Alan Lowry

BUSINESSES in the north have responded with dismay at the latest hike in interest rates.

A FURTHER increase in UK interest rates “will inflict more pain on already hard-pressed businesses in Northern Ireland,” an industry leader has claimed.

MEMBERS of the north's largest business support group the Federation of Small Businesses has directly lobbied Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris on a number of key issues including the implementation of the Windsor Framework, finding a solution to the stalled political process at Stormont, and also the rates disparity with the rest of the UK in sectors such as hospitality and retail.

BUSINESS bodies in the north were left with relatively little to cheer from Wednesday’s Spring Statement.

BUSINESS groups across Northern Ireland have broadly welcomed the decision to freeze the regional non-domestic rate for the 2023/24 financial year.

A NEW first of its kind enterprise dashboard has been launched in Northern Ireland to help policy makers understand business landscape.

OWNERS of hundreds of small and micro business in the north are girding themselves for a potential tsunami of failures not necessarily of their own making, the incoming chair of the FSB's Northern Ireland policy board fears.

ENVIRONMENTAL Street Furniture has been invited to showcase its innovative and sustainable product range at next month's UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, which will be attended by more than 190 of the world’s most influential and powerful leaders.

AROUND this time last year, Harbinson Mulholland ran our “Not Accounted For” campaign, where we spoke to many clients and family business contacts about the immediate effects of the Covid pandemic on their firms.

A NEWTOWNABBEY street furniture manufacturer has completed its largest contract to date in Dubai, worth £600,000.