IRELAND SLIPS IN LIST OF EARLY ENTREPRENEURIAL ACTIVITY - Ireland has slipped in the ranking of early-stage entrepreneurial activity, falling from second place to eighth across the EU-15, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor.
Just over 20,000 people started a new business in Ireland in 2014, down significantly from 2013 when 32,000 people set up a new business, says the Irish Times. Ireland also dropped in the rankings of early stage entrepreneurial activity across the EU-28, falling from ninth place in 2013 to 16th place last year. Commenting on the report, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton, said that while Ireland has great entrepreneurs, it does not enough of them. “The GEM report published today confirms this, with Ireland placing around or slightly below the EU average on most key measures of start-up activity - number of people starting a business, number of nascent entrepreneurs, number of people who aspire to start a business, perception of opportunities for starting a business,” he said. He said the Government has put in place a number of measures to double the number of jobs being created by start-up businesses.
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SHAREHOLDERS URGED TO VOTE DOWN €15m BETFAIR PAY FOR CORCORAN - Betfair shareholders have been urged by an influential investor advisory body not to approve chief executive Breon Corcoran's bumper £11.6m (€15.7m) pay packet at the company's annual general meeting next week. The embarrassing rebuke comes as Betfair and Paddy Power plot a merger to create the world's biggest online gambling group, writes the Irish Independent. Mr Corcoran - a former Paddy Power executive - will lead the combined group. Advisory group PIRC said Mr Corcoran's near £1m bonus at Betfair is excessive, as is his total remuneration. Mr Corcoran has also received a £10m golden 'hello' payment that was allocated to him when he joined Betfair in 2012. The Mullingar native's basic salary at Betfair during the last financial year rose from £515,000 to £528,000, while his annual bonus jumped to £953,000 from £706,000. PIRC has argued that the financial performance of Betfair does not justify the pay received by Mr Corcoran, as total chief executive pay over a five-year period at the gambling firm "is not commensurate with the change in total shareholder return over the same period". But regardless of the outcome of the AGM vote, Mr Corcoran has already received his pay. Even if shareholders fail to approve Betfair's remuneration report, that won't result in any clawback.
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McELHINNEYS RETAIL JOBS ‘COULD SURVIVE’ - A proposed investment could secure 29 jobs at well-known fashion outlet McElhinneys of Athboy, Co Meath, the High Court has been told, writes the Irish Examiner. Mr Justice Donald Binchy agreed to adjourn an application by Bank of Ireland-appointed receiver Barry Forrest, seeking to have members of the Sweeney family, which operates the company, committed to prison for their alleged failure to comply with an agreement from last October. The motion for attachment and committal of Neal Sweeney, the store’s general manager and the directors of McElhinney’s Fashion Ltd, is being contested. The court was told the parties were prepared to have the proceedings put back for weeks to see if a proposed third party investor was prepared to come up with a sum of €600,000 to buy the premises. Meanwhile, the store will continue trading. Judge Binchy adjourned until October.
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SPIELBERG LOOKS FOR NEW STUDIO BEYOND DISNEY - Steven Spielberg, the most bankable director in Hollywood history, is looking for a new studio home ahead of the looming expiry of his distribution deal with Walt Disney. The director of hits such as Jaws, Jurassic Park and Saving Private Ryan is in negotiations to move his DreamWorks company to Universal Studios when its present agreement with Disney expires in August 2016, according to people familiar with the matter. It is not certain that a deal will be signed, but it would represent a homecoming for the 68-year-old Mr Spielberg, who started his career at Universal, now owned by Comcast. It is where he made some of his best-known films, including Jaws, ET and Jurassic Park, and he still works out of offices at the studio, writes the Financial Times. Disney struck a distribution deal with DreamWorks in 2009 but since then has bolstered its output from Marvel Studios, which it bought later that year, and will this year release the first of several new Star Wars films following its 2012 acquisition of Lucasfilm. DreamWorks’ deal with Disney covered 30 films, or up to six films a year. Disney received a 10% fee for each DreamWorks film it distributed and marketed and also provided some loan funding to the production company.
