The August meeting of the Business Network will be held in the Conference Room of the Banbridge Enterprise Centre, Scarva Road, Banbridge on Thursday 31st August 2017.  Registration is open at 7.30am and the meeting will commence at about 7.45am.  The meeting will finish by 9am, with time afterward to continue networking if you can stay longer. 

Visitors are always welcome and an attendance fee of £5 is charged which includes a light breakfast.  This is payable on arrival.  Please confirm your attendance by completing the EventBrite registration to enable us to advise the kitchen on numbers for catering.  

Guest Speaker – Margaret McNamee, Southern Regional College

Our guest speaker for August is Margaret McNamee of Southern Regional College's i3 department (innovation, industry and incubation).  Margaret will talk about the Skills Focus Training Programme, Apprenticeships and Innovation Funding that is available to local businesses. The i3 team are based at Southern Regional College's campuses in Banbridge, Newry and Portadown.

Margaret has worked for the Southern Regional College for 10 years. She has lectured in Hospitality & Tourism, English and Spanish from recreational to Foundation Degree. Margaret has also worked as Operations Manager for the Hospitality & Tourism Department dealing in supply chain management, facilities management, and public tender processes, and as a line manager to staff.

Margaret has an understanding of what it is like to seek funding support for the training and development of staff from a private business platform, a social enterprise platform, as the provider of the training and awareness of sources of funded support opportunities.

In the Business Support department for Southern Regional College Margaret is able to bring her multi-faceted experience to the fore to liaise with micro and macro businesses to listen and advise as to which course of action would suit them best when developing staff. Current clients range from companies with 3,000+ employees to sole traders.  Examples include Norbrook, MoyPark and various SME’s in the Newry, Banbridge, Portadown and Lurgan regions, and further afield. 

Member Speaker – Ciaran Cunningham, Banbridge District Enterprises Ltd

Ciaran Cunningham has been Manager of Banbridge District Enterprises since March 2000. Having graduated in 1993 from the University of Ulster, Ciaran was employed by Armagh Business Centre, as Business Development Manager, for a period of six years before joining Banbridge District Enterprises Ltd. 

Since joining Banbridge, Ciaran has been involved in implementing the Regional Action Plan for the company in the Banbridge District as well being involved in EU funded Leonardo programme, WANBO, (women and new business opportunities) and also E-Commerce Export Programme funded through Co-operation Ireland. Currently involved in the delivery of SEED Programmes, E Connect II and Green Entrepreneurs. 

Ciaran serves on the Southern Committee of the Princes Trust and also acts as a voluntary Mentor. He is also closely involved with Banbridge District Council and is part of their Local Action team. Ciaran is also a council member of Enterprise Northern Ireland. 

He is currently lead partner for an Erasmus+ Funded Project and a partner in 2 other Erasmus + Programmes.  He has wide and deep links in the regional community, previously participating as a Board Member for Enterprise Northern Ireland, Down Rural Area Partnership and is a current director of Gilford Community Regeneration Group.  Ciaran is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. 

We hope you can join us and benefit from the wealth of experience our speakers can provide, as well as gaining value from the opportunity to network with other members and guests attending.