175 companies attend PopUp Bank credit forum

OVER 175 businesses yesterday attended the Mid-West’s first Pop Up Bank initiative at Thomond Park.

The Pop Up Bank concept is the brainchild of accountancy firm O’Donovan Caulfield Lavin and involved 23 exhibitors, including lending institutions, support agencies and capital investors.

Organiser Jim O’Donovan said: “SMEs form a large part of our business and access to credit has been a huge issue for many of them. 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.”

Finance Minister Michael Noonan said: “I very much welcome this initiative to provide a Pop Up Bank to assist those businesses in the Mid-West who are struggling to find credit or capital for viable businesses and start up ideas. This forum, whereby the banks, state support agencies and seed capital providers come together will hopefully assist those entrepreneurs to maintain and create jobs.”

Many of the businesses who attended the Pop Up Bank confirmed that the biggest problem facing them is 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 Pop Up Bank gave me a great opportunity to talk to the banks today, put my questions to them in receptive environment and to find out what they can really do to help me to develop my business.”

Mr O’Donovan said all of the exhibitors were looking for those businesses attending the event to pitch their ideas to the firm and plans to follow up with businesses in the coming months to see how successful they were in securing credit or investment.

Participants at the Pop Up Bank in Thomond Park yesterday included AIB, Bank of Ireland, Ulster Bank, KBC Bank, Enterprise Ireland, the county and city enterprise boards of the mid-west, Shannon Development, mid-west chambers of commerce, Pinnacle Horwath, First Step, The Business Angel Partnership and Cork BIC, the Paul Partnership, Limerick Institute of Technology, including the Enterprise Acceleration Centre and Limerick Enterprise Acceleration Platform and Franchise Acceleration Start-up Training programme&, the Tipperary Institute, Office Ireland, the University of Limerick’s Technology Transfer Office, the Revenue Commissioners, Limerick Enterprise Development Partnership, the LEADER groups of the mid-west, Clann Credo, the Referral Institute and the Credit Review Office.