DERRY City and Strabane District Council are seeking applications from small businesses interested in learning more about selling to the public sector.
The programme is completely free of charge and is part of Council’s Business Innovation and Growth (BIG) Programme which is part-funded by Invest NI and the European Regional Development Fund under the Investment for Growth and Jobs Northern Ireland [2014 – 2020] Programme.
The Selling to the Public Sector programme will be delivered by Full Circle Management Solutions and involves three workshops aimed at laying the foundations for business growth.
The workshops will cover understanding the public sector landscape in the North of Ireland, preparing to respond to a public sector quoting / tendering opportunity, and keeping focused on public sector opportunities following completion of the programme. These workshops will take place from December 2020 to February 2021.
Participants will also have access to bespoke one-to-one mentoring from an experienced consultant who will work with them to help them to gear up to explore and target new business opportunities with public sector buyers.
In total, businesses will be entitled to three days one-to-one mentoring through the programme.
The workshops and mentoring sessions will all be delivered through Zoom due to Covid-19 restrictions.
To apply, businesses must be based in the Council area, employ less than 50 employees and have growth potential over the next few years.
Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Cllr Brian Tierney, encouraged all to take part.
“Every year, public sector organisations, such as government departments, local councils and other agencies, spend more than £2 billion on a massive cross section of products and services.
“Whilst many people still believe that it is only the largest businesses that can win public sector contracts, this is far from the case. In fact, public sector buyers actively encourage small businesses to bid for contracts.
“The core aim of the Selling to the Public Sector Programme is, therefore, to highlight how accessible public sector sales opportunities are for small businesses in Northern Ireland and to show participant businesses how to move from talking about targeting public sector customers to actually doing it.”
Mayor Tierney continued: “This is an excellent free programme being delivered as part of our wider BIG programme, and at a crucial time for all businesses – especially smaller ones – it will provide helpful and useful support and guidance and could totally transform the way that you work.
“I would encourage all eligible businesses to apply as soon as possible because spaces are certain to go very quickly.”
To apply, email Patrick at Full Circle [email protected] or call 07932 569698.
Deadline for expressions of interest is 1pm on Friday 27 November 2020
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