DOMINI & PEACHES KEMP:Itsa: SISTERS DOMINI and Peaches Kemp began what was to become a chain of food outlets in 1999, when they opened the hugely popular itsa bagel store on Dublin's Liffey Street. What grew out of a love for New York bagels and a desire to sell gourmet food is now a food company with over five branches of itsa bagel, plus a whole lot more.
November 2005 saw the opening of their itsa4 restaurant in Sandymount, which received widespread critical acclaim and is one of Bridgestone’s 100 best restaurants in Ireland in its 2011 guide. Organic and local Irish produce, good service and delicious, casual food remain its focus.
In November 2006, the company opened Table restaurant in Brown Thomas, Cork, and took over The Restaurant, in Brown Thomas, Dublin, in April 2009. September 2008 saw the company open itsa@Imma, a modern canteen-style cafe in the Irish Museum of Modern Art.
Feast Catering is the event catering section of the company and has expanded over the years to provide on-site catering services for a broad range of events and venues from canape and drinks receptions, to gala dinners, weddings and conferences.
Itsa currently employs 83 staff and had revenue of €5.8 million last year.
When the recession hit in 2008, the company moved quickly to reduce retail prices and focused on three areas: constant critical self-analysis of products and services; a proactive approach to driving down costs; and honest dealings with staff about what needed to be done in order to achieve this. Increased profitability and low gearing led to a stronger balance sheet, which, in turn, has allowed the company to grow organically.
Products
Originally the bagels were imported from New York. After five years of RD, the company has recently begun manufacturing, using and exporting the only genuine artisan bagels in Ireland, thereby supporting indigenous job creation.
What advice would you give an entrepreneurs starting out today?
Get out there and dazzle!
Has anyone acted as a mentor to you?
No, but over the years we’ve met some wise business people and have picked a few brains in our time.
Has your Irish-ness contributed to your success?
Forget New York – if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere!
JOHN O'DONOGHUE
Noonan
FROM ITS origins in 1977 as a contract cleaning and security services company, Noonan has evolved into a market-leading supplier of integrated facility services to businesses in the Ireland and Britain.
The success of the group has been built around the core values of understanding and delivering on clients’ expectations, while prioritising the training and development of its staff as a key resource. These values, coupled with a distinct work ethic and commitment throughout the organisation, enabled the group to achieve consistent growth and carve out a marketing leading position on its core services.
In 2008, the group underwent change when Alchemy Partners supported a management buyout that resulted in a number of the management becoming shareholders in the business. This change would provide the platform for a growth strategy based on targeted acquisitions.
In 2009 it saw the acquisition of the Federal Security business. This positioned it as the largest provider of security services across Ireland, and enabled it to provide a complete security solution to clients. Further diversification was undertaken in 2010 with the acquisition of Oak Church Landscaping.
It now employs 7,200 people with revenue of €154 million last year.
To coincide with its extended service capability, a decision was made to rebrand the business, under the umbrella-trademark of “Noonan”. The group’s move to a new corporate head office in north county Dublin in July 2010 facilitated the centralising of all services and proved critical to the cultural integration of the Noonan values.
Further investment in the group’s IT systems, including a new CRM and help desk facility, will enable management to receive real-time data, improve communications with clients and support the strategic development of the business. Employment levels in Noonan exceed 7,000, and O’Donoghue believes the group is well-positioned to deliver further significant growth and sustainable employment over the next few years.
Products/Services
The range of services now include the following: security, landscaping, cleaning and pest control, in addition to the provision of janitorial supplies.
Customers
Noonan’s client base now exceeds over 1,500, many among the most high-profile names in the world of business in the following business sectors: healthcare, pharma, retail, manufacturing, corporate and education.
RAYMOND COYLE
Largo Foods
ESTABLISHED IN 1982, Largo Foods is an Irish snack-food company manufacturing such well-known brands as, Tayto, Hunky Dorys, King and Perri. The company leads the snack-food industry in Ireland with a 50 per cent market share and generates 20 per cent of sales from exports.
Raymond Coyle’s path to the snack-food industry started out in quite a different field, however. As a potato grower for Tayto and Perri in the late 1970s, he felt there was an opening for a small company manufacturing potato chips, as Tayto then had an 85 per cent market share. In 1982, Largo Foods was established with a staff of nine people and the business continued to grow steadily until 16 years ago when the firm introduced Hunky Dorys potato chips to its range. Hunky Dorys now accounts for a significant portion of the group’s retail sales.
The company then established a factory in Plzen, Czech Republic and in 2000, it added a small manufacturing unit in Chisinau, Moldova. Six years later, Largo purchased the Tayto business in Ireland for €63 million. Over two years, the businesses were integrated to one site in Meath and market share grew from 45 per cent to 50 per cent.
In 2007, the group established Cornscape in Barnsley, Yorkshire. It specialises in the manufacture of baked products and popcorn.
The company, which employs 560 people in Ireland and 125 abroad, is based outside Ashbourne in Co Meath, with an additional manufacturing facility in Donegal. It expects to deliver turnover of €95 million in 2011.
Largo Foods introduced a unique family attraction, Tayto Park, in late 2010.
Products
Largo Foods mainly manufactures potato chips and extruded snack products. Value-added products, such as Velvet Crunch, have been successfully developed, generating significant revenue for the business.
Customers
Largo supplies all of the multiples in the UK and Ireland, and markets in eastern Europe. Having recently entered the Chinese retail market, the company is clearly presented with a significant opportunity for future growth.
What advice would you give any entrepreneurs starting out today?
Don’t be afraid to take the risk but don’t expect too much too quickly.
Has anyone acted as a mentor to you?
If I had a choice, I would choose Larry Goodman as mentor – resilient, tough and a life survivor.
PAUL HOURICAN
PFH Technology Group
THE PFH Technology Group grew from its original beginning in 1985 to a staff of more than 120 and a turnover of €18 million in 2006 – providing a range of IT services and infrastructure solutions to multinational and indigenous business throughout Ireland and the UK. At that stage founder and CEO Paul Hourican decided the time was right to work on consolidating the ICT market in Ireland and to achieve scale through a strategy of acquisition.
In 2006, the firm acquired CK Business Electronics, a company similar in size to PFH. The enlarged entity had increased turnover of €36 million. In 2010, PFH acquired the Irish operations of Siemens Enterprise Communications and in the same year acquired the business of Redstone Technology – a provider of enterprise-class storage and server solutions to the corporate and government sectors.
The group has a turnover of €50 million and employs more than 220 people with offices in Dublin, Cork, Belfast and Galway. The group is now the largest privately owned ICT company in Ireland.
The company recently announced the opening of its new technology experience centre and a graduate recruitment programme which will see the initial hiring of 20 graduates into its engineering and sales divisions. The centre – which was opened by Minister for Enterprise Richard Bruton – is the only such centre of its kind in Ireland or the UK and will allow customers to test and use new technologies for cloud and virtualisation solutions.
Products and customers
PFH is an end-to-end ICT solution provider of integrated voice and data solutions to more than 1,400 customers across Ireland and abroad. It offers a range of managed services with the vision to provide its clients with an on-demand, “always on”, ICT infrastructure that can be paid for on a usage basis.
What motivates you to succeed?
Winning – I really like to create the space for our people to succeed and win by projecting a positive business image and showing how PFH can deliver a competitive advantage for our customers.
What is your biggest business achievement?
Growing the business through acquisitions and creating a unique portfolio of skills and products and services that span the entire needs of any organisation wanting to realise an end-to-end managed technology platform for their business.
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 three 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 advisers and financiers – can nominate an entrepreneur.
Entrepreneurs may nominate themselves or 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 Pádraig Ó Céidigh, chairman of Aer Arann. Other judges are: Terry Clune, chief executive, Taxback.com; Hugh O’Donnell, chief executive, Kentz Group; Brian Long, partner, Atlantic Bridge Ventures; Michael Carey, executive chairman, Jacob Fruitfield Group; Anne Heraty, chief executive, CPL Resources plc; Pat McDonagh, director, Thirdforce, Ernst Young Master; Liam Shanahan, managing director, Shanahan Engineering; Jeremy Fitch, managing director, Invest Northern Ireland; Tom Hayes, head of entrepreneurship, Enterprise Ireland; and Jerry Kennelly, chief executive, Gustavo.
The winner will be announced at a televised awards ceremony on October 21st.
