2 minute read
New Beginnings
The Isle of Man had its first event in April 2019 with Manchester and Cork openings planned for later this year.
This growth signals fantastic opportunities for our members to form new connections, and access new markets. The newest chapter of BITA was launched in April 2019. Brendon Kenny, Director of Isle of Man company Ellanstone, says; “I am proud to introduce BITA and to be its first Chairperson. Island businesses and communities will gain great benefit from the contacts, relationships, and support that BITA can create.” With his background in marketing, strategy and innovation, and with a firm presence on the Island, Brendon will be leading the chapter and offering his expertise and insight to new members.
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At its first networking event in April which saw around 50 attendees gather for one of our popular social networking evenings, Brendon said; “It was a wonderful launch of the BITA Isle of Man chapter and a big thank you to Sancus and Quinn Legal for helping to make the event the success it was.”
There are many reasons why the Isle of Man is a great choice for a new BITA chapter in terms of culture and business. They are a leading international business centre renowned for their innovation and high professional standards and have a diversified economy. This ranges from traditional sectors such as construction, financial services and tourism to new, emerging industries such as BioMed, Clean Tec and ICT.
Although small, they have great international reach with long established relationships in many international jurisdictions.
Moreover, their thriving financial sector was voted ‘International Finance Centre of the Year’ at the International Adviser Product and Service Awards and the Isle of Man is endorsed by the IMF, the Financial Action Task Force and the EU Code of Conduct. It is also a Digital World leader. The e-Gaming sector is headquarters to prominent global market companies and has over 200 digital businesses calling the Island home. This vast digital community is protected by very robust data regulation and cyber security together with strong intellectual property treaties. This is a lot to have packed into such a small area, and we feel that there are a lot of opportunities for businesses on and off the Island.
In addition, the Isle of Man government fully supports new businesses, established businesses and initiatives such as BITA to help a thriving and growing economy. Laurence Skelly, Minister for the Department for Enterprise says; “The success of Island businesses is fundamental to the mission of the Department for Enterprise. The Programme for Government makes a clear commitment to maintaining an ‘Enterprise and Opportunity Island’ where local entrepreneurship is supported.”
All of this plus advanced infrastructure, state-of-the-art technology services and a skilled workforce, makes the Island is a great place to do business. The attitude towards both business and lifestyle is ‘The Isle of Man – where you can’. The new Isle of Man chapter will join our chapters in London, Liverpool and Dublin in championing local businesses as well as forging connections with the wider business community in the UK, Ireland and beyond.
We are looking forward to building great bridges between the Isle of Man and the rest of the BITA network internationally.
