NACEC, the enterprise hub network, has conducted a survey to assess the impact of Covid-19 on all enterprise centres, food, tech, digital, co-working and remote working hubs across Ireland.
The survey found that two-thirds of all centres are under pressure to provide tenant financial relief and one in seven still have inadequate broadband in place to enable remote working.
Other key findings of the survey include:
+ 98% of centres have seen a decline in revenue, with a quarter suffering a drop of between 50-80% in revenues
+ 92% have a decrease in occupancy
In Association with
+ One in three centres have tenants that have closed permanently
+ Over four in five centres have tenants that have temporarily closed
+ Nearly five in seven centres have unused co-working facilities.
The National Association of Community Enterprise Centres says that enterprise hubs directly supported 1,800 businesses employing c.5,500 people before the pandemic.
The organisation estimates that hubs require state funding of €5m to adapt their facilities and services to get their tenants clients back to work.
• Download Enterprise Centres/Hubs Covid-19 Impact and Recovery Survey
Association chairman Gary O’Meara (pictured), who is CEO of Meath Enterprise, commented: “We are ready to do our bit in assisting the country and its regions to support Irish business and create jobs post-pandemic.
“The crisis has brought remote working into the mainstream, and it increasingly accepted as a realistic proposition by many employers and employees. We envisage co-working will increase as businesses downsize to reduce costs.
“With home working establishing itself, we foresee city-based companies providing budgets for remote workers to find a desk close to home. However a small number of hubs are struggling to succeed and need financial support to offset the current drop in incomes.”
The survey was conducted from May 12 to16 and was completed by 87 representatives of enterprise centres and hubs across Ireland.
The study spanned new and existing enterprise/technology centres, food/digital hubs, co-working/remote working hubs and college/university incubators in Ireland.
