Accelerating Change Together (ACT), who are supported by Local Enterprise Office Mayo, were named the winner of the Green Award at this year’s National Enterprise Awards. The
awards, which took place at the Round Room in the Mansion House in Dublin, were in their 26th year and run annually by the Local Enterprise Offices.

The winner of the Green Award was Ballina enterprise Accelerating Change Together (ACT) supported by Local Enterprise Office Mayo. Founded by James McConville, ACT brings together architects, urban designers and policy specialists to help reimage how Ireland designs its towns, buildings and communities for a more sustainable future.

This adds to a string of wins for Mayo businesses at the National Enterprise Awards, including:
1. Overall winner 2023, Advanced Cosmetics
2. Innovation Award 2024, Cytidel
3. Western Regional Award 2025, WONDR Jellies

John Magee, Mayo County Council: “This is a deserved reward for ACT, a social enterprise committed to high quality, sustainable built environments and raising the quality of life for every person in the communities they work with. To do all of that and build a viable commercially-focused business is an enormous achievement.

Mayo has had a tremendous run at the National Enterprise Awards, bringing home 4 awards in the last 4 years – a testament to the many incredible small businesses we are lucky enough to be able to support in Mayo”.

The overall winner at the National Enterprise Awards was Sugar Plum Sweetery who are supported by Local Enterprise Office Westmeath. The self styled “Irish Willy Wonka” business set up by Denise Buckley and David Quirke established the destination sweet and chocolate store in 2022 but it’s been their ability to monetise trends that saw them increase revenue from 2024 to 2025 by 815%.

With two spectacular stores in Mullingar and Kildare Village they plan expansion across Ireland and the UK in the next 18 months to complement their online business and their spot as the top Irish retailer on the TikTok Shop.

Announcing the award winners at the Mansion House, Peter Burke, Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment said; “The National Enterprise Awards are the highlight of the small business and enterprise calendar, with a growing diversity of businesses and an increasingly high standard among the companies progressing through the process year on year.  We have some exceptional winners, but the finalists overall have been outstanding, reflecting the remarkable quality of small businesses right across the country.

Several other companies won across a range of categories at the Awards, which were established by the Local Enterprise Offices to celebrate the impact and quality of small businesses across the country. Those award winners were -

The Best Export Award
The winner of the Best Export Business was the The Smooth Company supported by Local Enterprise Office South Dublin. The company, set up by EY Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year in 2025 Aine Kennedy, has taken the beauty world by storm with their range of hair products aimed at taking the stress out of hair care, including their record breaking launch product The Smooth Stick now exporting to over 90 countries.

Innovation Award
The winner of the Innovation Award was I/O Agri, supported by Local Enterprise Office Cavan. As pressure increases on the agriculture industry to reduce emissions, I/O Agri founders Sandra Thompson and Shane O’Reilly have created a system for trapping emissions for farmers and converting these emissions into by-products that can be used for renewable energy production, lowering emissions and creating a new income stream.

Best Start Up Award
The winner of the Best Start-Up Award was RYSE Chocolate supported by Local Enterprise Office Meath. The company set up by brothers in-law Ian O’Rourke and David Stone put a new twist on the energy market creating Europe’s first caffeinated chocolate bar and will soon be launching into the UK and US.

Digital Award

The winner of the Digital Award was Photo Experience supported by Local Enterprise Office Offaly. Dean Kelly, founder of Photo Experience, works with theme parks, zoos, museums and visitor attractions to captures guests experiences and deliver photos straight to their phones.

Female Entrepreneur Award
The winner of the Female Entrepreneur Award was Therese Murphy from Equi-Ed supported by Local Enterprise Office Kildare. Based at the National Equine Innovation Centre at the National Stud, Equi-Ed provides professional equine therapy training, certifications and specialist courses for horse owners and equine professionals.

This year’s winners share a €80,000 investment fund and nine regional winners were also announced on the night and the overall winner was chosen from these regional awards.

Those winners were –

 ExamRevision in the Dublin Region (backed by LEO Dublin City)
 The Cultured Food Company in the South West Region (backed by LEO Cork North & West)
 SiSu Juice Company in the Mid East Region (backed by LEO Wicklow)
 Sugar Plum Sweetery in the Midlands Region (backed by LEO Westmeath)
 Huwmo in the South East Region (backed by LEO Kilkenny)
 Niche Specialist Staffing Partners in the North West Region (backed by LEO Donegal)
 The Rug Rack in the North East Region (backed by LEO Monaghan)
 Eventmaster in the Mid West Region (backed by LEO Limerick)
 Celtic Dynamics Engineering in the West Region (backed by LEO Galway)

Also honoured on the night were EngDoc who won the Outstanding Achievement Award. An example of a company who began with their Local Enterprise Office and then accessed support from Enterprise Ireland to grow their business globally. The company, established in 2006 by David Mullen and Tim King, originally began by producing operation and maintenance manuals and drawings for mechanical and electrical contractors.

As construction became more digital, the business evolved too, embracing new technologies and becoming a specialist in Building Information Modelling (BIM). Now employing 35 people at their headquarters in Sligo, they are involved in some of the most complex international construction projects from schools and hospitals to pharmaceutical facilities and major international data centres.

Previous winners of the National Enterprise Awards include Irish Yoghurts (1998), Obelisk (2000), Simtech Aviation (2008), Digiweb (2004) and Design Pro (2013), Terra NutriTech (2018), Pestle & Mortar (2019), Bevcraft (2021), Aqualicence in 2022, Advanced Cosmetics in 2023 and DreamDev Technologies in 2024.

Last year’s winners were SPRYT, supported by Local Enterprise Office Monaghan. The Irish healthtech startup uses AI to improve how patients access and attend medical appointments and since their win in 2025 have gone on to secure significant international investment which has helped them expand with new partnerships in the UK and the US.

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 Local Enterprise Showcase. 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 eight years ago, the Local Enterprise Offices have helped create over 80,000 jobs across the country. The LEOs work with thousands of 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