National Enterprise Award Nominees Revealed for 2015
Local companies, e-Quiddity and Allied Profiles Limited, representing Local Enterprise Office Cork North and West at 2015 National Enterprise Awards
All county nominees competing at this year’s National Enterprise Awards have been revealed by the network of Local Enterprise Offices, including e-Quiddity and Allied Profiles Limited representing Cork North and West.
The competition is now in its 18th year and has a €20,000 prize fund on offer, aiming to recognise the impressive achievements of small local businesses throughout the country. The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton T.D. will be announcing the overall winner on Thursday, June 11th at an awards ceremony at Dublin’s Royal Hospital Kilmainham.
In all, 31 nominees have been revealed, representing each of the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) across every county in Ireland and small businesses from the world of food, drink, technology and construction dominate this year’s list. Interestingly, more than half of the nominees only started their business within the last five years.
e-Quiddity is based in Bandon, Co. Cork. Formed in July 2013 by Ingrid De Doncker, the company has gone from strength to strength and now employs 5 staff members on a full time basis. e-Quiddity works predominantly in the procurement space, providing e-sourcing and benchmarking solutions for all stakeholders in the negotiation cycle of life.
Allied Profiles is based in Mallow and was established in 2012 by Martin O’Mahony and Paul O’Sullivan with just 3 employees. The Company operates out of a 6200 sq ft premises in the Clyda Business Estate. It specialises in the lamination of aluminium and UPC window and door profiles and complimentary sections along with a wide range of cellular products. With the assistance of the LEO Cork North & West the Company has seen an increase in their workforce to 10 full time employees.
The Head of Enterprise with North and West Cork, Michael Hanley, said: “Over the last number of years, our small business community has shown itself to be resilient, innovative and pro-active. Through the National Enterprise Awards, we can all celebrate their achievements, putting our local business success stories on the map.”
Kieran Comerford, the Chair of the Network of Local Enterprise Offices, feels that many small businesses have “turned a corner” over the past eighteen months, saying: “If you look at the number of extra jobs created by companies supported by the Local Enterprise Offices in 2014, you’ll see that just over 4,000 extra jobs were created that year, net. As the first stop shop for anyone thinking of starting a business or looking to grow their existing one, we’re seeing an increasing number of entrepreneurs and start-ups access supports through the LEO network.”
Previous winners of the National Enterprise Awards have included Irish Yogurts from West Cork, the Hot Irishman Irish Coffee from Carlow, Grouse Recording Studios from Westmeath and DesignPro from Limerick.
As part of the NEA programme this year, all nominees were invited to take part in a ‘Business Masterclass’ this week at the Heritage in Laois, to help them develop skills that will drive their businesses forward.
Further information around the supports available to small businesses is available through www.localenterprise.ie and updates around the National Enterprise Awards (NEA) are available by searching #NEAwards15 on social media.
