Highland Radio Business Matters Highland Radio

In this episode of Business Matters, Chris Ashmore interviews musician Zara Montgomery who recently established a one stop shop for all your wedding music.

Her new band Snapshot Live was set up to cater for weddings and also corporate events.

For weddings rather than having a number of different people to contact, she can provide all the music for the big day, ranging from ceremony music to reception music, your band for the wedding and the DJ.

A hugely talented musician who has travelled widely, she certainly has an interesting story to tell.



 

In this episode of Business Matters, Chris Ashmore speaks with Philip O’Kennedy, Business Advisor with the Local Enterprise Office in Ireland about how Micro Finance Ireland can help businesses.

He also talks with Maura Toner, Food Coast Donegal Executive, about a number of great events over the coming months in Donegal  that are open to the public.

And he hears from Maria Doherty of the Donegal ETB about a number of degree courses that are available at the Donegal ETB training centre in Letterkenny in the first year – and without fees – before you move onto campus at an ATU campus.

In this episode of Business Matters, Chris Ashmore speaks with Larissa Feeney, President of the Donegal Women In Business Network which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

She is also the founder and CEO of the award winning Accountant Online business which has seen rapid growth in recent years and which has just been rebranded.

Chris is also joined in studio by Sean Quinn, Head of Sales, Highland Radio, to look forward to this year’s Highland Radio Customer Service Awards in association with McElhinney’s Stores.  The awards cover a wide range of category and there were a record number of nominations. The gala presentation night is on Sunday, June 2nd, in the Mount Errigal Hotel, Letterkenny.

 

In this episode of Business Matters, Chris Ashmore, speaks with Ciaran McKenna, who is the owner of two family run Londis stores in Inishowen, one in Buncrana, where he also has a Circle K filling station, and the other in Drung, Quigley’s Point, where they manage the fuel for Inishowen Co-op

A native of Monaghan, Ciaran comes from a family that have been working in retail and selling fuel for generations.

Recently he was selected by FBD insurance as one of seven small businesses around the country for a special advertising package tailored to their business.

To find out more about his business, Chris paid a visit to him in his Buncrana premises to find out more….

A Donegal based drinks company – whose products have attracted celebrity investors including Russell Crowe, Ed Sheeran, Jimmy Carr, and Ronan Keating – has signed an exclusive distribution agreement for the US market.

The Muff Liquor Company has landed the lucrative deal with the Lucas Bols Company, one of the leading cocktail and spirits players in the worldwide cocktail market, who will now have the exclusive rights to import and distribute Muff Liquor products in the United States of America.

The Muff Liquor Company was founded in 2017 by Donegal native Laura Bonner, who was inspired by her grandfather Philip McClenaghan’s passion to create wonderful spirits.

Its current portfolio consists of the award-winning Irish Potato Gin, Irish Potato Vodka, and Irish Peated Whiskey.

Chris Ashmore spoke to her about about the development of the business, the celebrity investors, how her dream is been realised with the company, and how it continues her family’s distilling legacy in Inishowen.

In this episode of Business Matters, Chris Ashmore interviews Niall Speak, the founder of the Eco Basket company.

Having experienced sustainable and waste free shopping habits when he was living in Australia, Niall returned to his native Sion Mills and began the process to set up his company.

The Eco Basket has a wide range of products including spices, herbs, grains, toiletries and eco-friendly products and he has ambitions to be the leading Zero Waste Refill provider in Ireland.

The products can be ordered online and delivered in compostable packing, and he also has a shopping model based on customers bringing their own containers and filling them with as much of his products as they need before paying for the goods by weight or volume.

As well as grocery shoppers, the Eco Basket works with cafés, chefs, restaurants and zero waste stores across Ireland and the UK to offer wholesale orders.

Hugely enthusiastic, he also has ambitious plans for the future – including a possible vertical farm in Sion Mills.

You can listen to the full interview here: