As rising costs pile pressure on SMEs, the latest quarterly InterTradeIreland Business Monitor shows that while sales and profits remain relatively buoyant, quarter-on-quarter, growth is slowing.

Martin Robinson, InterTradeIreland’s Director of Strategy says, “There is a great deal of uncertainty in the wider economy – with rising inflation, interest rates and a volatile energy market. The road ahead looks to have a number of caution signs for business. While the majority of firms that we speak to are in a stable position, the number in growth mode has dropped to just over a third, compared to 41 per cent for the same period last year.”

Congratulations to the regional finalists of the 2022 InterTradeIreland Seedcorn Investor Readiness Competition.

Companies across Ireland competed in the NI, Dublin, Connacht and Leinster and Munster regional finals, to walk away with €20,000 each and a place in the overall Seedcorn final later this month.

The ‘Best New Start’ regional winners were PlayerStat Data, Itus Secure Technologies, Mettacomms and Atlas Smart Technologies. Lia Therapeutics, ByoWave, Capella Workplace Solutions and SustainIQ have been named ‘Best Early Stage’ in their respective regions.

We would like to wish all the finalists good luck for this year’s final in the Hilton Hotel, Belfast, on Thursday 24^th November.

There’s still time to join the remainder of InterTradeIreland’s trilogy of workshops and gain advice for SMEs in the current funding environment.

The virtual workshops will cover a wide range of topics including sustainability, macro financing and economics, as well as funding types for smaller scale SMEs.