Message from the CEO

Welcome to the 19th edition of CONNECTED, the Londonderry Chamber of Commerce magazine.

It’s been a busy few months since our last edition in March. The good weather and longer days have brought with them the return of summer events and festivals, tourists from around the world to our region, and coaches and day trips in their droves to the North West. The summer is always a busy period for our high street traders, retailers, bars, and restaurants and it’s great to see so much vibrancy and life about the city.

In recent months, we’ve seen the City of Derry Jazz and Big Band Festival, Stendhal Festival in Limavady, the annual Carnival of Colours, the Foyle Cup and many others. Events like these drive footfall in our city, boost overnight stays, and deliver a real economic boost. They also give the North West an opportunity to positively present ourselves to tourists from across the UK, Ireland, and beyond and promote our region as a leading location to visit. However, while businesses and local leaders continue to work hard to create prosperity and economic growth for our region, we can’t ignore the broader context. The ongoing absence of the Executive is actively curtailing Northern Ireland’s investment potential and our ability to create wealth for local communities. We have been without functioning government for well over a year now and the consequences of no political decision-making are beginning to become clear.

Since the Secretary of State’s harsh budget was announced in April, widespread cuts across Executive departments have begun to trickle through. These include Tourism NI grants for festivals and events, cuts to Young Enterprise NI’s core funding from the Department of Education, cuts to employability programmes such as those run by DYCW, Women’s Centre, and School Employer Connections, potential cuts to waste-water treatment and flood prevention programmes from the Department for Infrastructure, and cuts to university and college places.

It’s hard to overestimate how deep and sweeping these cuts will be on our public, frontline services as well as our ability to create an economy fit for the future. Public services cannot be turned off and on at will like a tap. Once cuts are made, benefits are lost to businesses and communities and will take years to replace.

The Chamber has been lobbying hard, engaging with political parties, and making the case strongly that a functioning Executive lies at the core of a successful and prosperous North West. The outworkings of political paralysis are becoming clear. The restoration of government locally is vital for all our communities, businesses, and workers to thrive.

Local businesses and entrepreneurs, in the absence of political leadership, are leading the way by creating economic growth and delivering for customers and communities. The pages of this edition of CONNECTED are filled with talented and committed business people who are working hard to make the North West a more attractive place to live, work, and do business.

I hope you enjoy this latest edition of CONNECTED and get some well-earned downtime over the summer with friends and family.

Anna Doherty CEO