Kildare Local Enterprise Office honours businesses at Kilkea Castle
Sean Gallagher of Dragon’s Den was the special guest at an event honouring local businesses in Kilkea Castle on Friday.
Kildare Local Enterprise Office gathered businesses from all across the county to celebrate excellence in business.
CE Kildare County Council, Peter Carey recognised the work of LEO Kildare in creating a pro-business culture in our county and that the “Bedrock of our business community is the 7,000+ SMEs in Kildare,” and why it is so important to celebrate these entrepreneurs.
The tremendous achievements of Kildare’s Sweetspot Sourcing and Energy Pro who each pitched in an Innovation and Investor Fund last month. At a regional level they each won €25,000 investment in their business. As well established entrepreneurs, innovation has been key to their growth and both have worked closely with LEO Kildare in aligning their strategy for innovation.
Regional winner of the National Enterprise Award 2017 – Brogies was presented their award by Sean Gallagher. As a former butcher, within 1 year in business Martin Walsh is competing on the national and international stage and employs 17 people.
When asked by Sean what he had learnt in business Martin responded, “Don’t be afraid to ask questions, and I never take no for an answer.”
The competition to find Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur stepped up a gear in Kildare as the final 14 businesses shortlisted in the competition pitched for their place in the regional finals.
Jacqui Mc Nabb, Head of Enterprise in Kildare explains, “We had a huge response to the competition this year. We’ve attracted entrepreneurs aged 18-35 from right across the county with an amazing array of business ideas and start-ups. We’ve also been really impressed by the young entrepreneurs who’ve entered in the Best-Established category, many of whom have multiple employees or are already exporting into international markets. Judging by the calibre of entries this year, the future of enterprise in Kildare is looking bright.”
Michael Kelly, one of this year’s IBYE judges, remarked on the challenge they faced as judges in selecting the winners. He said that the winners were those who “Turned a problem into a solution.”
Best Business Idea Category, winning €7,000 investment in his business – Matthew McCann, Access Earth Access Earth is a website and App that allows people with disabilities to find restaurants and hotels that meet their specific disability needs. The business is pre-revenue but is well on the way to establishing itself as the go to global place for people with disabilities that want to make informed choices.
Patrick Callaghan was named the overall winner of Ireland's Best Young Entrepreneur (IBYE) Kildare. Having started his business Kontex less than 18 months previously, impressively Patrick now employs 10 people in Kildare and plans to increase this to 50 within the first quarter of 2018!
IBYE co-ordinator in Kildare Doreen Heavey continues: “Winners in Kildare share in an investment fund of €50,000 which will help them to grow their business and build on current success. Category winners will go forward to represent Kildare in the regional finals in January.”
Now in its fourth year, Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur is run by the Local Enterprise Offices, in partnership with the Local Authorities, across the country and is supported by Enterprise Ireland and the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation. The National Final will take place on Sunday 4th March at Google HQ and the winners of the competition will share in an investment fund of €100,000. Follow the competition on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and Instagram.
Reiterating Jacqui’s words, “The future of enterprise in Kildare is looking bright.”
Whether you are an established business in Kildare or considering starting a business, the range of supports and expertise LEO Kildare offer are invaluable to a growing business.
Visit www.localenterprise.ie/Kildare and contact the LEO Kildare team today.
Photos: Thomas Sutherland