Business of Ageing

The Business of Ageing (BoA) Partnership has been established to alert the business community across Ireland to the very significant business opportunities that exist in the older consumer market.

The Partnership is a not-for-profit initiative comprising of a group of members from the Ageing Well Network including Intel, IBM, RTE, IBEC, Chambers of Commerce and others.

We are a non-for-profit initiative that is dedicated to:

• Making the business community aware of the rapidly growing global and changing global market of older consumers and giving them an understanding of their changing behaviours and attitudes
• Broadening the business community’s understanding of the diversity of older consumers’ needs, both current and emerging
• Transferring knowledge on how businesses might develop products and services to best meet these needs
• Fostering confidence in the banking and financial-service sectors to take advantage of the enormous investment opportunity presented by the older consumer
• Supporting employers build a workplace and a work-culture, which fosters the talents and experiences of older employees

Since the first BoA Conference in March 2010 the partnership has been busy developing a monthly news letter and redeveloping the BoA website to better serve the information needs of businesses interested in understanding and targeting the older consumer. The Partnership is also pleased to announce the establishment of Irelands first county based Business of Ageing Forum in Kilkenny. This forum, established by the Kilkenny Chamber of Commerce, held its first conference in September 2010 and was attended by nearly 100 business professionals. The success of this forum means that a second one is now being established in Louth and it is the aim of the BoA Partnership to help establish these forums across Ireland.

The growth in the older consumer market globally, their wealth and purchasing power and their changing needs and preferences, open up important new opportunities for business. There will be very significant business opportunities in areas as diverse as health care, insurance, travel, leisure, food, tourism and retail. The current economic climate is perhaps the toughest we have seen and with this in mind this market will provide a much needed opportunity for companies across all sectors.

The Business of Ageing Partnership believes that businesses across Ireland are well placed to respond to these opportunities and the next BoA Conference in March 2011 will help businesses of all sizes adapt their practices to meet the needs and preferences of the older consumer.