Seen & Heard: Gannon leads property developer comeback

Three of Ireland's biggest Celtic Tiger-era property developers are returning to build new homes for the first time since the market crashed in 2008, according to the Sunday Independent .

Gerry Gannon's Gannon Homes is starting to build houses again in north Dublin, while Pat Doherty's Harcourt Developments is also preparing to re-enter the Irish market, building homes in the west of the capital.

In addition, Sean Mulryan’s Ballymore Properties is preparing to begin house-building projects, the paper says.

Contractors targeted for tax
The Revenue Commissioners plans to seek tax payments from hundreds of self-employed contract workers in the coming weeks, reports the Sunday Business Post .

The tax authority is adopting a new hardline approach in its investigation into the tax tactics of contractors in the pharmaceutical, technology and software sectors who trade through their own companies, according to the newspaper.

The move follows what the Revenue has described as “widespread evidence of delay” and a “reluctance to agree settlement” by certain contractors.

Irish Pride to be sold
Irish Pride, the bakery owned by One51, is about to be sold to the Dublin-based Lloyd family that controls the Diacom telephony group, according to the Sunday Times.

The bid is led by Garret Lloyd and backed by his father William, the paper reports, while the price is likely to about €6 million with a performance-related element of up to a further €2 million.

Irish Pride, which employs 400 people, was ranked in AC Nielsen’s most recent report on the sector as Ireland’s fastest-growing breadmaker over a six-month period.

Ashley stake in store
Mike Ashley, the owner of Sports Direct, has bought an 11 per cent stake in House of Fraser in an attempt to derail the department store chain's sale to a Chinese conglomerate, reports the Sunday Telegraph .

Mr Ashley, the owner of Newcastle United football club, is understood by the newspaper to have acquired the stake from Scottish tycoon Sir Tom Hunter.

House of Fraser held a press conference in China on Friday to reveal that it had been bought by the Chinese group Sanpower in a deal that valued the retailer at £450 million.