Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster today launched a series of masterclasses aimed at uncovering the value and potential of social enterprise for the private, public and third sectors.

Speaking at the series press launch, Arlene Foster said: “I am well aware of the vital role played by social enterprises and its contribution to the local economy, particularly in these challenging times.

“The social economy sector is well-positioned to help the Executive meet many of its social and economic goals and has a unique contribution to make to the Northern Ireland economy in regenerating disadvantaged communities and areas. This series will build on the success of the first series and help demonstrate that the social economy means business.”

The series is being taken forward by a Private/Social Enterprise consortium made up of the School for Social Enterprises in Ireland, Ulster Community Investment Trust (UCIT) and Podiem Ltd.

Representing the consortium, Jonathan McAlpin, UCIT’s Director of Operations explained: “This masterclass series will provide a forum to stimulate debate and highlight specific examples of how social enterprises, the public sector and the private sector can work together and benefit from each other. Each masterclass will feature an inspiring story from a local, Northern Ireland based social enterprise as well as speakers from further afield who will share their own experiences, demonstrating the capacity of social enterprise to act as a major force for economic and social change.”

The Masterclass series is supported by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Invest Northern Ireland, Department for Social Development, The Flax Trust and Ulster Bank. In addition to local and international speakers each event will also feature a Q&A and discussion with a panel of experts from the private, public and social enterprise sectors. Through these sessions attendees will have the opportunity to shape the future of the local social economy and network with key decision-makers.

There will be four masterclasses taking place between March and June with three in Belfast and one in Londonderry. Each event will have a specific focus and the key themes to be addressed include ‘Finance for the Sector’, ‘Private and Social Enterprise Collaboration’ and ‘Transition from Community/Voluntary to Social Enterprise’.

The first event in the series, which is entitled ‘Building Business Growth’ will take on the morning of Thursday 1 March at Invest NI, Bedford Street, Belfast. The masterclass will feature an address from international social entrepreneur Dr John Bird and the local exemplar case study will be presented by Marie Marin, CEO of Employers For Childcare.

Speaking at the launch Marie Marin explained: “There are tremendous opportunities for growth and success within the social economy. Employers For Childcare Charitable Group has moved from being entirely dependent on Government funding in 2004, to being entirely self financing in 2008, through the development of two Social Enterprises. Indeed in the last 12 months alone we have doubled our workforce to 40 employees.”

Source: investni.com

The presentations last approximately 30 minutes. There are two types – live webinars on set dates, which allow a further 30 minutes for live Q&A; and pre-recorded webinars, available round the clock.

The webinars will cover many different topics, including:

• Business expenses and capital allowances
• First steps as an employer
• The Construction Industry Scheme
• Self Assessment online
• Limited companies, an overview
• How VAT works

The webinars allow businesses and the self-employed to participate in the live seminars and ask questions. These will then be available on the HMRC website to view. The pre-recorded series of webinars will be accessible to watch at any time of day or night.

How can I take part?

Before you start you need to check you have the right computer software and then register in advance.

PC users need: Windows® 7, Vista, XP, 2003 Server or 2000.
Macintosh users need: Mac OS® X 10.4.11 (Tiger®) or newer.

Registering is simple – you only need your name and email address to register. Follow the link below to see what’s available then register for an HMRC webinar.

Find out more about live HMRC webinars

View HMRC’s pre-recorded webinars

Source: hmrc.gov.uk

In recent years, however, research is moving into the real world and increasingly replacing jobs lost by the movement of manufacturing to overseas locations.

A recent example is provided by the transformation of a building on the outskirts of Dublin, previously used for manufacturing goods for export, to a research and development facility.

The transformation is to accommodate IBM’s first research and development laboratory in the European Union, as part of its global Smarter Cities Centre.

The centre is focussed on using technology to solve real problems in relation to urban issues and the environment. It already employs more than 100 people and additional jobs are being added, as people with appropriate skills are recruited.

The initiative aims to benefit from the interaction of academic researchers and what IBM call research developers: people with the ability to turn research into products and services that can be sold.

While the centre will grapple with big issues such as transportation, water management and sustainable energy use, it also recognises the need for small and medium sized companies to handle data and information flow.

And so the loop from research to reality is complete as we can all learn – regardless of size – how to capture and manage to better effect the flow of information in our business.

We may not have the resources of IBM but we must understand the need to do our own research in order to create new products and services.

The number of manufacturing jobs will continue to decrease and the number of research jobs will continue to increase, so why not join a growing trend.

SO, identify the research you need to do within your business and use it to create new customers, markets and jobs.

What do you think? What does research mean for your business?

Leave your comments below.

Fast-forward to 2012 and the media environment is largely characterised by fractured media consumption among different age groups.

All of which has a big impact on how marketers and businesses try to reach and influence different demographics. Recent research by Lightspeed Research/New Media Age (NMA) “Kids and Digital Media” offers a fascinating insight into how children in the digital age consume and share media through technology.

The main discovery of the research is that the internet is the top media channel for 8 to 15 year olds, with mobile phones acting as the major touch point.

Nearly 30 per cent of the children interviewed said that the internet was more important to their lives than TV. The figures are reinforced by qualitative research from Discovery/NMA, which looked in detail at how integral the internet is to lives of young people.

They found: “Today’s children are a generation that expects instant access to entertainment and friends, uses digital media to convey its identity, turns to YouTube as its preferred search channel and eschews email for more immediate communication with friends.”

Unsurprisingly social media plays a critical role in the day-to-day lives of children. The research by NMA found that Facebook is the most popular social network with over 90 per cent of 13 to 15-year-olds using what has become the world’s largest social network.

However, Facebook isn’t the only social network popular with kids with 48 per cent using a school-related social community, 17 per cent using Twitter. Marketers will be interested to know that ‘likiing’ a brand on Facebook is popular with over half of kids reporting that they have done this.

The report also highlighted the huge importance that mobile phones and especially smartphones, play in children’s lives.

Some 81 per cent of kids aged between 8 and 12 own a mobile phone, rising to 99 per cent for 13 to 15-year-olds.

However, kids are not primarily using their mobiles for voice calls. The vast majority – 75 per cent – are using the mobiles for texting, presumably because of the huge allowance of text messages they receive from their telecoms providers, which mean texting is a very cheap form of communication.

The importance of YouTube is also explored in the NMA report which found that appointment-to-view TV has decreased with kids opting to view small clips of shows rather than watching the entire programmes.

So what does all this mean for brands and marketing? Part of the challenge marketers who want to promote their brands and products to children is to understand that they are targeting a unique audience in a time of huge technology change.

Brands that had traditionally spent the largest part of their media budget on TV to reach kids need to have a closer look at recent findings and work out how they can use multiple online channels and strategies if they want to be successful.

Paul McGarrity is director of Belfast-based Internet marketing consultancy Octave Online Communication, which helps business and organisations to benefit from online marketing strategy and campaigns.

Source: irishnews.com

Oxford Economics, one of the world’s leading financial forecasting and research consultancies, have placed Omagh near the bottom of a list of 406 district councils across Britain and Northern Ireland, ranking which are most likely to remain in recession longest.

Despite a series of multi-million pound commercial and capital projects planned for the local area, the recovery index, which ranks the Strabane district firmly at the bottom of the heap, has placed the Omagh district at 369 on the list. The study utilises a series of criteria including employment, demand for labour, desirability, attractiveness and enterprise to determine the list.

Chief executive of Omagh Enterprise Company Nick O’Shiel, who help local entrepreneurs establish their own business, described his surprise at the bleak outlook for the area.

“I’m surprised from the point of view that I know what is going on here and what’s being planned for Omagh. You would wonder the level of knowledge they have about the area,” he said.

Mr O’Shiel revealed that Omagh Enterprise Centre is set to undergo a 14,000 square foot expansion in the next few months in response to demand for space for new start-up businesses in the local area.

Against the backdrop of job losses and recession, the enterprise chief has acknowledged the growing phenomena of “necessity entrepreneurship”, where someone after losing their job, use their skills to start their own business.

“These are small businesses but they are examples of businesses getting on, they have orders, customers and are busy at what they are doing. There are areas of the economy which are ticking along nicely,” he said, pointing to the strength of the export sector locally.

Highlighting a series of projects planned for Omagh, including the

Lisanelly Education Campus, the new enhanced local hospital, as well as the A5 dual carriageway south of Omagh, chairman of Omagh District Council Frankie Donnelly said the council is actively involved in aiding businesses through a series of innovation programmes and funding projects “to work through these turbulent times”.

“The council, as civic leader in the district, is also lobbying for the protection of Omagh as a centre for public administration and public sector jobs, and for further de-centralising of public sector jobs to add to the employment base here.”

Pointing to local capital projects, including the refurbishment of Omagh  Leisure Complex and the Riverside Walkway and Cycle Path, Cllr Donnelly added, “Much more work would be needed, both globally and regionally, to  move the economy out of recession but, by working together locally in partnership this would be achieved more quickly.”

Soucre: ulsterherald.com

The programme forms part of Invest NorthernIreland’s Jobs Fund and aims to create 285 new jobs acrossNorthern Ireland.  It has been designed to help community, voluntary and social economy sector organisations defy the current economic downturn.

Applications are open now with information seminars planned for Enniskillen, Omagh, Lisburn, Derry/Londonderry, Armagh, Banbridge and Newry starting on 20^th February.  Exact details can be found on www.socialfranchisingni.com

Funding advice and capability support will be made available to those organisations selected for the new initiative with a package of intensive business support including one-to-one mentoring and an individual implementation plan for each of the organisations.

Seamus O’Prey, Chief Executive at Ortus, explains that Social Franchising is a relatively new concept which has been specifically targeted at community, voluntary and social economy sector organisations that want to consider social franchising as a method of ensuring their continued sustainability in a climate where funding is becoming limited.

“Recent Research shows that there are a number of reasons why community, voluntary and social economy sector organisations look to the franchising model to secure their futures including diversifying and increasing income while remaining embedded in local communities, fostering partnership working and spreading the broader message of the social enterprise movement.

“This is a very real opportunity, and one indigenous social enterprise currently blazing a franchising trail is Derry/Londonderry based database solutions firm, Cúnamh ICT. They have used the social franchising model to licence out their core product, Social Impact Tracker, a secure online database that reports outputs and outcomes, and measures the social impact of community, voluntary and social economy sector organisations,” said Seamus.

Cúnamh ICT’s Managing Director, Peter MacCafferty created partnerships with 7 other community, voluntary and social economy sector organisations in 2011 to license their Social Impact Tracker online to distributors to sell and support the product with new and existing clients.

“This Social Franchising approach is a sensible and commercially worthwhile approach for everyone involved. It has secured a sustainable future for our partnership and we would recommend it to other community, voluntary and social economy sector organisations.

“To date we have directly created 1 full time position but in order to meet our projected targets we estimate the recruitment of another 3 full time staff for product development and support. 

 “From the partners point of view we have set a target of at least 80 licence sales per year. However, to get these sorts of numbers of sales the partners will need extra staff dedicated to this task. We estimate each partner will require at least 2 full time members of staff. We plan to grow our partnership to 15 therefore the model has the potential to create up to 33 new jobs,” concludes Peter.

According to Seamus O’Prey, if this success was replicated by the number of community, voluntary and social economy sector organisations targeted, it would provide a real boost to local towns and villages all overNorthern Ireland.

Bill Scott, Invest NI’s Director of Regional Economic Development, said: “Social enterprises play a significant role in the regeneration of areas of high social need, by generating sources of income, promoting innovation and entrepreneurship and helping to create sustainable and cohesive communities.

“This programme will offer social enterprises that are already successful the chance to grow, as well as giving new social entrepreneurs the chance to set up a business that will quickly begin to generate profits, social benefits and aid sustainability.  I would encourageNorthern Ireland’s community, voluntary and social economy organisations to consider how this Social Franchising Programme could benefit their area.”

Anyone wanting to register can do so by contacting James Scott, Social Franchising Programme, Ortus 028 90 311002 or email: info@socialfranchisingni.com

On Tuesday Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Michelle O’Neill confirmed that £5.5 million had been secured to support farm businesses making small scale capital investments.

Confirming the funding the Minister said, “This scheme has proved to be extremely popular and beneficial to the farming community and I know that news of the third tranche has been much anticipated.

“I have recently received approval from the European Commission to make changes to the Rural Development Programme to allow me to make available funding for a third tranche of the scheme,” she said.

“The total funding for this tranche is £5.5 million and this is an additional £1.4 million to what was originally planned. This will allow more farmers to benefit from the scheme and will provide significant support and a much needed boost to farmers and the wider economy in the current difficult economic climate.”

The Ulster Farmers’ Union welcomed the announcement and said the unexpected increased funding should mean more farms will benefit. UFU President John Thompson said that the major problem with previous tranches was that they were under-funded.

“We will also be encouraging the Minister to ensure all the funds are ultimately allocated and that there is no scheme under-spend,” he said.

“We look forward to contributing to the consultation opened by the Minister and our aim will be to see the funding released as quickly as possible into the farming community.

“To date over £8 million has been allocated to farmers in the previous two schemes and this has had a very positive effect on the wider rural economy as well as assisting farm businesses to modernise.” 

The UFU chief added that his organization was keen to see younger farmers being prioritized for funding. “The UFU has from the outset advocated support in particular for younger farmers and it is our expectation for Tranche 3 of the scheme that young farmers will be prioritised.”

Consultation on the scheme will run from today (February 16) until April 18, after which it is anticipated to open as soon as possible, following administrative preparations.

Source: ulsterherald.com

1. Do you want information on what support is available?
2. Thinking of starting up a business and need guidance?

 There will be over 20 business support agencies in attendance to give one to one advice and guidance.

Workshops will also be delivered throughout the course of the evening:

6pm – 7pm - Using the internet to secure business growth and development

7pm – 8pm – How to Control your business finances

8pm – 9pm - Using the internet to market your business.

To register contact the Development Department in Omagh District Council 02882 256211 or email development@omagh.gov.uk 

Project part financed by the European Regional Development Fund under the LED Competitiveness Programme In business.

Thursday, 23 Feb (08:00 – 10:00)

Northern Ireland Science Park, Queens Island,Belfast

Web: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/event/2732197075/esearch?srnk=4

Email: roisin.clancy@nisp.co.uk

Today’s competitive environment has made it increasingly difficult and important to stay ahead of the competition by adapting a coherent approach to Intellectual Property and the exploitation of the advantages IP can provide them with. In order to exploit this in the company’s favour, it is essential that the basics of IP is known and identified. The workshop will help to demystify any common concerns with IP and give a broad understanding of the topic.

The workshop will be led by Mark Earnshaw, Director of Patents, Murgitroyd & Co and Alan Wallace, Partner, FRKelly, experts in the field of IP including Patenting and copyright.

Schdeule

08.00AM – 8.30AM Registration
08.30AM – 09.30AM Programme
09.30AM – 10.00AM Q&A

Contact: Roisin Clancy, Progamme Manager, NISP CONNECT, Northern Ireland Science Park

Tel: +44 (0) 28 9073 7809, Email: roisin.clancy@nisp.co.uk

Note:Breakfast will be provided for participants

Parking: http://www.nisp.co.uk/Car-Parking-.aspx

Who should attend?

Entrepreneur workshops are a series of professional development programmes, scheduled throughout the year. Attendees are generally founders, CEOs and managers involved in strategic business growth or scientists or technology experts considering a business start-up.

About the Speakers

Mark Earnshaw

Mark is a UK, Irish and European Patent and Trade Mark attorney based in Belfast. He has twenty years experience in all aspects of Intellectual Property, and has worked with many local individuals and SMEs, as well as universities and multi-international companies. Well known local clients include The Queen’s University of Belfast and Wrightbus.

As well as filing and prosecuting UK and overseas patent applications, Mark also advises clients on the commercial use of their Intellectual Property, and IP portfolio licensing and management.

Alan Wallace

Alan is a European Patent Attorney, and Community Trade Mark Attorney. He joined FRKelly in 1995 and became a partner in 2006. Based in Belfast, he handles a wide range of patent, design, copyright, trade mark and licensing matters for local and international clients.

About NISP’s Frameworks Entrepreneur Workshops

NISP offers ongoing educational opportunities for entrepreneurs building and growing innovative hitech, biotech or cleantech companies and offers member companies the opportunity to provide expert content to a responsive, interactive audience.

Many of today’s business founders and future entrepreneurs have scientific and technical backgrounds but have had limited experience in industry, so they often lack exposure to critical information which is essential to leading a start-up. To fill this gap, NISP offers Frameworks Entrepreneur Workshops to provide these bright leaders with the vocabulary, foundations and framework around which they can build awareness of the many disciplines they will oversee as “C” level managers”

About NISP CONNECT

NISP CONNECT is an independent, non-profit organization fostering entrepreneurship by accelerating the growth of promising technologies and early stage companies. Our core purpose is to connect people, technology and capital to drive innovation and create wealth through building high value IP based companies in Northern Ireland. We want to help to establish a thriving entrepreneurial eco-system where innovation, vision and talent flourish.
A collaboration between Northern Ireland Science Park (NISP), the University of Ulster and Queens University, Belfast, NISP CONNECT acts as an ‘honest, neutral broker’ within the region through provision of direct delivery programmes, mentorship/coaching services, educational seminars and events geared at developing and encouraging entrepreneurial ideas, talent and leadership.

Source: syncni.com