ENTERPRISE AGENCY WINS INVESTOR IN PEOPLE AWARD

Strabane Enterprise Agency has today, been awarded the prestigious Investors in People standard.

The agency attended a gala ceremony in Hillsborough Castle where they were presented with the award by Employment and Learning Minister, Sir Reg Empey. Investor in People, now in its 16th year, is a business improvement tool that helps organisations to compete and succeed through improved people performance.

Speaking at the ceremony the Minister paid tribute to those organisations receiving awards and said:

"The current uptake of the Investors in People standard in Northern Ireland is a promising sign for the local economy and should serve as an example to other employers not yet capitalising on the benefits of the standard. It offers employers a practical, user-friendly business improvement framework to ensure that their people are well skilled which in turn enhances business performance."

The Minister continued:

"The Department for Employment and Learning's 'Success through Skills' strategy identifies the need to not only understand the demand for skills but to improve the skills levels of the workforce. Investors in People is a means by which local employers can help tackle this area and ensure bottom line results. It is encouraging to see so many companies and organisations here today who have demonstrated a clear willingness to play their part in developing the skills of the Northern Ireland workforce."

Stressing that Investors in People recognition was not the end of the journey for the award recipients, he added: "Investors in People recognition should not be seen as the end of a project, but rather the beginning of a sustained commitment to long-term business improvement through employee development."

Over 1,400 small, medium and large organisations from all sectors of business in Northern Ireland are currently working with the Investors in People standard.