Western Regional Office
With offices in Craigavon and Omagh, the Western Regional Office team works with businesses across the council areas of Fermanagh & Omagh, Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon and Mid Ulster who are seeking to grow turnover, exports, and employment.
We provide a range of support to help our export focused businesses think strategically and achieve greater export sales. The team works with local and international businesses across a breadth of sectors including Advanced Engineering and Manufacturing, Agri-Food, Construction, Life & Health Sciences and Digital & Creative Technologies.
We work in partnership with stakeholders including local councils, Tourism NI, FE Colleges, InterTrade Ireland, Enterprise NI, Chamber of Commerce and other support providers for SME's.
Western Regional Office supported business performance
Over the last five years we have offered over £118m of support to local and international businesses in the regional office area. This support has the potential to generate over £596m of investment in the economy and help create 4,353 new jobs.
More detail on our work in each specific council area is detailed below.
Council areas covered by the Western Regional Office
Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon Borough Council
Over the last five years we have provided support of £53m to 514 businesses based in the council area. Our support will contribute to a potential £234m of investment in the local economy and the creation of 1,310 new jobs.
The council area supports a breadth of sectors including Agri-Food, Advanced Engineering and Manufacturing, Life & Health Sciences, Digital & Creative Technologies. This year, 47 percent of the support we offered in the local area was in the Advanced Engineering and Manufacturing sector, resulting in almost £10m company investment.
You can find more detail on the business make-up of the area and our specific support in the following briefing:
Download the Invest Northern Ireland Council Briefing for the Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon Borough Council area (PDF)
Our support included over £1m of Local Economic Development funding to the council to meet business needs identified in the council's Community & Corporate Plans and Regeneration Strategy. This support was part funded by ERDF, under the Investment for Growth and Jobs Programme 2014-2020.
Council led programmes include:
- Win More Business Procurement Development Programme
- Transform Your Business Young Entrepreneurs Support
- Transform Your Business Early Export Support/First Steps to Exporting
- Transform Your Business Social Enterprise Support
- Transform your Business Digital Transformation Action Plans
- Transform Your Business Innovation Support
- Transform Your Business Digital- Tech Enterprise Support Programme
Fermanagh & Omagh District Council
Between 2017-18 and 2021-22 we provided support of £18m to 298 businesses based in the District. This support, combined with company investment, has the potential to realise £93m of investment in the local economy and lead to the creation of 884 new jobs.
The region supports a breadth of sectors including Advanced Manufacturing & Engineering, Agri-food, Construction, Digital & Creative Technologies & Business Services. Last year we saw a significant 157 percent increase in the number of new jobs to be created by businesses in the Digital & Creative Technologies sector.
You can find more detail on the business make-up of the area and our specific support in the following briefing:
Download the Invest Northern Ireland Council Briefing for the Fermanagh & Omagh District Council area (PDF)
Our support included £980,000 of Local Economic Development funding to the council to meet business needs identified in the council's Community and Corporate Plans. This support was part funded by ERDF, under the Investment for Growth and Jobs Programme 2014-2020.
Council led programmes include:
Mid Ulster District Council
We provide a range of support for employment, trade, exporting, skills and R&D activities. In particular we support businesses seeking to grow in markets outside Northern Ireland.
Over the last five years we have supported 558 businesses based in the Mid Ulster area. We have offered £47m of support which will contribute to potential investment of £269m in the local economy and help create 2,159 new jobs.
Over the past year investment by companies in the local District Council area has increased from £26m to over £40m. 67 percent of our assistance was to the Advance Engineering and Manufacturing and Construction sectors, large employers with some high performing businesses.
You can find more detail on the business make-up of the area and our specific support in the following briefing:
Download the Invest Northern Ireland Council Briefing for the Mid Ulster District Council area (PDF)
Our support included £1.2m of Local Economic Development funding to the council to meet business needs identified in the council's Community & Corporate Plans and MEGA strategy for the Mid Ulster engineering sector. This support was part funded by ERDF, under the Investment for Growth and Jobs Programme 2014-2020.
Council led programmes include:
Entrepreneurship
We are keen to hear from entrepreneurs who want to start, build or scale new businesses or ideas; so if you have an idea for a new business, a new product, service, business model or a new market opportunity, the Western Regional Office can help. We provide advice, guidance and financial assistance to support entrepreneurs through the business development process from ideation through to commercialisation.
We also work in partnership with councils, local enterprise agencies, accelerators and further education colleges, providing early stage business startups with a growth pathway that ensures access to the right advice and support at each crucial stage of development
Find out more about support for Innovation on the innovateni.com website
Invest Northern Ireland support
We work directly and indirectly with businesses across Northern Ireland.
Our approach to supporting businesses is based on three key elements:
- Providing information and advice, directly and through a range of information services
- Providing support to people wanting to set up their own business and helping new and existing businesses grow and move into new markets
- Providing tailored support to businesses that can make the greatest contribution to increasing productivity, innovation and export growth in Northern Ireland
Regional Manager - Ethna McNamee
Ethna is the Invest Northern Ireland Western Regional Office Manager and has been involved in economic development for more than 30 years.
Prior to taking on the role of Regional Manager, Ethna has worked in a number of roles for Invest NI, previously working as a Client Executive managing a portfolio of growing companies across a range of sectors including Food, Advanced Manufacturing and Construction. She has also worked managing the Western Innovation Network on behalf of Invest NI and the Social Enterprise Hubs Programme.
Not sure that this support is right for you? Contact us and we can explore options for your business together.
