comfortablynumb Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 I went into my bank yesterday to pay some money into my account but after barely setting foot through the door some moron was shoving a leaflet in my face saying I should sign up for their great savings account and could win a fabulous holiday. Even if I didnt want to sign up for the account I should still fill in the form and would have a chance of winning the holiday, infact why didnt I take 5 or 6 forms and give them to my work colleagues he said. After taking a handful just to avoid talking to him I proceeded to the bank teller to put in my money but before I could get my wallet out he said I should really fill in that form as there was a great holiday to be won. I wasnt expecting to run a gauntlet of sales people when entering my local bank but it seems they need to push certain products to help them out of their sorry predicament. The same thing has been happening in the Post Office for months. On each of my last three visits to a certain PO in Coleraine the tellers have asked me about my requirements for Broadband, Travel Insurance and Life Insurance. FFS, if they quiz everyone about these and other products it is no wonder the queue each time is snaking round the floor and out the door. :angry: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
getdoon_weebobby Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7978692.stm Staff at Bombardier's factories in Northern Ireland have been told almost 1,000 jobs are to go, the company has confirmed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belfast Boy Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7978692.stmStaff at Bombardier's factories in Northern Ireland have been told almost 1,000 jobs are to go, the company has confirmed. Staff at Bombardier's factories in Northern Ireland have been told almost 1,000 jobs are to go. It has been a torrid week for Northern Ireland's manufacturing sector. Ninety-five workers were made redundant at the engineering firm FG Wilson on Wednesday. On Tuesday, 210 people were laid off as car parts company Visteon closed its Belfast plant. On Monday, 87 jobs went at Nortel's Newtownabbey plant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polythene pam Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 That is pretty serious. I think the workforce thought that, with the recent orders and government money, they were well placed to see the recession through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr slump Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 GRIM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malthus Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 That is pretty serious. I think the workforce thought that, with the recent orders and government money, they were well placed to see the recession through. Really bad news , the multiplier effect on the local economy of these job losses is massive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tara747 Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Havn't been following the forum for a while so perhaps this has already been posted. Ulster Bank Quarterly Economic Review February 2009 - a long report with nothing much positive.'We anticipate NI average house prices to end 2009 close to £140k or 45% below the August 2007 peak.' FTB's take note. http://www.ulsterbank.com/content/group/ec...R_feb_09_NI.pdf Ho ho, they're already averaging £138k - so who knows where they'll be by the end of 2009!!!!! I reckon £110k average by December, anyone else fancy a guess? As for the job losses, very grim indeed. I agree with Malthus, it will have a massive knock on effect on the local areas, esp Bombardier. 1,000 jobs - bladdy hell. Sympathy to those affected. The govt and banks really have a lot to answer for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VedantaTrader Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 GRIM Grim indead, but I reckon the pocket of people on here are least surprised by it all. Infact it should be expected, and necessary. I spoke to someone I know the other day, and there are grave problems at the Michelin Plant in county Antrim, Ballymena, with 1000 plus workers there. They have no more room to store the tyres in the store house and they have already cut the working force to fewer days in the week... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky_FTB Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Grim indead, but I reckon the pocket of people on here are least surprised by it all. Infact it should be expected, and necessary. I spoke to someone I know the other day, and there are grave problems at the Michelin Plant in county Antrim, Ballymena, with 1000 plus workers there. They have no more room to store the tyres in the store house and they have already cut the working force to fewer days in the week... Yes unfortunately Michelin seems to be having a rough time at the moment. It used to be the factory only closed on christmas day, new years day, easter monday and 12th of July, but i have heard they got over a week at christmas and are off longer than usual at easter. Not a good sign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindside Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7978692.stmStaff at Bombardier's factories in Northern Ireland have been told almost 1,000 jobs are to go, the company has confirmed. Very bad news as other posters have already pointed out. Just out of interest does anyone know how many people Bombardier employ in total in NI? Presumably this must be a very significant portion of the workforce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky_FTB Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Very bad news as other posters have already pointed out. Just out of interest does anyone know how many people Bombardier employ in total in NI? Presumably this must be a very significant portion of the workforce. According to the Bel Tel's top 100 NI companies magazine they employed 5,226 people as of 2008. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindside Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 According to the Bel Tel's top 100 NI companies magazine they employed 5,226 people as of 2008. So approaching 20% of their work force being laid off. Thanks Ricky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malthus Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 So approaching 20% of their work force being laid off. Thanks Ricky. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7978692.stm Northern Ireland's manufacturing industry has lost 2% of its workforce in four days, the employment minister has said. good job we've got a booming public sector Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalivero Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Recession hitting Northern Ireland business hardest http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business...t-14268036.html The recession is hitting businesses in Northern Ireland harder than anywhere else in the UK, a new survey revealed today. The Ulster Bank Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) showed that economic activity, new business and job numbers all fell sharply in March as the grip of recession on the province tightened. And the report, published today, showed that private sector activity in the province contracted at a faster rate than any other area of the UK during the first quarter of the year. The construction and retail sectors were the worst performing in the local economy since the turn of the year, the study on behalf of the Ulster Bank found. Both new and existing workloads continued to drop during the month, leading firms to cut jobs and reduce the prices they charged, the bank said. “All UK regions, with the exception of Northern Ireland and the South West (of England), saw an improvement in the business activity index in March. According to the PMI, private sector activity in Northern Ireland has contracted at a faster rate than any other UK region during the first quarter of 2009,” said Richard Ramsey, an economist at Ulster Bank. “This is continuing the trend that was evident throughout 2008. “Northern Ireland firms continued to reduce their staffing levels at a rapid rate in March. “However, the pace of decline was more marked in the UK, albeit marginally, for the first time in 16 months. While all sectors of the economy reduced their respective headcounts in March, the rate of decline was most pronounced in the construction sector,” he added. Mr Ramsey added that the weakness of the sterling is having a bigger impact on Northern Ireland’s cost base compared with the rest of the UK. Input cost inflation among Northern Ireland firms rose for the first time in four months, in contrast to UK firms, where input costs fell. The survey showed that output from businesses in the province decreased for the sixteenth month in a row, with construction and retail the worst- performing sectors. New business in the private sector fell again, which the bank attributed weak demand and depressed business confidence. Unsurprisingly, the lower activity led to reduced employment levels in March, with the pace of job shedding close to the record levels seen in October 2008. March saw a raft of redundancies at high profile firms in the province such as FG Wilson, Nortel and Visteon, and Ulster Bank noted that non-replacement of leavers and shorter working hours were common across all sectors. The report also showed that despite higher input costs, Northern Ireland companies reduced their prices for a sixth consecutive month in the face of lacklustre demand and fierce competition. Panel members noted increased prices paid for imported goods, which they attributed to the weakness of sterling against major world currencies. Retailers signalled the sharpest increase in their cost burdens. Glyn Roberts, from the Northern Ireland Independent Retail Trade Association, said current conditions made it vital for banks to support small businesses through the current tough climate. “There’s no doubt people are spending less and consumer demand is down. People are putting off buying a new car or going out to a restaurant, and that permeates down,” he said. “The key requirement is for banks to continue lending to small businesses and retailers. “Despite the recent assurances given by banks, I don’t think we’re seeing that on the ground — access to finance is still a significant issue.” Bryan Gray, from Northern Ireland Manufacturing, said while some sectors are holding up well, firms that make products related to the motor and construction industries are clearly hurting. “It is disappointing that the local figures are down again when recent national figures showed an improvement,” he said. “It demonstrates that we have a long hard road ahead before we turn the corner.” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
talksalot81 Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Oh I laugh so much - a couple of months ago, one of the Ulster Bank Big wigs was going on about how NI was unlikely to be hit as hard as many other places.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malthus Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7999934.stm The first and deputy first ministers have met the Belfast Telegraph's editor to express concerns about its reporting of the executive's economic policy. Last month's meeting followed a letter from Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness to the newspaper's proprietor, Sir Anthony O'Reilly. The letter, sent on 2 March, accused the Telegraph of "demonstrating relentless negativity". Have they never read any of Helen's wonderful upbeat articles ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul65 Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 (edited) Looks like the "jokes on the hill" are getting "teasy" with the Bel Tel's overtly pessimistic view of the NI economy: Leaders criticise paper coverage The first and deputy first ministers have met the Belfast Telegraph's editor to express concerns about its reporting of the executive's economic policy.Last month's meeting followed a letter from Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness to the newspaper's proprietor, Sir Anthony O'Reilly. The letter, sent on 2 March, accused the Telegraph of "demonstrating relentless negativity". Just shows how clueless they (the chuckle brothers Mark 2) actually are that they sent the letter to CEO, Sir Tony O'Reilly at a non-existent postal address. They should have been in direct discussion with Ed Curran who has editorial responsibility for the BT rather than telling tales to the "Headmaster" hoping to have the unruly pupil's knuckles rapped. In any event I'm sure Ed Curran pointed the first and deputy first minister to Helen Carson's wonderfully unbiased property reporting for sake of journalistic balance (even if it is in cloud cookoo land). Are these the first signs that the Executive don't like it up 'em? If you can't stand the heat ... and all that Edited April 15, 2009 by paul65 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malthus Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 I heard that on the news and couldn't believe it. The BT negative? Just because they printed a few letters criticising the gravy train that is Stormont? I strongly feel our leaders are in deep doo doo and trying to point the blame elsewhere. I posted this on the media thread , can you combine doccy ? Imo this is the sort of thing the human rights commision should investigate if they're not too busy The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference, and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers" even though a lot of the BT is advertorials it still counts as free press and it's a very slippy slope when politicians start try to interfere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul65 Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 I heard that on the news and couldn't believe it. The BT negative? Just because they printed a few letters criticising the gravy train that is Stormont? I strongly feel our leaders are in deep doo doo and trying to point the blame elsewhere. You know what they say .... a good attack is the best defence. Stormont politicians doing what they are best at and looking to divert/deflect the blame. The actual letter from the First Minister and Deputy First Minister can be found here: Clicky da' linky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindside Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 (edited) Looks like the "jokes on the hill" are getting "teasy" with the Bel Tel's overtly pessimistic view of the NI economy:Leaders criticise paper coverage Just shows how clueless they (the chuckle brothers Mark 2) actually are that they sent the letter to CEO, Sir Tony O'Reilly at a non-existent postal address. They should have been in direct discussion with Ed Curran who has editorial responsibility for the BT rather than telling tales to the "Headmaster" hoping to have the unruly pupil's knuckles rapped. In any event I'm sure Ed Curran pointed the first and deputy first minister to Helen Carson's wonderfully unbiased property reporting for sake of journalistic balance (even if it is in cloud cookoo land). Are these the first signs that the Executive don't like it up 'em? If you can't stand the heat ... and all that Presumably it is their civil servants who are supposed to feed them the correct information. Even if they were after the owner rather than the editor (organ grinder>monkey), they should have done their homework: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/busi...icle5904297.ece It is not exactly new news that Denis O'Brien now ultimately pulls the strings in the IN & M conglomerate. Good luck to him because the business is in fairly serious sh*t. Edited April 15, 2009 by blindside Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shipbuilder Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 This is a joke, surely? What is needed is utterly relentless criticism (where it is due) of the shower of sh*te gravy train riders that are the NI assembly. Maybe then they will get the message as to who employs them and who they are accountable to. How laughable that this is their response to politics in the real world where one can't just blame 'the other side'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelfastVI Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 Looks like the "jokes on the hill" are getting "teasy" with the Bel Tel's overtly pessimistic view of the NI economy: I have read the letter and the folks on the hill were not annoyed with the BTs view of the NI economy, it was the BTs view on them that worried them. THe BT was having a right dig at them and they didn't like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
getdoon_weebobby Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 (edited) robinson, mcguiness etc deserve everything they get leeches go on the bel tel. they might be property rampers but there is still one thing worse and thats corrupt polititians Edited April 15, 2009 by weebobby_getdoon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr slump Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 there goes another one http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8001610.stm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
getdoon_weebobby Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 there goes another onehttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8001610.stm friend works in shop there - victoria square very quiet 7/8 shops closed since opening. lots of flats for sale there............ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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