Ivan Yates to speak at British Irish Chamber Dinner

Ivan Yates

Ivan Yates is a broadcaster, columnist, businessman and former politician, holding the position of Fine Gael Dáil deputy for more than twenty years. A native of Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, he became involved in local politics at a young age and, at twenty-one years old, was the youngest member of the 22nd Dáil. He was appointed Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry in 1994.

Celtic Bookmakers

In 2001, he left full-time politics to concentrate on his family and business interests.  Celtic Bookmakers, a chain of betting shops founded by Ivan in 1987, went on to become one of the largest independent family chains in the country. The business went into receivership in 2011 and Ivan declared himself bankrupt in 2012.

Newstalk, TV3

After a year in Wales, he returned to Ireland where he now works full-time in the Irish media. Ivan co-presents Newstalk FM’s breakfast show with Chris Donoghue, is a frequent guest presenter on TV3 and writes weekly columns for the Irish Independent.  He also makes regular appearances as a promotional and after-dinner speaker.

“Full on”

Ivan is married with four children and lives in Dublin. His best selling autobiography “Full On” was published in 2014.

Book

If you want to book for the dinner (which will also give you access to the conference), click here

Separate tickets to the conference are available here. Use “ULSTERBANK” to get 50% off.

NB Discount does not apply to the conference dinner

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Help entrepreneurs to grow, mentors wanted

Helping 80 entrepreneurs to grow

The World’s largest free business accelerator, Entrepreneurial Spark, is opening its doors to exciting and dynamic businesses in Belfast this February (and we can’t wait!). Powered by Ulster Bank, we are offering free office space, a 6-18 month programme of hands-on enablement, a start up boot camp and regular events that will help the 80 entrepreneurs build and grow their businesses.

Looking for mentors

In addition to all of the above, we are on the look out for experienced mentors to support, coach and help the businesses- are you the person to make this happen?  The right mentor can provide expert support and ultimately increase the likelihood of businesses becoming a roaring success and we are looking for passionate people who have the skills and experience to share with Entrepreneurs, giving them the extra edge.

You are invited

Join us for a light lunch to find out more about the programme and see our state of the art Hatchery. It’s also a brilliant opportunity to tell us a bit more about you and how you could support the entrepreneurs, as well as meet other potential mentors.

WHEN
Wednesday, 10 February 2016 from 13:30 to 15:00 (CST) – Add to Calendar
WHERE
The Belfast Hatchery – Lombard House. 10-20 Lombard Street. Belfast, Antrim Bt1 1RD GB

BOOK HERE

Hope to see you there.

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Climate Launchpad launched

Climate Launchpad, which is part of Climate-KIC Europe’s largest clean/sustech accelerator, is launching again.

Climate Launchpad

Sustainable Nation is running Climate Launchpad, the ideas competition of Climate-KIC again this year. Last year one of the finalists Orbas (internet of food, http://www.orbasconsulting.com/) got to the last 20 out of 80 finalist and 700 submissions. Not bad, but we like to win this year.

Tallinn, Estionia

Same set up this year, 3 finalist from Ireland will compete with finalist of 28 counties. The finals are in Tallinn, Estonia in October. Anyone with an idea in the climate/green/clean is welcome. The size of the problem/opportunity is 37 trillion. 

Programme

The programme will consist of a number of orientation/preparation sessions across Ireland, between February and April followed by a two day workshop with an international trainer from Climate Launchpad in May.

The 2 day workshop delivers a new, very sharp methodology to get to a realistic proposition and a pitch (it bleeds). It is loosely based on “Disciplined Entrepreneurship, 24 steps to successful startup” by Bill Aulet. Happy to share the methodology with anyone interested.

Mentoring

The workshop is followed by 6 mentoring and coaching workshops and a pitching final. The 3 winner get to pitch at the international final in October in Tallinn.

Help

If you could spread the word, or make any introductions, I would be much obliged. More details you can find here http://sustainablenation.ie/.

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thinkbusiness

Climate Launchpad launched

Climate Launchpad, which is part of Climate-KIC Europe’s largest clean/sustech accelerator, is launching again.

Climate Launchpad

Sustainable Nation is running Climate Launchpad, the ideas competition of Climate-KIC again this year. Last year one of the finalists Orbas (internet of food, http://www.orbasconsulting.com/) got to the last 20 out of 80 finalist and 700 submissions. Not bad, but we like to win this year.

Tallinn, Estionia

Same set up this year, 3 finalist from Ireland will compete with finalist of 28 counties. The finals are in Tallinn, Estonia in October. Anyone with an idea in the climate/green/clean is welcome. The size of the problem/opportunity is 37 trillion. 

Programme

The programme will consist of a number of orientation/preparation sessions across Ireland, between February and April followed by a two day workshop with an international trainer from Climate Launchpad in May.

The 2 day workshop delivers a new, very sharp methodology to get to a realistic proposition and a pitch (it bleeds). It is loosely based on “Disciplined Entrepreneurship, 24 steps to successful startup” by Bill Aulet. Happy to share the methodology with anyone interested.

Mentoring

The workshop is followed by 6 mentoring and coaching workshops and a pitching final. The 3 winner get to pitch at the international final in October in Tallinn.

Help

If you could spread the word, or make any introductions, I would be much obliged. More details you can find here http://sustainablenation.ie/.

The post Climate Launchpad launched appeared first on Small Business Can.

This post was originally published here - http://www.smallbusinesscan.com/climate-launchpad-launched/ on
thinkbusiness

If you are exporting to the UK ..

There is no rugby on the weekend of the 19th of February. That doesn’t mean we can’t go shoulder to shoulder with our exporting partners in Northern Ireland, England, Wales and Scotland.

Highlight
One of the highlights of the conference season is the annual British Irish Chamber of Commerce dinner and conference.Exporting or thinking of exporting?
If you are exporting, or thinking of exporting, this is the event to go to. Particularly with the upcoming Brexit referendum, which will bring its own challenges and opportunities.

The Conference
The structure of the conference is a mix of politics and business, discussing not just Irish and UK politics, the elections, Brexit and the EU, but also leadership, strategy and export.

Speakers
To give you a flavour of some of the contributors:

  • Tony Hanway of  Virgin Media
  • Ann Heraty of CPL
  • Sarah O’Connor of Cool Beans
  • Barry Andrews of Goal
  • Tim Arnold of Hailo
  • Niamh Townsend of Dell
  • Conor O’Leary of Greencore
  • Ambassador Dominick Chilcott
  • Paul Drechsler of the Confederation of British Industry
  • John Fitzgerald of Trinity College
  • Ellvena Graham of ESB

Meet your potential clients
During the annual British Irish Chamber of Commerce conference there is an opportunity to meet your counter parts from Ireland and the UK. To accommodate these meetings, there will a separate meeting room where you can meet your potential buyers, speakers, experts, customers and partners. We will endeavour to facilitate those meetings.

Panel discussions with your peers
If you are not interested in the politics and if you want to talk to other small businesses from Ireland and UK on a collective basis, you can participate in a number of open panel discussions, where business people from Ireland and the UK share their business lessons and experiences. Topics that will be covered are culture, selling, social media, lessons from failure and lessons from success.

Book now

Tickets for the dinner and conference are € 195. Places are limited and you need to book before 25 January in order for us to try to arrange the meetings you want. We cannot guarantee that all meetings will happen on the day, but we will do our best to facilitate the introductions during and after the conference. Contact alison.cotter@britishirishchamber.com

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Want a slice of a 37 trillion business opportunity?

Business and not governments will provide the solutions to solve the climate change problem.

Climate KIC

As Irish partner of Climate-KIC, Europe’s leading cleantech programme, we run an IDEAS competition (or pre-accelerator) called Climate Launchpad.

Climate Launchpad

ClimateLaunchpad is Europe’s largest climate change business idea competition. It aims to unlock Europe’s cleantech potential and accelerate innovations that address climate change. To be able to do that, it must find Europe’s best sustainability ideas. This competition creates a stage for those ideas.

The programme

In 2015, 800 ideas spanning 28 European countries were put through the ClimateLaunchpad programme. The programme consists of a 2-day boot-camp followed by 6 mentoring sessions to develop an idea towards reality.

The class of 2015

 

 

From Ireland, 8 teams participated in ClimateLaunchpad 2015. They included Agri Grow Lights; Amarna Energy Solutions Limited; Boltz Secret Seeds; Climate Friendly Design; Marker Biofuel; Smartearth; Unibloc; and WasteNOT. Of these eight, three were chosen to represent Ireland at the European Finals [Agri-Grow Lights, Boltz Secret Seeds and WasteNot], which were held in Amsterdam, September 2015. WasteNot managed to get to the last 20.

Become part of the class of 2016

Building on our ClimateLaunchpad Ireland 2015 success, we will start our next programme in early 2016, giving you access to the largest accelerator in the world, covering 28 European countries. The final will take place in October in Tallin, Estiona. This year, we want to win.

If you have an idea

If you have an idea, or are an early stage start up that has climate impact (and most start ups should ), we would like to talk to you. This could mean that you are an early start-up, SME, researcher, student, public organisation, consultancy, engineering company or a combination of these. It does not need to be high tech, but it does need to have a positive impact on the climate. Anything goes.

Register now

To register your interest please e-mail ron.immink@sustainablenation.ie and we will be in touch by return. We hope to start our first programme in early February.

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McCormack Family Farms at “I Believe”

As part of “I believe“, Ulster Bank has given a stand to their clients to sample the Christmas atmosphere, sell and make the public aware of their offerings.

Over the next weeks you can visit them at the Food and Craft market. On Saturday 19 December it is the turn of McCormack Family Farms

McCormack Family Farms

The McCormack Family Farms’ story began in 1984 when Edward McCormack began growing and selling veg in Kiltale, Co. Meath. In the late 1980s he was joined by his son Stephen McCormack and together McCormack Family Farms was born. For 20 years the father and son team focused on growing veg and selling into Smithfield Market in Dublin. Then in the early 2000s the focus shifted to growing salad leaves and herbs, the first of many innovative steps! Success followed with the company earning its first retail contract in 2007 supplying herbs to Superquinn.

Today McCormack Family Farms supply all the leading retailers in Ireland! In March 2015 this 2nd generation family farm took its biggest, innovative step yet entering the juice market launching three new veggie juices using the finest salad and veg grown by the McCormacks: Apple & Spinach; Orange & Beet Leaf; Carrot, Beetroot, Kale & Pea Shoots.

Visit them at the fair or visit their website.

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Tracey’s Kitchen at “I Believe”

As part of “I believe“, Ulster Bank has given a stand to their clients to sample the Christmas atmosphere, sell and make the public aware of their offerings.

Over the next weeks you can visit them at the Food and Craft market. On Friday 18 December it is the turn of Tracy’s Kitchen. This is her story.

Tracy’s Kitchen

As a small girl, I recall food being central to our lives – when friends and family called over, when we visited my grandmother’s house, when we came home from school, and certainly at Sunday lunchtimes! It seems that I have always been surrounded by good, wholesome, home-cooked food! It was no surprise to my mother then, that when I left home at 17, I didn’t rely on the usual student fayre to get me through college, rather I cooked my way through those four years, and my digs became the central location for friends who had run out of funds before the end of the month – it became known as a place where tasty grub would always be rustled up…simple and cheap, but tasty and filling!

When my own children started with the Walking and Talking, life got busy and I soon discovered that having more children than hands could be a problem if they weren’t occupied! Thus started the baking – Play Doh I had to buy in, whereas flour, milk and eggs I had in abundance always…when I added a few raisins and they made their first scones, albeit misshapen and kinda tough, we were hooked… hooked on the pieced that gathered us around the counter, hooked on the squigy feel of getting stuck in with tiny hands and hooked on watching through the glass door of the oven watching nothing turning into something…

We became bakers…aged 1, 2, 3 and 35..! It wasn’t until Lucy Jayne’s 4th birthday, that we turned our hand to making something more special, like a fondant covered cake…her first birthday cake request for a Heart Shaped Cake so I bought a heart shaped cake tin and never looked back…

Visit them at the fair or visit their website.

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Silver Hill Farm at “I believe” in CHQ

As part of “I believe“, Ulster Bank has given a stand to their clients to sample the Christmas atmosphere, sell and make the public aware of their offerings.

Over the next weeks you can visit them at the Food and Craft market. On Thursday 17 December it is the turn of Silver Hill Farm.

Silver Hill Fram

Silver Hill Farm is a fully integrated family owned duck company. Founded over 50 years ago by Ronnie and Lyla Steele in Emyvale, Co. Monaghan. The present Managing Director is their son Stuart Steele. All aspects of our duck production are owned and controlled by Silver Hill Farm from breeding, egg production, hatching and selection to processing and cooking. The success of Silver Hill Farm lies in the unique Silver Hill Hybrid duck. Continually developed over the years, to produce a duck that is full of flavour, succulent, tender and consistent in its quality. This breed is exclusive to Silver Hill Farm.

Visit them at the fair or visit their website.

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First Ireland Spirits at “I Believe” in CHQ

As part of “I believe“, Ulster Bank has given a stand to their clients to sample the Christmas atmosphere, sell and make the public aware of their offerings.

Over the next weeks you can visit them at the Food and Craft market. On Wednesday 16 December it is the turn of First Ireland Spirits

First Ireland Spirits

Nestled in the heartland of Ireland’s green and pure landscape, First Ireland Spirts have been crafting Irish creams, liqueurs and spirits for over 20 years. Working with local farmers and producers, the team have perfected the art of Irish Cream Liqueur with 24 hours from dairy to distillery, unique Irish liqueurs with crafted local ingredients, and more recently Irish Whiskey and spirits, creating award winning brand

Visit them at the fair or visit their website.

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This post was originally published here - http://www.smallbusinesscan.com/first-ireland-spirits-at-i-believe-in-chq/ on thinkbusiness