63 Fingal Businesses Set to Flourish

63 Fingal Businesses Set to Flourish

Fingal Local Enterprise Office (LEO Fingal) shines a light on local small businesses, with 63 Fingal start-ups and growing businesses approved for funding in the first half of 2023.

Newly elected Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Adrian Henchy, joined AnnMarie Farrelly, Chief Executive of Fingal County Council and the Head of Enterprise at LEO Fingal Oisín Geoghegan to present successful grant recipients with certificates confirming that their businesses are supported by LEO Fingal. The companies were among 63 businesses approved in the last 6 months for Business Priming Grants, Feasibility/Innovation Grants, Business Expansion Grants, Trading Online Vouchers, and Export Development Grants, all aimed at stimulating enterprise and job creation. Since the beginning of the year to date, LEO Fingal has approved €594,000 in funding for eligible small businesses.

The approved businesses are located throughout Fingal and many are focused on export markets, with prospects to enjoy continued growth in the coming years. A variety of sectors feature among those approved, including businesses involved in: food production, financial services, engineering, software, healthcare, human resources, craft & design, training, media and production, interior design, green solutions and many more.

Speaking at the event, Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Adrian Henchy said “Local Enterprise Office Fingal plays a key role in stimulating economic development in the locality. The supports and advice LEO provides are hugely impactful to the businesses who avail of them. It is promising to see businesses reaching out for support, fulfilling their potential and in turn positively contributing to the county.” 

AnnMarie Farrelly, Chief Executive of Fingal County Council said: “I am delighted to extend my congratulations to the entrepreneurs of Fingal on their remarkable achievements in growing and expanding their businesses. Small businesses in Fingal have displayed strong perseverance in light of the rising energy costs and inflationary pressures. It is great to have members of the local business community in Fingal join us here today and we are honoured to be a part of their journey.”

Oisín Geoghegan, Head of Enterprise at LEO Fingal, also expressed his thoughts on the matter by stating: “Fingal’s small business community have performed strongly in the first half of this year. Despite the difficulties that local businesses face, such as rising costs and challenges to their competitiveness, there are numerous promising start-ups emerging this year, and it is excellent to witness a significant number of businesses investing in their future growth. As a result, the Local Enterprise Office is thrilled to play an essential role in supporting and facilitating this growth.”

ENDS

For more information contact the Local Enterprise Office, Fingal:  

Tel: 01 8900 800     E-mail: info@leo.fingal.ie

Photography available from Orla Murray, Coalesce:creative@coalesce.ie; 087-9160674

About Local Enterprise Office Fingal

Local Enterprise Office Fingal (LEO Fingal) is part of a network of 31 Local Enterprise Offices nationwide, located within the Local Authority structure. The Fingal office is one of the largest and most active LEOs in the country. The role of the LEO is to support and provide assistance to existing and potential small business promoters located in Fingal, North County Dublin. In addition, LEO Fingal aims to foster the development of an enterprise culture. The LEOs operate under a Service level Agreement with Enterprise Ireland and are funded by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund.

Breakdown of Funding approved by LEO Fingal 01.01.23 to 30.06.23

Note on the types of funding provided:

A “Business Priming Grant” is a business start-up grant for qualifying small businesses. The “Business Expansion grant” is designed to assist the business in its growth phase after the initial 18 month start-up period. Both the Business Priming Grant and the Business Expansion Grant are strongly linked to job creation with a prerequisite of each being that the applicant must demonstrate strong prospects for employment growth. Feasibility Study Grant assistance is provided to individuals or businesses that wish to develop new products or services or explore international markets. Business Priming and Expansion grants are ordinarily capped at €80,000 per application, while Feasibility Study grants are €20,000 maximum. The Trading Online Vouchers grant is part of the National Digital strategy aimed at supporting Irish small businesses while they enhance their online presence. It provides up to €2,500 to assist companies to develop an e-commerce platform and in so doing increases their market reach by enabling them to trade online. The Technical Assistance for Micro-Exporters grant provides up to €2,500 in matched funding to businesses who are looking to expand their export lines. The Agile Grant is provided to assist companies with Research and Development of innovative products and processes.

All funding is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund.

Expansion Grants:

Feasibility/Innovation Grants:

Priming Grants:

Agile Grants (Research & Development):

TAME (Exporter’s grant):

Trading Online Vouchers: