Barney Toal

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

SKILLS

ABOUT BARNEY TOAL

Growing up in Derry in the 1970s was a challenge. But hey, life is full of challenges!Having graduated with a PhD in Physics, I felt the need to do something different and embarked on a business studies course which led me to an MBA in 1989 and the beginning of a career in supporting economic development and small business growth through various organisations and Innovation Centres culminating in my present position as founding Director of Innovate-NI.Building upon my years running NORIBIC, the Northern Ireland Business Innovation Centre, I have taken that experience and with my business partner Clare McGee established Innovate-NI as Northern Ireland\'s first Innovation House for SMEs and Social Enterprises. With the freedom to pursue areas of interest to me, I will now explore social innovation, small business innovation and innovation policy development opportunities. Watdh out for a major development in the NorthWest in the coming months!Prior to taking up the NORIBIC role, I had changed jobs about every three years through boredom mainly but my longevity with NORIBIC cames from changing what NORIBIC does - much more fun! Now with complete control over our activities, Clare and I look forward to many more development opportunities in the coming years.In the last decade, we have developed, delivered and managed over £11m of business support programmes, assisting over 2,600 small businesses and are now Northern Ireland\'s largest provider of business mentoring support with over 100 associate mentors covering every aspect of business support (and always on the lookout for great business mentors!). Certified EFQM Assessor (2014)Registered Prince2 Practitioner (2007)