Looking to break in to European projects as a private micro-enterprise or SME can be an initially daunting and labyrinthine task. There’s no such thing as “I’ll take a quick look and see what’s available”. Between FP7s, ERDFs, NPPs, Convergence and Cohesion – it’s hard to know where to begin.

When Newmarket Consulting made the decision to get involved in European programmes – a decision primarily spurred on by an business acquaintance bemoaning the lack of high quality management support available for European funded projects in Ireland – research was (as ever) our first port of call.

Half a day of online research into European funding mechanisms and we were only marginally wiser. From our online marketing research we developed a schedule of calls for proposals for the three programmes that best suited us; the North West Europe Programme, the Northern Periphery Programme and the Atlantic Area Programme. The calls for proposals outlined key areas that were to be funded (for example rural development, green energy, transport etc.) Again, we earmarked areas where we thought we could make a significant impact. Next, once the deadlines for calls for proposals for specific programmes were approaching, we scanned tenders being published on both the Irish e-tenders website and the European tenders website. And then the hard work began … we started replying to tenders.

I won’t expound on the pros and cons of writing tenders – Clodagh has already done an excellent piece on that below – in this case they were a means to an end. And finally our gateway to Europe opened – we successfully responded to a tender for a European project in the creative industries field, and got our first breakthrough.

Involvement in European projects is a bit chicken-and-egg-ish. It’s hard to get a European gig unless you have European project experience, but how do you get that in the first place? Happily for us, we got lucky, and it has really stood to us as we have subsequently been involved in two further projects with European funding – again in the creative sector and also in the exciting field of renewable energy. Our initial European project experience made subsequent proposals stronger, as we were able to display our knowledge of European projects, such as governance and financial structures and trans-national co-operation and triple helix partnerships.

We started our involvement in European projects as external experts – i.e. we responded to a tender to perform a function of the project being led by a project partner. However, increased involvement in European projects results in increased understanding and confidence. We are now at the stage where we have developed a strong network of international partners, and as such we are now being approached to become full partners in responses to calls for proposals. It feels good, and has opened up a whole new avenue of potential business for us.

So, where to start your European odyssey? To save you from hours of bamboozling European funding research, here are some easy links to your European future:

There is a simple(ish) introduction to European Funding that can be downloaded from here: http://ec.europa.eu/budget/library/biblio/publications/funds_rules/pack_rules_funds_en.pdf

Companies and SMEs are encouraged to contact their local Enterprise Europe Network to seek more information on European Funding. In Ireland they are run through the Chambers. Contact information in Ireland is available here: http://www.een-ireland.ie/eei/

Information on available EU Grants is available here: http://ec.europa.eu/grants/index_en.htm

The Commission’s portal on Public Contracts is available here: http://ec.europa.eu/public_contracts/index_en.htm

The majority of EU Funding is managed by regional managing authorities in Ireland. Those managing authorities are the Border, Midland and Western Regional Assembly and Southern and Eastern Regional Assembly. You can find their contact information here: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/manage/authority/authority_en.cfm?pay=109&list=no

Good luck with it, and if you ever need some advice, don’t be afraid to give us a shout on +353 1 4293600 or mitchell@newmarket.ie

This blog is about the experience of non-designers (i.e. Newmarket Consulting) working on the redesign of our website, the approach we took, what we learned about digital media and what we achieved.  We hope it is of interest to others facing the same daunting but exciting task.

The evolution of Newmarket Consulting’s contribution to the world of websites is about to enter its third stage.  In 2004, we very proudly launched our first site and very much regretted that there were no Golden Spiders at the time.  Our use of stock images and business language surely combined in a way stood out from the many, many, many other sites for business consultants that were exactly the same.  The realisation that perhaps we hadn’t changed the face of the world wide web forever came when a friend in digital media described our site as looking like it had been “designed with a ‘Create Your Own website’ CD that came free with a box of cornflakes” (I still remember that Liam but understand/respect the cruel to be kind intentions).

Stage Two was a much better site which was much more in line with our identity and brand.  We worked hard on translating the business language into language that made sense to people.  We tried to make it more personal by including photos of ourselves rather than anonymous strangers with bright white teeth.  We were happy and it looked professional because it was created by a professional.

The process of changing it this time was mainly motivated by having Gary our digital media intern working with us.  We were still relatively happy with the old site but when Gary did his analysis of the site, we very quickly realised how little the site reflected the changes in websites over the last few years and how dated it had become.

It is much easier now to create sites on platforms that are really user-friendly.  Content management systems have progressed so much in the last few years and the glitches in the last system we used don’t seem to be an issue anymore.  Before simple things like font size would look perfect on the back-end of our old system and then appear as varying font sizes and formats on the front-end.  Photos were much harder to upload.  Moving imagery was way too much to ask and if we had tried to upload a video, we probably would have broken the Internet forever.

The other really interesting realisation is that if you haven’t updated your site in a while, you are probably communicating an outdated impression of who you are and what you do.  In the few years since we created our last site, we have ended up working in some new sectors, with new clients and in lots of new countries.

There are lots more tools available to us to get our message across that hopefully will show what is different about how we do what we do, our personality, specialities and quirks.

We said No to stock images.  We got out chalk and a chalkboard and Gary got sketching.  We used lots of photos to paint the thousand words rather than write the five thousand.  We got professional photos done (but forgot to smile and have our teeth airbrushed afterwards – missed opportunity).  Most of all I think we had fun coming up with ideas and lots of excitement seeing Gary make them happen.

For me the biggest lesson is that if you don’t update your site you are telling a story and presenting an image that reflects what you were before rather than what you have become.  So, if you are dynamic, you are making a big mistake if the impression your site gives is that you have been standing still for a long time.

This site feels like us, it looks like us (except for the airbrushed bits!) and we spent time thinking about what we wanted it to say, how we wanted it to look and how we could get a short but clear message across about what it’s like to work with Newmarket Consulting.  Hopefully we have done that.  Comments and suggestions and nominations to the Golden Spiders welcome.

There has been a lot of commentary in the media recently about interns given the government’s plans for intern programmes. The inspiration for this blog is the interpretation that all that is involved in having an intern is a cynical ploy on the part of greedy business to exploit free labour.

I believe that this is only true if the only gain is for the company. At the moment, Newmarket Consulting is lucky enough to have a digital media intern, Gary Burke, from the Institute of Technology Blanchardstown’s (ITB) Creative Digital Media degree. No question, we have benefited hugely from having Gary with us. He is revamping our website at the moment, he is working on a client website, the Not for Profit Business Association (NFPBA) and he is updating content on the Newmarket Partnership website. (Don’t look yet, they’re not finished but we will do another blog when they are). He has worked on graphics included in our proposal to Street Performance World championships Where’s Wally World Record and for a consortium submitting a bid to the EU Northern Periphery Programme. He has created a new brochure for Newmarket Consulting and created a suite of stationery templates that mean we can print our stationery in-house. He is also going to create videos for use on various websites and for promotional purposes. (more in Gary’s own blog)

So has he worked really hard? He definitely has. Is he being exploited? He definitely would be if he wasn’t getting anything back in return. The return on his time investment is, in my opinion, quite significant. In his time with us he has:

Learned new skills directly relevant to his course/qualification e.g. he is using WordPress to build the Newmarket Consulting and NFPBA websites so he has learned to use a completely new programme
Attended meetings with members of CreativeD (a network specifically for those working in the creative industries in Dublin), he has presented to the Board of the NFPBA, he has been involved in meetings with professionals from the accounting, branding and web design fields
Experienced how client briefs are translated into real projects and how briefs are interpreted differently depending on the way of thinking of the professions involved
Discovered that when you present clients with a number of options, they don’t always choose the one you feel they should and they sometimes ignore your advice because they don’t want to change
Realised that deadlines cannot always be met due to waiting for people to pass on the information needed, which then involves juggling priorities, focus etc. and this while this can cause frustration it cannot reduce the quality of the end product
Used research skills to find solutions to roadblocks encountered e.g. working from a Mac for use of visuals on a PC
Taken criticism – sadly, all one-sided as all criticism has been positive as nothing has gone wrong!
Gotten out from behind the desk and seen the world from a few angles including being part of the Where’s Wally World record flashmob
And importantly, he has been able to laugh; both at our lack of digital media prowess and when he dressed up as a Wally, sang in public and did star jumps on Grafton Street.
Real life experience and having a professional reference are invaluable and make someone more employable. Gary now has rich material for a job interview when asked to “tell me about a time when you…..” or “can you give us an example of a project you have worked on….?” His first hundred days in the workplace will lead to a successful career path in the future and he’s evening looking forward to it. In Gary’s words:

“I didn’t really know what to expect in the beginning but the experience in general has shown me what it’s like to work in a real business environment and now makes me look forward to getting my degree and starting working.”

Maybe that’s why he has resisted the temptation to make like Andy Dufrane and dig a tunnel under G9 Calmount Park and crawl to his freedom. We’ve even stopped locking away the teaspoons. And best of all we’re going to stop handcuffing him to the desk from next week on due to good behaviour.

We continue to work with the Association in a role that incorporates:

1. Ongoing analysis of needs of member organizations

2. Business/strategic planning and implementation

3. Facilitation of submissions and representations to State Bodies via research and consultation across member organizations

4. Managing the Association’s communications, public relations and events

5. Lobbying and representation

6. Project managing working groups

7. Secretariat services

Client Testimonial :

The formation of the NFPBA was managed strategically by Newmarket for the founding members in 1997/8.  From that date, the company has continued to manage all the legislative requirements of NFPBA and the strategic guidance of the association in its relationship building with health sector and allied bodies.  The company represents the association at the highest level possible, providing an acting CEO whose representations and presentations on behalf of the Association convey an integrity of relationship which is perceived as Newmarket and the association being one and the same body. Tasks performed by Nemarket have always been delivered competently, carried out to a high level of completion and on time.

Des Kenny, Chairman, NFPBA and CEO, NCBI

RASLRES is one of several programmes funded by the Northern Periphery Programme. The NPP is one of thirteen Interreg IIIB programmes set up to encourage and support transnational cooperation between NPP programme areas in Europe.

Northern Periphery Programme areas share many common features in terms of climate, sparsity of population, natural environment, complicated topography, culture and history.

The programme’s aim is to encourage joint projects that can tackle priorities shared by the participating countries. Organisations from the NPP area are given the opportunity to work together on joint projects concerning common issues and problems. Through the exchange of knowledge and experience, it is anticipated that some of the barriers to a more balanced development of the area can be overcome.

Also in late 2009, Newmarket Consulting were provided with the opportunity to work in the exciting field of renewable energies, and more specifically bio-energy. Since September 2009 we have been working with the Western Development Commission (WDC) and project partners in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, Finland and the Faroe Islands on the RASLRES project.

This project was chosen from a range of applications under the ERDF Northern Periphery Programme where it was granted funding to the value of € 2.8 million.

The RASLRES project has at its core the development of self-sustaining renewable energy markets in rural areas, with a particular emphasis on wood and marine biomass for heat energy in the west of Ireland.

Newmarket were originally contracted to provide project co-ordination for the RASLRES project across all of the European partners, and as such we have been involved in working with WDC to meet the project requirements in terms of project finance claims,  governance, archiving, communications, PR and general project co-ordination. Newmarket have also recently been contracted to provide market research and communications support to the project throughout Ireland. Working in tandem with our project partners, we hope to raise the awareness of policy makers, industry and the general public as to the wealth of opportunity our bio-fuels, such as wood and marine kelp, offer to our rural areas in terms of economic and environmental development.

Client Testimonial :

When the scale and challenge of the Raslres project became clear it was important we identified a professional partner to entrust the financial, communication and project management aspects of the initiative to so that we could focus on and implement the renewable bio energy support services we had committed to the sector and Europe.  In Newmarket, I am glad we have found a capability and delivery above our expectations” says Ian Brannigan, regional development manager for the WDC and programme lead. “This is a level of EU project support I have not yet encountered in Ireland and I am happy to say we continue to engage with Newmarket on this basis.

Ian Brannigan, Regional Development Manager

Newmarket worked as North West Regional Managers for Fáilte Ireland’s award winning Tourism Learning Networks from 2006-2008, which involved providing professional development support and mentoring to approximately 100 tourism SMEs in Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal.

“Creative input and hard work”

Conor McCarthy, Co-Founder

Mark Duckenfield, Co-Founder

“Professional, insightful and meticulous”

Deirdre McCrea, CEO