| The Survive and Thrive Business Mentoring Programme has developed a new website for the business population of Fermanagh District Council and Omagh District Council, providing what is hoped will be an invaluable source of information on all issues business related.
The Chairman of Fermanagh District Council, Cllr Thomas O'Reilly and the Chairman of Omagh District Council, Cllr Frankie Donnelly officially launched the new website with Peter Fee, owner of Class A Guttering who was one of the first businesses to sign up for business mentoring through the Survive & Thrive programme. Class A Guttering, based in Tempo, have been working successfully with a mentor to develop their marketing activities and to expand their customer base. Peter stated: “ The help provided has been very useful and it is good to have someone who knows about marketing to help me with promoting my businesses, I have just launched my own website and this new online resource will be great for my business.”
The Survive and Thrive Business Mentoring Programme has helped over 130 businesses since its launch in 2010. The programme is a joint initiative between the Councils in Fermanagh and Omagh, and it aims to help local businesses in the West to not only create new jobs, but to safeguard existing jobs and to increase sales.
These 130 businesses have received one to one business mentoring support and have gained huge benefits from talking to the programme Co ordinator Noelle McAloon, who also provides a full business support signposting service. Cllr O'Reilly commended the Programme “I am delighted that businesses in Fermanagh will have full access online to all levels of business support and it will provide a wonderful platform to celebrate the successes of local business through case studies and features”
To further assist business owners in finding out about local support, the Survive and Thrive programme has designed a business support website : www,surviveandthriveni.com, which has current and relevant business news, and information on access to business support. The aim of the new website is to make local business aware of the support available to them and provide them with information and detail of how to access this support. Noelle McAloon, Project Coordinator explained that businesses can enter the surviveandthriveni.com website on a regular basis and they can be assured that the most up to date information on business support and events would be listed here. Cllr Donnelly added “ This website will provide business owners in Omagh District Council area with links to other relevant websites such as www.nibusinessinfo.com and the local Enterprise Agencies, providing a comprehensive overview of all levels of business support on offer. The Survive and Thrive Programme can also be found on Facebook where the most current information can be found. I am delighted that both Councils can support this addition to the programme and look forward to charting its progress”
Funding provided by the European Sustainable Competitiveness Programme for Northern Ireland 2007 – 2013. This was match funded by Fermanagh and Omagh Councils to the value of £157,000. Any business located in the Omagh and Fermanagh District Council areas, who are not Invest NI clients, are eligible to apply for the programme. Contact Noelle McAloon, Survive & Thrive Project Coordinator on 0787 24 24 24 6 or go to www.surviveandthriveni.com
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