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National Enterprise Awards 2023: meet 16 of this year’s finalists

We profile 16 of the 31 finalists in this year’s National Enterprise Awards

Pictured at the announcement of this year’s National Enterprise Awards are finalists (standing L-R) Carol Feller, Stolen Stitches, Alan Phillips and Louise Phillips, Studio Coffee Roasters, and (seated L-R) Caryna Camerino, Lovin' from the Oven, Ellie and Eileen Talty, Wild Irish Seaweeds, Ola Flanagan and Barry Flanagan, Kildare Brewing Company and Gretchen Donovan, Glass Innovations. Photograph: Julien Behal Photography.
Pictured at the announcement of this year’s National Enterprise Awards are finalists (standing L-R) Carol Feller, Stolen Stitches, Alan Phillips and Louise Phillips, Studio Coffee Roasters, and (seated L-R) Caryna Camerino, Lovin' from the Oven, Ellie and Eileen Talty, Wild Irish Seaweeds, Ola Flanagan and Barry Flanagan, Kildare Brewing Company and Gretchen Donovan, Glass Innovations. Photograph: Julien Behal Photography.

The National Enterprise Awards are held each year to celebrate the best of small businesses in Ireland, with 31 businesses from across the country shortlisted for the awards.

The awards ceremony will be held in the Mansion House, Dublin on June 1st, and will see businesses awarded across the categories of Best Start-Up, Best Export Business, an Innovation Award, a One-to-Watch Award and a Sustainability Award and for the overall National Enterprise of the Year. Here are 16 of the finalists.

Waterford - Hopfully Brewing

Hopfully Brewing was established with the sole aim of producing and selling high-quality craft beer to its esteemed customers throughout Ireland and around the world. Hopfully beer is unique, showcasing creative flair and personality, expressed to the consumer through its vibrant natural flavours and unique packaging concepts. hopfullybrewing.com

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Carlow - Forest Rock Technologies

Forest Rock provides software and hardware solutions for multiple clients in energy usage, sustainable buildings, and access controls. Forest Rock exports its own software to the UK, Europe and Australia, with plans to expand into North American markets. Forest Rock are the sole distributor of Tridium and SkySpark products in Ireland. forestrock.co.uk

Kilkenny – CHI Environmental

CHI Environmental is the only EPA-licenced site that collects and recycles a range of construction and demolition waste materials in the South East. By pioneering a circular economy business model and recycling waste materials into usable products, private, commercial and Local Authority customers can divert waste from landfill and help achieve environmental targets. chienvironmental.ie

Wexford – Sully & Juno

Sully & Juno is Ireland’s only sensory friendly design house. Established in 2021, the company creates clothing designed to be inclusive and conscious of the sensory needs of the wearer. sullyandjuno.ie

Wicklow - WHC Lab

WHC Lab is a biotechnology business, focused on yeast fermentation. The team are experts in the brewing and distilling industry, using next-generation methods to grow yeast and bacteria, with an R&D lab that is home to industry-leading equipment. whclab.com

Donegal - Silver Strand Rope Works

Based in Moville in Co Donegal, Silver Strand Rope Works is an established cord, rope, string and strapping manufacturing business offering a wide range of products to local and international markets. These are used in various industrial applications across agriculture, construction, fishing and marine, hardware, oil and gas, packaging, mining and renewables. silverstrandropeworks.com

Leitrim - CampusConnect

Working with leading universities in the UK and Ireland, CampusConnect is a white labelled community app and platform for universities that delivers significantly higher rates of student enrolment and retention by connecting incoming applicants with a community of best match peers for support, guidance, and friendship. campusconnect.ie

Longford – Midland Language Centre

Midland Language Centre (MLC) offers English language programmes for European teenagers to stay with host families in Ireland and attend secondary school or summer camps. This family business, while based in Longford, operates nationally. Clients are a growing number of European based agents, who promote MLC’s programmes to overseas students. mlcireland.ie

Sligo – Pronav Clinical

Pronav Clinical provides customised supply chain services for early phase clinical trials being conducted in Europe and across the globe. Their primary clients are pharmaceutical and biotech innovators who are moving from laboratory based pre-clinical development of new drugs to testing in human clinical trials. The company has the appropriate facilities, personnel, and regulatory authorisations in place to provide: EU site of importation, packaging, labelling, storage, batch certification, and distribution services for investigational medicinal products (IMPs) on behalf of clinical trial sponsors. pronavclinical.com

Cavan - Nualach Automation

Nualach Automation works with companies on the development and design of bespoke automation equipment. The company works with leading medical, life-science, food and beverage and automotive companies, offering a support service on existing and new automation systems, and aiming to assist companies to achieve their automation targets. nualachautomation.com

Louth – SeaPark Consultancy

SeaPark Consultancy is a leading independent business intelligence consulting company based in Dundalk, Co Louth. It provides business intelligence (BI) services, solutions and tools across two dedicated divisions - SAP business intelligence and Cloud Dev Ops (AWS & Microsoft Azure). SeaPark Consultancy worksclosely with large technology vendors and their partner community and clients. seaparkconsultancy.com

Meath - The Studio Coffee Roasters

The Studio Coffee Roasters supplies speciality grade coffee, capsules and cold brew coffee concentrate under the Studio Coffe Roasters brand. The coffee is hand roasted in small batches in Co Meath for online, retail and wholesale customers nationwide. It is currently supplying several major retail multiples in Ireland, the company has also begun exporting to the UK. thestudiocoffee.com

Monaghan - Moffett Parking Solutions

Moffett Parking Solutions is a Monaghan based company designing and manufacturing a range of innovative solutions to help increase storage capacity and simplify parking access for vehicles. Their products include turntables, car stackers, loft and basement access lifts and multi-level storage. moffett-parkingsolutions.com

Galway – GH Agri

GH Agri manufactures and retails safe, effective natural veterinary and nutritional products for farms in Ireland and the global market. These products have no meat or milk withdrawal times, reducing waste and saving customers money. They have been reducing the need for antibiotics on farms since 1989. ghagri.com

Mayo – Advanced Cosmetics

Advanced Cosmetics was born in 2018, incubated and meticulously planned during Covid times, and was eventually launched in 2022. This innovative tech driven company manufactures bespoke cosmetic products for the leading skincare, tanning, body care and fragrance products.

Roscommon – Lark Bridal

Lark Bridal distribute a portfolio of luxury fashion and bridal brands, exporting to 32 countries and working with 1,000 retailers across the EMENA territory. The company has evolved into the largest independent distributor of Maggie Sottero Designs and The Dessy Group, respectively the leading global bridal and bridesmaids brands. larkbridal.com