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Doyle Collection results, St Stephen’s Green hotel plan and former SFA director pleads guilty

Business Today: the best news, analysis and comment from The Irish Times business desk

The Westbury Hotel in Dublin is among the Doyle Collection's properties

Peter Flanagan's face
Peter Flanagan
Wed Nov 2 2022 - 06:38

The Doyle Collection is one of the best known hospitality firms in Ireland, and as the pandemic ebbs, the owner of the Westbury Hotel is on the up again. Ciaran Hancock spoke to chairperson Bernie Gallagher.

There have been plenty of stories of firms rolling back on how much office space they need in Dublin amid the increase in blended working arrangements. Now, developers Charlie and Max O’Reilly Hyland are seeking to build a hotel at two buildings on St Stephen’s Green in Dublin, after a lack of interest in letting out the property as office space. Gordon Deegan reports.

Former Small Firms Association director Sven Spollen-Behrens has pleaded guilty to stealing more than €20,000 from two local business groups where he was chief executive. Barry O’Halloran and Isabel Hayes have been following the case.

He was arguably the face of the Government’s pandemic response. Now former chief medical officer Tony Holohan has taken up a role as a director of ACTG Vector, an Irish cell therapy company. Dominic Coyle reports.

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In her column, Sarah O’Connor reflects on the end of the era of cheap money and asks what will be the relics of the time as interest rates finally rise.

Whether insurance would cover a company’s losses arising from pandemic lockdowns was one of the big stories of the past couple of years. Now two of the four pub owners who successfully challenged FBD’s failure to pay out on business disruption cover have settled outstanding actions against the insurer.

Ukraine’s first lady Olga Zelenska called on delegates at this year’s Web Summit to help her country in its ongoing battle against Russia. Sean Duke is on the ground in Portugal.

MMA star Conor McGregor’s company has failed in its latest attempt to trademark his name in the EU, after a Dutch-based firm’s objection was upheld. Gordon has the story.

Losses after tax at Norman Crowley’s Cool Planet group of climate change-focused companies narrowed last year. Ian Curran has seen the accounts.

Staying with company accounts, developer Ken Rohan’s main company saw profits fall about 75 per cent last year, although, as Mark Paul reports, the company still has property assets of more than €150 million and no bank debt.

The company behind the Temple Bar pub expects to return to profit this year after narrowing losses in the previous 12 months. Gordon Deegan reports.

Former staff at construction firm Roadbridge which collapsed earlier this year have gone to the Workplace Relations Commission to seek Irish redundancy conditions instead of the UK terms they were given. Stephen Bourke was there.

Netflix is cancelling the drama Fate: The Winx Saga, which was made at Ardmore Studios. Laura Slattery has the story.

Pharmaceutical giant MSD Ireland has opened a new manufacturing facility in Swords, Co Dublin, to increase supply of its blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda. Colin Gleeson has the details.

In commercial property, Ronald Quinlan reports on the decision by the owner of Dublin’s Westin Hotel to seek a tenant for a former AIB branch on Westmoreland Street next to the hotel, while a portfolio of 35 apartments and 8 townhouses on Stillorgan Road in Dublin is on the market for €24 million.

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