Hard work is getting two new businesses up and running in Grange village centre
WHEN Eadaoin Murray decided to move back to her native Sligo she knew it wasn’t going to be easy to find work.
With a background in crafts and a love of furniture restoration, she made the leap and started her ‘ Wooden It Be Nice’ business in Grange.
Her biggest challenge was finding a premises in Sligo.
“I’m living in Riverstown so initially I thought I’d get a unit in Sligo but rents and rates are very expensive in Sligo town. There’s no budge,” she told this newspaper.
“It seems a lot of landlords in Sligo are quiet happy for units to sit idle than offer any incentive or have any interest in letting places out,” she said.
She came across her outlet on the main road through Grange which suited her budget and ensures plenty of passing trade from the N15.
As a ‘ start- up’, Eadaoin is positive about Government support: “There’s tax incentives and a little bit of funding initially for setting up, not always easy to access because of all the ‘ hoops’. You have to dig to find it but I found it quite good. It comes down to people pushing themselves a little bit,” she said.
Another new business in Grange is Lissadell Oils which opened up last September by Stephen Brady and his wife.
“There was nothing like this in the village so we decided to try push the heating oil fuel business and then we brought the agri- food store with it as these premises were so good,” Stephen told The Sligo Champion. He and his wife are currently working seven days a week to get the business off the ground.
“If you invent something or make something, you get these big grants to make machines but you get nothing here. We have two full time staff, myself, my wife and a part time staff employed here you be thinking you’d get something, providing three jobs. The banks aren’t very helpful even though they say they are. We have done everything ourselves here. It’d be nice if some developments around here were tided up,” he added.