Moira firm secures £1.8m Czech Republic contract

A Moira based management consultancy firm has won a £1.8 million contract in the Czech Republic to help in the development of the country’s small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

HELM Corporation secured the contract with CzechInvest, the country’s leading investment and business development agency, by following up contacts made on a recent Invest NI trade mission to the Czech Republic.

Working in partnership with GFA Management and the UK Institute of Business Advisers over the next 20 months, HELM will support CzechInvest in the development and accreditation of a network of 150 SME advisers across the Czech Republic and will also contribute to the ‘Czech Benchmarking Index’, which will help companies there to assess their competitiveness against international best practice.

Sean Sweeney, HELM chief executive, said: “Our extensive consultancy experience in the UK and Ireland and understanding of comparable enterprise development models offered an attractive proposition to the Czech Government. HELM staff will bring much desired knowledge and skills to Czech businesses.

“Our experienced advisers will be reviewing the business capabilities of over 250 local companies in the Czech Republic. With the recent accession to the European Union, further economic growth is being sought by the Czech Government, working to assist local SMEs, to increase their management and export capacity.”

Invest NI Trade director, Alan Hingston, described the news as “very important” for the firm and a substantial boost for INvest NI’s drive to promote business between Northern Ireland and the Czech Republic and other new EU member states.

The SME contract is funded by the EU Commission PHARE Programme.

(MB/SP)