Little things

IT’S BEEN another good week for financier Dómhnal Slattery. On Tuesday, he sealed a deal with Boeing for 12 737 jets with a list price of $920 million (€713 million), for his aircraft leasing business Avolon.

Slattery secured an impressive €1.4 billion in capital for Avolon earlier this year, and expects to raise another $1 billion-plus in 2011 to expand the business.

But his executive jet business, JetBird, remains grounded. “It’s not dead,” he told me this week from the Farnborough Air Show. “It’s pending a strategic review. [The launch] is not going to happen anytime soon.”

It is understood that JetBird’s chief executive, Dane Stefan Vilner, is planning to move on to pursue other opportunities.

******

Innovo Training Development and the Institute of Technology Tallaght have received €280,000 in funding to launch the Enterprise Evolution Programme.

The funding was secured under the €20 million Labour Market Activation Fund to stimulate job creation.

Innovo was one of just four private companies to win a tender.

*****

The Dublin Horse Show jumps into action from August 4th. Figures from consultants Indecon this week showed the show made a direct €18.3 million contribution to the economy last year, with visitors spending €3 million. Ride on.