North Belfast Business Development Project (NBBDP)
All Departments were asked by Department of Finance, on behalf of the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), for proposals to utilize capital allocation in this financial year (2025/26). The Minister considered options and identified a proposal targeting economic growth in deprived areas in North Belfast as her priority. The Executive subsequently agreed this as its priority. MHCLG agreed to provide funding for this project.
North Belfast has significant concentrations of high deprivation: of the top 10 most deprived areas in Northern Ireland, five are in North Belfast. The area has all the characteristics you would expect from high levels of deprivation, for example higher levels of economic inactivity than the NI average and lower levels of qualifications.
A consistent challenge for the Department for the Economy (DfE) has been to ensure that more deprived communities feel the benefit of economic development. The Minister for the Economy has asked for a different approach and that more work is done in partnership with institutions, organisations and groups in areas of higher need. In response to this DfE has actively participated in the NI Civil Service Collaboration Test and Learn pilots.
This proposal marks the first of its type for DfE, with the focus on addressing deprivation and originating from partnership working with the local community. This proposal addresses the failure of the market to develop a pipeline of business start-ups and scale-ups within this area of North Belfast, thereby providing limited employment in an area with consistently high levels of economic inactivity.
The proposal will support North City Business Centre (a North Belfast Local Enterprise Agency) to create approximately 120k square feet of new workspace in the area, enabling existing businesses to expand and providing start-up space for new business. It will extend the provision of training and skills for local people and businesses, as well as creating space that can be utilised by the local community.
It will create a self-sustaining anchor institution in the area to drive economic development and ensure that any profits will be reinvested in the locality for the benefit of the local area. It will enable a deprived area to generate greater wealth and retain it within the local community.