The Wexford agribusiness brothers, Bert and Lance Allen, have invested €320 million from their sale of Slaney Meats and the Bewley’s hotel chain in assets including nursing homes, wind farms and Chateau de Varenne, a luxury Provence guesthouse. The Sunday Times reports that the brothers are also in control of a €440 million commercial property portfolio in Germany.
TK Maxx and costs
The Sunday Times also reports that the Irish operation of TK Maxx says it faces a “significant” increase in costs this year due to Brexit. TK Maxx in this country sources its stock from a UK distribution centre and faces now custom duties on those imports. Profits fell from €9.1 million in the year to January 2020 to €401,000 as the chain suffered from the impact of anti-virus restrictions.
Paddy Power and complaints
Bookmaker Paddy Power has agreed to stop referring to any betting as “risk-free” in its publicity campaigns, following an intervention from the British Advertising Standards Authority, the Business Post reports. It was responding to a complaint from the public that it was “socially irresponsible” to run an online campaign promoting a “£20 risk free first bet” where new customers would get their stake returned if they lost bets on sporting events including Premier League football, horse racing, and the Republic of Ireland’s match World Cup qualifier with Portugal.
DPC’s structures
The Business Post also reports that the State’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) has warned the Government that there needs to be a “radical reassessment” of its own structure is needed as it is “unsustainable and unfit for purpose”. The DPC, which is under pressure at home and abroad for perceived weakness in regulating the tech sector, warned in its pre-Budget submission that any delay on a restructuring “would give rise to substantial and unnecessary risks to Ireland’s international standing and future economic prosperity”.
Fexco restructuring
Kerry financial services group Fexco has implemented a senior level restructuring, after recording losses last year of €6 million, compared to profits of €18 million for 2018, the the last period it publicly reported on. The Sunday independent reports that Covid-19 has “devastated” its core foreign exchange revenues. Neil Hosty has been promoted to group managing director while Anna Savage joins from AIB to take over as chief financial officer.
Siptu’s internal ‘crisis’
The Sunday Independent also writes that the leaders of Siptu, the country’s biggest trade union, face a “mounting crisis” after senior staff warned that the union’s own “unbelievably deficient” internal industrial relations is “inferior to that of the Ryanair model”. Fifteen senior figures compiled a critique of its a working environment claiming it is “full of reprisal, widespread discrimination, stress related mental illness and burnout,” the paper says.
