One more thing

CIARÁN HANCOCKon the crisp adventure that beckons for Ray Coyle; Dunnes seeing a profit in the UK; the DAA's way with words and things being fit to print again in Tallaght...

Mr Tayto set for theme park ride

CRISP KING Ray Coyle is planning to press ahead with plans to open a Tayto theme park in Ashbourne in spite of the credit crunch.

“I hope to open it next August,” he told me earlier this week.

Tentatively called Tayto World, the park will house a range of animals – from bison to bears and mountain lions – on a 55-acre site close to his crisp factory in the Meath town.

Coyle has already built two lakes on the site. It will also have 4.5km of walkways, a range of children’s rides, an “Indian village” and the usual assortment of cafes and restaurants.

“It’ll take a full day to bring the kids around it,” Coyle said excitedly.

Coyle is a modern-day Willy Wonka, working the angles to generate publicity for his Tayto and Hunky Dory brands, which are owned by his Largo Foods group.

He recently published Mr Tayto's autobiography, The Man Inside the Jacket. It was the best-selling book in Ireland last week.

The theme park is costing €8 million and Coyle will need to get 200,000 people through the gates to break even.

Coyle said he would fund it through his own resources and was hoping to get clearance for a BES scheme to bring other investors on board.

But there would be “no banks” involved, he told me. “They only know one word – ‘no’,” he added.

Coyle said he hoped the park would employ about 120 people in the busy summer months and was projecting revenue of €2.8 million a year.

“It’ll take about two years to get to profit,” he said. “It’s a really exciting thing to do. We’ll try and use the brands to promote the park.”

Coyle’s timing could work in his favour. In Wednesday’s Budget, Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan announced a three-fold increase to €22 million in funding for visitor attractions, to help boost tourism.

Tayto World sounds like just the ticket.

Echo of times past as Kennedy buys back Tallaght title

NEWSPAPER PUBLISHER David Kennedy is back in the game after buying back the Tallaght Echofrom Johnston Press.

The Scots are getting less than €1 million for the business, having paid a multiple of that in 2005 to buy it as part of the Leinster Leader group of regional titles. That deal closed just days after Kennedy had sold the Echoto the Leinster Leader for a cool €5 million.

Still, Johnston Press has done well to get a deal done in the current climate. It was advised by Key Capital in Dublin.

I understand Kennedy plans to hire seven staff to fill roles in production, administration and sales that had been centralised as part of Johnston Press’s stable of 13 Irish regional titles.

He will also have to arrange a new printing contract. The Echo, which produces local editions for Lucan, Clondalkin and Ballyfermot, will return to being published every Thursday.

The paper has stagnated in recent years. In its heyday, it had an ABC circulation of 12,000. Today, it is fewer than 9,000. Revenues have declined by about one-third to €1.5 million and it is losing money.

Johnston Press is probably glad to be shot of the Tallaght paper. The Scots paid €260 million for its Irish assets, which are now worth only a fraction of that sum. An attempt to sell the Irish assets earlier this year flopped.

The sale of the Echocould mark the start of Johnston's retreat from the Irish market.

If words were air miles, DAA would be exceedingly rich

MICHAEL O’LEARY never tires of aiming a dig at the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), so he must have had a chuckle or two on hearing that the State airport manager had won a Golden Bull gong as part of the latest awards by the Plain English Campaign.

The DAA landed the gobbledygook prize for a 109-word clause in a contractors’ contract.

“Neither the execution and delivery by the consultant of this agreement nor the consummation by it of any of the transactions contemplated hereby, requires, with respect to it, the consent or approval of the giving of notice to, the registration, with the record or filing of any document with, or the taking of any other action in respect of any government authority, except such as are not yet required (as to which it has no reason to believe that the same will not be readily obtainable in the ordinary course of business upon due application therefore) or which have been duly obtained and are in full force and effect.”

It puts the ream of terms and conditions with every Ryanair booking into the shade.

UK business proves profitable for Dunnes

THE LATEST accounts for Dunnes Stores' UK arm shine a little light on the trading performance and financial health of the secretive Irish retailer.

Dunnes Stores (UK) Ltd boosted its pretax profit by 41 per cent last year to £2.2 million, in spite of a 17 per cent dip in sales. Turnover fell to £29.3 million in the 53 weeks to the end of January 2009. This compared with £35.1 million in the previous year, which covered 52 weeks. Its accumulated profits stood at £14.3 million at the end of last January, while its net debt was £34.6 million.

Dunnes kept a tight rein on its costs in the UK last year. Its sales costs fell by 23 per cent, while its distribution expenses were 13 per cent lower. Dunnes cut staff numbers to 454 from 592, with its wages bill declining by 15 per cent to £4.8 million.

A defined-benefit pension scheme, jointly operated with its Northern Ireland arm, had a deficit of £1.2 million at the end of January.

Dunnes' UK arm lists Frank Dunne and Magaret Heffernan as its directors. They were paid a dividend of £268,353 last year, roughly half the level of the previous financial period.

"The board is pleased with current trading," the Dunnes directors stated.

I doubt they could say the same about their Irish operation.

The little things

UK department store House of Fraser has decided to follow the lead of its retail counterparts by opening its shop in Dundrum Town Centre on St Stephen’s Day.

A decision was made by the company earlier this week. Next is so far the only other retailer in Dundrum to have confirmed that it will open for business on December 26th.

House of Fraser is following the lead of Arnotts, Clerys and Debenhams, who all plan to open in the city this year on that day.

*****

Tesco Ireland has axed its Christmas parties this year. Chief executive Tony Keohane wrote to pensioners on December 3rd to break the bad news to them.

“We have reluctantly made the decision that it would be inappropriate to have any parties this year,” he said.

“I’m sorry for the disappointment, but hope you will understand the reason for our decision.”

Earlier this year, the pensioners were told they would not be getting a pay rise on July 1st.

*****

Attention all couch potatoes. Cable TV company Chorus NTL is offering a free Samsung television or a €250 voucher to anyone who signs up to its triple-play offering of TV, broadband and phone services by January 15th in DID Electrical.

It’s the latest marketing ploy by parent company UPC Ireland as it seeks to get a return on its €1 billion investment in the business.

DID is the latest retailer to cut a deal with Chorus NTL. Carphone Warehouse, Woodies and Atlantic Homecare are already pushing its products in-store.