Start Up and Grow

Growing a prosperous, inclusive city economy is one of Belfast City Council’s top priorities, and we are committed to working with our partners to make Belfast a great place to do business and supporting entrepreneurs and business starts.

Whether you are a new business starting out, or an existing business that wants to grow, Belfast City Council have a range of support in place to enable you to achieve your ambitions.

If you're in the process of starting or have recently started a business, social enterprise or co-operative and need guidance to develop your business strategy, then our support can help. Our free tailored business support includes:

• knowledge and insight from business experts
• Networking connections
• workshops
• Incentives
• Mentoring and assistance in key business areas

City for Growth: Growing your business in Belfast

If you've been in business for over one year and need specific help with growth, we offer a broad range of support including;

• mentoring and assistance in key business areas
• help with exploring new customer markets
• networking con nections
• digital transformation
• tendering advice and guidance

Creative & Digital – One of the fastest growing creative clusters in the UK.

Creativity is part of Belfast’s DNA. Whether it’s film, TV, sound production or state of the art virtual and augmented reality, Belfast’s creative companies are making their mark globally.

A young population and highly skilled workforce ensures there is a wealth of talent available across the film, animation, music, mobile, gaming, and TV subsectors. This represents a diverse and easily accessible supply chain for the creative and digital industries.

Belfast’s reputation as a location for film and television production has grown significantly in recent years. The city has been able to call itself home to major TV and film productions such as HBO’s Game of Thrones, The Fall, Krypton and Line of Duty. Belfast is one of the fastest growing creative clusters in the UK and home to over 1,600 companies employing 20,000 people.

Financial & Professional Services – #1 Global Destination for Financial Technology Investment.

Digital capability and access to outstanding talent means that Belfast is now home to a diverse range of financial and professional services companies. Over 20,000 people are employed in this sector by globally recognised brands such as Allstate, Allen & Overy, Baker McKenzie, Citi, Fujitsu and Mercer. They sit alongside a rapidly growing cluster of FinTech companies. Belfast is the leading European city for new FDI software development projects and in the top 3 Fintech locations of the future after London and Singapore.

Belfast is one of eight UK financial centres and its specialisms include asset management, fund administration, operations, risk, regulation and compliance. A pipeline of over 5,000 graduates across relevant disciplines such as finance, accounting, economics, law and computing provide a ready supply of skills and talent to support this growing sector.

Cyber Security - #1 International investment location for US cyber security development projects.

Belfast is recognised as a global centre of excellence. A powerful combination of the city’s talent, innovation, resilience and pioneering research developed over the last three decades is priming Belfast for success.

Belfast is now the world’s number one destination for US based Cyber Tech Investment. With over 1,700 people currently employed in tech related jobs, the city is fast becoming a global hub for Cyber Security. International companies like Capita, IBM, AlertLogic, Proofpoint, Whitehat, Rapid7 and Synopsys have set up in Belfast, whilst the city is also home to the Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT), the largest Cyber Security centre in Europe and recognised by Government Communication Headquarters (GCHQ) as an academic centre of excellence. The largest of its kind in the UK, this flagship centre counts BAE Systems, IBM, Infosys and Thales, amongst its partners. Companies specialising in financial software data analytics and encryption, access control systems, intelligent surveillance technologies and cyber security all have bases in the city.

Advanced Engineering & Manufacturing – 8th largest Aerospace region in Europe.

Belfast is steeped in a rich engineering heritage that’s brimming with knowledge, skills and experience. The region is Europe’s eighth largest aerospace region, and Belfast is a global leader in advanced manufacturing and engineering, with the sector contributing £1 billion to the local economy annually.

With a long tradition of excellence in heavy industry and cutting edge research, Belfast is proud to be called home by Spirit AeroSystems. As a result, the city occupies a pole position in aerospace engineering. Research and development are at the core of Belfast’s growth in the manufacturing sector. These areas are strategically supported through The Northern Ireland Advanced Composites & Engineering Centre to support innovation through collaboration.

Hospitality & Tourism – Voted number 1 region in the world to visit in 2018 by Lonely Planet.

2019 was a record year for business tourism sales with 112 new conference and events secured for the city for future years, + 47% on the prior year. In 2019, Belfast welcomed over 275,000 cruise visitors on 146 cruise ships, an increase of 28 ships from 2018. Belfast Harbour opened a new cruise terminal which provides the first dedicated facilities for cruise ships on the island.

The city is also home to Titanic Belfast, named the Best International Experience in 2018. Tourism contributed £2.7 million per day in 2018 to the region’s economy, and the city saw 1.7 million overnight stays. Belfast has added more than 3,000 additional hotel bed spaces across the city between 2015 and 2017, with 1.14 million room nights sold in 2018. These, and other development opportunities in this sector, will contribute to Belfast’s ambition to double the value of tourism.

Life & Health Sciences – #1 European destination city for new medical software development projects.

Belfast is Europe’s leading destination for new software and is a pioneering centre for new technologies in life and health sciences. Strong relationships between industry and the city’s prestigious universities have produced pioneering research and many new discoveries.

The Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology at Queen’s University Belfast has revolutionised cancer research, while the Connected Health Innovation Centre at Ulster University leads transformational projects to align care needs with technology providers, researchers and clinical experience.

Andor Technologies is renowned for building the world’s most advanced scientific cameras used in medical research and space exploration and Heartsine is a world leader in emergency cardiac technology.

Whether you’re looking for funding and investment, supports or just to connect with like-minded startups – as well as more experienced entrepreneurs – Dublin City has you covered.

Early stage startup? Talk to the Local Enterprise Office. LEO provides easy access to quality supports including training, networking events and mentoring. Eligible start-ups can apply for co-funding for feasibility research, salaries and other costs, as well as help in accessing other sources of finance, including Microfinance Ireland.

Looking for further investment? Dublin city is home to some of the best accelerator and incubator programmes in Europe. Dogpatch Labs, located in the Docklands and part of the national NDRC accelerator, invest in technology-based start-ups, provide financing, intensive mentoring and prepare businesses for next stage investment. Browse 20+ other accelerators and incubators on Dublin.ie.

As Ireland’s inward investment promotion agency, The IDA partners with multinationals, both established and emerging, to provide funding and incentives and to aid in their relocation to Dublin. It helps companies to become established in Dublin and to ramp up their operations here.

Enterprise Ireland , the government body responsible for the development of Irish enterprises globally, provides a full range of support from access to VCs and co-funding to networking opportunities within the Dublin Start-up scene.

Want to connect with like-minded entrepreneurs? Dublin Chamber is the largest and most influential B2B networking and lobbying organisation in Dublin. They represent over 1,300 businesses throughout the Greater Dublin region and run over 130 training and network events every year. Looking for something more informal? First Fridays for Startups is run by Dogpatch Labs and takes place each month. Providing a space for mentoring and inspiring chats, First Fridays is where you’ll find some of Dublin’s most exciting startups. For more, see dublin.ie/invest

Tech

High-quality tech and multilingual talent is readily available in Dublin. Add to this a rich tech startup ecosystem, 9 out of the top 10 global tech companies, a supportive business ecosystem including technology and research centres and an excellent quality of life and it’s easy to see how Dublin provides the perfect base to thrive.

Financial Services

Dublin is a major global hub for fund administration, aircraft leasing, insurance and a range of wholesale banking activities. Dublin is a base for a wide variety of financial firms which are attracted by robust regulation and a strong skills base as well as excellent investment and tax incentives.

Professional Services

Professional services such as law, accounting, R&D, marketing and management consulting are well represented in Dublin. The sector accounts for 8.5% of total employment in Ireland and positive trends in its growth are expected to continue.

Life Sciences

There is a strong collaborative cluster of companies in Dublin, which facilitates best practice-sharing as well as cooperation between industry and both universities and research centres. Recent investments in Dublin have been made by international companies including Pfizer, Takeda, BMS, Alexion, Mallinckrodt and SK Biotech.

Logistics & Storage

As an export-driven economy on the periphery of Europe and the home of the European or EMEA headquarters for many global players, the transport and logistics sector is a significant and growing sector in Dublin. Dublin Airport has already seen passenger numbers and freight tonnage grow strongly. Planned development is expected to boost activity further. Freight through Dublin Port is also at record levels – additional investment has been committed to provide additional capacity.

Arts & Recreation

This sector accounts for almost 6% of all employment in the capital and has experienced comparatively faster growth than the EU average since 2011. This trend is expected to continue, boosted particularly strong growth in sports and recreation activities.

For more, see dublin.ie/invest/key-sectors/

Fingal County Council provides a 360-degree service to help you locate and build your facility in Fingal. Fingal facilitates meetings with our planning service to help you understand the local planning requirements when locating your business in Fingal and what requirements must be met in terms of planning and building your facility.

The Local Enterprise Office - Fingal is a one-stop-shop which assists start-ups, those already in business including entrepreneurs, early stage promoters, SME’s and small businesses looking to expand. Fingal promotes entrepreneurship, fosters business start-ups and develops micro & small businesses to drive job creation and provide accessible high-quality support for your business ideas. Fingal LEO provides business advice, mentoring, financial supports, trading online vouchers, networking and enterprise education among other services.

The Dublin Enterprise Zone (DEZ) has over 1500 hectares of land zoned in the zoned primarily for office, research & development, high technology manufacturing, industrial, general enterprise & employment purposes and with only half the DEZ developed so there is significant potential to create additional jobs on the undeveloped, zoned and serviced land available.

Fingal plays a strong supporting role to the Dublin City Gateway, which is the country’s economic growth centre. Fingal is the chosen location for thousands of businesses across all the main sectors of economic activity and home to a diverse range of employers, varying in scale from major multi-national companies, Irish small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and Fingal based start-ups with small numbers of employees.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

With leading companies such as Synopsys, IBM, PayPal and Symantec, Fingal has a wealth of ICT and technology talent clustered in the Blanchardstown area and a future talent pool with TU Dublin Technological University Dublin located in the area.

Pharmaceutical/ Healthcare

This sector is well established in Fingal by companies such as Bristol Myers-Squibb, Alexion, Helsinn Birex, Organon, Mylan and MSD Ireland who continue to invest and grow in Fingal. The Health Service Executive (HSE) also has a major employment centre at Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown,

Aviation

Fingal is home to Dublin Airport which is a key economic driver in the county and a major employer with companies such as Aer Lingus, Dublin Airport Authority, Cityjet, Servisair and Ryanair all clustered around Dublin Airport and providing significant employment to the region.

Agri-Food Sector

The agri-food sector is a key employment sector for rural communities and an important sector for Fingal with many key national horticulture brands located in Fingal. Fingal’s 600 farmers produce 14.5% of national potato output, 47% of field vegetable output and 37% of protected fruits, vegetables and nursery plants and is home to enterprises such as Keelings, Country Crest, Sam Dennigan and Donnellys.

Tourism

Fingal invests considerable resources in supporting tourism and manages a number of significant heritage properties and works closely with Fáilte Ireland to develop tourism infrastructure. Tourism in Fingal generates significant revenue with visitors generating a €500 million spend and sustaining more than 20,000 jobs across all sectors.