That Great Business Show
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- 358
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- cada semana
- Último episodio
- 12 Nov 2026
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That Great Business Show with Conall Ó Móráin - officially Ireland's TOP Business Podcast, UCD Smurfit's Business Podcast of the Year!
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Episodios 358
E318 - What Does Dell Actually Do in Ireland Today? Mark Hopkins Takes Us Inside
What does Dell do in Ireland now?Dell computers and Viagra once did a fair bit of the heavy lifting for Irish exports. Then Dell moved PC production to Poland and 1,900 Limerick jobs went. So what does the …
Notas del episodio
What does Dell do in Ireland now?
Dell computers and Viagra once did a fair bit of the heavy lifting for Irish exports. Then Dell moved PC production to Poland and 1,900 Limerick jobs went. So what does the company actually do here today?
Conall Ó Móráin asks Mark Hopkins, General Manager of Dell Technologies Ireland, how Dell went from the laptop on your kitchen table to the kit behind AI. Mark tells us what happened when Michael Dell asked his leadership team to imagine the company that could put Dell out of business, and how staff came back with more than 650 ideas for using AI.
There’s a useful bit for anyone running a smaller business. Pick a job that costs you time or money. Work out what fixing it would be worth. Then decide what technology, if any, you need. You can do the first two with a pencil.
Plus, how a visit to Dell in Limerick helped start a conversation that led to a £72m film studio outside Belfast, and who Mark would Hire in a Heartbeat. Conall guessed Michael Dell. He guessed wrong.
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E317 - Whose Side Is HR On When the Boss Is Wrong? | Caroline Reidy
Whose Side Is HR On When the Boss Is Wrong? | Caroline ReidyThe boss signs the cheques. You’ve got a complaint about the boss. So whose side is HR on?I put that to Caroline Reidy, founder of The HR Suite and …
Notas del episodio
Whose Side Is HR On When the Boss Is Wrong? | Caroline Reidy
The boss signs the cheques. You’ve got a complaint about the boss. So whose side is HR on?
I put that to Caroline Reidy, founder of The HR Suite and now Head of NFP HR Solutions, part of NFP, an Aon company. Then I asked what happens when the boss is the one getting it wrong. It can happen, you know.
We get into the promotion that can cost you your best employee, why job candidates are vanishing before the interview, what Caroline is seeing as AI changes graduate work, and where she’d tell a young person to look for opportunity.
There’s a business story here too. Caroline built The HR Suite in Kerry and sold it to NFP. Who did she ring for advice during the sale? Two women from Going for Growth, and Paula Fitzsimons. We talk about what she got from the programme and why she came back as a Lead Entrepreneur.
Hire in a Heartbeat: Caroline would take a hungry, curious MTU graduate. The course they did matters less to her than what they’ve done along the way.
Going for Growth applications close on 27 November. It’s free for those selected. Details at https://goingforgrowth.com/
That Great Business Show with Conall Ó Móráin is sponsored by De Facto Shaving Oil. The world’s best shaving oil. Not a beard oil. Made in Mayo, sold worldwide. https://defactoshave.com/
Follow the show and send this one to somebody who’s ever sat outside an interview room wondering where everybody was.
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E316: The Business Behind Leinster Rugby, the Syracuse University connection. And Coole Swan US expansion - Philip Brady
Notas del episodio
WHO PAYS FOR LEINSTER RUGBY? WHAT'S THE SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY CONNECTION? AND HOW DO YOU GET AN IRISH CREAM LIQUEUR ONTO AMERICAN SHELVES?
Philip Brady, Senior Vice President of Leinster Rugby, joins Conall Ó Móráin to talk about the business behind the blue jersey — from sponsorship and ticket revenue to governance, growth and the Syracuse University partnership.
Philip also talks about Coole Swan, the Irish cream liqueur business he shares with his wife Mary, and the challenge of building an Irish brand in the huge American market. Plus, who would he hire in a heartbeat? Former Leinster star Jordie Barrett.
THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY DE FACTO SHAVING OIL - Made in Mayo and sold around the world, De Facto is an all-natural shaving oil designed to give you a better shave. It's not beard oil — it's shaving oil. Discover the product at https://defactoshave.com.Please support the companies that support independent Irish business podcasting.Find all episodes at www.ThatGreatBusinessShow.com
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E315 - They Skipped School to Talk About Their $500,000 Studytok Startup!
E315: STILL IN SCHOOL. 300,000 DOWNLOADS. A $500,000 FUNDRAISE. AND NO PLANS FOR COLLEGE?What the hell were YOU doing when you were 17?Paddy Corcoran and Seán Cahill were supposed to be studying for their …
Notas del episodio
E315: STILL IN SCHOOL. 300,000 DOWNLOADS. A $500,000 FUNDRAISE. AND NO PLANS FOR COLLEGE?
What the hell were YOU doing when you were 17?
Paddy Corcoran and Seán Cahill were supposed to be studying for their Junior Cert. Instead, they were scrolling through TikTok.
Then they had an idea. What if studying were as addictive as TikTok?
Fast-forward to today. Their Studytok app has recorded 300,000 downloads of its original global version, their TikTok account has attracted over 100,000 followers, and the lads are raising $500,000 to build an international education business.
Oh, and they're still in sixth year.
They actually took "time out" (eh, they bunked out) of school to come and talk to me. That's dedication. Or truancy. I'll leave that between them and their teachers.
From Rockwell College (where it all began) in Tipperary to investor meetings in New York, these two have already travelled further in business than many people three times their age. They're now at school in Dublin to keep the techbro mo going...
Their mentor and first investor, Erik Jentetics, introduced them to me. He spotted something rather special.
We talk about:
- Turning a TY mini-company project into a serious technology business.
- How one TikTok video attracted 2.3 million views.
- Why Ireland is their testing ground before taking on America.
- How AI can turn ordinary study notes into interactive quizzes and exam practice.
- Why they're charging schools €25 per student per year.
- Raising $500,000 while preparing for the Leaving Cert.
- Why Paddy might never go to college (I told him he should, that should come back to haunt me) while Seán has his eye on engineering and robotics.
- The extraordinary importance of mentors, investors and taking advice.
And, of course, who they'd hire in a heartbeat.
Their choices? A former Duolingo product chief and a brilliant American consumer-brand marketer. These lads have done their homework. Some of it, anyway.
They're looking for introductions to people in the American education sector. If you're connected to US schools, education technology or investors, have a listen and see if you can help them.
Studytok: https://studytok.com
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E314: THE CRASH IS COMING? Alan McQuaid's Grim Warning for Your Mortgage, Pension and Savings
"I DON'T THINK THIS IS GOING TO END WELL."That's not some social media doomsayer, a crypto enthusiast talking up his latest bet, or an internet financial guru selling a course.That's Alan McQuaid - an economist …
Notas del episodio
"I DON'T THINK THIS IS GOING TO END WELL."
That's not some social media doomsayer, a crypto enthusiast talking up his latest bet, or an internet financial guru selling a course.
That's Alan McQuaid - an economist with more than 30 years' experience in financial markets, who has worked with the Department of Finance, Merrion Stockbrokers and Cantor Fitzgerald Ireland.
A man who has seen a financial crisis or two.
And he believes we're heading for serious trouble.
"We're set up for a big fall."
On this edition of That Great Business Show, Alan joins Conall Ó Móráin for a conversation that becomes increasingly worrying as it unfolds.
We're talking about bond markets, but before you switch off at the very mention of the word BONDS, listen to this.
The bond markets affect the interest on your mortgage, the money available to build houses, the ability of businesses to expand, the security of jobs and, potentially, the value of your pension.
And Alan thinks the warning lights are flashing.
Government borrowing is getting out of hand. Inflation is proving troublesome. Investors are demanding higher returns to lend money. And the world's stock markets may not yet have understood the danger.
Alan thinks interest rates could go higher over the next 12 to 18 months. He fears that share prices could fall sharply. And he believes Ireland is much more vulnerable to an international financial shock than many people realise.
A podcast colleague who's in the process of buying a house and arranging a mortgage, was genuinely worried when he heard this discussion.
We can understand why.
Among the questions we ask:
- Is another financial crash on the way?
- Could mortgage rates jump again?
- Why are the bond markets so nervous?
- What happens if China or Japan starts selling more US government debt?
- Are shares dangerously overpriced?
- Could the data-centre borrowing boom become another problem?
- Would Irish house prices tumble?
- Should savers be looking at gold, silver, government bonds or bank deposits?
- And does Ireland have a far bigger financial problem than the Government would like us to believe?
Alan has strong opinions. You may agree with him. You may disagree very strongly.
But you should hear what he has to say.
Because there's one thing he cannot tell us.
WHEN.
He believes a major fall is coming. But he doesn't know when.
And, as he cheerfully points out, if he did know, he'd be somewhere else making millions.
An extraordinary conversation with an economist who isn't afraid to say what he thinks.
Guest: Alan McQuaid, independent economist.
Connect: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-mcquaid-b6278884/
Hosted by Conall Ó Móráin.
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E313: Six people. €10 BILLION traded. Now MartEye is taking on America. With a little help from Portershed
SIX people. More than 120 marts. Over €10 BILLION worth of livestock and related products traded through their platform.And now they’re taking on America.How on earth does a team that small build something that …
Notas del episodio
SIX people. More than 120 marts. Over €10 BILLION worth of livestock and related products traded through their platform.
And now they’re taking on America.
How on earth does a team that small build something that big?
Conall Ó Móráin meets Ciarán Feeney and Margaret Monaghan of MartEye, alongside Mary Rodgers, CEO of Galway’s PorterShed—the startup hub helping ambitious businesses make the connections to grow.
When Covid shut the marts, MartEye had TWO WEEKS to build a working product. Customers needed it. Customers paid. And they’ve been building ever since.
Today, farmers can bid from their children’s football matches. A buyer in New York can buy cattle for a farm in Tipperary.
And an unexpected enquiry from Missouri has opened the door to America’s sale barns.
Margaret’s first American trip? Turkeys, the Amish community and a table full of hunting rifles. Not quite the welcome she’d imagined.
We get into:
• Getting customers paying before the product was “fully baked”.
• The American opportunity: roughly 1,100 sale barns, according to Ciarán.
• Why MartEye has declined approaches from industry investors.
• The reality of supporting customers at THREE in the morning.
• Why PorterShed protects its engineers—and makes introductions count.
• The microphone mistake that broadcast Margaret into an Italian auction.
• And selling Michael O’Leary’s pedigree Angus cattle.
Customers. Cash. Control. And an Irish business with its eyes on a much bigger market.
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E312 Failed College. Blew 25 Grand. Came Home With 80p. Now He Owns Republic of Work | Frank Brennan
Frank Brennan failed his way through three years of mechanical engineering.His words, not ours.So he went to Australia, took a 100%-commission door-to-door sales job, learned to survive 50 rejections a day …
Notas del episodio
Frank Brennan failed his way through three years of mechanical engineering.
His words, not ours.
So he went to Australia, took a 100%-commission door-to-door sales job, learned to survive 50 rejections a day, saved 25 grand — and then spent the lot travelling.
He arrived home in Cork with 80p in his pocket.
Excellent financial planning.
Then he walked into an empty building on Cork's South Mall where a man was planning an innovation hub. There was no proper Wi-Fi. No desks. No team. No coffee dock. But there were 14 tonnes of IKEA furniture arriving the following morning.
Frank's response?
“I'll start tomorrow.”
That business became Republic of Work. The early years were brutal. Start-ups, Frank discovered, don't necessarily have any money. EY arriving looking for space for 30 people gave the business breathing room. Today Frank owns Republic of Work, has expanded it by another 7,500 sq ft and says one of the world's biggest gaming companies has taken its fifth floor on a two-year deal.
We talk sales, rejection, risk, remote working, Cork, community, the future of the office, why Irish businesspeople insist everything is “flying” when it absolutely isn't — and the person Frank would ultimately most like to hire.
His wife.
That Great Business Show — Real Business. Real lessons.
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E311 That Great Business Show- €130,000 Short of Becoming a Pilot. So He Built a €1m+ Business | Erik Jentetics
EP 311: €130,000 Short of Becoming a Pilot. So He Built a €1m+ Business | Erik JenteticsHe was €130,000 short of becoming a pilot. So Erik Jentetics decided to become a businessman.He was 17.He and two school …
Notas del episodio
EP 311: €130,000 Short of Becoming a Pilot. So He Built a €1m+ Business | Erik JenteticsHe was €130,000 short of becoming a pilot. So Erik Jentetics decided to become a businessman.
He was 17.
He and two school friends started by Googling how to buy a domain. They put €6,000 between them into Grafton Digital, knocked on doors looking for customers and, in one early pitch, confidently told a prospective client that yes, of course they charged VAT. They walked out and had to find out what VAT actually was.
Then came the less funny bit. At 19, Covid hit a business heavily exposed to hospitality. Contracts disappeared. Erik had to help lay off more than eight people. Then a whiteboard session changed the company. Web development was producing the best revenue per employee. They dropped much of the rest, hired three students to cold-call businesses and, at their peak, were taking about 50 website orders a week.
Then they moved into apps.
Then software.
By late 2022/early 2023, Grafton Digital had passed €1 million in gross revenue.
At 25, Erik bought a 39-year-old Irish technology business.
Now 26, with more than 50 people across his businesses, he wants to buy more Irish technology companies. His particular target: smaller, family-owned businesses whose founders are looking for an exit.
There's New York too. Erik explains why Grafton's first American expansion actually damaged its Irish business, why Irish executives need to “cut the blarney” when selling in the US, how he finances acquisitions, and why he doesn't want to raise an enormous fund and lose control.
He also says some of New York's most influential and wealthy families invested in him last year — and reveals that Grafton Digital has just signed a two-year digital transformation deal with a US corporation with more than 3,000 retail outlets, with another major airline customer announcement to come.
And his Hire in a Heartbeat?
John D. Rockefeller.
At 26.
Of course it is.
That Great Business Show, Episode 311. Real Business. Real lessons.
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E310: Six figures in debt. She cut €27,000 in ONE year. Now she says she's worth seven figures. Plus: Skin Formulas goes global
Six figures in debt.Then Kel Galavan did something fairly extreme. She put her family through a No Spend Year and cut their annual outgoings by €27,000.Today, Mrs Smart Money says she has a seven-figure net …
Notas del episodio
Six figures in debt.
Then Kel Galavan did something fairly extreme. She put her family through a No Spend Year and cut their annual outgoings by €27,000.
Today, Mrs Smart Money says she has a seven-figure net worth.
Naturally, I wanted to know how.
Where did the money actually come from? How much difference did the No Spend Year make? Why can intelligent people earn very good salaries and still have absolutely no idea where their money goes? And why does Ireland remain so uncomfortable talking about investing?
Then Kel drops something else into the conversation.
She's building a personal-finance app in Ireland that she believes can eventually be rolled out across Europe — and this one, she says, will need funding.
Also back at the table is Geraldine Jones of Skin Formulas.
When Geraldine joined us five years ago, Skin Formulas was bootstrapped and she was thinking about Britain and perhaps outside investment.
She never took the investment.
Instead, she kept control.
Today there are 170+ stockists, a flagship store in Nenagh, a 2,500 sq ft warehouse, B Corp certification, manufacturing relationships in Britain, Korea and Turkey, European expansion underway — and Dublin Airport is next.
Oh, and Geraldine has just recruited someone who was selling for Trinny Woodall.
Not a bad five years.
The common denominator?
Both women came through ACORNS, the extraordinary programme for female entrepreneurs in rural Ireland.
Applications for ACORNS 12 close 18 September 2026.
And, inevitably, we finish with Hire in a Heartbeat.
Geraldine wants Emma Grede.
Kel wants…her husband.
She eventually even tells me his name.
Kel Galavan — Mrs Smart Money
Geraldine Jones — Skin Formulas
That Great Business Show with Conall Ó Móráin.
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E309 That Great Business Show - Kidnapped. His parents never knew. Until now. Vince Lawson, CMO, Biotiful
E309 That Great Business Show with Conall O MorainI thought the kidnapping was the revelation. Then I asked about his family.After our interview, Vince Lawson told me he had never told his parents. His children …
Notas del episodio
E309 That Great Business Show with Conall O Morain
I thought the kidnapping was the revelation. Then I asked about his family.
After our interview, Vince Lawson told me he had never told his parents. His children hadn’t been told either. Almost none of his work colleagues knew.
In Episode 309 of That Great Business Show, he describes being bundled into a van in Tanzania, threatened with machetes and driven into the darkness. He explains how patchy Swahili and a conversation about football helped change the atmosphere.
Then we get down to business.
Vince’s career includes Fever-Tree, itsu and now Biotiful Gut Health, where he is Chief Marketing Officer. We discuss:
• Twice the price. Half the size. Why customers still bought.
• The difference between a passing fad and a business with staying power.
• Wellness overload—and the opportunity in making things simpler.
• Why customers saying something matters doesn’t mean they’ll buy it.
• Biotiful’s plans for growth in Ireland.
Plus British roller-skating medals, six years completing a three-year degree, and Hire in a Heartbeat.
Supported by De Facto Shaving Oil, made in Mayo: defactoshave.com.
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E308 That Great Business Show - He Lost 9 Hours a Year Looking for Scissors. So He Went to Toyota. | Frank Olden
Frank Olden is a pharmacist.So naturally, he went to Toyota.Why? Because he was fed up wasting time.Frank once calculated that simply looking for a pair of scissors in pharmacies was costing him about nine …
Notas del episodio
Frank Olden is a pharmacist.
So naturally, he went to Toyota.
Why? Because he was fed up wasting time.
Frank once calculated that simply looking for a pair of scissors in pharmacies was costing him about nine working hours a year.
Nine hours.
Looking.
For.
Scissors.
So he started applying Toyota’s Lean principles to community pharmacy.
Five small changes later?
46 hours of labour saved.
And this is not really an episode about pharmacies.
It is about something almost every SME does: waste time without noticing.
Frank explains why some apparently busy workplaces actually achieve very little; why Toyota gives workers time every day to remove tiny pieces of friction; why standard processes matter; and why fixing a recurring problem beats repeatedly fixing the consequences.
There are some particularly Irish moments too.
Seven years training to become a pharmacist — and then spending your day printing labels and sticking them on boxes.
And until recently, certain HSE reimbursement claims could still involve putting paperwork into an envelope, adding a stamp and posting it.
We also talk about:
- why chaotic businesses can feel busier than productive ones
- the Toyota Andon cord and the importance of fixing problems once
- knocking two seconds off repetitive tasks
- reducing prescription waiting times
- the bank that responded to Frank's request for business finance by trying to sell him pension and income-protection products
- and why the best process improvement may be ridiculously small.
HIRE IN A HEARTBEAT: Ryan Tierney of Seating Matters.
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E307 That Great Business Show She Started on Her Parents’ Kitchen Counter. Now she's aiming for Selfridges | Gráinne Mullins
Gráinne Mullins thought 2020 was going to be her year.She had just won Young Chef of the Year.Then Covid arrived.Restaurants closed.Everything in the diary disappeared.So Gráinne went home to East Galway and …
Notas del episodio
Gráinne Mullins thought 2020 was going to be her year.
She had just won Young Chef of the Year.
Then Covid arrived.
Restaurants closed.
Everything in the diary disappeared.
So Gráinne went home to East Galway and started making hand-painted chocolates on her parents’ kitchen counter.
That little experiment became Grá Chocolates.
The first online launch sold out in just over five minutes.
Actually, it did better than that.
The website crashed and accidentally sold twice as much chocolate as Gráinne had made.
Fast forward. Grá Chocolates now employs 18 people, with more joining at peak times.
Every single chocolate is still hand-painted.
And Gráinne has just set up UK distribution, now Selfridges and Harrods are firmly on the hit list.
In between came one other fairly useful development.
She entered the Stelios North–South Business Cooperation Awards.
The application took about 15 minutes.
Then came a Zoom with Stelios Haji-Ioannou himself.
Then came the phone call.
Grá Chocolates and Northern Ireland partner Needi won €100,000.
And the money was in the bank within roughly three working days of the competition.
There is €500,000 available again this year through the Stelios Awards.
For the full practical detail on who qualifies, the prize structure and how to apply, listen to the Barry Sherry episode of That Great Business Show.
This episode is the other half of the story: what winning actually feels like — and what it can do for a young business.
Also in this episode:
- the Valentine’s Day disaster that ended with chocolates being hand-delivered around Ireland
- why Gráinne treats business competitions as a management exercise
- how Michelin kitchens taught her how to run a company
- why she wants to move production back to rural East Galway
- the importance of Northern Ireland as an obvious first export market
- and a remarkable 16-year-old employee who gets Gráinne’s Hire in a Heartbeat.
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E306 That Great Business Show - He Spent 20 Minutes Applying. Won €100,000. Then Sold His Company. | Barry Sherry
Twenty minutes. €100,000 cash. No equity handed over.That got our attention.Barry Sherry and his co-founder built their Monaghan-based energy business into a 20-person company working North and South.Then Barry …
Notas del episodio
Twenty minutes. €100,000 cash. No equity handed over.
That got our attention.
Barry Sherry and his co-founder built their Monaghan-based energy business into a 20-person company working North and South.
Then Barry spotted the Stelios North–South Business Cooperation Awards in his local newspaper.
He reckoned they ticked the boxes.
The application took about 20 minutes.
Then came a Zoom. Then another Zoom — this one with Stelios Haji-Ioannou.
Then, on a Saturday evening, Barry opened an email telling him they had won €100,000.
And there’s another twist.
Not long afterwards the company was acquired.
Did winning the Stelios Award help?
Barry says the eventual buyer had seen the business in the media, knew about the award and asked them about it.
This is a very practical episode for any SME doing business North and South.
Barry explains:
- exactly how they applied
- what Stelios appeared to like about the business
- why having a founder on each side of the border helped
- why he sees Northern Ireland as an opportunity rather than an export market
- how they built a business capable of being sold only three years after starting
- why clean management accounts made four-month due diligence possible
- and the bizarre problem of people working on one side of the border being refused mortgages on the other.
And there is €500,000 in cash available again in 2026.
The 2026 Awards have one €150,000 Gold Award, two €100,000 Silver Awards and six €25,000 Bronze Awards. Applications close 7 September 2026, with the winners announced at Castle Leslie on 28 October.
Barry’s advice?
Apply.
The worst they can say is no.
The best they can say is €150,000.
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E305 That Great Business Show - George Clooney Made Coffee Pods Sexy. Sofia Kalfa Is Cleaning Up the Mess
George Clooney helped make the coffee pod glamorous.Unfortunately, the estimated 30 billion pods going into landfill every year are considerably less glamorous.Sofia Kalfa spent almost 20 years working with …
Notas del episodio
George Clooney helped make the coffee pod glamorous.
Unfortunately, the estimated 30 billion pods going into landfill every year are considerably less glamorous.
Sofia Kalfa spent almost 20 years working with companies including Dell, PepsiCo, Wayfair and CRH.
She then brought that corporate experience into Fzin Coffee, a growing Cork business taking on some of the biggest names in the global coffee industry.
Fzin has developed an independently certified, bio-based and home-compostable coffee capsule that can go into a home compost heap, food bin, flowerpot or garden rather than joining the plastic and aluminium mountain.
But this is not simply a sustainability story.
Sofia explains:
- How Fzin built an 80-plus-product coffee and beverage portfolio.
- Why a customer told her that Fzin needed to be available through Musgrave.
- How she followed up through LinkedIn and effectively told Musgrave: “You have to list us.”
- Why seven business awards changed the type of people visiting the Fzin website.
- How a UK customer arrived shortly afterwards.
- Why she rejected the traditional van-and-sales-representative model.
- How she plans to build a national and international commission-based sales network.
- Why Fzin has avoided outside investment.
- How hotels could dramatically reduce the waste created by in-room coffee machines.
There is also palm-oil-free drinking chocolate, coffee syrups moved from plastic into glass, grants, exports, rural Ireland, a Cork-via-Greece accent and a small Irish business refusing to wait for the giant competitors to change first.
In HIRE IN A HEARTBEAT, Sofia chooses former Glanbia Group Managing Director and current CRH board member Siobhán Talbot — and offers her a completely blank sheet of paper.
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E304 That Great Business Show - The CFO Who Interviews for a New Job Every Year — Vineta Bajaj, Holland & Barrett
Vineta Bajaj interviews for another job every year.She is also Group CFO of Holland & Barrett.That may sound like a dangerous combination, but Vineta says interviewing is a muscle. Let it go soft and the day …
Notas del episodio
Vineta Bajaj interviews for another job every year.
She is also Group CFO of Holland & Barrett.
That may sound like a dangerous combination, but Vineta says interviewing is a muscle. Let it go soft and the day you genuinely need another job, your first few interviews will be dreadful.If you are in the corporate world, or want to understand that world, this is an essential episode.
Born and raised in Limerick, she finished school at 16, entered the University of Limerick before she was old enough for the pub, taught piano and developed a teenage fascination with trading options in oil refinery companies. As you do.
Since then, she has worked with KPMG, Kerry Group, Ocado and Rohlik Group before taking charge of the finances at Holland & Barrett, a company with over 1,200 stores globally.
Vineta explains why you should never say “that’s not my job”, why “busy” often means ineffective, how she told a CFO that she wanted his job, and why you must ask directly for the career you want. She also reveals the extraordinary full-circle moment when she hired two of the men who once hired and managed her.
Hire in a Heartbeat: Vineta attempts to dodge the compulsory name, admits her admiration for Michael O’Leary and ultimately chooses something more valuable—a leader with a genuine founder mindset.
With thanks to De Facto Shaving Oil, the longstanding sponsor of That Great Business Show.
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E303 That Great Business Show - The Irish Startup Turning €85 Billion in Advertising Spend into Customer Rewards - Matthew Coffey, Leah Deasy
SQUID has raised €10 million, reached almost 4,000 reward locations and now wants to turn loyalty points into real spending power.€85 billion is spent every year across the UK and Ireland trying to influence …
Notas del episodio
SQUID has raised €10 million, reached almost 4,000 reward locations and now wants to turn loyalty points into real spending power.
€85 billion is spent every year across the UK and Ireland trying to influence where consumers spend their money. Irish loyalty company SQUID has a rather disruptive suggestion: stop spending so much trying to buy people’s attention and put more of that money directly into their pockets.
ON Episode 303 of That Great Business Show with Conall Ó Móráin, SQUID CEO Matthew Coffey and Chief of Staff Leah Deasy, explain how the company grew from personally pitching independent coffee shops to operating across almost 4,000 locations. SQUID has raised €10 million over time, employs approximately 28 people and says more than 1% of the UK and Irish population now uses its platform.
We examine:
- Why SQUID believes rewards can outperform conventional advertising
- How three million rewards have already been claimed
- Why free coffee remains a surprisingly powerful business tool
- How the company makes money
- The payment partnerships that could unlock European expansion
- Its planned €10 million-plus Series A
- Whether Revolut, Stripe or another payments giant could eventually come knocking
HIRE IN A HEARTBEAT:
Leah chooses Canva co-founder Melanie Perkins.
Matthew chooses Stripe founders Patrick and John Collison.
Sponsored by De Facto Shaving Oil. The world’s best all-natural shaving oil. Not a beard oil. Made in Mayo, sold worldwide. DeFactoShave.com
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E302 That Great Business Show - The banks said no. The ramen got funded. Niall O'Grady, Linked Finance & Kevin Hughes, Nomo Ramen
The banks said no. The ramen got funded.On Episode 302 of That Great Business Show with Conall Ó Móráin, we follow the money. Real money. SME money. The stuff every founder wants, needs, chases, curses and …
Notas del episodio
The banks said no. The ramen got funded.
On Episode 302 of That Great Business Show with Conall Ó Móráin, we follow the money.
Real money. SME money. The stuff every founder wants, needs, chases, curses and occasionally dreams about.
Niall O’Grady, CEO of Linked Finance, explains how the company has put more than €400m into more than 5,000 Irish SMEs — and why speed matters when a business owner spots an opportunity. With him is Kevin Hughes, founder of Nomo Ramen in Dublin, who left a tech career, spent years obsessing over ramen, made hundreds of test bowls at home, was told “no” plenty of times, and still built the business.
This is not theory.
This is not “thought leadership.”
This is money, noodles, risk, graft, landlords, lenders and the glorious madness of Irish SMEs.
Hire in a Heartbeat:
Kevin chooses Ivan Orkin, the New Yorker who became a ramen success in Tokyo and helped open up the secretive world of ramen recipes.
Niall chooses John Teeling — and, even better, his grandmother Winifred Clifford, who ran a business in Clones and could apparently negotiate the legs off Hector Grey’s table.
Sponsored by De Facto® the world's best all-natural shaving oil - shaving foam cans are sent to landfill. It's the law. De Facto is 100% recyclable. DeFactoShave.com
Listen in. Subscribe. Share it with an SME owner who needs money, speed, nerve, or a bowl of ramen.
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E301 That Great Business Show - would you pay 80c for one cube of ice? If yes, Richie French of LXRY ICE would like a word.
Would you pay 80 cent for a cube of ice?Richie French, founder of The LXRY ICE Collection, says ice is no longer just frozen water. For premium bars, hotels, restaurants and events, it can be a luxury …
Notas del episodio
Would you pay 80 cent for a cube of ice?
Richie French, founder of The LXRY ICE Collection, says ice is no longer just frozen water. For premium bars, hotels, restaurants and events, it can be a luxury ingredient: crystal-clear, slow-melting, brandable and highly photographable.
Conall asks whether this is serious business or a cocktail of nonsense. Richie explains the science, the margins, the branded ice stamps, the family business behind Pure Irish Ice, and why a 26-year-old Irish founder is thinking about ice 24/7.
BTW, did you know certain supermarkets IMPORT ice from the UK?? Can you guess which ones?
Richie’s Hire in a Heartbeat: Majken Bech-Bailey and Jordan Bailey, formerly of Aimsir.
Sponsored by De Facto® the world's best all-natural shaving oil - shaving foam cans are sent to landfill. It's the law. De Facto is 100% recyclable. DeFactoShave.com
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E300 That Great Business Show, The Horse That Knows Your CEO Is Bluffing, Emma Jane Clarke,
Episode 300: Emma Jane Clarke, Martinstown Lodge: Leadership Coaching With Horses, No Saddles, No Cowboys, No HidingWhat happens when a senior executive walks into an arena with a horse and discovers the horse …
Notas del episodio
Episode 300: Emma Jane Clarke, Martinstown Lodge: Leadership Coaching With Horses, No Saddles, No Cowboys, No Hiding
What happens when a senior executive walks into an arena with a horse and discovers the horse is not impressed by their title, their car, their bonus, their LinkedIn bio or their carefully manufactured air of command?
That is the business Emma Jane Clarke has built at Martinstown Lodge in Co. Meath.
No horse riding. No cowboy tricks. No corporate away-day nonsense with beanbags, beach balls or frostbite. This is equine-centred leadership development, where horses are used to help leaders and teams see how they really show up.
Emma Jane is no flake. Far from it. She was a senior leader in a government agency, managed large teams and multimillion-euro portfolios, and before that was the only female harvesting foreman in the UK forestry sector. Then, after a major accident left her in a wheelchair, she went after the dream: a farm, horses and a business helping people get out of their own way.
On Episode 300 of That Great Business Show with Conall O Morain, Emma Jane explains:
Why horses are brutally honest leadership mirrors
Why senior managers cannot bluff a horse
Why your thoughts are not necessarily reality
Why checking in too much can interrupt the flow of a team
Why confidence, presence and trust matter more than title
Why some CEOs need less PowerPoint and more paddock
Why no one, absolutely no one, gets to play cowboy
She also explains the business model, the client base, the expansion potential, the international ambition and why this strange-sounding idea is already working with serious companies.
And in Hire in a Heartbeat, Emma Jane chooses Steve Bartlett, Jay Shetty and, best of all, her 89-year-old mother Dorothy Clarke, who recently started her own podcast. That is competition. Family competition. The worst kind.
Brought to you, as always, by De Facto Shaving Oil. The world’s best shaving oil. Not a beard oil. DeFactoShave.com
Find all episodes at www.ThatGreatBusinessShow.com
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E299 That Great Business Show - She Got Into Tesco...Then One Rogue Zero Nearly Blew It Up | Erica Sheehan, Homespun
She Got Into Tesco... Then One Rogue Zero Nearly Blew It Up | Erica Sheehan, HomespunReal business. Real lessons. Listen to us — or learn the hard way.Everybody loves a success story.Few sees the panic behind …
Notas del episodio
She Got Into Tesco... Then One Rogue Zero Nearly Blew It Up | Erica Sheehan, Homespun
Real business. Real lessons. Listen to us — or learn the hard way.
Everybody loves a success story.
Few sees the panic behind it.
This week on That Great Business Show, Erica Sheehan returns three years after her first appearance to reveal what really happened behind Homespun's growth.
The headlines look great:
• Tesco listings
• SuperValu success
• Amazon UK sales
• New product launches
• Growing retail footprint
The reality?
• Five years searching for the right manufacturer
• A supplier pulling out after months of development work
• A coconut oil shortage threatening production (Monaghan seems to be a good source of coconut oil!)
• Thousands of online orders arriving overnight after one influencer mention
• A Tesco launch nearly derailed because of a single rogue digit in a barcode
This is entrepreneurship without the Instagram filter.
Erica also reveals how a chance encounter in Avoca led her to the manufacturer who finally cracked the code, why Amazon is far harder to sell on than most people imagine, and the advice she received from the late, great Ray Coyle of Tayto.
Sponsored by De Facto® the world's best all-natural shaving oil — shaving foam cans are sent to landfill. It's the law. De Facto is 100% recyclable. DeFactoShave.com.
HIRE IN A HEARTBEAT
Erica's picks:
• Katie McNally (Craigavon) — content creator who helps bring the Homespun brand to life online.
• Ian Dobbie — veteran food industry advisor and mentor whose experience has helped Erica navigate growth and avoid costly mistakes.
Find all episodes at www.ThatGreatBusinessShow.com
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E298 That Great Business Show - They accidentally built a sauce empire - Garret FitzGerald & Sofie Rooney, Chimac
They built a fried chicken restaurant. Then accidentally built a sauce empire.Most couples argue about whose turn it is to empty the dishwasher.Sofie Rooney and Garrett FitzGerald argue about chicken.And …
Notas del episodio
They built a fried chicken restaurant. Then accidentally built a sauce empire.
Most couples argue about whose turn it is to empty the dishwasher.
Sofie Rooney and Garrett FitzGerald argue about chicken.
And somehow that turned into Chimac — one of Ireland's most talked-about restaurant brands and now a fast-growing food business stocked in Tesco, Marks & Spencer, Selfridges, Whole Foods and beyond.
On this episode:
- How a trip to South Korea changed their lives
- Why Sophie got scurvy from eating too much fried chicken (true!)
- The restaurant that nearly broke them
- The US distributor disaster that left them stranded
- How they went from packing sauce bottles in their sitting room to exporting internationally
- Why food businesses are brutally difficult
- Why they still think it's worth it
And yes, Garrett also explains why Ireland should become a global ham superpower.
This is business at its messiest, tastiest and most entertaining.
Their 'hire in a heartbeat'? Sophie went for Fiona Fitzpatrick, founder of Brand Growth Heroes and former Nestlé, Gü and Japoni executive. Sophie describes her as one of the most insightful consumer-brand strategists she has encountered and would hire her to help Chimac scale internationally.
Garrett chose William Exner, a former Chimac team member from Brazil. Garrett highlighted his intelligence, work ethic, adaptability and positive attitude, describing him as someone he would hire again immediately.
Brought to you by De Facto Shaving Oil. The world's best shaving oil. Not a beard oil. A shaving oil. DeFactoShave.com
Our Gentleman’s (and ladies’) Agreement is simple: we do the work, you hit subscribe. Fair exchange.
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E297 That Great Business Show - She gave her company to the staff - Joan McCoy, White Ink Architects
She GAVE AWAY her company. To the staff.No Silicon Valley gimmick. No kumbaya management retreat. No hippy dippy stuff. Just hardnosed business.Just one brutally practical question: “Michael Smurfit regarded …
Notas del episodio
She GAVE AWAY her company. To the staff.
No Silicon Valley gimmick. No kumbaya management retreat. No hippy dippy stuff. Just hardnosed business.
Just one brutally practical question: “Michael Smurfit regarded equity as blood… so why would you ever sell ?
Conall Ó Móráin sits down with Joan McCoy of White Ink Architects — one of the leading voices in employee ownership across Ireland and the UK — to explain why businesses owned by staff often outperform traditionally-owned firms.
And then comes the jaw-dropper. In Ireland? It is often CHEAPER to sell your business to a foreign buyer than to your own employees. Madness.
This episode covers:
• Why employee-owned firms often grow faster
• Why staff suddenly start acting like owners
• Why Ireland is behind the UK and Canada
• Why ordinary workers getting wealth matters
• Why architects are suddenly talking like economists
• Why the Tánaiste may finally be waking up to this issue
Plus:
• Wolfgang Digital
• John Lewis
• ARUP
• Housing chaos
• Social housing economics
• And the most Irish Department of Finance problem imaginable
Joan's 'hire in a heartbeat', Michael Keaveney, Director of Land and Acquisition at Grainger plc.
She described him as someone with a very direct style who can “cut through the noise and really get to the crux of the matter”, particularly around housing viability, social housing economics, and having “the right conversations” about the real scale of the housing crisis.
This is one of those episodes that quietly changes how you think about business.
Brought to you by De Facto Shaving Oil. The world’s best shaving oil. Not beard oil. Shaving oil. DeFactoShave.com
#EmployeeOwnership #IrishBusiness #SMEs #SuccessionPlanning #Architecture #Leadership #BusinessIreland #WolfgangDigital #JohnLewis #ARUP #HousingCrisis #Entrepreneurship #ThatGreatBusinessShow
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E296 That Great Business Show - How to Get 10–15 HOURS of Your Week Back (Without Hiring Anyone) - Barry Cryan
E296 That Great Business ShowHow to get a month a year of your time back. And it's free.The Two Barrys: One Built the System. One Was Drowning — Until It Worked.What if you could get a THIRD of your working …
Notas del episodio
E296 That Great Business Show
How to get a month a year of your time back. And it's free.
The Two Barrys: One Built the System. One Was Drowning — Until It Worked.
What if you could get a THIRD of your working week back?
Not by hiring. Not by working longer. Not by burning out (more). But by stopping bad decisions.
ON this episode, two Barrys walk into the studio — and one walks out with his life back.
Barry Cryan built a system to eliminate “micro-decisions” — the tiny interruptions that kill momentum, drain energy, and keep founders trapped in their business.
Barry Flanagan was running THREE businesses — Lock 13 pub, Kildare Brewing Company, and Pro Culture Kombucha — and hit the wall.
60-hour weeks. No clarity. No headspace.
Now? Structure. Systems. Staff aligned. Time back. (And he's no longer manning the chip fryer on a Friday evening).
This is not theory. This is before-and-after business.
Expect:
• Why “busy all day” is actually business failure
• The hidden tax of micro-decisions
• How founders become the bottleneck (and don’t realise it)
• Why 2.5 hours a week can buy back 10–40 hours
• The moment a business owner realises… they don’t actually have a business
And yes — we ask the uncomfortable question: If you’re working IN the business… do you even own one?
This episode is brought to you by De Facto Shaving Oil. No waste. No cans. No landfill. Just the best shave you’ll ever have.
DeFactoShave.com
Our Gentleman’s (and ladies’) Agreement is simple:
We do the work. You hit subscribe. Fair exchange.
CHAPTERS00:00 The question that changes everything
01:30 What “systems” actually mean
05:30 From burnout to 5x productivity
10:00 The Instagram ad that changed everything
15:30 Why founders are the bottleneck
20:00 The solopreneur reality (and opportunity)
25:00 Delegation vs control
30:00 The cost of NOT changing
34:00 Hire in a Heartbeat
Find all episodes at www.ThatGreatBusinessShow.com
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E295 That Great Business Show - Rihanna’s Knickers to Clinical Waste, a €27 Billion Opportunity - Lisa O'Riordan
Rihanna’s knickers.That’s where this episode starts.From there, Conall Ó Móráin meets Lisa O’Riordan live at the RDS Finding Common Ground Festival to unpack one of the biggest unseen business opportunities in …
Notas del episodio
Rihanna’s knickers.
That’s where this episode starts.
From there, Conall Ó Móráin meets Lisa O’Riordan live at the RDS Finding Common Ground Festival to unpack one of the biggest unseen business opportunities in the world: Waste.
Her company is tackling single-use PPE — used in the tens of millions across healthcare and industry — and turning it into a circular, compostable solution.
But this is not a feel-good story.
It’s a hard-edged business reality:
Margins matter
Procurement blocks change
And “cheap” is still king
Supported by De Facto Shaving Oil
The shaving oil that goes on your face — not into landfill. DeFactoShave.com
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E294 That Great Business Show - Building a €50M luxury brand empire - Ashley McDonnell
€50 MILLION.MULTIPLE ACQUISITIONS.ONE PLAN TO BUILD IRELAND’S FIRST LUXURY EMPIRE.This is not a startup story. This is a land grab. Ashley McDonnell — back on That Great Business Show and one of the tribe since …
Notas del episodio
€50 MILLION.
MULTIPLE ACQUISITIONS.
ONE PLAN TO BUILD IRELAND’S FIRST LUXURY EMPIRE.
This is not a startup story. This is a land grab. Ashley McDonnell — back on That Great Business Show and one of the tribe since Episode 181 — is building Vyko Group to buy, scale and globalise Irish fashion, beauty and luxury brands. She’s not launching a brand. She’s building a portfolio to compete with the biggest players in the world.
From working on Europe’s biggest IPO at Paco Rabanne owners Puig (how she got to work there is one of the best stories...)… to scanning 500 Irish brands… to lining up her first acquisitions — this is one of the most ambitious Irish business plays in years.
And we’ve been following it from the start.
In this episode:
- Why Ireland has never built a luxury group. Tony O'Reilly did try (Waterford Wedgewood), Don Carroll (Carroll's cigarettes) did try. As the Americans say, 'Third time is a charm'??
- How Vyko plans to scale Irish brands globally
- The smell of money Why fragrances are the secret weapon
- The real power of negotiating as a group
- What she learned inside LVMH, Dior, Google and Puig - she really has served her time
Sponsored by another great brand name, De Facto Shaving Oil
No cans. No landfill. Just the best shave you’ll ever have.
DeFactoShave.com
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E293 That Great Business Show - Why we could soon be eating grass - Enda Buckley, Carbery Group
ON Episode 293 of That Great Business Show, recorded at the RDS Finding Common Ground Festival, Conall Ó Móráin speaks with Enda Buckley of Carbery Group.This is not a farming story.This is an energy story.A …
Notas del episodio
ON Episode 293 of That Great Business Show, recorded at the RDS Finding Common Ground Festival, Conall Ó Móráin speaks with Enda Buckley of Carbery Group.
This is not a farming story.
This is an energy story.
A profitability story.
A “what are we waiting for?” story.
Denmark is moving fast on biomethane — turning farm waste into gas and aiming for self-sufficiency by 2030.
Ireland?
We have the farms.
We have the feedstock.
We have the need.
But, according to Enda, we do not yet have the push.
And that is only the start.
In this episode:
- Why sustainability-focused farmers were about 28% more profitable
- How “green poo” could replace imported soya
- Why grass could become a human food ingredient
- The parish-level biorefinery model that could transform rural economies
- How biodiversity may become a revenue stream, not a regulation
- Why Ireland risks missing a major energy opportunity
This is about turning what we already have into something far more valuable.
This is real business.
Brought to you, as always, by De Facto Shaving Oil — the world’s finest shaving oil. Not a beard oil. It’s for shaving any and all of your bits.
DeFactoShave.com
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E292 That Great Business Show - Why Good Businesses Fail (And How to Fix Them Before They Do) - Rachel Bothwell, GP Practice Ally
Notas del episodio
What keeps a GP practice running?
Not just doctors. Not just nurses.
It's the same for any business.
Cashflow. Systems. People who actually make it all work.
On Episode 292 of That Great Business Show, Conall Ó Móráin speaks with Rachel Bothwell, founder of GP Practice Ally — a business now supporting up to 75% of GP practices in Ireland.
This is a story about stepping in when everything could have fallen apart — and building something that became essential infrastructure.
Find out:
- How one small Irish company became critical to GP practices nationwide
- What actually breaks inside a GP business (and how to fix it)
- Why cashflow — not medicine — is often the biggest risk
- What every SME can learn from running a “mission-critical” business
This is real business — messy, essential, and closer to home than you think.
Brought to you by De Facto Shaving Oil. DeFactoShave.com.
business ireland, SME ireland, healthcare business, GP practices, entrepreneurship ireland, cashflow, small business growth, operations, scaling business, Irish business podcast
Timestamps00:00 Intro — “75% of GPs??”
01:20 How Rachel stepped in
05:10 What actually goes wrong in GP practices
10:40 Cashflow crises nobody talks about
15:30 Scaling to national level
20:10 Lessons for every SME
25:00 Hire in a heartbeat
Find all episodes at www.ThatGreatBusinessShow.com
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E291 That Great Business Show - Why Ireland can't build houses - David Ward, Ward Personnel
“WHY IRELAND CAN’T BUILD HOUSES… EVEN WHEN WE HAVE THE MONEY”Episode 291 — David Ward, Founder, Ward PersonnelIreland has the money.Ireland has the demand.Ireland has the plans.So why can’t we build houses?On …
Notas del episodio
“WHY IRELAND CAN’T BUILD HOUSES… EVEN WHEN WE HAVE THE MONEY”
Episode 291 — David Ward, Founder, Ward Personnel
Ireland has the money.
Ireland has the demand.
Ireland has the plans.
So why can’t we build houses?
On this episode of That Great Business Show, Conall Ó Móráin goes straight to the front line of Ireland’s construction crisis — with David Ward, founder of Ward Personnel, a €40M+ business supplying workers across Ireland and Europe.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth:
- We don’t have enough brickies, sparks, or chippies
- We’re competing with Europe for workers — and losing
- Irish builders are now exporting their expertise… just to survive
And here’s the kicker:
Is this actually a growth story… or proof the system is broken?
David explains:
- Why Ireland cannot hit housing targets (no matter what politicians promise)
- Why Polish workers are no longer coming
- The real reason apprenticeships collapsed
- Why Irish construction firms are now following Big Tech across Europe
Plus:
- The chaos of running a 600+ workforce across multiple countries
- The truth about “messers” on site
- And why “compliance” is the only thing keeping the whole thing from falling apart
This is not theory.
This is the reality of building — or not building — Ireland.
Brought to you by De Facto Shaving Oil — the world’s best shaving oil. Not a beard oil. It’s for shaving. DeFactoShave.com.
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E290 That Great Business Show - 2025 corporation tax jump almost entirely due to single peptide-based hormone - Neil McDonnell, CEO, ISME
Welcome to Episode 290 of That Great Business Show.This is not a comfortable listen.Ireland — the poster child of global success — is quietly sitting on a knife edge. A handful of multinationals are driving the …
Notas del episodio
Welcome to Episode 290 of That Great Business Show.
This is not a comfortable listen.
Ireland — the poster child of global success — is quietly sitting on a knife edge. A handful of multinationals are driving the tax take. One peptide. One state in America. One shock away from a very rude awakening.
My guest is Neil McDonnell, CEO of ISME — and he’s not here to play nice.
We get into:
- The dangerous illusion of “paradox of plenty”
- €340 BILLION sitting idle while SMEs starve
- Why government knows the risks — and still does nothing
- The tax system that punishes Irish entrepreneurs but rolls out the red carpet for outsiders
- And the simple, practical fixes that could change everything — if anyone had the courage
This is real business.
Press the subscribe button.
Brought to you by De Facto Shaving Oil — the world’s best shaving oil. Not a beard oil. A shaving oil. Made in Mayo. Sold worldwide. DeFactoShave.com.
Find all episodes at www.ThatGreatBusinessShow.com
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E289 That Greats Business Show - What happens when the lights go out?- Duncan Osborne, CEO Calor Gas Ireland
Ireland talks a big game on energy.Wind.Net zero.Security of supply.But scratch the surface… and the picture looks a lot less comfortable.On Episode 289 of That Great Business Show, Conall Ó Móráin sits down …
Notas del episodio
Ireland talks a big game on energy.
Wind.
Net zero.
Security of supply.
But scratch the surface… and the picture looks a lot less comfortable.
On Episode 289 of That Great Business Show, Conall Ó Móráin sits down with Duncan Osborne, CEO of Calor Gas Ireland, to ask a very simple question:
Are we actually prepared — or just pretending to be?
This is a hard conversation about:
- Ireland’s reliance on imported energy
- The reality behind renewable targets
- Storage — or lack of it
- Infrastructure delays
- And what happens if supply is disrupted
Because here’s the uncomfortable truth:
Ireland is one of the most energy-dependent countries in Europe.
And very few people are saying it out loud.
This is not theory.
This is not policy waffle.
This is real-world energy — from someone operating inside the system.
Brought to you by De Facto Shaving Oil — the world’s best shaving oil. Not a beard oil. DeFactoShave.com.
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