Council’s third Enterprise Week hailed as great success

Fermanagh and Omagh District Council has been delighted with the response to its third Enterprise Week which delivered well over 20 free and innovative business support events in a wide range of venues within the district.

Almost 1000 people from across the district attended a wide spectrum of topical business related seminars, workshops, talks and training events during the week-long programme of events.

Numerous locations  across the Fermanagh and Omagh district were used for the convenience of the local business community to enable them to maximise the opportunity to avail of the range of specialist events delivered by leading industry experts throughout the week.

The Council was keen to ensure that a vast array of topics, relevant to the needs of the local business community was covered during the five-day event and offered a huge spectrum of advice and guidance on subjects such as how to tender for  contracts, how to employ the right people, an introduction to social enterprise and a host of digital-focussed seminars and workshops.

As part of Enterprise Week the Enterprise Centres in Omagh and Enniskillen also opened their doors with staff available to offer free advice and guidance on all sorts of business matters including starting a business, market research and making pricing work for your business.

During the week there were two events celebrating female entrepreneurs in Omagh and Fermanagh, “She Means Business” in conjunction with Women in Business and one of the final events of the week was a morning with celebrated actress and comedienne, Nuala McKeever celebrating International Women’s Day was held in Enniskillen.

Enterprise Week also focussed on the tourist industry with two extremely well attended tourism themed events.  Dr Peter Bolan, Director of Travel and Tourism Management at the Ulster University led an interactive and thought provoking session on planning for sustainable tourism in Fermanagh while in Omagh the tourism event concentrated on the topical subject of blogging for tourism.

On the penultimate day of Enterprise Week, Alan Shortt, a communications coach and RTE television presenter made a welcome return to the district to present an interactive communication skills workshop “5 Steps to Communication Success”

Other events throughout the week including Employability Open Days organised by ASPIRE in both Omagh and Enniskillen and Omagh was the venue for Omagh Careers Fair 2019 which is part sponsored by the Council.  The day long event was open to the public and Year 12 pupils from almost a dozen schools and colleges from the area were also invited to attend.

Speaking about the resounding success of the five-day event, the Chairman of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, Councillor Howard Thornton said the Council had been elated by the response to Enterprise Week.

“The Council is conscious of the crucial importance of SMEs to our district and has always strived to offer as much help and assistance to this valuable sector as possible.  It is therefore encouraging to note that so many businesses from throughout the area were able to avail of advice and guidance from such a diverse variety of events,” he said.

“SMEs are the lifeblood of the local economy and we have listened to and taken on board what support our businesses out there need and want.  Indeed feedback from those who attended events during Enterprise Week has been extremely positive and encouraging and I know the support we offered during the week, and continue to do throughout the year will go some way to help our businesses grow and contribute greater to the local economy”, Councillor Thornton added.

“Apart from Enterprise Week the Council is currently offering a selection of business mentoring support to all our local businesses covering a vast array of topics including business start-up, assistance for fledgling and growing businesses, tendering and digital support. We as a Council are proud of our indigenous business base and we will continue to work tirelessly to provide an appropriate and tailored range of business support programmes to all businesses throughout this area,” he added.

Further information on all of these programmes can be found on the Fermanagh and Omagh District Council website.