Enterprise Pulse with Tina Calder
This morning I attended the North Belfast Business Breakfast at the Lansdowne Hotel for an event organised by the North Belfast Community Partnership to bring together local businesses, stakeholders, and community leaders.
As a North Belfast native and founder of Excalibur Press, currently based at Jennymount Business Centre just off the York Road, it was great to connect with other businesses rooted in the area and hear first-hand what’s being done to support growth and opportunity here.
The breakfast was hosted by Bill Atkinson, CEO of North City Business Centre, who opened by welcoming the room and outlining the purpose of the morning.
This wasn’t just a tick-box networking event – it was a genuine opportunity for business voices to be heard and to feed directly into the long-term plan for the area.
Over the past year, the North Belfast Community Partnership has been working behind the scenes to fill a much-needed gap in strategic planning for our part of the city.
“Around 12 months ago, it became clear that North Belfast was missing a key voice – we didn’t have a formal partnership board in place like other parts of the city,” Bill explained.
“The Partnership has developed a comprehensive plan structured around 11 thematic workstreams – covering everything from health and wellbeing to community safety, education, and economic prosperity.”
This absence was directly impacting how investment and support were being directed. In response, local neighbourhood renewal chairs backed the creation of the North Belfast Community Partnership – now a growing collective of organisations working collaboratively across 11 key workstreams, from education and health to community safety and economic development.
It was particularly encouraging to hear that the Economic Prosperity strand – the one most relevant to businesses – is being led by North City Business Centre and aims to be shaped by those of us operating on the ground.
“We want to hear directly from you – the business community – about the real challenges you face when starting, sustaining, or growing a business in North Belfast,” Bill added.
That spirit of collaboration continued through the contributions from local representatives, including MP John Finucane and MLA Philip Brett. Both acknowledged the vital role of business in driving community growth and prosperity, while recognising the challenges we face daily.
John Finucane emphasised the importance of using platforms like this to drive meaningful change:
“Let’s use this partnership not as a talking shop, but as a platform for delivery. Let’s back the businesses who are already invested in this place, and let’s create the right environment for others to join them.
“Businesses, whether they’re long established firms, new startups or family run shops, are the very bedrock of our local economy. You provide the jobs, the training and the momentum that help communities grow and prosper.”
“North Belfast has the talent, it has the ideas and it has the ambition. What we need now is joined up leadership, and I believe we have that in this room.”
He also outlined a commitment to building ongoing dialogue between business, political representatives and community organisations – something that’s long overdue in my opinion and much needed if we’re to move the dial on regeneration and growth.
Philip Brett, MLA and chair of the Stormont Economy Committee, echoed this sentiment:
“For too long, we have focused in this constituency on what divides us rather than what unites us. But across this room, you have shown leadership over many years. We have some of the best businesses anywhere in Northern Ireland.
“We have people who employ our young people. We have people exporting cutting edge technologies right across the world. But in typical North Belfast fashion, we never shout about how great we are doing.
“You have taken risks and shown leadership to ensure that those people who are born in this part of North Belfast can remain in North Belfast and can have a future in this part of North Belfast.”
As someone who has lived in North Belfast most of my life and now found a home for my business here, I found the session to be an energising reminder that we’re not working in silos. There’s a wider vision taking shape – one that sees the potential of North Belfast not just as a place of resilience, but one of innovation, ambition, and shared prosperity.
The message from today was clear – this is just the beginning. There’s more work to do, more conversations to be had, and more input needed from people like us.
So, if you’re a business based in North Belfast – no matter the size or sector – I’d strongly encourage you to get involved. Whether you’re running a local shop, leading a growing company, or operating from a spare room at home, your voice matters.
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