A fund to encourage inward investors to set up in areas like Derry could help tackle economic disadvantage, the outgoing chief executive of the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce has suggested.
Ann McGregor is stepping down from the role 15 years after she became its first female chief executive in the business organisation's two century long history.
She sat down with Belfast Live this week to share her thoughts on Brexit, political instability in Northern Ireland and the challenges of steering Northern Ireland’s business community through the financial crisis of 2008 and the coronavirus pandemic.
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Originally from Limavady in Co Derry, she also shared her thoughts on what could be done to tackle the economic challenges associated with the North West region of Northern Ireland.
“I joined the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce in 2008 and I was the first female chief executive in their 225-year history,” she said.
“It was at a time when there was a big financial crisis across the world, so it was a challenging time to join an organisation which was there to represent business and also to sell our services to business.
“To be fair, the crisis was primarily a financial and property crisis so there were still a lot of businesses doing well in Northern Ireland in 2008. They were interested in rates relief, they were interested in developing skills, they were interested in transport costs, but those that were in the financial and property sector had all sorts of concerns – particularly with the establishment of NAMA and the NAMA fire sale. Out of that whole thing, access to finances became a big thing so we would have lobbied government to influence banks to make sure they still lent money to small businesses.”
Asked about various challenges she faced over her 15 years at the head of the Chamber of Commerce, she said: “In 2008 it was a financial crisis. But the other thing in Northern Ireland is always peace and stability.
“Businesses are always calling for a stable government that focuses on developing a programme for government, an investment strategy, an infrastructure strategy. It’s easier to do business when you have stable government.
“That was always there and that is still there. But things change across the world. We thought the financial crisis was the biggest thing to ever happen but then we had Covid.
“Businesses were, initially, being shut down. At NI Chamber we were working with other business organisations to get government to recognise that some businesses had to stay open because of supply chains and other things.
“There were all sorts of challenges and as that was happening we had the Brexit referendum. We asked members what they thought. Different businesses had different opinions but the majority definitely wanted to remain.”
She continued: “When the referendum actually came we spent another year trying to get the best deal possible for businesses in Northern Ireland. We were taking surveys and talking to government, saying we need free flow of trade on the island and across the islands.
“We raised concerns about data, about skills, about food standards. At every stage we were raising different things. Even now, we are meeting regularly about the Windsor Framework. We need to keep Northern Ireland open and accessible.”
She added: “We’re talking about finance, about skills, about covid, about Brexit and now it’s climate change, it’s net zero, it’s ESG – environment social and governance strategy.
“In an organisation like ours you have to be on top of the issues facing business all the time, and they change all the time.”
Asked about the particular challenges facing the North West region, she said: “I’m not sure that the North West region has been overlooked but I do think there are challenges. There’s inward investors in areas like Derry. We do have Fujitsu, we do have AllState, we do have FinTru, we have great businesses based in this region.
“We have to make sure the young people have the ability to get into those jobs and I know companies who are doing great work there. Things have changed. I’m thinking of Limavady where we used to have manufacturing plants there - Seagate and others. Things have changed and we’re not attracting the big investors anymore. But the Northern Ireland Protocol has made us a region that is more attractive to manufacturers so that could change again.”
“I do believe there is more opportunity for start-up in the region. I don’t think there’s a co-ordinated approach to start-up at this stage and that’s across Northern Ireland, not just the North West.”
She added: “We need to encourage more indigineous businesses to start, and to help people understand the new career opportunities available and to skill them up.
“There could be a fund set up where you could possibly get more support for going to regions that are under-represented, where there is less employment. When we’re looking at inward investment, we could give them more support than if they were going to other areas where there is more.”
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