One more thing

Residence back on the green; waves at a Cork ferry; sports consultancy pitches for business; big freeze hits McDonald’s profits

In full swing at Stephen's Green

OLIVIA GAYNOR-LONG is certainly putting here own stamp on the St Stephen’s Green-based private members club Residence, which she took over earlier this year.

A recent colourful note to members informed them that “an average 50 unsolicited new members” are joining each week. Membership will eventually be capped at 1,500 to maintain comfort, she said.

“Apart from an insurance perspective, which would be crippling, the only swinging at Residence will be the band,” Gaynor-Long told members.

Phew, that’s a relief.

But Gaynor-Long is hoping that members will be swinging at the first Residence Golf Society outing at Druids Glen on January 29th.

“Nothing like a communal hot toddy, out on the green, on a below par January day to get the heart going, or so they say.”

Members have also been offered the chance to beat the budget blues on December 9th at upmarket retailer Harvey Nichols in Dundrum, which is hosting an “exclusive” shopping event with discounts of up to 20 per cent.

“To help get this economy moving again, they tell us we have to spend and how better to do it than with impressive discounts. Keep the money in Ireland this season people and no skiving off to New Yawk.” Hear, hear to that.

Hopefully it will have stopped snowing by then. But, if not, sure it’s only a short hop across the Green to the Luas.

Gaynor-Long is “bursting” with other exciting plans.

“Tennis and racing club details to follow in addition to some very exciting plans that have turned me into a moonlight insomniac,” she added.

For now, she is urging members to think “gospel music, swing bands, sultry pianists and oh-not-so-sultry pianists, and of course concert violinists, because they are all coming to Residence in December.”

Groovy.

New sports consultancy lines up its first clients

IRISH SPORT might be feeling the pinch from the recession but that hasn't deterred former Platinum One chief executive Maeve Buckley and athlete agent David McHugh from launching a new consultancy business.

They have teamed up to found Line Up, which will specialise in sports, media and entertainment.

The pair plan to focus on consultancy, marketing communications, event management and athlete representation from offices in Dublin and London.

McHugh, a former team manager with Leinster Rugby and former professional sailor, has folded his Tri-Line Sports Solutions business into the new entity.

Tri-Line had several Irish rugby players on its books, including Leinster trio Rob Kearney, Leo Cullen and Fergus McFadden. Buckley, meanwhile, was part of Fintan Drury's team at Platinum One. She helped to expand its activities into Scotland and Spain, playing a role in organising Barcelona's pre-season football trips to Scotland and Real Madrid's high-profile visit to Tallaght last year to play a friendly against Shamrock Rovers.

Buckley will now effectively be competing with Drury, who has a number of Irish rugby players on his books. Line Up is kicking off with a decent corporate client base, including Dublin City Council, HSBC and Optimum Nutrition.

It will also represent former Irish rugby captain Malcolm O'Kelly, surfers Fergal Smith and Easkey Britton, and triathlete and Olympic hopeful Aileen Morrison.

Their website – lineupsme.com – went live this week and the pair are confident about Line Up's prospects. "We expect a turnover of about €400,000 in year one, given our existing clients and athlete base from Tri-Line Sports Solutions, and are pretty secure about that, despite the current economic climate," McHugh told me.

All things considered, that would represent a decent result.

Cork ferry faces Brussels test

IT SEEMS the success of the Cork-Swansea ferry since its relaunch in March hasn't gone down well with competitors.

Sources tell me that a complaint has been made to the European Commission about the new ferry service on State-aid grounds, although the identity of the complainant has not been revealed.

Presumably, it's either Stena Line or Irish Continental Group, which both operate ferry services to Wales from Rosslare, putting them in competition with the so-called "people's ferry".

To date Fastnet, which runs the service, has received substantial backing from Cork city and county councils, Kerry County Council, and local investors.

Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey also gave approval to the Port of Cork Company for it to purchase €200,000 worth of bonds from Fastnet. The aim was to give tourism in the southwest a €45 million shot in the arm.

Fastnet is in the final stages of closing a €1.3 million investment via a tax efficient Business Expansion Scheme.

Enterprise Ireland has also agreed in principle to invest €1 million in preference shares in this funding round. Enterprise Ireland declined to discuss its investment with me but said that it was being made on a normal "commercial basis".

For sure, Fastnet has proved popular with people in Cork and Swansea. It carried 60,000 up to the end of August and is projecting passenger numbers of 85,000 by year end in its investment prospectus.

At Rosslare, passenger and car traffic declined by 10 per cent in the first nine months of this year.

How much of this was due to the new Cork-Swansea ferry?

This is not clear but someone clearly wants to put it to the test in Brussels. It just remains to be seen if the commission decides there are grounds to investigate.

Winter weather taking its toll on profits at McDonald's

McDONALD'S IRELAND boss John Atherton isn't lovin' the snow of the past week. "It's knocked our business by 20 to 25 per cent or so," he told me yesterday, from his snowbound family home in Yorkshire.

"People aren't travelling so it's having a significant impact but most retail is suffering."

With business already tough after two years of recession, Atherton is also fearful that the government's four-year National Recovery Plan will further dampen consumer spending, particularly the proposal to raise VAT to 23 per cent by 2014.

"It's not going to make people spend more, is it?" Atherton asked, noting that France and Britain lowered VAT rates for restaurants to stimulate trade.

Atherton would also like clarity on plans to review the registered employment agreements and employment regulation orders – which set minimum wage rates in various sectors, including catering. This requires McDonald's to pay €9.31 an hour.

This is higher than the national minimum wage of €8.65 an hour, which is being cut by €1 an hour.

"It all seems very complicated. There just needs to be one minimum wage, in my opinion. We'd like clarity on the issue."

LITTLE THINGS

THE HARRY Crosbie-run Grand Canal Theatre appears to have been a box office hit since opening eight months ago.

A note to the accounts of Grand Canal Theatre Company Ltd, which were filed recently, states: "Management accounts prepared by qualified staff since trading commenced on March 18th, 2010, are reporting substantial profits with very strong box office sales and other third-party sales."

The 2,111-seat theatre, which hosted Chitty Chitty Bang Bangand the Russian State Ballet, posted a loss of €484,227 in the 14 months to the end of February.

This included costs of €198,527 for four staff employed ahead of its opening.

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It's been a busy week for Denis O'Brien and his Caribbean-based Digicel mobile phone group. It started with Digicel picking up the "Best Operator in a Developing Market" gong at the recent World Communications Awards.It beat off competition from Etisalat Misr, Ezecom, Gateway Communications, Orange and Viettel Cambodia.

Digicel won for its work in poverty-stricken Haiti, where it has invested $370 million (€280.4 million).

O'Brien also won the Jamaica Observer Business Leader Foreign Investor Award.

As if that wasn't enough, the Irishman was on the cusp of closing out an additional $300 million for his Caribbean business through a private placing.