4,012 extra jobs created by companies supported by the Local Enterprise Offices in 2014 – Minister Bruton

17th April 2015

The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD, today published the 2014 annual results for the Local Enterprise Offices, showing that 4012 extra jobs were created by companies supported by the Department of Jobs through the LEOs.

Every county in the country saw growth in jobs in LEO-supported companies

The results, which were compiled by the Enterprise Ireland Centre of Excellence, using the same systems as applied to the Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland annual results, show that at the end of 2014, total direct employment among the 6,058 LEO client companies stood at 31,326. The results also show:

Speaking today as he hosted the Regional Enterprise Forum for the South West region, Minister Bruton said: “In Ireland we have great start-ups – we just don’t have enough of them. Start-up businesses create two thirds of all new jobs in Ireland, and they also offer huge potential to support jobs growth in every town and village in the country. That is why we have placed start-ups and entrepreneurs at the centre of our jobs plans, and put in place very significant new reforms like the creation of the Local Enterprise Offices.

“The LEOs have allowed us to make all the Government supports for start-ups available in one easily accessible place, and have also allowed us to put in place new measures like the Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur competition and the trading online vouchers, which have helped so many start-ups.

“Today’s annual results show that the new system is performing extremely strongly, with over 4000 extra jobs in supported companies in 2014, and jobs growth in every county of the country. I wish to commend the 31 Heads of LEO and all of their staff on this excellent achievement. I also wish to pay tribute to Enterprise Ireland and the Local Authorities who have supported the LEOs. The LEOs will continue to be a crucial part of our plans to deliver sustainable full employment, and to accelerate jobs growth in every region of the country”.

Minister for Business and Employment, Ged Nash TD said: “One of the real strengths of the LEOs is their local knowledge, with 31 offices right across the country. The fact that they serve as a first stop shop for start-ups, micro-enterprises and small businesses means that the entrepreneurs that we want to encourage and support have one central place where they can get information and assistance in identifying the supports that are available to them.”

“Business people are busy people and the LEOs offer a range of supports to help them create and sustain jobs in every town and village in Ireland, as is demonstrated by the figures in the annual report. Very importantly, they also offer training and mentoring to entrepreneurs and their staff and I am particularly pleased to see the high take up of training by female entrepreneurs.”

Michael Hanley, Head of Enterprise at LEO Cork North and West, said “as a Head of Enterprise in a LEO I too welcome the announcement of the 2014 LEO jobs performance. This jobs performance reflects the hard work and dedication of all LEO staff across the 31 LEOs. Those of us working at the coal face of client interaction are very aware of the challenges, especially over the last few years, faced by people trying to start-up their own business or grow an existing business and, indeed, of the challenges faced by the State and its Agencies in seeking to continue to support business and drive job creation. I am sure I reflect the views of all LEO staff when I say that it is a privilege to be part of a local success story when a business idea turns into a business plan which then turns into a viable actual business employing local people and contributing to the local economy.

ENDS

For further information contact:

Press Office, Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Employment Ph 6312200 or press.office@djei.ie    

NOTES FOR EDITORS

As part of a range of reforms carried out by the Department of Jobs, Enteprise and Innovation in recent years, a system of 31 Local Enterprise Offices has been established to provide a ‘first-stop shop’ system of enterprise supports to start-ups and small businesses across the country.

The restructuring means that people thinking of starting or expanding a business in every part of the country will be able to access the full range of State supports provided by different Government bodies – for example local authorities, Enterprise Ireland, Revenue, the Department of Social Protection, the Credit Review Office, training bodies – in one easily accessible location within the local authority.

The establishment of the LEOs means that all categories of business – including sole traders, micro businesses and small and medium sized companies – will have access to Government supports and advice. Previously some businesses – for example, companies who were too large to access CEB supports, but were not exporting and therefore did not qualify for Enterprise Ireland supports – fell through the cracks between different agencies.

The results for 2014 also show that:

• In 2014, LEO client companies created a gross total of 7,305 new jobs, comprising of 4,568 full-time posts and 2,737 part-time posts
• Overall, at the end of 2014, total direct employment among the 6,058 LEO client companies stood at 31,326, of which 22,555 were full-time and 8,771 were part-time jobs

Further results

• The 31 LEOs approved a total of €14.359m in grant assistance in respect of 850 projects by their client companies;
• The LEOs also organised the inaugural Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur competition, which attracted over 1000 applications and awarded over €2million in investments to winning companies

Training

• The LEOs held a total of 1,714 training programmes for client companies during 2014, under which 24,616 client employees received training on a range of accredited and non-accredited courses;
• A higher number of female participants (13,913) than male participants (10,696) availed of LEO training courses in 2014, mirroring the trend in 2013, when the LEOs provided training support to 15,770 and 11,251 female and male client employees, respectively.

Mentoring

• At 6,890, the number of participants availing of mentoring services from the LEOs in 2014 was almost unchanged from the 6,881 participants the previous year;
• During 2014, total of 3,969 male and 2,921 female mentees had a total of 10,830 visits from 655 mentors engaged by the LEOs.

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