Meet Our Business Advisors...
Two new, highly-experienced Business Advisors have been appointed at Ards Business Hub to help guide and mentor start-ups and growing businesses.
Tony McAllister and Anne Murphy, who have both worked within the corporate world as well as owning their own businesses, will use their skills to support local businesses and help them develop and succeed.
Through programmes including Go Succeed and the NI Explore Enterprise Support Service, the advisors meet clients to discuss strategies and pressure-test ideas to gauge their viability. They can advise on a wide array of topics, including financial forecasting, cash flow planning, risk analysis, resource planning, sales and marketing.
Ards Business Hub Chief Executive Nichola Lockhart explained: “Our dedicated team can assist entrepreneurs at every stage of their journey. Our job is to give people the knowledge and confidence to make the best decisions for their businesses. Tony and Anne both have amazing experience and will make a huge impact supporting individual businesses to start and grow.”
Tony has worked internationally for Caterpillar Inc, travelling to more than 80 countries in a career spanning a number of exciting roles including product manager and North American Power Systems General Manager where he was based in South Carolina.
With an MBA from Henley Business School, he also studied business strategy at Stanford University. In 2021, he started two small businesses, TME Property Development and TM Consulting.
The East Belfast man, who is a keen adventure motorcyclist, enjoys helping businesses solve problems, talking through an idea and seeing it brought to reality.
“I am so delighted to be working at Ards Business Hub. I wanted to use my 35 years’ experience to help people realise their dreams. I’ve been incredibly lucky in my work life to have had great bosses and mentors who helped me along the way and I recognise what a powerful force this can be,” he said.
Anne, who is from Newtownards, has a diverse career history with more than ten years in Hospitality & Tourism, three years PR and Advertising industry experience and 15 years’ experience in International Recruitment.
She holds a MSc Innovation Programme from Babson College, Massachusetts and a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Development and Innovation from Ulster University. As an entrepreneur, she founded and managed multilingual recruitment companies in Belfast, Berlin, Krakow and Dublin, exporting services to 15 countries.
She spends most of her time outside work having fun with her seven-year-old daughter and volunteers with AUK as well as a community arts centre in the Causeway Coast & Glens.
Anne loves the variety of her new role at Ards Business Hub and using her experience to help people grow their new businesses.
“What I’m enjoying most is the energy and enthusiasm of the entrepreneurs I’m working with. I have been in their position and experiencing it from the other side is very enriching. I’ve spent thousands of hours talking to senior leaders in blue-chip companies and interviewing people, at all levels, in dozens of industries across the world, that knowledge and experience has been invaluable in my new role.
“The team at Ards Business Hub, including the leadership team and the Board have been extremely welcoming and engaging. It’s a really forward-thinking organisation,” she added.
