The shortlist of 24 finalists in the 2016 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year (EOY) programme has been revealed.
The 19th year of the programme focuses on the theme of building a business legacy, and includes mentoring initiatives, bespoke executive education and an international CEO retreat to Boston. The finalists, who have a combined workforce of almost 3,000 people and turnover of nearly €450 million, will benefit from networking with an experienced community of peers, as they join the 416-strong EOY list of former finalists and winners. Finalists have been selected in three categories – emerging, industry and international.
Speaking at the announcement, Kevin McLoughlin, Partner Lead, EOY programme said: “This year’s shortlist is of a remarkable standard, and it is particularly encouraging to see an increase in the number of female finalists in the programme from last year. The finalists represent a fantastic mix of listed and private entrepreneur-led companies from a diverse range of sectors, including food, retail, technology, and manufacturing. There is also a particularly strong spread of finalists from the burgeoning life sciences and pharmaceutical sectors in Ireland.”
The 24 finalists were selected by an independent judging panel of previous winners, chaired by Anne Heraty, CEO of Cpl Resources plc and previous winner of the 2006 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year programme. As the finalists progress through the programme, the judging panel will determine the winners based on a number of criteria, including innovation; value creation; strategic direction; financial performance; national and global impact; and the entrepreneur’s contribution to society and industry.
The winners will be announced at the televised awards gala night in October 2016. The overall winner will go on to represent Ireland at World Entrepreneur Of The Year in Monaco in June 2017.
Julie Sinnamon, CEO of Enterprise Ireland, said: “A key role of Enterprise Ireland is to support entrepreneurs and to help them scale their businesses internationally. We are delighted to support this year’s EY Entrepreneur of the Year event and wish all of the finalist’s well in the competition”.
The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year programme is supported by Enterprise Ireland, Invest Northern Ireland, The Irish Times and Newstalk. To learn more, visit www.eoy.ie
Pictured at the announcement of EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2016 are Ian Murphy, Director, Growth & Scaling Invest NI; Anne Heraty, CEO Cpl Resources and Chairperson of the EY EOY judging panel; Seán Duffy, Programme Director, Entrepreneur Of The Year programme; Julie Sinnamon, CEO, Enterprise Ireland and Kevin McLoughlin, Partner Lead Entrepreneur Of The Year programme.
The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2016 finalists are:
EMERGING CATEGORY
Kitman Labs – Stephen Smith
Oneview Healthcare PLC – Mark McCloskey
Tiger Stores – Niall Stringer and Gillian Maxwell
NewsWhip – Paul Quigley and Andrew Mullaney
Freshly Chopped Limited – Brian Lee
Beats Medical – Ciara Clancy
Q1 Scientific – Louise Grubb
Plotbox – Leona and Sean McAllister
INDUSTRY CATEGORY
3fivetwo Group – Dr Suresh Tharma and Mr Ashok Songra
JMW Farms – Jim Wright
Leckey – James Leckey
M&M Contractors – Gareth Loye
Codd Mushrooms – Leslie Codd
Green Property – Stephen Vernon
TPI Group – Colin Culliton
Uform – Eamon Donnelly
INTERNATIONAL CATEGORY
Athlone Extrusions – James McGee
Kainos Group Plc – Brendan Mooney
MobileWebAdz – Kieran O’Keeffe
3D4Medical – John Moore
Abbey Machinery – Clodagh Cavanagh
Prepaid Financial Services and eCOMM Merchant Solutions – Noel Moran
The Healy Group – Maurice Healy
iCabbi – Gavan Walsh