John Ferris

CHAMPIONING DIVERSE ENTREPRENEURSHIP

By John Ferris, Regional Eco-System Manager, Ulster Bank

Recently we announced three exciting new partnerships with local organisations on a mission to champion diverse entrepreneurship.

ArtsEkta, One in Five, and Enterprise Northern Ireland have each been awarded funding through Ulster Bank’s Enterprise Fund to support projects aimed at supporting underrepresented entrepreneurs.

This has been an area of focus for some time now at Ulster Bank and a challenge we are tackling head-on through our day-to-day work within the bank’s fully funded Accelerator programme. Part of our purpose is to encourage entrepreneurship, but we are also committed to increasing representation for women, ethnic founders and those entrepreneurs with a disability. So, it’s welcome to have three new partners on board who can elevate the work we are already doing and introduce new ideas and enthusiasm to help us level the playing fi eld.

This latest group of organisations brings the total funding Ulster Bank has provided in the past four years to £215,000 across 12 social enterprises, charities and educational establishments. In the previous three years those organisations have supported 1,605 people with 97 new jobs created and an additional 84 businesses started.

Each of the three organisations will put this money towards delivering programmes for new and potential entrepreneurs who have ambitions to start a business. This has been the driver behind the Enterprise Fund, which came on the back of the Rose Report into female entrepreneurship in 2019 and the recent CRÈME Time to Change report on ethnic minority founders.

So what can we expect from our partners throughout the course of the year? Arts organisation ArtsEkta has put together an entrepreneur development programme designed to create inclusion for diverse ethnic minority entrepreneurs right at the beginning of their business journey. The aim is to help fulfi l the skills gap which will, in turn, see an increase in diverse community startups and growth for pre-existing businesses. Local entrepreneur and founder of the One in Five group, Chris Lynch, has set out to create a dedicated platform of disabled-led content online. His hope is that the programme and collaboration with Ulster Bank will lead to a new wave of content creators and develop a newly empowered, high-skilled group of entrepreneurs.

Ulster Bank will provide support to each of the groups throughout the year and we are truly excited to watch these dynamic projects develop and create positive changes where they are needed most. Keep an eye on our website and social media channels to learn more about the impact of this work and if you are an entrepreneur seeking to grow or scale your business, you can also apply to join our next Accelerator programme.

Fitness For Work Medicals

Using a team of highly experienced doctors, nurses and technicians, our SEQOHS Accredited services include:

• Pre-employment Screenings and Medicals • Sickness Absence Medicals • Safety Critical Medicals • Health Surveillance (Noise, Vibration, Respiratory and Skin) • DSE, Food Handler and Night Worker Screenings • Health Screening & Health Promotion Services (Stress, Blood Pressure, Diabetes and Cholesterol checks) • Workplace Visits and Risk Assessments

Service Delivery:

With individual referrals to clinics across Northern Ireland including Belfast, Londonderry and Enniskillen, clinics are also available at client’s premises.

OHRD work with public and private enterprises of all sizes including insurance, pension and legal professionals. For further information, please visit www.ohrd.net or contact us at admin@ohrd.net10–12 Lisburn Road, Belfast, BT9 6AA