Invest NI helps local firms enhance export potential

A record number of 18 local start-up companies have been helped to sell their services and products outside of Northern Ireland, Invest NI’s Western office has reported.

The western office, based in Omagh and Enniskillen, revealed in its annual report that its ‘Growth Start’ programme had had its best year to date.

All 18 firms have been working closely with Invest NI’s western office, which was established to ensure that businesses within the local area have access to the right support and advice they need to stay competitive.

Patricia Devine, Invest NI's Omagh office manager, said: “Through our office local companies in the surrounding area can receive access to the full range of services and expertise Invest NI has to offer. For most companies exporting further afield this means a dramatic increase in the number of rival firms they must compete against. We are helping local companies prepare for that eventuality and learn more about the new markets they will be operating in.”

Available to new businesses across the region the ‘Growth Start’ programme offers business counselling, financial support and access to business information.

Leslie Morrison, Chief Executive of Invest NI, said: “We have helped these companies accelerate their growth by providing the knowledge and capabilities they need to be successful within their own business sectors. By providing this information we are helping local firms to exploit new market opportunities and enhance their export potential.”

Dungannon-based CK International recently benefitted from the scheme, receiving advice on research and development, marketing requirements, ICT and recruitment.

Aidan O’Neill, Managing Director of CK International, said: “Working with Invest NI has given us the confidence and support we need to enhance our export offering. The range of advice we have received, in terms of exploiting new opportunities and market awareness has allowed us to compete more effectively against rival companies both in the South and in the rest of the UK.”

Invest NI defines Export Starts as businesses with the potential to trade outside Northern Ireland, generally exploiting near-market opportunities such as Great Britain, and the Republic of Ireland, but also with the potential to do business further afield.

(GB)