Too much success could have led to foolhardy expansion

THINGS HAVEN’T exactly gone to plan for Eamonn Kielty since he left Bank of Ireland to set up Kielty Cashell Financial in Sligo three years ago. While business is ticking over well, he says the financial advisory firm is suffering substantial “collateral” damage as the wider economy falters.

Its investment and mortgage businesses “have obviously collapsed”, says Kielty, while pensions are just pulling through for the moment.

Income protection is generating a lot of inquiries but clients tend to become less interested when they learn that the policies probably won’t pay out if there has been even the slightest rumour of redundancy in a workplace in preceding months.

All in all, says Kielty, “we would like it if things were better but we’re not on our knees”.

He reckons the firm’s 2009 income is probably around where it was this time last year, but says that if this is maintained for the whole year he and is partners will have done “incredibly well”.

Kielty says that while the firm started at the peak of the boom, it didn’t really gain that much from it. “I’m glad we didn’t now,” he adds, suggesting that too much success would have led the company down a foolhardy expansion route.

The firm’s clients are mainly individuals, with some small companies sprinkled in too. These businesses should be the firm’s cash cow but, as with all small enterprises, they are vulnerable. One client with 20 staff has, for example, just had two redundancies.

Kielty has strong feelings on job creation and has become involved with Isme as part of this. He thinks grants should be available for setting up all sorts of business, not just those in manufacturing.

“When we set up three years ago, there were no grants. If we’d made nuts and bolts, we would’ve got a pile of money,” he suggests, arguing that PRSI and the minimum wage should be cut as part of a wider programme to kickstart business development.

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