Pioneering Businesses announced as Winners of SEEPP Enterprise Awards 2011
Sponsored by Ulster Bank South East Business Centre & Ernst & Young Two innovative and exceptional companies were honoured at the SEEPP Enterprise Awards 2011, sponsored by Ulster Bank South East Business Centre and Ernst & Young which was held on May 16th in WIT. The winner of the Start-Up category was Paul Ryan, Forcelink, the Early Stage category winner was Frank Walsh, Grattan Integration Ltd.
These awards were open to both current and past participants of the highly regarded South East Enterprise Platform Programme. The Enterprise Awards acknowledge the contributions made by entrepreneurs to the economic development and progression of the South East region. The judging panel included Brian O’Sullivan, Manager, Ulster Bank South East Business Centre, Dermot Carey, Director, Ernst & Young, Dr. Tom O’ Toole, Head of the School of Business, WIT and was chaired by Louise Grubb, Managing Director, Nutri Science Ltd. SEEPP Manager Eugene Crehan said "The SEEPP finalists all presented their business ideas excellently to the panel of highly experienced judges and I think the finalists benefitted greatly from the feedback given by the judges! The guest speaker on the evening was John Conway, MD, Chevron Training.
Forcelink was the winner of the Start-Up Enterprise category and was founded by Paul Ryan. Paul was VP Sales from 2002-2007 with LeT Systems (an Irish enterprise software vendor and developer of the eRespond outage management system), operating in international markets including SE Asia, South Africa and Central and Eastern Europe with partners including Siemens, SAP and major systems integrators such as IBM and Deloitte. Paul was CEO from 2007-2010 of DIS (2) Ltd., a tourism VAT refund technology company associated with the Blarney Woollen Mills Group, which he sold to Global Refund, the multinational market leader. Paul has 20 years experience of international business development in technology, investment and consulting, in 30+ markets.
According to Paul “we are really excited about bringing Forcelink to more Irish customers. Everyone in business today is looking to do more with less, and the Forcelink mobile work management solution means our customers can get powerful enterprise class software functionality for small money. It’s all about using mobile phones and the internet to know, in real time, the status of people and work to improve customer service and reduce costs. We have saved customers up to 80% in the administration of their field workforce, and gained up to 50% in productivity. We are delighted to have gotten the recognition of the SEEPP Enterprise awards, and look forward to spreading our message of “more with less”! We have some customers working with us on pilots in the South East region at the moment and expect to make more announcements soon.”
Frank Walsh of Grattan Integration Ltd was the winner of the Early Stage Enterprise Category. Frank Walsh’s company, Grattan Computers Ltd, design IT control systems for manufacturing processes. Their initial products are aimed at Irish based multi-nationals involved in manufacturing for the global orthopaedics industry. Grattan Integration Ltd. are developing a suite of software/hardware solutions, based on Bar-code and RFID technologies, that provide valuable real-time process control and data acquisition functionality. The initial target market for these solutions is the manufacturing arm of organisations which operate within the global Orthopaedics industry. The sector is dominated by five key operators, three of which have manufacturing facilities based in Ireland. Having these key operators on their door step makes Grattan Integration Ltd ideally located to introduce their solutions to this global industry. It is envisaged that this will provide a low cost route to this global market through “piggy back” sales from the local facilities.
Frank stated “Grattan Computers Ltd, in conjunction with Ireland’s leading machine tool supplier, develop IT control systems for manufacturing processes. Our initial products have been adopted by one of the largest Irish based organizations involved it the manufacture of orthopaedics implants such as replacement hips and knees. Our involvement with SEEPP has provided us with the business knowledge to expand on our product range and bring them to this global market. Achieving this SEEPP award gives us the confidence to ‘drive-on’ with the business strategies we have developed to compete in the $30 Billion industry”.
The winner of the best exhibit was Cian Murphy and Brian Heylin, Rise Social Media. Rise Social Media is a new media marketing agency which specialises in Social Media. We are experts in our field and can set up your Facebook business Page, WordPress blog, Twitter account and Business Linked-In account, among others, all at the same time in one easy process. With offices in both Waterford and Dublin the company specialises in helping businesses effectively utilise Social Media to improve and expand their online reach. A business that is not using Social Media correctly could be losing out on potentially thousands of customers. The team’s focus is on building specialised social networking platforms and channels to help promote our clients brands online. Once clients are happy with the personally tailored look of their new social presence on the Web, we help them to devise customised strategies to maximise online exposure and achieve their e-commerce goals. The HQ for the Business is the Research Innovation Centre in Carriganore, Waterford and is headed by Brian Heylin Sales & Marketing Director and Cian Murphy Director of Digital Marketing. Tom Murphy, Director and Head of Development runs the Dublin Office.
SEEPP is a one year enterprise programme that provides a range of supports to innovative start-up businesses in the South East region including business development workshops, incubation space, and mentoring. If you would like to receive the same support that Frank and Paul received please note that SEEPP is currently accepting applications for the next programme which commences in August 2011. For further information contact 051-302953 / 302949 or visit www.seepp.ie
