Council Celebrates Business Plan Milestone

Derry City and Strabane District Council's Go For It programme are celebrating a significant milestone after helping its 200th new local business to compile a business plan.

Go For It is part funded by Invest Northern Ireland and the European Regional Development Fund under the Investment for Growth & Jobs Northern Ireland (2014-2020) Programme.

The scheme provides advice and support to anyone wishing to start their own business by taking them through every step of the process of creating a business plan.

The Brewery at the Baronscourt Estate are one of the most recent local businesses to complete the programme and Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Councillor John Boyle, visited the Newtownstewart venue this week to mark the milestone.

"I would like to congratulate Council's strand of the Go For It initiative for guiding over 200 local entrepreneurs through the start-up process and helping turn their business vision into a sustainable reality," he said.

"The programme offers expert mentoring in the business related challenges of start-up such as financial and business planning, accessing funding and best practise to help build the foundations for a sustainable business model.

"Start-ups such as the Baronscourt Brewery play a key role in our local economy both in stimulating growth and creating jobs so I am pleased that so many of them have been able to avail of the support and guidance they need through this programme.

"I would like to wish John Wauchob and the team at Baronscourt the very best in developing and growing their enterprise in the months and years ahead."

By the end of July, 2,000 business plans are expected to have been completed across Northern Ireland through the Go For It programme since the start of its latest round at the end of 2017.