A Northern Ireland council has teamed up with Global Entrepreneurship Week for a packed series of events for local businesses.
The programme was launched by the Lord Mayor of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council, Gareth Wilson. He ‘sharpened up’ for the launch at the Elk & Clipper, a chain of barbers set up by a local serial entrepreneur. The Borough, located on the Belfast to Dublin economic corridor, has a population of 205,000 and is home to 8,000 businesses, with 13,000 people in self-employment. It is also the most economically active area outside of Belfast, accounting for 11% (£3.7bn) of NI’s economic output.
With excellent road and rail connections, the Borough is home to some of NI’s best-known manufacturing, agri-food and pharmaceutical companies. Companies include Almac, Moy Park, Hyster Yale, Interface, Ulster Carpets, Irwin’s and Tayto. The vision, however, is to foster an even greater culture of enterprise.
With the theme of ‘Inspire, Innovate and Invest’ there will be six free events. These will provide practical advice for both start-ups and established businesses. The events are part of a wider ambition to support the creation of over 7,000 new jobs within the Borough by 2026.
Ulster Bank is the principal sponsor with further support from CIDO Ltd and Banbridge District Enterprise Ltd. A range of groups including Deloitte, FSB, Invest NI, Enterprise NI and YouthBank Banbridge are also taking part.
The Lord Mayor said: “Enterprise Week is about inspiring businesses and budding entrepreneurs to look for new commercial opportunities. Over 70% of the local economy is driven by the private sector and that’s likely to grow. Enterprise Week is part of a strategic push to provide a framework which helps business flourish.”
Dwaine Smyth, co-founder of the Elk & Clipper, added: “I first got involved in business in 2011 when I co-founded a butcher’s shop with my brother. I’m now involved with four barber shops with another business partner and Nantuckets, a fish and chip shop – you could say I’ve caught the entrepreneurial bug!
“Enterprise Week is a great opportunity to bring together the local business community, from multi-national companies to start-ups and business enablers, and take time to refocus on how to build successful businesses.”