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As we approach Christmas and New Year it’s common practice in some industries to take the two weeks of Christmas off.

The last twelve months has seen many companies reporting unprecedented growth, with the NI economy set to grow a staggering 6% this year, and a predicted 4% for 2022. The NI job market is also buoyant, or as Forbes like to put it ‘hot’, with record levels of job vacancies being posted, and for the first time in years the unemployment level is down.

While the four local Northern Ireland banks have printed money in an array of colours since 1929, the colour of money is now changing, not literally, but with the move towards green or sustainable finance. As Chancellor Rishi Sunak said recently, “the global financial system will be rewired for net zero”.

The past 18-months have seen business leaders dealing with challenges well beyond their usual remit. Handling remote teams, new working practices, employee anxiety and ever-evolving regulations have forced business leaders to consider and reassess their organisation’s culture and priorities, and how to achieve the best from, and for, their staff while emerging from a global pandemic.

Since the onset of COVID-19 we have all seen the shift in working patterns towards a hybrid model, forcing organisations worldwide to now advance their work from home revolution. The pandemic has brought in new working dynamics, forcing a global reconsideration of what it means to work, as well as when, and where, we do that work.

It is vital that business owners have a good understanding of the M&A process when contemplating or negotiating a transaction to acquire or dispose of a business.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the introduction of the hybrid working model has had a tremendous impact on corporate culture, and has created a perfect opportunity for organisations to revisit their culture and ways of working.

For businesses having gone through the roller coaster of emotions over the last 18 months, there is some light at the end of the tunnel.

I noted with interest the report from Belfast Chamber over the past week that addresses the question of who is best placed to make the decisions that deliver the growth that will see the city become an even better place to live, work, visit and invest in.

We are supporting a number of clients across public and private sectors to navigate the challenges and opportunities that hybrid models of working can bring.

Like me you may have heard of the term the ‘Great Resignation’ over the last few months. The phrase was coined in the US and describes the current mass exodus of employees from the workforce.

Andrew Webb: Appropriate skills essential to unlocking IT sector potential

It is safe to say that Covid-19 has changed the way in which we all live and work, but what the pandemic has also highlighted is the role that a Whistleblower may play in many of our lives, both in everyday business and personal matters.

Grant Thornton has been approached by a number of clients recently to carry out Working from Home and Hybrid Working Audits and Assurance reviews.

It is no secret that technology is significantly changing the banking landscape. In addition to the challenge of low interest rates squeezing the bottom line of Banks, competition within the market is further driven by new entrants who are well placed to offer the agile, quicker and more accessible services which customers are demanding.

Before the pandemic, our office ‘dressed for the diary’, meaning you could dress more casually as the situation dictated.