Hardware Matters EP4

Horticulturalist and gardening guru, Paraic Horkan tells us how he and his family built a thriving business that started in Castlebar and is now countrywide. First opened in the 1930s the business has now grown to include 3 garden centres and 14 pet stores. We hear how the business went against customer advice and moved from a town centre location to a larger site outside Castlebar. Paraic talks about the company’s strong staff training programme and he explains the different roles that he and his 2 brothers have in the business. 

The Scottish Empty Homes Partnership was set up in 2010 to help turn empty properties into homes. It’s been very successful - to date it has brought 11,000 properties back into use. However, the number of empty homes in Scotland is still increasing. Tahmina Nizam is National Manager with the organisation and she tells Roisin about some of the enforcement tools they have at their disposal, like Compulsory Purchase Orders and exemptions from Council Tax.

Denis Jastrzebski, an AI expert with Content Plan tells us how Artificial Intelligence can impact the hardware industry. Many people don’t understand how AI works or how it could be useful on a day to day basis. Denis gives us examples of how AI can be used in customer service, pricing, marketing and stock management, saving time and money.

 

PRESENTER/RESEARCHER: Roisin Murphy PRODUCER: Fergus Sweeney EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Paul Allen