Business

Business Review of the Year - March 2017

The new high-security £1 coin comes into circulation
The new high-security £1 coin comes into circulation The new high-security £1 coin comes into circulation

:: The new 12-sided £1 coin - claimed to be the 'world's most advanced coin' - officially enters circulation in Britain and Northern Ireland. One billion of the coins were released to replace the current 'round pound', introduced more than 34 years ago. The new £1 coin features a security-proof hologram, which flickers between a '£' symbol to the number '1', under different lights. The old and new coins co-existed until October 15, when the round pound ceased to be legal tender.

:: Hundreds of new houses - a mixture of private, rental, social and affordable accommodation - are to be built on the old Sirocco site in east Belfast as part of a £400 million redevelopment scheme by a privately-owned British consortium called Swinford (Sirocco) Ltd. As well as 815 new homes, the ‘river-front district’ scheme will include 69,000 sq metres of high-end offices and an international branded hotel, sitting alongside restaurants, cafes and shops, while a pedestrian footbridge will also link Sirocco Quays to the Waterfront Hall. Around 5,300 jobs will be created, but the scheme won't be completed until 2035.

:: Dublin-based Four Star Pizza announced plans for a further 18 stores across the north in the next three years, creating up to 300 jobs in the process. It is part of a proposed £3 million investment which will bring the total complement of Four Star Pizza locations across the north to 30. First established in 1988, the company operates 46 stores across the whole of Ireland and also has plans in place to open an additional 16 stores in the Republic.

:: The north's largest-ever office block moved a step closer after plans for the £65 million project on the former Movie House cinema site on Belfast's Dublin Road were formally submitted to the City Council. Developers the Richland Group are behind ‘One Bankmore Square', a 250,000 sq ft grade A office scheme complete with 8,000 sq ft of ground floor space for ancillary cafe, retail and leisure uses. The 12-storey building will have enough space to accommodate up to 3,000 employees.

:: It was a torrid time for gas customers in Northern Ireland after two major suppliers announced hefty tariff hikes in the space of a week. SSE Airtricity got the ball rolling by announcing a 7.6 per cent gas price increase,and this was quickly followed by firmus, which said it was imposing a whopping 12.2 per cent rise for its customers, which would slap more than £60 a year on the average bill.

:: Ryanair said it will fly twice weekly on a new route from Belfast International to the central Mediterranean island of Malta, taking off from October. It will be the 14th route from Aldergrove since the beginning of Ryanair's operations the previous summer and coincided with the Dublin-based carrier announcing a mammoth seat sale across its European network, with prices starting at £9.99