Maximising cross-border economic opportunities

With all-island trade now at an all-time high of £14.6 billion, agendaNi speaks to InterTradeIreland Chief Executive Margaret Hearty to discuss the opportunities in the cross-border market, and how the organisation’s strategic priorities will support indigenous SMEs.

For many SMEs, the cross-border market is the most accessible route to scale, allowing them to grow, innovate, and build their export capability without the cost and risk associated with more distant markets. Given the challenging trade environment, ensuring businesses can access new market opportunities and supporting collaboration that translates into economic impact, is an increasingly important policy priority.

“In an uncertain global economy, the cross-border market provides a relatively stable and compelling proposition right on their doorstep,” says Margaret Hearty. “Strengthening economic links across the island gives our indigenous SMEs a platform to build scale and compete internationally.”

Established under Strand Two of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, InterTradeIreland has a unique mandate to support economic cooperation across the island. In doing so, it contributes directly to the delivery of Programme for Government commitments in both jurisdictions on growth, productivity, and regional economic development. In practice, this means helping businesses trade, innovate, collaborate, and scale using the opportunities available in both economies.
InterTradeIreland’s work is underpinned by its research and engagement activity, which provides policymakers and businesses with a shared evidence base on trade, competitiveness, and enterprise growth. The most recent data shows cross-border trade at a new high of £14.6 billion, while its All-Island Business Monitor, a quarterly survey of 750 SMEs, shows that those active in the cross-border market typically perform better and are more resilient.

Hearty explains: “What we consistently see in the data is that firms trading across the island are more profitable and enjoy higher growth. Our role is to make it easier for businesses to access those opportunities. The cross-border market provides a practical first step into exporting for many SMEs, allowing them to develop new skills and gain valuable export experience before expanding into more distant markets.”

SustainIQ, a Belfast-based sustainability reporting software company, is an example of this progression. With support from InterTradeIreland, it successfully expanded its customer base into Ireland, transforming cross-border sales from a small share of revenue into a significant growth driver. This success in the neighbouring market accelerated its overall expansion.

Hearty says: “Success in the cross-border market builds the confidence and capability needed to compete internationally. Our experience shows that the majority of businesses who take that first step cross-border then go on to export off-island. In our most recent AIBM survey, three quarters of businesses said they would recommend the cross-border market as a stepping stone to exporting further afield.”

InterTradeIreland has a direct mandate to lead economic collaboration across the island, and plays a key role as a connector and convenor between businesses, academia, and policymakers, which is crucial to unlocking new opportunities for growth and driving innovation and competitiveness.

Central to this role is helping SMEs across the island to better understand and embrace innovation. InterTradeIreland’s Innovation Boost Programme supports SMEs to hire a graduate to take forward an innovation project and benefit from the support of an academic expert. In addition, through an open market call in 2025, InterTradeIreland launched several new innovation programmes including an initiative to support SMEs in the construction sector to adopt AI solutions to drive productivity improvements and create new market opportunities.

For many ambitious SMEs, the challenge is often not a shortage of ideas but access to the finance, expertise, skills, and networks that enable them to scale and turn those ideas into economic reality. InterTradeIreland’s investor readiness competition, Seedcorn, mirrors the fundraising process for startup and early-stage firms with a panel of expert judges. Regional finals mean that the whole island’s talent can be involved. Recent Northern Ireland based winners included dispute resolution platform TalkTerms, Routine Roo who have developed an online behavioural tool for parents and children as well as the deeptech winner BioMarx.

Through its suite of funding advisory offerings, InterTradeIreland supports entrepreneurs across the island to refine their market proposition, secure new investment and scale their business. That focus on linking high potential early-stage SMEs with the right networks was in evidence at its Venture Capital Conference in Belfast in March 2026, which brought together over 600 companies and potential investors from across the island.

Another significant policy focus for both governments is improving the productivity of indigenous businesses through cluster development. International evidence shows that SMEs benefit from collaborative innovation and cluster participation, because the shared expertise and resources that they can access allows them to grow more quickly. Collaboration on an all-island basis offers a scale that neither economy would be able to offer on its own and allows cross-border clusters and participating businesses to compete internationally. A key theme of the Government of Ireland’s Shared Island Enterprise Fund has been clusters; InterTradeIreland has been central to this work, organising the global TCI clustering conference in Dublin in 2025 in partnership with Invest NI and Enterprise Ireland and leading the development of all-island clusters in strategically important sectors.

The Fintech Corridor demonstrates how this approach has already delivered results. With InterTradeIreland as its lead partner, the initiative links companies across cybersecurity, payments, and emerging financial technologies, helping firms collaborate, innovate, enter new markets and attract international investment.

A central focus has been addressing skills gaps through partnerships with education providers along the Dublin-Belfast corridor, including establishing a new Fintech Academy, postgraduate qualifications, micro-credential programmes and specialist training. Through partnerships with universities, institutes of technology, and industry the initiative has created the island’s first coordinated fintech ecosystem supporting internships, apprenticeships, and skills development.

Hearty says: “Businesses scale faster and are more competitive when they embrace innovation, can access the right markets, partners, and expertise. Our role, and it is central to everything we do, is to make those connections together across the island so firms can compete and grow more effectively than they would working on their own. For the ambitious business, the border is not a barrier; it is a launchpad.”

As global markets become increasingly volatile, the most effective tool for an SME is a strong regional network. By bridging the gap between North and South, InterTradeIreland is building an island-wide engine of competitiveness and resilience. Strengthening these practical links ensures that firms in both jurisdictions do not just survive in the changing global economy but can lead it.

Visit www.intertradeireland.com to find out more about how InterTradeIreland connects business to opportunities across the island.