The Bottom Line on KCLR

In this episode of The Bottom Line, we hear from Martin O'Brien, Head of Irish Economic Analysis at the Central Bank of Ireland, who joined John to discuss some of the key points in their latest quarterly bulletin which was released during the week.

In this weeks episode of The Bottom Line on KCLR, John Purcell was joined by Alan Seery of O’Neill Foley Chartered Accountants to chat through some of the business news and issues from the week.

Italo Andrade spoke with John about his business – digital business cards.  Italo explained how they work, how they can help save money for businesses and individuals and, how he’s seeking both resellers and investors.

Earlier this week the launch of the County Carlow Chamber of Commerce Business Awards 2023 took place at The Exchange in Carlow. John Purcell was at the event and while there he spoke with the newly elected President of Carlow Chamber of Commerce Rowena Dooley.

Economist Jim Power joined John to discuss how business and the economy has been faring over the first six months of 2023 and what he thinks will be the issues and influences shaping the rest of the year.

To contact the show, email: thebottomline@kclr96fm.com

In this episode of The Bottom Line on KCLR, Samantha McCaughren, Business Editor of the Sunday Independent joined John Purcell, to chat through some of the business stories from the week.

Google has announced that starting on July 1st, 2023, the standard Universal Analytics will stop working and, to understand what this means for any business using Google Analytics to guide their ecommerce strategy, John spoke with John Foy, Creative Director at Carlow based, Stratticus Studio about what you need to know and what you need to do.

During the week the Central Bank of Ireland released their second quarterly bulletin of the year and to discuss what has been going on in the Irish Economy and what lies ahead for the rest of the year, John spoke with Martin O’Brien, Head of Irish Economic Analysis at the Central Bank of Ireland.

Climate change is an ongoing subject of concern and while many businesses are well on the road to making their businesses more sustainable there are many others who have put off the necessary changes that have to be made to decrease their carbon footprints. Gillian Peters, Chief Executive of Pragmatica spoke with John about how her organisation works with businesses large and small to devise and implement strategies and prepare for a future where becoming climate friendly won’t be just a choice for business but will also be something which they will have to do to comply with a range of statutory requirements which are coming down the track.

To contact the show, email: thebottomline@kclr96fm.com

This week, John Purcell presented The Bottom Line live from Arboretum in Leighlinbridge, Carlow for a special programme at the launch of well known local entrepreneur Rachel Doyle’s book - “My Tree of Life”.

Rachel along with her husband Frank and sons Barry and Fergal chatted with John about their business, working as a family, the challenges and successes along the way, and the hopes that Rachels story will inspire others.

Throughout the evening, John caught up with some of the guests in attendance who shared their stories of Rachel and her impact on the business community locally and beyond.

To contact the show, email: thebottomline@kclr96fm.com

This week on The Bottom Line on KCLR, John Purcell was joined by Lorcan Allen, Business Editor for the Business Post, to chat through some of the business stories from the week.

With staff recruitment and retention a big business issue that has shot right to the top of the agenda of many businesses, John spoke with John Hurley, CEO of Kilkenny Chamber of Commerce and John O ’Shanahan, Managing Director of Lean BPI about an event on the theme of recruitment and retention which is taking place in Kilkenny next Thursday, and is being hosted by Kilkenny Local Enterprise Office in association with Kilkenny Chamber of Commerce.

Gerry Duffy last spoke with John on The Bottom Line in January about goal setting for 2023 and, as we approach the halfway point in the year, John caught up with Gerry to get some advice on what to do if you had set yourself some goals at the start of the year but have wandered a bit off course. 

Riverbend Adventures a kayaking tourist company based in Kilkenny was set up by Roger McClure along with his son David McClure. Roger joined John in studio to tell us more about the business and how it came about from his passion for Kayaking.

To contact the show, email: thebottomline@kclr96fm.com

This week on The Bottom Line on KCLR, John Purcell was joined by communications consultant and former business editor of the Irish Independent, Maeve Dineen to discuss some of the business news stories from the week.

Jimmy Sheehan, Managing Director at Contracting PLUS joined John to chat about blended workforces and the recently released study “Ireland’s Project Economy 2023” -  a collaboration between Contracting PLUS and Trinity Business School which examines  the extent and nature of working as a self-employed contractor or freelancer in Ireland.

Earlier this week the latest Consumer Sentiment Index for May was released and to provide an insight into the findings of the report and understand why consumer confidence is an important barometer, John was joined by Economist Austin Hughes.

With The Cat Laughs festival kicking off this weekend, John chatted to Cat Laughs Founder Richard Cook to talk about the business of comedy festivals and what he’s learned over almost 30 years of producing some of the best festivals around.

To contact the show, email: thebottomline@kclr96fm.com

Jimmy Sheehan, Managing Director at Contracting PLUS joined John to chat about blended workforces and the recently released study “Ireland’s Project Economy 2023” -  a collaboration between Contracting PLUS and Trinity Business School which examines  the extent and nature of working as a self-employed contractor or freelancer in Ireland.

In this episode of The Bottom Line on KCLR, John Purcell was joined by Laura Slattery of The Irish Times to discuss the business news stories making the headlines this week. 

TradeBridge is a new organisation established with the support of Local Authorities and other business development organisations across the South East. Its purpose is to develop trade links between South East Ireland and South East Georgia, USA. This week a delegation of business leaders from Savannah in Georgia were in this area and John Coleman, incoming Chair of the World Trade Centre in Savannah and Claire McInerny Brown, Chief Executive of TradeBridge spoke with John to tell us more about how business links between the South East of Ireland and the South East of Georgia, first established almost two hundred years ago are being revived in the 21st century. 

Liam Anthony Griffin, a Director of Griffin Hotel Group spoke with John about how their business has been on a long running sustainability journey and to discuss the recently announced details of its achievements in developing a Solar Farm adjacent to the Monart Destination Spa in Wexford, a project which they hope will ultimately provide all the electricity for all the hotels in the group.

Dan O’ Connor of The Hot Box Sauna, chatted to John about how the idea to develop a range of sauna locations around the lakes & shores of Ireland came about and their latest venture on the banks of the Barrow on the Carlow Kilkenny border in Graiguenamanagh.  

To contact the show, email: thebottomline@kclr96fm.com

In this episode of The Bottom Line on KCLR, John Purcell was joined by Colin Duggan, President of County Carlow Chamber of Commerce, to chat through some of the business news stories and issues from the week.

Founder of Arboretum, Rachel Doyle joined John to tell us why it’s a great idea to have plants in an office or business, she chatted about Arboretum’s third outlet “Arboretum Urban Green”, and she also provided a sneak preview of her soon to be published book.

Colin Hayes, UK and Ireland Managing Director of local company Netwatch spoke with John about the business and the work they do, as well as a new system they’ve launched to protect retailers and other public facing staff.

Simon O’Dwyer, Managing Director of threesixty joined John in studio to give us the latest on his company, their journey from office to home working to hybrid, a journey that many in business are still wondering which route to take.

To contact the show, email: thebottomline@kclr96fm.com

This week on The Bottom Line on KCLR, Colin Ahern was filling in for John Purcell and was joined by Economist Jim Power who provided insights and analysis into the economy.

Bryan Corden, Founder & Director of Deycom Computer Services chatted to Colin about his organisation and the work they do, as well as the upcoming Tech Summit which takes place in Carlow on the 31st May and will cover topics such as cyber security, AI in business, and mobile technology.

Ronan Murphy of Vision Green Consultancy spoke to Colin about sustainability in business, with insights into what is a good starting point for organisations who want to reduce their carbon footprint, the grants and supports available as well what will be required from businesses in the coming years to meet regulatory requirements.

Jason Morrissey of Kilkenny Cycling Tours chatted to Colin about his business which provides cycling tours as well as also providing cycling safety education. Jason spoke about starting the business in 2010, the impacts of Covid-19 on his business and teaching people how to cycle.

To contact the show, email: thebottomline@kclr96fm.com

This week on The Bottom Line on KCLR John Purcell was joined by Simon Coveney, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to speak about the challenges and opportunities facing businesses and to discuss a range of issues such as Brexit, the Environment & the regulation of Artificial Intelligence. 

With the motor industry being such a big employer and contributor to the local economy John spoke with Brian Cooke, Director General of the Society of the Irish Motor Industry, about the latest monthly motor trade figures and what they tell us about the state of the motor industry nationally and locally.

Chef Conor Higgins joined John to chat about the recently opened Higgs Field Restaurant, and how he’s travelled from Kilkenny to Canada and back again as he’s honed his culinary skills to bring us a vegetarian restaurant using locally farmed and foraged ingredients.

To contact the show, email: thebottomline@kclr96fm.com

This week on The Bottom Line on KCLR, John Purcell was joined by Lorcan Allen, Business Editor for the Business Post, to discuss some of the business news from the week.

Gail Daniels, owner of Bó Bar Soap, chatted to John about starting up her soap making business during Covid, how the idea for Bó Bar Soap came to be, and catering for market segments from people with eczema to grease and oil covered mechanics.

During the week Kilkenny based fintech company CR Payroll Solutions, announced the creation of 40 new jobs over the next 18 months. The announcement was made as Minister of State for Financial Services, Insurance and Credit Unions Jennifer Carroll MacNeill,  visited the company. Helen Dooley, Director of Sales and Marketing for CR Payroll Solutions joined John to tell us more about the company and the work they do.

Business in The Community Ireland Chief Executive Tomás Sercovich, joined John to tell us about Business in the Community Ireland and the work they do with businesses to support them with sustainability, corporate social responsibility, and diversity.

To contact the show, email: thebottomline@kclr96fm.com

This week on The Bottom Line on KCLR, Norah Ryan, Owner & Managing Director of Barrow Training & Consultancy spoke with John about her own business, some of the issues facing small businesses at present as well as to chat through some of the business stories from the week.

Seán Manicle of Manicle Property Insurance Claims joined John to discuss business insurance, the importance of ensuring that your property is not under insured, what business owners should look out for when renewing their policies and the common pitfalls that happen for businesses when they are making an insurance claim.

Nicki Hoyne, Founder & Designer of The Nicki Hoyne Collection chatted to John about developing & launching her own brand of footwear and handbags, retail post Covid, how her business has expanded and having her collection stocked in high end stores in Los Angeles and beyond.

With the consultation process about traffic changes underway in Kilkenny John spoke with John Hurley, CEO of Kilkenny Chamber of Commerce about Kilkenny’s Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan –what's the role of business in making adjustments on how we get from A to B to C in order to tackle the climate emergency?

With thanks to Carlow & Kilkenny Local Enterprise Offices

To contact the show, email: thebottomline@kclr96fm.com

In this week's episode of The Bottom Line on KCLR,  John Purcell was joined by Séamus Marnane, Founder of Catering Innovation Agency to chat through some of the business issues and stories from the week.

Breda O’Connor of Systems and Software Solutions chats to John about Excel and how we can be more productive when we are using Excel. Breda also provides some useful tips and advice on how to make Excel work for you.

Ciarán Stone CEO of Square Root Solutions the locally based company which was recently named Business All-Star App Development Company Of The Year 2023 by the All-Ireland Business Foundation chatted to John about his business, how the world of apps has grown and expanded and about how his business is doing.

Diversity in business is a very current topic, however one area that is often overlooked when it comes to talking about diversity is neurodiversity and, with estimates putting the number of people considered Neurodivergent at 1 in 7 in Ireland there’s a lot to learn.  Jeanette Delahunty, Owner of TSK Academy Ltd spoke with John about neurodiversity, understanding what it means and explains more about hidden disabilities. She also chatted about how her business works with organisations to provide support and education about neurodiversity in the workplace.   

With thanks to Carlow & Kilkenny Local Enterprise Offices

To contact the show, email: thebottomline@kclr96fm.com

This week on The Bottom Line on KCLR, John Purcell was joined by Laura Slattery of The Irish Times to chat through some of the business stories in the news. 

Last Thursday was a red-letter day for Tirlán and for the Abbey Quarter in Kilkenny with the official opening of Tirlan’s Headquarters and Collaboration hub by Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Simon Coveney. After the official opening ceremony John sat down with Tirlán CEO Jim Bergin, to talk about how the business has developed over the years, new ways of working and doing business, how Agri Business can help address the climate emergency and what the company has planned for the future.

John Mulcahy, Business Advisor with the Local Enterprise Office in Kilkenny & Denis Casey of Casey Business Consulting spoke with John about starting your own business. They chat through the importance of market research, putting your idea in writing by creating a business plan as well as financial planning. 

Sarah McGree, Owner & Founder of The Wild Grazer joined John to chat about starting her business during the Covid-19 pandemic, how the business has developed over the past few years and recently being named Cake Designer of The Year at the weddingsonline Awards 2023.

With thanks to Carlow & Kilkenny Local Enterprise Offices

To contact the show, email: thebottomline@kclr96fm.com

This week on The Bottom Line on KCLR, Economist Jim Power joined John Purcell to discuss the latest on the banking sector as well as providing insights on the economy and inflation.

John Ryan, Global CEO of Healthy Place to Work, spoke with John about their recently released research on health and wellbeing in the workplace and what the learnings are for people who manage businesses.

On Thursday, John attended the official opening of the Patrick Joseph gallery and showroom at the Castle Yard in Kilkenny City and while there, John chatted to Patrick Joseph Brennan to hear the inspiring story of how the business began and all about the craft of knife making.

Tony Kelly, Director of Pro-Tray spoke with John about starting his career as an electrician one week after leaving school to last week going on to win the top award at the Carlow Digital Awards for his invention.  

With thanks to Carlow & Kilkenny Local Enterprise Offices

To contact the show, email: thebottomline@kclr96fm.com

This week on The Bottom Line on KCLR, to discuss some of business news from the week Colin Ahern was joined by Morwenna Coniam, Dublin Bureau Chief at Bloomberg News.

Trade Local.ie is a newly launched business and classified website which is aimed at encouraging people to support local and shop local. Ray O’Shaughnessy of Trade local.ie chatted to Colin, about starting up the website, how it works and plans for the future.

Brian Kelly, Chief Executive of Kilkenny based company MindAClient, joined Colin to tell us more about the organisation, how it has evolved since it first began 21 years ago and the launch of their latest product “Wellbeing in the Workplace”.

John Hurley, CEO of Kilkenny Chamber of Commerce and Rowena Dooley, Vice President of County Carlow Chamber of Commerce spoke with Colin about the recent St. Patricks Day parade festivities across Carlow & Kilkenny and the importance of such events to our local economies. 

With thanks to Carlow & Kilkenny Local Enterprise Offices

To contact the show, email: thebottomline@kclr96fm.com

This week on The Bottom Line on KCLR Colin Ahern, spoke with Martin O’Brien, Head of Irish Economic Analysis at Central Bank of Ireland about their recently published first quarterly bulletin of 2023. 

Ashling Ward, Network Manager at Carlow Kilkenny Skillnet joined Colin to chat about a new course available to businesses - “Certificate in Strategic and Operational Management" which was launched last week by Carlow Kilkenny Skillnet, Waterford Chamber Skillnet, and Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) Mobility & Supply Chain Skillnet in collaboration with South East Technological University (SETU). 

Paul Whitnell, President & Founder of British & Irish Trading Alliance(BITA) spoke with Colin about the work that BITA do, how the organisation began, how this has developed throughout the years and the value of networking events.

Local Enterprise Week was a busy week across Carlow & Kilkenny with numerous events happening both locally as well as online, Kieran Comerford, Head of Economic Development & Enterprise at Carlow Local Enterprise Office & Aileen McGrath, Acting Head of Enterprise, at Kilkenny Local Enterprise Office joined Colin to chat about some of the highlights from the week as well as speaking about the outlook for SME’s and future entrepreneurs.

With thanks to Carlow & Kilkenny Local Enterprise Offices

To contact the show, email: thebottomline@kclr96fm.com

This week on The Bottom Line on KCLR, Colin Ahern was filling in for John Purcell and was joined by Marion Acreman, Centre Manager at MacDonagh Junction Shopping Centre to chat through some of the business stories from the week.

Local Enterprise week was running throughout the country since Monday, and while there were many events taking place locally some of the highlights from the week were the Student Enterprise Awards in Carlow & Kilkenny as well as the Carlow County Final of the National Enterprise Awards. 

Edwina Grace went along to the Student Enterprise Awards in both Carlow & Kilkenny and caught up with the senior county winners - Monarch Gymwear, Tullow Community School, and The Gaming Guard, Grennan College, Thomastown. While on Thursday, Software & Technology Company Forest Rock Technologies was named Carlow Enterprise of the Year at the Carlow County final of the National Enterprise awards and Philip Clarke, Managing Director joined Colin to tell us more about their business and what the win meant to them.

Denyse Campbell, President of the Irish Hotels Federation joined Colin to chat about sustainability in the Hotel & Tourism Industry and why there is a lot more to sustainability than just being “green”.

Ciara Gleeson, Marketing Manager at EZ Living Furniture chatted to Colin about their recent success at the Digital Business Ireland National Digital Awards, with EZ Living Furniture being crowned winner of National Website of the Year as well as picking up the award for Medium Website of the year for the second year in a row. 

With thanks to Carlow & Kilkenny Local Enterprise Offices

To contact the show, email: thebottomline@kclr96fm.com

Filling in for John Purcell on The Bottom Line this week was Deirdre Dromey, and to chat through some of the business news from the week she was joined by Brian O’Farrell, CEO of County Carlow Chamber of Commerce. Brian also chatted through their “Member’s Green Initiative” and their upcoming events.

"Twenty Questions" our feature which gives you the chance to get the know the individuals behind the businesses and organisations within our communities across Carlow & Kilkenny was back this week, and our latest guest was Róisín McQuillan, Administrator & Business Development Officer at Kilkenny Chamber of Commerce.

On Thursday, Minister Neale Richmond, Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment met a range of local businesspeople in Kilkenny and our Edwina Grace spoke with the Minister to hear more about the visit.

Announced during the Ministers visit to Kilkenny was Taxback International’s strategic partnership with WTS Global and Edwina spoke to Terry Clune, CEO of CluneTech and founder of Taxback International, Joe Healy, Chief Commercial Officer with Taxback International and Jurgen Scholz, of WTS. 

Melissa Doyle, Business Advisor at Local Enterprise Office Carlow & Co-ordinator of Powerhouse – Women in Business Network, and Norah Ryan, Owner & Managing Director of Barrow Consultancy & Training spoke with Deirdre about the Powerhouse Women in Business Network and the upcoming Powerhouse – Digital Marketing Event to mark Women’s International Day. Norah who will be one of the speakers at upcoming Powerhouse event spoke about her organisation and the work they do as well as speaking about the importance of having a network for people in business.

With thanks to Carlow & Kilkenny Local Enterprise Offices

To contact the show, email: thebottomline@kclr96fm.com

In this weeks’ episode of The Bottom Line on KCLR, Colin Ahern, General Manager of the Kilkenny Ormonde Hotel and former President of Kilkenny Chamber of Commerce joined John to discuss some of the business news from the week.

Brian O ‘Flynn, Head of Ireland’s Ancient East at Fáilte Ireland, chats to John about the Tourism & Hospitality Sector, how the industry is positioned for 2023 and plans for year ahead.

Business mentor, Blaise Brosnan, spoke with John about running a business during inflationary times and how business owners can plan & adopt different business strategies to meet the challenges of running a business during an inflationary cycle.

Megan Manning, Owner of Happy Beads and President of Network Ireland Carlow spoke with John about setting up the Network Ireland branch in Carlow, what the network can offer to its members and highlights the importance of networking groups. 

With thanks to Carlow & Kilkenny Local Enterprise Offices, Produced by Deirdre Dromey

To contact the show, email: thebottomline@kclr96fm.com

Over the last week the EU Commission issued its latest economic analysis and forecast, Eamon Quinn, Business Editor at The Irish Examiner spoke with John about the forecasts for the Irish economy. 

With the threat of cyber-attacks being ever present for businesses, Gavin Dixon, Chief Executive of Business I.T. Solutions chatted to John about minimising risk, the importance of having a plan in place in case of an attack and cyber security insurance.

Oonagh McCutcheon, National Director .IE Digital Town Programme & Vernon Buckley, of Piltown’s Broadband 4 our Community spoke with John about the .IE Digital Town Awards. They discuss what the win meant to last year’s winners in Piltown, Co. Kilkenny and how they have fared since scooping the top prize as well as how to enter the .IE Digital Town Awards 2023

John Doyle, Director of Hi Tec Medicare Ltd., chatted to John about how two old orthopaedic chairs and a gut feeling led to the start of a family business that went on to be named overall Business of the Year at the Kilkenny Business Awards.

With thanks to Carlow & Kilkenny Local Enterprise Offices, Produced by Deirdre Dromey

To contact the show, email: thebottomline@kclr96fm.com

Morwenna Coniam, Dublin Bureau Chief at Bloomberg News, joined John to chat through some of the business news stories from the week.

On Thursday, the Local Enterprise Office in Kilkenny hosted their Showcase Event for Start-Up Businesses, an event which was specifically designed to help start-up businesses understand and find out more about the services available from organisations with a remit for enterprise development. While at the event, John Purcell spoke with a number of people to hear about how their organisations can help start-up businesses. 

Richard Cook, known in these parts for launching the Cat Laughs, Kilkenomics and Subtitle Festivals spoke with John about the business of film and tv production and its impact on the local economy, as he’s in the thick of filming a drama series for British TV in Kilkenny.

Ciara and Robert Stanley joined John in studio to talk about their Coppenagh House Farm Shop, Ciara’s embroidery business and their Ballybar Ireland brand which sells high end work shirts, neck gaiters and other items such as travel mugs and tote bags.

With thanks to Carlow & Kilkenny Local Enterprise Offices, Produced by Deirdre Dromey

To contact the show, email: thebottomline@kclr96fm.com