Fingal Local Enterprise Development Plan launched
Minister Damien English visits Fingal Local Enterprise Office to publish strategic plan 2021-2024
Pictured: Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail, Damien English T.D, Oisin Geoghegan ,Head of Enterprise at Fingal Local Enterprise Office, Deputy Mayor Cllr Daniel Whooley and Fingal County Council Chief Executive AnnMarie Farrelly
Fingal Local Enterprise Office has launched it’s new plan for stimulating and supporting enterprise in the region for the period 2021 – 2024. The official launch took place during a visit by Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail, Damien English T.D., who joined the Deputy Mayor Cllr Daniel Whooley and Fingal County Council Chief Executive AnnMarie Farrelly at the event in County Hall.
The visit to the Fingal Office is the latest in a series of nationwide visits by Minister English who is keen to meet the Local Enterprise Office teams and engage with some of their client companies.
The day commenced at Fingal County Hall, Swords, where Minister English met with Deputy Mayor, Cllr. Daniel Whooley, Fingal Chief Executive AnnMarie Farrelly, representatives of Fingal County Council, and the owners of four Local Enterprise Client Companies. This diverse selection of businesses, which included, Nufields Ltd. who sell certified organic grow kits, seeds and equipment; The Irish Institute of Music and Song, that delivers music education courses nationally and internationally; Arcane Chocolate, who formulate & produce a bespoke artisan range of handmade chocolates and Take The Cake, who produce consumer fresh cakes with locally sourced ingredients, illustrates the broad range of companies who are availing of supports and services through the Local Enterprise Office.
Pictured: Deputy Mayor, Cllr. Daniel Whooley, Fingal Chief Executive AnnMarie Farrelly, representatives of Fingal County Council, and the owners of four former LEO Client Companies.
The Minister also met with Jock Jordan of The Gift Voucher Shop (“One4All” Gift Vouchers), who explained how the Gift Voucher Shop was established 20 years ago and was supported at the outset by the Fingal County Enterprise Board, by way of an equity investment. It has since become a very successful Swords employer, having expanded to over 70 staff. The success of GVS is an excellent example of how a small start-up can benefit from modest state/LEO financial intervention, which brings with it necessary finance and helps the start-up to build credibility to fulfil ambitious growth plans.
Pictured: Jock Jordan of The Gift Voucher Shop (“One4All” Gift Vouchers) and Minister Damien English
Minster English was then welcomed into Fingal Council Chamber by Deputy Mayor Cllr. Daniel Whooley and Fingal Chief Executive AnnMarie Farrelly and received a presentation from the Head of Enterprise, Oisín Geoghegan, outlining some of the recent key achievements of LEO Fingal and giving an outline of the LEO Local Enterprise Development Plan 2021-2024.
Minister English was then joined by Deputy Mayor Cllr. Daniel Whooley, Fingal Chief Executive AnnMarie Farrelly, Director of Services for Fingal County Council Emer O’Gorman and Head of Enterprise, Oisín Geoghegan to formally launch the Local Enterprise Development Plan 2021-2024.
The Local Enterprise Development Plan provides a comprehensive framework for building upon the many successes to date for the Fingal area. The Local Enterprise Office, Fingal, aims to ensure that all aspiring and established entrepreneurs in their community receive a support structure that is practical, contemporary, multi-faceted and comprehensive, to enable the local small businesses to thrive. Following on from the launch, staff of the Local Enterprise Office got a chance to meet and chat with the Minister followed by some photos to mark the day.
Minister English then travelled on to Drinan Enterprise Centre for a tour of the facility and had a chance to meet Nigel O’Leary CEO of LEO client company Dimension 88. Nigel explained that Dimension 88 provides digital twinning, which is a digital replica or "a clone," that can be viewed in a VR Headset or on a digital device. This Digital Twin can be used to model and simulate developments and manufacturing devices before construction, allowing manufacturers to test for design flaws prior to production.
Pictured: Minister Damien English at Drinan Enterprise Centre
The last visit of the day went to Hope Beer Brewery, located at Howth Junction Business Park. CEO Wim De Jongh explained to the Minister that his company Hope Beer Brewery is a microbrewery that produce a range of craft beer and has availed of extensive supports from LEO Fingal. Hope Beer Brewery is a previous winner of the overall Fingal Enterprise Award, winning the “Best Start-Up” (2017).
Pictured : Minister Damien English visiting Hope Beer Brewery
Commenting on the emphasis on sustainable business in the new LEO plan, the Deputy Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Daniel Whooley, said:
“As we all know climate action is incredibly important. So, through initiatives like Sustainable Fingal and Green for Micro, we are looking for businesses to become more sustainable with power and wastage and ensuring that, when they're talking to the customers they can say ‘we are ethical, we are meeting green standards’, and ensure that those customers appreciate that.”
Minister Damien English said:
“The Local Enterprise Office in Fingal has worked hard with businesses across the county over the past 18 months and continued to offer exceptional services such as mentoring, training, upskilling and financial supports. I am grateful to Oisín Geoghegan and the LEO team for helping local firms to protect their businesses and maintain job opportunities, and especially for their commitment in assisting businesses to make the transition to online trading during the pandemic.”
AnnMarie Farrelly, Chief Executive of Fingal County Council, said:
“LEO Fingal is now engaged with more businesses than ever before because of the work they did during the pandemic and we are going to continue to make sure that we can maintain that ongoing support to business into the future.”
Oisín Geoghegan, Head of Enterprise in Fingal, added:
“It is imperative that the necessary resources are invested in viable start-ups and small growing businesses to help them to succeed. We need our small businesses to flourish. They are providing extremely important local jobs throughout our towns and villages and collectively they have a huge impact on the local economy. Through his visit to the Local Enterprise Office and our client businesses here today, the Minister is demonstrating his support for the small business sector and acknowledging the very important role that they play in our economy.”
On conclusion of his visit today Minister English also said:
"The Local Enterprise Office in Fingal can be proud of their involvement with the talented micro and small business ecosystem in North County Dublin. The positive engagements today underline an encouraging future for economic development and growth in local enterprise as the economy continues to exit the pandemic and get back to more normal trading conditions.”