Northern Ireland’s economic system is undergoing reform — again. The Lyons Review into Invest NI made headlines just two years ago, with its blunt assessment: the agency was underperforming and overly reactive. A complete overhaul was required. That critique wasn’t buried in jargon; it was a direct challenge to how we catalyse growth across the region.
The Minister for the Economy, in response, didn’t hold back. He called the reforms “radical,” pledged cross-departmental collaboration, and positioned the overhaul as a cornerstone of the 10X Economy strategy — a vision built around innovation, inclusion, and impact. But for business leaders on the ground, the measure of reform is not found in ministerial statements. It’s whether the real economy starts to behave differently.
Over the last number of years, I have lost count of how many business conferences and events I have attended where every contributor, to a man and woman, has derided the figures that describe productivity in this place.
Northern Ireland produces just £55,900 in economic value per person — compared with nearly £100,000 per head in the Republic. Yes, those numbers are accurate and stark. Think of it this way: if both economies baked 100 loaves of bread, Northern Ireland brings only 56 to the shelf. And it’s not about grit or hours — in the Republic, they’re working smarter, not harder.
This isn’t a statistical quirk. It points to structural inefficiencies: underinvestment in skills, misaligned incentives, policy drift, and a governance culture that too often rewards busyness over outcomes. Productivity underpins prosperity. Without addressing it, wage stagnation continues, public services falter, and high-value sectors bypass us entirely.
Invest NI’s new strategy says the right things — regional equity, innovation, performance metrics — but the real test is systemic alignment. Can it become a builder of economic ecosystems rather than just a distributor of grants?
Key shifts must include prioritising scale-ups and export-focused firms, not just startups; linking investment decisions to long-term regional impact, not political optics; and building collaborative clusters that fuel generational value, not just quarterly targets.
But reform cannot stop there. In my previous piece, I argued that a competitive Corporation Tax rate — aligned with the Republic of Ireland — should be central to any serious strategy to drive investment and raise productivity. It’s not about copying our neighbours, but about recognising what works. In an economy with such a stark productivity gap, we need every lever pulling in the right direction: smarter investment, sharper incentives, and a tax environment that genuinely attracts high-value activity.
True productivity gains come from strategic design. That means confronting hard truths about how governance functions in Northern Ireland. We need:
- A Productivity and Growth Board, insulated from departmental churn and political cycles — one filled with the right people, not political apparatchiks.
- Outcome-based budgeting that rewards what works, not what’s always been done.
- Skills pipelines that reflect the real-world needs of employers, not institutional inertia. Our Higher and Further Education sectors can and must work with businesses to align graduates and apprentices with need.
The Minister’s ambition must be matched by delivery — and that demands cultural and operational reform well beyond one agency.
Business leaders are uniquely positioned to demand better — not just better rhetoric, but better results. The same ingenuity driving Northern Ireland’s innovation hubs should be powering reform in how we invest, skill, and govern.
Those 100 loaves aren’t just a metaphor — they represent real wages, real investment, and real opportunity. If we don’t design smarter systems now, others will bake the future while we’re still mixing the dough.
Eugene Reid is a keen observer of all things business and politics. A former elected representative who has had a career working across the private, public and voluntary sectors! Bringing a unique perspective from a diverse and varied background.
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