Minutes of the 85th Meeting of the Board of InterTradeIreland, the Trade and Business Development Body.Tuesday 24th June 2008 – InterTradeIreland Offices, Newry (2.00pm–5.00pm)
Present:
Board Members:
Dr David Dobbin CBE Chairman
Mr Brendan Butler
Mr Ray Doherty
Ms Rosaleen Doherty
Mr Sean Gallagher
Mr Jack Gilmour
Mr Hugh Logue
Mr Padraig MacLochlainn
Ms Patricia McKeown
Mr Tom Scott
Executive:
Mr Liam Nellis Chief Executive
Mr Aidan Gough Strategy & Policy Director
Mr Laurence Lord Corporate Services Director
Ms Catriona Regan Operations Director
Ms Orla McGlennon Board Secretary
85.1 Apologies.
Apologies were received from Mr John Fitzgerald and Dr Gerard O’Hare.
85.2 Authorisation of Previous Minutes.
The Minutes of the 27th May 2008 Board Meeting were approved by the Board and authorised by the Chairman. The Board also approved the Summary of Board Minutes for the 27th May 2008 Board Meeting for publication on the InterTradeIreland Website.
85.3 Matters Arising.
Mr Lord outlined the proposed actions and/or policies to reduce the impact of exchange rate fluctuations on InterTradeIreland programmes and recommended the following:
· The Body to enter into negotiations with the Sponsoring Departments as provided for in the Financial Memorandum (Para 9.3) around funding practices.
· The Body will continue with its established practice of equating amounts payable to participating Northern & Southern companies at exchange rates prevailing at programme inception.
· The Body will accept and consider tenders based in Euro and enter into currency risk sharing arrangements with managing agents/suppliers whose contracts or elements thereof are designated in euros.
· Will consider in consultation with the Sponsoring Departments the option of using financial instruments to mitigate against currency risk.
The Board accepted Mr Lord’s recommendations and advised him to enter into discussions with the sponsoring departments.
The Board approved the Terms of Reference for the Provision of Consultancy Services for an assessment of options for bridging Seed, Start-up and Early Stage Funding gaps on the island of Ireland at a cost not exceeding £40,000 + VAT.
85.4 Chairman’s Business.
The Chairman reported on the Strategy Sub Committee Meeting which was held on Wednesday 28th May 2008. It was agreed that the outcomes of this meeting should be circulated to all Board members.
The Chairman advised that he had attended a very positive NSMC Trade and Business Sectoral meeting with the CEO and both Ministers had endorsed the 2008 Business Plan, 2008 -2010 Corporate Plan and the 2006 Annual Report.
The Chairman also advised the Board that he had met with Paul Priestly, DRD Permanent Secretary
85.5 Chief Executive’s Report.
Mr Nellis presented highlights from his Chief Executive’s Report, which had been circulated in advance of the meeting:
· The NSMC Trade and Business Sectoral Meeting was held on 29th May 2008 in Enniskillen. The Ministers approved our 2008 Business Plan, 2008 -10 Corporate Plan and 2006 Annual Report.
· The Senior Management Team attended a Liaison Meeting in Dublin with the InterTradeIreland’s sponsor Departments.
· InterTradeIreland hosted a table at the IOD North South Dinner which provided an opportunity for Board members to meet with several of our key stakeholders from DETI, the Northern Ireland Chambers of Commerce of Ireland (NICCI) and North South Ministerial Council (NSMC).
· The CEO met with Bro McFerran, the new President of the NICCI to discuss ideas for promoting great North-South co-operation during his term of office. His counterpart in the Dublin Chamber, Margaret Sweeney, has also chosen North South economic co-operation as the main theme of her Presidency.
· Representatives of Invest Northern Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and the CEO accompanied a group of some 60 senior businesspeople from throughout the island on a visit to Haiti as part of the Entrepreneur of the Year Programme.
· The new Acumen programme was launched at the Croke Park Conference Centre on 4th June 2008 by the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Coughlan and InterTradeIreland Vice-Chairman John Fitzgerald. Over 100 delegates attended the event which was a great success.
· The BT/InterTradeIreland Business Monitor was launched on 15th June 2008. The key message from the publication is that while the 4,000 companies surveyed have become more concerned about the direction of the economy over the last 12 months they remain optimistic about the future.
· The next North South Roundtable Group (NSRG) Plenary will be held in Belfast on 6th November 2008. BT is confirmed as sponsor and the event will take place at the BT Tower, Belfast.
· Promotion of the Seedcorn Competition is taking place throughout the island with presentations taking place in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick, Sligo, Belfast and Derry. The Board were informed that the 4 banks that were approached for sponsorship had declined the offer due to the current economic climate or due to other ongoing sponsorship commitments. After discussion, it was agreed that in the event that sponsorship from a third party not be offered, an additional £60,000 + VAT should be made available towards the costs of the Seedcorn competition.
· Equity Network held 2 investment pitch master classes in June 2008, in Cork in association with Kernel Capital Partners and in Galway with Enterprise Equity
· Molly D Marketing has been appointed to write 8 case studies on former participants in InterTradeIreland’s Seedcorn Competition.
· The MicroTrade Food and Drink Powerhouse event took place on 28/29th May 2008 in Limerick with around 60 businesses in attendance.
85.6 Board Sub Committee/Steering Committee Reports and Programme Decisions
Audit Committee
Mr Scott reported on the Audit Committee that morning. The Board ratified the Terms of Reference for the Audit Committee. Mr Scott reported that it was anticipated NIAO and C&AG (Dublin) would certify the accounts that day - thus meeting the statutory obligation of 30th June 2008. The Board was informed that following an invitation to Stephen Quinn, DETI Permanent Secretary, a DETI representative, Nuala Crossin, had attended the morning’s meeting.
Acumen Steering Panel
With the endorsement of the Acumen Steering Panel, the Board approved 21 projects as detailed in the Board papers. One project was deferred and 2 projects were rejected.
Communications Sub Committee
Brendan Butler reported that the Communications Sub Committee had met on 5th June 2008 with Davidson Cockroft Partnership (DCP) to agree the process for developing the communications strategy
85.7 Programmes and Third Party Proposals – For Decision
Innova II Programme
Mr Gough reported that following a meeting of the Innova II Sub Committee, a number of issues relating to the rationale and operation of the programme had emerged. The Executive had reviewed the delivery mechanism in response to the issues raised and provided further details of the revised Innova II programme and budget at the meeting. The Board endorsed the revised delivery mechanisms and approved the re-allocation of budget of €11,841.
Outline 2009 Business Plan
Mr Gough presented the proposed draft outline 2009 Business Plan and budget for submission to the sponsor Departments and respective Departments of Finance. The Board discussed and approved the 2009 Business Plan subject to some minor adjustments.
Variations to Letters of Offer -
The Board approved 2 variations to Innova Letters of Offer.
North/South Roundtable Ground (NSRG) – Extension and Change to Contract
The Board approved the recommendation that InterTradeIreland fund NSRG for 25 consultancy days between the period 1st April 2008 to 31st January 2009 at a cost not exceeding £25,000, plus expenses (inclusive of VAT).
85.8 For Noting
Review of Key Risks – June 2008
The Board noted the Review of Key Risks and requested that the full Risk Register be circulated to all Board members.
Governance and Financial Matters & Summary Business Plan Progress Report
The Board noted the current budgetary standing of the Body and the position of cash balances.
85.09 For Information.
Accounts
The Board noted the Accounts for May 2008.
Communications Update
The Board noted the Communications Update for May/June 2008
April 2008 Detailed Business Plan Progress Report
The Board noted the contents of the May 2008 progress report
85.10 General Discussion and Any Other Business
It was agreed that the September Board Meeting should be held in Ghan House, Carlingford on the afternoon of the 23rd September 2008 with a strategy session to be held later in the evening.
…………………………………………Authorised by:
Dr David Dobbin CBE
Chairman, InterTradeIreland
26th August 2008