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More than 160 people from right across the island of Ireland and beyond gathered in the Crowne Plaza hotel, Dundalk recently to learn about and discuss “Working Together for Biodiversity”. The conference was organised by ‘Action for Biodiversity’, a project part-financed by the European Union’s European Regional Development Fund through the INTERREG IVA Cross-Border Programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body.
The conference was timed to coincide with Ireland's Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the meeting of the EU Heads of Nature in Dublin this week. This enabled the organisers to get not only a regional and national overview of successful models of working for biodiversity but also to attract speakers from the EU including Dr Micheál Ó Briain from the European Commission’s Environment Directorate who gave the keynote speech.
The aim of the conference was to learn from some fabulous examples of thriving projects such as BurrenLife in County Clare, which is widely recognised as one of the best practice examples of a community-led biodiversity project in the country. Participants also learned of some of the many successful ways to engage with the business community to promote the environment. The flourishing and multi-award winning ‘Action for Biodiversity’ project, now in its third year and involved in nearly 100 practical projects across the East Border Region, was also showcased.
Doing practical projects, however successfully, is only one element of the project; letting people know what you have done and enthusing them is another and the conference organisers were delighted to secure two eminent speakers in this field. Futerra Communications, whose message is “Love not Loss”, argued that the way to change people’s minds and enable them to take action is not through stories of environmental devastation but through tales of success and wonder. Communication was also the focus of the speaker from ‘Dialogue Matters', a consultancy based in the UK, which aims to move environmental conflicts from a win/lose situation to focus on co-operative and creative problem solving
Mayor of Newry and Mourne District council, John McCardle who attended the conference said “This was really positive and inspirational conference and all the attendees learned a great deal, it was important that delegates from as far afield as Wexford and Derry were able to the region at its best”
The conference attracted participants from North and South, from local authorities, environmental charities and non-governmental organisations, from education and business and many members of the general public. Through the insight of excellent speakers and lively question and answer sessions, the conference explored how collaborative work and positive engagement with communities can help to spread the message that Working Together for Biodiversity is worthwhile, and will benefit people, places, nature and livelihoods over the long-term.
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Craigavon Borough Council’s Civic and Conference Centre hosted a key conference providing valuable information on Accessing Finance for small and medium sized businesses (SME’s).
The conference offered a definitive insight into the present economic conditions for SME’s and looked specifically at what is available to businesses in the Craigavon, Banbridge, Newry and Mourne, Down and Armagh Council areas.
This project is part financed by Invest Northern Ireland and the European Regional Development Fund under the Sustainable Competitiveness Programme for Northern Ireland.
The initiative, which is also financed by the above five Councils, is part of the Achieving Finance programme, managed by Craigavon Borough Council and delivered by Lestas Consulting Ltd, a leading Management and strategic development company in Northern Ireland.
Michelle Lestas, Director, Lestas Consulting said: “The programme offers a set of standalone events, such as this one, that is open to all businesses in the region. To date over 100 businesses have been involved with different aspects of the programme and SME’s seem to appreciate that they can dip in and dip out of the programme to suit their requirements and needs. This has helped many of them to structure their financial plans and access support from both the private and public sectors as well as dealing with the many and varied financial issues they have in this current economic climate.”
The conference brought together key speakers from the Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment (DETI) Economic Analysis Team; the Director of HALO Mr Alan Watts who is part of a team of Business Angels who provided information on how to pitch to investors; Michael Carlin, the Manager of the Northern Ireland Small Business Loan Fund (NISB Loan Fund); and Allen Martin, Invest NI access to Finance Team.
Craigavon Borough Council’s Chair of Development Committee, Councillor Darryn Causby commented:“This line up of speakers, who are all experts in accessing Finance in Northern Ireland within these present economic conditions, are rarely brought together within one conference. Our SME’s in Craigavon, Banbridge, Newry and Mourne, Down and Armagh have had an outstanding opportunity to spend the day gathering information on where to go and what to do, to bring their businesses forward financially. They have had the chance to ask questions and probe the private and public sector finance gurus on the issues that are concerning them, at this time. For any business that is considering their future plans, and in my experience this means pretty much all businesses in the region, this was a conference not to be missed.”
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Business owners from across the Newry and Mourne area have this week learnt how to tap into Northern Ireland’s digital infrastructure in order to spur their companies to future success.
The practical seminar, which was held in collaboration with the Newry and Mourne Council and the Newry Chamber of Commerce, was led by Dr Sinclair Stockman Executive Director of Digital Northern Ireland 2020 (DNI2020), challenged attendees to connect and use the internet if they hoped to compete in the global marketplace.
DNI2020 works to highlight the potential of Northern Ireland’s digital platform to maximise economic growth, improve quality of life and assist social regeneration and speakers at the event included Paul Convery, Head of NI Business, BT; Niall Parfitt, Business Consultant, LogonNI and Tony McMahon, ICT advisor InvestNI.
“Businesses must do more to compete and one of the most important tools is the internet. We hope that attendees were inspired and enabled to use digital technology to maximise the opportunities available to them.”
The Mayor of Newry and Mourne District Council, Councillor John McArdle said, “Businesses in the area have a great opportunity to raise their game and utilise technology to communicate better with their customers, reduce costs and increase their competitive advantage. It is great to see so many companies who are keen to take the next step and this can only benefit the local economy.”
“Digital technology is vital to businesses and will have an even bigger impact as we progress into the 21st Century, but so many businesses don’t understand how this technology can make a difference to their company. DNI 2020 is trying to change that,” added Dr Stockman.
Dr Sinclair Stockman has over 30 years of technology and operational experience on the global stage and is involved in communicating the technical advantages of Northern Ireland in order to develop economic and business models that will act as blueprints to stimulate and accelerate growth.
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Astree Financial Services (part of Autoline Insurance Group) is celebrating the news this week that Kevin Curran, Client Services Director has been placed in the top three financial services professionals in recent Chartered Insurance Institute Exams (CII).
Kevin was in the top three of almost 170 financiers across Northern Ireland who recently completed the CII’s Diploma in Financial Planning.
The award was presented to Kevin by Geoff Clarke, Regional Chairman of the Personal Finance Society (PFS) at a ceremony in the Great Hall at Queens University this week.
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The Greater Newry Business Awards are being launched on the 18th of June and Newry Chamber of Commerce and Trade is inviting business representatives to attend. The event takes place at 1pm in Bellinis, Newry.
Mr Gerry Kelly, presenter with BBC will guest host this event and will advise delegates of the 19 different award categories open for nomination and how to enter.
Ms Colleen Dowdall, Acting Chief Executive, Newry Chamber of Commerce and Trade stated, ‘We, in Newry Chamber are delighted to be hosting these prestigious business awards once again. This competition will showcase, recognise and reward the very best that our business community has to offer. In this challenging economic climate local businesses continue to excel in terms of innovation, customer service, environmental practices, people and product development; this is their opportunity to obtain regional recognition for their outstanding efforts’.
‘Newry Chamber would like to sincerely thank the many sponsors that have contributed to this prestigious event, including principal sponsors Newry and Mourne District Council, The Quays Shopping and Leisure Centre and Shelbourne Motors
To hear more information about the Greater Newry Area Business Awards 2013, reserve your place at the launch now by emailing info@newrychamber.com
A buffet lunch and refreshments will be served. Places are limited, so book early to avoid disappointment.
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Sugar Island in Newry should soon see an exciting new restaurant with a twist opening. The people behind the project are taking a novel new approach which will see their Bistro not just supported by local people but funded by local people as well.
Next Monday the 17th of June the new enterprise will launch on the crowd funding site www.kickstarter.com to help in the opening of new French Bistro, The Sugar Supper Club, on Sugar Island in Newry city centre, headed by local chef Neil Bradley.
Although KIckstarter is hugely successful globally, Sugar Supper Club will be one of only a few businesses to utilise crowd funding in the province and the only restaurant to do so, so far.
With only 30 days to raise the £12500 needed to launch the restaurant in an all or nothing scenario, kickstarter offers a platform for start up entrepreneurs to raise the money needed while bypassing the usual funding avenues such as banks and external investors. In return for their financial support backers are offered perks and rewards from the businesses, usually either discounted products or exclusive experiences.
Commenting on the current financial climate Neil said "With bank lending no longer an option for a lot of start ups and small businesses too high a risk for investors we are having to seek alternative methods for funding, crowd funding gives the businesses a better chance of success by not having them paying the bankers bonuses and by giving them the support of the local community before they open"
Along with crowd funding, entrepreneurs are taking to bootstrapping to start their new ventures, wherein start up costs are kept to a minimum, largely by making all available money stretch as far as possible and carry out as many tasks as possible themselves rather than outsourcing.
The Chef added "I have had to take on a lot of the refit and refurb of the building myself, with help from my family, to keep the costs down, I have reused and recycled as much as I can from the building I have leased, when I took over the premises we couldn't access the back door from outside because of junk, but instead of just clearing and dumping the junk we took it to a local scrap yard, the money we got paid for tiling in the kitchen, we have reused old mirrors, the old lighting and reused plastic cladding in the kitchen. Of course the help and support from my family and friends has been incredible and I owe a good few free meals when we open."
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The MJM group has come a long way since it was established in 1983 as a family owned business and the latest sign of the companies progress was the opening of it's new Seven Million Pounds purpose built factory in Newry opened yesterday by Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster.
MJM Group has evolved into a leading international specialist in new build, refurbishment and fit-out services to the marine, commercial and private sectors.
Speaking following a visit to the state of the art facility in Carnbane Business Park, Arlene Foster said: “MJM is an established export focused company with a strong £20million order book already secured for 2013, largely in the marine market.
“As a major employer in Newry, MJM holds a prominent position in the business landscape of the region and makes an important contribution to the economy there. It has consistently invested in skills and wider capability development in order to capitalise on sales outside Northern Ireland and benefited from a broad range of support from Invest NI towards training, marketing and strategic planning.
“Investing in this new purpose built factory signifies the company’s commitment to growth and continuous improvement.”
MJM has received £106,507 of support from Invest NI over the last three years, including £58,000 to support the company’s entry into New Zealand and the establishment of a dedicated improvement team, creating seven new jobs.
Brian McConville, founder and MD of MJM Group, added: “Moving into our new premises represents a significant opportunity to develop our services and products and target new business opportunities, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere.
“The marine market in particular is becoming increasingly competitive so we are focusing on reducing our costs in order to maintain a leading position within the global refurbishment industry.The continued success of our global sales strategy over the last number of years has been bolstered by the assistance and support of Invest NI.
“By enhancing our skills and capabilities we’ve built up a strong reputation as a global player in the industry and will continue to focus our future sales efforts on opportunities outside Northern Ireland.”
MJM Group currently employs 128 staff at its factory. The in-house facility boasts 100,000 ft² of manufacturing space where the company fabricates all nature of bespoke joinery items in all nature of materials.
Invest NI’s support is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under the Sustainable Competitive Fund for Northern Ireland.
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If you want to get your business recognised the Greater Newry Area Business Awards 2013 which were launched this week should do the trick.
The Awards will be judged by independent adjudicators, ‘Stakeholder Communications’ and culminate in a Gala Awards Ceremony on the 12th September 2013 in the Canal Court Hotel. Deadline for Entry is the 9th July 2013.
Businesses across the district attended the launch hosted by BBC’s Gerry Kelly.
Mr Cathal Austin, President of Newry Chamber of Commerce & Trade stated, ‘We are proud to announce the launch of the Greater Newry Area Business Awards 2013. This Business Awards competition will recognise the efforts made by businesses to promote Newry as a place synonymous with product quality, service and customer care’.
‘If your business is a local independent or multi-national, trading as a manufacturer, retailer or service provider – whether it employs 2 or 200, with 19 award categories requiring nominations, there is ample opportunity to have your business recognised in this prestigious regional business awards competition. This is a key time for Newry – to show its confidence in the best of its businesses and in the future of this great trading community’.
Cathal Austin concluded, ‘On behalf of the Newry Chamber, I would like to thank our principal sponsors, Newry & Mourne District Council, On behalf of the Quays Shopping Centre & Leisure Centre we are delighted to be joint event sponsor with Shelbourne Motors, The Quays Shopping & Leisure Centre sees this not only to acknowledge the support we receive from local customers and other businesses but also to assist Newry Chamber of Commerce & Trade in its efforts to reward and promote excellence in our city’.
‘I would also like to thank the sponsors of our individual awards for their support and commitment, without which this event would not be possible.
I also want to thank Bellinis Bar & Restaurant for sponsoring the Awards Launch’.
Mayor Michael Ruane said ‘On behalf of Newry & Mourne District Council, I am delighted to support and endorse this prestigious event. This competition provides a great opportunity for us all to celebrate the successes of our local businesses. I would also like to congratulate Newry Chamber of Commerce & Trade on their immense efforts in organising this event’.
Speaking on behalf of Shelbourne Motors Director Mr Richard Ward stated ‘we are delighted to offer its support to this prestigious business awards competition which showcases regional business excellence, entrepreneurship and determination to succeed, all factors synonymous with the Greater Newry Area business community’.
Over the coming days awards brochures will be distributed to businesses throughout the region listing the award categories and advising on how to enter. Organisations can enter the competition online; www.newrybusinessawards.com
To find out more information on the Awards or to request an awards brochure please contact Newry Chamber office on (028) 3025 0303 or email: info@newrychamber.com
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East Coast Adventure have been made the official provider of Visitor Services to Rostrevor Mountain Bike Trails by Newry and Mourne District Council.
East Coast Adventure (ECA) is a family owned company with a strong reputation for providing quality outdoor activities, events and training for individuals, schools and corporate groups across Ireland for over 22 years. They were awarded the 3 year franchise contract after a competitive tender bid process.
ECA Director Mark Cummings says: “As a local company, with over two decades of knowledge and a passion for providing high quality outdoor adventure experiences in this area, we are thrilled to be awarded this contract.
“We’ve invested heavily in our own resources – over £55k – to provide the very best experience and service to Rostrevor MBT visitors and we’re delighted to take this opportunity to announce we’ve employed 9 new staff locally as a result of this contract bringing the number employed by ECA to 24.
“We intend to support local providers to bring the benefits of Visitors to the region and have already sourced equipment and trail signage from local businesses. We will also work closely with the Council and local tourism providers to create added value packages to support the Rostrevor Trails,” Mark adds.
A team of 11 dedicated personnel will support visitor services in Rostrevor and all hold Mountain Bike qualifications with key personnel holding MBT Leadership qualifications. ECA will provide a range of services from Kilbroney Park including Uplift Service for Downhill Trails and Bike Equipment Hire and Sales.
Congratulating the company Mayor of Newry & Mourne District Council, Councillor Michael Ruane said: "The Council are pleased to announce local company East Coast Adventure as the official provider of visitor services to Rostrevor MTB. The Council encourage all mountain bikers requiring uplift to use East Coast to ensure a safe experience is enjoyed. ECA also provide bike hire and bike repair to enhance the overall visitor experience. The Council looks forward to working with East Coast Adventure in the provision of a quality Mountain Biking experience in Rostrevor.”
Mountain biking is widely recognised as one of the fastest growing outdoor activities in the UK and over £2.3 million has been invested in NI’s Mountain Bike product, across three trail centres in Rostrevor, Castlewellan and Davagh Forest. The Rostrevor trails consist of some of the most exhilarating mountain biking in all of Ireland and is the only centre with Downhill Trails.
Designed by Daffyd Davis MBE, the 21km of x-country trail trails offer an invigorating climb from sea level right to the summit of Slieve Martin; with a descent through deep forests and open hillsides. With two purpose-built downhill trails, Rostrevor is set to be on every mountain bikers must do list and it anticipated that some 15,000 visitors will ride the trials this year.
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