Press Release Thursday, May 14th 2015
National Enterprise Award Nominees Revealed for 2015
Local company, Denis Coleman of Work Compass representing Local Enterprise Office South Cork 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 Work Compass representing South Cork.
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.
Work Compass is the only performance management solution in the world today that includes performance management advice, goal and skill libraries. These are the features that make high performance management a living breathing thing in organisations and not just a dreaded annual event.
The Head of Enterprise with South Cork, Sean O’Sullivan 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.
The nominees for the 2015 National Enterprise Awards, organised by the Local Enterprise Offices, are (in no particular order):
LOCAL ENTERPRISE OFFICE | NOMINEE | NOMINATED COMPANY | COMPANY SECTOR |
Louth | Gerard Healy | Elemex (Elemex Ltd) | Design of heating systems and heating technology |
Tipperary | Donal Bray | Echo IT Ltd (Echo IT Ltd) | Delivers smart I.T solutions |
Kerry | Mark Fleury | Fleury Engineering ( Fleury Engineering Services) | Filtration and separation equipment for removing contaminants from fuel, oil and water. |
Sligo | Martin & Gillian McGeough | Firefly Orthoses (Firefly Orthoses Ltd) | Design, manufacture and distribution of Podiatric custom made foot and ankle orthoses |
South Dublin | Garreth Sloan | ADSL (Advanced Draughting Services Ltd.) | Draughting company, specialising in architectural metalwork and structural steel |
Cavan | Brian O' Donoghue | Virginia Medical Supplies Ltd. | Manufacture, wholesale and on-line sale of medical supplies to pharmacies |
Dublin City | Paul McDonald | Sonitus Systems (Sonitus System Ltd) | Automated noise monitoring instrumentation |
Westmeath | Niall Gannon | Gannon Eco (John Gannon Concrete Ltd) | Provides sustainable waste management solutions, reprocessing waste materials |
Galway City | Hilary Foley | Nua Naturals (FOCA Organics Ltd) | Health food business specialising in gluten free, vegan and raw foods |
Waterford | Mark Bergin | Coffee House Lane (Coffee Warehouse Ltd) | Authentic coffee roasters and suppliers |
Roscommon | Brendan Allen | Castlemine Farm (Castlemine Farm Ltd) | Selection of home-made cooked products, supplied to wholesalers |
Cork West | Ingrid De Doncker | E-Quiddity Limited | Providing companies with the best procurement practices |
Clare | Anne Behan | Aine Knitwear (McConnell Woollen Mills) | Indigenous knitwear collections |
Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown | Jim Urell | Property Channel (Residential Utility Management Ltd) | Managing transfer of utilities from landlord-tenant/ seller-buyer |
Wicklow | Barry Gallagher | Glendalough Distillery (Glendalough Irish Whiskey Ltd) | Irish distillery, producing gin, whiskey and Poitín |
Cork City | Tracey Ryan | Bia Beauty Skincare (Bia Beauty Skincare Ltd) | Producer of a range of 100% natural, multi-tasking skincare products |
Laois | Kathleen Irwin | Adora Flax (Adora Flax Co Ltd) | On-farm producer of flax oil, which is certified organic. |
Monaghan | Seamus McMahon | Brehon Brewhouse | Irish craft beer, made by hand |
Wexford | Pat O' Neill | O Neill's Dry Cure Bacon Co (O'Neills Food Ltd) | Producers of dry cured bacon, by hand. |
Longford | Eamonn &Noel Farrell | N & E Precision Ltd (N&E Precision Engineering Ltd) | Precision Engineering Services |
Offaly | Mark Cotter, Emelyn Murray and Liam Holton | Future Ticketing (Future Ticketing Ltd) | Online e-Ticketing solutions |
Mayo | Angela Carney | Harvest Moon Foods | Wholefood artisan food producer |
Kilkenny | Linda Nolan | MyBio (My Bio Limited) | Supplier of research products, technologies and knowledge to the Scientific Research Industry. |
Dublin Fingal | Michael Rochford | Motorcheck.ie (Benchmark Fleet Services Ltd) | Supply of automotive data, via cloud-based web services |
Carlow | Mick Kelly | Simply Workflow (Simply Workflow Ltd. ) | Innovative workforce management system, to manage mobile workforces |
Cork South | Denis Coleman | Work Compass (Cognito HRM Ltd) | Online performance management software |
Galway County | Jerry McCarthy | Vision Built Manufacturing (Vision Built Manufacturing Ltd ) | Design, manufacture and installation of innovative building structures |
Donegal | Richard LeVert | Kinnegar Brewing (Kinnegar Brewing Ltd. ) | Production of clean, crisp, full flavoured farmhouse beers |
Kildare | Ronan Kelly | Kelly's Mountain Brew (Kelly’s Mountain Brew Ltd) | Award-winning independent craft beer brewery |
Limerick | Paul Sheehan | Unison Engineering Services Ltd (Unison Engineering Services Ltd) | Development, manufacturing and installation of pasteurisers |
Leitrim | Stephen Keane | The Primary Planet (The Primary Planet Ltd.). | Ireland's first children's newspaper |
Interview opportunities are available with each nominee, along with representatives of the Local Enterprise Offices
The National Enterprise Awards are organised by the Local Enterprise Offices and were previously organised by the County and City Enterprise Boards (dissolved in April 2014 and replaced with the network of Local Enterprise Offices).
The Local Enterprise Office is the First Stop Shop for anyone seeking information and support on starting or growing a business in Ireland. The Local Enterprise Offices, which are part of the Local Authorities Network, provide advice, information and support to those starting up or growing a business.
