New Management Training Fund

Date: 06/09/2010
Posted by: Darragh

A new €1.4 million fund to train managers in the SME sector will help firms realise their potential.

The new pilot fund, announced by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation Batt O'Keeffe, will help managers improve their workplace skills, ultimately driving productivity and performance in the SME sector.

By improving skills at management level, we can expect to see major returns in terms of increased value added and better business survival rates in the sector.

It is estimated that improved management capability could be worth between €500 million and €2.5 billion to the manufacturing sector alone.

This new pilot fund will see seven regional management development networks being established - two in Dublin, and one each in the west, south-west, midlands, north-west and south-east.

This initiative is the latest in a series of measures introduced by the Government in recent months aimed at supporting small businesses. These include:

* Establishing a credit review office to review adverse decisions by lending institutions
* Ensuring the provision of €12 billion in extra lending by Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Bank over this year and next
* Overhauling the public procurement policy to ensure greater SME access to public contracts
* Introducing a commitment by Government to pay its debts to businesses within 15 rather than 30 days
* Introducing a ban on future upward only rent-reviews
* Reducing the regulatory burden for businesses
* Maintaining supportive tax measures for start-ups
* Launching a €500 million innovation fund to attract venture capitalists to invest in businesses

Recognising that a vibrant SME sector is central to our economic recovery, the focus is very much on helping this sector to grow and create jobs.