L-R: Kevin O’Connor, Head of Business at Derry City & Strabane District Council and Des Gartland, Invest NI’s North West Regional Manager outside Invest NI’s North West Regional Office which will host the series of ‘Lean’ workshops

Businesses in the North West are being urged to take advantage of a new series of business improvement ‘Lean’ workshops, hosted by Invest Northern Ireland.

Under the theme ‘Growth North West’, the ‘Lean’ workshops will begin on 16th March 2023. They are aimed at supporting North West businesses to implement more efficient processes which will help them improve their competitive advantage by increasing their productivity and profitability.

The ‘Lean’ series follows workshops delivered by Invest NI in the Derry City and Strabane District Council area during 2022 which encouraged higher levels of export and innovation activity.

Encouraging businesses to sign up, Des Gartland, Invest NI’s North West Regional Manager said: “With the increase in the cost of doing business, we are encouraging North West businesses to look at their processes to see how they can be more efficient.  By addressing inefficiencies businesses can typically expect to see a productivity improvement of up to 20 per cent.

“We’ve designed our ‘lean’ workshops to help businesses in the region improve processes, reduce waste, implement change, and improve employee engagement which will enhance the customer experience and ensure competitive advantage. There will also be opportunities for one-to-one mentoring sessions to tackle individual businesses’ challenges. I would encourage interested companies in the region to sign up at investni.com/growth-north-west.”

The first workshop, Improving Processes begins on 16th March with four further workshops scheduled in March and April. Each workshop will be held at Invest NI’s North West Regional office in Strand Road, Derry.   

Welcoming the workshops, Kevin O’Connor, Head of Business at Derry City & Strabane District Council said: “The Growth North West series of workshops offer our local Derry and Strabane businesses the opportunity to really analyse their cost model, drive efficiency through their operations and ultimately drive sales at a time when the market place has never been more competitive. Council is delighted that these workshops are targeting business in the North West and look forward to working with Invest NI as they roll-out.”