Going Dutch

Going Dutch is an early stage exporter programme, designed to help Northern Ireland companies develop the necessary skills, knowledge and confidence to export beyond the Republic of Ireland and Great Britain.

The Netherlands is a good starter market for new and inexperienced exporters.  Its proximity, relative ease of access, trading culture and acceptance of English as a business language make it the ideal starter market for exporting into Europe.

The Programme includes one-to-one business support and mentoring, tailored market research, group workshops, in-market group visit to the Netherlands to meet with pre-qualified potential Dutch partners, follow-up assistance and support for five further individual visits.  

Going Dutch is designed for Invest NI customers who have:

  • Less than 75 employees in the business
  • Limited or no experience selling outside of Great Britain and Republic of Ireland
  • Identified commercial reasons to explore export opportunities in the market
  • A suitable product or tradeable service that is adaptable for export
  • Financial stability and resources to develop and maintain an export market

The Going Dutch programme was incredibly successful for my business on helping to secure a distributor across the Benelux and launch our ecommerce platform in the region. It opened my eyes to the immense possibilities in growing my business outside the United Kingdom. 

Irene Breen, CEO, BellaMoon

Programme Delivery

The Programme will be delivered through a series of in-person workshops at Invest NI headquarters in Belfast, alongside 1:1 mentoring support.

Dates for the autumn/winter 2023 schedule are:

Activity Date
Information Seminar Monday 5 June 2023
Workshop 1: Researching the Market, Market Entry Strategy, Perfect Partner Profile Tuesday 12 September 2023
Workshop 2: Presenting your Company, Logistics, Developing the Partnership Monday 13 November 2023
Three Day Market Visit: Meeting with potential Dutch partners Monday 20 November 2023 to Thursday 23 November 2023

Video Playlist | Find out more about the programme

Participants on the current cohort of the programme:

Bathshack

https://www.bathshack.com/

Classic Marble (Showers) Ltd

www.classic-marble.com

Moorcroft Foods

www.moorcroftfoods.co.uk

Spreadpoint

www.spreadpoint.co.uk

SustainIQ

www.sustainiq.com

Titanic Distillers

www.titanicdistillers.com


Not sure that this support is right for you? Contact us and we can explore options for your business together.

Our support may be subject to some eligibility criteria.


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Business support team
0800 181 4422
or
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