03/11/2015 - 41 new Fingal jobs to be created as confidence grows for Recession Start-Ups

Press Release                                                                                                    Tuesday, 03 November 2015

41 new Fingal jobs to be created as confidence grows for “Recession Start-Ups”

Fingal Local Enterprise Office approves almost €200,000 in grant funding to 11 businesses in the latest tranche of approvals. 18 jobs will be created immediately with a further 23 coming on stream in 2016. “Recession start-ups” poised for significant growth.

The Fingal Local Enterprise Office (LEO) has announced that it has just approved almost €200,000 in grant funding for small businesses. The vast majority of the investment (€180K) is being used to enable small and early stage businesses to take on new key members of staff.

Speaking at the announcement of the new jobs, Oisin Geoghegan Head of Enterprise in Fingal County Council noted how the jobs were being created:

“Of the 11 businesses that we have approved for funding this month, two are feasibility studies, two are start-ups, whereas seven are businesses that were set up during the recession. We call these our “Recession Start-Ups”, that is, businesses that have set up during the recession and are now set to capitalise on the upturn in the economy. This is a very positive sign that small businesses are feeling confident in their medium term future”.

During 2015 so far, Fingal LEO has approved almost €750,000 in funding for 39 small businesses. 150 jobs, 66 of which have recently come online, will be created over the next 12-18 months. Of this funding, €270,000 is “repayable”, meaning that the LEO will be able to re-use this portion when it is repaid over time. “This represents excellent value for money for the taxpayer”, explained Oisin Geoghegan. “By recycling our funding, we are not only enabling these businesses to create employment now, but we will also be able to invest the repaid funds into future business start-ups”.

Of the 39 businesses funded during 2015, 20 were business start-ups, with 12 business expansions and 7 feasibility study/innovation grants.

Chief Executive at Fingal County Council, Paul Reid, welcomed the latest jobs announcement: “I greatly admire innovators and entrepreneurs. But you really have to take your hat off to those individuals that identified opportunities when the economy was contracting. They took risks to start-up innovative businesses when many thought that the tide was against them. They are now deservedly very well placed to benefit from the upturn in our economic fortunes. It is very encouraging to see local small businesses that started up during the recession now expanding and having confidence to grow and invest in their budding workforce. Our Local Enterprise Office is actively seeking out and identifying new and aspiring entrepreneurs that may have a good idea for a business and need some guidance and support along the way”.

Describing the types of business that have been funded in the latest round, Oisin Geoghegan stated: “We have a great mix of businesses this month from various sectors including manufacturing, food processing, international regulatory services, online training, skincare, international services, software and I.T. All of them are internationally trading or manufacturing businesses and several have strong potential to grow their export sales. All are currently employing less than 10 staff (as this is a requirement for LEO funding), and all have great plans to continue their growth trajectory”.

He continued: “The businesses are located in various areas including Skerries, Rush, Balbriggan, Finglas, Ballycoolin, Mulhuddart and Blanchardstown”.

ENDS

 

Photos of Chief Executive Paul Reid and Head of Enterprise Oisin Geoghegan are available by contacting Fingal County Council Press Office press@fingal.ie

For media queries, please contact Oisín Geoghegan, Head of Enterprise in Fingal, on: Tel: 01 8900 800 or 087-9884081. E-mail: oisin@leo.fingal.ie.