CPL in spotlight over CEO pay, Medlab profits, and the cost of playing the markets

A leading shareholder advisory firm has raised questions about recruitment company CPL Resources awarding a pay increase of more than a 25 per cent to its chief executive, Anne Heraty, without providing a sufficient justification for investors in the recruitment company's annual report. Joe Brennan has the background.

Joe also reports that former Smurfit Kappa chief executive Gary McGann has filed a court case against Revenue, a month after the businessman lost an appeal against the tax treatment of €2.3 million of payments which he asserted were a gift from the cardboard-box maker's one-time private-equity owners.

A lab firm being sued in the High Court by several women concerning alleged failings in the HSE's CervicalCheck programme last year increased its revenues here by 12 per cent to €9.238 million. Sandyford-based MedLab Pathology Ltd has been named as a co-defendant in High Court actions concerning CervicalCheck but, in new accounts, the company's directors state that ongoing legal cases do not affect its ability to continue as a going concern due to insurance cover it retains.

Despite the seeming need to train people in supply chain management in the face of Brexit, Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports that the Dublin-based Institute of Purchasing and Materials Management has been forced to cancel its academic programmes and cease operating after racking up debts of nearly €500,000. At its peak in the 1990s, the institute had up to 400 students enrolled in over 10 certificate, diploma and degree courses.

US warns tariffs may rise in December without final China trade deal

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Ex-Smurfit Kappa chief sues Revenue after €2.3m ‘gift’ dispute

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The key questions about Boris Johnson’s Brexit customs plan

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Government not doing enough to support start-ups, survey finds

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The operators of the Kilkenny shop and restaurant in the Setanta Centre in Nassau Street, Dublin, fear the redevelopment of the centre will completely undermine that outlet if implemented in full, it has been claimed in Commercial Court proceedings.

Sales of RTÉ shows Taken Down, Hardy Bucks and Operation Transformation last year contributed to RTÉ's commercial arm increasing its pre-tax profits by 22 per cent to €8.89 million.

Lego is looking at whether it could offer a rental service to fans of its brightly coloured plastic building bricks, in a sign of how traditional business models are evolving as consumers press for more environmentally friendly products.

In personal finance coverage this week, Peter Hamilton finds out what fees you face if you want to invest in the stock market, while Dominic Coyle answers a reader's query on eligibility for the medical card following changes in Budget 2020.

Finally, in her media and marketing column, Laura Slattery defends the popularity of the quiz show format.

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