Invest Northern Ireland
Invest Northern Ireland is the economic development agency
for Northern Ireland. As part of the Department of Enterprise,
Trade and Investment, its role is to grow the economy by
helping new businesses to set up, existing businesses to
innovate and to compete internationally, and by attracting
new investment into Northern Ireland.
With its headquarters in Belfast,
Invest NI supports businesses and
entrepreneurs across Northern
Ireland. Its eight regional offices
offer a gateway to its extensive
range of advisory programmes,
services, resources and financial
assistance, while its 14 overseas
offices work to promote Northern
Ireland as a premier investment
location, and provide support to
local companies trading overseas.
Support for business falls into three
main areas:
„ supporting innovation
„ encouraging international trade
and inward investment
„ stimulating entrepreneurial
activities.
Supporting innovation
Encouraging innovation is a key
priority for Invest NI because
in order to remain competitive,
Northern Ireland businesses need
to differentiate themselves through
investing in outstanding products
and processes, or developing
imaginative, pioneering services.
This is reflected in the wide-ranging
package of business development
solutions available to client
businesses. These include helping
businesses with product and
process innovation, competitiveness
and productivity improvement,
and helping them to develop
management skills, strategic
development, technical capability
and export skills.
There is also a range of
programmes to support research
activities, from the development
of new products and services
with clear marketability, to
blue sky research of emerging
technologies. In the area of
research and development one
of Northern IrelandÕs greatest
strengths is the calibre of its
universities. Invest NI actively
encourages the transfer of
knowledge from universities
to industry and supports the
commercialisation of university
research. It also has close links
with both the QueenÕs University
of Belfast and the University
of Ulster.
Encouraging international
trading and inward
investment
Increases in Northern IrelandÕs
wealth will depend on export
growth. Exporting companies
generally demonstrate higher
levels of innovation, invest more
in training and pay higher wages
and salaries. Inward investment
also plays a vital role in
strengthening the Northern
Ireland economy by introducing
new skills, technologies and
export markets and strengthening
local supply chains.
International trading
Invest NIÕs Passport to
Export suite of services and
programmes helps businesses
access world markets. It is
organised into five different
areas: workshops to build export
skills and knowledge; market
research; in-market support;
market visits and graduate
placement programmes.
BiancaMed
Invest NI recently supported
Dublin based technology company,
BiancaMed, to set up a research and
development centre at the QueenÕs
University, Institute of Electronics,
Communications and Information
Technology (ECIT).
BiancaMedÕs core product is a
unique wireless sensor that can
detect breathing and heart rate
up to a distance of two metres.
The company received assistance
through Invest NIÕs Compete
programme, which supports the
commercialisation of research.
Speaking on behalf of BiancaMed,
CEO, Dr Conor Hanley said:
ŅBiancaMed decided to locate
its R&D centre in Belfast because
of the cluster of world class
companies in telecommunications
and health technology there, and
the availability of high calibre
researchers and engineers. The
opportunity to work closely with
world-renowned research teams in
ECIT to develop the technology, and
the support from Invest NI were also
important factors in attracting the
company to Belfast.Ó
Case Study Every year a calendar of trade
missions is organised to overseas
markets. These visits help both
new and experienced exporters.
Practical support includes
briefings before the missions
and mentoring in the market.
In the 2006-07 financial year
alone, £290 million of new export
orders were won as a result of
companies taking part in Invest
NIÕs trade activities. Invest NIbacked
companies now account
for nearly 90 per cent of
Northern IrelandÕs exports.
Inward investment
Invest NIÕs inward investment
efforts are concentrated on the
innovation-based sectors of
internationally traded services,
particularly financial services,
telecoms, information and
communications, technology,
software development, business
process outsourcing and contact
centre sectors.
Recent figures have shown that
in the UK, Belfast is second
only to London in its success
in attracting foreign investment
projects. BelfastÕs strong
performance is matched by
Northern IrelandÕs performance
as a whole, with the region
achieving top ranking for
financial services software
investment projects in the UK.
Invest NI does not influence
investors in their choice of
location. The decision to locate
in a particular area is driven
by commercial considerations.
However, understandably
investors prefer locations with
large labour pools, excellent
infrastructure and close
proximity to universities or
centres of excellence. This
makes Belfast an attractive
Mformation Technologies
In October 2007 US telecoms firm
Mformation Technologies Inc made
a multi-million pound investment
in Belfast setting up a centre of
technical excellence that will create
up to 162 hi-tech jobs.
Mformation is a global leader in
the provision of mobile device
management software to many of
the worldÕs leading wireless network
operators, including Vodafone,
Telefonica, T-Mobile, Sprint Nextel
and Telus.
Mark Edwards, CEO, Mformation
comments: ŅNorthern Ireland offers
us an outstanding location option for
our growing company, particularly
because of the regionÕs high quality
skills, recognized excellence for
academic and industry focused
research, and a compatible business
and legal environment supporting the
protection of intellectual property.Ó
Invest NI supported the set-up of
almost 3,000 new businesses
across Northern Ireland in 2006-
07 through the Start a Business
programme, and the quality of
its support has contributed to
making Northern Ireland the best
performing region in the UK in
terms of business survival rates.
Over 300 of these new
businesses were based in
Belfast, bringing to over 1,500
the number of new locally
focused businesses started in
the city with Invest NI support
over the last five years.
Export focused businesses
Through Invest NIÕs network of
regional offices we ensure that
businesses across Northern
Ireland have wide access to
Invest NIÕs advice, assistance and
support programmes. Further
support is available directly from
Invest NI for businesses that
have the potential to export
outside Northern Ireland from
the outset.
We have teams of specialist
advisers who support existing
clients or new businesses
working in niche, innovative
high-tech markets, and that
have the potential to trade
globally. These advisers also
provide advice and signposting
to Invest NI programmes and
other support organisations.
nibusinessinfo.co.uk
nibusinessinfo.co.uk is Invest
NIÕs online information and
support facility which gives
practical information to help
people set up and run successful
businesses. The website
has over 5,000 fact sheets
of information, and over 70
interactive business tools.
Stimulating
entrepreneurial activity
As well as providing practical
support to entrepreneurs
seeking to set up a business,
Invest NI works to influence
cultural attitudes towards
entrepreneurship. It does this
by working in partnership with
a number of organisations to
promote entrepreneurs as role
models, embed a culture of
enterprise in schools and colleges
and develop initiatives to foster
entrepreneurship among groups
that are under-represented in
business, such as women.
Start a Business programme
Invest NI, in conjunction with
enterprise partners and local
councils, runs the Start a
Business programme to support
local entrepreneurs who
want to set up a business.
The programme has three
components:
„ Business advisory service:
An expert business adviser
works with each entrepreneur
on a one-to-one confidential
basis, helping them prepare for
setting up their business and
meeting them regularly once
the business has started.
„ Into-business course: This
free course for entrepreneurs
has eight modules focusing
particularly on sales and
marketing, financial management,
legal and statutory issues, ICT
and general business practices.
„ Financial planning service:
This service helps entrepreneurs
to decide how much money
they need to start their business
and advises them on how to
explore all potential sources
of funding.
These cover every aspect of
setting up and running a
business, from the earliest
days of developing a business
idea to the legal issues involved
in selling.
nibusinessinfo.co.uk brings
together information from over
40 government departments,
such as Revenue & Customs and
the Health & Safety Executive,
which have developed tools and
information to help businesses
comply with regulations and run
their businesses as efficiently
as possible.
The information on the site is
tailored for the Northern Ireland
business community and
includes specific area profiles
of the different regions within
Northern Ireland, a database of
local companies to help users
find partners or suppliers, and
a local property database.
The siteÕs extensive range of
interactive tools gives businesses
the opportunity to increase the
efficiency of their business,
stay up to date with government
regulations and ensure they
are not missing out on any
available support.
Business accommodation
Providing businesses with
appropriate high quality
accommodation is essential to
supporting economic growth.
Invest NIÕs Property Solutions
Unit helps local client
companies to find the right
accommodation for their
business needs whether at
start-up stage or expanding.
It also helps international
companies that are planning
to locate in Northern Ireland
to find suitable premises.Invest NI provides access to
a comprehensive database of
office, industrial and commercial
property in Northern Ireland
as well as providing property
searches, property market
intelligence and property advice.
Business properties can be
sourced via the agencyÕs
property portfolio or from private
sector developments. Invest NI
holds a database on both options
and can offer a single, coordinated
source for all types
of property requirements.
Invest NI currently owns 43
industrial estates and business
parks together with 19 buildings
located across Northern Ireland.
In the Belfast area we own eight
industrial estates and business
parks and eight buildings.
From this building stock two
units are vacant and space is
available to offer in a further
two sub-divided units.
Centres of excellence
Invest NIÕs research and
technological development
Centres of Excellence
programme supports the
establishment of research
and development centres to
stimulate industrially-exploitable
and commercially-focused
research. To date 18 centres
of excellence have been created
through this programme.
They include four centres in
QueenÕs University covering
nanotechnology; aircraft
technology; electronics,
communications and
information technology and
environmental tools.
Web. www.investni.com
Tel. 028 9023 9090
Pentland Macdonald
Pentland Macdonald is the
only locally-owned specialist
contaminated land consultancy
in Northern Ireland. It was set up
two years ago by Tim Pentland
and Neil MacDonald. It now
employs eight and operates
from new high-spec premises
in Holywood, outside Belfast.
Despite being highly qualified in
their own areas Tim and Neil
realised that running a business
was going to throw up many
new challenges.
ŅWhen you actually start running
a business you no longer have
the luxury of just concentrating on
your ŌjobÕ, you have to manage the
finances, market the company and
so on,Ó says Tim.
Before they set up their business
Tim and Neil did Invest NIÕs Start a
Business programme. ŅInitiatives
such as the Start a Business
programme, which give an overview
of key business areas, are
invaluable for new entrepreneurs,Ó
says Neil.