Enterprise awards reflect new changes
Two new categories have been added to this year’s National Enterprise Awards to reflect the new business environment.
The Pivot Award will be presented to a company who has successfully pivoted their business in the face of challenging conditions in the past 12 months while the Brexit Ready Award will be presented to a company who has excelled in preparation for Brexit.
An initiative of the Local Enterprise Offices, the awards take place virtually today, 11 February, and will celebrate small enterprises, recognising excellence in exporting, sustainability and innovation, with eight regional awards and an overall National Enterprise Awards winner.
Finalists are selected by Local Enterprise Offices across Ireland and Cork is well represented.
Mayor of the County of Cork Cllr Mary Linehan Foley said: “This has been an incredibly challenging year for small businesses so this opportunity to highlight positive stories and businesses who have excelled in the face of unprecedented challenges is really important. Businesses go through a rigorous process of judging and auditing and this in itself can be of huge benefit to them as they plan for the future.”
Submit Software Solutions was selected by Local Enterprise Office Cork City. Submit is an enterprise software solutions provider. Its secure cloud platform helps organisations to collect and manage online submissions and is designed to simplify all kinds of form management, data analytics and compliance processes, making them easy, versatile, and fast.
Travelmaster Events Ireland was Local Enterprise Office Cork North & West’s pick. Travelmaster provides transport to events including concerts, festivals and sporting fixtures all over Ireland. Customers book individual bus seats from their local pick-up point in a dedicated same-day service, providing a technologically advanced, cost effective, safe and environmentally friendly transport option to and from their chosen event.
Complete Calibrations was chosen by Local Enterprise Office South Cork. It has been calibrating and supplying temperature measuring equipment to the food industry, and test weights to the pharmaceutical industry, since 2006. In the past few years it has leveraged research and development activities to automate the calibration processes within the laboratory, and developed new intuitive products to expand sales globally.
Founded in 2006 by Darren O'Sullivan, the company’s growth led to a decision to move to specialised premises in 2014. Suitable premises were secured in Little Island and following a year of upgrades to the premises to meet the exact standards required by a state-of-the-art calibration laboratory, the company relocated in 2016. Employing a second full time technician allowed Complete Calibrations Ltd to grow their products and services.
Over the next few years, with the help of Cork County Council’s LEO South Cork, Darren was able to design a robust industrial thermometer for the Irish and overseas markets, as well as design and build a wireless temperature monitoring system that is currently in final stages of testing. The first Design and Build Robotic Mass Comparators to calibrate test weights is now available, with a further three models launching globally later this year.
Minister for Business, Employment and Retail, Damien English said: “Through the National Enterprise Awards, we celebrate the very best in small local companies who are leading in their field of business expertise. Over the past 20 years, the awards have been the benchmark for excellence in micro-enterprise across the country. Looking at the list of winners, finalists and participants through the years it is easy to be inspired by our talented businesses and people who are the backbone of outstanding Irish entrepreneurs, many of whom are trading successfully across the globe. This year’s finalists are no different with some exceptional companies shortlisted.”
Chief Executive of Cork County Council Tim Lucey commented: “Cork County Council’s Local Enterprise Offices strive to support our indigenous industries and promote entrepreneurship. Supporting and mentoring the talent here in county Cork is fundamental to a resilient economy and to driving job creation and our LEOs provide top-class supports.”
Previous winner Sonia Deasy, co-founder of Pestle & Mortar, noted the benefits of winning the award in 2019: “Every bit of exposure we got led to an increase in business, whether direct from consumers or from stockists. It’s very good if you are going on the investment trail. If you are calling somewhere, people are more likely to know you and you are more likely to be seen. It can even facilitate entry to overseas markets. We are in 32 countries now and, when it comes to meetings with distributors, we find that in countries such as China, they love awards, so it’s a huge help.”