It's been 25 years since the Northern Ireland Science Park - now called Catalyst - was created, amid hopes of propserity in the months following the Good Friday Agreement. JPCampbellBiz looks at whether or not its mission has been fulfilled

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Northern Ireland's hospitality and retail sectors grew strongly in the first quarter of this year, official data suggests.

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Signs of life among Northern Ireland consumers? Retail & hospitality output expanded by 2.2% q/q in q1, the best quarterly performance since the middle of 2021 & the third consecutive quarter of growth.

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GDP was flat (0.0% growth) in April 2024 and grew 0.7% in the three months to April.

• Services grew 0.2%
• Production fell 0.9%
• Construction fell 1.4%

Read more ➡ ons.gov.uk/economy/grossd…

A tiny bit of revenue raising: free public transport of the over 60s remains but there will be an initial fee.

Belfast has appointed an official to boost the night-time economy. Hospitality operator Michael Stewart will be what's known as the 'Night Czar' working with bars, clubs, transport, the police and other organisations. It follows similar appointments in other UK cities.

Belfast city centre night czar has been appointed, Michael Stewart has 38 years experience in hospitality & is familiar with challenges around public transport & safety

We get reaction from city centre businesses on how what impact the role could have boosting night time economy

Northern Ireland’s private sector economy continued to grow in May with new orders showing their sharpest rise in more than two years, the Ulster Bank PMI suggests. It shows the job market remains strong, although there are indications that some manufacturers are cutting staff.

Started the week in South America and ended it in South Belfast🇨🇴

Life hack: don’t move house days after a trip😴

The cats are both furious and still haven’t forgiven us for either…

Moving day emotional state

Have been a bit quiet on here as I’m off for a few weeks and this is one of the reasons why: I’m in South America 🇨🇴

If anyone has any Colombia recommendations, let me know #medellin

The official notice:
UK General Election July 4

UK CPI inflation rate eases from 3.2% y/y in March to 2.3% y/y in April . Markets had expected it to ease to 2.1%. The latest reading is the lowest rate of inflation since July 2021. Core CPI & services CPI remain stubbornly high at 3.9% & 5.9% respectively.

Twenty years later and I still want to be in Girls Aloud when I grow up 💃🏻

They were almost as strong as our 2003 school talent show performance #GirlsAloud2024

The Stormont Executive and UK government have reached agreement to review how Northern Ireland public services are funded. The interim deal builds on the funding package which helped restore devolution in February. The immediate effect will be an extra £24m for Stormont’s budget.

After a grey start to the day it ended up being a gorgeous evening in Crawfordsburn ☀️😎 #beach