Bright spark Breda gets businesses off ground

City Lives – Bernie Ní Fhlatharta meets Breda Fox CEO of the Galway Enterprise Board

You would imagine that in recessionary times, people would be reluctant to start up new businesses, but quite the opposite is true.

CEO of the Galway County and City Enterprise Board, Breda Fox has had to introduce a ‘triage’ system to weed out the non-runners, such has been the demand for appointments from people needing advice on starting up a company.

But Breda, who has been CEO for two and a half years, is not complaining. In fact, she never fails to be amazed and pleasantly surprised at people’s inventiveness and determination.

The Enterprise Board is a Semi-State agency funded by the Department of Enterprise, Jobs and Innovation, which assists small to medium sized enterprises, or basically any business employing fewer than ten people. The board, chaired by city businesswoman Mary Bennett, is made up of entrepreneurs and representatives from Local Authorities and other State agencies.

Since Breda took over, 63 new companies have been assisted and on average she and her team see 20 new people a week, people who believe they have a viable idea.

In the early days, Breda saw all the potential entrepreneurs herself but found she was snowed under meeting people in the office. She then decided she had to make better use of her time and set up a system where other staff members meet them first for a one-on-one.

“That means that I can concentrate on ways to work with those who will be assisted by us and I always do the ‘home’ visits, so I get a feel for what is involved.

“But I have to stress that everyone who comes to us for that initial one-on-one meeting, which lasts about half an hour, leaves here a bit clearer, knowing what next steps to take and if they are determined, we usually see them again when they have taken those steps,” says Breda.

The Board organises a number of workshops and events geared at new enterprises and has a small conference/meeting room in its Woodquay offices for that very purpose.

Training can involve anything from book-keeping to how to market your business. Breda and her staff continually provide support and often act as business mentors.

In fact, the Board is made up of people like John Concannon of JFC Manufacturing, who was himself assisted by the Enterprise Board about three decades ago and is now a millionaire. His success, however, doesn’t stop him from wanting to help others starting up new businesses and like Breda, he still gets quite excited about a new invention or a new business idea.

The mentoring doesn’t come free though but it priced very reasonably at €50 for three hours of one-on-one. The Board is heavily subsidised (though like other agencies it has endured cutbacks in recent years), which is why it is able to provide such services to new businesses.

Breda came from the private sector to take up her role in November 2010 after working with KPMG in Dublin, London and Australia, then as Financial Controller at the Point Depot before returning as Financial Director for a multi-national company in Tuam. Leitrim-born Breda was educated and reared in Galway, which is why she jumped at the chance to leave Dublin to return to the West.

“I learned so much along the way and I loved every minute of it. I did three Eurovisions, including the Riverdance one, when I was at the Point and after I left, I was invited back for an MTV event. These were great, glitzy events and we at the Point loved being involved with them.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.