Trading Up

Jim Fitzpatrick and Richard Ramsey explore the shifting dynamics of Northern Ireland’s economy with employment falling and economic inactivity hitting a new grim record high. They examine the political deadlock over Stormont's multi-year budget and the impossibility of proper government in its absence. Turning to car sales for some insight, they discuss why Tesla sales have more than doubled in NI...

Join host Jim Fitzpatrick on Trading Up as he welcomes Claire Murray, Head of Development and Marketing at the Lyric Theatre, to deconstruct the "business" of show business. Claire discusses her transition from the high-stakes world of FMCG marketing at Coca-Cola and Heineken to steering the financial and creative success of Northern Ireland’s premier self-producing theatre. Celebrating the Lyric'...

In this special holiday edition of Trading Up Unpacked , Jim Fitzpatrick and Professor Richard Ramsey dive deep into the pressing economic questions facing Northern Ireland. They tackle the controversial "grant culture" and the "perverse incentives" that have shaped the region since the days of Delorean, arguing for a shift toward competition and tax-based incentives. Jim and Richard explore the "...

How does a local hospitality group thrive while the wider sector faces "lights out" financial pressures?. In this episode of Trading Up , Galgorm Collection CFO Tiarnán O’Neill reveals the strategy driving the group’s £70 million turnover and remarkable 94% occupancy rates. He discusses Galgorm’s rapid expansion through acquisitions like The Rabbit and Roe Valley Resort, alongside their ambitious...

On this week's episode with Jim Fitzpatrick and Richard Ramsey they explore how one key private sector survey suggests Northern Ireland's economy is struggling, marked by a sixth straight month of declining business activity and escalating input costs, particularly in construction, outpacing other UK regions. Despite some resilience among cross-border firms, the absence for more than a decade of a...

Trevor Magill is the Northern Ireland Managing Director of the Musgrave Group, one of Ireland's biggest and longest-established family businesses. It's a huge retail, wholesale, and food service business, servicing around 7 million customers weekly and boasting a turnover exceeding €5 billion. As the company approaches its 150th anniversary, Trevor and Jim delve into how this seventh-generation fa...

This episode of Trading Up Unpacked digs deep into the controversial "Spend Now, Pay Later" Budget, described as the "Klarna" budget, focusing on increased spending and backloaded taxation. Jim Fitzpatrick and Richard Ramsey explore the fiscal strategy of freezing tax thresholds, which functions as a hefty stealth tax, dragging more people into higher payment bands. Economists criticised the measu...

Join Jim Fitzpatrick as he welcomes former professional cricket player and Ireland International, Andrew Patterson. Andrew shares his incredible journey of dedication and commitment in elite sport, tragically interrupted when a stumble revealed a hateful underlying condition: Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP). Told he would spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair, Andrew refused to accept thi...

Welcome to Trading Up Unpacked, the business podcast from the Irish News and EY. Hosts Jim Fitzpatrick and Richard Ramsey dig deep into the pressing issues of the day. They scrutinise the Northern Ireland economy, which recorded its 10th monthly decline in activity, noting that the low 2.4% unemployment rate is offset by the UK's highest levels of economically inactive workers. The conversation pi...

Dive into the massive challenges facing the UK economy with Rupert Soames, Chair of the CBI. Known for running difficult and massive companies like Serco and Aggreko, he describes his "horrible habit of walking towards gunfire" when it comes to choosing which jobs to take. He recounts his bold turnaround strategy: telling employees to “bring out your dead” to fix underlying issues and win back tru...

In this episode of Trading Up Unpacked, Jim and Richard dig deep into the economy and global politics. Northern Ireland is enjoying record pay increases, with annual earnings up 8.1%. We analyse whether this rise translates to real-term gains after years of wage stagnation (which averaged -0.1% over a decade) and how this impacts public and private sector workers. Locally, we examine Stormont's co...

Join Sandra Corkin and her son Scott of Oasis Travel, an independent family business that has defied the odds in the travel industry. They share how they survived intense competition, the rise of the internet, and the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, maintaining a substantial turnover now touching £40 million. Celebrating 40 years of growth, Oasis Travel shifted its focus from low-marg...

In this Unpacked episode Jim Fitzpatrick and Richard Ramsey examine how small business can survive in today's big, bad world. The global order has "changed utterly" to one of disorder, making geopolitics a mainstream boardroom issue for businesses of all sizes. This uncertainty, fuelled by rising protectionism and US policies like the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), is directly impacting the bottom...

Stephen McKeown grew up in the Glens of Antrim and developed his engineering skills as an "volunteer" mechanic in his Dad's car workshop. He now heads a Digital Centre of Excellence for Fortune 100 company Allstate and this core part of the business just happens to be located in Belfast. The insurance giant came to Northern Ireland in the aftermath of the Good Friday Agreement with the modest ambi...

This week it's Trading Up Unpacked with Jim Fitzpatrick and Professor Richard Ramsey digging deep into the nature of north south business and economics in Ireland. From waves of desperate weight-loss drug hunters flooding into Newry; to the growing number of companies in Northern Ireland that are owned in the Republic; to the increasing trade and tourism figures; Jim and Richard explain and e...

Running a restaurant business is definitely not for the faint of heart. Jim meets celebrated Belfast chef Niall McKenna and Normandy native Marion Lancial who has made Northern Ireland her home, to explore the highs and lows of running a restaurant. From choosing the financial crisis or the eve of the Covid lockdowns to expand; to managing the accumulated costs of each broken glass (that...

Jim Fitzpatrick and Richard Ramsey unpack the latest economic stats for Northern Ireland, revealing a complex picture for the hospitality sector which, despite a busy summer, is struggling with profitability due to soaring labour and food costs. They explore the grim outlook for public finances, where major spending pressures would naturally force deep cuts and unpopular revenue-raising measures,...

Jim sits down with Martin Tierney who quit school at 17 to develop a family business with his brothers. He was a star pupil but his mother told him that she would back his decision to leave school before he’d completed his A Levels and get to work in the emerging business with his brothers. That faith wasn’t misplaced. Martin has developed Seating Matters into an export powerhouse.&...

Join journalist Jim Fitzpatrick and economist Professor Richard Ramsey of Queen’s University Business School as they unpack the big economic and business issues of the day. What’s going on with government finances across the world? From the US, to France to the UK the dreaded deficits are growing and the cost of servicing the debt is ballooning. In some cases it’s leading to politic...

Season 2 of Trading Up is coming soon... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Catriona Campbell has advised governments and major industry players on AI, so it was great to get her for a one-to-one to outline what anyone in business should be doing when it comes to artificial intelligence. As a renowned expert in human-computer interaction, she has guided some of the world's top brands to digital success and she now advices EY clients as their UK and Ireland AI strategy lea...

William McColgan runs a third generation family business with his sister in Strabane in the North-West of Northern Ireland. He brings a wealth of qualifications and experience to his role. Not long ago he was flying high in corporate America. He has a Masters in actuarial science and an MBA from Wharton. He didn't need to come home. But he did. Why? What drives him? Listen to this latest in the su...

Rory King loves travel. He wanted to find a way of sharing that love with others. So he set up a Facebook page and started posting travel tips and deals he had spotted. One day he noticed a glitch with Aer Lingus that was almost too good to be true on transatlantic flights. He posted the information. It went viral as punters snapped up the good value and the idea of Rory's Travel Club was born. Th...

Matthew Nesbitt had had enough of working down mines in Australia or deserts in the Middle East selling property when he returned home with a burning ambition to set up his own business. A short spell selling bodycams gave him the inspiration he needed. He decided they were the easiest product he'd ever sold and that he could create a better product himself. Some inspired help from his family gave...

Matt Creighton has taken an unusual route to success. He admits that his big idea was born while he was enjoying life as a ski seasonaire in the French Alps and he was in search of some extra funds to top up his meagre pay, or "beer tokens" as he called it. From screen printing t-shirts for mates to building a clothing brand - Bleubird - that now has 300 wholesale customers in the UK, Ireland, Eur...