Bank of Ireland hosts local firms during National Enterprise Week

Bank of Ireland recently held its second annual National Enterprise Week, with the aim of helping to get small businesses back on their feet. The week-long initiative from 24th to 28th May was open to both customers and non-customers and featured over 60 tailored advice seminars and showcased opportunities for small businesses across its branch network. Ninety per cent of companies in Ireland employ less than 50 people and so by definition are small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs). "What's more, something approaching half of the total workforce in the country is employed by SMEs," according to Gerry Prizeman, regional manager with Bank of ireland North-East. "We are doing this to support the SME sector. The lifeblood of every town, every city is the small- to medium-sized enterprises. They generate a huge amount of local employment and they are generally very supportive of other local businesses as well. The intention behind National Enterprise Week was to give businesses access to a market they might not normally have access to, capitalising on the banks footfall and network with other business-owners," he added. A selection of businesses took part in National Enterprise Week and showed their businesses in the Meath branches. Premier House and the Headfort Arms Hotel were some of the companies which exhibited in Kells during Show Your Business week. Trim branch hosted, amongst others, Something Special Florists and cake and dessert supplier Andrea Mekitarian. At Ratoath branch, exhibitors included Sarah McCann, Designmyhome, and Paul Sweeney of Eurospar. Some of the companies which exhibited in Dunboyne were Image Photography, Drennan's Office Supplies and Merlina Jewellery. Exhibitors in Bank of Ireland, Dunshaughlin, included Joe Laird Woodturning, Mary Tinnelly from Dunshaughlin Dress Hire and Chantelle Boutique. Bank of Ireland, Kells, branch hosted a business evening on 'Open for Business and Supporting Local Business'. Presenters included Denis Bergin, Head of Retail Intermediary Banking, Bank of Ireland; Jess Olohan, president of Kells Chamber of Commerce, and local customer, Michael Keaveney, a Kells-based solicitor. Sheila Giles, manager of Bank of Ireland in Kells, said: "We had at least 40 attendees and we got fantastic feedback from them all. My staff was really outstanding, between networking and feeding the customers. I received such positive feedback from the all present, both customers and non-customers. Well worth all the effort, plus the branch looked fantastic with the different displays." Bank of Ireland in Trim organised an open discussion evening to discuss the topic 'Opening an Enterprise Centre in Trim' and invited 42 local Trim companies to participate in the meeting. The event was hosted by the Chamber of Commerce and David McHugh who completed a feasibility study on having an enterprise centre in Trim. A business evening also was held in Bank of Ireland, Dunshaughlin, with over 30 attendees. The theme of the event was based on 'Managing Your Business in 2010'. Presenters included Vivien Rountree, North-East Regional Business Manager, Bank of Ireland; Mary Rohan, Bank of Ireland, Dunshaughlin, branch manager, and Larry O'Connor from Ranking Smartz, who gave advice on search engine optimisation and online marketing. Bank of Ireland, Ashbourne, organised a business networking evening as did Bank of Ireland, Navan, on the theme of 'Credit management and how to package an application for lending'.