The National Enterprise Hub is a new one-stop shop aimed at helping businesses access the vast range of supports available to them through Government departments and agencies. The free-to-access service collates more than 180 Government supports from 24 departments and State agencies which can be accessed through an online portal or by speaking to a member of the team of advisers by phone or via live chat.
The resource is intended to make it easier for entrepreneurs to avail of supports such as grants, funding, loans and expert advice. It is also designed to reach out to businesses that have yet to avail of Government support.
“Running a business isn’t easy, but accessing Government supports should be,” says Enterprise Ireland head of global marketing communications Conor O’Donovan, who also heads up the National Enterprise Hub.
“While there is a huge range of Government supports available to SMEs in Ireland, our research has shown businesses are facing a more complex environment and often don’t have time to search for supports. This has been in part due to the challenges of navigating the broad network of supports and trying to figure out which grants, funding and training programmes their business might be eligible for.”
The National Enterprise Hub has been designed to change that for the better. “It will ensure that Irish SMEs get the support they need to grow their business and become more productive, energy efficient, digitalised and sustainable,” O’Donovan adds. “It’s an all-of-Government initiative run by Enterprise Ireland on behalf of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE). It’s effectively a citizens information service for businesses and it makes it much easier to access and navigate the supports available to them.
“At Enterprise Ireland, we support a wide range of companies, from start-ups to established SMEs and even multinationals, on their journeys to scale, develop new capabilities and achieve global ambition. We’ve put our expertise to work to design and deliver a streamlined service that connects business owners with the most relevant Government supports to help your enterprises flourish.”
The agencies involved include those with a broad general business support remit, such as Enterprise Ireland, the Local Enterprise Office Network, IDA Ireland, InterTrade Ireland, training body Skillnet Ireland and further education body Solas, along with multiple Government departments. These include the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Department of Finance, the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
Information and resources on supports for specific sectors are accessible through the hub, including from Bord Bia, Fáilte Ireland, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, Teagasc and the Design and Crafts Council Ireland. Specialist finance agencies MicroFinance Ireland and the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland are also connected to the hub, as are Gaeltacht business support agency Údarás na Gaeltachta and the Western Development Commission.
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With the help of the hub, any business, big or small, can discover and learn about how to access funding, upskilling and other supports to which they may be entitled, and will be put directly in touch with personnel in the appropriate agency that administers the support relevant to their need.
The new service has its origins in the SME Taskforce established by the Government in 2020. “It recommended very strongly that a hub like this be set up and that it be delivered in a way that had the business owner at its centre,” says O’Donovan. “We have been working with DETE and the other partners to make it work. All the departments and agencies saw the value of it immediately and got on board straight away.”
While having access to supports on a single website is a big step forward, business owners still value the personal touch. “We carried out a lot of research in advance of setting up the hub,” O’Donovan points out. “Not only did SME owners say they hadn’t the time to look at all the different websites to find the supports they might need, they also said speaking to someone on the phone would help.”
That resulted in the hub being staffed by advisers who can guide small business owners and managers every step of the way to finding the support they need.
“We have a six-strong team of advisers in the hub, which is based at Enterprise Ireland headquarters,” says O’Donovan. “The advisers have been trained on the various different supports available and they’ve developed an excellent network of contacts across all 24 agencies and departments, so they can quickly and efficiently connect business owners and managers to the right people.
“Businesspeople can pick up the phone and get advice on what the most relevant starting point is for them. It could be their Local Enterprise Office, the SEAI, Bord Bia, or a number of other agencies. The aim is to simplify the journey for businesses and SMEs. Business owners are very busy and their time is precious. We take the legwork out of it for them.”
The hub can be accessed at neh.gov.ie or call 01 727 2100, Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm, to speak to a business adviser.