Graduate to Export Programme

Summary:

Financial support to help companies grow their business by employing a graduate to take forward a market research project to target a market outside Northern Ireland.

Eligibility criteria:

This support is available to Invest Northern Ireland clients, which are manufacturing and/or tradeable services businesses with the potential to both:

  • achieve at least 25% of sales external to Northern Ireland (or at least £250,000 external sales, whichever is lower)
  • employ at least ten staff, within five years

If you can demonstrate that your business meets these criteria, you may be eligible to apply to become an Invest NI client.

Additional information:

If your application is successful, you will receive salary support to employ the graduate of 50 per cent (up to a maximum of £18,000 for the eighteen-month programme) and export skills training and mentorship for the graduate provided by Ulster University and the Institute of Export.

Graduates spend the first six months of the programme in Northern Ireland getting to know your business and starting the training programme. The following 12 months are spent in the export market undertaking the market research project with full support from your company, along with academic and company mentors.

Support organisation:
  • Invest Northern Ireland
Phone:
0800 181 4422
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