Invest NI promises to 'up our game' after meeting Derry councillors

Derry City and Strabane has been promised 'a very different' level of engagement from Invest NI going forward as it admits it needs 'to do things differently'.

A delegation from Invest NI delivered a presentation to Council to outline its plans going forward following an independent review that found it needed 'profound change' if it is to develop the North's economy.

At the Business and Culture Committee last Tuesday, Colm McKenna, Invest NI Chair, said it has established 12 groups to implement 39 recommendations from the recent report.

“A number of actions were grouped into the following headings: partnership, governance, communication, 10x policy delivery, budget certainty, operational delivery, important leadership and a lot of those things,” he said.

“Through that we developed the Invest NI purpose statement because Invest NI has been around for about 21 years and it's clear from the review that we needed to do things differently.”

He said Invest NI will create growth ‘by supporting new and existing small to large businesses right across the region’. This will in turn ‘increase export sales to drive high value job creation and improve skills’.

Mr McKenna said he believes criticism that Invest NI is too focused on Belfast is based more on feelings than facts.

“We will up our game. We know we've got our game in all regions in Northern Ireland, not least the Northwest. I think we have been criticised for being very Belfast-centric and very focused on the greater Belfast area. The stats actually don't bear that out but that's how it feels to people who don't live in Belfast and that is something we need to take on board and address.

“We've worked very closely with the Department for the Economy as they develop a new sub regional economic strategy for Northern Ireland which they hope to have delivered by the autumn of 2024. I would like to think that you will see a much greater movement in Invest NI in advance of that.”

Mel Chittock, Invest NI Chief Executive, explained some of the successes Invest NI has had in Derry and Strabane in recent years.

“In the previous four years, we've assisted circa 2,000 jobs in the northwest. Through just over 800 offers of assistance, offering around £40 million to circa 320-odd companies, so a fairly significant level of activity.

“If you look at who we've worked with locally, it's everything from the Corgins to GMK to O'Neill's. We've done a lot of work over many years with Seagate.

“But if I just take this year on its own, we've announced 50 jobs for foods connected in one of the factories on Great Patrick Street. We did the announcement a few days ago with Vertiv circa 200 jobs, and I hope that's the first of many investments by Vertiv. We announced FinTru earlier this year, 300 new jobs in a software development area and we're developing a very strong cluster in software development and financial services on the back of how to in the Northwest.”

He said Invest NI also had positive engagement with EY at a recent business breakfast.

“We're very conscious about going forward. We need to work more in partnership. I spent a lot of time at the University of Ulster with local enterprises like Catalyst, the Derry/Londonderry Chamber of Commerce and North West Regional College.”

Cllr Cusack said she believes Invest NI's plan does not sufficiently address the needs of the Northwest.

“The findings of the independent review, I believe, are quite scathing. It was good to see that Invest NI has committed to the introduction of sub regional targets and to see that the regional offices of Invest NI will now perform a more strategic role,” the SDLP councillor said.

“However, we are deeply concerned that there is almost a complete lack of any specific mention of the Northwest in this plan. As it stands, the plan will fall short of the change that is needed to restore the confidence of the people here.

“We are the second city and we need specific, deliberate and targeted interventions. We need explicit targets for Derry, and we need decentralisation of senior staff to the city and district.”

She said Foyle MLA Sinead McLaughlin has launched a bill that would change how Invest NI does its work.

“The bill will require Invest NI to develop and publish sub regional targets, and report annually on how it will meet those targets and how its resources will reflect those targets with specific reference to the Northwest and what recommendations it will make to the department on the policy changes needed across government to meet those targets.”

Mr Chittock said Invest NI would be pursuing the 'principles' of the bill despite it not being able to be passed legislatively with the collapsed Assembly.

“The principles of what might be in that particular bill are already in the plans that we've outlined within Invest NI. So that greater transparency, greater collaboration, greater activity in all of the regions, absolutely seeing Derry as the second city and the Northwest as a really important region for development.

“Nice words don't cut it anymore. We get that. So there will be targets and there will be ongoing dialogue. Meetings like this will become the norm rather than a unique event. We are committed to doing things differently.”

Cllr Cusack asked Mr Chittock to outline the targets Invest NI is exploring for the region.

Mr Chittock said all regional offices will be strengthened and most of the actions outlined in the action plan will be implemented in 2024, with a few coming in 2025.

“There's a lot of talk about export. We do see the Northwest as a tremendous opportunity. And one of the things we probably haven't touched on is the unique special advantage we have with the Windsor Framework and the dual market access that affords.

“It's probably second nature in this part of the world and because I think you've always exported to – you probably don't even consider it an export – to Donegal but you've always exported across the border.”

Cllr Cusack asked about the drafting of the action plan and for details of what it will be focused on.

Mr McKenna said they would be meeting with Solace to discuss the development of the plan.

“We're meeting with Solace on Thursday to begin the conversation around how we develop the sub regional economic plans and what the targets look like?

“Our economies are different in different parts of Northern Ireland and the asks from the council's are different. We have heard in our conversations with the chief executive of this Council and with Mr Gillespie and Kevin O'Connor we know that you have particular asks of us as an agency and indeed of the department for the economy.”

Aldeman Derek Hussey asked about cross border collaboration.

“It has been touched on that this is not just about Derry City and Strabane, it's about the whole North West. So what cognisance of the actual resources available to businesses in Derry and Strabane is taken by Invest NI with human resource and physical resources because a lot of that resource actually comes across the border?“ the UUP Alderman asked.

“We found that we can work together while respecting the jurisdiction that exists – and I say that as a Unionist. We do that for mutual benefit.

“Are you just looking at Derry and Strabane or are you looking at the entirety of our area?”

Mr Chittock said they will be seeking to collaborate with some agencies in the South.

“The Invest NI of the future will be a very different one to the one of the past. We will be much more transparent and will be much more collaborative,” he said.

“We do work very well with other agencies and particularly Enterprise Ireland. Not so much IDA as IDA see inward investment as they want it for the South and we want it for the North so there's not as close a working relationship between those organisations as you might think.

“There's a very close working relationship with Enterprise Ireland and with IntertradeIreland on the cross border stuff.”

Alderman Ryan McCready asked why Invest NI has not had a bigger impact in Derry more than two decades after being set up.

“After 21 years of Invest NI, when I look at at the Northwest City Region on two counts, firstly, social deprivation we're amongst the highest and secondly social economics, we're statistically the lowest. They're inescapable and indisputable facts,” the UUP alderman said.

“The point you make about moving forward for looking at transparency, openness, and collaboration. Why on earth does it have to take the Lyons reports to come to that conclusion?

“There's an awful lot of smart and astute people within your organisation at the corporate level so why do you need the Lyons report to tell you what was already clear from the statistics, which have been mentioned by many members in this chamber?”

Mr Chittock said Invest NI cannot address all economic issues in the area.

“You referenced a number of things around the statistics for the area. I can quote you the average take home pay for individuals. I can tell you the unemployment rate, which is twice the Northern Ireland average. The economic inactivity rate is 36.6%. It is 10 percentage points higher than the rest of Northern Ireland. Not all of these challenges can be addressed singly by Invest NI.

“Each region has different challenges that need to be addressed and that's why I think a sub regional strategy, which identifies for this region what the key challenges are going to be around employment levels, quality of jobs as measured by average salaries, but also driving entrepreneurship and exports [will work best].”

Alderman Hussey asked about the possibility of setting up regular meetings with Invest NI. He was told Invest NI would be interested in that and that they already meet with DCSDC more regularly than other councils.