The Business Post Group is looking to the Irish film industry to continue boosting revenues at its Irish Management Institute (IMI) operation.
The media group purchased the IMI business last year from University College Cork (UCC) and group subsidiary, IMI Leadership Ltd, has lodged plans with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council for planning retention and permission to allow film companies to continue operating at its campus at Sandyford, south Dublin.
Planning consultants for IMI Leadership Ltd, McCutcheon Halley, state that notwithstanding their infrequent presence at the campus, the film production companies “are central to the economic sustainability of the IMI, giving regard to the need to seek out alternative forms of income to safeguard the future of the IMI”.
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The film production companies “represent high value, short-term economic input providing direct revenue to the IMI”, the report states.
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“Significantly, the office uses pertaining to the film companies make productive use of residential rooms during periods of the year when they would remain unoccupied”, it adds.
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Staff at group subsidiaries, Business Post and Red C are also based at the IMI campus and IMI Leadership is seeking retention for a change of use in part of a teaching block from education to education and office, “and this relates to the existing office use associated with The Business Post and Red C”.
The McCutcheon Halley report states that “the proposed development is critical towards future proofing the financial viability of the IMI”.
The report states that the office uses “are especially favourable as they allow for a diversified source of income during a period whereby there has been a sharp decline in enrolments in in-person courses, which has been a legacy of the Covid-19 pandemic”.
The development would not “undermine the established educational context of the campus and will operate as a secondary element, with the spaces only being leased to third parties where not required for use by the IMI”.
The 5.1 hectare campus remains under the ownership of UCC. The report states that mobile units including wardrobes, make-up, props and catering facilities will occasionally be present in the car park of the IMI.
In June, Swedish media group Bonnier News agreed a deal to take a majority stake in the Business Post Group, subject to regulatory approvals being received. In July 2023, the Swedish company agreed a €6 million deal for a minority stake in the Irish business.
