Liam Neilis
LOCAL Architectural Technician Liam Nelis will have a lead role at Derry City and Strabane District Council’s Enterprise Week 2017 next week when he hosts two events in the packed programme.
Running from March 6th – 10th, Enterprise Week will host talks, workshops and networking events throughout the Council area where industry experts will impart their knowledge to local business people.
A Technical Director with Gradon Architecture in Artillery Street, Liam is also a familiar face in local football circles in his work as a scout for Bristol City FC and will chair a ‘Realise Your Digital Potential’ event at the Guildhall on Monday March 6th.
The following day on Tuesday March 7th, Liam will host another key event in the programme when Council launch their ‘£10k Business Start Up Challenge’ at the Walled City Brewery where local entrepreneurs can learn how to stake their claim for thousands of pounds of prize money.
Virgin Media digital guru Steve Wind Mozley is the star attraction at Monday’s Guildhall event where Liam will host a Q&A and workshops that aim to give those in attendance an edge in online marketing.
“For Gradon Architecture these events are an integral part of our focus,” admitted Liam who has worked on a number of major local projects including the redevelopment of City of Derry Airport and the St Mary’s College campus.
“In an industry that is always evolving, it’s important to keep a finger on the pulse of innovation.
“Events like Enterprise Week provide a platform for emerging talent and there is an onus on us in business to listen and respond to that talent.”
Gradon Architecture have established a rich cross studio reputation for educational collaboration and recently teamed up with St Mary’s College in Derry to enter Jamie Oliver’s ‘Design a Restaurant’ competition where they impressively made the final four in all of the UK.
They have also worked on ‘Hairmetec’, an innovative project with RoCo Hair Salon to create a new haircut that merges hair design and architecture and Liam says that project exemplifies the type of ‘outside the box’ thinking he and the other judges will be looking for in the £10k Challenge.
“There’s an old saying ‘to have a good idea you have to have lots of ideas’ and that is particularly fitting for any start-up businesses looking for their niche in the market,” he noted.
“Innovation can come in many different formats and guises and we want to see people, or companies, that are prepared to think outside the box.
“Creativity is thinking up new things but innovation is actually doing new things.”
The ‘£10,000 Business Start Up Challenge’ is open to individuals that have started a business within the last six months or have enrolled in or completed the ‘Go For It’ programme.
Business plans showing the most potential will gain access to cash prizes ranging from £2,000 to £5,000 to help take forward new business ideas.
The closing date for entries is Friday, May 5 at 12.00 noon.
Registration to the Digital Marketing seminar in the Guildhall or any other event in the Enterprise Week 2017 programme is available at www.derrystrabane.com/enterpriseweek.
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