Several months ago I was approached by the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce inviting Airtricity to partner with the Chamber on a major new conference initiative designed to get Northern Ireland’s export trade moving again.
Called ‘Growing Something Brilliant’, the local business conference was a great fit for Airtricity, Northern Ireland's fastest growing energy business. This was not only because the Chamber-backed conference focused on ‘teamwork’ and how we as a business community can work together, to learn from one another and lift trade, but also because it offered a dynamically-different conference format to help cultivate brilliant thinking.
Broken out into interactive workshop zones the conference, which was held last week, allowed around 500 attendees from a diverse range of SMEs and large manufacturers to network with other business leaders as well as senior economists and government representatives to seek inspiration and support for export growth strategies from Northern Ireland’s policy makers.
After speaking with a number of business leaders at the event, it was clear to me that the Northern Ireland business community is giving a signal to its politicians, policy makers and regulators – we are here, we are ready, we are energised, and we want you to work with us in "growing something brilliant".
Speaking of energised, allow me a moment to briefly reflect on what "growing something brilliant" means for SSE and Airtricity in Northern Ireland. From very small beginnings, Airtricity has in the last 5 years grown to become the No. 1 energy provider to Northern Ireland business consumers with over 300,000 electricity and gas customers.
Three key factors that have enabled this growth:
- Firstly, the customer is at the heart of what we do, and we have been focused on delivering high quality products and services that our customers need and deserve;
- Secondly and critically we operate within a stable policy environment, with a clear energy policy set out by the Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment; and
- Thirdly we are constantly innovating, providing new solutions that are transforming how we generate, deliver and service our customers’ energy needs.
And it is in innovation that the opportunity to grow something brilliant exists for SSE Airtricity here. Northern Ireland is an ideal location for SSE to deploy innovative new products and services including digital servicing to make our customers lives easier; to invest in demand side management to make the electricity system ever more efficient; and to look at new ways in the area of wind integration to ensure we can deliver more clean renewable energy on to the grid.
However, the path to growth has its ups and its downs and the importance of political and regulatory stability and commitment to supporting growth cannot be over-stated. This is particularly important for the delivery of long term infrastructure investment that provides the backbone for enabling economic growth and attracting investment into Northern Ireland. While good progress in planning reform has taken place further work is needed to address backlogs particularly for the energy sector.
I leave with you this quote from a writer Victor Frankl:
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth.”
To my mind, developing a successful and prosperous business is about stepping in to that space, looking at how we can respond and ultimately “growing something brilliant” so we can energise for growth in Northern Ireland.
You can find out more about the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce's Growing Something Brillaint campaign, by clicking here.