Press Up gets a new lease of life and property prices accelerate again

London-based lender Cheyne Capital has formally taken control of Press Up Hospitality Group and plans to invest fresh capital into a business founded more than a decade ago by Paddy McKillen jnr and Matt Ryan, writes Ciarán Hancock. Cheyne’s investment as part of a debt-for-equity swap is believed to be about €20 million.
House prices are on the rise again, with the rate of inflation growing for the 11th month in a row – to almost 10 per cent in July. Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports that the average price paid nationally for a home in the 12 months to the end of July was €409,465 – €31,563 higher than a year previously.
Sticking with housing, a senior Department of Finance official has told an Oireachtas committee that there is little prospect of about half of the estimated 12,000 homes that could be developed on land owned by remaining National Asset Management Agency (Nama) debtors being built in the medium term. Joe Brennan was listening in.
And in more bad news for the Government, the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council told a budget oversight committee that prices for a range of goods and services in the domestic economy are now rising at a level not seen since the Celtic Tiger era. Eoin Burke-Kennedy and Ian Curran write that the budgetary watchdog also claims net spending by Government this year will jump close to 9 per cent, well ahead of its self-imposed 5 per cent limit
Over the in the US, the Federal Reserve bit the bullet and opted for an aggressive half point cut in interest rates, signally also that more reductions will follow over the coming months.
Away from economics, Dublin Airport owner DAA said a draft decision from An Bord Pleanála would leave the airport even worse off than under the blunt cap on night-time flights imposed under a contentious 2007 planning condition. “This would reduce the night-time flights by over 60 per cent, and have significant implications for passengers and airlines as well as freight operations,” it said. Ian Curran has the story.
In more upbeat news, Ian reports that Moran Hospitality, the family-owned group behind the Red Cow Moran Hotel and other ventures, has opened a new venue at the former Chophouse bar and restaurant on Shelbourne Road in Dublin 4, weeks after it closed its doors.
In Galway, Luminate, a University of Galway spin-out that makes product to control the side effects of treatment for cancer, has raised $15 million (€13.5 million) in a move that will allow it double its workforce ahead of an assault on the US market and fund product development. Fiona Keeley reports.
Hopes of an incentive to persuade thousands of savers with €150 million languishing in low or zero-rate on demand bank accounts to invest the money to boost the economy will not materialise in time for Jack Chambers first budget, Joe Brennan reports. A report on the options will not be ready in time.
Student accommodation is another hot area in property right now and property investor Hines has bought a 298-bed student block close to the Royal College of Surgeons that had been on the market seeking offers in the region of €80 million. Ian Curran has the details.
In Technology, Karlin Lillington catches up on the Apple tax saga, a story on which she says everyone seems to have an opinion. In her view, the whole saga, though serious, has verged on only-in-Ireland farcical in a plot worthy of the great satirist Flann O’Brien – not least the notion of Ireland being “punished” by being forced to accept up to €14 billion from the tech giant.
Apple also feature sin our Tech Review where Ciara O’Brien takes a closer look at the new iPhone 16 Pro Max.
And in Innovation, Fiona Alston follows up on a visit by Irish cybersecurity specialists to Estonia to see how the Baltic state has adopted a full-scale approach to cybersecurity following a crippling cyber attack.
Finally, in the wake of Amazon’s decision to bring all its staff back to the office full time from next January, the man who coined the term “presenteeism” says employers who force staff to return to the office five days a week are the “dinosaurs of our age” who risk driving away talented workers, damaging the wellbeing of employees and undermining their own financial performance. Yikes.
Don’t forget to tune into this week’s Inside Business podcast where Ibec chief Danny McCoy joins Ciarán Hancock to discuss why the key areas of infrastructure, education and energy strategy are central to maintaining a competitive economy here, why we shouldn’t rely on windfall corporation taxes and what we should do with those Apple billions. The podcast also looks at the financial travails of the FAI though McCoy steers clear of that, leaving it to football writer Gavin Cummiskey.
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