Moving West
A new TV series airing on TG4 about relocating to Atlantic counties has a strong business focus, writes John Kinsella
TV programme producer Enda Grace doesn’t have fond memories of Christmas 2016. The former actor was making programme content for Irish TV, the online and Sky television channel aimed at Ireland’s diaspora. The venture had been established in Mayo in 2014, with funding sourced from UK taxi entrepreneur John Griffin.
After going through millions of Griffin’s wealth, Irish TV entered liquidation in mid-December 2016, just as Grace was beginning to wind down for the festive break and looking forward to spending time with his infant twin girls.
“Everything was pulled from under us,” Grace recalls. “I never knew stress like it. We were owed about €45,000 and we owed money to our staff and suppliers. We had all our eggs in one basket and that was a huge mistake. Everyone was let go, and we had to bring it back to brass tacks and start again. Thankfully we’re heading in the right direction now.”
Grace (45) established Dundara Productions in 2011 after gravitating towards camera work, with weddings a speciality. A serious back ailment had put paid to his thespian ambitions, and over the years Grace has moved the company on from making commercials and bespoke videos to TV series.
Dundara’s latest production airs on TG4 weekly from September 23. The six Moving West episodes follow the lives of families who have moved to the west of Ireland. The series chimes in with the zeitgeist of life beyond big cities in the Covid era, and Grace frankly concedes that the purpose of the show is to attract people to the region.
That’s because Moving West is largely funded by the Western Development Commission, a state agency charged with fostering economic activity in Atlantic counties. Branded content is an increasing feature of the television landscape, though it only works if the programmes interest viewers.
For Moving West, the time and production investment was substantial. There was the call-out for participants at the start of 2021, which attracted c.60 applicants willing to talk to camera. These were whittled down to 20, with county spread a factor, and then a final selection of 12.
Over the summer, the Dundara team hit the road for six weeks. The production team of four or six people, plus presenter Mary Kennedy, spent three days a week in western towns shooting the 30-minute episodes. Editing the two hours or so of tape took another seven to 10 days, followed by another four or five days of technical post-production.
Some of the Moving West contributors are entrepreneurs. Carol Ho moved to Galway from Hong Kong and runs Baseworx with her husband Keith. Stuart Forrest has a successful animation business in South Africa and relocated to Oughterard so that his venture Triggerfish can secure more commissions from EU buyers. Bob Coggins moved his family from Drumcondra to Ballymote to set up White Hag Brewery.
According to Grace, the main impediment to living the good life in the west is personal barriers such as uprooting children. “For our cohort, there weren’t really any barriers in terms of infrastructure and location. Maybe it was just the selection we picked, but everybody has had a pretty smooth transition. One caveat would be the housing situation in Galway.
“We are trying to show the positives of moving west, but we have to be realistic too. There’s no point in saying everything is sunshine — it’s difficult for any of us to find somewhere to live. However, a lot of the movers in the series had lived in other parts of Ireland and they knew what to expect.”
The inherent strength and resilience of Irish family businesses came to the fore once again during the course of the past 18 months. While many businesses have struggled in the face of multiple lockdowns and the other public health measures that restricted trade, family businesses have generally proved very capable at adapting to the new environment.
KPMG published a very significant report earlier this year. Mastering a Comeback: How Family Businesses are Triumphing over Covid19 was based on a survey of 2,500 family businesses globally, including 59 in Ireland. Among the key findings was that 70% of family firms maintained their R&D investments, and continued to launch new products and services throughout the pandemic.
It is clear that family businesses are embracing the transformation agenda. Family businesses have proven time and time again to be extremely agile, and we have seen great examples of family businesses pivoting successfully during the pandemic. That agility and ability to reinvent and transform, will be critically important, as we look forward to the full reopening of the economy in the coming months.
INVESTMENT DECISIONS
Covid wasn’t entirely negative, of course. One unexpected benefit was the gift of time. It gave family business owners an opportunity to pause and draw breath, and enabled them to take stock of their current position and look at issues such as succession, ownership structures, and governance. That breathing space also enabled them to look at new growth and diversification opportunities, as well as to develop new product and service offerings. Family firms tend to take a much longer-term view of key business and investment decisions, and their longevity means that they are inclined to embrace sustainability as a core value.
However, every business is challenged by the fallout from the pandemic. While government and other supports have been very welcome, the fact remains that a great number of businesses will emerge from the pandemic with very high levels of debt. Warehoused tax liabilities will have to be met at some stage, and businesses may also have outstanding rent to pay and supplier invoices to meet.
This should be borne in mind by government in the run-up to Budget 2022. Irish family businesses, which form the backbone of our enterprise economy, must be supported as they emerge from the pandemic. What is needed now are tax policy measures that reward risk and encourage people to grow their businesses and increase employment.
TAX MEASURES
Budget 2022 provides an opportunity to make small changes that could mean big differences to business. One measure which should be looked at as a matter of urgency is a substantial increase in Entrepreneurs Relief from its current level of €1 million. At a time when Irish entrepreneurs are already struggling with the impact of Covid and other matters such as Brexit, they should be provided with an incentive to continue investing in Irish business. Another, as recommended by the SME Taskforce earlier this year, is to improve the Employment Investment Incentive Scheme (EIIS) by allowing CGT loss relief for lossmaking investments and providing CGT exemption on EIIS investments.
Business owners should be facilitated to extract profits from their enterprises at more attractive tax rates at various stages during the lifetime of the business. This could come in the form of relief for both investors and owners. For example, the SME Taskforce earlier this year recommended a 20% CGT rate for founders, private investors, VCs and angel investors into SMEs. Owners would be rewarded for the risks they have taken, while investors would be incentivised to put their money into indigenous Irish businesses.
Reliefs could be linked to jobs growth or sustainability metrics. This would tie in neatly with the government’s ambition for a green, jobs-led recovery.
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‘Family businesses are embracing the transformation agenda’