A Derry entrepreneur who has built Ireland's biggest organic domestic waste recycling business in the hills above West Belfast has told local business owners that more global capital will come to the North of Ireland if infrastructural and planning logjams can be resolved.
Addressing the West Belfast Business Roundtable in An Chultúrlann, Colm Warren, CEO of Natural World Products, outlined how a company rooted on the edge of the city has grown into Ireland’s leading organics recycler and a proven magnet for international investors.
And he stressed that further global capital to fuel the green transition was available but it would go to jurisdictions that make it easy to invest.
Warren charted his path from a working-class upbringing in Derry, through training as a chartered accountant with PwC and a career in corporate banking with KBC Bank taking the reins at Natural World Products.
From its West Belfast base, NWP now plays a central role in the circular economy, carbon sequestration and net-zero agendas. But Warren cautioned that unless the North tackles planning delays and infrastructure constraints, it will struggle to compete for the next wave of global green investment.
BIZ BUZZ: The West Belfast small business roundtable hears from Jo McAllister (standing)
Among those attending the monthly business breakfast were Gareth Graham of Belfast Commercial Finance, Aidan Flynn of Flynn Construction, life-coach Jo McAllister, Eileen Brennan of Brennan's Linens and Pat Magee of Magee Lighting.
