North West to berepresented at US trade mission

The North West’s “cross border location” will be one of the strongest selling points for seven companies across the Derry, Strabane and Donegal council areas that will travel to the US next month as part of a trade and investment delegation.
Seven companies from the North West will travel to the US next month as part of a high-level trade and investment delegation.  Front: Sian McCann, Wild Fuschia Bakehouse; Eibhlin McGuinness, MMG Welding; Rob Rae, Littus Consulting; Ian Friel, Visual Edge. Back:: Gerard Floyd, Humanity Cosmetics; Christopher Reid, Humanity Cosmetics; Francis Burns, Eko Chute.Seven companies from the North West will travel to the US next month as part of a high-level trade and investment delegation.  Front: Sian McCann, Wild Fuschia Bakehouse; Eibhlin McGuinness, MMG Welding; Rob Rae, Littus Consulting; Ian Friel, Visual Edge. Back:: Gerard Floyd, Humanity Cosmetics; Christopher Reid, Humanity Cosmetics; Francis Burns, Eko Chute.
Seven companies from the North West will travel to the US next month as part of a high-level trade and investment delegation. Front: Sian McCann, Wild Fuschia Bakehouse; Eibhlin McGuinness, MMG Welding; Rob Rae, Littus Consulting; Ian Friel, Visual Edge. Back:: Gerard Floyd, Humanity Cosmetics; Christopher Reid, Humanity Cosmetics; Francis Burns, Eko Chute.

The ‘Trade and Investment’ mission will include third level and further education providers and development organisations including the Ulster University, Letterkenny Institute of Technology, the North West Regional College, Donegal ETB and Catalyst.

The companies travelling from Derry and Strabane Council area are O’Neill’s International Sportswear, Humanity Cosmetics, Learning Pool and Visual Edge while EKO Chute, MMG Welding and Wild Fuschia Bakery, from Donegal, will also be taking part.

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The trade and investment mission will run from November 11 to 15 and is expected to “build on the strong political, economic and cultural linkages already established in Boston and Philadelphia with the North West City region”.

Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council Cllr. Michaela Boyle said the visit was particularly timely for the companies and partners.

She said: “This trade mission is a real opportunity for us to focus on our strengths in terms of location, talent and skills and support. It is our chance to really sell our location to the business community in the US, by educating them to the fact that post Brexit they can locate in our region and access both the north of Ireland and the EU.

“We will be very positive in our approach to emphasise to potential investors the strong selling points we have in terms of our location, our talented skills base, our cultural compatibility and quality of life.

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Cllr. Nicholas Crossan, of Donegal County Council, said he welcomed inclusion in the trade mission which provided support to make “real, lasting and worthwhile business and networking links”.

“We have enjoyed much success to date with three trade missions to Boston and two to Philadelphia and 40 companies availing of the support to develop exports into a new market”, he added.

During the visit, the participating businesses will meet with key contacts, explore and understand opportunities in the US market, develop in-market networks and develop relationships with potential customers.

Last year, Joule, a fire engineering consultancy in Londonderry, was one of a number of companies that took part in the trade mission.

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Founding director John McColgan reported that the trade visit was a fantastic opportunity to look at new markets in the United States.

He said: “Our participation in the trade delegation was hugely beneficial to us in that it provided us with opportunities to research the implementation of both our consulting business in fire safety and the rolling out of our digital fire safety platform,

“It was the first time we participated in a trade mission and we really made the most of this opportunity by meeting new clients, customers, distributors and showcasing our expertise and services to the US market. Thanks to the trade mission, we have registered a company in the US, are at an advanced stage in the distribution of our digital fire safety platform in North America, and maintained and built upon many of the contacts we made and we look forward to working with them.”