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| Appoints Partner |
National News from
PLATO companies | |||||
| Cork 2005 |
Welcome to the 2nd edition of the "National News from
PLATO SME's" - we at PLATO would like to congratulate all the below
companies on their continued success | |||||
| e-Learn | ||||||
| Expand Network |  |
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| Extend locations | ||||||
| Finalist in Award | ||||||
| Found home |  |
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| Garden Centre 04 | ||||||
| Guest House | ||||||
| Investor in People | ||||||
| New Director |  |
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| New Collection | ||||||
| Spring in their step | ||||||
| Taste well Mixed |
The "news" section on this
page includes interesting stories from a wide range of industry sectors
involved in the PLATO programme, examples includes:- Motors &
Accessories; Food; Promotion & Advertising; Tourism; Training;
Horiculture; Telecommunications; Software; Furniture; Computers & IT;
Engineering & Event Management
Why not check for yourself & view stories below! | |||||
| Teams with Invent | ||||||
| Text Analysis | ||||||
| Visionary Awards | ||||||
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Eamonn
Arthur Ltd Dundalk, Co Louth the bearing specialists have come up with a
new product to add to their growing range of industrial spare parts. The
new product is a range of springs that includes compression springs,
extension springs, torsion springs plus a range of spring related parts
including disc springs, circlips, hose clamps, tool clips, r clips, push
on fixes and wave washers. We specialise in the industrial market
providing an extensive range of industrial spare parts to keep machinery
moving, stockists of skf bearings opti and pix vee belts, drive chain,
sprockets, pulleys, couplings, oil seals and ram seals. Eamonn maintains "springs have been an item that we have been asked for over the years and although I don't see the product dramatically increasing turnover, I do see it as giving the customer what they require - another form of customer care taken". We also offer a special manufacturing service covering both wire and flat metal requirements. The aim of Eamonn Arthur Ltd is to supply quality products at a competitive price! For further information contact: Eamonn Arthur Ltd, Coes Road, Dundalk, Co Louth (t) +353(0) 42 9335055 |
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"A Taste
of Home Ireland" was established in 1996 as a bakery specialising in the
production of Irish Brown Soda Bread made to an old family recipe dating
back 4 generations. A new product introduced to the companies range is
"Irish Bread Mix" which enables you to make
your own bread when and where needed - All you have to do is simply add
the correct amount of cold water and bake - perfect every
time! |
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It did
not take long for discerning consumers to recognise the uniqueness and
quality of our beautiful loaf, which has become a market leader. Our Irish
Brown Soda Bread maybe purchased throughout Ireland in the many retail
outlets that we supply, we have a network of sales agents and are
continually breaking into European and North American
Markets. |
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Tom
Jennings stated: It's no accident we produce quality bread, we use the
finest ingredients and are continuously improving baking technology and
processes. Quality and Freshness is fundamental to A Taste of Home, they
are the two pillars on which the business is built. We are a bakery with a reputation for excellence with our range of delicious traditional Irish bread - now for your convenience we now produce our very own "Irish bread mix" which is available in both a consumer pack and catering pack. For further information contact: A Taste of Home (t) +44 (0) 28 30848007 (e) info@irishbreads.com (w) http://www.irishbreads.com/ | ||
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Dublin
based display specialist, AdDisplays Limited
have recently extended their network of advertising locations. They have
added three new Post Offices to their national network - Skibbereen,
Shannon and Mallow. As the only company in Ireland who can offer FULL COLOUR, A3 SIZE and ILLUMINATED display space in Post Offices, this brings to a total of 50 the number of locations available stretching from Letterkenny to Killarney. Advertising space is made available to local businesses wishing to promote themselves to this large attractive market - the Post Office Customers. Full graphic design facilities are also available. |
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In an
effort to improve our service to our clients, AdDisplays have appointed a
new Sales Consultant for the Munster region. He will take up his position
from January 2005 and will service our existing client base in that area,
whilst at the same time develop new business opportunities. For further
information contact: AdDisplays Limited (t) +353(0)
4990499 (e) info@addisplays.ie (w)
http://www.addisplays.ie/ | |
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Kunnert
& Tierney Information Design (offices based in Cork and Belfast) has
successfully achieved responsibility for the corporate communications and
marketing design requirements for Cork 2005: European Capital of Culture.
This project includes marketing publications, branding extensions,
merchandising, environmental design as well as the full programme book
'City of Making'. The official launch of Cork 2005 took place on the 8th and 9th of January 2005. Check out http://www.cork2005.ie/ for up to date programme information. Creative Director Christian Kunnert has also been nominated by the Swedish Embassy in Dublin as one of the Irish nominees for the 'Year of Design' to be held in Sweden during 2005. Kunnert & Tierney recently achieved the contract for the branding design and corporate communications requirements for the ground breaking E60 million Electronics Communications and Information Technology Institute in Belfast, Northern Ireland (ECIT). |
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We provide successful, creative and effective branding and
communications applications to both private and state organisations. For
further details please contact: Elaine Tierney,
Kunnert & Tierney Information Design (t) +353(0) 21 4771940 (f)
+353(0) 21 4771936 (w) http://www.kunnertandtierney.com/ |
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An elegant Edwardian property which has been completely
refurbished retaining many of the original features. Its high ceilings,
sweeping staircases flooded with natural light from the glass domed
ceiling, decorative fireplace and original front door complete with
fanlight provide a taste of 20th Century elegance which compliments the
21st Century design and facilities. All bedrooms have luxurious ensuites.
Our Italian furniture and fittings set the perfect tone. Serviced Self Catering Suites Elegant Bed & Breakfast Accommodation Luxury Apartments available Presently Available:- One Bed Luxury Apartments available for short term let... |
 Further details contact... Lismar Guest House (t) +353(0) 42 9357246 (f) +353(0) 42 9357247 (e) lismar@iol.ie Why not give us a call next time you need to arrange accommodation for your visitors!!! |
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Phoenix Safety has just launched their
latest e-Learning course, 'Drugs & Alcohol in the Workplace'. This
module aims to heighten awareness of the problems caused in the workplace
by the misuse of drugs and alcohol. This misuse not only damages health
and affects work performance, but also results in higher rates of
absenteeism, accidents, illness and mortality, with all their associated
costs. This module addresses the issues of legal drugs, e.g. alcohol, as
well as illegal drugs e.g. cannabis and heroin. There are many benefits to learning online - the courses are easy to access, flexible and cost-effective. An added bonus is that Phoenix Safety can tailor courses to meet their customer's specific requirements. The Phoenix Mascot, 'Sam-Sam the Safety Man' (photo attached) is used on all courses. The reasons for this are two-fold; firstly, studies have shown that the use of animation in Computer Based Training increases participant learning capacity and secondly, Sam-Sam makes the learning experience fun! |
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"Phoenix Safety is Irelands leading provider of Health
& Safety training, consultancy and e-Learning. From offices in Dublin
and Cork, they provide comprehensive safety solutions for companies across
all industry types. To find out more information on Phoenix Safety and to
sample their latest e-Learning demo's check out http://www.phoenixsafety.ie/ | |
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The Arboretum Lifestyle and Garden Centre at
Leighlinbridge, Carlow has been named as the Republics Irish Garden Centre
of the year 2004. Referred to by the Judge as a 'delightful place to
visit' - please check out the full story on previous web page by clicking
on Arboretum.
For further details contact +353 (0) 59 9121558
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"It gives us great pleasure to inform Plato that Dome
Telecom have been short-listed as a Finalist in both the Services and the
Innovator of the Year Award categories in the inaugural SFA National Small
Business Award 2005. A total of 34 companies have been short-listed for
consideration across six categories. The presentation of the Awards will
take place on Thursday 24th February by the patron of the Awards, An
Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern All Dome Telecom products and services have one simple premise in common - they are prepaid and they target the "non-geographic" customer. No other Irish company specialises in this market. |
The non-geographic customer is defined as those who are neither at home or in their office, such customers include Irish soldiers on UN duties (to whom Dome provides calls home), patients in hospitals (to whom Dome offer a bedside telephone service), to asylum seekers, foreign workers and students (to whom Dome provide a cost effective means of calling home and being called from home). |
Through another group company it owns and
manages its own network of switching equipment, payphones and vending
machines as well as owning its own premises in Dublin 7. Dome Telecom is
fully authorised by Comreg, is Ireland's Guaranteed Irish Telecoms
Company, as is the market-leader within the prepaid segment of the
industry". For further information contact: Natasha Scanlan, Dome Telecom (t) +353(0) 1 8724050 (w) http://www.dometelecom.com/ |
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The Corporate Solutions Group have finally found their
home, working in both the North and South of Ireland what better place for
a company to put its roots down than the charming Dundalk! 3 years in
operation the Group has gone from strength to strength since its
incorporation, having achieved such accolades as a finalist in the
inaugural SFA National Small Business Awards (Winner yet to be announced)
and received a Commendation from InterTradeIreland's All Ireland Trade
Awards 2002. Mark Cumming Director of East Coast Adventure (est. 1992) and
Padraic O'Kane formerly commercial Director of Masterchefs joined forces
to create Corporate Solutions. Following Corporate
Solutions incorporation and offical launch, the company quickly
established a reputation for excellence, and has continued to grow in
experience. |
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The Corporate Solutions Group
employs full time specialists in the fields of Corporate Hospitality,
Event Management, Leisure and specialised Fit-Out, conducting business
from our offices in both NI and RoI, with the Head Office being operated
from Slane Castle, Co Meath. The Group is perhaps most widely known for
being the Official Hospitality partners to the Irish EU Presidency 2004,
in which they facilitated over 400 events during the 6 months. We are also
the exclusive managing partners to the famous Slane Castle, Co Meath. In
this role, the company coordinates a wide variety of events, including
banquets, corporate hospitality, private parties and weddings, and the
sole VIP hospitality providers for the legendary annual Rock Concert which
consists of Hospitality for 2000 guests. The new headquarters are in an 8500sq ft development, which includes open plan offices, state of art board room, and a 6000sq ft workshop for Specialised Fit Out and Project Management department. This move has maximised production and communication by providing a centralised base. We plan to expand our workforce by up to 20 people over the coming year - so good news for business in Dundalk! For further details contact Corporate Solutions Group, Gaskin Business Park, Coes Road, Dundalk, Co Louth (t) +353(0) 42 9357600 (f) +353(0) 42 9357601 (e) sales@corporate.ie (w) http://www.corporate.ie/ | |
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Reliable
Data Ltd (Cork) has signed a deal with INTACT Software (Dundalk), the
Irish developer of Accounting and Business Management Solutions, to become
part of the INTACT Accredited Reseller Network. This expansion will
broaden INTACT's customer base in the South West region of Ireland and
represents an extremely valuable addition to their current network of
resellers. Reliable Data was chosen by INTACT due to their knowledge, expertise and high level of support they provide to their customers. They have been providing accounting, payroll and customised integrated solutions since 1993. Gerry Griffin - Reliable Data stated: "We are amazed at the rich functionality and value for money that the INTACT system offers, it is superior to known brands and gives us a distinct competitive edge when it comes to winning new business. We are very happy with the level and response of the backup support which we receive, which is essential to our efforts to provide our customers with an efficient service". |
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Mark McArdle - INTACT (RoI) added "We are proud to
have Reliable Data on board, their long and valued experience in supplying
computerised accounts solutions ensures INTACT will be represented with
the flair and professionalism that we ourselves have invested in this
product. It is important to maintain our reputation as a cost effective
alternative to the more expensive imports - Reliable Data have a proven
track record of excelling themselves in this regard".
Working closely together we can focus on helping businesses maximise their investment. For further information contact:- INTACT Software (t) +353(0) 42 9331742 (e) customercare@intact.ie (w) http://www.intact.ie/ Reliable Data Ltd (t) +353(0) 21 4823188 (e) Sales@rdata.ie (w) http://www.rdata.ie/ | |
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Chicane
Furniture Design have designed and launched their new hand painted solid
wood Monaco Collection. The company is looking forward to exhibiting to
the furniture trade at the highly successful British Furniture Fair in
Birmingham in January 2005. Chicane Furniture Design are confident this
will complement their existing old pine collection. For further information please contact: Chicane Furniture Design (t) +353(0) 41 9832708 (f) +353(0) 41 9839115 (w) http://www.chicane.ie/ |
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At the
November Board meeting of Novara IT, Paul Maguire was appointed a Director
of the company. Serving in a non-executive capacity Paul Maguire is a very
capable and versatile Senior Manager with a wealth of experience across a
broad range of commercial functions including IT, Sales, Supply Chain
Management, Business Process Engineering and Customer Contact Management.
Paul has a track record of focusing on change management to address
problems and create effective and efficient business practices. Having
served 33 years with Guinness/Diageo Paul made a significant contribution
to increased profitability for Guinness/Diageo in Ireland and in
International Operations. Congratulations & Best Wishes to
Paul! Also at the meeting the Board thanked Michael Maguire on his retirement from the Board. The board expressed their appreciation for Michael's commitment and input over the three years he served on the board. For further details contact: Novara IT (t) +353(0) 18583091 (e) info@novarait.com (w) http://www.novarait.com/ |
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Quantum
Business Solutions (QBS), the Irish Business Software development and
distribution company, has appointed Equate Business and IT Solutions as a
Pegasus Business Software and Quantum payroll partner. Equate is a newly formed business and IT consultancy, its founders, Brian Parsons and Maria Tyrrell, have extensive experience in professional & IT backgrounds to deliver quality IT consultancy services to its customers. Equate will offer its customers far more than simple product placement. Parsons's and Tyrrell's services will include Strategic Review of IT Systems, Project Management, system sourcing as well as practical systems implementation. Prior to forming Equate, Tyrrell held a senior IT management position in the Retail sector with responsibility for strategy and delivery of Information Systems. Parson's background is in audit and accountancy and he has a number of years experience in the IT industry in the areas of Systems Analysis and Project Management. Equate is based in Finglas close to the M50. Further details can be found on http://www.eq8.ie/ |
 Karl O'Leary, Managing Director, QBS, welcomed the appointment of Equate. "Equate has been formed with a very clear vision - to maximise technology to the benefit of the customers. Both founders have strong business and professional backgrounds which they will be able to leverage for their customers' benefit, providing customers with the resources of an inhouse IT team when and where they need it. Equate's strong technical and business skills complement our approach to product design and implementation". |
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Senior Consultant
Appointed |
Customer Services Manager
promotion |
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QBS
announces the appointment of Godfrey O'Dowd to the position of Senior
Consultant with responsibility for SunSystems implementations. Previously,
O'Dowd has worked in the IT industry for some 15years, holding senior
analyst positions for Newport Pharmaceuticals, Sysco and Systems Union in
the UK. O'Dowd holds a Technicians Degree in Computer Science from DIT in
Kevin Street, and has programming skills in SQL DBA Version 7, Oracle DBA
Pt 1-V7 and C&G. He also holds a CPA qualification. Congratulations
& Best Wishes to Godfrey! |
QBS is pleased to announce the appointment of Emma
Fortune to the position of Customer Services Manager. Fortune has held
both software support and sales roles within QBS, she therefore brings a
broad range of skills and experience to her new position. Fortune's brief
will embrace products such as Pegasus, Quantum Payroll, Prospect CRM and
QBS in-house developed products. Fortune has a BA in Economics and a
postgraduate Diploma in Business Studies. Prior to joining Quantum in
1997, Fortune worked in the area of software training. Congratulations
& Best Wishes to Emma! |
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Quantum
Business Solutions has a wealth of experience in developing and
integrating business solutions for its customerbase. For more information,
please contact: Michael Alken, Quantum Business
Solutions (t) +353(0) 1 2796666 (w) http://www.qbs.ie/ | |
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SPSS
Ireland ran two seminars in September 2004 to launch the newest addition
to the product range, SPSS Text Analysis for Surveys. Both seminars seen a
packed house of professionals from all industry sectors, who were
intrigued by the capabilities of the newest addition to the SPSS
family. What is SPSS Text Analysis for Surveys? Text Analysis for Surveys is a software package that is used to analyse open-ended responses in a survey - put simply it is a responder's opinion on a particular subject, eg "what do you think of the services provided by SPSS Ireland?" What can it do for me? Up until now the process of analysing survey responses has been both tedious and time consuming not to mention expensive. However, with the introduction of Text Analysis for Surveys this process is eliminated. We can provide you with a complete solution, from data entry and collection to data analysis and reporting. |
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Who is
it for? SPSS Text Analysis for Surveys is the ultimate tool for anyone involved in today's research sector, minimising time spent coding responses, making your results more consistent and saves you money as it cuts out the need to outsource this process. SPSS Ireland is part of SPSS International which is the world's most highly used survey deployment and data analysis provider with 35 years experience in the research field. The SPSS platform of products will help you tie together data from across the organisation, providing you with a true insight into your company. SPSS Ireland have partnered with many organisations including ESB, Organon Ireland, Tourism Ireland, Sigmar Recruitment, EBS and the National Parents Council, assisting these organisations with specific issues relevant to them. For more information contact: SPSS Ireland, (t) +353(0) 1 4150234 (e) mailto:info@spss.ie | |
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At the
recent Visionary Design Awards in London, organised by the National
Library for the Blind to celebrate accessible websites for people with
disabilities, Libertas Solutions CMS were the only company from Ireland to
have nominations in the awards with a total of 4 clients as finalists and
one outright winner. Beating off stiff competition, Philip Murphy
Associates won their Visionary Design Award in the Small Commercial
category. This was due to the simplicity of the design and the
accessibility features it offers for visitors who have various
disabilities, please view http://www.philipmurphyassociates.com/
The website is powered by Libertas Solutions' which ensures that the code used to produce the site is compliant with the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) guidelines from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), UK Government Access Keys for easy navigation, as well as providing a separate text only version of the site which is useful for people with visual difficulties and those with dyslexia. Neil Curran, Managing Director Libertas Solutions, explained "Accessibility is like building a house - if the groundwork is done correctly at the beginning, making websites accessible to people with disabilities is not such a big job; if left until later, then the task becomes much more difficult. Businesses can benefit by making marketing information, products and services available to a wider audience who cannot gain access to competitors's sites". Chief Executive of the National Library for the Blind, Helen Brazier outlined the rationale behind the event "These awards are incredibly important. We estimate that less than a third of all websites are accessible to visually impaired people and our challenge to web designers and publishers is to create sites which are attractive and informative, but also comply with the Disability Discrimination Act by being accessible too". |
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Libertas
Solutions also had 3 other clients' sites shortlisted; Ocean Youth Trust
(Ireland) - http://www.oyti.org/;
University of Ulster Coleraine Fencing Club - http://www.uucfencing.co.uk/; and
Turkington Holdings Ltd - http://www.turkington-holdings.com/.
The event was hosted by Lloyd Grossman and sponsored by Barclays
Bank. For further information on this story please contact Barbara Curran, Operations Director, Libertas Solutions (e) barbara.curran@libertas-solutions.com (t) +44(0) 28 37552880 (w) http://www.libertas-solutions.com/ |
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FM
Environmental Ltd successfully achieved many of their objectives for 2004
one of which included - winner of INVEST Northern Ireland - Investor in
People Award in November. At a presentation reception Mr Leslie Morrison,
Chief Executive, INVEST NI presented the award to Mr Kevin Fitzpatrick,
Managing Director at their Head Office in Newry, Co Down in recognition of
the company's formal training and development of its staff. FM
Environmental completed the Company Development Programme with Invest NI
and had made Investor In People one of its objectives for 2004. Kevin Fitzpatrick, Managing Director stated: "That FM Environmental was greatly honoured to have won the prestigious award and that the award was achieved as a result of an exceptional team effort". |
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Nicola Whyte, Training & Development Manager and
co-ordinator of the project, stated after working with Invest Northern
Ireland through the Company Development Programme, one of our main
objectives was to achieve the 'Investor In
People' Award, which is a tremendous achievement of which all our
staff are immensely proud. | |
| For further information contact: FM Environmental Ltd (t) +44 (0) 28 3026 6616 (e) sales@fmenvironmental.com (w) http://www.fmenvironmental.com/ | |
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Motivational trainer and author Yanky Fachler (who joined Plato
Louth/Newry & Mourne in 1998) has teamed up with invent - the Enterprise & Innovation Centre at
Dublin City University, to run a series of motivational seminars for
SME's. Yanky plans to go National in the New Year when he will deliver the
seminars at Invent on DCU campus in North Dublin, initial seminars were
held in Dundalk in 2004. |
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Topics include:-
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Many Plato members will remember Yanky as the enthusiastic
guy who energetically and humorously compèred the rapid networking
sessions at the recent Plato National Networking Day. Yanky is the author
of Fire in the Belly (Oak Tree Press) which explores the emotional
transition between the worlds of employment and self-employment.
Through Invent Yanky has addressed several hundred DCU students on the subject of Idea Generation and coached candidates for the Mallin Invent Start-up Award on how to pitch their submissions to the panel of judges. Recently, Yanky has delivered seminars in Honolulu (Small Business Development Centre), London (Central St Martins College of Art & Design) and Huntingdon, West Virginia (Marshall University.) For further details contact: Yanky Fachler Motivational Training (t) +353(0) 42 9351099 / +353(0) 86 8575162 (e) yanky@eircom.net or visit http://www.yankyfachler.com/ | ||
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If you have any newsworthy items for this page please forward to your relevant PLATO Office
NATIONAL NEWS - 2004