Surge in foreign nationals setting up businesses

Ethnic minorities are emerging as Ireland's new entrepreneur class, writes Claire Shoesmith

Wojciech Pasieka came to Ireland six years ago from Poland to set up a construction company. He now employs more than 180 people working on some of the biggest construction projects in the country.

As a foreign national running a business in the Republic, Pasieka is not alone. According to Dermot Nolan, head of business marketing at Bank of Ireland, there has been considerable growth in the number of non-Irish nationals setting up businesses here over the past few years.

In fact, every day 10 new businesses are registered in the Republic by foreign nationals - mainly of Polish, Chinese and Russian descent - according to data collated by the bank. This compares with about half this number 10 years ago.

Separate figures from the Revenue suggest that about 100 ethnic-minority businesses are registered each month.

The majority of these businesses are in the construction and services sector, such as catering, cleaning and transportation, with half of the restaurants opened in Dublin last year being registered by people with origins outside of Ireland.

Nolan isn't the only one to have noticed this trend. Ken Germaine, chief executive of Base Enterprise Centre in Dublin, which advises and assists entrepreneurs looking to set up businesses in Ireland, says that about half of the new people coming into the centre are foreign nationals.

In the last few weeks alone the group has had enquiries from people from Nigeria, China, Malaysia and New Zealand.

While no one can give an exact figure as to the number of overseas citizens setting up businesses in Ireland, there is no doubt the number is growing.

However, with foreign nationals now accounting for about 8 per cent of the population, the increase comes as no surprise, says Patricia Callan, chief executive of the Small Firms Association.

"When Irish people went abroad, they were tremendously entrepreneurial and this seems to be the case with people coming here," says Callan, adding that it's essential that the Irish business world seeks to tap into this raft of skills and talent as soon as possible. "It's important that these businesses are integrated into our communities at the start and we need to be proactive in doing this."

One group that's assisting in this area is Emerge, an EU-funded initiative that offers training and advice to minority groups to minority groups. With offices in Cork, Dublin and Galway, the group has seen huge demand for its pre-enterprise course, which first started last October and covers topics such as company registration, business planning, book-keeping, market research and presentation skills.

Of the 93 foreign nationals who have participated in the 14-week training course so far, 14 have set up their own businesses and several others are in the process of doing so, according to Noreen Keegan-Kavanagh, who works at the Dublin centre.

"Demand for advice from ethnic groups is huge," she says. "We are seeing it increasing all the time."

The nationalities are varied. According to John Oke at the Nigerian Chamber of Commerce in Ireland, one dominant ethnic group is the Nigerians.

Currently there are as many as 800 Nigerian businesses officially registered and operating in Ireland and a further 1,000 registered but not yet off the ground.

One of those whose business is up and running is Israel Olopade. He came to Ireland in 1998 and after struggling to get a job in his own field of computing, decided to set up his own business. Since 2000 he has been running an internet shop offering computer training and website design in Dublin 8.

Earlier this year he was forced to move across the road to a smaller premises, but all in all business is going well, he says, adding that this also seems to be the case for the seven or eight other Nigerians who have set up their own shops on his street during the past few years.

For Neville Kavanagh, managing partner at NKC Chartered Accountants, the increasing number of foreign nationals setting up operations here in Ireland is proving good news for his own business.

"There is no doubt the numbers have been increasing," he says, adding that he's seen a particular increase in the number of eastern Europeans coming to Ireland over the past year or so.

The majority of these businesses fall into the category of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) - an area that accounts for about half of the Irish workforce.

This year the sector is expected to create about 50,000 new jobs and foreign nationals will most likely account for a large proportion of these. In whatever way foreign nationals integrate into Irish society, whether as employers or employees, there is no doubt they have an important role to play in the future. Several economists have expressed concerns that without the continued arrivals of foreigners into the country the Irish economy will struggle to maintain its current rate of growth.

"The contribution made by these people is very important," says Callan. "Many of them are in niche areas and if we can help them grow from small niche businesses into larger mainstream companies then it is positive for all of us."

This recognition is something that's appreciated by those who are already here. According to Pasieka, apart from the obvious reason of making money, one of the things that attracted him to Ireland was the positive business and friendly working environment.

With the banks now offering literature in various languages and the increased support from groups such as Emerge and the Base Centre, things appear to be getting better and better for these companies.