UP TO 200 businesses attended the midwest’s first “pop-up bank” event held in Limerick yesterday, targeting entrepreneurs struggling to find credit or capital for viable businesses or start-up ideas.
Participants included AIB, Bank of Ireland, Ulster Bank and KBC Bank. Also involved were Enterprise Ireland, the County and City Enterprise Boards of the midwest region, Shannon Development and the Chambers of Commerce of the midwest.
The initiative was organised by local accountancy firm O’Donovan Caulfield Lavin and involved 23 exhibitors including lending institutions, support agencies and capital investors. “Credit is the lifeblood of the SME sector and we wanted to do something constructive to help companies to access credit. We want to see jobs created, we want to see people start up new businesses or stay in business and expand, and that was the ultimate aim of today,” said Jim O’Donovan, partner at the firm.
Many businesses at the Thomond Park event said the biggest issue they faced was access to capital. Philip Culbert, of mobile marketing service provider Umobilize, said: “I was delighted to have the opportunity to meet the banks, credit and capital providers in an open setting and also organisations such as the Limerick Enterprise Development Partnership, Clann Credo and First Step – I wouldn’t have known about these before.”
Shauna Kennedy, of Morning Star Photography, said the event provided an ideal opportunity for networking. “The pop-up bank gave me a great opportunity to talk to the banks, put my questions to them in a receptive environment, and find out what they can really do to help me to develop my business. Also, it was not too formal, fantastic for networking, which was great,” she said.
The event was organised by RTÉ's The Businessshow presenter George Lee, who said he believed "things are looking up and not down in the economy. Personally I don't believe that we are going to default, economic growth will come from people in this room here today. Irish people are full of ideas, they don't give up and are always looking at other ways of finding solutions."
Limerick mayor Cllr Maria Byrne officially opened the bank. “It’s all about confidence and people putting faith in themselves. This is a great initiative – anything which assists companies and entrepreneurs in the region to start up businesses, stay in business or expand and create more jobs must be welcomed,” she said.
Minister for Finance Michael Noonan also backed the initiative.