The Local Enterprise Office created 3,149 jobs last year, bringing the total number of LEO supported jobs to 38,535 across 7,400 client companies.

Investment in the clients of Local Enterprise Offices (LEO) also increased by €2 million in 2019. The total investment is now just over €20 million, according to recent figures.

In 2019, 37,306 people used LEO for training services, which is a 6.4 per cent rise from the previous year and 10,756 clients used LEO for mentoring services – a 10.5 per cent jump from 2018. 

“In addition to helping businesses and entrepreneurs to realise their ambitions of starting and growing a business, these jobs have a positive knock-on effect on local areas and so are particularly valuable to rural Ireland,” says outgoing Minister for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection, Pat Breen.

The figures were announced to mark the start of the Sixth Local Enterprise Week, which began on Monday.

The Local Enterprise Office is a government body that provides support services for those who want to set up their own business, but have limited knowledge on how to do it.

Those in the Local Enterprise Office during Local Enterprise Week 2020. Photo: Local Enterprise Office

LEO is often used as a stepping stone before entrepreneurs seek funding and support from Enterprise Ireland. LEO assisted the transfer of 162 companies to Enterprise Ireland in 2019. 

Oisin Geoghegan, chair of the network of Local Enterprise Offices, told The Currency that people use LEO to set up companies in a range of different industries from tech to food. 

“Setting up a business can be a very lonely place. It’s a big deal, but sustaining a business after the start-up phase can be difficult.”

Oisin Geoghegan

One of the most common services LEO provides is training and mentorship around growing a business financially and minimising the financial risk to yourself and your business, according to Geoghegan. 

He added that most people who cross the threshold into LEO for the first time have not yet set up their business and are looking at where to start. Geoghegan actually thinks this is a better situation to be in, as LEO can advise people on the best practices in setting up a business before it’s created. People with fully formed business are also able to avail of LEO’s services. 

“Setting up a business can be a very lonely place,” says Geoghegan. “It’s a big deal, but sustaining a business after the start-up phase can be difficult.”

“I think we’ve come a long way in the last decade in terms of supporting small business,” says Geoghegan when asked if he thinks it’s easy to set up a small business in Ireland, where emphasis is placed on large companies and multinationals setting up in the country.

Enterprise Ireland approved €1.14 million in joint funding for their Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) programme this week. This funding is specifically for five projects involving public sector bodies in the areas of climate change, health, biodiversity and transport.

Those working on the climate change project aim to reduce the carbon footprint of schools by cutting plastic waste. The total fund for this project is €240,000.

Those involved in the health projects will work on reducing the incidence and impact of inpatient falls within hospitals. This project will be carried out in partnership with the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital and the National Orthopaedic Hospital Cappagh as part of Ireland East Hospital Group. The total fund for this project is €200,000.

The second health project will be done in partnership with Tallaght University Hospital. Those involved will work on improving the care of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) patients in the community. The total fund for this project is €200,000.

The goal of the biodiversity project is to create solutions to map out the coastal seaweed resources around Ireland. Seaweed is a natural resource and those involved in this project will working on finding a technology-based solution to enable future determination of its distribution in inter-tidal areas across Ireland. The Marine Institute is a partner for this project and the total fund for it is €300,000.

The last project looks at the transport sector. In partnership with the National Transport Authority (NTA), Enterprise Ireland’s SBIR will work on solutions for mobility-impaired passengers to use public transport easily. The total fund for this project is €200,000.

During Local Enterprise Week 2020 week, 300 events will take place run by the 31 LEOs across the country.