by Niall Murray | Nov 20, 2012 | Economy, General Interest, Uncategorized
Michelle Murphy, Regional Manager of Collins McNicholas Galway meets Gavin Duffy, Entrepreneur at this years SCCUL Entrepreneurship Awards Myself and my colleague Michelle Murphy were pleased to attend the 3rd Annual SCCUL Entrepreneurship Awards in the Ardilaun Hotel last Friday 16th November 2012. We were invited in our capacity as judges who had been involved in the interviewing process that whittled the 132 entrants in this competition down to 7 category winners, 7 category runners up and 16 One to Watch winners. On the day of the ceremony 108 of the 132 companies who entered this competition took over the ground floor of the Ardilaun Hotel with their exhibition stands which showcased the goods and services of these very enterprising companies. This was the third year of the SCCUL Awards and they have gone from strength to strength over the period. SCCUL is an acronym for St Columba’s Credit Union. This visionary board of this credit union deserves great credit for initiating these awards which are a fitting recognition for entrepreneurs who have taken the big step of investing everything they own in a business venture in the hope of it becoming a commercial success. These courageous entrepreneurs deserve great credit and support in setting out on such an adventure in the middle of a deep and prolonged recession. Participating in this competition award has given all of these entrepreneurs much needed encouragement to persist with their dream of establishing a successful business. The main person behind the event is Liam Bluett the charismatic General Manager of SCCUL Enterprises who must be the most successful networker in Galway. He has a way of getting people to give of their time to make such an event a success and to build on it each year. His network ensured that the awards were given added recognition this year by the presence of An Taoiseach Enda Kenny who presented the award to the category winners and runners up and the overall winner award. The event was also given added credibility by the high calibre panel of judges who interviewed the category winners to arrive at the overall winner. This panel was made up of Gavin Duffy from Dragons Den, Jim Murren former Area Manager of IDA Western Region, Barry Egan, Area Manager Enterprise Ireland Western Region, Declan Dooley President Galway Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Hannah Kiely CEO HC Financial Services. I was pleased to be asked to announce the One to Watch award winners who had their awards presented to them by Tom Connell Director of Services Galway City Council and Pat O’Sullivan SCCUL Enterprises Board Member. It is hoped that many of the companies anticipating in this competition will put forward their names for mentoring assistance from one of the 60 SCCUL mentors who provide mentoring assistance free of charge. The SCCUL mentoring initiative spun out of last year’s competition and has already provided mentoring advise to more than 160 business owners and it is envisaged that this number will grow significantly in the coming year. All in all this was a very inspiring event and I left it feeling a sense of admiration for all the entrants in the competition and a sense of appreciation of the board of St Columba’s Credit Union and of Liam Bluett for initiating this competition and for making it such a big success. Roll on 2013. Colman...Read More
by Niall Murray | Aug 28, 2012 | Economy, General Interest, Money Matters
As MD of one of the leading recruitment agencies in the country I am completely opposed to the comments of the Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton where she advocated the idea of increasing the rates of PRSI and where she proposed to make private sector employers responsible for paying the first four weeks of sick leave of any employee who is absent from work due to certified illness. Proposed Increase in PRSI rates It flies completely in the face of the government jobs and competitiveness strategies to advocate an increase in PRSI costs at the present time. The Minister should consult with her cabinet colleagues and particularly with her colleague Minister Richard Bruton Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation before advocating such an ill-advised proposal. I suggest that the Minister should also speak with Barry O’Leary CEO IDA as to the likely effect of her proposals in assisting the IDA to attract FDI projects into Ireland. Finally I think she should also consult with Mark Fielding CEO ISME who has gone public on the effect of such a proposal would have on member companies of ISME many of whom are struggling to stay in business and who can ill afford any additional costs after four years of recession. From my own point of view as MD of a recruitment agency which has been assisting FDI companies to set up here over the past twenty years I believe that PRSI rates much like Corporation Profits Tax is an issue where companies proposing to set up in Ireland want certainty as to their cost base for at least ten years....Read More
by Niall Murray | Jul 20, 2011 | Economy, Irish Market, Jobs in Ireland
15th July 2011 ECONOMIC plagues rarely have the selective powers to just take out the bad eggs and leave the good guys standing. A few years ago when Ireland’s economic wheels started to come off, Collins McNicholas Recruitment and HR Services Group MD Colman Collins predicted the downturn would force a lot of shoddy recruitment companies out of the market. He was right, but it also forced out some good ones. The number of recruitment firms has roughly halved. Some reputable ones were driven out by lack of business, others by misguided investments of their goodtime profits into property and failed equities. Collins McNicholas has survived well and is now seeing a significant lift in high skilled vacancies on its books, notably with multinational corporations: 283 vacancies as of yesterday, which is approaching 2007levels. However, the indigenous SME sector is struggling, with low-skilled roles at an all-time low. Colman Collins says: “There are two very contrasting worlds out there —one for multinationals and one for SMEs. We are seeing a huge increase with multinational openings. However, nowadays recruitment agencies don’t get to handle the lesser roles like admin or clerical. Companies have no problems filling those roles themselves. “There is no easy low-hanging fruit. Recruitment companies are now primarily brought in to fill key professional roles in engineering, research, medical devices and ICT, senior managers in general. In many cases, these people are not passive candidates. “These are people who are not readily available. We are having to head hunt, people we find via networks like LinkedIn, who are not actively looking to move. Recruitment agencies have had to work...Read More
by Niall Murray | Jul 11, 2011 | Economy, General Interest
Posted on July 11, 2011 by Colman Collins Data recently released by the Collins McNicholas Recruitment and HR Services Group, one of Ireland’s leading recruitment firms, has revealed significant job growth in the first half of 2011 with the number of job vacancies registered with Collins McNicholas in 2011 58% higher than it was in the first half of 2010. Collins McNicholas have seen growth in the numbers of jobs registered across all the five regional offices so far this year . Although total employment is forecast to decline this year again [1] , there is a strong demand by industry for a range of qualified people . *Demand for experienced engineers across the medical technologies and pharmaceutical sectors has been particularly strong. * Experienced science professionals have also been in demand across the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors. * The software industry has also bounced back with a large increase in the number of roles for software developers again across all regions. Commenting on these trends Colman Collins , Managing Director of the Group noted “ The recovery in the multinational sector and in the exporting companies in the indigenous sector is one of the few bright spots in the Irish economy . The dynamism in these sectors is clearly borne out by the increase in the number of jobs which Collins McNicholas were asked to fill by new and existing client companies in 2011. The increased number of job vacancies year to date also reflects recent market commentary relating to a significant pick up in the export sector in 2011” Collins concluded. According to Niall Murray General Manager...Read More
by Niall Murray | Oct 1, 2010 | Economy, Recruitment
Posted on October 8, 2010 by Colman Collins Introduction: In 1990 Ireland was still in the grip of recession after a decade of high unemployment, high emigration and high inflation. The Celtic Tiger had not yet been conceived by 1990. The medical devices industry had not yet been established in Ireland. In 1990 manufacturing sector was still quite strong as Ireland was still competitive internationally and the IDA was still able to attract a significant amount of foreign direct investment into Ireland. The electronics and IT industries were at their peak. One of the disturbing things that struck me when I started prepare these few words was the number of former customers of Collins McNicholas in the early 1990’s which were no longer in business in 2010. This was particularly noticeable in the electronics sector and the IT sector where a significant number of our customers closed their doors in the past 10 years as Ireland began to lose its competitiveness. In September 1990 unemployment stood at 13.2% similar to the figure of 13.7% in September 2010 but the make up of the figures is very different nowadays. In 1990 the figure comprised mainly blue collar workers whereas this time it is made up of male and female workers and comprises a large cadre of white collar workers who would never have experienced unemployment before. Ireland was in serious debt in 1990 as it is now but there was little personal debt then whereas now there are large numbers of people with significant personal debt and many more who have fallen into a negative equity situation which is likely...Read More
by Niall Murray | Aug 30, 2010 | Economy, Irish Market, Jobs in Ireland, Recruitment
Posted on August 30, 2010 by Colman Collins Minister will give funding so agency can reach employment-creation targets Article by ine Kerr Political Correspondent of the Irish Independent ENTERPRISE Minister Batt O’Keeffe is preparing to accede to the IDA’s demands for an urgent staffing boost so it can cope with the jobs crisis — but he has refused to confirm if he would reinstate all of the 50 posts which had been cut. The flagship agency has been starved of staff and resources at a time when more than 450,000 people are on the Live Register. Last night Mr O’Keeffe said he had accepted the IDA’s arguments for increased resources and would provide funding for extra posts this week. The minister said the IDA would be “quite happy” and “satisfied” with the offer. Read the full article on the Irish Independent...Read More
