Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Mary Coughlan T.D. today launched Bord Bia Vantage, Centre of Excellence for Small Business, a suite of services aimed to support the growth of small Irish food, drink and horticulture companies, with a turnover of up to €3.5million. There are currently over 350 Irish food, drink and horticulture companies within this turnover band.
Bord Bia Vantage is a unique suite of services effectively using technology and networking to mobilise the resources of knowledge and expertise to owner/managers. The services on offer will evolve as the needs of the small business sector develop further and will become the preferred partner of choice for any business servicing this sector.
The Bord Bia Vantage consists of three service platforms, designed to attract small businesses at varying levels of development:
Vantage Point – an extensive web-based resource guide available on www.bordbiavantage.ie. This unique website offers owner/managers free access to best practice information and practical expert advice on a wide range of commercial business activities, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. In an easy to navigate style, Vantage Point content includes practical information on key business areas including start up, development and marketing.
Vantage Plus – provides specific, practical information and advice on key business issues vital for longer term business growth through workshops, seminars, online guides and directories. Topics include distribution, product innovation, market knowledge and branding. The workshops take place throughout the country making them easily accessible to owner/managers’ nationwide.
Vantage Partner – is a business development programme which is delivered via group workshops and a series of one to one mentoring sessions over an 18 month period. It is targeted at ambitious owner/managers wishing to achieve sales growth of scale, via the adoption of international best practice marketing and sales processes and procedures.
Minister Coughlan on launching the initiative today commented “Bord Bia Vantage services are designed to support the growing needs of small and medium enterprises. As companies grow and develop, so too will the level of support they require and the Bord Bia Vantage services is designed to meet those evolving needs. We have the products to compete with the best in the world but in an increasingly competitive marketplace, marketing that quality product to maximum advantage is key”.
Angela Kennedy, Chairman, Bord Bia commented “Bord Bia Vantage, Centre of Excellence for Small Business, is our commitment to the small business sector and the journey continues today with a major new resource for owner/managers in the this sector. The small and speciality food sector in Ireland has an estimated turnover of €475 million per annum, growing its share of the high potential €6 billion Irish and UK specialty food market and currently has an estimated employment level in excess of 3,000 people. The services on offer from today will provide small business owner/managers with the means to access best practice food business resources, expertise and processes, when and where they need them. This will enable them to excel in their market – be it existing, new or emerging, at home or in export markets”.
Bord Bia has long recognised the importance of the small food business sector and commenced a programme of services designed specifically for the needs of small firms in 1996. The programme was developed and established to respond to the different needs of owner/managed small food firms – i.e. those without formal marketing structures. This new development of service provision is the latest stage in Bord Bia’s strategy for the Small Business Sector.
For further information on Bord Bia Vantage, Centre of Excellence for Small Business, visit www.bordbiavantage.ie or contact the Bord Bia’s Small Business Team on 01 6685155 / vantage@bordbia.ie