Business News

Gas Networks Ireland has reduced its carbon footprint by 27pc over the past ten years, according to the company’s 2019 Sustainability Report released today. The networks operator plans to reduce its carbon emissions further going forward, both within its own operations and from decarbonising the gas transported through the network. It also has a 99pc […]

Nearly two-thirds of businesses fear another lockdown, while one in five is trading at a loss, a CSO survey has found. KBC Ireland economist Austin Hughes said the figures showed that most firms have proved surprisingly resilient – but a large minority would risk collapse if a Covid-19 surge forced a second lockdown. The survey, […]

There is a popular trope in the narrative surrounding the origins of a successful enterprise, usually centring around working from a back bedroom, the kitchen table or from the garden shed. But the truth about successful start-ups and SMEs is usually a lot more prosaic. On top of a great idea and business plan, there […]

Staycations and the reopening of hospitality and leisure venues have spurred gas demand to near normal levels. But while overall gas demand climbed 4.1pc in July compared to June, it remains 3.7pc lower than a year ago, according to Gas Networks Ireland. Gas demand in the hospitality and leisure sector was just 1pc below where […]

Senior venture capitalists have described as “worrying” the lack of money coming through for new Irish startups. While the overall amount raised on both parts of the island reached €545m for the first six months of 2020 – the highest for four years -the figures were skewed by a handful of giant deals, leaving early-stage […]

Euro zone government bond yields rose on Friday, after three consecutive days of selling-off, with the benchmark German 10-year Bund yield having briefly touched a six-week high in early London trading. Borrowing costs in Europe have tracked US Treasuries this week, which have been driven to new highs by a deluge of debt issuance in […]

The European Commission has proposed changes to the EU’s VAT rules, in preparation for the end of the transition period with the UK on 31 December 2020. The amendment to the VAT Directive introduces a special identification number for businesses in Northern Ireland, so that EU VAT provisions can be properly applied to goods, in […]

The UK economy suffered a bigger slump than any other major European economy in the second quarter, shrinking by a fifth and falling into its deepest recession on record. Official data released on Wednesday showed that gross domestic product (GDP) fell 20.4 per cent quarter on quarter, with widespread contractions across all sectors. The figures […]

THE manufacturing sector clocked up its fastest pace of growth in almost two years in July, rebounding from the worst period of the lockdown. The pace of a recovery that was under way in June accelerated last month, according to AIB’s manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI). The index tracks growth and decline on index either […]

The coronavirus pandemic has plunged Europe’s leading economies into historic recessions, figures published on Friday showed. France and Spain both reported double-digit quarter-on-quarter falls in economic output in the three months to June. The figures came after both the US and Germany on Thursday reported a loss of about a tenth of their gross domestic […]