Simon Devlin
“Up North ...”
The realities of doing
business in Northern
Ireland
10.09.2014
Perceptions of Northern Ireland...
from a Southern perspective
Lies,
damned
lies and
statistics
 Population of 1.8 million people, 33%
of whom live in the Greater Belfast
area.
 Only 1.25 hours drive from Dublin to
Belfast and 3.5 hours from Cork /
Galway.
 NI economy emerged from recession
in June 2013 ...steady growth since
then:
 Unemployment falling.
 Consumer confidence rising.
 Significant FDI successes recently.
 Crime statistics improving.
Lies,
damned
lies and
statistics
[Cont’d]
 Big growth in South to North sales over
recent years - €1.185 billion during
2013.
 Key areas of opportunity for Irish
companies in NI are:
 Food.
 Engineering.
 Construction products / services.
 Creative industries / digital sector.
 Recycling and renewables.
 Many Irish SMEs / micro enterprises
now selling very effectively into the NI
market.
So why would
you consider
NI
as
a
potential
target market?
 Ideal starter
market.
“export”
 Can provide a foothold in
the UK market.
 Same island / easy access.
 Recovering
economy
...with a very strong public
sector.
Support to explore
business opportunities
in NI ...
Who
we are
& what
we do.
We are the only organisation which has
been tasked by both Governments to
boost North/South economic co-operation
for the mutual benefit of Northern Ireland
and Ireland.
We support SMEs across the island to
identify and develop North/South trade
and innovation opportunities. We do this
through:
Business
programmes
Research
&
statistics
Networks and partnerships
At a glance business support
Our range of cross-border business initiatives offer practical funding,
information, advice and support to help SMEs.
Sales & Marketing
Innovation & Collaboration
Equity Finance
n
Sales and marketing support Acumen
n
n
All-island Seedcorn Investor
Readiness Competition
n
Sales development support for
small business - Elevate
n
Business Angel Networks and
Syndicate groups
n
Equity advisory service - one to
one advice from our equity expert
n
Venture Capital Conference
annual event
n
Business plan workshops,
guides and events
n
Regional Equity Advisory clinics
n
Entrepreneurship master classes
n
n
Tender workshops, training and
mentoring - Go-2-Tender
n
n
n
Meet the Buyer
events
Trade accelerator voucher
scheme for cross-border
business advice on legal,
financial and regulation issues
n
Company-graduate-academic
partnership - Fusion
Business transformation and
strategic planning - Challenge
Horizon 2020 supports - voucher
scheme and information service
Innovation events, workshops
and masterclasses - All Island
Innovation Programme
Cross
border sales
Elevate
Elevate is aimed at businesses
employing less than 10 people.
• Whole rationale for Elevate is to help small
businesses to “dip their toes in the water”
in NI.
• Up to €5,900 worth of advice and
assistance from an experienced market
expert is available – NO CHARGE to
successful applicants.
• Visit www.intertradeireland.com/elevate
Support options
Cross
border sales
Acumen
1. Employ a full-time salesperson
Up to €18,750 is available to hire a dedicated
salesperson for 12 months that is based in
your target market and responsible for increasing
sales in that region - North or South
2. Hire a part-time salesperson
Up to €10,000 available to hire a prospector who
can represent your company in your target market
for 12 months
3. Employ a
graduate
high-calibre
sales
&
marketing
Up to €17,190 towards the employment costs of taking
on a graduate to develop a strategic
sales and marketing approach in NI/IRE
Visit:
www.intertradeireland.com/acumen
Contact us….
simon@itiacumen.com
www.intertradeireland.com
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