British buyer of famous scout school on Leeson Street is starting to reap the rewards in the form of a €135 million takeover – The Irish Times

The Institute of Education on Leeson Street in Dublin is a phenomenon. Since its founding in 1969, Grinds College has become one of the largest schools in the state, with over 1,500 full-time students paying an annual tuition of €10,990, in addition to the thousands of people who visit it each year for classes over Christmas and Easter.

Last year it was bought for an undisclosed sum by UK-based Dukes Education, one of the world’s largest providers of private education, with more than 30 schools in several countries. While the institute’s success is evident in its high fees and longevity, how much it actually earns has long been a mystery, as its previous owners, the Kearns family, chose to run it through an unlimited company.

However, accounts published by the new owner reveal how much Jedward and Paul Murphy’s alma mater TD cost last year. They show that Dukes bought 93.3 per cent of the company, with the Kearns family retaining the remaining 6.7 per cent through a company based on the Isle of Man.

The ‘total purchase price’ paid by Dukes for its shares in the primary school, including its Georgian buildings in Leeson Street? Less than EUR 135 million. And so far, it’s been good for their investment. Turnover during the first five months of ownership was approximately €8 million and profit for the period was €780,000.

You don’t need an H1 degree in maths to figure out that there are serious profits to be made in the high school exam results industry.

Microsoft software engineer is one of those who owns yachts

If you’re wondering what to study to earn as much as the Institute’s previous owners, the arrival of a superyacht in Dublin Harbor last weekend may provide some inspiration. The 90-foot Norn was built last year for Charles Simonyi at a cost of $250 million (€233 million). You may not have heard of Simonyi, but you undoubtedly know his work: the software engineer helped create Microsoft Word and Excel for Bill Gates.

According to Forbes magazine, his programming genius has earned him a fortune of more than €5 billion. It is not clear whether Seattle-based Simonyi was on board last weekend when his floating gin palace visited Dublin, although the grey gunboat yacht is not available for charter, so he may well have been below decks, working on a dazzling new invention.

Proving that there is not necessarily a correlation between mental strength and common sense, Simonyi, who dated Martha Stewart for two decades, is also one of Donald Trump’s most enthusiastic donors.

Dyson puts his signature on the Ballynatray Estate

Another cash-strapped visitor to Ireland is James Dyson, vacuum cleaner tycoon and new owner of the Ballynatray estate on the banks of the Blackwater in Co Waterford. Dyson declined to comment on reports linking him with a €30 million-plus purchase, but confirmation came in a letter accompanying a recent planning application to renovate a number of outbuildings on the estate.

The letter signed by Dyson stated that he was the new owner of the estate and that he had given consent to the estate’s manager, Christopher Nicholson, to submit the planning application. Like Simonyi, Dyson’s political bent doesn’t seem to match his business acumen. He was one of the most influential supporters of Brexit, but after the UK left the EU he moved his company’s headquarters from Wiltshire to Singapore, and the move only came after accusations of hypocrisy.

Supermac wants to extend bedtime for its youngest employees

It took Supermac seven years to stop McDonald’s from trying to use its Big Mac trademark on products other than beef. The West Coast’s favourite fast food giant will be hoping to get another decision a little quicker from Neale Richmond, Minister of State for Business at the Department for Enterprise. Records released under the Freedom of Information Act show the company first wrote to Richmond in January asking why 16- and 17-year-olds were allowed to work in pubs until 11pm but had to finish their shifts at fast food restaurants at 10pm under employment law.

“We find it odd that employees under the age of 18 are allowed to work in a pub but not in a premises where alcohol is not sold,” fast food operator Richmond told the outlet.

Pat McDonagh’s company has been told it can apply for a derogation from the minister to allow teenagers to work after 10pm. It then submitted an application in March saying it would ask 16- and 17-year-olds to work after 10pm during school holidays and weekends, but has not yet received a decision.

Will Dublin prices push clothes out of Fair City and into Wicklow?

There is already strong interest from the independent production sector in The Late Late Show, with several shining flooring specialists already attached to produce the show. But where to Fair City? The most natural destination for a soap opera would be Ardmore Studios in Co. Wicklow, now owned by an American consortium. From 1989 to 1994, before the Carrigstown site was built in Montrose, all of the soap opera’s interior scenes were filmed in Ardmore. Ironically, RTÉ moved the production in-house after finding it was costing too much in overtime to transport cast and crew from Montrose to Wicklow.

Fair City’s departure was a blow to Ardmore, but the studio flourished when multi-series American television shows such as Camelot, The Tudors and House of Horrors were brought to Ireland, all under the watchful eye of then-CEO Siún Ní Raghallaigh.

Whatever happened to her?

Irish film crew didn’t get a happy Disney ending

Disney is one of the biggest fans of the Irish film industry, lured by tax breaks and a skilled crew. Most recently, Disenchanted, starring Amy Adams as a fairytale princess, was filmed in Co Wicklow in 2022, with the local council giving permission to transform Enniskerry into a medieval village.

Unfortunately, Dermot Blighe, a crew member who worked as a property manager on the film, did not have a happy ending. He has just filed a personal injury claim in the High Court against Clocktower Productions, the Disney company that produced the film, and Wicklow County Council.

On the issue of condoms and non-doms, the UK electorate is divided

The best position in the UK election goes to Labour’s Karl Turner, who told the Guardian last week about a voter who said he wouldn’t vote for the party because it planned to tax condoms. The man insisted he heard it on TV. “We tax products other than condoms,” Turner explained. “Oh,” he said. – How is the prime minister’s wife? Ah.

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