Government Supply Expo – 11th November 2025
The Office of Government Procurement (OGP) are partnering up with InterTradeIreland to host the Government Supply Expo 2025: Pathways to Public Tendering, taking place on the 11th of November at the Aviva Stadium. This event will be a huge opportunity for networking,...
Submitting Entry Summary (ENS) declaration from 1 September 2025 – key information you need to provide to your haulier or logistics provider
If your business sends goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland (NI) by parcels or freight via roll-on/roll-off ferry, you need to be aware of new arrangements for entry summary declarations (ENS) under the Import Control System 2 (ICS2). Background ICS2 is the...
Fully funded environmental mentoring support for micro/ small manufacturing businesses in County Antrim
‘FULLY FUNDED Environmental Mentoring Programme for small businesses in County Antrim - Are you a small business with 10 full time employees or less based in County Antrim (excluding Belfast)?; and - Are you a manufacturing, engineering, or services (business to...
Skilled Worker Visa Changes: What Manufacturers Need to Know
The UK Government has confirmed significant changes to the Skilled Worker visa programme, with the general salary threshold increasing from £38,700 to £41,700 from 22 July 2025. This change presents fresh challenges for manufacturers across Northern Ireland already...
Guidance from HMRC- Updated list of the Stop words
As you may know ICS2 has a number ‘stop-words’ that when used in isolation in the goods description will cause the declaration to be rejected. A list of stop-words has been publicly available however the EU have updated their list of stop-words which they have now...
Significant changes to Skilled Workers Visas to come into effect on 22nd July
The UK Government has announced significant changes to it migration regime, particularly around the Skilled Worker Visa’s route, to come into effect on 22 July. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-10267/ Over the past week we (and indeed our...
ANGOKA ENTERS GROWTH PHASE WITH NEW CEO, MARK GILLAN
ANGOKA, a leading smart systems cybersecurity specialist, has announced the appointment of Mark Gillan as its new Chief Executive Officer. This marks a major milestone in the company’s journey as it accelerates innovation across manufacturing, defence, and autonomous...
Utility Regulator proposes increased protection for Northern Ireland’s small business energy consumers
The Utility Regulator has published its ‘Improving the Non-domestic Consumer Experience’ position paper*, which aims to enhance protections for Northern Ireland’s non-domestic consumers of electricity and gas. Within the paper, the regulator proposes the...
Manufacturing NI to partner on €6.7m PEACEPLUS-funded digital transformation programme for SMEs
Manufacturing NI, the representative body for Northern Ireland’s manufacturing sector, will support businesses to adopt new digital technologies as part of a new E-DATA (Enterprise Digitalisation And Transformation Alliance) project. The €6.7 million cross-border...