#118: The Bottom Line – The Week in Business, Health & Safety, Lab Grown Diamonds & Local Business Insights

Laura Slattery, Media Correspondent with The Irish Times, joined John to chat through some of the business stories that were making the headlines this week.Over the last two years Health and Safety has been at the fore, with masks, hand sanitiser, contact tracing, social distancing, screens, and temperature checking forming part of the daily routine for almost every business that has kept its doors open. Since the lifting of Covid restrictions, the guidance around health and safety has now changed. Margaret Kirby of Health and Safety Review spoke with John to discuss the changes and what we need to know about the recently released transitional protocol.After months in the studio due to Covid we decided it was time to get out and about to chat with some of the local businesses so, during the week John visited Lorimat Jewellers in the heart of Kilkenny city to talk retail, pivoting and environmentally friendly lab grown diamonds with Rita Shanahan.Colin Rea, Director of Rea’s Department Store in Bagenalstown chatted to John about business throughout the pandemic; the future of retail and shopping local post pandemic as well as the everyday impacts of inflation on business.With thanks to O’Neill Foley, Produced by Deirdre Dromey.To contact the show, email: [email protected]