Author: Practicenet

Hundreds affected by mistakes in mortgage calculations

Hundreds of homeowners have had their monthly mortgage repayments calculated incorrectly by the largest credit servicing firm in the State. Pepper Asset Servicing has admitted that some people have been charged too much on their mortgages, with others charged too little. Customers have also been issued with incorrect mortgage statements. The issues have been brought […]

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Corporation tax volatility will lead to ‘inevitable fall’

The “wind is at our backs” in relation to corporation tax yield but “it cannot continue indefinitely”, the head of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council has warned. Economist Seamus Coffey told the Oireachtas Budgetary Oversight Committee there is “significant volatility taking place under the bonnet” when it comes to corporation tax revenues and that a […]

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Keeping it in the family: how succession planning can protect the business and future generations

As the old saying goes, there are three certainties in life – change, death and taxes. And let’s face it, we don’t get up every morning looking forward to the middle one. Nor are you likely to see advertisements for funerals with special offers, a summer sale or promotions. A funeral is a distress purchase. […]

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Rental home numbers slide as Airbnb hits Dublin market

The number of homes available for rent has steadily dropped, with fewer than 1,000 expected to be available in the capital by the end of the year, property website Daft.ie has warned. The listings site said a lack of new properties coming on stream meant the number of houses and apartments being offered to tenants […]

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No Brexit impact for Irish savers as 51pc put away extra cash every month

Just over half of Irish people are now regular savers, and almost all of them say that Brexit has not affected their saving patterns. The latest Bank of Ireland-ESRI Savings and Investment Index, which measures sentiment towards savings and investment, found that 51pc of Irish people are now saving regularly. That’s up from 46pc in […]

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Are we in danger of returning to a level of arrogance and complacency to customer service?

In a rising economy, when consumer demand increases, prices go up. In contrast, regrettably, we often see levels of customer service going down as businesses focus on quick profits. How many times have you heard stories of service providers not calling the customer back after an initial enquiry? A close friend is in the market […]

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Employers will have to reveal gender pay gaps under new legislation

Men and women will soon have the right to know if they are being paid differently based on gender. Employers will have to show the differences in the pay of male and female staff under the Government’s proposed gender pay gap legislation, due to be published in the coming weeks. Any differences in the pay […]

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More money and jobs as consumer spending up for 14th month

Consumer spending rose last month, marking 14 successive months of growth as an improving economy continued to feed into jobs and disposable incomes. The Visa Irish Consumer Spending Index, which measures expenditure across cash, cheques and electronic payments, rose 3.8pc in April compared to a year earlier. That was an acceleration of the 1.5pc rise […]

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How can I keep customers coming through door and off web?

This is something I have been saying for a long time. There is a very strong future role for physical retailers if owners ensure that the customer’s visit has a high level of experiential retail within it. In Superquinn we always tried to deliver the unexpected. On Mother’s Day, each of our checkout operators would […]

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Excellence in customer experiences is the new battleground

In a rising economy, when consumer demand increases, prices go up. In contrast, regrettably, we often see levels of customer service going down as businesses focus on quick profits. How many times have you heard stories of service providers not calling the customer back after an initial enquiry? A close friend is in the market […]

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