The Department for Enterprise used the third ISLEXPO business event to make two announcements aimed at helping businesses.

It revealed it is investing a further £2m into its targeted relocation initiative to encourage employers in export sectors to bring new staff to the island.

And in a second move the Department said it will be increasing the financial assistance available via the Micro Business Grant Scheme, building on the success of the scheme in recent years.

The existing scheme provides up to £5,000 funding towards new start-ups in the Isle of Man and, from July 1, this will be increasing to £6,000 and up to £15,000 for companies with an export focus.

These details were unveiled as the department is currently undergoing a wide ranging review of all of its enterprise support schemes which will be completed by October this year.

ISLEXPO itself was created in the first place in 2016 to launch the £50m Enterprise Development Fund.

And as reported in Business News, the take-up of investment from the Enterprise Development Fund has not been as great as expected, it has been confirmed.

Just £3m of the £50m fund has been invested instead of the allocated £10m a year.

Carl Hawker, deputy chief executive and executive director of strategy and policy in the Department for Enterprise, told Business News the whole arena of business investment and attracting new companies to the Isle of Man was under review.

He said: ‘We are looking at everything, right from the very smallest micro business scheme all the way through to the Enterprise Development Scheme which was set up in 2016.’

SPARK Impact, which manages the scheme for the government from an office in Athol Stret, Douglas, has ‘looked at 300 odd applications since the scheme was launched, in two years.’

He added: ‘And nine of those have now found their way to an investment.’

At last week’s ISLEXPO representatives from SPARK Impact were out in force, along with a team from the Department for Enterprise, in the Colonnade Suite at the Villa Marina from 9am to 5pm, offering funding advice and one-to-ones.

The Employee Relocation Incentive allows employers who have a new position and are unable to secure local workers to receive up to 20% of the first year’s salary costs where the employee is recruited off island up to the value of £10,000 per position.

The assistance is available to all export sectors, including financial and professional services, digital and e-Business businesses, and a wide range of manufacturing businesses.

This incentive, piloted over the last 12 months is claimed to have been hugely effective so far, helping local businesses secure more than 200 new employees who have relocated to the Isle of Man and are now contributing to the island’s economy.

Laurence Skelly MHK, Minister for Enterprise, said: ‘Our Department has worked hard with industry and across Government to drive down our unemployment to a significantly low level (currently 1%) and as a consequence the number of workers is up.

‘We now have 1,400 more people in employment than when we launched ISLEXPO in 2016 and this is incredibly important in terms of our tax receipts.

‘Looking forward all the indicators point to business growth and we are seeing record numbers of new businesses starting up through our full range of enterprise support schemes.’