Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council, in partnership with Mid & East Antrim Borough Council and Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council, has launched an innovative programme to help local businesses win more business tenders.
Programme Aims and Content
The
FREE programme aims to support the growth of small and micro businesses, providing them with the knowledge and skill to expand in the area of procurement and tender opportunities, increasing competitiveness and helping to create new employment opportunities within the Council areas.
Participating companies can avail of:
- 1 Introductory workshop - this ½ day session will provide an insight into the public procurement process, private sector supply chains, good tender practice and how to avoid common pitfalls.
- 1-to-1 mentoring - where participants learn practical tendering skills e.g. how to register and navigate tender portals, bid library development, tender road mapping, review of previous submissions, support with a live bid etc.
- A series of specialist workshops (various topics & dates available
Participants will also be invited to attend Meet the Buyer events.
Introductory Workshops
Open to any local SME but subject to registration, three introductory workshops have been confirmed to date:
11 September 2019: 9am arrival/9.30am start – Lagan Valley Island Centre, Lisburn
9 October 2019: 7.30am arrival/8.00am start – Mossley Mill, Newtownabbey
13 November 2019: 5.00pm arrival/5.30pm start – ECOS Centre, Ballymena.
Additional workshops are planned before Christmas 2019, so keep an eye on this site!
Eligibility Criteria
Businesses must meet the following criteria:
- Have a registered business address located within one of the participating Council areas;
- Be an SME (including social enterprises) employing less than 50 employees;
- Be actively trading for a minimum of 12 months and not receiving any similar assistance from elsewhere;
- Not be an Invest NI client (or be able to demonstrate the approval of their Invest NI Client Executive to participate on the programme); and,
- Ability to create jobs and are operating in markets where there are viable tender opportunities relevant to their business services in the UK and beyond.
Interested?
180 places are available, but with almost 13,400 VAT-registered businesses registered across the three council regions, places are very limited and interest is already high. For more information and to register for the workshops, please contact
Laura Kearney at Envision Management Consultants on 02890 452777 or
laurak@envision-ni.co.uk .
Project Funding
The programme is funded through the participating Councils, Invest NI and the European Regional Development Fund under the Investment for Growth and Jobs (Northern Ireland 2014-2020) Programme (EUIGJ) Local Economic Development Measure.
Innovation and Funding Officer