The ISME Story
ISME, the Irish SME Association, is the only independent representative association for Small and Medium Enterprises and currently has in excess of 10,500 members nationwide. Uniquely in Ireland, ISME is independent of big business, big banks and government and gives voice to the issues facing SME owner-managers.
A brief history of ISME
1993 - 1998
14th November 1993: ISME is established and hold their first meeting.
14th December 1993: First National Council (NC) meeting.
1994: ISME had 215 companies, with the average cost of joining £318.00 (€404).The first regional meetings took place during Spring in Donegal, Waterford, Meath & Wicklow. A critical issues for SMEs: EMU (European Monetary Union), technology and labour skills shortage.
1996: Purchased 17 Kildare St as ISME HQ.
1997: ISME National Council briefed on Y2K.
1998: ISME’s ‘Year 2000 Hotline’ proved to be very popular with members in the build up to Y2K.
1999 - 2004
1999: ISME adopts its Constitution as voted by members.
1999: Completes major structural renovation of No 17 Kildare St.
2000: Conducted a major series of ‘Technology Roadshows’.
2000: ISME’s Group Life cover scheme was introduced.
2003: The first meeting of ISME Skillnet took place in the Moran Red Cow Hotel
2004: ISME was instrumental in achieving the introduction of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB).
1999 - 2004
1999: ISME adopts its Constitution as voted by members.
1999: Completes major structural renovation of No 17 Kildare St.
2000: Conducted a major series of ‘Technology Roadshows’.
2000: ISME’s Group Life cover scheme was introduced.
2003: The first meeting of ISME Skillnet took place in the Moran Red Cow Hotel
2004: ISME was instrumental in achieving the introduction of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB).
2005 - 2010
2005: Joins the Benchmarking body on public/private sector pay. Held a one-day conference on Corporate Social Responsibility in March.
2006: Established a training departmentÂ
2007: Added a ‘China Corner’ on the ISME website with information on doing business in China.
2010: Lobbied successfully for the Credit Review Office and for the introduction of the Employers PRSI Exemption Scheme.
2011 -2016
2011: Assisted in the establishment of the ‘Advisory Group for Small Businesses. Succeeded in getting the new 15-day Prompt Payment requirement for all public sector bodies and agencies (excl. commercial Semi-State bodies) to pay for goods and services.
2012: Successfully lobbied for the introduction of the Micro-Enterprise Loan Fund, the establishment of Microfinance Ireland and for the introduction of the SME Credit Guarantee Scheme.
2013: An in-house HR advisor position was introduced to offer dedicated HR advice to members.
2014: Helped establish the ‘National Retail Forum’ to help retailers.
2015: Worked with the Central Bank to secure changes to the Banking Code of Practices for lending to SMEs.
2016: Introduced the Sean Hannick SME Award and becamse came a consortium member in the establishment of Employer Disability Information (EDI) located in ISME HQ.
2017 - Today
2017: Successfully lobbied Government to reduce the administrative costs on SMEs in the ‘Companies (Accounting) Act 2017’.
2017: Called on government to introduce a Perjury Act to reduce the number of false and exaggerated claims before the Injuries Board and the courts.
2017: Assisted the DBEI in the launch of the Prompt Payment Awareness Campaign 2017, featuring one of our National Council members.
2018: Key issues – GDPR, Brexit, recruitment and scarcity of labour, broadband access, increasing business costs.
2019: Launched ISME Roadshow series and introduced the ISME Wellness Programme. ISME became a Seanad nominating body of the Industry and Commercial panel
2020: The UK leave the EU. COVID-19 sees all ISME staff work remotely and the creation of a COVID-19 portal on the ISME website. All training and events moved online. Launched the Back to Business initiative to support SMEs. Proposed ‘Blue Cert’ training programme for SMEs.
2021: COVID restrictions continue. Successful lobbying for the commencement of the Criminal Justice (Perjury and Related Offences) Act 2021, making perjury a statutory criminal offence for the first time in Ireland. Launched Pensions Equity campaign
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