Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year
Bubblebum
GRÁINNE KELLY
IN GRÁINNE Kelly’s own words, the idea for Bubblebum – the world’s first inflatable car booster seat for children – was “born out of necessity” when she repeatedly discovered she was putting the safety of her children in the hands of car rental firms when she travelled abroad only to find car booster seats, even when pre-booked, were not available to her.
The Derry-based company, a mere 17 months old, has achieved significant global sales to date and is currently selling into major retailers within 17 countries. Five people are now employed at the company’s facility in Derry’s Ráth Mór Business and Community Enterprise Centre, and Kelly herself has been named Belfast Telegraph Business Woman of the Year 2010 and Ulster Bank Business Achiever of the Year, and she also took the All-Island Best Start-Up 2010 award.
Bubblebum is a company deeply committed to road safety. With this in mind the inflatable booster seat is a very practical product, allowing customers to make financial savings by removing the need to rent rigid booster seats from car renters, and making it easier for parents to fit three car-safety seats if necessary across the rear seat of a standard family car. The importance of this feature is demonstrated by the fact children travelling on booster seats are 50 per cent less likely to suffer injury in a road traffic collision than those using seat belts alone.
Having succeeded with the invention, development and successful global distribution and sales of this unique safety product for children, Kelly’s ultimate goal is to reduce levels of preventable deaths and injuries caused to children on our roads.
Products
As an inflatable product, Bubblebum can be easily stored in a handbag, schoolbag or glove compartment when not in use. The product is tested to meet EU and US safety standards. Kelly says an added benefit is that its bright colours and modern design appeal to children and parents, making it “cool to be safe”.
Customers
Following on from Kelly’s campaigns on road safety awareness during 2010 Bubblebum has been recognised by a number of worldwide distributors, and the product is due to launch in the US in June 2011.
Bubblebum is currently for sale with the world’s biggest car-rental brokers and is available in-flight with both BMI and Emirates airlines. Although every country has its own challenging entry requirements, Kelly continues to keep her eye focused on the end result.
Have there been any unusual circumstances surrounding the inception of the company or its evolution?
Prior to the invention of Bubblebum, inflatable car seats had not been approved by safety authorities as they needed to be tested in their “worst case scenario” state. For an inflatable product, this is obviously in the product’s deflated state. By thinking outside the box, I solved the problem with the use of memory foam to prevent air displacement, which also added a level of structural stability to the product, even when deflated.
What is the best business advice you ever received?
Always honour your integrity and never cut corners on the integrity of your product. Many times I have been faced with opportunities to cut costs – but at the risk of losing the integrity of the brand. I’m now extremely glad that I listened to that advice.
Crowley Carbon
NORMAN CROWLEY
A SERIAL entrepreneur, Norman Crowley established Crowley Carbon in 2009 as a business with a specific vision to assist corporations in their efforts to reduce the overall energy consumption of their businesses.
Having previously achieved significant success with a number of other business ventures, Norman Crowley was keen to return to the world of entrepreneurship and apply his knowledge and business experiences to create a company that would not only be profitable, but also make a real difference in the sphere of energy efficiency.
During his research into the numerous problems associated with global warming, Crowley discovered that industries typically waste more than 40 per cent of all energy consumed by them. He was thus inspired to develop and patent a range of cutting-edge technologies in an effort to assist businesses to reduce this unnecessary waste.
Crowley Carbon technologies have a wide range of applications, from reducing energy-consumption in products as diverse as industrial chillers and large motors, to high-efficiency heat exchangers.
The Wicklow-based company has grown at a rapid pace over the past two years and currently employs 30 people at its offices in Wicklow, Cork, Galway, the UK and France.
Clients
Clients of the company include Irish companies such as Dawn Foods and Musgrave Group, along with multinationals such as Pfizer and Thermo King.
Products
Crowley Carbon has undertaken a major RD project that has involved extensive testing of thousands of energy technologies that are currently available in the global marketplace, while also developing its own energy-efficiency products to provide companies with a complete solution for their specific energy needs.
What role does CSR (corporate social responsibility) play in your business strategy?
In any of the businesses that we have had, we have always incorporated CSR as an integral component. In our last company, we incubated an eye charity in Africa where the staff from the charity forged working relationships with staff from my previous business, Inspired, and learned valuable skills and lessons from each other.
In Crowley Carbon, we have sent our engineers to Georgia to fix sewers in orphanages, while our software developers build websites for charities and other worthy groups. I find that our team loves to help others and it gives them an alternative view of the world. I enjoy giving motivational talks to local and national business groups about running a business in a time of recession.
What motivates you to succeed?
It used to be a fear of “going broke”, which can be a very potent motivator, but now it’s really the desire to create a large business that can make a real difference at a global level.
Crospon
JOHN O'DEA
ESTABLISHED BY John O’Dea in 2006, Crospon is involved in the development and manufacture of leading-edge, minimally invasive medical devices for imaging and aiding clinically invasive procedures in the areas of bariatric surgery and gastroenterology.
The company has received recognition for its technology and innovation over the past four years, having been awarded the Frost and Sullivan Gastroenterology Technology Implementation of the Year award, and the Irish Medical Devices Association Company of the Year in 2009, in addition to being named as the winner of the Irish Small Firms Association Innovator of the Year award in 2010. The company currently employs 20 people between its offices in Galway and California.
Products and clients
Crospon’s first product, EndoFLIP® (Endolumenal Functional Lumen Imaging Probe) was FDA approved in December 2009 and launched in the US, Canada, and Australia in April 2010. Primarily used by gastroenterologists and surgeons operating on the oesophagus and stomach, the EndoFLIP® is CE marked and marketed in Europe primarily for use in gastro-diagnostic applications.
EndoFLIP® currently represents the only marketed, FDA-approved tool for use in a number of surgically invasive specialities, such as the intra-operative adjustment of gastric bands, specific aspects of bariatric revision surgery, and gastric plication.
In 2010, Crospon developed a new start-up known as Janisys. The Janisys active microneedle-based transdermal drug delivery system was originally devised at Hewlett Packard before being out-licensed to Crospon in 2007. This patch-like system is primarily targeted at delivering multiple doses of biologics and is currently going into pre-clinical evaluation with a Top-5 major pharmaceutical company. The patch may be wirelessly programmed and compliance of drug delivery can be wirelessly uploaded from the patch.
What motivates you to succeed?
I’m motivated by changing the practice of medicine through innovative engineering solutions and creating much-needed employment in Ireland in the areas of both RD and manufacturing.
We have a great manufacturing base in this country which became unfashionable during the Celtic Tiger years. I feel it is important that ideas innovated in Ireland should be manufactured here for export.
What advice would you give an entrepreneur starting out today?
We have an almost unique conglomeration of multinationals in this country. Learn your business in them before starting out on your own. Try and develop your idea in your own time or in a third-level institution as far as you can before trying to raise capital.
Has anyone ever acted as a mentor to you?
I had a wonderful mentor, Bob Grimes, from California during my early years in the medical business. I think that we all need a mentor at some stage in our careers – someone that can help others to see in us what we know we possess within ourselves. Bob was a great champion in helping to establish one of the first bona-fide multinational medical device RD operations in Ireland back in the late 1980s, one which gave me my first break in the medical device business.
Joule Solutions
RONAN GINNELL and IAN BARRETT
SINCE BEING formed by Ronan Ginnell and Ian Barrett, in late 2007, Joule Solutions has grown to be one of Ireland’s largest manufacturers of solar panel and tube systems, and hot water cylinders.
College friends Ginnell and Barrett both studied building services engineering at DIT Bolton St and this inspired their interest in developing efficient and cost-effective applications for renewable energy sources.
Joule solutions’ core business lies in the design and production of copper and stainless steel hot water cylinders and solar thermal heating systems. These innovative, green-tech products are manufactured and distributed from the company’s 40,000sq ft distribution facility in Ballyfermot, south Dublin.
They are committed to investing into continuous research and development in order to ensure that its product range is the market leader in its field, and believe that Joule differentiates itself from its competitors through the provision of superior product knowledge and customer service.
To this end, the pair has further invested in the business by constructing a state-of-the-art training centre where product installers can get detailed training on each aspect of the Joule product line. This ongoing commitment to education and training forms an integral part of the company’s philosophy and its overall vision to provide the best possible product and service to the end-customer.
Employment figures within all sectors of the organisation currently stands at 24, but with the company growing at a rate of 35- 40 per cent per year, a major expansion is planned into the UK market in 2011.
Products
Joule has a broad customer base supplying copper and stainless steel hot water cylinders and solar thermal heating systems to heating and plumbing merchants throughout the country.
In November 2010 Joule was awarded the NSAI Certification on all three types of solar heating systems that it supplies to the industry, recognising that Joule is a leading manufacture within the renewable sector.
Customers
Joule operates a nationwide next-day delivery service to over 200 customers nationwide. These include: Grafton Group Plc, BHT Group (Heatmerchants), Associated Hardware Plc, National Hardware, Independent Heating Plumbing Merchants Nationwide.
What vision prompted you to start up in business?
Our vision was to create a fresh, new business with innovative ideas which would separate us from our competitors, whilst building on our educational background within the industry.
What were the biggest challenges starting up and how did you overcome them?
Our biggest, and ongoing, challenge is to deal with the difficult economic conditions in which we operate. The company was formed towards the end of 2007, at the beginning of the economic turbulence that still prevails. We’re fortunate to work with a strong team on a daily basis, and that helps us to strive to overcome all the challenges that we face.
What motivates you to succeed?
We are definitely motivated by the fantastic team that surround us on a daily basis.
What is the best business advice you ever received?
Always keep your feet on the ground.
THE AWARD
THE ERNST Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, now in its 14th year, aims to recognise and acclaim Ireland's entrepreneurs. The award is run in association with The Irish Times, RTÉ, Enterprise Ireland, InterTradeIreland and Newstalk. Eight companies have been chosen in each of the three categories: International, Industry and Emerging.
Four nominees will be profiled each Monday over the next six weeks. A nominee must be a business founder or owner, and be primarily responsible for the recent performance of a company that is at least two years old.
Founders of public companies are eligible, provided the founder is still active in top management.
The nominee must own 5 per cent of the company to be eligible.
Anyone – including employees, company advisors and financiers – can nominate an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs may nominate themselves or their peers.
The judges are people in business who have achieved success in their own right. Thus, all nominees are judged by their peers. Judging criteria include growth in turnover and employee numbers, as well as vision, degree of innovation, creativity in production, marketing and selling, and expansion in local and international markets
The chairman of the judging panel is Páraig Ó Céidegh, chairman of Aer Arann. The winner will be announced at a televised awards ceremony in October.
