Riverside Spa to compete for Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur National Title
Pictured L-R: Marcella Rudden, Head of Enterprise, Local Enterprise Office Cavan, Award Winner Caroline Thompson of Riverside Spa, Tara Smith Business Advisor and Andrea Corrigan, Senior Enterprise Development Officer, LEO Cavan.
Competing for Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur in the upcoming national final will be Caroline Thompson of Riverside Spa in Cavan. The company was founded by Caroline in 2009 and currently employs 25 staff with further planned expansion expected to bring this figure to 70 by 2020.
The regional winners, from Counties Cavan, Meath, Monaghan and Louth, of ‘Ireland’s “Best Young Entrepreneurs’ were announced at an awards ceremony hosted by Monaghan’s Local Enterprise Office on Wednesday 12th June in The Nuremore Hotel, Carrickmacross. The winners were chosen from 12 regional finalists, shortlisted from almost 185 regional applicants in the competition which was launched earlier this year by the LEO’s as part of a nationwide search to find “Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur (IBYE)”.
The regional winner of ‘Best Business Idea’ category was won by Conor Kerley founder of Setanta Nutrition Science in County Louth. The business aims to provide plant based nutritional supplements to target individuals with diabetes. The regional winner of the ‘Best Start-Up Business’ category was Orla Stafford founder of Izmoo in County Louth. The business creates homemade Italian gelato ice cream.
The final award of the evening was for ‘Best Established Business’ which went to Caroline Thompson, founder of Riverside Spa in Cavan. Riverside Spa Limited consists of five businesses all held under the Riverside umbrella and includes Riverside Spa Stradone, Riverside Spa Errigal Country House Hotel, Riverside Spa Oldcastle which is due to open in 2020, The Riverside Academy of Hair and Beauty due to open in September 2019 and Ella Bella Beauty Distribution. All three regional winners will now go through to the National Finals.
Now in its fifth year, IBYE is a nationwide campaign to celebrate Ireland’s young entrepreneurs and is open to individuals aged 18 to 35 who have an innovative business idea, new start-up or established business.
24 contenders (three from each region nationally - one in each category - Best Business Idea, Best Start-Up and Best Established Business) will be selected to compete for the national title of Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur on Sunday 15th September 2019. A further €100,000 investment fund will be available to invest in the winners of the three categories at the national final - one of which will also be named as “Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur”.
Eight regional finals are taking place across the country over the next few weeks in the search for Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur 2019.
Speaking at the regional final, Marcella Rudden, Head of Enterprise, Local Enterprise Office Cavan said “We are delighted to have had such a positive response from so many strong candidates from the North East region this year - it is fantastic to see so many young entrepreneurs here tonight with innovative ideas and businesses. The skills and knowledge gained by all involved in the competition we hope will stay with each participant and help grow their businesses even further. We are excited to see what will be in-store for our regional winners and we wish them every success in the upcoming national final! IBYE is a remarkable platform that we hope will encourage and grow further young entrepreneurship and job creation in the region.”
Further details on the competition and supports available to young entrepreneurs are available through www.localenterprise.ie/cavan and www.ibye.ie .
