Business

Tipping point for tourism says Hastings Hotel chief

 

The managing director of the North’s biggest hotel chain is predicting that 2008 will prove to be a tipping point for tourism.

“Belfast in particular and Northern Ireland in general is changing and visitors who come here are part of a changing story,” said Howard Hastings of the Hastings Hotel Group, who last week was named as a member of the incoming board of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board. 

“But when the history of 2008 is written, it will

Unions get Louboutin over high-heel shoes

Unions today went to town on work places that force their staff to wear high heels as part of their uniform.

This topic has been on the cards for a while as earlier this year the TUC reported that women soon may have to give up wearing high heels, and the national trade union went as far as calling for a ban on the much-loved footwear from work, insisting that they’re dangerous for those wearing them.

Obviously this depends

Two thirds believe procurement not good value – CBI

ALMOST two thirds of businesses believe the government is not getting the best value for money from procurement, a leading survey has stated.

The results come from a CBI survey into public procurement in Northern Ireland. 

The lack of improvement in the procurement process was also highlighted by the employers’ organisation who listed a number of recommendations with the survey.

CBI Northern Ireland Director, Nigel Smith, said: “This is a market worth over £2 billion per annum in Northern

West Belfast company picks up export award

A WEST Belfast company has taken home a top business award for export achievement.

APT, a successful international export company based at Whiterock Business Park, welcomed the Queen’s Award for Enterprise at a special ceremony during the week.

With export sales accounting for over 90 per cent of turnover, the award acknowledged the company’s excellent achievement in international trade.

Chief Executive of APT, Noel McKenna, was delighted the company’s achievements were being recognised.

He said: “Winning such a prestigious

Delta Print dinner raises £60k for Chinese earthquake appeal

WEST Belfast businessmen have raised a huge amount of cash to help victims of the Chinese Earthquake in May.

Local company, Delta Print and Packaging donated £60,450 to the British Red Cross Chinese Earthquake Appeal as a contribution from the Northern Ireland business community.

The Kennedy Way company put on a special gala dinner at the Europa Hotel at the end of May to help raise cash for the fund, an atrocity that killed 80,000 people and left more

Technology advances may have unwanted side effects with cyber criminals on the prowl

 

New technologies make it easier for all of us to get our work done online, communicate with others, and take advantage of all the Internet-based entertainment that’s available today. But many of those same technologies have also made it easier for cybercriminals.

Broadband has many advantages for users, including high speed at relatively low cost and the “always-on” nature that eliminates the need to log onto the ISP each time you want to access the Internet. 

But those same