Our quarterly economic trends survey is essential to our work representing members on key business issues. The information provided by you in this survey will allow the Chamber to prioritise its lobbying and representation activities for the year ahead. This survey reviews business perspectives over the last quarter including business performance, access to finance and attitudes to Government policy.  This survey takes less than five minutes to complete and the results are very important for Chamber lobbying activities with regional stakeholders, state agencies and local and national government.

**Survey Prize** 

All respondents who complete this survey will be entered into a draw to win:

‘Award-Winning Champagne Afternoon Tea’ for two at Hayfield Manor Hotel, where they can enjoy a relaxing treat with an indulgent afternoon tea served in the luxurious environs of Hayfield Manors resident lounges. 

Cork's Premier five star venue Hayfield Manor Hotel is a luxurious retreat in the heart of the city. Featuring 88 individually designed bedrooms, conference facilities and The Beautique Spa & Leisure centre, Hayfield Manor is a family owned haven set on 2 acres of walled gardens. The hotel is synonymous with excellent cuisine and offers an array of bespoke dining options including Award Winning Afternoon Tea at the Manor Bar, Perrotts Garden Bistro and Orchids Fine Dining Restaurant. A dedication to exceeding expectation ensures that Hayfield Manor is the perfect destination for all events and experiences.

To begin the survey - please CLICK HERE or copy and paste the following into your browser https://Q22013.surveyconsole.com

Please complete the Q2 2013 Survey by close of business on Thursday 27^th June. All responses will be treated in the strictest confidence and the results will be presented in aggregate format only.

The Policy Department would like to thank you for your continued input into our work.

County Mayor launches improved ‘Visit Cork County’ website.

County Mayor Cllr. Barbara Murray recently launched the improved ‘Visit Cork County’ website. Financed by the Economic Development Fund, the new version of the website www.visitcorkcounty.com provides travel and tourist information to foreign and domestic visitors to Cork county and allows Cork businesses, local voluntary groups, festival organisers, etc. to advertise their services and/or events to the local Cork population.

The website includes a new registration function through which businesses and event organisers can create their own profile, upload pictures and post their events to the website’s Calendar.  The website has also been developed to be accessible on all mobile devices, for the on-the-go visitors.  Businesses and festival organisers can now register with the website to join the 70+ members who have already signed up. Plans are currently underway to launch a special offers section, which will allow businesses advertise any upcoming offers.  

If anyone is interested in registering or requires further information, please visit www.visitcorkcounty.com or alternatively you can email info@visitcorkcounty.com or phone Magali Bolger on 026-20520. 

Train the Trainer (FETAC Level 6)  

Course Dates: 11^th, 18^th & 25^th July

Member Rate: €400.00

This 3 day course, one of our more popular, is designed to equip learners with the knowledge and skills necessary to design, deliver, assess and evaluate training programmes. It is suitable for people who are working in the area of training and development or who will soon be assuming a training position within their organisation. Participants on this course will gain practical experience and recognised certification (FETAC Level 6) as trainers.

At the end of this programme successful participants will be able to:

• Understand different learning styles;
• Explain critical elements of a trainers' role;
• Understand the functions and processes of learning and training;
• Evaluate different approaches to training;
• Appreciate the importance of training on an individual, social and economic level;
• Work effectively with a range of learner groups;
• Explain the training needs analysis process and set appropriate training objectives;
• Apply the principles of training design in preparing lesson plans;
• Deliver training effectively in one-to-one and group situations, and select appropriate techniques for assessing trainee progress;
• Identify different levels of evaluation and evaluate the effectiveness of training programmes;
• Develop and implement appropriate assessment methods.

So if you wish to gain a professional, accredited qualification in the area of training,BOOK TODAY!

Influencing & Negotiating Skills

Course Date: 23^rd & 24^th July

Member Rate: €225.00

The programme aims to enable participants to influence the thinking and behaviour of others through the effective use of communication skills. This programme is designed to help participants enhance their ability to communicate in a confident and professional manner. It will enable participants to acquire the skills to prepare and plan effectively for negotiations, to understand the roles and functions people play within the customer’s organisation with whom they are negotiating, to develop an awareness of strategies to deal with people in the customer organisation, to cultivate the persuasive style of conducting a professional sales negotiation, to understand how customer behaviour can influence the negotiation strategy, to explore ways to identify and deal with common barriers to achieving goals.

This is a key skill that once learned has applicability across both business and life situations.

Learners who successfully complete this module will:

• Obtain practical techniques, strategies and skills for influencing others
• Be more confident in building rapport effortlessly with clients
• Discover their persuasion style and how to make a positive impact in using it
• Learn the skills to negotiate to lower overhead and maintain profit margins
• Understand the know-how of a negotiation process
• Be able to conduct the negotiation using persuasion and influencing skills
• Use the different negotiation approaches depending on the situation
• Be able to developing consensus in a negotiation process
• Identify the barriers in achieving a negotiation deal and learn how to deal with objections

This course is only €225.00 for Chamber members so don’t delay, BOOK TODAY!!

See our full range of courses at www.corkchamber.ie/training

Bookings can be completed through the website and enquiries should be directed to Aoife@corkchamber.ie  (Training Services Administrator)

Enterprise Europe Network Brokerage Events:

International Matchmaking Event at POLAGRA FOOD Fair – Poznan, Poland, September 24-25

The Enterprise Europe Network is organising an international matchmaking event in parallel with the International Trade Fair of Food Processing Technologies POLAGRA TECH and International Trade Fair for Gastronomy POLAGRA GASTRO.  This event is suitable for SMEs and other entities representing the food sector and those interested in the development of cross border co-operation. There is a focus on the following areas: Food and Drink, Catering, Packaging, Food Industry Machinery and Logistics. For further information, click here or contact karen@corkchamber.ie.

B2B Matchmaking Event at IT Carinthia 2013 - Klagenfurt, Austria, October 3

The Enterprise Europe Networking is organising a B2B Matchmaking Event at IT Carinthia 2013. This international B2B matchmaking event will offer SMEs the opportunity to present, discuss and develop new ideas and projects at an international level.  Sectors include: IT-Security, Applications, Products & Services, Hardware, Education and Advanced Education, Consulting, Data protection, Outsourcing. For further information, click here or contact karen@corkchamber.ie.

BioBusinessMatching at the Biotechnica -  Hannover, Germany,  October 8-10

BioBusinessMatching 2013 is organised by the Enterprise Europe Network. It takes place in parallel with the Biotechnica 2013, Europe’s leading trade fair for biotechnology, the life sciences and laboratory equipment. BioBusinessMatching 2013 offers businesses the opportunity to acquire new technologies, concepts and solutions for industrial biotechnology and to find partners for commercial agreements and for research & technology cooperations. For more information click here or contact karen@corkchamber.ie.

Subcontractor Connect 2013 – Jönköping, Sweden, November 12-13

 Subcontractor Connect 2013 is a brokerage event organised by the Enterprise Europe Network at the trade fair Elmia Subcontractor, Northern Europe’s leading trade show for subcontractors in the manufacturing industry and their customers. Subcontractor Connect allows business to build valuable business relationships with International delegates. For further information, click here or contact karen@corkchamber.ie.

A full calendar of Enterprise Europe Events can be found here.

Keep up-to-date with Enterprise Europe Network Cork on Twitter.

Business Partnership Opportunities:

• A French company specialised in packaging solutions for the pharmaceutical industry is looking for trade partners in Ireland. The company would require this partner to promote and retail its packaging items. For further information, please contact Eimear@corkchamber.ie and quote reference number 20120703014.
• A German company specialising in the development of market entry strategies to the German market is offering its services to international companies who wish to enter the German market. The company has many years’ experience on the ground and an extensive network through which it can serve the needs of its clients who wish to launch themselves on the German market. For more information, contact Eimear@corkchamber.ie and quote Ref. 20121024006.
• A German law firm specialising in the manufacture of top-quality natural and organic cosmetics is looking for a distributor. It has over 75 years’ experience in the Cosmetic Industry and has a vast range of products within its portfolio. For further information, please contact Eimear@corkchamber.ie and quote Ref. 20120920019.
• A Belgian company specialising in chocolate products is offering subcontracting services to the B2B sector and for other chocolate producers/sellers. The company is seeking reliable partners who are interested in promotional chocolate. For further information, please contact Eimear@corkchamber.ie and quote reference number 20130508008.
• A French company manufacturing lighting devices in ceramic and brass is looking for a commercial agent to develop its sales in Ireland. To date, the company exports 40% of its product abroad. For further information, please contact Eimear@corkchamber.ie and quote 20120221039.

So, what is changing?

Ireland’s national payment system for credit transfers (payroll, creditor payments) and direct debits will close for business on the 31 January 2014 and be replaced by two pan-European schemes, the SEPA credit transfer scheme (SCT) and the SEPA direct debit scheme (SDD). This will mean that payment file formats will need to change from the current domestic ‘Standard 18’ to the new SEPA ‘ISO 20022 XML’ formats. In addition our NSCs (National sorting codes) and bank account numbers will be replaced by BICs (Bank identifier codes) and IBANs (International bank account numbers). These technical changes will help standardise payment messaging across SEPA and lead to more efficient payment processing. A benefit of SEPA is that next-day value is guaranteed for funds transferred between accounts in SEPA.

To facilitate the change for both SCT and SDD, all impacted businesses will need to convert their data (NSCs and account numbers to BICs and IBANs) and make arrangements with either their software provider or bank to ensure that their payments comply with the new ISO 20022 XML format.

For direct debit originators there are further changes to be taken into account. The SDD scheme rules vary significantly from their current Irish equivalent. Areas such as mandate management, consumer rights and returned transactions, all require process changes in addition to the technical challenge outlined above. In addition, the new consumer right to ‘no questions asked’ refund for authorised transactions for an eight-week period poses potential additional credit and cash-flow risk for originators, particularly in the business-to-business space.

What should you be doing now?

If you don’t submit ‘bulk’ payroll, creditor or direct debit collection files to your bank, there is no need to panic. Companies and consumers making individual electronic payments will see little difference, as their bank will make all the necessary changes seamlessly in the background. The 50,000 or so impacted businesses should at least be at planning stage right now. The accountability for ensuring the necessary changes are made fall to each company. There is a lot of assistance available from banks and software providers to help in the process, but unfortunately many businesses appear to be under the illusion that the changes will be made on their behalf.

What will happen if I do nothing?

If you haven’t conformed to the new SCT and SDD technical standards by the 31 January 2014, your bank will not be able to process your transactions, which is likely to cause disruption for your business. Early planning and migration to the new schemes is highly recommended, as it may not be possible for all latecomers to be accommodated in a timely fashion.

For further information please visit: www.readyforsepa.ie    www.ipso.ie

Cork Chamber Members and their employees are entitled to a 10% discount on multiple yoga class passes at Corks premier yoga centre.Himalaya Yoga Valley is located in the city centre, has two beautiful studios, changing areas, a chill out room and a varied schedule of up to six yoga classes daily. 

There is a class to suit everyone! Yoga is a great way for members to stay healthy and stress free. A class schedule is available on www.yogacorkireland.com and there is a simple online booking system for those who wish to book their classes online. 

 There is a free class every Saturday at 12.30 for those who have never done yoga before and would like to try it- called Lets Get Started! All fitness levels are welcome. 

 Private classes can be arranged for individuals and also for employee groups at workplaces or here in the studio. We can design a dedicated yoga class specifically for employee or individual needs. 

Members can contact Anne Marie Ruby- Business Manager at Himalaya Yoga Valley should they wish to discuss arranging group classes for their employees. 

*For any members who wish to attend classes simply let us know at reception that you are a Cork Chamber member to avail of this great offer! You can find out more about our studio at our website or by dropping in to the center at any time. 

Offer available: Chamber members a special discounted rate of €16pp


Cork City Council would like to invite all Cork Chamber members to support Pulses of Tradition at Triskel Christchurch, an exciting traditional Irish concert filled with various forms of Irish music, dance and song.  The show takes place almost every Thursday and Friday at 8pm for the remainder of the summer, with the aim of further positioning Cork as a hub for Irish traditional culture. It is by far the biggest regular traditional performance in Cork and has great potential for retailers and hoteliers in the city.  We need your support to get the word out about this fantastic show, so we are imploring you to inform your staff/customers/clients.

*We are offering all Chamber members a special discounted rate of €16pp.  Group rates can also be discussed.  For bookings go to www.triskelartscentre.ie or 021-4272022 and use the concession code POTCHAM102

 LANZAROTE

• 16th July ~ Ex Cork
• 1 week ~ Puerto del Carmen
• 2 star ~ Self Catering
• From € 357 per person

COSTA DEL SOL

•  17th July ~ Ex Cork
• 1 week ~ Torremolinos
• 2 Star Hotel, Room only
• From € 364 per person

ALGARVE

• 17th July ~ Ex Cork
• 1 week ~  Albufeira
• 3 Star ~ B+B
• From € 364 per person

FUERTEVENTURA

• 24th August ~ Ex Cork
• 1 week ~ Caleta de Fuste
• 3 Star ~ Self Catering  
• From € 330 per person

 For more information please visit our website HERE

Special Olympics Munster is delighted to announce that it has partnered with Cork Ladies Football legend Juliet Murphy to undertake a new and exciting challenge for this year’s Cork Mini Marathon on September 15^th.

If you are a beginner or a complete novice, we want women of all ages and of all abilities to challenge themselves to run 4 miles for Special Olympics. All Star winning Juliet will train the challengers for eight weeks twice a week and together we will achieve something incredible for this worthy sports organisation.

*The cost of registering for this event is €65.00 per person. This will include your eight week training schedule, your entry into the mini marathon and entry to a post-race event for all participants to celebrate their achievements together.

In Cork there are 1,000 athletes currently participating in twelve sports in 22 clubs throughout the city and county.

For more information or for your registration form please contact Siobhan on 021 4977192 or email Siobhan.nolan@specialolympics.ie