Call For SME's To Boost Their Business

The Lord Mayor has called on SMEs in the city to boost their broadband and their business.

Councillor Nichola Mallon was attending a seminar in Duncairn Centre, north Belfast, providing information to businesses and social enterprises on how they can benefit from the Super Connected Belfast Voucher Scheme as well as the Super Connected Cities Business Growth Initiative.

The business growth initiative will provide local businesses which have availed of a connection voucher with one-to-one mentoring support so that they can maximise the benefits from a high-speed, high-grade broadband connection. The Super Connected Belfast Business Growth Initiative is funded by Belfast City Council together with Invest Northern Ireland and the European Regional Development Fund under the Sustainable Competitiveness Programme for Northern Ireland.

The council was awarded £13.7m for the Super Connected Belfast scheme from the UK's Department of Culture, Media and Sport's Urban Broadband Fund. It has also contributed £3m from its Investment Programme to make Belfast a world-class digital city.

The Lord Mayor said: "Belfast is on the cusp of a digital revolution transforming how we do business. It is vital then that council and other stakeholders in the city provide our SMEs with the infrastructure to develop their products and ensure they receive assistance in achieving global success.

"We have awarded over £1 million in grant funding to businesses through our Super Connected Belfast scheme with almost 500 businesses benefiting already. Companies have boosted their broadband connection speeds and taken advantage of the benefits of doing business online such as the opportunities for growth, greater efficiency and better reliability."

(CD/JP)