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29 November 2006

SHANKILL ECONOMY GETS £1.7 MILLION BOOST

An extension to a Shankill business park that could create up to 100 new jobs was launched today.

Local schoolchildren Paul Clarke (Belfast Model) and Lauren Black (Glenwood Primary) cut the first sod for the £1.7 million expansion to the Argyle Business Centre. Established in 1989 - with the help of funding from the International Fund for Ireland, Belfast Regeneration Office and the former Local Enterprise Development Unit - the centre already employs 88 people. The extra business units have the potential to create a further 100 jobs. Belfast Regeneration Office, through Invest Northern Ireland, Argyle and Belfast City Council has contributed to the second phase of this already highly successful project.

Social Development Minister David Hanson MP welcomed the boost to regeneration in the Greater Shankill area. He said: "The investment of over £900,000 by my Department's Belfast Regeneration Office sends a clear signal of our confidence in the future of industry in the Shankill. The Argyle Business Centre has already shown that personal enterprise can be nurtured through the provision of affordable work space. I am sure that the new expansion will further stimulate the growth of both new and established business. This is very much in line with the objectives of both the International Fund and Government's Neighbourhood Renewal and Renewing Communities strategies."

Jackie Hewitt, a member of Board of the International Fund for Ireland said: "We are delighted to have been able to assist with the development of the original business units at Argyle as well as the planned extension of the business centre. The development of the work space will enable Argyle Business Centre Ltd to continue to tackle commercial exclusion and contribute to the promotion of new business in the Greater Shankill area."

Jim Carvill, Chairman of Argyle Business Centre Limited, said: "Over the years Argyle has assisted many new start-up businesses. There are currently 88 people employed in small businesses at Argyle with an annual salaries and wages bill of circa £1 million, which contributes significantly to the local economy.

"The Argyle Board of Directors are grateful for the funders' financial assistance towards this new extension, which will further assist in addressing the economic deprivation in this area. When fully occupied it is expected that the new extension will support a further 100 jobs and create an additional revenue stream, enabling Argyle to do much more within Argyle and in promoting and supporting personal enterprises in the Greater Shankill area."

Congratulating the centre, Brian Howe, Chief Executive, Ulster Community Investment Trust (UCIT) said: "UCIT are delighted to be associated with the project. There is no doubt that Argyle Business Centre has had a significant social and economic impact on the local area and that this will be further enhanced by the new extension."

The extension project will provide a further 3,558 square metres of workspace in a total of 12 new units at the rear of the existing units. It is expected that the units will be ready for occupation in April 2007.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

1. The original project was funded by the International Fund for Ireland, the former Local Enterprise Development Unit and Making Belfast Work and Argyle Business Centre Limited. Funding for the new extension was provided by DSD's Belfast Regeneration Office through Invest Northern Ireland, the International Fund for Ireland, Argyle Business Centre Limited and Belfast City Council.

2. The Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy 'People and Place' was published in June 2003 to close the gap between the quality of life for people in the most deprived neighbourhoods and the rest of society. Its objectives include:

  • Community Renewal - to develop confident communities that are able and committed to improving the quality of life in their areas.

  • Economic Renewal - to develop economic activity in the most deprived neighbourhoods and connect them to the wider urban economy.

  • Social Renewal - to improve social conditions for the people who live in the most deprived neighbourhoods through better co-ordinated public services and the creation of safer environments.

  • Physical Renewal - to help create attractive, safe and sustainable environments in the most deprived neighbourhoods.

3. The International Fund for Ireland is an international organisation established by the British and Irish Government in 1986 with the objectives of promoting economic and social advance and of encouraging contact, dialogue and reconciliation between unionists and nationalists throughout Ireland. Contributors to the Fund are the United States, the European Union, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

4. Media contacts: Pamela Beatty IAS SMARTS Tel: 028 9039 5500 or mobile 07867 901646 International Fund and DSD Information Office 028 9082 9497.

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