Festive shopping boom; INM plays for time; and dealing with work-shy colleagues

Irish consumersreturned to shops in strong numbers for a spending spree in December as soon as the State's second Level 5 lockdown was lifted, according to data released by the digital payments platform, Revolut. Mark Paul reports that spending was 6 per cent ahead of December 2019, with two-thirds of transactions taking place physically in store

Independent News and Media is trying to stall a case that is being taken against it and its former chairman, Leslie Buckley, by two former executives whose personal data was allegedly hacked at the newspaper publisher. Mark has the details

He also writes that the construction industryfinished 2020 in "expansion mode" fuelled by housebuilding, according to the authors of Ulster Bank's construction purchasing managers index. But the latest Level 5 restrictions will dent optimism which had been at its highest since February.

Nama owns 1,372 social housing properties, all of which are leased directly to approved housing bodies or local authorities, new figures show. But, writes Eoin Burke-Kennedy, there are questions about what will happen the properties when Nama is wound up.

Nama leases almost 1,400 social housing units for €12m a year

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Pilita Clark: Workers shirking are more than just a nuisance

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Hauliers using North to avoid State’s Brexit checks

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Veraison sells most of its remaining stake in Aryzta

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Clare-based HR software company HRLocker plans to hire 50 people to deal with the pandemic-fuelled move to remote working in a move that will double the size of its workforce.

Chris Johns draws on the experience of investors and risk to argue that the decision by some countries to opt for a single dose vaccine strategy for the Covid-19 virus – or rather a far longer gap between does than had been tested in trials – makes sense. The more Covid-19 cases there are, the greater the potential payoff from pursuing a one-dose regime, he says, adding that a decision either way involves risk.

Pilita Clark returns for the new year and throws a harsh light on the "cunning minimalist", the workshy colleague who avoids much of the daily grind but is always there for the glory jobs that curry favour with bosses. Merely resented in normal times, they now pose a danger that management can no longer avoid as the rest of us juggle with the stress of working through the hardship of pandemic.

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