News

Our team has summarised the key developments for NI businesses in the news this week.

Co Down climbing frame manufacturer goes into administration - A Co Down manufacturer of children’s outdoor play equipment has gone into administration, placing 21 jobs at risk. Gilford-based NI Retailers Ltd, which trades as NI Climbing Frames, has appointed Michael Drumm of CavanaghKelly as administrator. (Source - BBC News) 

Screening firms in north post £560 million in global sales - Northern Ireland - and in particular Mid-Ulster - has underlined its position as the global hub for the design and manufacture of world-leading materials handling and recycling equipment. For in the space of just a few weeks, four companies in the sector,  have filed annual results with Companies House which show their combined turnover has soared to £560 million and gross profit is more than £80 million. And between them the four companies - which is just a snapshot of those in the sector - provide jobs for 2,200 people and pay annual wages of around £80 million. (Source - The Irish News) 

Kingsbridge opens new outpatients centre in Ballykelly as part of £6m investment to create 80 jobs. (Source - The Irish News)

Greiner announce £10m investment in Dungannon packaging plant - The Dungannon plastics company behind the modern Quality Street box has announced a £10 million expansion programme as part of its goal of becoming a £100m operation in the next three years. The announcement by Greiner Packaging on Tuesday came as the company, formerly known as Wilsanco, marked 50 years in business in Co Tyrone. (Source - The Irish News) 

Newry construction firm Felix O’Hare annexed the top prize at the 2022 CEF Excellence Awards for its work on building the new £70 million PwC headquarters in the centre of Belfast. (Source - The Irish News)

Clanmil Housing has secured £100 million in investment from three UK and US private funders to deliver 1,400 homes in Northern Ireland over the next four years, which it anticipates will create 950 construction jobs and support 1,450 other jobs in the supply chain. (Source - The Irish News)

Fashion and lifestyle brand Joules has said it is considering a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) restructuring process as part of its turnaround plans. (Source - Independent) 

NI motor dealer (Agnew Group) returns furlough money after bumper profits (Source - Belfast Telegraph)

 

The Economy

PM Liz Truss has announced another U-turn in her government's tax-cut plan, in an effort to reassure financial markets - Truss says she will reverse her plan to scrap an increase in corporation tax and admits the government's mini-budget had gone "faster and further" than many expected. It comes after the PM sacked her chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, and replaced him with former health and foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt (Source - BBC News)

Fresh data points to deterioration in jobs market - Figures from HMRC show that the number of people in jobs in the north in September actually fell for the first time in more than a year. The payroll of 780,800 is 0.1 per cent lower than August, though still 2.6 per cent higher than the same month last year. (Source - The Irish News)

Rics: House price inflation easing in north amid lower demand – The pace of house price inflation in Northern Ireland is easing amid lower demand, a new market survey suggests. The latest residential market survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) and Ulster Bank indicated prices continued to rise over the third quarter of 2022.  But the September survey detected that the pace of price growth slowed for the fourth month running. (Source - The Irish News) 

The pound fell again after the Bank of England governor warned its emergency support package for the markets would end today. (Source - The Evening Standard)