The Women in Business Forum was developed by South East BIC and Enterprise Ireland to support women-led startups and SMEs in the region with knowledge and supports to address the challenges currently facing their businesses. Focus to date has been on innovation, funding, exporting and intellectual property. The Forum meets twice a year and promises a hard-hitting agenda of information and takeaways for the participants.

Last Friday, the Women in Business Forum met in the beautiful surrounds of Tirlán’s new Corporate Offices in the AbbeyQuarter in Kilkenny City. The theme of the Forum was Sustainability and AnnMarie Russell-Walsh of Enterprise Ireland welcomed everyone following a tour of the stunning new building.

Dr Lisa Koep, Chief ESG Officer at Tirlán shared her insights into the business perspective on sustainability from her experience at both Lidl and Tirlán and her extensive qualifications in this area. She highlighted that collaboration with suppliers, customer and competitors is vital if we are to achieve a sustainable future and encouraged participants to get started on this pathway as soon as possible.

Kathleen O’Regan from Enterprise Ireland’s Sustainability team outlined Enterprise Ireland and the Local Enterprise Office supports for companies and start-ups to achieve sustainability and climate action goals. Jennifer Power, Partner at FitzgeraldPower highlighted crucial compliance requirements for businesses, shared their sustainability journey and pointed to the importance of considering the voice of the younger generation.

Following a short workshop, Rosemary Ward of South East BIC hosted a panel discussion with all three speakers where they discussed the importance of listening to customers, building a collaborative approach with suppliers and competitors, understanding how to decrease energy usage as a first step and using all the supports available to get started on a long-term sustainability strategy, no matter how big or small a business is.

For more information on where to start on your sustainability strategy, log on to https://www.enterprise-ireland.com/en/sustainability or https://www.localenterprise.ie/green

‍

To find out more about the supports available from the South East BIC, click here  https://www.southeastbic.ie/what-we-do

or contact the team:

info@southeastbic.ie

051 356300