SME support programme for online skills extended

Willie Cremen of food business Filligans of Donegal, one of the SMEs that has availed of InterTrade Ireland's E-Merge programme.

A funding and support programme initially established to help SMEs improve their online presence and e-commerce capabilities during the worst of the Covid restrictions has been extended due to high demand from businesses.

The E-Merge programme, initiated by cross-border business development organisation InterTrade Ireland, has already been availed of by around 1,000 companies across the island of Ireland. It provides up to €2,800 worth of consultancy support per company to help them develop online sales.

“There’s huge demand for this service from businesses. They are hungry to learn more and to reap the benefits of reaching more customers at scale,” said project manager Roisin Keenan.

Ms Keenan said the current demand is coming from companies who are moving into the recovery phase and want to capture consumers’ attention online.

Each business gets five days of dedicated support from a consultant. They have an expert at their disposal to focus on a particular need in the business - be that online payment systems, security or website management.

“Often a business knows what it wants to achieve online, it just doesn’t know how to go about it," Ms Keenan said.

She said many of the SMEs who have already accessed the programme have reported that it has helped them reach new customers