Tag Archives: Helen Downes

THE new Government scheme to encourage entrepreneurs to set up new businesses has been given a broad welcome by Shannon Chamber. The SURE scheme, which aims to encourage people in PAYE employment, unemployed people and retired people to start their own business, will operate as a refund of income tax paid by the person starting the business in the six years prior to the business being started. All income tax paid in those six years can be claimed as a refund under the scheme, subject to anoverall limit of 41% of the total investment in the business. Acknowledging that Ireland has an entrepreneurial spirit, Shannon Chamber chief executive, Helen Downes said, “We cannot underestimate the value of investing in new start-ups. There are so many talented people in this country and we need to retain them not train them for export. Initiatives of this nature, and the ideas that flowed from the recent Action Plan for Jobs stakeholder forum, all …

Shannon Chamber has stepped into the world of sport to equip business executives with the wherewithal to operate at optimal performance levels. Renowned high-performance expert Gary Keegan, who devised a world-class talent management programme for the Irish Amateur Boxing Association (IABA), has been drafted in to give a half-day seminar to both Chamber members and non-members on Wednesday, May 20 at 8.30am. The seminar is being held in the viewing gallery at Shannon Airport. Drawing analogies between business and sport, Mr Keegan will show how leadership, strategy, culture and execution for results are dependent on cultivating a high-performance ethos within a company. Speaking ahead of the event, Shannon Chamber’s chief executive Helen Downes said: “In his time with the IABA, and now as director of the Irish Institute of Sport, Gary Keegan has demonstrated his ability to get the best out of teams. In his five years with the IABA, Ireland won 29 medals at European, World and Olympic levels, …

EXPORTERS to the US are to benefit from the launch of Ireland’s only direct all-cargo air service to North America at Shannon.  Turkish Airlines has been granted permission to carry air cargo from Shannon to Chicago, starting immediately. In March, Turkish Airlines began making refuelling stops at Shannon for the first time. They will now operate a weekly Shannon-Chicago service on Fridays, through their cargo subsidiary Turkish Cargo, boosting options for Irish exporters of all sizes. The service will be operated with Turkish Cargo’s modern fuel-efficient Airbus A330F aircraft, which is the world’s most modern mid-size freighter and is capable of transporting cargo from high-value consumer goods to industrial equipment to thoroughbred horses. After the separation from the DAA, Shannon Group identified the development of an air freight hub as a major opportunity, as much of Irish air cargo exports now travel by truck to Britain because of a lack of suitable direct flights. Shannon Group CEO Neil Pakey said, …

IDA chief executive Martin Shanahan will visit Shannon on Thursday to address the  local chamber on the organisation’s strategy and plans for the region. Speaking in advance of the lunch  time event at Dromoland Castle, Shannon Chamber’s chief executive, Helen Downes said, “The business community in the Shannon area will be keen to hear how the IDA plans to position the region to attract investment, particularly with the new focus on regions announced recently by Minister Richard Bruton. “Regional development is about turning regional strengths into opportunity, identifying, building on and realising the potential offered by a particular place and its geography or location. It’s also about organisations pulling together to make things happen. Shannon Chamber and its members are ready to participate in this initiative. We already have a successful CEO Forum which is focussed on generating further growth in Shannon by building on strengths and resolving barriers to further investment.”

ENDA Kenny is to face protests when he comes to Clare on Monday, with the revised water charges still the subject of much public anger. Gardaí met earlier this week to make plans for Monday, when the Taoiseach is set to visit TTM Healthcare at Ballymaley, speak at the Shannon Chamber president’s lunch in Dromoland and open Genworth’s new business centre in Shannon. There is speculation that jobs will be announced at TTM Healthcare and while there were reports that new jobs would also be announced at Genworth, a company spokesman told The Clare Champion this is not the case. It is understood that another Shannon company, which is due to take on new staff in 2015, are also hopeful that the Taoiseach will visit them. At a so-called street meeting in Shannon on Tuesday night, representatives of the We Won’t Pay anti-water charges campaign said they have plans to protest when the Taoiseach is in Clare. They also said …