Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister for the Economy to detail any steps her Department is taking to improve the growth and productivity of small and medium-sized enterprises, in Mid Ulster.
Minister for the Economy: My department and Invest NI are firmly committed to supporting regional balance of economic activity across all parts of the North including Mid Ulster District Council. Improving regional balance, good jobs, raising productivity, are all key priorities in my Sub Regional Economic Plan.
Invest NI’s business strategy, Our Future in Focus 2024-27, is strongly aligned to my economic vision and sets out a target for 65% of all Invest NI supported investments to be located outside the Belfast Metropolitan Area (BMA) by year three of the Strategy, supporting business growth in districts like Mid Ulster.
My department, through Invest NI, provides a broad range of support to all businesses in Mid Ulster primarily in the form of advice, guidance, grants, and a range of finance solutions under the banner of “Access to Finance.” These funds include both debt and equity support. access to finance.
Support is available to help businesses
Begin, or expand, exporting, explore international markets, attend trade missions, and understand dual market access.
Invest in digitalisation, innovation, R&D, and protect intellectual property, including Innovation Vouchers and the Business Innovation Grant
Improve management capability, workforce skills, productivity and create jobs; and
Implement operational excellence, improve supply chain management, find and develop appropriate property solutions, implement waste management strategies, and reduce energy costs.
Invest NI also delivers the nibusinessinfo.co.uk website, which provides over 10,000 pages of practical guidance, tools, and resources as the primary resource for advice for local businesses, entrepreneurs, and employers.
Invest NI has also delivered a number of business events in partnership with Mid Ulster District Council to drive Productivity including eight Supply Chain workshops, Training Needs Analysis workshops and a Dual Market Access event in partnership with council and Dungannon & South Tyrone Chamber of Commerce to highlight the competitive advantages the North of Ireland manufacturing businesses have over Britain and EU counterparts thanks to frictionless trading arrangements . Invest NI has also recently held a business clinic for businesses in Mid Ulster impacted by changes in Steel tariffs.
Further advisory events are planned for 2026/27 including a series of Business Breakfast events covering Trade, Access to Finance, Driving Productivity and People and Skills.
The Mid Ulster Local Economic Partnership, to which my department has allocated a Regional Fund of £3.867m over 3 years to March 2028, has developed a two year + action plan to deliver actions that will improve productivity in the region, assist in generating improved median wages and increase the number of international tradeable businesses.
ENDS
