Our lead story this morning concerns a review that is under way of the viability of Expressway routes operated by the State-owned transport company Bus Éireann.
The Expressway services are run on a fully commercial basis by the company and do not receive financial support from the Exchequer. In many cases such services face competition on the routes from private sector rivals.
Informed sources have told Martin Wall that, while all Expressway routes were under review, a number of services in particular are being examined.
In a slightly longer read, we report that investment in residential property topped €260 million in the third quarter to hit a two-and-a-half-year high and climb 20 per cent above the long-term quarterly average.
Analysis on the Irish investment market from Sherry Fitzgerald shows activity “surged” during the period with total turnover reaching €699 million off the back of a significant improvement in transaction activity across residential, office and industrial assets.
Elsewhere, Changing Times Brewery, which was founded by the families behind some of Dublin’s best known pubs, is expecting sales to double next year with total keg sales of about 10,000, the group has said.
The €2 million brewery, based in Glasnevin along the banks of the Royal Canal, is celebrating one year in operation this week.
There are few more loathed events in the corporate world than a pointless meeting. When Mike Henry, chief executive of BHP, has a meeting with his executives, he gives someone the job of delivering “structured feedback” about how well or badly the gathering went.
The appraisal can include a review of how Henry himself chaired proceedings and is sent to all participants as part of a continuous improvement programme known as the “BHP Operating System”.
Considering the millions of meetings held each day, and the prevalence of surveys showing more than 70 per cent are ineffective, the FT’s Pilita Clark still favours any effort to improve things, no matter how unlikely it may sound.
Meanwhile, columnist John FitzGerald makes the case this morning that scrapping water charges was a mistake and has contributed to the housing crisis.
He says the political furore on water charges has meant that Irish Water/Uisce Éireann was never put on a similar footing to the likes of the ESB, nor able to fund itself through charging users.
John Collison’s recent essay in The Irish Times has sparked a national conversation that matters. His argument about our failure to deliver infrastructure has struck a chord because it exposes what many already feel: Ireland is too small a country to be this inefficient.
Nowhere is this inefficiency more glaring than in energy, argues Conall Bolger, chief executive of Trifecta Ireland in our Opinion slot.
Eve McInerney, cofounder of Creative Bumblebee, a Galway-based content company, was a committed poker player when she was in her 20s.
“Once, I even went to the World Poker Tour in Monte Carlo, but chickened out from playing as I was so overwhelmed by all the celebrities and famous players.” She describes it as one of her biggest regrets in Me and My Money.
Associated British Foods (ABF) says it may finally do what it has long resisted: spin off Penneys/Primark.
The fashion chain has long been the jewel in the UK conglomerate’s crown, yet for decades it has been shackled to a sprawling group of groceries, ingredients and commodities that investors struggle to value. Stocktake offers a view.
Finally, in our Q&A, Dominic Coyle answers a query from a reader who holds shares in Davy but rarely trades them. They want to know what the tax situation is on whatever small gains that are made on them. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it is a complicated area.
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