The Big Debate
John Bowman chaired the Enterprise Debate in City Hall last month. Lively discussion and challenging questions were put to the panel (L-R) Damian Young, Bank of Ireland, Martin Murray, Interactive Return, Pat Lynch, DCEB, Paula Fitzsimons, GEM author,
Mark Fielding, ISME, Brian Carey, Sunday Times, Jay Bourke, Cafe Bar Deli, Marc Coleman, NewsTalk 106 Economist.
Joanne McErlain asked "What is the best approach to obtain credit for a small business in the current climate? Both from banks and suppliers..." David Kelly also had a banking question "What can the banks do for small business if they can't lend, intend to increase their charges across the board and are reducing their staff numbers dramatically worsening the service level? Perhaps the Mattress isn't a bad option after all..."
Joy Redmond posed the question "Since human capital is core to any organisation's survival, can the panel see a possible move towards contracting, outsourcing and the use of part-time and freelance staff as a recession-attractive alternative to human resourcing? A knee jerk reaction today may be to let go of staff but for companies to sustain and grow, they'll still need excellent people."
Gerard Cleary asked "Recently there has been an exodus of shoppers going to Northern Ireland to shop due to value for money due to strength of Euro v Sterling. this problem will continue as sterling becomes/ has become more depressed in recent week. Ireland Inc has a strong brand especially in 80's of the Guarantee Irish brand. What would the panel think of using modern Technology to rejuvenate this Guarantee Irish brand by linking it to a loyalty card system (maybe in conjunction with retailers in where the customer is rewarded for buying Irish rather than the present 'feel good factor' (which is relatively weak) which is the only current association of consumers buying Irish at present".