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08 July 2008
The US financial services firm Citi Inc has announced plans to create 145 jobs in Belfast.
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12 May 2008
Economy Minister, Nigel Dodds today announced an £8.8million investment by Fujitsu Services, creating 150 jobs, in Belfast and Londonderry.
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07 May 2008
As delegates start to arrive for the US-NI Investment Conference, Economy Minister Nigel Dodds announced investment plans by US firm CyberSource.
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22 April 2008
Programme details for the US-NI Investment Conference were revealed today by the Economy Minister, Nigel Dodds.
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21 April 2008
The number of senior US executives set to attend a major investment conference in Belfast next month has exceeded all expectations.
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11 April 2008
The biggest ever public investment in Northern Ireland, which could be worth up to $750m (almost £380m), was being officially announced in New York today.
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22 March 2008
Nearly half a million people have already cheched out Belfast's new shopping centre.
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26 February 2008
President Bush's special envoy on Northern Ireland, Ambassador Paula Dobriansky, has described the province as "an excellent place to do business."
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25 February 2008
Global hotel brand Marriott is on the way to Northern Ireland, it can be revealed today.
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06 February 2008
THE Belfast office market has hit the ground running in 2008 with a €28m investment deal, plus what may well be Northern Ireland's largest ever service office deal.
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31 January 2008
Belfast is hoping to beat the slump in retail spending by extending opening hours on a further two nights a week.
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24 January 2008
The Odyssey Arena in Belfast has made it into the top seven major concert venues in the world, it has been revealed.
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09 January 2008
The number of major feature films and television productions being shot in Northern Ireland has hit an all-time high over the past 12 months, it was revealed today.
In total, a dozen movies or television productions have either shot in the province or started pre-production in this period, including the Hollywood blockbuster City of Ember and Ireland's entry to the Foreign Language Oscars, Kings, which was directed by Tom Collins from Londonderry.
And in the last financial year production has brought in a staggering £10m for the Northern Ireland economy.
This is in stark contrast to the current situation in the Republic of Ireland, where the number of foreign productions is lower than previous years, with just nine film and TV dramas being shot over the past 12 months.
According to Northern Ireland Screen, the province can provide the perfect locations, facilities and funds.
The company secured £12m in funding from Invest NI and has worked tirelessly at lobbying on a global scale for a 'slice of the action'.
In addition, the relatively new UK Tax Breaks have helped, although in Northern Ireland they apply only to film and not television.
Colin Anderson OBE, chairman of Northern Ireland Screen, said: "In the face of increasingly global competition Northern Ireland Screen has steadily increased its ability to attract film and television projects to Northern Ireland and is committed to developing a sustainable, dynamic screen industry and culture.
"Not only are Northern Ireland crews exceptionally talented and hard-working, but they are friendly and enthusiastic on set and will go that extra mile.
" Northern Ireland is the most compact 5,196 square miles of back-lot in the world, offering myriad stunning locations from mountains, glens, loughs, caves, cliffs and beaches to urban landscapes of modern cities with Victorian architecture to picturesque towns, villages and hamlets with the quintessential thatched cottage."
Mr Anderson added: "It's all within reach in a day's filming schedule and, most importantly, we'll help make sure it's within budget."
As well as big movies like City of Ember, television production is also up with three BBC network dramas being filmed in Northern Ireland, including Fairytales, Messiah and Desperados.
Some of the huge name stars who have been to Northern Ireland in the past year include Bill Murray and Tim Robbins (City of Ember), Shirley MacLaine, Christopher Plummer, Mischa Barton, Pete Postlethwaite, Brenda Fricker (Closing The Ring), Heather Graham (Buy, Borrow or Steal), Donald Sutherland, Miranda Richardson (Puffball), Vanessa Redgrave, Imelda Staunton and Brenda Fricker (How About You) and Sir Ben Kingsley and Rose McGowan (Man On The Run).
In the Irish Republic the Irish Film Commission manged to attract The Tudors, starring Jonathan Rhy Myers and My Boy Jack, featuring Daniel Radcliffe and Kim Cattrrall, but in past years, huge films like Braveheart and King Arthur were shot there.
The industry is now calling on the Government to introduce new measures to help improve competitiveness, while the Section 481 tax relief is currently up for review.
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13 December 2007
As Ikea prepares for the thousands of shoppers who have been eagerly awaiting the opening of its flagship store at the holywood exchange today, business correspondent robin morton delves into the swedish furniture giant's history and gauges how it will a ffect the local economy
If the queue of hopefuls which gathered in October when Ikea was recruiting staff is anything to go by, the new store will have a significant economic impact on Belfast. Back in July, more than 11,000 people attended a weekend information fair at Esporta Health Club, each hoping to secure one of the jobs on offer.
Certainly with a core staff of 400 and a further 100 people involved in outsourced services, the outlet is a major source of employment in east Belfast, with pay packets going into homes in the area and beyond.
But with thousands of shoppers expected to be attracted to Ireland's first Ikea week by week, there will be a spin-off for local hotels, restaurants and other shops in the vicinity.
The impact is expected to be felt not just in the immediate vicinity, but also in the centre of Belfast as out-of-town visitors decide to shop at Ikea in the morning and head for Donegall Place in the afternoon.
When the £320m Victoria Square centre opens next March, there will be even more reason for Ikea visitors to take in the city centre as well.
The fact that Translink, which used to run coach trips from Belfast to the Ikea at Glasgow, is now running dedicated Ikea Ulsterbus Day Tours on Saturdays from locations across Northern Ireland tells its own story.
The Ulsterbus 'Ikea special' routes 1?9 will run from across Northern Ireland to the Ikea entrance, with day return tickets, which must be booked in advance, costing £10.
Ciaran Rogan, marketing executive of Translink, said: "We see the Ikea opening as a huge opportunity for Belfast - it will be a unique attraction for the city and a perfect day trip.
"We have been working very closely with them to make access by public transport to the store as easy as possible - for customers and their co-workers."
To this end, Translink has introduced a new Metro shuttle service operating every 30 minutes from the city centre, with the bus also serving Belfast Central Station for rail passengers.
It is scarcely a coincidence, either, that Ulsterbus and Bus Eireann have chosen this month to increase frequency on their coach service from Dublin.
Coaches will now run once an hour on the hour, and no doubt with onward connections from Europa Buscentre to Ikea this service will attract the shoppers.
David Meers, the Ikea services manager, says the aim is to make Ikea accessible to as many people as possible.
He said: "We are keen for visitors to come from throughout Northern Ireland and have the opportunity to see the excellent range of stylish, functional and affordable products Ikea has to offer."
Ikea's arrival will also pep up the adjacent Holywood Exchange development. Although the big hitters include Sainsburys and B&Q, there are still a number of sites on which stores have not yet been built.
And Ikea, true to its Scandinavian principles, claims to be one of the most sustainable retailers around.
The Belfast store will have a wood pellet burner to generate heat, a rain water collection system, no plastic bags and will aim to recycle at least 90% of waste.
The fact that Belfast has beaten Dublin to the punch by securing Ireland's first Ikea store will give the city an undoubted edge. But Belfast had better enjoy its top spot while it lasts - because plans are in hand to open an Ikea store at Ballymun on the M50 in Dublin by 2010.
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13 December 2007
Luxury apartments at the upmarket Victoria Square development in Belfast sold out in 24 hours, it can be revealed.
More than a third of the 106 high-spec homes at The Residence, which is the residential element of the £400m Victoria Square development, were snapped up by house-hunters on the first day of its release.
The city centre properties went on sale earlier this month as part of the first phase of The Residence. And the phenomenal response has prompted developer Multi Developments to bring forward the second release date to the end of January, rather than the early months of 2008, as originally planned. To date 1,500 potential home-owners have registered interest.
The city centre homes, which feature a mix of one, two and three-bedroom apartments, including penthouses, offer modern accommodation situated alongside top Victoria Square retailers, such as The House of Fraser amongst others as well as restaurants, cafes, a cinema and a 1,000-space basement car park.
The apartments, priced from £205,000, range in size from 520-740 sq ft one bedroom flats, 700-900 sq ft two-bedroom apartments and 900-1,000 sq ft three-bedroom homes.
The Residence also features the work of artist Terry Bradley, whose design is a key element at Victoria Square. This includes glasswork at the entrance doorway and a specially designed keyring for each home-owner. Further specially-commissioned work by the artist will hang in the reception lobby.
Paul Sargent, Multi-Development's UK managing director, said the success of the development is due to its unique mix.
"Buyers are excited about the prestige of having restaurants, cafes, a cinema and Belfast's finest retail mix on their doorstep," he said.
Thomas O'Doherty, partner at The Eric Cairns Partnership, joint selling agents with Templeton Robinson, said: "The Residence is a truly unique development encompassing the residential and commercial desire of a changing part of Belfast city centre."
Meanwhile, Keith Mitchell, senior partner/director at Templeton Robinson, said: "Victoria Square offers buyers the most important aspect of purchase - location, location, location, right at the heart of the city centre's regeneration."
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13 December 2007
Belfast's ever-changing skyline could be set to shift once again if the latest designs for a new arts centre are given the green light.
A planning application has been lodged for the £16.5m Metropolitan Arts Centre (MAC) in the city's Cathedral Quarter, and those behind the project are hopeful that the building will be completed on schedule by early 2011.
When completed, the facility, which is being built as a successor to the Old Museum Arts Centre (OMAC), will house two theatres, a dance studio, rehearsal rooms, café and restaurant and a vast 1,000 square metre visual arts space.
"The MAC will be one year old by the time the London Olympics opening ceremony takes place, so that shows you just how quickly this is going to happen," said Anne McReynolds, project director for the MAC.
"We have a great design, our funding is almost fully in place - we are currently closing the remaining £1.5m gap through various fundraising events and through the support of the statutory bodies to whom we have applied for backing."
The centre has been designed by local architects firm Hackett+Hall following a massive competition which drew applications from around the world.
Fundraising for the MAC was given a huge boost in August when Hollywood legend Meryl Streep jetted in to Belfast to help publicise the project, which she described as "a cause for celebration".
"I'm proud to come to Belfast to celebrate this city's commitment to OMAC and its great work," she said.
Ms Streep - famous for roles in films such as Sophie's Choice, The Devil Wears Prada and the recent hit Lions for Lambs - spent an afternoon answering questions from members of the public and arts professionals at the OMAC.
The new MAC project is being undertaken with support from the Department for Culture Arts and Leisure, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the Department for Social Development.
Established in 1990, OMAC is currently situated in a Grade 1 listed building in College Square North in the centre of Belfast, and is well- known for staging groundbreaking and innovative drama and shows. OMAC ticket sales to its current 90-seat theatre have grown by 24% each year for the last four years, selling out more than 70% of its drama productions.
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19 September 2007
Economy Minister Nigel Dodds today announced the arrival of California-based 3PAR® Inc. to Northern Ireland.
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12 September 2007
Belfast is set to take a huge bite out of the world’s sandwich market with the announcement that O’Brien’s is to open its largest store in the world at Victoria Square.
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12 September 2007
Unemployment in Northern Ireland has fallen to a record low, with the rate now the lowest among the UK regions.
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22 August 2007
The Swedish retailer Ikea has announced it wants to build a major outlet near Belfast, creating 400 jobs.
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22 August 2007
The announcement that iconic Swedish furnishing store IKEA is to open its first Irish outlet on the outskirts of Belfast just before Christmas is a further indication of the booming investment in retailing in Northern Ireland by companies never represented here before.
In March next year the £320m Victoria Square development, featuring a number of retailers new to the province including House of Fraser, will be open for business. A fresh attempt to get planning permission for a new John Lewis development at Sprucefield is to be made soon. Added to the retail mix is the opening of huge retail parks like the Outlet and Junction One and major refurbishment of existing shopping centres and retail outlets.
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22 August 2007
The Oscar winner has been in Belfast to speak about her career and support a new arts centre. By Shelley Marsden - 20/08/07
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01 August 2007
Invest Northern Ireland today announced its support for a £3.2 m investment by leading European IT company Fujitsu Services Limited, which will establish a Centre of Excellence for its Oracle operations in Belfast.
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01 August 2007
Invest Northern Ireland today announced its support for a £6 million project, being taken forward by Bombardier, to help develop the next generation of aircraft engine which will have less impact on the environment than current aircraft engines.
The project is part of the UK-wide Environmentally Friendly Engines (EFE) initiative, a £95 million industrial research programme led by Rolls-Royce in collaboration with the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) and economic development agencies around the UK.
Invest NI has offered over £1 million towards a total investment of over £6 million in the particular element of the scheme which Bombardier is taking forward.
Bombardier is developing the nacelle, or engine cowling, which will be lighter, quieter and more aerodynamic than those utilising current technology. This will help to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and oxides of nitrogen, as well as engine noise. The company is working closely with Queen’s University Belfast in developing some of the technologies that will be used in the project.
Over the next five years, the EFE programme will bring together research technologies being developed around the UK and test them to ensure effectiveness before they are incorporated in the development of new aircraft engines. The scheme will help deliver the long term environmental and technological goals set by the National Aerospace Technology Strategy.
Tracy Meharg, Invest Northern Ireland’s Managing Director of Innovation and Capability Development, highlighted Bombardier’s commitment to innovation as a key factor in its participation in the EFE programme: “Northern Ireland has a buoyant aerospace sector and companies such as Bombardier play a major role in driving the industry’s global competitiveness by focussing on innovation and investing in new technologies. The company’s involvement in this strategic national programme will encourage knowledge transfer and collaboration throughout the local sector. This can only strengthen its position as the industry responds to the challenge of developing more environmentally friendly solutions.”
Michael Ryan, Vice President and General Manager of Bombardier Aerospace, Belfast, said: “Engine nacelle technology will play a key role in helping to ensure future aircraft are quieter, lighter, and more efficient. This important research project provides an excellent opportunity to further develop our expertise and technologies in this area of aircraft engine nacelle design, manufacture and maintenance where we have become an international centre of excellence.”
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01 August 2007
A disused former government building on Belfast’s Ormeau Avenue will soon be transformed into a luxury aparthotel, bar and grillroom – bringing 71 full-time and 20 part-time jobs to South Belfast, helping to regenerate the area.
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15 July 2007
NORTHERN Ireland is proving to be a movie-making hotspot, with Heather Graham seen around Belfast partying in White's Tavern while filming her latest flick.
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13 June 2007
Researchers in Belfast have won a top UK medical innovation award for technology that makes the early diagnosis of potentially life-threatening damage to blood vessels easier than ever before. The research team from Queen’s University and the Medical Physics Agency was funded by the Health and Social Care R&D Office and Invest Northern Ireland.
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12 June 2007
Invest Northern Ireland is supporting a multi-million pound investment in aeronautical engineering company, Morson Projects Ltd, which is part of the London publicly quoted Morson Group plc.
Morson Projects specialises in the provision of engineering design consultancy solutions for its clients.
The new Belfast operation will focus on the design of new nacelle and composite material applications, serving markets outside of Northern Ireland. Invest NI are offering £156,000 to enhance the project, supporting facilities and infrastructure, and providing the resources to potentially create up to 50 highly skilled technical jobs at a specialist engineering design office.
Mr Brendan Austin, General Manager of Morson Projects Belfast Office, says: “Without the support of Invest NI, it would not have been possible to establish operations of this scale in Belfast. We hope to attract quality engineering graduates and experienced engineers who will enable us to focus on the development of composite structure and fuel system technology.
“We also plan to tap into the existing knowledge-base here, working closely with the universities. This will ensure that we have access to the most advanced technology and information that will help us to increase global competitiveness through innovation.
“Morson Group has an unbroken record of increasing sales over the past 20 years, and the new Northern Irish base will be pivotal to its growth strategy for the region over the next four years,” added Mr. Austin.
Leslie Morrison, Invest NI’s Chief Executive, added: “As well as utilising the existing skills in Northern Ireland, this project will further enhance the skills of the workforce in the long-term, adding value to the local aerospace industry and the economy.”
12.06.2007
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18 May 2007
Citi Markets and Banking (CMB) today announces the further expansion of its Belfast Centre of Excellence, with plans to establish a Legal & Compliance Division and create up to 39 new jobs.
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13 February 2007
White Young Green, the multi disciplinary consultancy has won contracts to supply services to three major construction projects in Northern Ireland valued together at £65m. The company said the awards refelcted the health of the construction industry in Northern Ireland as well as its ability to provide a range of consultancy services from a single source.
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13 February 2007
The number of jobs created in Northern Ireland has surged by record levels this year, a major report revealed yesterday.
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25 January 2007
Unemployment in Ireland, north and south, is among the lowest in Europe, according to latest figures. Just 4.2 % of the working age population in the north is out of work while the figure in the Republic is even lower at 4.1 per cent.
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25 January 2007
Multi-Development, the company behind the £320 million Victoria Square development, has secured niche woman's brand Coast to rent space in the new state of the art development, due to open in March next year.
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01 December 2006
The first sod was cut yesterday on a £1.7 million extension to a shankill business park that will create up to 100 new jobs.
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07 November 2006
Glandore Business Centres were established in Dublin in 2001 with two landmark buildings in the heart of Dublin's business and financial districts, Glandore have now opened their third business centre in Belfast.
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01 November 2006
Belfast's newest and most luxurious hotel, The Merchant, is to treble in size with building expected to start on a new £7 million expansion next year, the Iridh News can reveal.
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01 November 2006
A new Belfast Institute campus is to receive a £44 million boost that will involve building a new college in the city's landmark Titanic Quarter development.
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05 October 2006
An american company which serves the global telecommunications market has chosen Belfast as the location of its European operations centre.
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03 October 2006
Belfast is to get its first dedicated city centre toy store since the closure of children's favourite Leisureworld nearly nine years ago.
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03 October 2006
A business centre which has been supporting small firms in the Poleglass, Twinbrook and Lagmore areas for 20 years has undergone a £1.75 million facelift.
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03 October 2006
Belfast-based call centre company Gem is to create 300 jobs after signing four new customer contracts. The announcement brings the company's workforce to around 950 and finally fulfils an undertaking it gave six years ago to create 900 call centre jobs.
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27 September 2006
Belfast-based venture capital firm, Enterprise Equity has pumped £2.6m worth of funds into a Northern Ireland based telecoms software company.
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27 September 2006
Co Tyrone based Jermon Developments has announced the purchase of two adjoining buildings in Belfast city centre. The Dungannon company bought 8-22 Castle Place from Merset Properties, a joint venture between William Ewart and Donegall Place Investments, and Herbal Ltd for more that £16million.
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12 September 2006
Northern Ireland's most infamous courthouse could be reopened as a luxury hotel.
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15 August 2006
Britain's largest cinema chain is to open an eight-screen complex in Belfast city centre's landmark £320 million retail and leisure project, Victoria Square.
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15 August 2006
Capita has taken four floors at the Metro Building on Belfast's Donegall Square in what is reputed to be the city's biggest office deal this year. The outsourcing company has taken 40,000 sq ft at the Metro Building which is owned by Dublin-based investor Joe Linders, according to Property Week.
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21 July 2006
A firm with a contract to trade across the UK with Debenhams is set to create at least 19 jobs in the city in a major expansion programme backed by Invest NI. The agency is putting £75,000 into shared services centre in north Belfast being built as part of a £1.2m expansion programme by New York City Nails.
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19 July 2006
A block of shops on Belfast's busiest retailing thoroughfare has changed hands in multi million pound deal.
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06 July 2006
A stylish new bar and eaterie opened for business yesterday in an investment worth £750,000 in one of Belfast's busiest retail areas.
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06 July 2006
Belfast - based software development company Liberty IT is to relocate to larger premises to allow the firm to grow further. The company which is a wholly owned subsidiary of US-based Liberty Mutual Group, the global insurer is currently based in 29,000 sq ft of offices in Clarendon House, Adelaide Street.
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06 July 2006
Barclays Bank, one of the big four UK banks, is to set up shop in Northern Ireland. Barclays, which owns nine Woolwich Bank branches in the north, is turning them into Barclays branches as part of a multi-million pund investment.
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06 July 2006
The developers of Belfast's new Victoria Square shopping centre look unlikely to meet their original opening date, the £320 million scheme was due to open at the end of next year. However, Dutched-owned multi-development has admitted that Spring 2008 now looks a more likely opening date. The company said the delays were caused by problems with excavation work and dewatering.
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05 July 2006
The Old Museum Arts Centre (OMAC) in Belfast has taken another step towards a new £10 million threatre and arts space followinf confirmation of a development agreement with Laganside.
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29 June 2006
Northern Ireland is attracting more call centre jobs than it is losing. More than 300 staff are being recruited by Irish Telecoms firm Imagine to work at its call centre in Armagh, it was revealed yesterday.
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23 June 2006
IT solutions group Parity announced yesterday plans to grow its operations in Northern Ireland after winning contracts worth more than £11 million.
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20 June 2006
The Government is focusing its investment on transport, infrastructure, skills and education in a bid to boost the Northern Ireland economy, Gordan Brown declared yesterday. However, the Chancellor of the Exchequer who was meeting business leaders in Belfast, was less keen to commit to demands for the Province to have equivalent Corporation Tax levels to the Irish Republic. In Northern Ireland Corporation Tax stands at 30 per cent compared to 12.5 per cent in the Republic.
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14 June 2006
After years of snatching thousands of call centre and data processing jobs from Britain, Indian companies are moving onshore, or "near-shore" as they call it, to create jobs in the UK.
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08 June 2006
People in Northern Ireland are signing up for broadband faster than anywhere else in the UK, it emerged yesterday. NIO minister with responsibility for enterprise Marie Eagle announced the number of consumers with broadband accounts had gone up nearly four-fold in two years.
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07 June 2006
A world leading wireless technology firm has chosen Belfast has its European hub for research and development in a move which will create at least 20 new software engineer jobs, it emerged yesterday.
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07 June 2006
Two more major high-street retail names have signed up to become tenants at the £320 million Victoria Square development in Belfast. Multi Development (formely AM Development) confirmed that River Island and Goldsmiths have committed to the scheme and will sit side-by-side on the upper ground level of the Grand Colonnade.
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31 May 2006
The Water Service has awarded a new pipeline contract worth £24 million to Belfast-based company Lagan Construction in conjunction with John Murphy and Sons (London).
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30 May 2006
A 21st century landmark is how a proposed new Belfast city centre scheme has been described by its developers. Adelaide Exchange comprises 230,000 sq ft of high speculation offices, retail units, a hotel and an adjoining leisure complex.
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24 April 2006
Guests can quite literally lodge at the bank, as the luxurious £10 million Merchant Hotel, in Belfast, opens its doors for business today.
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30 March 2006
Thursday 30th March
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28 March 2006
Ewart Properties £300 million bid to regenerate a square mile of Belfast city centre is expected to get the green light from social development minister David Hanson this morning, The Irish News can reveal.
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28 February 2006
A massive £60 million retail park is due to open on Belfast's Boucher Road in the autumn.
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14 February 2006
A new recruitment consultancy specialising in a small number of professional markets has been launched by a Belfast-based consultant with almost 20 years experience in executive selection.
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07 February 2006
Northern Ireland companies have been told there's no time to 'waste' in the campaign to reduce rubbish. The Arena Network issued the challenge as it launched its latest Northern Ireland Environmental Management Survey. Now in its eight year, the survey is the only benchmark for environmental performance, and continues to be a major driver in encouraging best management practice among leading companies, councils, health trusts and universities.
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07 February 2006
International directories company Yell is to double the workforce at its Belfast Call Centre.
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01 February 2006
A special 'pile driving' ceremony was held in Belfast's Donegall Quay yesterday to officially launch the beginning of phase one works on Northern Ireland's tallest building project - Obel, the 26-storey residential tower.
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13 December 2005
The financial software development firm Microgen has signed-up for the last unit in the Innovation Centre at the Northern Ireland Science Park.
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01 December 2005
US software company is establishing a Belfast-based research and development centre and creating 35 jobs.
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16 November 2005
Belfast City Council is to spend more than £3.5 million to bring bigger and better events to the city in 2006.
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16 November 2005
Belfast-based civil engineering firm Charles Brand has been appointed contractor for phase one of Northern Ireland's tallest building project - the 26-storey Obel residential tower in Belfast.
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24 October 2005
The Europa Hotel in Belfast is investing £3 million to upgrade its bedrooms, it was announced yesterday. The city centre complex, which boasts the dubious distinction of being the most bombed hotel in Europe, is planning to makeover 184 bedrooms over the next two years with the aim of creating a "truly 21st century offering".
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18 October 2005
Full Circle, Investment Belfast's environmental initiative staged a 2 day conference and franchise exhibition to promote business opportunities in the recycling sector.
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29 September 2005
Avalon Instruments - a spin out from London-listed Andor Technologies has completed a £600,000 round of venture-capital funding aimed at expanding its international sales network throughout the United States and Asia.
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28 September 2005
Belfast - based telecoms software developer Aepona has celebrated its 10th anniversary by winning a major new contract from Poland's second largest mobile phone network operator, it was revealed yesterday.
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22 September 2005
Three hundred new jobs are being created at a West Belfast call centre set up just six months ago, it was announced yesterday.
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21 September 2005
An initiative to get disadvantaged people in the West Belfast and Greater Shankill areas off the dole queues and into work has resulted in nearly 100 people moving into employment.
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21 September 2005
Technology giant Nortel Networks has decided to retain a manufacturing facility in Co. Antrim that it previously had planned to sell as part of a package deal with Singapore based Flextronics.
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21 September 2005
An innovative Antrim firm, which specialises in Health and Safety services, yesterday officially opened a new £40,500 state of the art training facility.
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19 September 2005
The country with the lowest level of crime in the developed world is Northern Ireland, according to a united Nations report.
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15 September 2005
Around 15,000 jobs have been created in Northern Ireland's service sector in the past year.
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15 September 2005
Northern Ireland companies' business confidence has started to rise again for the first time since the start of the year, according to a major industry report published yesterday. Despite this, the economic picture is not entirely rosy, as confidence remains low among both manufacturers and the service sector.
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06 September 2005
The John Lewis chairman was yesterday accused of breathtaking hypocrisy after claiming there was "nothing less productive than a town while economic vitality has been sapped."
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26 August 2005
One of the most prestigious awards ceremonies in the all-island technology calender is coming north of the border for the first time.
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26 August 2005
Belfast is back on the drawing board with schemes aimed at reviving two bleak, run-down areas of the city centre. The challenge, this time round, is not only to give them a makeover worth hundreds of millions of pounds, but to create a city with soul.
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23 August 2005
Castlecourt in Belfast is actively wooing Marks and Spencer to be a major tenant at a planned extension, which could see another 100 retailers set up shop in the city centre complex.
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16 August 2005
Belfast's two airports are booming on the back of a big increase in tourists coming to Northern Ireland this summer, it has been claimed.
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10 August 2005
An overhaul of the Odyssey Arena's food and entertainment offering is planned to enhance the venue for its 60,000-plus visitors a week.
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04 August 2005
Could Belfast be the next Barcelona? International design company EDAW hopes so. For it is expected to be formally appointed this morning to transform Belfast's public areas over the next decade. If the transformation happens to plan, at least 4000 new jobs will be created by 2012.
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04 August 2005
House prices in Northern Ireland are rising more than twice as fast as those in the Republic, according to lastest figures from the permanent tsb.
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03 August 2005
Nine months of fine tuning will come to an end on Monday, November 14, as U105FM, the new commercial radio station for Greater Belfast, goes live. All-island media group UTV, which is behind the venture, released the broadcast date yesterday, adding that with only 105 days left to go, the project is several months ahead of schedule.
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01 July 2005
Junction One in Antrim has announced it is investing £8 million in a new food complex which will create 20 new jobs.
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01 July 2005
Belfast and Lisburn traders organisations, major property developers and politicans yesterday joined forces in a direct appeal to the Secretary of State to block a planned £150m expansion at Sprucefield Retail Park, near Lisburn.
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28 June 2005
The number of tourists staying in Belfast has grown by more than 500 per cent in the last decade.
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28 June 2005
Two Belfast-based medical technology companies have unveiled major product developments which they are hoping will raise their international profile.
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28 June 2005
From Belfast to Blackpool - Laganside's Doug Garrett aims to breathe new life into the famous old resort.
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28 June 2005
The head of one of the world's largest information technology companies has given his backing to the Northern Ireland ICT sector.
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14 June 2005
The Northern Ireland Science Park is through to the finals of an international competition which highlights the world's best broadband and ICT projects.
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14 June 2005
Plans to develop and launch a new passenger plane that will create and sustain thousands of jobs in Belfast are back on track. Executives from Shorts parent company Bombardier unveiled a mock-up of the new 110-130 seat plane - called the C series - at the Paris Air Show yesterday.
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07 June 2005
The construction industry has been the star performer in the Northern Ireland economy over recent years. The sector is more important to the local economy than in any other region in the UK, according to a report published by the Northern Ireland Skills Task Force yesterday.
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07 June 2005
NIO minister Lord Rooker ignored recommendations from the head of the Planning Service in approving the £80m expansion of the Sprucefield shopping centre, according to internal documents released yesterday by the Department of Environment (DOE).
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07 June 2005
One of the UK and Ireland's leading IT services companies is investing £6 million and creating 30 new jobs in a major expansion of its Belfast operation, which will also see the establishement of a second development centre in the city.
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07 June 2005
High street giant Asda is on its way, but while shoppers may celebrate its arrival, what can they expect to get for their money?
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25 May 2005
Just when we think we have seen and heard all that new technology has to offer us, suddenly there is another new invention.
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25 May 2005
A Queen's University spin-out company has developed an innovative medical training device which it is planning to launch into the US, UK and European markets.
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23 May 2005
A Northen Ireland design company has been invited to join the ranks of high fliers within the industry. Creative Media, which employs 14 people in offices in Belfast and Omagh, will take part in a series of UK think-tanks and forums geared towards raising ethics and standards within creative industries.
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23 May 2005
One of the largest conferences ever to come to Belfast will be held at the Odyssey Arena next year.
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23 May 2005
Queen's University is set to formally unveil an ultra-modern £40m research institute in the historic setting of Belfast's Titanic Quarter.
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23 May 2005
More than 18,000 extra jobs will be created in Belfast over the next ten years, a new report has claimed.
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23 May 2005
With Belfast's historic Custom House Square now fully restored and functional, attention is turning to developing the boundaries of the city's premier open space.
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17 May 2005
Swedish fashion giant Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) has been signed up as a key anchor tenant at the £300 million Victoria Square development in the centre of Belfast.
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17 May 2005
The developers behind the £1 billion Titanic Quarter scheme in Belfast are hoping to attract US investment to the project following a marketing mission to the country's financial capital.
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12 April 2005
Eye On IT - Dr Norman Apsley
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12 April 2005
ZOOM Airlines is expanding its summer programme of flights from Belfast to Canada this summer due to high demand. Initally, the Canadian airline introduced a weekly flight from Belfast to Toronto, offering low-cost full scheduled flights at prices starting from £89 one-way including taxes.
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12 April 2005
Northern Ireland's three airports have won support for further growth in a report by MPs.
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12 April 2005
Ambitious plans to regenerate 185 acres of reclaimed shipyard land in Belfast and leverage the Titanic brand in the global marketplace were unveiled recently at the world's largest property show. In this special report Helen McGurk reveals why it could help the city sail into a new economic era.
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12 April 2005
Silence from Stormount has fuelled speculation that there is a top level spilt over the £150m scheme proposed by John Lewis.
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04 April 2005
Doubts were growing today that department store giant John Lewis can get the go-ahead it needs for its Sprucefield megastore in time to meet its own deadline.
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04 April 2005
Northern Ireland's largest commercial property agents, BTWShiells, is the only representative from the province to be nominated for the national 2005 Property Awards, which will be announced at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London at the end of this month.
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04 April 2005
One of Northern Ireland's first ever shopping centres has unveiled its new £10m make-over.
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15 March 2005
Tourism Ireland's Market Book 2005, which has been produced by Holywood based Walker Communications and is available in 10 languages across 13 countries, will be used to help market the island of Ireland overseas.
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11 March 2005
A prime retail arcade in Belfast city centre has been sold for £26m, and its new owners have unveiled major plans to extend the complex, it was revealed yesterday.
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08 March 2005
Belfast homeowners with a head for heights have rushed to take up an offer to buy into what will be the city's tallest building.
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08 March 2005
'Where there is no vision, the people perish'. With that advice from proverbs in mind, it's worthwhile taking a look again at DETI's new Economic Vision for Northern Ireland published last week.
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03 March 2005
BMI has moved back into the black after two loss making years, it was revealed yesterday. The airline made a pre-tax profit of £2.1million in 2004 - compared to a £9.8 loss in 2003.
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24 February 2005
Broadband access will be available to every home and business in Northern Ireland by the end of the year now that all 191 BT telephone exchanges in the Province have been upgraded, it was announced yesterday.
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15 February 2005
Belfast is set to be transformed via a massive £700 million investment package - through a rare partnership of the private sector and local and central government...
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15 February 2005
West Belfast company Andor Technology, which floated on the stock market two months ago, has won a top award for its innovation, enterprise and growth.
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15 February 2005
Belfast's two airports have started the year on a high, recording big increases in passengers numbers during January. The start of a new service to Birmingham helped Belfast International post a big 23.2 per cent increase in passengers numbers over the same last year. Just over 313,000 passengers used the airport in January.
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15 February 2005
For the first time £50,000 will get you absolutely nothing if you're hunting for a new house in Northern Ireland. For as prices in the north continue to buck trends by showing sustained hikes, figures yesterday revealed that in the last three months, not a single new-build property in the north was in the under - £50k bracket.
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15 February 2005
Translink has awarded a £17m contract for a major track re-lay on the railway line between Belfast and Whitehead, it was announced yesterday
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15 February 2005
Connswater centre in east Belfast was the only shopping complex in Ireland to pick up a prize at the industry's leading marketing awards. The Purple Apples are run by the British Council of Shopping Centres.
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08 February 2005
Laganside Corporation has launched the Queen's Quay development brief focusing on the east bank of the River Lagan, providing opportunities to live, work and play in an attractive and thriving water-front environment.
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08 February 2005
The engineering sector has taken the top position in a major survey of environmental management, it was revealed today.
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08 February 2005
Businesses keen to secure funding are being urged to think more imaginatively about the options available to them.
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03 February 2005
The new boss of budget airline BMIbaby is forecasting a bumper summer for air travellers in Northern Ireland. David Bryon was speaking in Belfast yesterday, just two weeks after taking over as managing director of the airline.
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03 February 2005
For the equivalent price of a decent dinner with their spouse, owners of Northern Ireland's smallest firms can make a date with thousands of possible business contacts in Dublin this April.
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31 January 2005
Northern Ireland women have fallen behind the UK trend for demonstrating entrepreneurship traits. The 2004 Global Entreneurship Monitor (GEM), an annual barometer of UK entrepreneurial activity, shows the gap between male and female entrepreneurs in Northern Ireland is widening - elsewhere in the UK it has narrowed.
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31 January 2005
The first new development in Queen Street in Belfast city centre in 20 years is due to be completed by November.
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31 January 2005
Planning permission has been granted for what could be one of Ireland's largest factory outlet retail centres. The £70m 'Outlet' development in Banbridge will provide a massive 205,000 sq ft of retail space at Bridgewater Park near the main Belfast-Dublin road.
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31 January 2005
A Novel recruitment tool has helped a technology firm win this month's BT Northern Ireland/ Belfast Telegraph e-Xcellence Award for innovation.
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27 January 2005
Despite generally gloomy UK trading figures, Belfast has had a prosperous Christmas according to new figures. Margaret Canning looks at the winners and losers in the retail game.
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25 January 2005
Commercial property consultants Colliers CRE insisted yesterday that it was not all doom and gloom for Northern Ireland retailers last month despite UK traders reporting their worst Christmas for nearly 20 years.
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25 January 2005
Passengers need not make the long drive to Dublin to catch international flights, it was claimed last night.
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25 January 2005
CATERPILLAR INC, the world's leading manufacturer of engineering equipment, is to create a new financial services centre in Northern Ireland to service its network of companies across Europe, the company announced yesterday.
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25 January 2005
Harland and Wolff is gearing up for a second year of substantial business growth following a successful 2004 which saw ship repair and conversion work increasing by 60 per cent.
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25 January 2005
Government is big business and nowhere bigger than in washington DC, home of the US administration. At an event today in Belfast, Northern Ireland companies will learn how they can clinch lucrative contracts with the American Government.
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