Mid Ulster Business Development Programme

The “Mid Ulster Business Development Programme” was designed by Mid Ulster District Council to increase the sustainability and competitiveness of micro/SME’s in the Mid Ulster Council by providing one to one tailored assistance in a number of key business areas, which included; Business Plan (Invest NI Standard); Sales and Marketing; Effective Pricing; Human Resource Management; Financial Management and Quality Standards (compliant to UK Industry Standards).

The Mid Ulster Business Development Programme has successfully completed the programme evaluation. Cookstown Enterprise Centre was the assigned delivery agent with the Mid Ulster District Council area for this programme and are happy to report the following results, as at December 2016.

Targets	Achieved (√ or x)	Results / Outputs
To recruit, audit and provide up to 3.5 days’ one to one consultancy support to a minimum of 20 businesses	√	Target Met 20 Businesses recruited and mentored on the programme
Job Creation – Create a minimum of 4 new jobs	√	Target Exceeded 11 new jobs have been created (Dec 2016) to the value of £220,480
Job Retention – Sustain a minimum of 20 existing jobs	√	Target Exceeded Collective increased turnover by an average of 25% by December 201680% of businesses achieved a 5% (or more) increase in turnover (Dec 16) with a further £138,496 generated by those businesses that had an increase in turnover just under the 5% – combined total £955,496 90% of businesses projected to achieve a 5% (or more) increase in turnover within 1 year of participating on the programme
Follow on Support – All 20 businesses to be provided with written information detailing all other relevant sources of support	√	Target Exceeded All 20 businesses provided with written information detailing 110 other sources of relevant support
Accessed Follow on Support – Minimum of 10 businesses to access follow on support from other support providers	√	Target Exceeded 16 businesses (80%) have accessed 30 individual signposting programmes/initiatives as a result of the programme valued at £119,258
Total Economic Value		£1,175,757

Testimonials

‘My mentor helped developed a series of worksheets on Excel that allow us to calculate, for example, the actual cost of a particular menu item by breaking down each ingredient and costing it out. I found the mentor excellent at bringing practical solutions to the table and showing a lot of empathy to the extra burdens that face a small, rural business in a town with little footfall’.

Neil Hyndman – The Auction Room Coffee Shop

‘Great mentor/ programme – glad I applied – my business has got so much out of it, that will enviably result in new customers, sales and turnover’

Darren Mallaghan – Sign Reload