Applegreen’s Post

🏆 Limerick is among 5 best cities for doing business in Ireland Ireland's bustling cities of Dublin, Cork, and Waterford have just been spotlighted as the top hubs for independent businesses, according to a fresh study by SumUp! With entrepreneurship booming, these cities are setting the stage for success, offering opportunities for small business owners. 🔝Here is the ranking of the 5 best cities for doing business in Ireland: 1. Dublin - Leading the pack with a total score of 11.5, thanks to its beauty salons, barber shops, and takeaways.  2. Cork - A close second with a score of 9.5, famed for its high customer satisfaction in beauty salons, barber shops, and bakeries. 3. Waterford - Scoring 8.2, this city may have fewer businesses but shines bright with the highest average review scores! 4. Galway & 5. Limerick - Both cities boast high consumer satisfaction, making them ideal for those looking to make a mark with quality services. https://lnkd.in/ebTQ9v5g

What do you think was the fastest growing #smallbusiness in #London? We could give you one guess or five, unlikely you'd get it right. Between 2017 and 2022, the number of market stalls, takeaways and ...... #bookshops seems to have shot up in Birmingham, Manchester and London (respectively). The number of bookshops in London went up by 217% which pales in comparison to the 600%+ rise in market stalls in Birmingham and Cardiff. What is going on there? And a 500% rise in takeaways in Manchester and Sheffield ... Many of these probably disappeared during the pandemic - bankruptcies were up by 52% between 2021 and 2023 but seem to have slowed down in 2024. Services including IT, #construction and even #manufacturing are seeing better days. We're also seeing more e-commerce services with high street shops, especially independent stores moving online. And now for some notes from around the world: In the US, aside from the usual suspects as above, healthcare, petcare and travel are some of the fastest growing industries. In the Far East, its e-commerce, fintech, sustainable technology, healthcare, and logistics & supply chain management. China is in a league of its own. According to IBISWorld, at the top of the top ten fastest growing industries sit cafes and bars; couriers, retail and e-commerce followed by plastic surgery hospitals, engine manufacturing, energy efficiency consulting and mattress manufacturing. 🤔 India's favourites, aside from IT and e-commerce are green energy, advanced engineering, services, infrastructure as well as life sciences and healthcare driven by booming demand for private healthcare as well as investments in biotech. While some of the fastest growing businesses in Africa provide services across renewable energy, agriculture, biotech and health services, education and of course technology with fintechs, e-commerce platforms and startup hubs flourishing. Do you own a small business? Or thinking of starting one? It's a bit of a roller coaster ride so you might need someone to hold hands ... or scream with. As a team of founders and entrepreneurs ourselves, we've done our fair share of screaming ... now we help newbies stay calm and keep growing. DM to talk 🙂

It would be a rash, ill thought out, knee jerk reaction for a Labour Government to go ‘all in’ on public sector control of bus networks.   There is absolutely no debate that buses and trains ARE essential parts of our social, economic and environmental infrastructure and, therefore, the public sector NEEDS to be heavily involved in both their development and funding.   However, they are both also customer facing consumer businesses and the last thing you want as a customer is to be dealing with a public sector monopoly.   The food industry is an equally essential part of our social, economic and environmental infrastructure and, similarly, also a customer facing consumer business and I don’t think there would be too many people keen to see Tesco, Sainsbury, ASDA, Morrisons, Waitrose, Lidl and Aldi run by the state!   Those of us who moved home in the 1980’s and then had to wait 18 months for BT to provide a telephone line can testify to that!   Fortunately, the mobile phone industry successfully smashed that bureaucratic state monopoly.   Simply taking our current sub optimal bus networks into local authority ownership solves nothing.   To date, none of the Franchising Assessments from our Metro Mayors offer anything revolutionary other than a change of control, some fresh paint over the cracks and buses left to suffocate from the congestion caused by increasing numbers of uncontrolled cars.   A new Government should stop, take a breath, accept that NONE of the 1968 Transport Act, the 1985 Transport Act, the 2000 Transport Act or the 2017 Bus Services Act, ALL designed to ‘fix the bus industry’, have actually made a fundamental difference.   Our suboptimal bus networks are simply a symptom, and a victim, of our collective failure to deal with ‘traffic’ and our addiction to the ‘zero sum game’ of cars and the congestion and pollution they have increasingly caused since the 1960’s.   Do what you like with bus legislation but none of it will work unless you tackle the wider urban mobility problem, tame the car and then you can develop bigger, better, growing bus networks run and funded jointly by the public and private sector in partnership.   Our flawed urban mobility policy needs considered rational thought and strategic action - not a political band aid stuck over the wound.

🚌 As the UK gears up for the General Election tomorrow, we have taken some time to consider the future of public transit. 🚍 From increasing the affordability of bus travel to enhancing accessibility, it's clear that significant improvements are needed to make public transit more reliable and equitable for all. Jon Salmon, our Director of Business Development in the UK, shared some thoughts on how the next government can improve UK transit networks 👉 https://hubs.ly/Q02FcPRL0 ❓⬇️ Comment below to let us know what you would like to see the next government do to improve transit networks across the UK? #PublicTransit #UKElection2024 #SustainableTransport #Franchising #UKGeneralElection

🚍 Bus Makeovers: Scotland vs. England—Which Will Lead the Charge? 🚍 I am happy to announce that I rejoined the Projects team at Dentons at the end of August! I would like to thank all the team for the warm welcome (even though I was only gone for six months)! Just like the Projects team, bus services north and south of the border are getting a makeover. Scotland’s Bus Revolution is in the Works Scotland is gearing up for a major bus overhaul! The Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) are set to push forward with plans to franchise bus services across the west of Scotland. Their vision includes a mix of local franchising, bus service partnerships, and municipal operations. However, this has sparked controversy, with critics arguing that it may lead to flawed legislation and fail to address core issues like congestion. With a public consultation set for 2025, will Scotland’s buses get back on track, or face another detour? Stay tuned for more updates! 🚦 England’s Bus Reform: A New Era? England’s buses are also set for a major revamp! The government is set to grant councils greater control over bus services, aiming to improve routes, fares, and service standards through a franchise model. Bus services will still be run by private entities, and remain privatised, but local authorities will have a greater say in the services, routes and fares offered, as has become the case on the railways in recent years. Three steps to reform: 1. a simple statutory instrument to give council the power to reregulate and take back control of their services; 2. a public consultation on redesigning the present franchising regime; and 3. the Better Buses Bill which "will bring an end to the current postcode lottery by taking steps to improve bus services no matter where you live”. While this could mean a renaissance for local buses, it’s not without risks—councils might face financial strains and operational challenges. With the £2 fare cap in question and the legacy of past bus deregulation, the future of England’s public transport is taking an exciting yet uncertain turn. Ready for the ride? 🛠️ #BusReform #England #PublicTransport #Scotland #Transport #Franchising #LocalGovernance #BusRide

Buzzword Ep- 01 Cooperatives | सहकारी Amidst all this “halla” about “सहकारी” or cooperatives, let’s look at what it actually is! In this video, we will try to understand what is a co-operative or a co-op. FC Barcelona’s Catalan motto, Més que un club (more than a club), says a lot about how it's run: Did you know it's a cooperative? Ownership matters. It allows people to have their say in the things they care about. Providing ownership in a business gives people motivation and a stake in its success. Even though cooperatives may look like any other business from the outside, they are built and run differently from the inside. They are controlled and run by the people closest to the business – employees, residents, customers, suppliers – and not distant shareholders.

Our Business Incentive Program offers $1.1 million in grants to help expand operations, stimulate the local economy, and attract high-quality businesses to #DowntownMiami. Learn more about how our incentives for ground-floor retail, start-ups, and mid-size businesses can benefit your venture in this article from Miami Today Newspaper: https://lnkd.in/gtaE8nR5. #MiamiDDA #BusinessIncentives #DowntownMiami 

🎉 Deal of the Week - £1million finance lease for fit-out of new-concept hospitality venture Asset Advantage has approved a facility of £1million to fund the opening of a second members’ club in London. The entrepreneurial client was introduced to Asset Advantage by broker partner Chris Topping, Managing Director of Jay City Finance Limited. Chris Topping said: “I brought the deal to Asset Advantage to finance the fit-out of the less tangible assets, often seen as the more challenging assets of aircon, glazing etc, which some other funders would not consider.” The client is setting up an innovative hospitality space which creates welcoming, accessible and inclusive family clubs and Ofsted registered nurseries with a purpose. The successful young entrepreneur behind the business had a vision of creating hubs for people to enjoy face to face interaction, in a world that can be so focused on being online. The clubs offer co-working spaces, a gym and library for adults; a restaurant, café, cinema and fitness classes for families; and a nursery, crèche, and soft-play area for the young ones. 🌟 The concept is proving so popular that membership of the second club sold out within 11 minutes of opening. 👉 The funding solution: £1million finance lease for club fit out including HVAC, Children's Playframes, CCTV/Door Access, Audio Visual, Catering Equipment and a Retractable Roof and Canopy over the outdoor swimming pool area. 💡 Insight from Philip Knight, why I approved this deal: “The client was able to demonstrate the success of their business model from their existing site, so funding their second opening with asset finance was something we were keen to do. An enthusiastic customer and a good supporting, and hard working, introducer made getting to the deal a relatively straightforward process.” 👉 Find out more about our Finance Lease product here: https://lnkd.in/g4TKtSMb If you have a deal you’d like to talk through with us, please get in touch 👇 Contact Katie Dowse Business Development Manager, 📞 07467 186 290 📨 proposals@assetadvantage.co.uk #AssetFinance #DealoftheWeek 

£39m boost for Welsh buses contingent on better integration with rail. Wales’ Deputy Climate Change Minister Lee Waters has confirmed £39m support for the bus industry in Wales for the year ahead. The Deputy Minister with responsibility for transport said the funding would be provided through the new Bus Network Grant which will be made available to local authorities to secure services once the Welsh Government’s Bus Transition Fund comes to an end at the end of March. Local authorities will be required to meet specific conditions to receive funding which includes ensuring routes and timetables support improved journey times, deliver opportunities for greater connectivity where possible, and provide improved information about the times of bus services. Lee Robinson, Transport for Wales’ Executive Director for Regional Transport and Integration said, “Bus franchising will bring an end to a disjointed system, where it's up to private companies to decide which routes to run, and instead, councils and the Welsh Government work in partnership to agree local and regional bus networks that serve the needs of communities. “It will also enable Transport for Wales to tie in bus routes with train timetables, to create an integrated public transport system and a single ticket which can be used for both.” Find out more 👉 https://buff.ly/3xdWJpY #Wales #publictransport #buses #busindustry #regionaltranspor #transport #integratedtransport