Attendees: Lord Rana, NICCI
Wilfred Mitchell, FSB
Terri Scott, Invest NI
Fiona Hepper, DETI
Michael Brennan, DFP
Bernie O’Hare,
Philip Rodgers, DETI
Stephen Moore, DETI
Welcome and Minutes of Last Meeting
1. Lord Rana welcomed members to the 6th meeting of the Forum's Enterprise Sub-group and noted apologies from Patricia McKeown.
2. The minutes of the 5th meeting were agreed without amendment.
NI Bureau in
3. Lord Rana reminded members that Tim Losty had been unable to attend the 5th Sub-group meeting and although he had offered to discuss the marketing of NI via a video link the length of the agenda had not permitted this. As Tim’s next visit to NI was too close to Christmas, it was agreed that the Secretariat would contact OFMDFM to find out if an official would be available to discuss the Bureau’s marketing of NI, in place of Tim Losty.
4. Lord Rana noted OFMDFM had advised that whilst it could send an official to a Sub-group meeting, it would strongly recommend that the Sub-group should contact with Tim directly either by way of a video link or arrange Tim’s attendance at a meeting in the future.
5. It was agreed direct contact with Tim would be beneficial and that the Secretariat should liaise with Tim to arrange his attendance or participation in a meeting at some point in the future, if possible when the Sub-Group starts to progress its action that relates to the marketing of NI.
ACTION: Secretariat to liaise with Tim Losty.
Meeting with Entrepreneurs
6. Terri Scott drew members’ attention to Invest NI’s Hall of Fame DVD, which could also be accessed from Invest NI’s website, noting it contained a number of video interviews with successful NI entrepreneurs. She then suggested a number of entrepreneurs with whom members may wish to engage.
7. It was agreed that members would like to engage with 2-3 entrepreneurs at the next Sub-group meeting. An entrepreneur who was well established, an entrepreneur who was up and coming and an entrepreneur who had returned home to set up a business.
ACTION: Secretariat to liaise with Terri Scott and arrange the attendance of appropriate entrepreneurs at the Sub-group’s next meeting.
Sub-group Workprogramme
8. Fiona Hepper drew attention to the draft work programme circulated with papers, noting that it had been amended to reflect views and comments received from Invest NI and the Business Alliance.
9. A number of further minor amendments were noted.
10. In relation to tourism, members agreed that this important sector must be included in the workprogramme and agreed that NITB would be invited to the next Sub-group meeting to discuss a priority action for tourism.
ACTION: Secretariat to arrange NITB representation at the next Sub-group meeting.
11. Fiona Hepper asked for volunteers to take the lead on the actions identified in the work programme and the following leads were agreed.
Lord Rana – Exports
Wilfred Mitchell – Accelerating Entrepreneurship
Seamus McAleavey – Attitudes to Risk
DETI / Invest NI – Marketing
Sub-group Report to December Plenary
12. Members agreed the draft report to the December plenary meeting of the Forum.
Any Other Business
13. Lord Rana noted that in order to encourage an enterprise culture in NI it was important to recognise the importance of, and encourage, existing businesses to be more enterprising and grow. Noting that unforeseen and unplanned administrative barriers could add to the costs and critically delay enterprise projects, he suggested that consideration might be given to the appointment of a facilitator or ombudsman. The role of the facilitator or ombudsman, who would be from a private sector background, would be to encourage Departments to be more aware of enterprise. In particular, Lord Rana noted that the key role of the facilitator or ombudsman would be to help companies overcome barriers that prevent or delay enterprise opportunities (e.g. planning).
14. Following a short discussion it was agreed that it might be useful to invite some Invest NI Client Executives to the next Sub-group meeting to explore Lord Rana’s proposal further.
ACTION: Secretariat to arrange with Invest NI.