EY Entrepreneur Of The Year reveals this yeare’s 24 finalists

The shortlist of 24 finalists in the 2016 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year (EOY) programme was revealed today. The finalists have a combined workforce of almost 3000 people and turnover of nearly €450M. 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. Finalists will also benefit from networking with an experienced community of peers, as they join the 416-strong EOY community 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.”

From the huge number of nominations received from across the island of 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 part of the 10 month development programme, the finalists will join over 70 members of the EOY community for a week long CEO retreat to Boston in May. The retreat will include masterclasses with decision makers at the helm of Boston’s most successful start-ups and globally renowned brands and leading academics from Harvard and M.I.T.

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.

Kevin added “We are looking forward to helping this year’s finalists put the necessary building blocks of funding, talent and innovation into place as they create their business legacy and we are proud to remain at the forefront of supporting and championing entrepreneurship in Ireland. We’d sincerely like to thank all of the phenomenal businesses that entered this year’s programme and applaud the tremendous contribution they make to Ireland’s economies – North and South.”

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”.

To learn more, visit www.eoy.ie

The EY Entrepreneur Of The YearTM 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