PETROCELTIC, the Irish-based exploration firm, is expected to begin drilling its second Algerian gas well at Hassi Tab Tab this Friday. Rumours swirled on Friday that BP was about to make a bid for the Isarene gas block in Algeria that is 75% owned by Petroceltic and 25% owned by Algerian state firm Sonatrach. CEO John Craven said the company had received unsolicited approaches from a number of companies, but that while there had been a preliminary discussion with BP, which has an adjacent block, the company would continue adding value by drilling wells. Last Friday the company released half-year results, with losses narrowing to $144,000 from $1.1m on the same period the previous year.

MURRAY CONSULTANTS, one of Ireland's leading public relations firms, hired Irish Times political correspondent Mark Brennock (below), who at one point wrote for the Sunday Tribune, to be the head of a new public affairs unit.

"It's very much part of succession planning, " said managing director Pat Walsh. The firm recently expanded its client base to include State Street bank, Carlton Hotels and Propertynews. com, joining a stable that includes Elan, Ryanair, Kingspan and Failte Ireland. The company appointed former MOPs managing partner Donal Roche as nonexecutive chairman last year.

The company plans further hires.

DAIRYGOLD FOOD PRODUCTS UK faces legal action from the Welsh Assembly to recoup almost 1m in grants that it paid to the producer before it closed its factory in Wales earlier this year. The cheese-packing plant received the grants in 2002 to expand its production line at the facility. However, they have not yet been repaid. The production lines were recently moved to a Kerrygold plant in Staffordshire. Welsh Countryside minister Carwyn Jones said last week that negotiations have been ongoing in recent months to address the grant issue.

He added that all options, including legal action, are being considered.

Dairygold said it is confident a solution can be reached "in the near future". A spokesman for the company added that the closure had been "unavoidable" due to overcapacity in the UK cheese-packing market.

AEPONA, the Irish telecom firm, is in discussions with a number of India's mobile operators to introduce dual number services next year. Aepona is currently negotiating with carriers such as Bharti, BSNL, Reliance, Idea and Hutch. The service will enable subscribers to use one phone, but two numbers. One device can therefore be used for business and personal use. Currently, subscribers must use devices with two SIM cards to avail of such a service. Aepona's product will use just one. Vodafone and Telecom Italia in Italy already offer such a service, while in the UK, Orange is expected to launch a similar service within months. "The cost of deployment will be about $1-2m for a small operator, " Aepona's global VP of marketing, Michael Crossey, told an Indian newspaper.

The cost will increase as operators add subscribers, he said.

LAND OF LEATHER, the retailer, reported Irish revenues of £15.4m ( 22m) for the 12 months to the beginning of April 2006. The company said that revenue for the 17 weeks from April to the end of July was almost £5.8m ( 8.48m). The company changed its year end to July from April. It released results last week. Land of Leather entered the Republic of Ireland market in 2005, with four stores. Since then it has opened additional outlets in Sligo, Tralee and Athlone. It operates 85 stores between the UK and Ireland, and plans to open a further 56 by 2012. The company reported overall revenues for the 17-week period to the end of July of almost £70m ( 102m), up 20% on the corresponding period in 2005, and pretax profit of £3.5m ( 5.11m).