Invest NI’s Ambition to Grow supports 68 local companies across Western Regional Office Network
Invest Northern Ireland’s Ambition to Grow Programme has helped over 68 companies create good jobs and increase external sales across its Western Regional Office network. 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.
Ethna McNamee, Western 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 60 companies across our Western Regional Office network spanning from Fermanagh to Armagh. These companies now plan to create 240 jobs and sell products and services into new markets. The new external sales have the potential to generate £23 million of new business for these companies by 2027.”
Dungannon-based steel structural engineering company, Weldone participated on the programme in 2024. Managing Director, Brian McDonald said: “Ambition to Grow has been transformative for our business. The support we received on the programme helped us to achieve ISO accreditations in fabrication and engineering so that we could break into the ROI market. We have also been able to create 6 new jobs within our fabrication and engineering teams so that we can meet demand and onboard our new customers.”
Enniskillen based metal design company, Monea Metal Designs, participated in Ambition to Grow in 2023. Managing Director, Gerard Meehan said: “We’re planning to create three new jobs to help us target ROI and GB markets following our time on the Ambition to Grow programme. The market development support we have received will be invaluable to help us to target these markets through visits, trade show presence and we’ve already redeveloped our website to increase our online presence in preparation.”
This comes as Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald announced recently that the programme has helped over 250 companies across Northern Ireland plan to create over 800 jobs and generate over £70 million of new business.
Ethna McNamee added: “Ambition to Grow has allowed us to reach a wider range of small and micro businesses across our Western Regional Office network. It is very important to us that we reach new export focused businesses that have not received help from INI previously to deliver our commitments within our three-year Business Strategy and increase our regional impact across Northern Ireland.”
CAPTION:
Pictured L-R: Brian McDonald, Managing Director, Weldone; Ethna McNamee, Western Regional Manager, Invest NI; and Gerard Meehan, Managing Director, Monea Metal Designs.
