Is anyone else wondering if it is arrogance or ignorance that drives governmental decision makers when it comes to the Irish motor industry? 

One would think that the only way to increase tax revenues from car sales (VRT & VAT) would be to increase the number of cars sold, so the 2.5% VRT increase, 8% road tax increase and revised CO2 bands in yesterday’s budget, on the back of last year’s 2% VAT increase, are simply counterproductive and irrational.

Government ignorance is the only excuse that any rational person could offer when you see a department of finance sanction an increase of taxation on top of taxation in an effort to avert continuing declines in the tax take. All of this is before you consider the wider implications for jobs, not only in the industry but also those that support or supply the motor industry. 

The most worrying part is that the silence of the motor industry is deafening, especially now when we see a 12% drop in sales in 2012, which in turn has resulted in an €80m drop in the tax take for the exchequer. There is no action, no comment, no IFA like meeting outside Leinster house.  Would a football player who is constantly fouled inside the box not seek a penalty?

Take for example VRT, which is ultimately a double tax, what some might call an excise duty, dressed up as a one off special taxation that is applied to new or imported vehicles on top of normal VAT. This is a tax that is clearly illegal under EU law. Despite this, the motor industry, through its umbrella group SIMI, have simply failed to tackle the issue head on-over the past 20 years and now it has escalated a further 2.5%.

However all of the talk over the coming days will most probably centre around the new number plate system introduced yesterday, as opposed to VRT, which comes into effect in January 2013, splitting the registration year into two different periods. 

Clearly somebody feels that such an invention can go some way towards easing the cash flow burden placed on a dealer who is often forced into having to bank 60% of all its new car registrations in the first 4 months of the year. 

I would suggest that no such problem will exist in 2013, simply because orders will not be there. This is a total waste of time and it will only serve to further complicate residual values of cars. This new concept was spearheaded by SIMI and serves only as a decoy to their failure to eliminate VRT increases.

With all of these increases, the government is blatantly and arrogantly trying to ‘plug the gap’ left by the Green party of 2008, who introduced a new taxation scheme that reduced VRT and road tax on leaner greener engines. Yesterday’s budget announcements effectively closed out most of those savings of 2008 and clearly demonstrated that this deal did not last for long.

So what does all of this mean for the consumer?  A new Nissan Juke in Ireland in 2012 started at €18,295 including VRT and VAT at 23%.  In 2013, this will cost will go up to €19095. The same car in Britain costs €16,744, which includes VAT at just 20%. Still no reaction.

We debated for over four months about the introduction of the house hold tax that will cost an average house owner about €250 per year, yet we remain silent about motor increases. 

Standing still now and accepting double digit increases at this critical juncture is not an option. Silence is not an option. Quietly lobbying, secret meetings and politically correct communication has resulted in decimating a once buoyant industry that made its enormous contribution to this state.

For many legends of the motor industry, 2013 will do nothing more than lead them into their final battle as they struggle to survive. For many that battle was lost yesterday afternoon around 4pm. For others, the struggle will continue but lessons must be learned.

Dealers from around the country, including myself, must unite and decide that each member will become an active participant in stopping successive governments from tearing this industry apart.  Is it time for each dealer to make a financial contribution to the ultimate war chest?  Is it time to challenge the legality of VRT?  Contributors will be in abundance. All we need now is leadership.

At least one Irish SME owner, George Mordaunt strongly disagrees with the IMF statement today that the Irish economy will grow by 0.4pc this year and will achieve growth of 1.4pc next year while the rest of Europe sinks.

And he bases his challenge on bitter experience of actually doing business in Ireland now.

His own enterprise, The Mordaunt Group, and most of the sectors he works with at Insight (a company founded to discuss identify and develop solutions to all business difficulties) have had an intense decline in business this year in comparison to 2011 and in particular over the last 6-8 weeks.

The businessman says this has been one of the worst periods for his company and other SMEs that he deals with since the current crisis began back in 2008.

He attributes the most recent decline over the past two months to the near collapse in consumer sentiment, which he puts down to “government shenanigans”, the fear factor over the looming Budget and child welfare issues.

As a businessman he finds it impossible to see Ireland showing the kind of growth the IMF are talking about in comparison to the rest of Europe.

“If there is any growth in the Irish economy, it will be reflective of the support the government gives to the internationals coming into the country as opposed to Irish SMEs,” who Mr Mordaunt feels are being overlooked.

The IMF report also stated that the global economic slowdown is worsening, which Mr Mordaunt says is “unacceptable and a shame on every European leader”.

He believes the government needs to take action in the budget to support SMEs before more Irish businesses have to close their doors.

George Mordaunt, owner of The Mordaunt Group motor dealership in Clonmel, Co Tipperary has said that the loss of the Bill Cullen franchise only proves the inability of dealers to function without a cushion.

It emerged today that a receiver has been appointed to Cullen’s two remaining dealerships, in Swords and Liffey Valley, ending his days in the motor trade.

Now 30 years in business, The Mordaunt Group employs 15 people. It is the longest serving motor dealership in Clonmel, due mainly to the fact that it have adapted with the times.

It now specialises in quality used cars, having recently created the online resource wesourceNEcar.com, which allows people to choose their own used car at a price that competes with the top five cheapest online.

“Our strategy of entering exclusively into the used car market while offering a creative alternative to selling has proven to be the saviour of the company. We believe this is where the hole is in the market,” said Mordaunt.

Motor industry has lost its way
He believes that the industry has lost its way over the last five or six years and that certain aspects are self inflicted because of distributor pressure in pursuit of market share through discount pricing.

“There are too many dealerships in the country for a market of 75,000 new cars per year – these figures are similar to those in the late 1980s,” he said.

“The industry is forced to ignore almost 97pc of their market– there is an absolute need for dealerships to increase profit margins by taking each sale on a case-by-case basis and moving away from the outdating pre-registration model as currently.”

Mordaunt believes that it’s time for the motor industry to wake up and be an active participant in its own recovery.

“The motor industry has the ability to maintain over 10,000 jobs at any point and is one of the key industries that drives exchequer receipts given VRT and VAT payment.”

In addition to the car sales side of the business, The Mordaunt Group has a drapery business, The Wardrobe Clonmel, lifestyle barber shop Get your Locks Off, and food business Ballyseedy Cafe in Tralee.

Evening Echo           ;
Banks can be a lifeline for struggling business

Irish Independent    
I could not tempt my former staff back to work

Irish Daily Mail        
ESRI report is right , we need better servcie    

Cork Independent      
Burden of debt  

Irish Independent    
I have lost car sales : Ulster Bank              

Irish Daily Mail      
Fears of wage delays in Ulster Bank            

TV
Ireland AM TV3    
Ulster Bank IT issues   26/6/2012

Radio

Newstalk
Sean Moncrieff show
Breakfast business - Fiscal treaty
Coleman at large - Fiscal treaty

Dublin City FM
26/6/12

TIPP FM
26/6/12

Combating bank debt

Business mentor George Mordaunt gives a refreshing Insight into bank debt and how to become an active participant in your company’s recovery

The Evening Echo talks to George Mordaunt, critically acclaimed author of Shepherd’s Pie and CEO of business counselling service Insight, on the issue that is affecting so many businesses in Cork and throughout Ireland today, bank debt.

George advocates that business owners faced with the burden of bank debt need stand up to the banks and become active participants in their own financial rescue instead of waiting for the Government and banks to decide their fate. 

George has firsthand experience of bank debt himself.  As MD of the Mordaunt Group, George expanded the business rapidly during the Celtic Tiger years like so many others only to face negative business equity when the bubble burst.  His book Shepherd’s Pie recounts the painful, emotional and very public demise of his family business, how he was gripped by a fear that almost led to suicide, and how he turned things around. 

“I imagined my own funeral after a tough-talking banker threatened to seize my business and family home if I did not repay my loans.  I was told to “save the sob story.  We want our money”.  How many people lie awake at night with the same fears of losing everything?,’ said George Mordaunt.

“The first step for me was to understand that I wasn’t alone but I was the only one who could determine my own future so I made a conscious decision that I would help myself”, continued Mordaunt.

Since then, George has progressed hugely with the banks in debt forgiveness and was in fact the first person in Ireland to hand his keys back to the bank in order to start negotiations for debt resolution.

“We are starting to see change within the banking sector.  Lenders are now open to helping struggling businesses that are co-operating with them with their escalating costs to save them from bankruptcy.  A number of our clients who control portfolios have negotiated deals with their banks to retain 15% of their monthly repayments to assist with costs.  We are now advising all of our clients struggling with debt to apply to their banks to discuss options.” said Mordaunt.

George has put together some practical tips for business owners facing difficulty with bank debt…

Be an active participant in your own rescue

1.    Don’t wait, act early.
Avoiding problems will not make them go away. Contact your bank or lender before you go into arrears or as soon as possible or before are too deeply in debt. Many of us are guilty of not opening letters from the bank or avoiding calls and it can create real sense of anxiety, which only increases the longer you avoid the issue. It is always better to tackle the issues head on, but if you have been avoiding dealing with debt, remember that it is never too late.

2.    Make a plan
Budget your incomings and outgoings.  Can you spread out re-payments to make it more manageable? Assess your incomings v outgoings and allocate a portion of any remaining money for debt clearance.  Be proactive and look at your spending habits so that where possible you can reduce any unnecessary spending.

3.    Stick to it

Once you make a plan, stick to it. If you say you will make a certain minimum payment over a specific timeframe then do so. Do not agree to a payment plan which is not realistic. 

4.    Have a point of contact
Any time you liaise with a lender take a note of what was said, what date and who you spoke to. Remember to take the name of the person you spoke to so that you are not explaining your entire financial history repeatedly to different people. Put all communications to Lenders/Creditors in writing and keep copies.

5.    Keep written records

If you speak to someone verbally then ask for them to put it in writing. This allows you to review your agreements. Ensure that all communications to or from your bank or lender are put in writing and keep copies of same.

6.  File it away
Having a good filing system is half the battle.  Keep statements, receipts and correspondence in folders where you can access them if needed later.

7.  Ask for help
A problem shared is a problem halved. Discuss your concerns with someone, whether it be your bank manager, a family member, friend or business mentor. There is plenty of advice available and nothing is beyond repair.

8.  You are not alone
This recession is happening to everyone. Help is available, once you make the first step to acknowledge your issues with debt.

9.  Legal action is a last resort
Banks are not keen to face the negative publicity of dragging customers who are in financial strike into court. They would much rather open a dialogue with a view to resolution.  In the current political and legal climate Lenders/Creditors are no longer assured of the old, almost automatic, favourable judgments

As every business is unique, George’s company Insight offers a fresh approach to discussing, identifying and developing solutions to all business difficulties, including bank debt and personal finances, confidentially on a one-to-one basis.

George Mordaunt also believes that the government using bank debt as a bargaining tool in the upcoming stability treaty, making empty threats about Ireland not being able to raise funds on the marketing, and that businesses need to take a stand and vote no.

• Article rank
• 14 Apr 2012
• International Herald Tribune
• BY ELISABETTA POVOLEDO AND DOREEN CARVAJAL
In euro zone crisis, stress turns deadly
Men increasingly turn to suicide as setbacks prove overwhelming
The malady strikes with crushing force against men in their prime — craftsmen who toil with their hands, entrepreneurs who take outsized risks and businessmen who never expected the economy to turn against them with deadly power.
FILIPPO MASSELLANI FOR THE INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNEThe Rev. Davide Schiavon, who runs a branch of the Catholic charity Caritas in Treviso, Italy, said, ‘‘Work became the religion here, and over time it has weakened the family.’’
On new year’s eve, Antoni otamiozzo, 53, hanged himself in the warehouse of his Italian construction business near Vicenza, after several creditors did not pay what they owed him. Almost three weeks earlier, Giovanni Schiavon, 59, a contractor, shot himself in the head at his debtridden construction company headquarters on the outskirts of Padua. As he faced the bleak prospect of ordering Christmas layoffs at his family firm of two generations, he wrote a last message: ‘‘Sorry, I cannot take it anymore.’’
‘‘Suicide by economic crisis’’ is the way headlines in Europe have described the bewildering choice of small businessmen and entrepreneurs who are particularly vulnerable to the economic downturn in fragile euro zone nations like Italy, Greece and Ireland.
They are not the only ones, of course. Others, like the desperate 77-year-old retiree who shot himself on April 4 outside the Greek Parliament, have captured attention by making their action a dramatic expression of public anger at leaders who have failed to soften the blows of a crisis entering its fourth year.
Many more, however, have died in obscurity, their private pain rippling within a small circle of family, friends and coworkers. But their deaths have not gone unnoticed by researchers and outreach groups, which have grown alarmed at the spike in suicide rates as the crisis sweeps away the foundations of once sturdy lives. The trend has intensified this year, they say, as austerity measures by governments have taken hold and compounded the hardships of many.
‘‘Financial crisis puts the lives of ordinary people at risk, but much more dangerous is when there are radical cuts to social protection,’’ said David Stuckler, a sociologist at Cambridge University in England, who led a study in the medical journal Lancet that found a sharp rise in suicides across Europe, but most profoundly in hard-hit countries like Greece and Ireland between 2007 and 2009, coinciding with the downturn. ‘‘Austerity can turn a crisis into an epidemic,’’ he added.
A complete picture of the phenomenon across Europe is elusive, as some countries are slow in reporting statistics and local coroners are loath to classify deaths as suicides to protect surviving family members in religious countries. But it is clear that countries in the frontline of the economic crisis are suffering.
In Greece, the number of men committing suicide is up by more than 24 percent from 2007 to 2009, government statistics show. In Ireland, the numbers of male suicides rose more than 16 percent. And in Italy, the total number of suicides motivated by economic difficulties has increased by 65 percent, from 123 in 2005 to 187 in 2010, the most recent year for which statistics are available.
Veneto — the wealthy region that was the engine of Italy’s economic growth in the 1990s — has been particularly hard hit. More than 30 small-business entrepreneurs have committed suicide for reasons linked to their work in the past three years in an area whipsawed by global trends such as a drop in industrial orders, competition from China and difficulty in securing bank credit. Though the phenomenon has been felt especially keenly in this area, in recent months it has spread to Bologna, Catania and Rome.
In Rome this month, Mario Frasacco, 59, whose company made aluminum fixtures, killed himself, much to the shock of the city’s small business association, where he was a board member. Other members were surprised when he suddenly canceled a business trip with them to Dubai in May.
‘‘We sadly understand the probable reason why,’’ Erino Colombi, president of the association, said in a statement. The association has organized a candlelight vigil Wednesday for victims of the economic crisis in Rome.
In Ireland, some therapists call the phenomenon ‘‘Celtic Tiger Depression’’ for the period after 2008 that marked an influx of middle-aged male patients who complained about sleeplessness and a lack of appetite in the aftermath of that nation’s destructive boom-and-bust real estate market.
To search for answers, researchers for the National Suicide Research Foundation interviewed surviving relatives of 190 suicide victims in County Cork, who died in the turbulent three-year period starting in 2008 and ending in 2011.
They were predominantly men, average age 36. Almost 40 percent were unemployed and 32 percent worked in construction as plumbers, electricians, and plasterers, according to Ella Arensman, the foundation’s director. Generally, she added, they suffered from a constellation of problems: financial struggles, unemployment, broken relationships and loneliness.
During one dark night in his life, George Mordaunt, 44, said he nearly became a statistic. Through 2007, he had helped to build up his family’s 30-yearold automobile business in Clonmel, in southeast Ireland, adding three new showrooms. Then the crisis struck in 2008. Now all that remains is the original family dealership.
During the financial turmoil, Mr. Mordaunt said he considered suicide after a tough-talking banker threatened to seize his home for loan repayments: ‘‘Save the sob story. Wewant our money. If that means taking your family home, we’ll do it,’’ he recalled being told.
That night he wandered into his sleeping son’s room, he said, pondering the fate of another man who had committed suicide and imagining his own funeral with his children marching behind a hearse.
‘‘How many other people lie awake at night with the same fears?’’ he asked. ‘‘How many people are on the verge of losing everything?’’ Mr. Mordaunt said.
He ultimately founded a support group, Insight, that advises on how to renegotiate bank debts. ‘‘Everyone in Ireland must become active in our rescue. We don’t communicate and don’t share because we are laced with unreal pride. My view is you become active and stand up to the banks.’’
Circumstances are sometimes reversed in Italy, where often it is the government that has not paid debts owed to struggling businessmen. National legislation aimed at curbing public spending has caused state and local administrations to rack up billions of euros of outstanding bills with creditors, squeezing many small businesses.
‘‘That is the madness of this crisis, that people kill themselves because they haven’t been paid by public institutions,’’ said Massimo Nardin, spokesman for the Padua Chamber of Commerce.
On average, government agencies pay their bills within 180 days, which can stretch up to three years in the public health sector, one of the worst records in Europe, according to Marco Beltrandi, a Radical Party lawmaker who estimated that the outstanding credit reaches up to ¤100 billion. ‘‘Late payments were always the norm, but now it’s gotten out of hand, that’s why the problem has exploded,’’ he said.
In the Veneto, the spate of suicides reflects social unease in territory known for its close ties to the Roman Catholic Church.
‘‘Work became the religion here, and over time it has weakened the family, because if all you do is work, work, work, you have little else to fall on when that fails,’’ said the Rev. Davide Schiavon, who heads the Treviso branch of the Catholic charity Caritas, which recently inaugurated a program to assist businessmen facing financial difficulties.
Social scientists say that countries like Sweden or Finland escaped a rise in suicide rates in times of crisis because they invested in labor-market projects — initiatives to help get people back on their feet — instead of cash hand-outs.
In some places, community groups and charities have tried to offer a patchwork of aid along with suicide prevention campaigns. At Saints Peter and Paul Parish in Clonmel, Ireland, the church offered a three-day seminar on themes like ‘‘Suicide in Recessionary Times.’’
In Italy, business associations and trade unions, in a rare show of unity, say they are frustrated that the issue has not gotten more attention.
‘‘This is a social malaise; we’re inside a tunnel and there’s no light at any end,’’ said Salvatore Federico, secretary general of the Filca-cisl construction workers union, which is starting a foundation next week to assist victims of the economic crisis. The daughters of Mr. Schiavon and Mr. Tamiozzo are among the founding members.
 
‘‘People don’t kill themselves just because they have debts, it’s a combination of factors that lead to desperation,’’ said Mr. Federico. ‘‘But what links all these situations ultimately is indifference, and lack of respect for the years of work that they’d done. On some level, they must have felt that.’’

Is a ‘Yes’ vote the road to recovery or an insolvent cul de sac?
George Mordaunt questions the Government’s position on the upcoming referendum and says we need to ‘follow the money’
As the Government increases the pressure for a ‘Yes’ vote in the upcoming referendum, George Mordaunt questions whether this is the correct ‘road to recovery’ as they are stressing or rather an insolvent cul de sac? 

“If you are unsure of which way to vote, you must ask yourself three questions (1) Are we really making true progress post bailout? (2) Do you feel fully informed of what you decision will mean? (3) Who are the real winners if the treaty is ratified?  We need to ‘follow the money’ to make an accurate decision, and right now we cannot afford to say ‘Yes’, said George Mordaunt, critically acclaimed author of ‘Shepherd’s Pie’, MD of The Mordaunt Group and founder of Insight, a business counselling and debt resolution company.”

“Last week’s exchequer figures suggest some positive news.  Stats show that the tax take is up 7.6% and that our deficit reduced from €9.9 billion to €7.1 billion.  However the old saying that the ‘devil is in the detail’ has never been more relevant as both results are laced with adjustments, which are misleading people”.

“The actual figures are more startling.  The Government deferred the €3.06 billion IRBC promissory note until next March, which means that over the next year we will face yet another negative adjustment.  If the deferral had not taken place, the actual exchequer results would have been as follows: Tax take + 7.6%; Budget deficit growing by €280 million to €10 billion; Cost of servicing national debt €4.15 billion, up €400m. This essentially means more debt and more cost to service the country.  And this is just covering the first 3 months of 2012, all before we deal with the deferred promissory note next March!”

“Revenue is up because of tax increases and not any form of growth but any increase is lost due to an escalating interest cost and a growing deficit.  If the Q1 cost of our national debt was to continue to trend at this level, we will close out 2012 having spent a whopping €15+ billion against a deficit that could top €38 billion”. 

“The facts are simple – we have generated a higher level of exchequer returns during a trading period that was challenging to say the least and found that it has made no impact on reducing our cost base or national debt. 

If these were the results of a heavily indebted company, no bank would continue to support them.  (So why would we receive another bailout in the future if we vote ‘Yes’?)  Employment is stagnant at over 14% and we have just seen our 60th consecutive month of contraction while the department of finance revises down the growth prediction for the second year to just 0.7%.

Across Europe, Spain is tinkering on the edge, France delivered Hollande to power on a promise that he will revisit the fiscal treaty and try to apply changes and implement growth through stimulus, while in Greece has once again imploded.

Commentary from globally respected Nobel economist Joseph Stiglitz confirms that he is not a fan of European austerity describing the approach of Ireland and the Troika as “mutual suicide” calling on the Irish government to “shrug off peer pressure” that it faces from Europe as being nothing more than predictable and toothless.  Stiglitz refers to the Russian (1998) default as a typical example of how a country can overcome threats from financial partners and make its own way back to the markets.

Closer to home David McWilliams claims that Germany is “trying to do to banks what they couldn’t do with tanks”, simply because it wants financial dominance.  This is not just because Europe is its biggest export market but because the value of the Euro against the Dollar today is far less than what the value of Deutschmark would be if in circulation - giving Germany has a huge competitive edge over the US and China.

Continuing George Mordaunt said, “So ask yourself those questions again (1) Are we really making true progress post bailout (2) Are you feeling fully informed pre treaty vote (3) Who are the real winners if the treaty is ratified?

“I believe that a fiscal treaty does need to be introduced sitting in unison with a fiscal stimulus and that a country can only be asked to ratify once it has secured an acceptable write-down of a percentage of its debt. Ireland’s ratification of the treaty in its current form, while carrying such enormous debt is the same as a business signing a sanction letter with the bank knowing too well that it can never meet its obligation”.

“The government needs to concentrate first on tackling our crippling debt, the elephant in the European living room.  Would it be forgiven for suggesting that we follow our British neighbours on this one?  After all it looks like they got it right in 2002 when they last said no to Europe by saying no to a single currency called the Euro!”

Debt resolution will only be achieved by threatening to destabilise the Euro and by voting NO in the European Fiscal Treaty, says business advisor George Mordaunt

According to the Irish Government, voting No in the upcoming European Fiscal Treaty on May 31st will significantly weaken our ability to re-negotiate new and better terms on a fresh bailout (if such a bailout is required), especially since Portugal and Greece have already ratified that Treaty.

“This argument is about to become redundant, thanks to a game changer – Spain”, says George Mordaunt, critically acclaimed author of Shepherd’s Pie: Family Business, Recession & Recovery – The Real Story, and founder of business counselling service Insight.

“As bond yields for Spain pushed to 6% late last week, causing markets to decline worldwide, one can assume that Spain will be hailed as the next European financial failure.  If a bailout is required, Ireland must watch carefully what terms are agreed, especially if it comes to a Greece-like “debt resolution”.

“Speculation is that Spain could possibly cut a better deal than Ireland simply because it is deemed to be too big to bail out and because Europe needs their vote in the upcoming fiscal compact.  However the reality is that Spain will secure better terms simply because of debt contagion and the horrendous difficulties that would follow for banks across Europe.  Ireland needs to realise that it carries the same clout as Spain in this regard. We need a debt resolution urgently and the only way such an agreement will be reached is by destabilising the Euro.  To achieve this we need to allow ourselves back into the markets in 2013 for our bond yields to soar because that will essentially weaken Euro values and threaten further contagion.  Europe will not be able to afford to step aside and allow that to happen” Mordaunt said.

Commenting on Europe’s response in that instance Mr. Mordaunt continued:  “Europe will threaten to stop any future bailout. However, our Government will need to stand up to Europe and threaten, in that case, that no more bond holders will be paid.  It’s called hard ball negotiation – something that we have failed to execute, as seen recently with our failed attempt to renegotiate the IRBC (the State-owned Irish Bank Resolution Corporation - formerly Anglo Irish Bank) promissory note”.

Mordaunt concluded:  “The people of Ireland must also stand back and look in the mirror and accept that they have not been vocal enough. We must start by saying no to the Fiscal Treaty and then be prepared for the tough task that is ahead. At the very least this country must now adapt an attitude of “try and fail but don’t fail to try.”

Irish writers festival June 20th Hammersmith London –

Panel:
Margaret E Ward
Michael Soden
David McWilliams
George Mordaunt

Chaired by Margaret Doyle (Reuters)

Elisabetta Povoledo reported from Treviso, and Doreen Carvajal from Lahardane, Ireland.

TREVISO, Italy — On New Year’s Eve, Antonio Tamiozzo, 53, hanged himself in the warehouse of his construction business near Vicenza, after several debtors did not pay what they owed him. Three weeks earlier, Giovanni Schiavon, 59, a contractor, shot himself in the head at the headquarters of his debt-ridden construction company on the outskirts of Padua. As he faced the bleak prospect of ordering Christmas layoffs at his family firm of two generations, he wrote a last message: “Sorry, I cannot take it anymore.”

The economic downturn that has shaken Europe for the last three years has also swept away the foundations of once-sturdy lives, leading to an alarming spike in suicide rates. Especially in the most fragile nations like Greece, Ireland and Italy, small-business owners and entrepreneurs are increasingly taking their own lives in a phenomenon some European newspapers have started calling “suicide by economic crisis.”

For more please click here

Venue: Mason Hayes & Curran,Southbank House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4
Date: Thursday 29th March 2012

In the current climate more than ever, it is important for us to remain positive and focused on our goals in life. To achieve our goals there is a real need to help, share, mentor and communicate with each other. We have gathered together a panel of pastmen and guests who are going to share with us their experiences in dealing with the challenges that many of us now face and how they have managed to deal with tough and unexpected situations that they have found themselves in.

There will be an interactive discussion amongst the panelists with an opportunity for the audience to put their questions to the panel. There will also be an opportunity for attendees to network before and after the seminar.

Click here for more information

Click here for more details.

Many SME owners feel powerless in the face of banks, writes George Mordaunt, but if they educate themselves with the revised code of conduct they might find the breathing space they need.

Link to Journal.ie

A BUSINESSMAN has revealed how he was driven to the brink by callous banks.

George Mordaunt says that his whole life fell apart along with his once successful car dealership. The father-of-two visualised his own funeral as he felt victimised by Irish banks.

“You get into this frenzy of scheming for survival and it takes over your life and everything else gets parked and it becomes a seven-day-a-week frenzy,” he told the Herald.

Read more on Herald.ie

Mounting debt and intimidation from the bank brought George Mordaunt to the brink. When he found himself looking at his sleeping son and imagining his own funeral, he decided enough was enough, writes CONOR POPE

GEORGE MORDAUNT’S story starts in the dead of night, with thoughts of suicide. Mounting personal debt he could not hope to pay, aggression and intimidation from one of the State’s main banks and the constant and stressful struggle to keep his Clonmel car dealership afloat in the face of an almost complete collapse in sales had taken him to the brink.

Read more on IrishTimes.com

Government ministers were falling over themselves in June to tell us that a VAT reduction for the hospitality sector would create jobs - so what do they reckon a VAT increase to 23 per cent elsewhere will do?

Click here to read more on Journal.ie

Speaker Solutions specialise in sourcing the world’s leading keynote speakers, after dinner speakers, business speakers, motivational speakers, sporting speakers, conference presenters.

We are delighted to announce that writer and entrepreneur George Mordaunt has joined our portfolio of speakers.

Tel: +353 (0)1 6190243

George Mordaunt rode the Celtic Tiger and then became the well-known face of its abrupt collapse.
He tells Margaret Carragher his story.

Click here to download this article in PDF.

Click here to listen on iTunes

Click here to read the review

Click here to view the recent launch of ‘Shepherds Pie’

Catch George Mordaunt author of ‘Shepherd’s Pie’ on The Morning show by clicking the link.

Irish Examiner

Clonmel Online

The Nationalist

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