Galway food business wins Best Start-Up National Award

ccm nea win

Clean Cut Meals, which makes and delivers portion-controlled healthy meals, won the ‘Best Start-Up Business’ at this year’s National Enterprise Awards.

 

The annual awards are organised by the Local Enterprise Offices to celebrate Ireland’s best small businesses.

 

Supported by Local Enterprise Office Galway, the Clarinbridge company was set-up in 2015 by two friends, Conor McCallion and Michéal Dyer and is planning to enter the US market in 2020 having delivered over 750,000 meals nationwide to date.

 

Pat Breen T.D., Minister for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection, made the announcement in front of 230 guests in the Mansion House in Dublin.

Presenting the awards on stage, he said: “I want to pay tribute to all the winners and finalists in this year’s National Enterprise Awards. Their drive, determination and passion for building successful businesses and creating local jobs is what this competition is all about. This year’s winners, like all those in previous years, represent the backbone of Ireland’s enterprise success and contribute hugely to the economic vibrancy of their respective regions.  All this year’s finalists and winners have been supported by my Department through the Local Enterprise Office network.    The Government, through the Local Enterprise Offices, will continue to play its part in helping to prepare small business for the challenges and the opportunities that lie ahead.”

A skincare company, Pestle & Mortar, won the overall title this year (backed by LEO Kildare); the ‘Best Export Business’ award went to Kilkenny-based Mechanical Modular Solutions (backed by LEO Kilkenny) and an ice-cream manufacturer in Cavan, Ice Cream Treats, won the ‘Innovation’ award (backed by LEO Cavan).

 

Winners share a €40,000 investment fund and eight regional awards were also presented by Minister Breen. These were won by:

  • Gym + Coffee in the Dublin Region (backed by LEO Dublin City)
  • ABS Engineering Control Systems Ltd in the South West Region (backed by LEO Limerick)
  • Dotser Ltd in the Mid East Region (backed by LEO Offaly)
  • VirtualVet in the South Region (backed by LEO Waterford)
  • Harte Outdoor Lighting in the South East Region (backed by LEO Wexford)
  • MMG Welding in the North West Region (backed by LEO Donegal)
  • Rivval Ltd in the North East Region (backed by LEO Monaghan)
  • Skillko Ltd in the West Region (backed by LEO Mayo).

Previous winners of the National Enterprise Awards have included Irish Yogurts (in 1998), Obelisk (in 2000), Digiweb (in 2004) and DesignPro (in 2013).

 

Funded through Enterprise Ireland, Local Enterprise Offices in local authorities were established by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation in 2014 as the ‘first-stop-shop’ for anyone wanting to start or grow a small business. Over the last five years, LEOs have helped companies create 18,640 new jobs (net) and have provided €81.5 million in direct financial assistance to over 5,000 business projects. LEOs have also organised over 40,000 business mentoring appointments and provided enterprise training for 144,830 participants since 2014 (www.localenterprise.ie).