Steady on Mr Robinson, it's just another supermarket

BELFAST BRIEFING:Any job is welcome in the North, but it'll take more than Tesco to rebuild the economy

EVERY LITTLE helps when it comes to the local economy, or at least that appears to be the message First Minister Peter Robinson is keen to get across this week.

Why else would he declare the simple opening of a new supermarket in Craigavon yesterday as a “vote of confidence” in Northern Ireland?

Will the British supermarket group in question help grow the “dynamic, innovative economy” which he aspires to?

It is true that Tesco’s new multimillion-pound Extra store in Craigavon could create an additional 183 jobs for the area and it did generate 150 temporary construction jobs. But at the end of the day it is still just another supermarket.

In that context Robinson’s declaration that the new store constitutes “a boost to our economy” seems a little overexcited.

Perhaps if it was a cutting edge, high-tech, research and development centre with the potential one day to create hundreds of highly paid jobs, it might be easier to share his enthusiasm. But the fact remains that Tesco’s decision to invest and expand its existing operation is very welcome.

The new jobs that the British supermarket giant has pledged to deliver are not to be sniffed at particularly given the latest unemployment statistics.

A job is a job in the North today regardless of the sector, the industry, the position or the salary it commands.

As latest official government figures show, jobs are becoming increasingly difficult to come by – the number of people claiming jobless benefits in the North rose to 58,500 last month.

It is also estimated that the total number of people out of work between September to November last year soared to around 65,000 – which represented a rise of 7,000 over the quarter and 10,000 over the year.

Perhaps in that context it explains why Robinson is more than happy to turn up on a chilly Monday morning at the opening of a new supermarket. But according to one of the North’s youngest business leaders, grim unemployment prospects are not just an issue for political leaders.

Ian Coulter, who at 39 has just become the youngest ever vice-chairman of the Confederation of British Industry in the North, says that if politicians and the business community work together they can deliver real results for everyone’s benefit.

He says there is more dialogue between the two sides than ever, which can only be a good thing.

“They are willing to listen, the interface is getting better and we are building on that relationship. They have to deliver and business in turn has to live up to its side of the bargain – helping to create prosperity and jobs,” Coulter says.

He is well known in Belfast as the go-to man for major management buyouts and buy-ins. As managing partner of Tughans Solicitors he has handled some of the biggest institutional and private equity deals in recent years.

His recent list of work includes the sale of Belfast-based Lagan Technologies to the California-based Kana Software, a transaction that was estimated to be worth more than £29 million.

Coulter has also been involved in major financing deals for the likes of Fusion Antibodies, the bio-pharmaceutical company and handling sales such as that of apt-X to the British chip-to-wireless technology group CSR.

He believes business organisations such as the CBI can help better position the North to take advantage of its strengths and eventually ride out the economic downturn.

Coulter says CBI’s expertise covers many different sectors and it represents people who are responsible for tens of thousands of jobs in local companies.

He says the organisation can help stimulate economic debate about the best way forward and put realistic suggestions about how to achieve the changes that will improve the structure of the local economy.

Coulter says that neither he nor anyone else in the CBI is under any illusion about how difficult it will be for the North in the short term.

“We will be the last part of the UK to come out of the recession and if you put this together with the fact that we will be impacted by the Republic’s economic problems then we have to find a solution, we have to find ways of helping local companies,” Coulter adds.

Whether this is by reducing the current rate of corporation tax, which the CBI is in favour of, or securing other stimulus packages is up for debate.

But Coulter is surprisingly optimistic about prospects in the long term.

“The nature of business is changing; Northern Ireland companies are becoming much more international, much more complex.

“There is a lot to do but we are on the right track, like the rest of the world we have been diverted by the downturn, but we can grow, we have brilliant entrepreneurs and great family-owned businesses in Northern Ireland.”