Cork City COMPANY AIMING FOR NATIONAL SUCCESS AT ENTERPRISE AWARDS
One of Cork City’s best small businesses, NeighbourFood will represent Local Enterprise Office Cork City at the National Enterprise Awards on the 29th May at the Mansion House in Dublin.
Run by the 31 Local Enterprise Offices in the local authorities nationwide, the National Enterprise Awards are now in their 21st year and offer an investment prize fund of €40,000. The Awards take place on the 29th May in the Mansion House in Dublin and feature businesses from a variety of sectors.
The Local Enterprise Office Cork City’s representative, NeighbourFood was founded by Jack Crotty and Martin Poucher. NeighbourFood is an online platform that facilitates the sale of locally produced products direct from producers to consumers by means of a weekly collection point. With 13 locations currently across the UK and Ireland, NeighbourFood hopes to have nationwide collection points by the end of 2019.
Previous winners of the National Enterprise Awards include Irish Yoghurts (1998), Obelisk (2000), Simtech Aviation (2008), Digiweb (2004) and Design Pro (2013). Last year’s winners, Terra NutriTech, are an AgTech company, backed by Local Enterprise Office Kildare. Established by brothers Padraig and Tom Hennessy, their company specialises in precision liquid supplementation for livestock. Since winning in 2018, Terra NutriTech have become a client company of Enterprise Ireland, adding a further seven staff and hope to double their workforce by 2021 following a recent €2million investment.
Local Enterprise Offices Representative Adrienne Rodgers said; “The National Enterprise Awards are very much a benchmark for excellence for small businesses across the country. It is much more than just awards. The businesses involved avail of mentoring and guidance as the process develops and generate connections and leads from other businesses along the way. They also receive signposting for their business helping them to move their company forward, irrespective of whether they win an award. Those who do take part always see the benefit, our winners are now employing over 830 people and are exporting across the world with annual revenues in excess of €130million. The class of 2019 looks to be well prepared to follow in their path.”
The National Enterprise Awards are one of a number of initiatives that the Local Enterprise Offices run, to foster entrepreneurship across the country. Others include Local Enterprise Week, the Student Enterprise Programme, National Women’s Enterprise Day and Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur (IBYE). The Local Enterprise Offices in local authorities are funded by the Government of Ireland through Enterprise Ireland. Established in 2014, the Local Enterprise Offices are the essential resource for any entrepreneur looking to start a business or any small business that is looking for support or advice to help them grow. Since their inception five years ago, the Local Enterprise Offices have helped create over 18,000 jobs across the country. The LEOs work with over 7,000 client companies across Ireland in a diverse range of sectors offering mentoring, training, expert advice and financial supports to small businesses. For more information see www.LocalEnterprise.ie
National Enterprise Awards 2019 Award Categories and Prize Fund:
The 2019 National Enterprise Awards take place on May 29th in the Mansion House in Dublin and are an initiative of the Local Enterprise Offices.
- Overall Winner, National Enterprise Awards 2019 (Cash Prize for business: €10,000)
- Best Export Business (Cash Prize for business: €5,000)
- Best Start Up Business (Cash Prize for business: €5,000)
- Innovation Award (Cash Prize for business: €5,000)
- Eight Regional Winners (Cash Prize for business: €2,000 each)
Regions:
- Dublin City, Fingal, Dún Laoghaire- Rathdown and South Dublin
- Kildare, Laois, Offaly and Westmeath
- Wicklow, Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny
- Louth, Meath, Cavan and Monaghan
- Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim and Longford
- Galway, Mayo and Roscommon
- Clare, Limerick, Kerry and Tipperary
- Cork City, South Cork, Cork North & West and Waterford
