11th March 2019
County Enterprise Awards one of many highlights during ‘Local Enterprise Week’
A software solution business from Bunratty has won the County Enterprise Award for 2019.
The top prize of €5,500 went to Ivan Tuohy of Congray Ltd T/A Great Ireland Experiences, Bunratty, who will now represent Local Enterprise Office Clare at the National Enterprise Awards, on May 29th at the Mansion House, Dublin. Congray Ltd won the Best Innovation Award as well as the Overall Prize.
Congray Ltd T/A Great Ireland Experiences is an enterprise software solution platform for visitor attractions. It enables attractions to load their content to a single space, capture customer data and allows them to customise and personalise special offers. It helps attractions increase their average spend per visitor and to improve the overall customer experience.
Speaking after the Awards as part of Local Enterprise Week, Padraic McElwee, Head of Enterprise with Local Enterprise Office Clare said: “Congray Ltd has already become a success story and the judges were particularly impressed by the grasp Ivan had of his business model and where the opportunities lie for the future growth of the business. As Local Enterprise Offices celebrate five years of the National Enterprise Awards in 2019, Clare are proud to be represented by Congray Ltd T/A Great Ireland Experiences.”
Speaking at the Awards, Minister for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection, Pat Breen, T.D., said “I would like to congratulate Ivan Tuohy of Congray Ltd on winning this year’s Clare County Enterprise Award. While there can be only one outright winner, I am extremely heartened by the quality of all the entries and of the strong level of enterprise that clearly exists in the county. I am confident that many of the businesses here will develop and grow and will expand into global markets. As we have seen from previous winners like Callan Technology and ABC Nutrition, this competition can be a springboard to great success and I wish Congray and all the finalists all the best in their enterprise future. They can be assured that their Local Enterprise Office here in Clare will always be there to support their ambition “
Other winners at the awards ceremony, held at the The Old Ground Hotel in Ennis on Friday night (8th March) included Hannah Wrixon of Get the Shifts Ltd winning Best Start Up Business (under 5 years); Michelle Moroney of Cliffs of Moher Retreat winning Best Established Business (over 5 years) and Anne McConnell of McConnell Woollen Mills winning Best Export Business.
The National competition judging is taking place in April and Ivan Tuohy will be competing against 30 other finalists from every local authority area for a share of the €40,000 prize fund. The Mansion House in Dublin is the venue for the awards ceremony in May and categories this year include ‘Best Export Business,’ ‘Best Start Up Business’ and ‘Innovation Award,’ in addition to eight runner-up awards.
Other local businesses that were also shortlisted this year were Allways with You, Astoneco, Backballer, Ceile, Western Herd Brewery, Wild Irish Seaweed, HR Locker, Meere’s Pork Products, Rahoo, Egrtech and PJR Ironworks.
Among the special guests at the ceremony were Minster Breen and Cathaoirleach, Michael Begley. Members of the judging panel included Harriet Cotter of Enterprise Ireland, Colin Ryan of Bank of Ireland and Theresa Roseingrave of TTM Healthcare.
The awards were just one of the many highlights of Local Enterprise Week, which came to an end on March 8th. All over the country, the 31 Local Enterprise Offices have jointly ran over 300 events aimed at start-ups, aspiring entrepreneurs and small businesses in their area, to mark the week.
Other high-profile events during Local Enterprise Week included a Tomorrow’s Technology Trends Event, Brexit Advice Clinics, Networking Event for Start Ups and the Student Enterprise Programme Awards.
ENDS
For all information and media requests around the County Enterprise Awards or Local Enterprise Week, please contact Local Enterprise Office Clare – Tel 065 6821616 Email localenterprise@leo.clarecoco.ie
National Enterprise Awards 2018
Award Categories and Prize Fund
The 2019 National Enterprise Awards take place on May 29th in the Mansion House in Dublin and are organised by the Local Enterprise Offices
• Overall Winner, National Enterprise Awards 2019 (Cash Prize for business: €10,000)
• Best Export Business (Cash Prize for business: €5,000)
• Best Start Up Business (Cash Prize for business: €5,000)
• Innovation Award (Cash Prize for business: €5,000)
• Eight Runner-Up Winners (Cash Prize for business: €2,000 each)
o Runner Up Regions:
o Dublin City, Fingal, Dún Laoghaire- Rathdown and South Dublin
o Kildare, Laois, Offaly and Westmeath
o Wicklow, Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny
o Louth, Meath, Cavan and Monaghan
o Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim and Longford
o Galway, Mayo and Roscommon
o Clare, Limerick, Kerry and Tipperary
o Cork City, South Cork, Cork North & West and Waterford
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