The re-emergence of the black economy has attracted the interest of the Revenue Commissioners. Its special investigations unit is focusing on local, cash-intensive businesses taking in everything from pubs, restaurants, hairdressers and takeaways to builders and cash-for-gold stores, says the Sunday Business Post.
The weather whiteouts over the past month have decimated retail sales with many stores expecting sharp falls compared with the previous year, The Sunday Business Post reports.
Finally, a bit of good news that has nothing to do with the Budget … just keep it to yourself or it is bound to become a casualty in Budget 2012!
It looks like Christmas will be coming earlier to a TV screen near you – whether you like it or not. RTE is apparently considering lifting its self-imposed ban on early festive ads, according to a front-page story in The Sunday Business Post.
Xtra-vision is in talks to take over Chartbusters, its main rival, according to reports in several newspapers.
You know things are bad when even the supermarket discounters can’t make ends meet. Aldi, the German retailer, is blaming increased competition and the slump in consumer spending for a €66.5m loss after tax last year in the UK and Ireland, The Sunday Tribune reports.
The previous year Aldi made a profit of €84.4m but it was doom and gloom last year despite growth in turnover, stores and staff numbers.
Former supermarket mogul Ben Dunne is expanding his fitness club empire with new centres in Germany and England while doing battle with eco-warriors, according to The Sunday Times.
Three weeks after its launch in Ireland, consumers are still finding it difficult to get a hold of an iPad as retailers struggle to keep up with demand.
Beer, chocolate, bread, butter, cheese and a host of other food and drink staples could rise in price by at least 10% by the end of the year because of volatile commodity markets, the Sunday Independent reports.
The commercial rent war has escalated with tenants in the Liffey Valley shopping centre in west Dublin being sued by their landlord. The retailers are in revolt over an attempt by the centre’s owners to raise rents by more than 10 per cent.
More than 234,000 mobile phones were sold in Ireland between January and April, according to new industry figures in the Business Post.
The celebrity tailor Louis Copeland is also looking forward to better times. Copeland, who owns seven menswear stores in Dublin and one in Galway, told the Sunday Times that the last 12 months had been particularly tough for his business.
Lighting up the peas in a supermarket freezer is a more complicated – and more lucrative – business than you might think. Cork technology company, Nualight has signed a deal worth €5 million over two years with Tesco to provide energy-efficient lighting for all the refrigeration systems in the supermarket chain’s global operations.