EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ 2019 Launches
7th January 2019
The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ 2019 programme officially opens today (7th January) for nominations. The theme of this year’s programme is “Be Brave, Be Bold” and all sectors and businesses of all sizes across the island of Ireland are invited to submit their nominations until 15th February. The 24 finalists for 2019 will be announced on 23 April.
Kevin McLoughlin (pictured) Partner Lead for EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Ireland said: “I am delighted to launch the 2019 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ programme, now in its 22nd year. This year we are committed to supporting and encouraging our island’s entrepreneurs to be brave and to be bold, whether that means taking a first step with a brilliant idea, or taking a calculated risk to drive growth in their business. They will be able to take inspiration from, and tap into the vast knowledge of Ireland’s most fearless entrepreneurs who have gone through this programme in the past. I am really proud that we now have an Alumni network of 500 entrepreneurs who have benefited from the programme and remain connected to it.”
He added: “A highlight of the programme will be when our finalists go on our renowned international CEO Retreat taking place this year in Hong Kong, designed to help Irish entrepreneurs transform their thinking and vision through executive education and inspiration from some of the world’s leading CEOs.”
Who can be nominated?
EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ is an all-island programme. Nominees must either be Irish or running a company based on the island of Ireland. Nominees must own a minimum of 5% of the company and be primarily responsible for the recent performance of a company to be eligible to apply. Founders of publicly listed companies are eligible, provided that the founder is still active in management.
While the majority of nominations come from the entrepreneurs themselves, anyone can nominate a successful entrepreneur with the entrepreneur’s consent, including employees, company advisors and financiers. Nominations close on Friday, 15 February 2019.
The programme is open to entrepreneurs from all sectors and growth stages, across the island of Ireland. The awards programme is divided into three categories – Emerging, Industry and International – with eight finalists chosen per category. The 24 finalists will be selected by an independent panel of judges, comprising former winners and chaired by Anne Heraty of CPL Resources plc (pictured). For further information or for people who wish to put themselves forward or nominate an entrepreneur with their consent can fill out the online nomination form here>>
Last year saw a strong mix of male and female finalists across nine different sectors who collectively employed more than 2,700 people and generated revenues in excess €150m. Daniel Mackey and Peter Coppinger of Cork-based SaaS company Teamwork emerged as the overall winners at the 2018 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Awards and will go on to represent Ireland at the World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Awards in Monte Carlo in June. Belfast-based Hospitality group Beannchor took top prize in the Industry category, while biotechnology company Carrick Therapeutics won top prize in the Emerging category.
What finalists can expect
The finalists will engage in a strategic growth programme over a 10-month period which includes a week-long CEO Retreat to Hong Kong. As part of this international retreat, this year’s 24 finalists will join a group of more than 100 fellow entrepreneurs, all previous finalists and winners of EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ programme where they will meet CEOs and entrepreneurs from some of the world’s biggest multinational companies.
The finalists will also gain exclusive access to a prestigious community of over 500 peers known as the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Alumni. To date, more than three quarters of the Alumni community have conducted business with one another – demonstrating the advantage of being part of this supportive and prolific professional network.
The programme will include executive education sessions; networking fora; extensive media profiling; the annual Gala Awards Dinner. An award is presented for each category, and an overall winner will be announced at the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Awards in November. That person will go on to represent Ireland at the World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Awards in Monte Carlo the following June.
The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Ireland programme is supported by Premium Corporate Sponsor Julius Baer International, and Government sponsors Enterprise Ireland and Invest NI. For further information, please visit here>>
