by admin | Feb 11, 2015 | Entrepreneurship, Event, SME's
Collins McNicholas were again heavily involved in the SCCUL Enterprise Awards 2014 which were presented in the Bailey Allan Hall in NUIG on 29th January 2015. This year was the fifth running of the awards where 140 companies competed for 6 category awards, 6 runner up awards in each category, 6 One to Watch awards, and a special merit award. There was also a special recognition award which was presented to the Murren family in recognition of the services of Jim Murren former CEO of IDA Galway, who was a former judge in the awards process and former SCCUL mentor. Over 600 people including SCCUL personnel, exhibitors and members of the public attended what was has become one of the biggest enterprise awards in the country. Collins McNicholas sponsored the Business Services category and the first picture above shows Colman Collins presenting the joint category award to Brenda Dooley of Axis Healthcare. As sponsors Collins McNicholas were allowed to have a stand at the awards ceremony where Michelle Murphy, Caroline Ward and Caroline Dowling were in attendance. Michelle Murphy was also a judge in the awards process. Frank Ryan Chairman of IDA opened the awards ceremony and our second picture shows Liam Bluett former GM of SCULL Enterprises, Colman, Frank Ryan Chairman IDA Ireland and Michael Smyth GM of SCCUL Enterprises. Our final picture shows Colman outlining the SCCUL mentoring process which many of the award winners are joining as mentees. We look forward to the 2015 SCCUL Enterprise Awards. For more information on SCCUL, visit:...Read More
by Niall Murray | Sep 16, 2014 | Economy, Entrepreneurship, Event, General Interest, Irish Market, SME's
Julie Sinnamon the CEO of Enterprise Ireland addressed the SCCUL Mentors Group which I chair and I thought some of the following comments she made at this seminar might be of general interest. Julie is extremely optimistic about the prospects for the food sector and anticipates a 50% growth in that sector over the next 5 years. She sees much of the growth in this sector being located in the regions. This ties in with a broader objective to ensure a balanced distribution of EI support across all parts of the country. She is very optimistic about the future of EI companies generally and this optimism is positively influenced by the recent PMI data (Purchasing Manager’s Index) which is at its most positive in the past 6 years. One thing Julie would like to see is more female entrepreneurs and she made the point that of the 250 senior management personnel in 100 companies that EI have recently supported only 8 of the executives were women. Julie puts this down to a lack of female role models, an unjustified lack of confidence and the fact that the average age of the entrepreneurs EI supported is 32 which is an important age in a woman’s biological cycle. Julie also said that 50% of inward entrepreneurs are now people with no Irish connections at all but who want to locate here because of Ireland’s strong entrepreneurial culture. Julie described the challenge of scale facing Irish companies which is seen in the fact that Ireland has a small number of very big companies and a very large number of small companies. She...Read More
by Niall Murray | May 7, 2014 | Employment Law, Event, Recruitment, SME's
Purdy FitzGerald Solicitors in conjunction with Collins McNicholas Recruitment & HR Services Group are delighted to invite you to a morning seminar, “Annual Employment Law Update” presented by Alastair Purdy. This event, which is aimed at employers, will take place in The Harlequin Hotel, Castlebar on Thursday 22nd May 2014 at 8am. Agenda: 8.00 am – 8:30 am Registration & Full Breakfast 8.30 am – 9:30 am Briefing 9:30 am – 9:45 am Q&A What will the seminar provide? A review of recent case law and other developments in Employment Law over the last year, with a particular emphasis on what Practitioners should be aware of over the coming year. Details: As one of Ireland’s leading Law Firms in Employment Law, Purdy FitzGerald Solicitors advises a substantial number of both indigenous and multinational companies. Purdy FitzGerald was formed by the merger of Purdy Legal and F.M. FitzGerald solicitors in 2009. The firm is headed by Alastair Purdy and Norman FitzGerald who recognised the need for a dedicated Business Law Firm to serve the market in the West of Ireland. Their goal is to help employers run their businesses by managing any and all commercial, employment, health, safety, litigation and environmental legal matters in a practical and efficient manner. Purdy FitzGerald Solicitors are one of very few legal firms in the country to have achieved the ISO 9001:2008 quality management system standard. The achievement of this standard reflects the firm’s commitment to the provision of services to an internationally recognised and independently audited standard. To reserve your place please contact: Michelle Murphy, Regional Manager, Collins McNicholas Galway on galway@collinsmcnicholas.ie or contact 091-706706...Read More
by Niall Murray | Mar 19, 2014 | Employment Law, Event, Recruitment, SME's
Collins McNicholas & Purdy Fitzgerald Solicitors held two more Employment Law Breakfast Briefings on Thursday 13th February in the Radisson Blu Hotel Limerick and on Thursday 27th February in the Sligo Park Hotel. Both events were attended in large numbers by clients from across the regions within the multinational, Irish indigenous, SMEs and public sectors. Key note speaker at both events was Alastair Purdy, Partner in Purdy FitzGerald Solicitors who delivered a talk on recent updates in legislation and key areas of change to focus on over the next 12 months. Alistair emphasized the importance for small SMEs in particular to keep up to speed with any changes in employment...Read More
by Niall Murray | Feb 5, 2014 | Entrepreneurship, Event, General Interest, IT, Recruitment, SME's
Last Wednesday evening January 29th myself and Frankie Fields, the new IT recruiter in the Galway office, attended the second meeting of www.startupgalway.org in McSwiggins, Woodquay, Galway. Startupgalway.org was set up by Barry O’Sullivan former VP of Cisco, and as he says himself soon to be ‘start-up dude,’ and John Breslin of NUIG. Their goal is to make Galway a hub for ICT start-ups in the same way that it has become a medical device hub. Collins McNicholas were happy to sponsor this event as we believe there is the potential for a second ICT hub in Ireland outside of Dublin and we think Galway is best positioned to be that hub. The guest speaker was Dermot Berkery of Delta Venture Capital. The event took the form of a Q&A session where John Breslin asked a wide range of very interesting questions, and Dermot answered them very frankly, and in terms that were understandable to a largely non-finance audience. The event then broadened out to involve the audience which comprised about 90 people, mostly techie people, several of whom are considering starting up in business or have recently started up a small venture. John Breslin also drew attention to the success of the recent SCCUL Awards event in NUIG. I pointed out that some recent winners of the overall award and category awards had gone on to draw down significant grants from Enterprise Ireland and that the SCCUL awards process would be good preparation for anyone thinking of looking for VC capital. The importance of mentoring was also discussed to ensure that such start-ups have a good chance of surviving. This...Read More
