Tag Archives: Jean McCabe

THE Clare-based deputy head of Retail Excellence has described the government’s latest roadmap on the reopening of the economy and society as “frustrating,” and hit out at the lack specific detail and key targets. Award-winning retailer Jean McCabe said that the latest Living with Covid-19 plan, as outlined on Tuesday by Taoiseach Micheál Martin, was short on detail and difficult for people to buy into. “When you examine what was said, there was no reference or mention of the non-essential retail sector,” she said. “Everyone in business needs Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and the latest announcement is very lacking in terms of the data and the number of cases we need to be at before we’ll be able to open our doors. Everyone needs to see clear goals, that makes the plan more achievable and what we’ve heard this week is very frustrating and quite short-sighted.” Ms McCabe said that while her clothing retail business, Willow, is well established online, …

WITH the economy apparently thriving, Christmas was quite positive for local retailers. On Wednesday morning as they reopened their doors, several traders told The Clare Champion things had gone well. Although Christmas Eve hadn’t been particularly hectic, busy earlier trading had more than made up for that, said Patrick Bourke. “We had two record days, the Friday and Saturday, December 22 and 23. The busiest days in a long, long time. That helped matters and it was part of the reason why Christmas Eve was back a bit, there was so much spent on the Friday and Saturday.” His store in Kilrush performed well, he said. “Kilrush had a very good Christmas. It came later in Kilrush than it did in Ennis but it turned out well, there is no doubt about that. This year, the emigrant factor wasn’t quite as noticeable as other years. We had the wedding end of it alright, with a lot of people back for …

ENNIS will soon be switching on to free public wi-fi. Clare County Council has commenced the rollout of free public wi-fi to Ennis town centre as part of a wider plan to introduce open internet access to several other Clare towns. Open wi-fi access was recently introduced to the Upper Market area of Ennis with plans to extend the free service to Parnell Street and Carpark, Abbey Street and carpark, O’Connell Street and O’Connell Square during the coming weeks. Clare County Council, which is funding the initiative, is working with local businesses to install the wi-fi hotspots in an effort to draw shoppers and business people to the town.

THE importance of collaboration among enterprises was one of the main points spelled out at the launch of the 2016 FBD Clare Business Excellence Awards. A large attendance of business people from around the county, including past finalists, attended the formal launch of the awards by Minister of State for Employment and Small Business Pat Breen in the Temple Gate Hotel. To address the issue of access to credit for small businesses, Deputy Breen took the opportunity to highlight the work of the Credit Review Office and also to make an announcement in relation to Microfinance Ireland. As and from July 1, the microfinance lending rate for businesses will be reduced from its current rate of 8.8% to 7.8%, with an additional 1% reduction for client businesses of a Local Enterprise Office, including Clare. Deputy Breen also stated his commitment to the Advisory Group for Small Business, for which he is the chair. He referred to the fact that the group has …