William McCulla, Invest NI Director of Corporate Finance and Martin Symington, Pure Roast Coffee, briefed the NIABT on the various Invest NI finance funding streams available to small and medium sized businesses. You can view the presentation here.
The Minister provided a briefing on economic challenges and opportunities that businesses will face in 2013/2014.
You can read a transcript of the Minister’s briefing here.
Phil Flanagan MLA spent the morning with representatives from P. Clarke & Sons, Lisnaskea and the Quarry Products Association Northern Ireland.
After a presentation by Gordon Best, Regional Director QPANI, Phil had a chance to have a site tour of the quarry and manufacturing facilities at P. Clarke & Sons, Lisnaskea.
Phil Flanagan visited his local BT branch to find out more about their business and what challenges they face.
An NIABT delegation recently spent two days in Dublin meeting with TDs, Ministers, and business groups.
An NIABT delegation will take part in an educational visit to Dublin on the 19th & 20th of June 2013. The delegation will be led by the newly elected Chairperson, Phil Flanagan MLA. The NIABT members will have a series of meetings with TDs and business groups to increase their understanding and awareness of cross border opportunities.
The delegation looks forward to meeting with Brian Hayes TD, Minister of State at the Department of Finance and David Cooney, Secretary General, Department of Foreign Affairs. The British Ambassador, Dominick Chilcott, will also host a reception for the group at his residence in Glencairn, Sandyford.
The delegation will also have an opportunity to meet with representatives of the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), the Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC), the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (ISME) and Enterprise Ireland.
Pics from the 2012 NIABT visit to the Houses of the Oireachtas
L-R Gerard McCann, CBRE; Geoffrey Martin, H & J Martin;Leslie Cree MBE MLA;Billy Martin, H & J Martin; Ciaran Donnelly, CBRE
NIABT delegation visit the Houses of the Oireachtas
At the AGM, three new Board Members were elected.
Alban Maginness MLA, Judith Cochrane MLA and Alan Dickson of PricewaterhouseCoopers were welcomed to the Board by outgoing Chairperson, Chris Lyttle MLA.
A Chair and Vice Chair will be elected at the next Board meeting on 3rd June 2013.
Following the AGM, a panel debate took place on “Corporation Tax, where do we go from here?”
Daithí McKay MLA, Chairperson for the Committee for Finance and Personnel, Dr Esmond Birnie, Chief Economist with PricewaterhouseCoopers and Roger Pollen, Head of External Affairs at the Federation of Small Businesses formed the panel.
Phil Flaxton, CEO of Skill Exchange UK and Ian Paisley MP briefed the NIABT on the Skill Exchange initiative at this morning’s breakfast event.
Members received presentations on “An Introduction to the Local Hub Programme” and a demonstration on how ‘Local Hub’ works for members of Skill Exchange UK.
View the invite to the event.
