Success is ‘sweetest thing’ for U2 fan Ian Hyland

Publisher Ian Hyland is clearly a massive U2 fan.

He looked delighted as he exited the band’s barnstorming homecoming gig at the 3 Arena on Monday night. A few weeks ago, he was also spotted on his way to U2’s gig at the O2 arena in London.

Hell, one of his companies is even called Elevation Media, which may or may not be a nod to one of U2’s biggest hits.

Hyland's main partner these days in his myriad business interests is Paul Connolly, who is also a close confidante of Denis O'Brien. Hyland and Connolly registered another new company this week, F5 Digital Media Communications. It will be involved in "the provision of digital marketing services and events across many sectors", according to its formation documents.

Meanwhile, Hyland's Business & Finance also this week released the list of 15 finalists for its Business of the Year Award. The winner will be revealed at a bash next month attended by former UN secretary general Kofi Annan.

There are just two O'Brien companies on the list. One is Topaz, the growing forecourts retailer. The other is Actavo, which was originally listed by B&F under its old name, Siteserv. Definitely one of the most written-about businesses of the year, although it was very commercially successful too, to be fair to it.

Other contenders for the crown include Aryzta, an odd choice. Its management was under fire just two months ago over corporate governance and a 50 per cent drop in its share price between March and October.

“It is hard to imagine that investor sentiment could get much worse on Aryzta,” wrote Société Générale just eight weeks ago.

Since then its shares have recovered by about 10 per cent after a board shake-up. Perhaps Hyland considers it a comeback story. Or maybe he just moves in Mysterious Ways.