FDC – serving the rural Irish community for almost 50 years

FDC offers a multi-disciplinary approach to your business and farming needs

FDC was established in 1973 in Dunmanway by Jack Murphy. The group offers multi-disciplinary professional services including banking, legal support, tax and estate planning, accountancy, audit, stockbroking, agri-consultancy, investment and protection advice, retirement planning and legal support.

‘Our clientele has evolved to 50/50, split between agricultural and rural business. Family businesses would represent a significant component of our client base.

Today, the headquarters is located in FDC House, Wellington Road, Cork, and has 39 locations nationwide. FDC has had a strong relationship with both the farming and business communities since its establishment, and prides itself with having presence in rural Ireland, including in Kinsale, Bandon, Skibbereen, Bantry and Castletownbere.

Barry Murphy is the deputy general manager of FDC, and son of founder, Jack Murphy. He joined the company in 1997 as area manager in Carlow. He is now based in Cork and has overall responsibility for business development and the implementation of the medium-term strategic developments of the group.

‘In conjunction with my father Jack Murphy, we seek to lead in the implementation of the business aims of the group of companies’, says Barry.

‘We are a multi-disciplinary service organisation. We pro- vide services of a professional nature under many headings, and we aim to ensure that these services are accessible locally to communities in rural Ireland’.

Skibbereen office-back row, leftt o right: Fiona Levis, Celeste Shorten, John Coombes ,Caroline Swanton, Kate Coombes, Philip Salter. Front row-left to right: Tom Barry, Mairéad Losberg, Sharon Swanton, Jillian O’Driscoll, Niamh Nyhan and Anne Tobin. Missing from photo is Brian Cooper.

FDC has a history and long association with the agricultural sector and are the mar- ket leaders in this area. However, they also look after other sectors and are open to clients from any background.

‘Our clientele has evolved to 50/50, split between agricultural and rural business. Family businesses would represent a significant component of our client base.

We aim to provide professional services and advice locally, proportionate to the need of any individual, partnership or company operating in rural Ireland’.

‘We are very interested in contributing to the strategic decision making of clients, whether that’s creating wealth, succession, enabling access to funding or helping to sustain and future proof their finances’.

FDC are therefore very intergenerational.

‘We look at the transition between generations. We take a medium to long term view when it comes to strategic planning under every heading within the group, and our unique service offering is enhanced by the integrated approach to our advice, supported by all departments within the group’.

‘The co-operation between the departments within FDC allows us to be comprehensive in our analysis and in our advice to clients’, says Barry.

Micheál O’Driscoll has been with FDC since 1995. He started as a financial consultant and today he is managing director of the financial services department.

‘The department was very small back then with three individuals in financial services. Now there’s 50’, says Micheál.

Castletownbere office - from left to right: John Coombes, Jack Murphy and Seamus O’Mahony.

The financial services department offers a multi-disciplinary financial planning service.

‘FDC Group offers a unique integration of various disciplines. We can look after accountancy, compliance, tax consultancy and the financial services needs of our clients, in the management and creation of wealth’.

‘These different pillars work together to offer a unique multi-disciplinary service to clients’.

Bantry office - left to right: Ann Marie Moynihan, Megan Clifford, Michael Collins and Anne O’Sullivan.

The clients are always at the centre of the work that the financial services team does.

‘We don’t assume we know what each client wants. We listen to them, we learn about what they want and we help them create a clear path for their financial future’.

No matter what your financial situation or goals are, FDC financial planning services are available to everyone.

Bandon management - bottom row, left to right: Sinead Deane, Ann Marie Hurley. Standing: Liam O’ Halloran.

‘Whether you have €50 a week to put aside, or €50,000 to invest, whether you want to create a fund for college, a deposit for a house, or start a pension plan, we can tailor a service offering suitable for you’.

‘We often have intergenerational scenarios, so we deal with people and families of all ages who have very different financial needs. Your need is unique to you and that is the starting point of any financial plan’, says Micheál.

Joseph Collins is an agricultural consultant with FDC. He has been working with the company for 15 years and is based in Kanturk.

‘We advise and assist people on how to stay compliant with EU and Department of Agriculture regulations. We also help our clients to apply for funding or schemes by submitting the necessary documentation to various bodies including the Department of Agriculture, county councils, National Parks and Wildlife, banking institutions, and other relevant organisations’, says Joseph.

‘These include submitting basic payment applications, nitrates and derogation plans, registered farm partnership applications, building grant applications, such as TAMS, environmental applications, such as GLAS and ACRES, hen harrier assessments, compliance reports and any other relevant scheme’.

There is a team of six agricultural consultants based out of the Kanturk office, covering Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Clare.

‘Our customer base is predominantly farmers and people involved in all types of agricultural activities’.

Financial Services team Bandon office: Adrian White, Katherine Keohane, Shane O’Riordain, Eilish Woods, Seamus O’Mahony.

‘We cover all of county Cork and we have offices in Bandon, Skibbereen, Bantry and Castletownbere. We can meet people in any office or arrange a meeting at any time.‘ In a time of rapidly changing regulations and environmental concerns, it is becoming increasingly difficult for farmers to keep up to date with their obligations.

Engaging the services of an agricultural consultant has therefore never been more important.

Our aim is to not only lighten the burden of the ever-increasing red tape involved in farming, but also to increase the profitability of the farm by helping to make it more efficient’, says Joseph.

Michael Fitzgerald is the regional tax manager for West Cork. He has been working with FDC for 16 years and is based in the Bandon office. Barry Lonergan and Siobhan Healy also consult on tax planning in West Cork.

The tax planning department provides a range of services to clients.

‘We offer succession planning for farms and businesses, capital taxes, international taxation, corporate restructuring, Trusts, VAT on property, and any area that expert tax advice is required’, says Michael.

The tax planning department spreads its work evenly between private individuals, agricultural businesses, as well as other businesses.

‘FDC was one of the first accountancy firms to set-up a dedicated tax department. We now have a team comprising over twenty-five specialist tax consultants with decades of experience under our belt, that allow us to provide practical solutions that deliver the best result for our clients in both the long and short term’, says Michael.

For more information about FDC and the services on offer, visit www.fdc.ie

FDC Financial Services Ltd is regulated by The Central Bank of Ireland