Ambition to Grow creates 160 jobs and £17m external sales across Southern Regional Office network
Pictured (L-R) are Paul Luney, Director, Nordica Design and John McKibben, Southern Regional Manager, Invest NI
Invest Northern Ireland’s Ambition to Grow programme has helped support over 50 businesses create 160 jobs and achieve £17m external sales across its Southern Regional Office Network.
Ambition to Grow has been an important programme for us as we work to deliver ambitious growth targets.
Paul Luney, Director, Nordica Design
First launched in 2022, the programme is aimed to help micro, small and medium sized enterprises throughout Northern Ireland to create new employment and target customers outside of NI.
John McKibben, Southern Regional Manager for Invest NI said: “We created this programme to support businesses right across Northern Ireland to grow their teams and export sales.
“Since 2022, Ambition to Grow has helped over 50 companies across our Southern Regional Office network spanning from Newtownards to Newry. These companies now plan to create 160 jobs and sell products and services into new markets. The new external sales have the potential to generate £17m of new business for these companies by 2027.”
Since 2022, Ambition to Grow has helped over 50 companies across our Southern Regional Office network spanning from Newtownards to Newry.
John McKibben, Southern Regional Manager, Invest NI
Newtownards based interior architecture and design company, Nordica Design, joined the programme in 2023. Paul Luney Director at Nordica Design said: “Ambition to Grow has been an important programme for us as we work to deliver ambitious growth targets. We have created five new roles within our workshop and design departments to increase our capacity so we can win new business in GB and RoI. With marketing support, we are also building our brand visibility in these markets to increase our sales.”
The announcement comes as Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald announced last month that the programme has helped 250 companies across Northern Ireland create 800 jobs and achieve external sales worth over £70m.
John McKibben added: “Ambition to Grow has allowed us to reach a wider range of small and micro businesses across our Southern Regional Office network. This programme will be pivotal for us as we work to deliver our commitments within our three-year Business Strategy and increase our regional impact across Northern Ireland.”
