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This is Local Enterprise Week and here is a very useful video, courtesy of Enterprise Ireland, explaining the mentoring support available for SMEs and micros across Ireland

Local Enterprise Week 2026 Events – Local Enterprise Office – Portal

Looking forward to attending the IPG Gala Dinner 2026

Killashee Hotel & Spa, Naas, Co. Kildare.
Fri. 27^th February 2026

It promises to be a special evening and as usual will be a “Black Tie” event.  Dinner will be followed by dancing until 1.00am.

Looking out onto the lush rolling countryside of County Kildare, Killashee Hotel is only 30 km from central Dublin and just 2km outside Naas Town. The perfect central location to discover Ireland’s Ancient East and all of Kildare’s attractions.

It is a truly enchanted setting, with a wonderfully rich history from the Victorian grandeur of the Original House, to the acres of splendid gardens and gloriously wild woodland and trails, there are so many hidden places waiting to be uncovered.  Not to forget the SPA for those who would like to add an extra layer of indulgence.

On the 11th of November, InterTradeIreland in partnership with Office of Government Procurement is hosting Ireland’s most important public procurement event of the year, the Government Supply Expo 2025. This free event, taking place in Aviva Stadium, Dublin is aimed at businesses across the island who want to grow by selling goods, services or construction works to Government.

With 1200 attendees, three stages of talks and 40 exhibitors made up of large scale Government Buyers and business support agencies; its purpose is to give both larger companies and SMEs the chance to network and scope out upcoming opportunities in the area of public procurement. Exhibitors confirmed include HSE, An Post, ESB, DAA, DCC, Fingal Co Co, Dublin Bus, HSE and many more.

Be sure to visit Learning Zone 1, where our Trade Manager Caroline Sweeney will be speaking about our award-winning Go-2-Tender programme, which offers insightful workshops, topic specific masterclasses and tailored 1:1 mentoring to help SMEs succeed in bidding for and servicing public sector contracts.

For further details and a full list of exhibitors please check:
https://lnkd.in/eHXGYid9

This free event offers unparalleled access to the full scope of public procurement practitioners in Ireland, North and South.

Register here: https://lnkd.in/e3nuHYid

Unlock new opportunities and take advantage of up to 9 days of free, expert mentoring with InterTradeIreland’s Go-2-Tender Programme. Tap into the island’s €21bn/£18bn public sector market and elevate your tendering skills to grow your business across the island.

Sign up today

InterTradeIreland this week announced the relaunch of the next phase of its acclaimed Go-2-Tender programme. This essential support initiative is designed to assist SMEs across the island of Ireland in securing public sector contracts – both locally and cross-border. InterTradeIreland has helped businesses to transition through various periods of economic change such as BREXIT and Covid. Its role is as important as ever, amidst the threat of ongoing global economic uncertainties. Businesses across the island who develop cross-border trading relationships have found sales into the opposite jurisdiction to be a vital buffer against external economic shocks. That’s why InterTradeIreland is continuing to link businesses and support them as they seek to maximise cross-border public procurement opportunities.

Green Support Scheme NOW OPEN for applications from Social Enterprises and VAT-registered businesses

Causeway Coast & Glens Borough Council is excited to announce an opportunity for local businesses or social enterprises to apply for technical support and a competitive grant as part of our pilot Green Support Scheme.

Find out more at:  https://causewaycoastandglens.gov.uk/work/strategic-projects/net-zero/green-support-scheme

Change in the public procurement in the UK from 24 February 2025

On Monday 24 February 2025, new Procurement Act 2023 rules will take effect changing the rules that shape how public bodies buy goods and services.

The Procurement Act 2023 aims to streamline procurement to benefit prospective suppliers of all sizes, particularly small businesses, start-ups and social enterprises.

What’s changing

The new Act will:

• simplify bidding processes, introducing a competitive flexible procedure
• make commercial frameworks more accessible for suppliers
• remove barriers for smaller businesses, ensuring 30-day payment terms for more public sector contracts
• require public bodies to give consistent feedback and bid assessments for final tenders

New Central Digital Platform

The Act introduces a new central digital platform, an upgrade to Find a Tender, to facilitate public procurement. This platform will simplify supplier contract searches and bids while enabling buyers to meet their transparency obligations.

The central digital platform will be free to use for everyone. There are no charges and you should not pay to view opportunities in the public sector.

If you are already registered on Find a Tender, you will need to re-register and enter your organisation information.

The central digital platform will be launched on Monday 24 February 2025 at 00:01. The URL https://www.gov.uk/find-tender will be the same as the one used to access Find a Tender.

Find a factsheet summarising the key facts about the central digital platform.

eTendersNI- In Northern Ireland, many authorities use eTendersNI for their tendering processes. ETendersNI has issued guidance about changes to its system.

The guidance has highlighted four main areas to note:

• Tenders published before Friday 24 February 2025 will still follow the current system.
• The new notice regime and format under the Act will apply to any competitions commenced after 24 February 2025.
• Authorities may change some processes based on a new law. This includes asking different eligibility questions and allowing multiple cycles of tendering and evaluation.
• Suppliers will need to provide identifiers from the new digital platform for tenders over a certain amount to help eTendersNI retrieve important information.

For more details, see the Summary of eTendersNI changes to accommodate the Procurement Act 2023.

How to prepare your business

It is important to prepare for the new regulations. You should:

• review all current and planned commercial opportunities
• ensure that your standard operating procedures and policies are robust for the new regime
• review documents that your teams and suppliers use and ensure they are current
• consider the readiness of your organisation’s systems and what changes may be needed
• ensure your people understand Transforming Public Procurement and undertake the necessary training

More information

For more information on how public procurement will change how supplies, services and works are procured for the public sector refer to Transforming Public Procurement.

A recording of the Government Commercial Function (GFC) webinar for suppliers is also available – watch How to get ready for 24 February 2025.

Go-2-Tender is an award winning InterTradeIreland programme that was developed to give SMEs the confidence, knowledge and practical skills to tender successfully for public sector contracts in their own jurisdiction and on a cross-border basis. This new programme is geared towards SMEs who want to improve their basic tendering skills to increase their success rates in public sector tenders.

One-to-one mentoring (100% supported) is available to businesses who have completed a workshop and can demonstrate a need. Mentoring is delivered by our team of experienced tender professionals.

This workshop is for SMEs in Ireland and Northern Ireland interested in winning tenders in the public sector. The workshop is delivered over two half-day sessions via Teams and covers the following topics:

• Understanding the market so we can compete
• Sourcing tenders and deciding whether to bid
• How to win tenders
• How complete and submit tenders
• How to make tendering success a key part of your business

Guest speakers will be attending from the Office of Government Procurement, CPD and Strategic Investment Board.

Comprehensive instructions will be provided upon successful registration.

Tuesday 4th March & Wednesday 5th March 2025, 9:30 pm – 1:00 pm

This workshop will be delivered remotely via Teams

£50 + VAT / or Euro Equivalent

InterTradeIreland Go-2-Tender Workshops 4th and 5th March 2025 Tickets, Tue 4 Mar 2025 at 09:30 | Eventbrite

In 2024 alone, more than 12,000 businesses across the island of Ireland have benefitted from support from the organisation.

Established in 1999 under Strand Two of the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement, InterTradeIreland has directly assisted more than 60,000 businesses across the island, while thousands more have benefitted from its specialist information and advice.

As a result, it has generated €1.95bn/£1.7bn in business development value, supported entrepreneurs to secure over €350 million in investment and led the way in growing collaborative innovation, all- island clustering and cross-border trade from €2 billion to €12 billion.

InterTradeIreland is calling for more businesses to take advantage of the cross-border opportunity as a route to growth. Its research shows that the vast majority of first-time exporters in the cross-border market go on to export off the island, enjoying higher levels of growth and profitability.

Key to InterTradeIreland’s success is its services along the key pillars of trade, innovation, entrepreneurship and funding for growth, all with a cross-border element to take advantage of the best expertise and bigger market that working across the island offers.

At a macro level, InterTradeIreland is also creating and supporting vital partnerships across the island in the areas of advanced manufacturing, the bioeconomy, fintech and life sciences.

With a proven track record, InterTradeIreland has clear plans for the future. They include:

InterTradeIreland Chief Executive Margaret Hearty said: “InterTradeIreland plays a unique role in identifying opportunities for North-South collaboration that can accelerate growth in both economies, as well as connecting business across the island to export cross-border, collaborate, innovate and attract investment.

“With cross-border trade now at an all-time high, there has never been a better time for businesses to take advantage of the all-island economy and with our support, there is scope for further growth.