Priority 1.1 Enterprise
PROJECT: NORTH WEST CONSTRUCTION NETWORKING PROJECT
Lead Council: Magherafelt District Council
Partners:North West Region Cross Border Group (Lead Partner) Derry City Council, Donegal County Council, Limavady Borough Council & Strabane District Council
Timeframe: April 2011 – March 2015
Budget: £336,889 (£297,889 – Grant / £39,000 Business Contribution)
The NW Construction Networking project seeks to create a regional business cluster for the construction sector, which has been particularly negatively affected by the economic downturn.
Businesses recruited vary in size and turnover and include construction firms, architects, engineers, manufacturers of construction products, roofing, insulation and ventilation contractors and many more.
The project helped participating businesses increase their market share, enhance their access to the British market and increase their investment in innovation and product development. The project also explored opportunities which aided member businesses to become more competitive by developing new cross border business relationships.
Full Circle Management Solutions were appointed to deliver the first stage of the programme which saw a proactive marketing campaign to recruit businesses across the 5 Council areas, in all 90 businesses attended 6 regional information seminars. Following on from this 93 businesses completed detailed business audits. The audits identified the areas of support needed by the firms and this has informed the programme of work to be delivered for the remainder of the project.
Full Circle also delivered the second and third phase of the programme which ran from January 2014 to February 2015. This phase of activity provided a series of skills development workshops to businesses, tailored one-to-one mentoring support to owner-managers, a number of “Meet the Buyer” events and also best practice study visits.
To date100% of target uptake has been secured with 80 businesses from across the 5 Council areas confirming their ongoing participation.
The project will enable greater working and partnership development between companies while also strengthening individual firms, ensuring a competitive future for those involved in the North West Cross Border Region’s construction industry.
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