Helping start- ups
HEAD OF THE LOCAL ENTERPRISE OFFICE JOHN REILLY TALKS TO SORCHA CROWLEY ABOUT HIS EXCITING ROLE HELPING FLEDGLING ENTREPRENEURS REALISE THEIR DREAMS IN SLIGO
IT sometimes takes an outsider to make you appreciate what you’ve got. Sligo’s go- to man if you’re thinking of setting up in business is John Reilly, a DIY enthusiast who heads up the Local Enterprise Office since April 2014. Prior to that he was CEO of the County Enterprise Board.
“Our main role is to help small and micro- enterprise businesses to set up and to expand,” he explains from his office in City Hall.
“Within that role there are an awful lot of soft supports such as training courses, one- to- one mentoring, workshops. We become involved in initiatives with various agencies where we would also promote what they do.
“We also act as a first- stop- shop type of entity for people looking to set up a large business - we’d direct them on to other agencies.
“We’ll also be able to point them to the local Council services here as well, such as planning and enforcement,” he says.
The Local Enterprise Office, LEO, runs about five ‘ Start your own business’ courses a year with fifteen people - that’s 75 people. The conversion rate is about 65 per cent which is a “decent return for a county the size of Sligo” says John.
Their grant aid is not available to every start up, there must be a unique product or service: “We don’t fund a hairdresser because to do so would be putting someone else out of business,” he says. Manufacturing and craft industries receive funding - “all with unique products, all doing well.”
“We had four companies which were funded to attend the Showcase Creative Expo in Dublin in January. Showcase is a forum for creative enterprises whereby they get together in the RDS in Dublin and meet buyers from overseas,” says John.
“It does translate. One of them got their product into a shop in Dublin Airport and five or six other shops in Dublin - orders straight from Showcase,” he adds.
“Our grant aid is typically the cost of 50 per cent of the product. Up to € 7,500 in employment grants are also available.available “We also look at internationally traded services, we look at tourism projects in the context of employment grants only,” he adds.
As the person charged with boosting enterprise in Sligo, John knows only too well the challenges start- ups face here: “The main challenge which we’re beginning to come through is the downturn in the domestic economy. But there are others. At the moment we are looking at worrying developments in the international arena.
“I’m not an economist but one would have to be concerned aboutwhat’s going on in China in particular, the abnormally low interest rates, the prices of oil.
“To my mind, there’s a constant challenge for all businesses to keep up with technology or they’re going to get left behind.
“We really have some fine companies here in the North West who are doing extraordinarily well and I think at a particular level the challenges are all the same. If they don’t keep on top of it, they lose their competitiveness very very quickly.
“The obvious challenge if you’re living in rural Sligo is inadequate broadband. That is in some cases a huge challenge,” he acknowledges.
In Sligo town however, things are about to get a whole lot faster with the advent of SIRO high- speed broadband.
“I liaise very closely with the council on SIRO - Sligo is going to be the first town in Connacht with ‘ fibre- lit’ as they call it.
“From the first of March the first of that fibre will go into Cranmore and Tonaphubble. SIRO are not a provider, they’re a carrier. It will be available to Vodafone customers - they’re the first company to have a contract with SIRO. From the information I got from them in the last couple of days, by the end of this year, 90 per cent of Sligo city will have access to fibre- optic and the remainder within the first quarter of 2017,” he says.
“We are the first and we should be proud of it. That will be huge for Sligo town,” he adds.
John says Sligo has plenty going for it despite the difficult economic situation.
“You don’t have to sit for hours in traffic - we’re privileged to be giving out if we’re delayed for ten minutes,” he says.
He also points to the strong links forged between local industry and IT Sligo and St Angela’s third level institutions as well as the National Food Centre.
“All of those are on our doorstep. We keep in contact with those bodies and certainly we point all our enquiries to them and we work with them on various projects,” he says.
Originally from Ballindine on the Mayo- Galway border, John got his first taste of enterprise from his parents who ran a shop, a farm. His father worked as a postman and a tailor at various points. On leaving school, he swore he’d never go near a classroom again but went back to complete a degree in Public Management on his own a few years later.
He spent his early career in the private sector, working in textile and upholstery factories until he joined the Disabled Drivers Association of Ireland: “Their determination really inspired me, despite their difficulties.”
John then joined the Department of Enterprise where he was heavily involved in the drafting of the E- Commerce Act 2000 before moving on to EU level: “I was a very regular visitor to Brussels for a long time.”
About fifteen years ago, he and his wife Bernie decided to leave Dublin and moved to Sligo.
“I did an interview here and got it. I’m here ever since and I’ve three children here now, two boys and a girl . I’m not moving,” he smiles. “I’m learning something new here every day,” he adds.
His advice to would- be entrepreneurs? “Come to us. We will advise you for a start on every single element you will require. If you’re looking for expertise, we will get it for you,” he says.
“We don’t know everything but whatever guidance you need, you’ll get it before you walk out the door,” he adds.
COME TO US. WE WILL ADVISE YOU ON EVERY SINGLE ELEMENT. IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR EXPERTISE WE WILL GETIT FOR YOU.