The Rubicon Centre, Ireland's leading business innovation hub will next Wednesday (10th December 2014) host a special market day for Irish start ups planning on expanding their business to the UK. The Accessing the UK Market event will see Irish and UK specialists address more than 50 delegates on how to successfully plan and build strategic alliances for an easier entry to the lucrative UK market.

The event which will be of particular interest to those in the ICT and food & drink sectors will provide practical assistance on the development and implementation of a UK market entry strategy. This is the first event which will see all key players come together to impart their knowledge to High Potential Start Ups (HPSU) on how to access and break in to the UK market with the aid of a number of supports including market research, funding and contracts, lead generation and strategic sales.

The number of Irish companies targeting the UK has nearly doubled over the past four years and as Ireland’s largest trading partner, it is vital for Irish businesses to be given support to access this vital market for continued growth. The event will also provide a unique forum to strengthen and deepen business relationships, in particular between Ireland's ICT and Food and Drink sectors and UK industry, and to identify new joint business opportunities.

Frank Madden, Crest Solutions and graduate of the Rubicon Centre's Genesis (now New Frontiers) programme will also address delegates at the event to speak of his experience of accessing the UK market. Headquartered in Cork, Crest Solutions is an industry leader in providing companies with the ability to fundamentally improve their packaging, automation and traceability activities in the Pharmaceutical, medical device and food and beverage industries. Madden will impart his knowledge of the UK market to delegates as well as speaking about building an international business from Cork.

James Blackmore, JMB Partnership will also provide delegates with his 10 step solution to selling to the UK on the day. Blackmore helps companies increase sales revenue through strategic sales, lead generation and marketing and has worked with over 400 international companies throughout his career. Public procurement expert, Tony Saraiva, (Enterprise Europe Network) will also be available for one to one workshops which can be pre-booked. He will focus on what small businesses can do to put them ahead of the competition when tendering for major public contracts.

Speaking of the event, Paul Healy, General Manager of the Rubicon Centre said, "Next week's event is all about helping these young Irish companies to increase their profile and grow their sales in the UK market. Last year was an extremely positive one for Irish businesses accessing the UK market and with  further strategic business advice, market research, and lead generation, it is possible that the coming twelve months can surpass this”.

Also speaking of the event, Sarah Kingston, JMB Partnership said, "I am very much looking forward to meeting with Irish business people and teaching them our 10 Top Tips for selling in the UK. We are delighted to work with CIT & the Rubicon Centre to provide supports to a number of existing projects and look forward to helping other Irish companies achieve a foothold in the UK market”.

This initiative is done in conjunction with the Rubicon Centre, CIT and TESLA. TESLA is a transnational innovation support project involving eight partners from six EU Member States. The overall objective of the project is to support the growth and development of early stage High Potential Start Up (HPSU) companies, in Ireland, and is funded by the NWE Programme. Visit www.teslaproject.eu to learn more.

The Rubicon Centre is Ireland’s leading business innovation hub located on the Cork Institute of Technology campus. A number of entrepreneurship training programmes are run from the Centre, New Frontiers which provides a suite of supports to start-up businesses including a 15,000 euro tax free grant, 2 female entrepreneurship programmes (PINC and Exxcel  ) and a student accelerator programme Student Inc.

Contact Maria Horgan at maria.horegan@rubiconcentre.ie to book your place. 

View the Accessing the UK Market programme here.