Business First caught up with Lord Mayor of Belfast Alderman Frank McCoubrey at the launch of the Eastside Awards.
He told us that Belfast City Council provides free specialist advice and guidance whatever stage you’re at in starting or growing your own business, social enterprise or co-operative. We’re here to help you every step of the way – from testing your initial ideas, to planning for sustainability and profitable growth – and learning new skills in areas including digital and tendering.
Our Belfast Agenda and Enterprise Framework sets out a vision for our city to become home to a diverse community of entrepreneurs who benefit from a comprehensive, coherent system of enterprise support, which meets their specific needs at all stages of the business growth life-cycle – so we invest in and deliver a full annual programme of valuable support, events and mentoring. We’re also delivering ‘Belfast: Our Recovery’ – an extensive plan to support communities, businesses and vulnerable people as the city continues to face considerable challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic through a wide range of practical medium and longer-term actions.
We’ve adapted our business support to deliver mentoring and skills development remotely. And we’ve revised our programmes, including digital support, in response to market changes and business needs – with many clients already benefitting from guidance on how to reach and connect with customers in these challenging times and setting up ecommerce sites.
The Eastside Awards provides a fantastic platform for people living here to share their personal experiences of life during lockdown and the pandemic.
And as sponsors, it gives us a welcome opportunity to thank you, the east Belfast community for the resilience, kindness and humanity you continue to show. It is so appreciated.
So, local businesses, please remember that we’re here to help, guide and support you through current and future challenges. Take a moment to register at https://online.belfastcity.gov.uk/businessregistrationform or contact our Economic Development team [email protected] Tel: 028 9027 0482.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Lord Mayor, Alderman Frank McCoubrey www.belfastcity.gov.uk, @belfastcc, www.facebook.com/belfastcitycouncil.
This year’s Eastside Awards is taking on a new format. People are being asked to contribute to ‘East Belfast – Our Story 2020’, a film which will be broadcast in early 2021 celebrating those who have been an inspiration in the local East Belfast community this year. The organisers want to hear powerful stories from education, sport, the arts, business, health and social care, stories of how children were nurtured during lockdown, extraordinary stories about community spirit and innovative stories about business survival. If you would like to share the story of how your business responded to the pandemic or a story about someone you know who displayed about human kindness, if you know a teacher who has gone the extra mile, if you have an exceptional neighbour, if your community group risked their health to help others during lockdown or you know of a volunteer who should be recognised, send your story via video to [email protected] or visit www.eastsidewards.org for further information.
East Belfast – Our Story 2020 has been made possible by George Best Belfast City Airport, Belfast City Council, Belfast Harbour, East Belfast Enterprise, East Belfast Mission, EastSide Partnership, Fleet Financial, Kainos, Millar McCall Wylie, The Open University, Phoenix Natural Gas, Solv Group, The Urban Villages Initiative, We’reSure Insurance Services, Wolseley Plumb and Parts Center and media partner, Belfast Live.
Closing date for story submissions is 5.00pm on Friday 18 December.
#EastBelfastStory2020
