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SFA National Small Business Award Winners 2010


· Glenisk wins the Overall SFA National Small Business Award 2010

· Small Businesses demonstrate how achievement, innovation and excellence can lead Ireland out of recession

· An Taoiseach presents SFA National Small Business Awards 2010

Glenisk has won the Overall SFA National Small Business Award 2010. The presentation of the award was made by An Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, TD, the patron on the awards, at Awards Ceremony in the Trinity College Dining Hall, today Thursday, 4th March. This is the sixth year of the SFA National Small Business Awards, which are organised by the Small Firms Association.

Speaking at the awards An Taoiseach stated: “The SFA’s National Small Business Awards provide welcome opportunity to acknowledge the crucial role played by small business in creating and sustaining wealth and jobs in the Irish economy. It is an opportunity that is all the more significant given the challenges currently facing us. These are challenges to which our response has been clear. Following the tough decisions taken last year, there are early signs of economic stabilisation – in tax revenues, in the unemployment figures, and in the recovery of consumer sentiment to levels last seen in the beginning of 2008. The National Small Business Awards continue to showcase the best of innovation and ingenuity in Irish enterprise. I sincerely congratulate all of the 2010 finalists and wish you every continued success for the future.”

Announcing the winner, Dr Aidan O’Boyle, SFA Chairman and Chair of the Judging Panel stated that: “This is a fine example of an Irish family owned company, with a commitment to organic farming, that has managed through innovation and product development to grow their business even in the darkest recession. Glenisk are a true an inspiration to other small businesses.”

Awards were also presented to six category winners (details beneath). The awards are sponsored by Enterprise Ireland, Bord Bia, Sustainable Energy Ireland, Chartered Accountants Ireland, AIB, eircom and the County and City Enterprise Boards.

Speaking at the event Dr Aidan O’Boyle also said to the awards finalists: “You have shown in your submissions not only innovation and flair but also a determination to address the competitiveness threats which we all currently face as small businesses. But your actions at company level must be supported by actions at Government level to:

1. Get credit flowing again to viable small businesses.
2. To extend the Government decision of 2009 that Central Government Departments would pay their suppliers within 15 days, to cover also the HSE and Local Authorities.
3. Reduce local authority charges in 2010 by 10%.
4. Further reduce electricity and gas prices to small business users by using ESB and An Bord Gais’ dividends as rebates to business customers on their energy bills.
5. The establishment of a National Entrepreneurship Policy to target the growth in the number of innovative small businesses with a Ministerial champion to head it up.”

“Taoiseach, delivering on the above 5 actions would assist dynamic small businesses such as we have with us this evening to lead us forward out of the current recession” concluded Dr O’Boyle.

Ends

For interviews, please contact: Dr Aidan O’Boyle, SFA Chairman & Chair of the Judging Panel on Tel: 087 2733541

Issued by: Patricia Callan, Director, Small Firms Association, Tel: 087-6999345

EDITORS' NOTES:

- A top-class judging panel selected the Award winners including:- Dr Aidan O’Boyle, SFA Chairman and Chair of the Judging Panel; Brian O’Kane, Managing Director of Oak Tree Press and author of numerous business books; Frank Roche, Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Smurfit School of Business; Rita Shah, Managing Director of Shabra Plastics and Recycling Ltd; Frank Cronin, Managing Director of Newstalk; Mairead Cirillo, Environmental Management Consultant and Maeve Dineen, Business Editor of the Irish Independent.

- Interviews with the Award Winners can be arranged through Alan Sherlock, Awards Executive at Tel: 01-6051664.

- Photographs are available on request from the Awards Ceremony.

The Category Award Winners are as follows:

MANUFACTURING AWARD (up to 50 employees); sponsored by Chartered Accountants Ireland

The Manufacturing Award went to BMS Ireland (Limerick).

Electronic torque manufacturer BMS Ireland has a strong focus on exports, having secured deals with Nissan in India and the US Navy in the past year with its Paddy brand. With recent support from Enterprise Ireland, it plans to invest €600,000 in R&D in the next two to three years. Now 30 years in operation, the company’s headquarters are minutes from Shannon Airport.

FOOD & DRINK AWARD (up to 50 employees), sponsored by Bord Bia

The Winner of this category was Glenisk (Offaly), whilst Highly Commended was awarded to Hodgins Sausages (Cork).

Thanks to its dedication to organic dairy produce, Offaly-based family-run company Glenisk’s turnover has gone from around €150,000 in 1995 to €12 million today. Employing 30 people directly Glenisk now produces around 10,000 tonnes of organic dairy products per annum. Glenisk has seen its market share in Ireland grow by 23% over the last 12 months.

Mervin Hodgins originally set out to run a butcher shop but his talent for making delicious and much-demanded sausages got in the way and he ended up with his own factory in 2003. His 80pc pork gluten-free sausages in a variety of flavours are now stocked by retailers including Tesco, Dunnes Stores, Centra and SuperValu. Mervin believes that while at a retail level the food-service industry has declined, cost-conscious consumers are getting nostalgic with bangers and mash.

SERVICES AWARD (up to 50 employees), sponsored by eircom

The Services Award went to Castlecool (Co Monaghan).

This Monaghan based company is the largest temperature-control company in the country. The environment and reducing energy costs is also close to the company’s heart, with a 16pc reduction in energy usage in the year September 2008 to September 2009. The company also works closely with Queen’s University Belfast to aid innovation, and has recently taken in a graduate electrical engineer to look at wind-energy opportunities.

OUTSTANDING SMALL BUSINESS (up to five employees); sponsored by AIB

National Vibration Monitoring (Co Louth) is the Winner in this category and Highly Commended went to Emergent Events (Dublin) and Good Food Ireland (Co Wexford).

Despite problems in the construction sector, NVM grew sales by 38pc, its profits by 22pc, and took on more staff in 2009. The company’s long term plan is to expand its offering to the UK but for the present their goal is clear – to become the biggest business in geotechnical instrumentation and environmental monitoring in Ireland and to be the name on everyone’s lips. The company works on everything from residential noise complaints to large projects such as the N3, M50 and A6 motorways.

In 2005 two computer scientists came across acrobatic street performers who were attracting huge crowds. From this Emergent Events’ Street Performance World Championships was born and has evolved from a miniscule budget in 2005 with no sponsorship to an international event pulling in 17,000 people. AIB became a sponsor in 2007 and several other media sponsors followed. The company hopes to extend the championship with the goal of making it an all-island festival.

Set up three years ago, Good Food Ireland has brought the agricultural, food and tourism industries together to offer something unique to domestic and international tourists. According to founder Margaret Jeffares “it’s a food strategy for tourism in Ireland offering network opportunities for businesses and good- quality services and products for the consumer.


INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR (up to 50 employees); sponsored by Enterprise Ireland

Crospon (Galway) was declared the Winner in this category.

Since its inception in 2006, the Galway-based company has filed more than 10 patents, and of its 16 staff members some 70pc are involved in R&D. Its flagship gastro-enterology product the EndoFLIP Imaging system, a diagnostic test for gastroesophageal reflux disease has received FDA approval which will allow the company to sell EndoFLIP in the US market.


ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY (up to 50 employees); sponsored by Sustainable Energy Ireland

The Winner of this category was Matthews Coach Hire (Co Monaghan).

Founded in 1995 and based in Inishkeen, Co Monaghan, Matthews Coach Hire, founded and run by Paddy Matthews, shows constant innovation in the service it provides, and this is reflected in Matthew’s attitude to the environment also. In the past the company has teamed up with Sustainable Energy Ireland in order to reduce the amount of fuel its coaches use and it also promotes an environmentally friendly ethos among staff members in terms of lighting, heating and water usage.


EMERGING NEW BUSINESS (up to 50 employees and under two years old); sponsored by The County and City Enterprise Boards

For the second year running the Emerging New Business category gave an opportunity for new companies (less than two years old) to present their business to a panel of experts. Having assessed these businesses the judges selected five companies which were showcased at the Awards Ceremony as having the potential to grow, be innovative, create employment and have the ability to win the SFA National Small Business Award in the future.

The five companies chosen in this section were Creative Impressions (Wexford), Holycrosss Good Food (Co Tipperary), Poulet Bonne Femme (Co Dublin), Truly Irish Country Foods (Co Cork) and Vellow Field Asset Management (Co Meath).

Great customer service and quality products are the cornerstones of success for Michael Goggin’s promotional products and business gifts company, Creative Impressions, which was set up in Wexford in 2008 and recently opened a second office in Dublin. The idea that you only get one chance at a first impression is paramount to Goggin.

Tipperary based Holycross Good Food has been grown steadily and organically by Brian and Ann Marie Walsh. It started out as a shop selling good-quality food, such as freshly baked breads, apple tarts and cakes, then began supplying to other shops in Tipperary before finally thinking of national distribution last summer.

Inspired by buying a chicken straight from the spit at a local farmer’s market while on holiday in Spain, husband and wife team Sara and Gavin Mitchell set up Ireland’s first rotisserie chicken business in May 2009. Poulet Bonne Femme is now a regular at farmers markets around Dublin.

Originally under the guise of North South Pig, the company rebranded to Truly Irish Country Foods to gain a better share of the retail margin for Irish pig farmers. The company really came into its own this year by establishing a presence in the major Irish supermarkets: the company’s products are now on sale in SuperValu, Superquinn and Centra, and it has recently signed a deal with Dunnes Stores to supply rashers and sausages.

Vellow Field Asset Management manages assets for big brand owners who supply the retail and hospitality sectors. The company has excelled by providing its clients with a top-class service in the purchasing, supplying and management of equipment.

Thursday, 4 March 2010

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