Social Enterprise of the Month - Fermanagh Enterprise Ltd

 

Fermanagh Enterprise Ltd, one of the first Local Enterprise Agencies to be established in Northern Ireland in 1985, represents the vision of a group of local professional and business people who came together to find solutions to the problems of unemployment, through promoting the establishment, development and growth of small businesses.

These objectives are reflected in the company’s Mission Statement – ‘To strengthen the economy of Fermanagh through encouraging, assisting and advising individuals wishing to move to self-employment and set up and grow their own business.’ Fermanagh Enterprise Ltd, which has charitable status, provides a range of different services, including the provision of information and business advice to people wishing to set up a business or to those involved in the running of a small enterprise.

Fermanagh Enterprise Ltd delivers a number of programmes to help start up and existing small businesses. These programmes provide support to individuals and/or businesses at different stages of their development. In general terms, these can be divided into three main categories, namely pre start up, start up and post start up. This includes a free business start up programme which provides an initial one to one advice session to discuss the business idea, a 1 day/2 evening practical course on how to set up and run a business and help and support with the development of a business plan.

A key milestone for the company was its move to its current premises based at Enniskillen Business Centre, a 5 acre site, on the outskirts of Enniskillen. The company had previously been situated in Enniskillen town centre. However in 1997, the company began to build phase 1 of its new premises and has since added 2 extensions. These premises provide 42,000 square feet of work space and comprise of 63 units available to small enterprises, at reasonable rates and on an easy term licence.
The Bite Group is a sandwich and fresh food distributor based in Enniskillen and is a well known successful business in the area. They were originally located in the Enniskillen Business Centre and Fermanagh Enterprise Ltd provided support to the company in the early stages of its growth and development. The flexibility within the Business Centre enabled the Bite Group to move 14 times to different units during their tenancy to accommodate their growth. In 2007, the Bite Group had outgrown the Business Centre and moved into their own factory premises and have continued to go from strength to strength.

Any surpluses generated by Fermanagh Enterprise Ltd are reinvested back into the company to help promote the company’s aims and objectives. Through its activities it makes a significant contribution to help to tackle unemployment, support wealth creation, enabling people to take more responsibility for their economic future and bringing revenue into Co. Fermanagh.

 

Key points:
• Aims to strengthen the economy of Co Fermanagh through encouraging and assisting individuals wishing to move to self-employment and set up and grow their own business.
• Premises provide 42,000 square feet of work space and comprise of 63 units available to small enterprises.
• Surpluses generated by Fermanagh Enterprise Ltd are reinvested back into the company to help promote it’s aims and objectives
• Further information can be found at www.fermanaghenterprise.com