16 <strong>June</strong> <strong>2013</strong> <strong>Invest</strong>inIssue FocusDeliverING resultsFor businessAlastair Hamilton, <strong>Invest</strong> NI’s Chief Executive, gives anoverview of 2012–13 performance.2012–13 was an excellent yearfor us. Not only did we meet orexceed on 13 of our 16 targets,but in many cases we delivereddouble-digit overachievementand a significant uplift on lastyear’s performance.Highlightsof the year• We provided £130m ofassistance to businesses,of which 71% was tolocal companies.• We promoted nearly 7,400new jobs, 4,596 of these bylocally owned companies.• We supported nearly £608mof investment across jobs,R&D and skills.• We contributed to £105min private sector investmentin R&D.• We supported investment inskills development of£38 million.• We made over 5,000offers of support, 93% ofwhich were to locallyowned businesses.• 80% of jobs promoted byexternally owned companies,and 65% by locally ownedcompanies will offer salariesabove the <strong>Northern</strong> <strong>Ireland</strong>Private Sector Median.These results are having a real and positive impact on our local economy and are allthe more encouraging given the backdrop of the ongoing economic downturn.Now halfway through our 2011–2015 <strong>Corporate</strong> Plan period, we are well placedto deliver the targets detailed in that plan and those outlined in the Programme forGovernment (PfG) and Executive Strategy.2011/15PfG Target2011-132 yr target2011-<strong>2013</strong>2 yr actual25,000 jobs 13,300 13,870 4%£1bn investmentcommitments£300m investmentin R&D£110m investmentin skills£266m in wagesand salariesSupportinglocalgrowth5,000 offers of support – 93% locallyowned, 7% externally owned£550m £784m 43%£150m £168m 12%£48m £56m 17%£125m £198m 58%PercentageaheadAt £130m the amount of assistanceoffered to businesses overall was 46%higher than last year, and the proportionof this offered to locally ownedcompanies was also up.However, our support goes wellbeyond financial assistance. Ourspecialist teams in design, R&D,innovation, resource efficiency, skillsand strategy, and trade providedinvaluable advice, guidance andmentoring support to businesses.The Boosting Business campaign hasbeen instrumental in widening ourreach to local businesses right across<strong>Northern</strong> <strong>Ireland</strong>. During 2012–13the campaign generated over 11,750enquiries, and over 6,300 attendees at236 events, seminars and workshopscovering a wide range of topicsincluding design, exporting, recruitmentand selection, energy efficiency andonline selling.
<strong>Invest</strong>in <strong>June</strong> <strong>2013</strong> 17Issue FocusJobsProgress againstPFG jobs target2011<strong>2013</strong>13,3002015 Target25,000We exceeded the job promotiontargets for locally and externally ownedcompanies and for projects supportedthrough the Jobs Fund.Whilst pure job numbers are important,perhaps more so is job quality. I’mpleased therefore to report that,excluding the Jobs Fund and theBusiness Start Initiative, 80 per centof jobs promoted by externally ownedcompanies, and 65 per cent of thosein locally owned companies will offersalaries above the <strong>Northern</strong> <strong>Ireland</strong>Private Sector Median.One job target we were not able to meetwas new jobs promoted through ourlocally focused business start initiative.This was due to a legal challengethat prevented the programme beingrun. Since the programme becameoperational again, over 900 businessplans have been approved.R&D£105m R&D investment– up 67% on last year£63m2011-2012£105m2012-<strong>2013</strong>In <strong>Northern</strong> <strong>Ireland</strong> we are seeingmore and more companies investingin R&D to help them get or stay aheadof the competition. This is reflected ininvestment commitments in 2012–13of £105m, 21 per cent over our target.Small and medium sized enterprisesaccounted for over a third of thisinvestment, demonstrating that with theright support and guidance, companiesare willing and able to undertake R&D,regardless of their size.What is especially pleasing is that injust two years we have supported£71m of investment in R&D by SMEs,which actually exceeds our four-year<strong>Corporate</strong> Plan target of £60m.Our Innovation Voucher continues to beone of our most successful schemes,helping entrepreneurs and smallercompanies diversify and explore newopportunities. Over 1,100 businesseshave benefited from the scheme sinceit was introduced, with 350 vouchersapproved in 2012–13. We will work withthese companies to move them furtheralong the R&D road, leading to biggerprojects and increased innovation.ExportTo help and encourage businesses toexport we offer a range of practicaladvice and support. This includessupport to go on trade missionsand attend international exhibitions,workshops on doing business in keymarkets, in-market advice and anextensive network of internationaloffices. During the course of 2012–13we supported over 1,800 differentinteractions. This included 48 trademissions to countries including India,Brazil, the Nordics and Saudi Arabia,with over 500 companies taking part.We also participated in 24 internationalexhibitions supporting nearly 200companies to present their products orservices to a captive audience.An important part of our support forcompanies is our international presence.We strengthened our international reachwith a new office in Erbil in the provinceof Kurdistan, and recruited a new Headof Asia Pacific based in Singapore,helping to open up both inwardinvestment and trade opportunities forthe Asia Pacific region.Access toFinanceAccessing finance remains an ongoingchallenge for businesses. In responsewe created a suite of funds under thebanner of Access to Finance to ensurebusinesses with high growth potentialare not constrained by lack of funding.Two of these funds were launchedduring the year – the Growth LoanFund and the Small Business LoanFund. Both have received high levels ofinterest from business.SkillsSkills <strong>Invest</strong>ment£18mUP 110%£36m£38m skills investment– over 110% up on last yearRecognising the importance ofin-company training we have moved tostrengthen and streamline our supportin this area by launching the SkillsGrowth Programme and a new LeaderProgramme. During 2012–13 across allour skills programmes we supported300 projects, securing a total investmentin skills development of £42m.OrganisationalDevelopmentsWe are also continually looking at waysto improve the service we provide toour customers. I am therefore delightedthat the feedback from the 2012 AnnualCustomer Survey showed our highestlevel of customer satisfaction to date,at 79 per cent.We have undertaken a significant projectto develop a new Offers and ClaimsManagement System that will improveour internal processes and furthershorten the application and paymentprocessing times for our customers.Our target is to maintain caseworkprocessing time to an average of 17days and during 2012–13 we achievedan average of 15 days. Our focusremains on ensuring our support canbe quickly and easily accessed bybusinesses, through providing timelysupport for their growth plans.
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