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Cork Chamber focuses on Maritime Opportunities
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Across the globe, governments are increasingly recognising the economic value of the seas as a source of energy, materials, food and transport. In 2012, the Irish Government published an Integrated Marine Plan which includes a goal to increase the turnover from our ocean economy to exceed €6.4bn by 2020.
Cork Chamber recognises the vast economic potential of the Maritime Sector for Cork businesses and is currently participating in a European Project funded through the ‘Regions of Knowledge’ Seventh Framework Programme called the Resource Efficiency Maritime Capacity Project (REMCAP). REMCAP is a collaborative project involving 14 partner organisations from six European maritime clusters The main objective of REMCAP is to develop the clusters' ability to promote innovation and enable sustainable growth across the key markets of offshore wind; ocean energy; fishing; aquaculture; blue biotech; aggregates and dredging and sea bed mining.
For more information vist the REMCAP website HERE or contact claire@corkchamber.ie
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Cork Chamber inputs into Procurement Policy Paper
In conjunction with Chambers Ireland, Cork Chamber has developed a position paper on Public Procurement and the role of the new Office of Government Procurement (OGP). Cork Chamber recognises the importance of procurement for regional businesses and will continue to lobby on behalf of members interests to ensure the structures governing public procurement are implemented in a way that will stimulate the economy, incentivise innovation, support micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and promote job creation.
For a copy of the paper please click here
Please see the events section for details of our upcoming Business Breakfast with Paul Quinn, Chief Procurement Officer, Office of Government Procurement to gain a unique insight into accessing public procurement.
Survey Prize Winner
Cork Chamber would like to congratulate Damien Hanley, GXP Systems on winning the dinner for two at Oysters Restaurant, Lapps Quay for completing our economic survey.
Many thanks to all those who completed this quarter’s economic survey. Your input is greatly appreciated and highlighted a number of positive trends around confidence levels, turnover, net profits and employment increases. It also highlighted some key challenges, particularly the need for further interventions to address the issue of working capital for viable businesses. The Chamber will continue to communicate the importance of this issue to relevant policy and financial bodies.
For a copy of the survey results, please click here
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New to management?!
A Certificate in Supervisory Management qualification can provide you with the practical resources for laying the foundation for a successful management career and developing and managing an effective team. Starting on the 6th May next, BOOK NOW! Also starting on the 6th May is ourDigital Marketing/Social Media for Business Course - for any business that wants to reduce marketing and sales costs, that wants to get more business using social media and wants to reinforce their offline reputation, online!
Certificate in Supervisory Management (FETAC Level 6) Course Dates: 4 Days (6th, 13th & 19th May & 9th June) Must attend all 4 days Member Rate: €500.00 The main purpose of this programme is to provide candidates with the tools and techniques necessary to work in a supervisory management role in a wide variety of organisations by instructing them in key areas such as their roles and responsibilities, employment legislation, recruitment, performance management, data protection, operational planning and budgeting. At the end of this programme, successful participants will be able to: - List the roles and responsibilities of a supervisor/line manager;
- Analyse the process of staff recruitment;
- Identify the key areas of workplace legislation and best practice in staff supervision;
- List the main provisions of the Data Protection Act;
- Develop operations manuals for work-related procedures, including systems for records management;
- Prepare departmental budgets, taking into account a range of potential expenses such as labour and material costs, insurances and contingency;
- Identify best practices in the ongoing training and development of their staff;
- Manage performance and conduct effective performance appraisals.
This course is ideal for existing and newly appointed team leaders and supervisors, managers in business who have direct reports and who wish to learn best practice techniques for managing people through teamwork and people who wish to gain a professional, accredited qualification in the area of Supervisory Management. This course is assessed through a Skills Demonstration and the trainee must also prepare a portfolio of work. The 4 day course is only €500.00 for Chamber members so don’t delay, BOOK TODAY! Digital Marketing/Social Media for Business Training Course Course Dates: 4 Days (6th, 13th, 20th and 27th May) All Four Days can be booked together or individual days of interest can be booked separately. Member Rate: €440.00 for the four days or €140.00 per individual day. What’s involved? This four day course will provide an in depth insight into the latest innovations in Online Marketing and Digital Media. The course will also give an overview of social media use and look at LinkedIn for the business generation. - Day 1: Search Optimisation, website conversion and web traffic tools;
- Day 2: Content Creation: Using a blog or your website to create attractive content;
- Day 3: Twitter & LinkedIn for Business;
- Day 4: Mobile Future: Should you create an app? What is the work involved? Getting your company ready for the mobile revolution.
What will I be able to do? Following this course, participants will be able to: - Understand how search engines work
- Make changes to a website to increase site traffic
- Execute targeted ad campaigns online
- Know why blogs are good for business
- Build a plan for your business plan to increase traffic and leads to the website
- Build a Facebook presence for your company
- Build a Twitter business profile
- Improve your LinkedIn profile and know how to use it as a calling card for your work
- Be familiar with mobile apps
- Create a marketing plan for your social media properties and devise one based on available resources
Who should attend? This course is for any business that wants to reduce marketing and sales costs, that wants to get more business using social media and wants to reinforce their offline reputation, online. This course is suited for those in marketing, communications, sales and company positions that define business strategy. This course is €440.00 for Chamber members for the entire four days or days can be booked individually for €140.00 each. BOOK NOW!
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Agri-Food and Drinks Launch
Date: 12th May
Time: 12.30pm – 2.00pm
Venue:Triskel Theatre, Christchurch
To Book: CLICK HERE for further details and to register your place.
Cork Chamber will launch Cork’s first ever Agri-Food and Drinks Strategy on Monday 12th May in the Triskel Theatre, with special guest speaker Minister Simon Coveney T.D. Opportunities within the agri-food and drinks sector have increasingly moved under the spotlight and this sector is increasingly seen as the growth area for the future.
Cork, with its long and rich heritage, abundant natural resources, intellectual capital and technical capabilities has a distinctive opportunity to position itself as a region of leading capability in the global market.
Win New Business!
Business Breakfast with Paul Quinn, Chief Procurement Officer, Office of Government Procurement
Date: 21st May
Time: 7.30am – 9.00am
Venue: Clarion Hotel
Cost: €25 members/€35 non members
To Book: HERE Cork Chamber will welcome Chief Procurement Officer Paul Quinn to speak at the May Business Breakfast. The public sector procures about €190m in goods and services every year.
This presents huge opportunities for SMEs to get involved with public work and give themselves an opportunity to grow nationally and internationally.
BOOK HERE
May Business After Hours Networking Event
Date: 22nd May
Time: 5.30pm – 7.00pm
Venue: Kearys BMW, Little Island
Cost: FREE for Cork Chamber members
To Book: HERE
Cork Chamber is delighted to join forces with Kearys Motor Group for the May Business After Hours at their premises on Little Island.
Keary Motor Group is one of Ireland’s largest motor groups, representing BMW, MINI, Hyundai, Nissan, Renault and Dacia. Operating in Cork for over 30 years Kearys offer quality, value and choice to the Cork market. The modern and spacious showroom at Eastgate, Little Island, stands as one of Europe’s finest dedicated BMW and MINI dealerships.
Kearys and Cork Chamber would be delighted to welcome to you their Little Island premises on Thursday 22nd May to celebrate their recent partnership with LeasePlan Ireland, the world's largest vehicle management and leasing provider.
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‘Business Opportunities in the Slovakian Market’, 6th May, Cork Chamber
Is your business doing business with Slovakia? Is your business thinking of doing business in Central Europe? You may be interested to learn about the business opportunities in Slovakia, world-class engineering centre in the Automotive and Electronic sectors. Slovakia is strategically situated in Central Europe, offering a gateway and trading links to Eastern Europe.
State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy in the Slovakian Government, Mr Pavol Pavlis, will visit Cork on May 6th to mark the 10th anniversary of Slovakia’s entry into the EU. Cork Chamber invites Cork businesses doing business or thinking of doing business in Slovakia to a trade briefing and to meet with the Secretary of State during the visit. For further information, please contact Liz@corkchamber.ie
Expand your business Internationally with Enterprise Europe At Cork Chamber
- The EU Japan Centre in Tokyo is offering a free ‘About Japan’ webinar series in May
- International Matchmaking Event at Greater Region (GR) Business Days, 18th-19th June 2014, Luxemburg
- Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Information Day, in association with InterTradeIreland and the Irish Universities Association,4th June 2014, The Gibson Hotel, Dublin
- Business Growth in UK Markets, June-July 2014, Liverpool, UK
TheEU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperationis a venture between the European Commission and the Japanese Government, a non-profit organisation established as an affiliate of the Institute of International Studies and Training (IIST). It aims at promoting all forms of industrial, trade and investment cooperation between the EU and Japan. The centre is organising a free “About Japan” webinar series in May and its details are as follows: Webinar A: Title: Essentials of Patent Information from Japan Date: 6th May 2014 Time: 09:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Description: The seminar will outline how to search for Japanese patent information online and how to understand the information retrieved. The expected learning outcomes are: - How to decipher Japanese patent document types and number formats
- How to search for Japanese patent documents online
- How to access English translations of Japanese patents
- How to retrieve additional patent information
- Speaker: Maki Umemura, Cardiff University
- Webinar link: http://goo.gl/IXbQt0
Webinar B: Title: Opportunities in Japanese Services Economies Date: 13th May 2014 Time: 09:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Description: This webinar will focus on how to seize business opportunities in Japan’s service economy. Its expected learning outcomes will be as follows: - How to find free information on the Japanese and Asian business environments and make a preliminary assessment of potential opportunities there
- Find out how to identify Japanese partners and formulate a market entry strategy in both Japan and Asia
- Find local and continued support services to sustain business growth
Speakers: Chieko Nakabayashi of United International Business School and Max Berre of the Knowledge House, Maastricht Webinar link: http://goo.gl/04AVh3 Webinar C: Title: Renewable Energy in Japan Date: 20th May 2014 Time: 09:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Description: The webinar will focus on Japanese Renewable Energy and the expected learning outcomes for this seminar are: - Outlooks for 2014
- What are the Japanese Government’s targets, incentives and regulations for the Renewable Energy sector?
- What are the sector’s strengths and weaknesses?
- Which technology or market segment has the most potential for investors?
- What are the market’s key challenges?
- What opportunities lie for European energy companies and investors?
Speaker: Philippe Huysveld, Senior Consultant and CEO at Global Business & Management Consulting (GBMC) Webinar link: http://goo.gl/1EfDo9 Notes: To register for the EU Japan Centre’s webinars which are outlined above, please note that you will firstly need to become a registered member of the EU Japan Centre and you can register with the Centre by clicking here. Meanwhile existing members can register for the webinars by logging into the membership area, which can be accessed by clicking here. Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Information Day, in association with InterTradeIreland and the Irish Universities Association, 4 June 2014, The Gibson Hotel, Dublin Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Information Day, in association with InterTradeIreland and the Irish Universities Association, are co-organising an all-island event to introduce the research and innovation opportunities in the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) under Horizon 2020. The event will take place in the Gibson Hotel, Dublin on June 4 2014 from 11am to 4pm. The guest speaker at the event will be Alessandra Luchetti, Head of Unit, Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions, at the European Commission. The MSCA promotes academic research collaboration with academic and non-academic partners like industry, charities, public bodies, and national archives to support the career development, training, and mobility of researchers. You can register for this event by clicking here and the closing date for registrations is 23 May 2014. International Matchmaking Event at Greater Region (GR) Business Days. 18-19 June 2014, Luxemburg This international matchmaking event takes place in the Greater Region (GR) which is in the heart of Europe. The GR encompasses Luxembourg, Wallonia (Belgium), Lorraine (France), the Rhineland (Germany) and Saarland (Germany). Due to its location at the crossroads of Europe, the GR is an example of European integration. GR Business days is a specialised multi-sector trade fair; focusing on the most important sectors of the region. In particular, the event will focus on the following sectors: - Eco Construction and Sustainable Development
- Life Sciences and Biotechnology
- Automotive
- Environment and Renewable Energy
- ICT and E-Commerce
- Transport and Logistics
- Training and Education
- Marketing and Communication
- Banking and Finance
To register for this event, please click here. If you require more specific information, please contact Sabina Sagramola (gr-businessdays@b2fair.com). Business Growth in UK Markets Register now for the Liverpool International Festival of Business (registration is free) and access your business to the festival’s International Hub where you can meet with other key businesses, network and create new contacts/partnerships. The festival also offers a Business Brokering system that will help you to identify distribution partners, joint venture partners and suppliers. Register at: IFB Business Club. For further information about this event, contact liz@corkchamber.ie.
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THE IRISH OPEN 2014 - Stakeholders Meeting
Date: Wednesday 30th April
Time: 5.30pm
Venue: Cork County Hall (Light refreshments will be served).
You are cordially invited to a stakeholders meeting on THE IRISH OPEN 2014. This event is being held in association with Cork City Council and Cork County Council.
Find out about:
- Opportunities to highlight tourism in Cork during the Irish Open
- Ways your business/ organisation can get involved in the Irish Open Marketing collateral.
We look forward to seeing you this evening.
RSVP to kathleen@hopkinscommunications.ie
Do business with fellow Chamber Members?
Have you got an exclusive offer that you would like to share with other Chamber members? If yes..why not communicate this to your fellow Cork Chamber members in our weekly business update and on our website under 'member offers' ! Contact Deborah by email HERE or telephone 021 - 4530149 for more details.
News Headlines
1. New Postcode System Vital Step Forward For Ireland - Read More HERE
2.Candidates Must Not Make Commitments That May Win Votes But Will Cost Jobs - Read More HERE
3. Horizon 2020 - EU Funding Opportunities For Cork Companies - Read More HERE
4. Exploring Job Versus Journey: IGNITE Graduate Business Innovation Programme Information Evening - Read More HERE
5. Tony O'Regan Associates Achieve ISO9001 and ISO14001 STANDARDS - Read More HERE
6. Cork Chamber Welcomes Intercall Announcement - Read More HERE
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Cork Youth Orchestra in concert with Michael Ball
Date: 10th & 11th May
Venue: City Hall, Cork
4 downstairs tickets for €120 (normal price €160 plus booking fees).
2 balcony tickets (for Sat night) for €100 (normal price €120 plus booking fees)
If you are interested in availing of this offer text 0863728854 giving your name, tickets to be ordered, and to mention the chamber offer.
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VAT on Property Demystified
Date: 7th May
Time: Registration 7.45am, duration 1 hour.
Venue: The Clarion Hotel, Lapps Quay, Cork.
Cost: n/a
To book: Ann McDonogh at (021) 4949450 or HERE ( by 4pm, 6 May 2014)
Our speakers Leslie Barrett, Tax Partner & Eamonn Murphy, Tax Director recently delivered this presentation to over 80 attendees in Shannon with very positive feedback. Of interest to solicitors, accountants, auctioneers etc.
Business Growth Day. Increase your leads. Increase your conversion rate
Date: 7th May
Time: 8:30am-3:30pm
Venue: Radisson Blu Little Island
Cost: €195
To book: HERE
On Wednesday 7th May, there will be a 1 day Business Growth Day in The Radisson Hotel Cork, to show you exactly how to put together a 90 day plan for your business. We will be looking at some fast ways to get your marketing performing and your sales up so you can start building the business and lifestyle you actually deserve.
Inchydoney Showcase & Afternoon Tea
Date: 9th May
Time: Come at your own leisure between the hours of 3pm & 5pm
Venue: Inchydoney Island Lodge & Spa
Cost: Free
To book: HERE or 086 777 3116
You and your colleagues are cordially invited to attend a showcase of Inchydoney Island Lodge & Spa's facilities followed by an Afternoon Tea Buffet.
During this casual networking afternoon with Cork businesses and friends you will be shown Inchydoney Island Lodge & Spa’s Meeting Rooms, Conferencing Space, Bedrooms, Suites, Adventure Activities, Team Building etc. Whether it’s a Meeting, Event, Client Entertainment, Christmas / Summer Party or a Sports & Social outing.
Please RSVP to lmoroney@inchydoneyisland.com by close of business on Thursday 01st May and let us know if you can join us. And of course if you know another business that you think may benefit from this event, please feel free to send this invitation. All are welcome. Come along and meet the Team as we unveil our new Reception area. Join us for lots of fun, prizes and of course delicious food. Looking forward to seeing you.
*Special Offer - €69 per person sharing B&B for attendees to this event*
Bring a family member or guest & enjoy an overnight stay
Cake Decorating Demo Day
Date: 10th May
Time: 10am – 5pm
Venue: A Touch of Magic Cake Academy, Carrigaline, Co.Cork
Cost: €40
To book: HERE
Come along and join in the cake decorating fun!
David Cakes and Guest Artists NON-STOP CAKE DECORATING DEMO DAY with audience participation. Special Promotional Price – 40 Euros. Featuring free - hand royal king piping & String work demonstrations, plus lots more creative demonstrations.
Everyone Welcome!
New Look Jurys Inn Hotel
Date: 8th May
Time: 6pm
Venue: Jurys Inn Hotel Cork
Cost: Free
To book: RSVP Anne Marie Hallinan 087 2589798 or email HERE
We are celebrating our brand new look and would like you to join us for Champagne, Canapés, Jazz music and the chance to win great prizes.
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