Speed of delivery is absolutely key in Heather Boyle’s business. Everything her small company in Co Down produces is fresh – which Boyle believes is what sets her apart from the competition.

She has worked in the food service industry for more than 20 years, but when she took over A Slice of Heaven six years ago there was no guarantee that the business, which specialises in luxury hand-made desserts, was going to flourish.

Today its clients range from restaurant groups to major hotels, coffee chains and retail outlets large and small.

The Newtownards-based business now delivers a tasty annual turnover for Boyle, and staff numbers have risen from two to 12 thanks in part to her decision to expand sales to the Republic and Britain.

Boyle wants to be in constant contact with her customers and particularly likes to interact with them on Facebook. "Good communications," Boyle says, "are absolutely vital to our business."

A Slice of Heaven is more than 10 miles from the outskirts of east Belfast so Boyle is very dependant on the local communications infrastructure.

A major £23.5 million investment is under way across Northern Ireland to improve the infrastructure and broadband technologies. The North was the first region in Europe to have 100 per cent broadband coverage – although some businesses would still argue in certain rural areas that coverage can be patchy and speeds less than they would desire.

Average speed

According to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, local broadband speeds are now the highest in the UK at an average speed of 20.4 Mbps.

Some businesses also have the option of accessing superfast broadband of 24 Mbps or more.

The ongoing Northern Ireland Broadband Improvement Project, which is a collaborative partnership funded by the Department of Enterprise, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Culture Media and BT, is also expected to deliver improved broadband services and faster speeds to more than 45,000 premises in the North, many of whom are located in remote rural areas.

According to Colm O’ Neill, chief executive of BT Northern Ireland, more than 189,000 homes and business currently enjoy superfast broadband but this is set to rise as BT has completed the first two phases of the improvement project which has enabled a further 8,000 homes and business to access improved broadband speeds.

O’ Neill believes that Northern Ireland’s communications infrastructure will play an increasingly important role in not only supporting the local economic recovery but also in helping to attract new inward investors to the region.

Infrastructure

“Great communications infrastructure is critical to economic sustainability and inward investment, but in order to drive growth people need to adopt the technology that is available to them. We want people and businesses in Northern Ireland to get connected - to use the technology,” O’ Neill says.

In his opinion the North’s communications infrastructure is opening up a new world of opportunity for small and medium-sized businesses.

Great job

“Northern Ireland has a very vibrant and competitive SME sector and they are doing a great job but there is definitely an opportunity for them to deliver on a global scale, to explore new opportunities outside of Northern Ireland and grow their businesses through exports.”

O’Neill says one of the questions the group regularly looks at is what do new investors to Northern Ireland need and he says the answer is always the same –- international connectivity.