#140: The Bottom Line – The Economy – Are there reasons to be Optimistic? How to Tell Your Business Story; The Highs & Lows of Business; & New Beginnings.

In this episode of The Bottom Line, John Purcell spoke with Jim Power ahead of the European Central Bank meeting this week. Jim shares his insights on interest rates, inflation and the economy in general. John also spoke with Jim about agriculture and the outlook for the sector.

In this episode of The Bottom Line, we hear from Martin O'Brien, Head of Irish Economic Analysis at the Central Bank of Ireland, who joined John to discuss some of the key points in their latest quarterly bulletin which was released during the week.

In this weeks episode of The Bottom Line on KCLR, John Purcell was joined by Alan Seery of O’Neill Foley Chartered Accountants to chat through some of the business news and issues from the week. Italo Andrade spoke with John about his business – digital business cards. Italo explained how they work, how they can help save money for businesses and individuals and, how he’s seeking both resellers and investors. Earlier this week the launch of the County Carlow Chamber of Commerce Business Awards 2023 took place at The Exchange in Carlow. John Purcell was at the event and while there he spoke with the newly elected President of Carlow Chamber of Commerce Rowena Dooley. Economist Jim Power joined John to discuss how business and the economy has been faring over the first six months of 2023 and what he thinks will be the issues and influences shaping the rest of the year. To contact the show, email: [email protected]

In this episode of The Bottom Line on KCLR, Samantha McCaughren, Business Editor of the Sunday Independent joined John Purcell, to chat through some of the business stories from the week. Google has announced that starting on July 1st, 2023, the standard Universal Analytics will stop working and, to understand what this means for any business using Google Analytics to guide their ecommerce strategy, John spoke with John Foy, Creative Director at Carlow based, Stratticus Studio about what you need to know and what you need to do. During the week the Central Bank of Ireland released their second quarterly bulletin of the year and to discuss what has been going on in the Irish Economy and what lies ahead for the rest of the year, John spoke with Martin O’Brien, Head of Irish Economic Analysis at the Central Bank of Ireland. Climate change is an ongoing subject of concern and while many businesses are well on the road to making their businesses more sustainable there are many others who have put off the necessary changes that have to be made to decrease their carbon footprints. Gillian Peters, Chief Executive of Pragmatica spoke with John about how her organisation works with businesses large and small to devise and implement strategies and prepare for a future where becoming climate friendly won’t be just a choice for business but will also be something which they will have to do to comply with a range of statutory requirements which are coming down the track.

This week, John Purcell presented The Bottom Line live from Arboretum in Leighlinbridge, Carlow for a special programme at the launch of well known local entrepreneur Rachel Doyle’s book - “My Tree of Life”.