The Northern Ireland Minister for Health, Edwin Poots, MLA, today announced funding of almost 1 million pounds, to be utilised by Randox and the University of Ulster Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, to develop a test to rapidly determine which patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis will respond to particular drugs. If successful, this will be a marked advance for arthritis patients, enabling those patients to receive specifically tailored treatment.

Fifty percent of this funding has been awarded, after rigorous scrutiny, through the Technology Strategy Board (TSB; www.

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Fivemiletown-based Acheson and Glover used market information from Invest Northern Ireland to achieve a 50 per cent growth in sales last year of paving and walling products in Great Britain.

Acheson and Glover, ranked as the 15th largest producer of concrete and quarry products in the UK and Ireland, turned to Invest NI’s Business Information Centre for current market data on opportunities for paving and walling products in Britain. The company, which has business in Britain and the Republic of Ireland, used the data to develop a new business strategy to accelerate sales in Britain.

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IT Sligo has become the first third level institution in the in Ireland and the UK, to sign a licence agreement with computer software giant Adobe, which gives Institute students 24/7 access to some of the world’s leading design software from any computer, anywhere with internet access.

Adobe is one of the world’s top digital media and creative software providers, whose most famous product is Photoshop.

Colm Davey, a lecturer in Web and Digital Media at IT Sligo says the agreement will be of huge benefit to IT Sligo students.

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This Valentine’s Day, fund seeking companies in the North West and potential investors came together to find out the attraction of business angel investment at a briefing event held by Halo, NI’s business angel network, at the Chamber Offices Derry. The event was designed to highlight the reciprocal benefits of angel investment and encourage applications for the 2012 North West Investment Forum from local business seeking finance.

Developed by Halo, a joint initiative of Invest Northern Ireland and InterTradeIreland, the briefing event was delivered in partnership with Londonderry Chamber of Commerce and the University of Ulster.

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Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster has expressed her disappointment at the large number of potential job losses at HCL-BPO Services (NI) Limited.

HCL-BPO Services has been based in Northern Ireland since 2002.

Arlene Foster said: "This is a dreadful blow to those affected and my thoughts are with them and their families.

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Alan Watts, Director of Halo Northern Ireland’s Business Angel Network, last week helped to push angel investment up the political agenda during a visit to No. 10 Downing Street which saw Prime Minister David Cameron and Lord Young chair a discussion panel on the issues affecting the angel investment sector and enterprise creation in the UK.

As the only representative from Northern Ireland, Alan Watts joined business angels, entrepreneurs and professional advisers from across the UK who heard from the Prime Minister on the importance of angel investment for new business creation and economic revival.

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Lestas Consulting Ltd, a management consultancy in Coleraine, is being assisted by Invest Northern Ireland to explore business opportunities in international markets.

The company is now reaching out internationally for business by means of a fully interactive website developed with support from Invest NI.

Invest NI’s assistance to Lestas Consulting to develop its IT export-focused technology was announced by Des Gartland, Manager of Invest NI’s North West Regional Office.

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Business Angel Investment Information Event to be held in Derry

This Valentine’s Day Halo, NI’s business angel network, will hold an angel investment briefing event in the North West to help fund seeking entrepreneurs and business angel investors increase their chances of finding the ‘perfect match’. The event is designed to highlight the reciprocal benefits of angel investment and encourage applications from local business who may be seeking investment for the 2012 North West Investment Forum to be held on 24th May.

Developed by Halo, a joint initiative of Invest Northern Ireland and InterTradeIreland, the briefing event is being delivered in partnership with Londonderry Chamber of Commerce and the University of Ulster and will take place on 14th February at 2pm in The Londonderry Chamber of Commerce Offices, Derry.

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Northern Ireland’s first ever financial trading room is set to open at Queen’s University Belfast. The First Derivatives Trading Room, supported by Invest NI, will provide a dynamic learning environment for students hoping to embark in a career in financial services or technology.

Based at Queen’s University Management School, Riddel Hall, Stranmillis, the facility, which will replicate New York and London trading rooms, will give students a real-life experience of a busy stock exchange with the capacity to deal in equities, bonds, foreign exchange and derivative instruments.

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Electric Machine Services Ltd (EMS) is on target to achieve £190,000 worth of new export business with support from Invest Northern Ireland.

The software company, based in Doagh, specialises in automated processing systems for sectors including agriculture, construction and materials handling and recently invested over £213,000 to boost sales across the USA and Europe.

Invest NI offered Electric Machine Services £32,000 of support, part funded by the European Regional Development Fund, towards its export development activities.

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11th Annual InterTradeIreland Venture Capital Conference will help companies

unlock investment opportunities

Business Angel Funds of up to £70m/€85m are currently available to start-up companies across the island, Margaret Hearty, Director of Business Services and Programmes, InterTradeIreland, has estimated.

Speaking at the launch of the InterTradeIreland Venture Capital Conference, she said that with a total of almost £41m/ €50m investment in funding partnerships since the Halo networks were set up, there is an even greater opportunity for companies and that it is a crucial time for start-ups to become ‘investor ready’.

The 11th annual InterTradeIreland Venture Capital Conference, which will take place at Belfast City Hall on Wednesday 7th March, is designed to facilitate networking between Ireland’s leading venture capitalists, business angels and start ups that are seeking funding from across the island.

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The Secretary of State will officially open a flagship research facility in East Belfast - the Northern Ireland Advanced Composites Centre (NIACE) - with Northern Ireland Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster.

NIACE has received £2.7m in funding from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and will bring together leading academics and dynamic companies to develop new technologies for the design and rapid manufacture of high-quality composite products.

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There are few firms today that aren’t treading water and, you can imagine, suggesting to hard-pressed managers that flexible working might be the answer to their problems may be met with a flinty-eyed stare.

But it seems Microsoft is boldly pressing ahead with its vision to unlock productivity through flexibility and it is confident it has the results and the tools to prove it.

In the past year, the software giant unveiled its Lync unified communications technology, as well as its Office 365 cloud computing productivity suite.

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Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster has heard how the Clandeboye Estate Yoghurt company in Bangor has almost doubled turnover by investing in innovation.

The company utilised an Invest Northern Ireland Innovation Voucher to develop new products leading to increased sales of yoghurt including to the Republic of Ireland and Great Britain.

The Innovation Voucher enabled the company to access the technology team and facilities at Loughry Campus of the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE).

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Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster pictured with Prof Roy Douglas, Catagen and QUB, and Andrew Woods, CEO Catagen at the company’s factory in Skeoge, Londonderry.

Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster was in Londonderry today to launch an innovative new product developed by Catagen, a spin-out company from Queen’s University.

The product, Labcat, enables catalytic converters to be tested without the need to have the engine running.

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2012 is the Chinese year of the Dragon and we pretty much all know what ‘Dragon’ investors look like from watching the infamous TV show. However there are other ‘creatures’ we should also get familiar with according to Alan Watts of Halo, the business angel network which is a joint initiative of InvestNI and InterTradeIreland based at the NI Science Park. He explained at a recent seminar held at NISP that not all Dragons breathe fire – some are in fact more friendly and ‘Angel’ like!

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Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster today helped turn the first sod, marking the start of construction of a new aircraft hangar at Enniskillen’s St Angelo Airport.

The £1.38million workspace development project, which has been financed with assistance from the EU INTERREG IVA Programme, will see the construction of a 37,000 sq ft hangar to provide aircraft maintenance facilities at the airport.

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Michael Jordan is probably known to you as one of the most famous basketball stars ever produced. Even to those uninitiated and unfamiliar with the sport, the name is instantly recognisable and transcends sport to stand for achievement, hard work and success.

But what can he teach us about crowdfunding?

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Newtownabbey based Northgate Managed Services (Northgate), leading provider of IT services to the education sector, is celebrating today having scooped ‘ICT Company of the Year’ in the over £3million turnover category at the 2012 BETT Awards, Europe’s largest education, information and ICT event held in London, and comes on the back of Northgate being named as Classroom 2000’s (C2k) preferred supplier for the new ‘Education Network Northern Ireland’ (ENNI) contract.

The BETT Awards form an integral part of the annual BETT show and celebrate the creativity and innovation that can be found in technology for education. The winners are chosen on the basis of excellence in ICT provision and support for nurseries, schools, Academies, colleges and special schools alike, with a clear focus on what works in the classroom.

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The Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) today announced details of a New Year funding opportunity to develop interactive games and applications for the BBC Big Screens at Belfast City Hall and Waterloo Place in Derry~Londonderry.

Momentum/Digital Circle is inviting tenders for the creation of these interactive games/applications. The initiative is funded by DCAL and is also supported by Digital Derry and the BBC.

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Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster has announced that Invest Northern Ireland is enhancing its support for research and development, specifically targeting small businesses and prototype development.

The Minister made the announcement during a visit to Macrete Ireland in Toomebridge, which has just announced a £637,000 investment in R&D to develop a new version of its award-winning FlexiArch system. The project is being supported by Invest NI, which has offered over £191,000 part funded by the European Regional Development Fund.

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Texam in Lisburn has used Invest Northern Ireland trade missions to win a series of contracts from major manufacturing operations in Saudi Arabia.

Texam, a leading supplier of power transmission and conveying products, has taken part in missions to key Saudi business centres such as Riyadh, Jeddah and Damman over the past two years.

The contracts, the company’s first in one of the Middle East’s most dynamic markets, were announced by John McGuigan, Texam Managing Director, and welcomed by Dr Vicky Kell, Invest NI Trade Director.

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The New Year promises to bring major changes in the way that startup businesses can raise funds, and Northern Irish company Seedups is set to be at the forefront of the crowdfunding revolution.

Seedups founder Michael Faulkner explains how the funding landscape is changing, and how it can benefit startups here: “Barack Obama has leant his support to a bill known as the Entrepreneur Access to Capital Act, which essentially changes the law of how American businesses can raise money.

Mr Faulkner continues: “previously, it was almost impossible for US startups to raise money from anything but a small group of people, so this allows people to expand their potential investment networks, and allows startups access to more funds.

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The construction of a £1.58 million Innovation Growth Centre for Omagh took a step forward with the appointment of a design team for the ambitious project.

Belfast based consultants Edmond Shipway Ltd will take charge of designing the new 14,000 square foot state of the art building, which will provide a purpose built, technology focused, business environment for 20 new and expanding businesses in the town.

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HP today announced that Belfast Metropolitan College has taken delivery of a high performance, energy-efficient HP Networking solution at its flagship campus in Titanic Quarter. As part of a deal valued at over1.7 million euros, the secure, open standards-based HP network infrastructure will maximise the College’s use of ICT to support 2,500 full-time students attending the new campus.

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