350 NW firms received £7min state aid

This represented 15 per cent of the total number of businesses supported across Northern Ireland and 11 per cent of the total financial assistance offered.

Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster said since the launch of the Boosting Business campaign “over 11,000 enquiries have been received and as a result 104 businesses in the North West area have been referred to Invest NI teams involved in the provision of development support to date.”

“This represents nine per cent of the total number of referrals made since the campaign began,” he stated.

She said the geographical breakdown was only made possible with software enhancements introduced in July 2012.

“Since this date a total of 114 calls, texts and emails have been received from the North West area. Also, from July 1, 2012 there were an additional 973 enquiries recorded from unknown addresses across Northern Ireland, 109 of which are estimated to be from the North West,” stated the Minister.

“In addition, during the period November 14, 2011 to August 31, 2012, Invest NI engaged with more than 330 individuals located in its North West regional area who were interested in starting their own business, 203 of which completed business plans. These businesses are expected to create 65 new jobs,” she added.