BELFAST BRIEFING:Can the Government and NI Executive justify the £10 million annual cost to run the body?

CHARTING A course through choppy waters may be second nature for a Northern Ireland boatbuilder celebrating 34 years in business. But it was a programme run by a cross-Border business group that helped inspire Cushendall-based Redbay Boats to sail in a new direction.

Redbay started building traditional wooden boats in 1977 from a modest workshop on the northeast coast.

It diversified into fibreglass boats and developed its own hull design, which led to its Stormforce rigid inflatable boat (RIB) range.

Anyone who has travelled the scenic but often unforgiving ferry crossing between Ballycastle and Campbeltown in Scotland in fair and foul weather will be more than familiar with the company’s RIBs.

Today the firm will be pitching itself against competitors at the Southampton Boat Show.

Redbay prides itself on the fact that its boats are designed, tested and manufactured “from scratch in Cushendall”. The company recently expanded its workspace and readily admits that part of its recent success is down to getting involved in a cross-Border exchange of ideas and knowledge.

The Fusion programme is run by InterTradeIreland, the cross-Border body set up under the Good Friday agreement. It gives businesses the opportunity to partner with universities and graduates in the other jurisdiction.

Through Fusion, Redbay received support to implement a new quality management system that allowed it to set its sights on government contracts. The company also reaped the benefits of a tie-up with Letterkenny Institute of Technology. One of the biggest advantages of this was teaming up with graduate Stephen Gordon, who helped design a new RIB.

Although Redbay was a successful business before it got involved in the programme, it agrees that participation yielded tangible results.

InterTradeIreland’s focus on what it describes as “collaborative innovation” is just one of a range of business programmes operated by the body, which is funded by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation in the Republic and the North’s Department of Enterprise on a ratio of 2:1.

But after 12 years in operation and one global recession, is there really a need for an organisation whose “principal functions are to exchange information and co-ordinate work on trade, business development and related matters”? Is that not what the likes of Invest NI in the North and Enterprise Ireland should be all about?

With the Northern Ireland Executive and the Irish Government seeking to cut budgets radically, can they really justify the £10 million (€11.49 million) it takes to keep InterTradeIreland running each year?

Not that they can easily get out of funding the cross-Border organisation – one of the six implantation bodies enshrined in the Good Friday agreement. But does InterTradeIreland deliver value for money in these penny/euro-pinching days?

InterTradeIreland chairman and United Diary Farmers group chief executive David Dobbin is happy to let the body’s net results reflect what he says is “a good return for the investment”.

More than €90 million in trade and business development was generated throughout Ireland through InterTradeIreland last year, according to the latest analysis. According to the organisation’s calculations, this was roughly €20 million ahead of target for the year.

Dobbin says the body also achieved the highest return on investment in its 12-year history – every €1 invested in InterTradeIreland delivered an elevenfold return.

“Last year, 3,000 companies accessed information, advice and support through our programmes and services – double the set target for the year,” he says.

“We’re not trying to do what Enterprise Ireland or Invest NI are doing. We are, of course, supporting their work but we are also very focused on the smaller to medium-sized companies and start-ups: that is where our strength lies.”

Dobbin believes the fact that the economies North and South are facing similar challenges makes the work of the cross-Border body even more valuable in 2011 than when it was established in 1999.

“This isn’t about window dressing, it is not political. It is about delivering practical help and focusing on getting companies to see there are opportunities North and South,” says Dobbin. “We want to encourage smaller companies to look at exporting because the export market is outperforming the domestic market. They aren’t going to see dramatic growth unless they go outside the island.”

He believes InterTradeIreland can provide a “lovely stepping stone” to first-time exporters by giving them a helping hand to try a market on their doorsteps.

“If a company can’t sell up the road or down the road, then they aren’t going to succeed anywhere else. What we can do is help companies with export potential take bite-sized steps. We can de-risk exporting for them, reassure them and help identify opportunities.”