Ulster Bank has appointed former Communicorp CEO Gervaise Slowey to its board of directors. Ms Slowey is an independent strategic consultant. Previously she headed up Denis O’Brien’s Communicorp radio group for four years to the end of 2016, and before that was an executive with advertising giant Ogilvy Worldwide. She is also currently an independent […]

Irish Life Group are set to acquire a strategic shareholding in Ireland’s largest Irish-owned independent financial consultancy, Invesco. The terms of the transaction have not been disclosed but no job losses are expected on its completion, expected in the third quarter of 2018, subject to regulatory approvals. Invesco employs 125 people at its sites at […]

Lender KBC says it is embracing innovative technology and partnering with skilled fintechs in order to compete in the financial services landscape. Head of Current Accounts Petrina Grady demonstrated their “game-changing” digital account opening experience on the TechX stage of the Dublin Tech Summit. In the ‘Building digital services that transform customer experience’ presentation, with […]

Domestic firms spent 36pc of the €4.6bn invested into innovation here in 2016, with multinationals responsible for the balance. Out of the €1.7bn spent by Irish businesses, just under half the spending, or €793m, went to in-house research and development (R&D), to according to data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO). The tax system is […]

A new register of businesses is set to include details of owners’ Personal Public Service Numbers (PPSN). The Irish Independent has learned that officials want the new Register of Beneficial Ownership – which will detail precise ownership of corporate entities in Ireland – to require firms to supply shareholders’ Personal Public Service Numbers (PPSN) in […]

For the last decade, a lot of Irish SMEs have struggled to access the funds they need to succeed. As the financial crisis took hold, sources of credit dried up. Many Irish businesses found it next to impossible to access affordable finance. This had a devastating effect on companies across the country. Even now, as […]

In the first half of 2016, just 3,600 of us, or 0.06pc, switched our current account to another bank. This is a far cry from the first half of 2014, when over 26,000 customers switched, although this was mainly due to the exit of Danske Bank and ACC Bank from the current account market. “The […]

A motorist was shocked when his annual motor insurance renewal quote rocketed to an incredible €19,000. Meath publican Brian Kelly (48) rang Liberty Insurance to point out what he thought was an administrative error. However, the company told him the policy price of €19,368.26 for his 2007 1.6-litre Toyota Avensis was correct. The increase was […]