Lessons from the month of March

Okay, spring has actually sprung this time. Not that fake spring we seem to get in February. And while we enjoy some daylight savings, let’s reflect on March.

1. A difficult few months for SMEs.

A challenging quarter for SMEs, I think we can all agree – given increases to the minimum wage, restoration of the 13.5% hospitality sector VAT rate late last year and other more recent cost increases that have resulted from Government policy measures. The landscape, according to most, is stark. Not to mention the competitiveness challenges faced by those in sectors such as manufacturing, struggling to survive in export markets amid excessive cost increases. If any doubts existed, our CEO Stuart Fitzgerald’s Newstalk chat with Bobby Kerr as well as the PwC Insolvency Barometer released during the month provide further evidence, showing a 41% increase in insolvencies, with SMEs accounting for 85% of all business failures. (Some 223 businesses became insolvent in January-March this year, putting this number on track to come in close to 1,000 for 2024 as a whole, exceeding the 850 recorded in pre-pandemic 2019, PwC said.).

However, it’s not as bad as it could be: according to PwC, though the current insolvency rate has doubled to 28 per 10,000 businesses since the 14 per 10,000 rate recorded in 2021, it remains well below the previous peak of 109 per 10,000 businesses seen back in 2012.

2. Trump Social Media 2.0

Though former US president Donald Trump’s media company has fallen stock-wise, the alarmingly named Truth Social is still worth more than $7bn at current prices. It was formed back in 2021, when he lost his bid for a second term and was temporarily booted from major social media platforms, including Twitter and Facebook, which accused him of inciting violence.

The idea was pitched to him by two former contestants on his reality TV show, The Apprentice, who saw an opportunity to create an alternative to the mainstream social media sites. In 2022 Trump Media launched its first, and to date only, product for the public: the social media platform Truth Social.

As one might expect, given Trump’s aggressive use of the platform formerly known as Twitter, much of Truth Social’s functionality is identical to X. Users can post ‘truths’ or ‘retruths’ as well as send direct messages. Adverts, meanwhile, are called ‘sponsored truths’.

It went public in March 2024 via what is known as a SPAC. Basically, it was acquired by a company whose shares were already trading publicly on the stock market, in this case, Digital World Acquisition Corp. Trump now owns about 57% of shares in the combined firm, which was renamed Trump Media and trades under the DJT ticker, the owner’s initials.

Only time will tell what this means for Trump, and/or social media at large. But if you were to take my word on it, I would assume one thing: bad. 

3. The Deposit Return Scheme is a-go.

Though it seemed that all news stories surrounding the Deposit Return Schemes (DRS) earlier in the year were bad, it seems that things have turned around for the Green Party initiative. Over 20 million drink containers have been collected in Ireland since the launch of the DRS on 1 February. The milestone was reached on 29 March, when 1.2 million containers were returned in a single day, the highest so far. More than 2.2 million drinks were also collected over the St. Patrick’s Day Bank Holiday weekend (16-18 March). To put this in global terms, Slovakia, which implemented a return scheme in January 2022, collected 264,000 containers in its first month. Ireland collected 2 million in the same time frame.

The chief executive of Re-turn Ciaran Foley said of the latest figures, “The support of consumers nationwide is really positive and as more Re-turn logo products enter circulation, we are seeing high return numbers that will only continue to grow as we all become accustomed to the scheme.”

With 2,300 reverse vending machines – available in local shops and participating supermarkets – now operational across the country, Re-turn has facilitated more than 6.89 million transactions, illustrating the widespread acceptance of the DRS.

You really can get used to anything.

4. There’s never been a better time to be an Irish woman-led start-up.

Irish women-led start-ups took in more than €100m from venture capitalists in 2023, according to research from financial data firm Pitchbook. This makes Ireland the 3rd highest country in Europe per deal count on a per capita basis for investment in women-led start-ups.

Jenny Melia, executive director of Enterprise Ireland, said: “Enterprise Ireland is committed to increasing opportunities for women entrepreneurs and supporting them at every stage of their start-up journey. We strongly believe that the key to Ireland’s economic success is a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem that utilises the skills, ambition, and talent of a diverse population. We have been championing this agenda for over a decade. Last year 31% of the start-ups we invested in were led by women, and our continued ambition is to continue to increase this.”

5. Mind the gap.

Learning technology research centre Learnovate has secured more than €9m in funding to support Irish companies address their emerging skills gaps and prepare for the future of work.

Based in Trinity College Dublin, the Learnovate Centre currently has 75 member organisations from around the world, including Zoom, Mastercard and Cisco. In Ireland, its members include LearnUpon, SoapBox Labs and Skillnet Ireland. The €9.6m in fresh funding comes from Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland and will be used to expand the centre’s research and innovation agenda. This research will support companies in edtech and HR tech to develop tech tools to address Ireland’s skills gaps.

Announcing the funding, former Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Simon Coveney, TD, said the emerging gaps in skills development are “one of the most important issues we are dealing with in Ireland” as the work and learning landscapes change so quickly.

“The work Learnovate is doing in working with and supporting, companies in addressing those gaps is essential for our future economy,” he said.

6. Death, taxes and M&As…

1. Irish female-founded digital health firm Wellola has closed a €2.2m funding round led by Elkstone with additional funding from Enterprise Ireland and Bay Advisory, bringing total investment in the company to €4m to date.

Founded by chartered physiotherapist Sonia Neary in 2016, Wellola has developed patient management solution Portasana, which is used by healthcare organisations such as Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, the North East London Foundation Trust and Birmingham Community NHS Trust. “This investment will enable us to further enhance our Portasana patient care and communication platform and also expand our footprint across the UK, ultimately empowering healthcare professionals to deliver more efficient, effective, and personalised care to their patients,” Neary said.

2. Chicago-based gambling start-up Bet Caddy was announced as the winner of the One-Zero Startup Competition at the Aviva Stadium this month. Because of this, the Bet Caddy team will pitch their company to The Players Impact (TPI) syndicate of 700 professional athletes, entrepreneurs and investors after being selected for more than 700 Irish and international start-ups competing at the sports-tech conference.

Founded by Tony Ryan, Bet Caddy is a digital platform that offers gamblers betting and fantasy sports advice. The company’s technology syncs users’ sportsbook accounts to keep track of their various bets and daily fantasy sports line-ups.

3. Newstalk and Today FM owner Bauer Media Audio is set to grow its stable of radio stations after agreeing to acquire regional youth-orientated music station Beat 102-103. The deal is contingent on customary closing conditions and regulatory approval and follows Bauer’s acquisitions of Cork’s Red FM, iRadio and sales house Media Central. Bauer expects its weekly reach to top 2.24m Irish listeners with the acquisition, and the company has more than 61m listeners in nine countries, with Newstalk, Today FM, Red FM and iRadio all having grown their listenership under its stewardship.

In summary: If a week is a long time in politics, then surely this has been the longest month this year. The good news is that the days are getting longer – which can either mean that more of our time spent awake can be taken up with news stories, or that spring has actually sprung. Either or.

Undoubtedly the greatest Irish story this month was Leo Varadkar’s shock resignation, one which some claim has to do with a big scandal, while others just believe he is scandalously burnt out. The real story lies somewhere in the middle – with many claiming that towing the party line took favour, following several reports that Fine Gael was experiencing low levels of popularity.

Varadkar, who became Ireland’s youngest taoiseach at the age of 37, stepped down at the still-tender age of 45 – a stage in life when many upwardly mobile politicians would only be contemplating a tilt at the top job. His decision caused consternation across the board, but perhaps none more than with Irish Times columnist Miriam Lord, who wrote: ‘A Taoiseach not so much resigning as throwing in the towel’. Ouch.

In the meantime, baby lambs are springing and Easter eggs for breakfast are still Very Much Allowed. But I don’t need to tell you that, do I?

See you next month!

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