A “Donegal Mancunian” is working with some of the leading names in world music from his base in Letterkenny. Born in Manchester and raised in Letterkenny, James Doherty left Donegal to go to college in Dublin. When the recession hit, he moved to London where he got his first big break designing DVD menus for Sony. He now specialises in animation and design for live events, tours, and concerts for artists like Billie Eilish, Shania Twain, Khalid, and Tame Impala – all from his base in Letterkenny.
James says the move home would not have been possible without the development of infrastructure and broadband in Donegal: “Ten years ago, I had to leave Donegal to find work, and until recently, I didn’t think Donegal could ever be an option as a place to work for me. The nature of my business requires gigabytes of data, displayed on giant screens, so I didn’t think we would have the infrastructure here or the internet speeds required to do that. However, the development of broadband in the county in recent years coincided perfectly with the shift in the industry towards remote working – fast-tracked by the pandemic – which made it possible for businesses like Greeble, traditionally based in cities, to thrive in rural settings like Donegal.”
While working in CoLab, James applied for a Trading Online Voucher with Local Enterprise Office Donegal: “I did an online seminar to find out more and found the whole process very straightforward. It was easy to access and made total sense for my business, and I would encourage anyone to avail of it. Its purpose was to help me trade online, but what it also did was open my eyes to the breadth of the market and how it could be accessed from Donegal. It allowed me to expand who I was working with, and I couldn’t have done that without the Local Enterprise Office. Opportunities like this didn’t exist years ago and I think it’s a great position to be in – I’m able to run a creative business from a place like Donegal which offers an unrivalled work-life balance.”
Michael Tunney, Head of Enterprise Donegal, says demand for the Trading Online Voucher Scheme has increased dramatically in the past 18 months: “Throughout the pandemic, the Trading Online Voucher has been an essential part of our Covid-19 business supports for small businesses in Donegal. Through successive lockdowns, online sales have been a lifeline to many SMEs, and to date, Donegal Local Enterprise Office has awarded close to €1.8 million to help businesses develop new e-commerce websites, enhancing their capacity to trade locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally.”
Grace Korbel, Business Advisor with Local Enterprise Office Donegal, said: “The expanded Trading Online Voucher Scheme is designed to assist small businesses with up to 10 employees to trade more online, boost sales and reach new markets – just as James Doherty has done with his business, Greeble. The Trading Online Vouchers help to ensure that businesses in Donegal are building the capacity now which will see them in a great position to take advantage of the digital transformation into the future.”
The Trading Online Voucher (TOV) offers financial assistance of up to €2,500 with co-funding of 50% from the business for a new website.
To find out how a Trading Online Voucher from Donegal Local Enterprise Office can help your business trade to the world online, visit https://www.localenterprise.ie/Donegal
