Following on from it’s success earlier in the year, Bank of Ireland is hosting another National Enterprise Week with the aim of boosting the entrepreneurial spirit in the small and medium-sized business sector

BANK OF IRELAND is to hold another National Enterprise Week event from Friday next, November 19th, to Friday, November 26th. This follows on the hugely successful Enterprise Week last May. During that week, more than 5,000 businesses participated by attending one of the dozens of advisory and networking events throughout the State. Almost 1,500 individual businesses availed of the opportunity to showcase their products and services in branches at a series of specially organised Show Your Business events.

“We had a tremendous response to National Enterprise Week in May, and that showed us the entrepreneurial spirit that still exists in Ireland, and we are running Enterprise Week again to support and nurture that spirit. Ireland’s economic recovery will be led by the small and medium-sized business sector and we will play our role in supporting the recovery by supporting those businesses,” says Bank of Ireland’s head of small business Michael Lauhoff.

“We want to let businesses and entrepreneurs know that Bank of Ireland is there to support viable businesses and that we want to provide them with financial support, advice and direction. The week will offer entrepreneurs the opportunity to

meet and chat with experts, to network with other businesses and gain encouragement from other people who are thinking about setting up a business of their own,” says Lauhoff.

“One of the most encouraging aspects of the last Enterprise Week was the positive attitude which is starting to emerge among the vast majority of the participants,” Lauhoff says. “The focus was firmly on making their business stronger and better for the future in order to prepare for a return to growth. This was in line with all of the economic indicators last May which were very positive and people generally believed we had turned the corner.”

Subsequent events caught almost everyone by surprise, however. “The sovereign debt crisis had a knock-on effect on markets everywhere, and confidence took a battering,” says Lauhoff. “At one point, commentators were talking about existential threats to the euro and the EU itself. The continued fragility of the US recovery also had a negative impact on the markets, and this had a significant effect on Ireland’s economic performance and set us back quite a bit.”

Nevertheless, Lauhoff still believes Ireland is on the right path to recovery. “That hugely positive spirit we encountered in May should give us all cause for confidence,” he says. “Well over a thousand small and medium-sized businesses took part in the Show Your Business events in branches around the country. For the most part, these were young, innovative businesses which were looking forward to growth in the near term. The energy and enthusiasm of the entrepreneurs taking part was palpable. That energy will play a major role in the recovery and Bank of Ireland is keen to play its part in helping to harness it.

“The message from entrepreneurs such as Sean Gallagher and Bobby Kerr who participated in events during the week was also hugely encouraging,” Lauhoff adds. “They were pointing out that recessions can be good times to start businesses; they showed people that a downturn throws up opportunities for business.”

And despite the current gloom relating to the public finances and the international bond markets, positive trends are once more beginning to reassert themselves in the economy. “We have seen unemployment levels fall for two consecutive months for the first time in many years; exports continue to grow after the slight blip during the summer; the retail trade has done a tremendous job in adjusting to the new situation; and the motor trade has also proved itself remarkably resilient following a truly appalling year in 2009,” he adds. “These are all heartening signs and give us reasons to be cautiously optimistic for 2011.”

Looking forward to the next National Enterprise Week later this month, Lauhoff explains that the purpose is to reach out to business and show them the full range of support they can get from Bank of Ireland. “Finance is just one element in the support package we offer businesses,” he explains. “Perhaps the most important part of that package is advice. We have made a significant investment in further training for our business banking staff in our branches throughout the country to enable them provide high-quality advice to business. One of the main objectives of Enterprise Week is to get the message across to entrepreneurs and business owners that we are there to help, and that they should call into their local branch to see what we have to offer.

“It is our genuine belief that entrepreneurs and small business will be at the heart of the recovery,” he adds. “And it is important that businesses can get relevant advice and support where and when they need it, and Bank of Ireland wishes to play its part in providing that.

“National Enterprise Week aims to allow SMEs to access an array of information, advice, support and ideas to help them develop, run, expand their businesses in the present very challenging environment.”

For more information on Bank of Irelands National Enterprise Week,

see allaboutbusiness.ie or contact

your local Bank of Ireland branch