor is it Tumblr or Twitter. It’s also not Tinder. It is a community of professionals and you are pitching yourself amongst your peers. A sound profile photo is imperative. A quick ask around in our office suggests ‘duck face selfies’ or ‘extreme close ups’ aren’t a winner. Don’t worry about a professional photo either. A headshot standard solo headshot will suffice, that shows your enthusiasm, energy and ebullient nature.

Stay Active Online

LinkedIn cements your digital platform. Those most content in their jobs stay active too. Your LinkedIn will effectively become null if you are not active. Again, it also keeps you on the cusp of that HR Manager or Recruiter’s (whom you have connected with) mind. It never hurts to pop up when someone is searching for a candidate with your expertise, or being a top rank in a Boolean search. ‘LinkedIn stalking’ isn’t common place. People are curious as how to better themselves and if you are a source in their trajectory, it is quite flattering. People expect the notification saying someone has viewed their profile, likes their update, or commented on their blog post. Even if they don’t know them personally. It’s fair to presume that people view your interest as professional. If you are conscious of this, the Privacy Settings will become your best friend. If you are curious, but don’t want someone to be notified that you viewed their profile, that can be changed in seconds, however it is not advised as this is all about highlighting yourself.

There are heaps of default privacy settings you may not be aware of. Have a look around and get familiar with these. Social Talent also do informative blogs regarding these that you can find at: http://www.socialtalent.co/blog/your-linkedin-settings

Remember: LinkedIn has over 277 million users. However, it isn’t a numbers game and like anything quality will pay dividends over quantity. Focus on worthwhile connections, companies and other resources that will benefit you.

Uber to create 300 new jobs in Ireland

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

The world’s largest online taxi service Uber will create 300 new jobs in Limerick, with a customer support centre set to open. The company have expressed their desire to launch in cities nationwide, currently open having operations in Dublin.

The new Limerick base looks to hire 150 people by the end of the year, with a further 150 people by the end of 2016. Uber General Manager Kiaran Harte mentioned that the company has over 1,000 drivers in Dublin. Uber, which launched in 2011, has seen fortunes soar and major investment of late. €5.3 billion was ploughed into Uber, which has had unrivalled success in the US.

Harte furthered that “Limerick put on a fantastic show to win our investment. We’re doing five times the amount of trips in Europe as we were last year. This will serve all of our English speaking customers from all over Europe and Africa’’.

Furthermore, Uber have also signed a 10 year lease at a premises in Thomas Street.

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan expressed his delight at the news by saying Uber’s investment is a massive boost for Limerick. We are particularly delighted to welcome a world leading company, operating at the cutting-edge of innovative technology, to Limerick city centre. Creating 300 jobs and with an investment of €4m planned for the city, Uber will become a major part of the Limerick economy.”

Source: http://www.independent.ie/business/jobs/uber-to-create-300-jobs-in-limerick-with-new-customer-support-centre-31408321.html

Ikea to pay all their Irish staff ‘The Living Wage’

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

There has been much debate surrounding Ireland’s minimum wage of late. Many argue that minimum wage is not reflective of the cost of living and thus ‘The Living Wage’ is a better reflection on the minimum amount Irish workers should earn on an hourly pay scale. Enter Ikea…

The Swedish Retail giant has agreed to pay all its Irish staff ‘A living wage’ ensuring a meaningful wage for all workers. Ikea have only one Irish store, located in Ballymun North Dublin. The flat pack giant will issue pay cheques based on the cost of living for employees in Ireland and the UK.

Ikea HR manager for the UK and Ireland Pernille Hagild said as a ‘values-driven organisation’ the chain believed in “providing a meaningful wage to our co-workers that supports the cost of living no matter where they live”.

He furthered ‘’Over the coming months we will work together with the relevant organisations and authorities in Ireland to secure this in the right way in the Irish market.” In the past days the government have agreed to increase the mimumim wage (€8.65 per hour) by 50 cent. Ikea already pays their staff above this, with the bottom pay scale €9.77 per hour.

A consortium of unions and other campaigners have put the living wage in Ireland at €11.50 per hour although it’s not yet known on what basis Ikea will calculate its rate.

Source: http://businessetc.thejournal.ie/ikea-pay-rate-2226056-Jul2015/

Best Menswear enters into examinership

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

Retailer Best Menswear has gone into examinership. The men’s clothing and accessories retailer have faced turbulent times over the last few years. Bets Menswear had been a concession holder in the now closed Clery’s store.

A pop up store was introduced to Parnell Street earlier this month and acted as a means of clearing available stock. An examiner form PWC has been appointed to the business and will assist in the restructuring of the company to ensure financial viability.

Managing Director of Best Menswear David Jones said the following ‘’ While trading is slowly improving, the biggest challenge remains unsustainably high rents and upward only rent reviews, which are a significant burden on our business’’.

Best Menswear currently has 13 stores across the country.