There was joy for Westmeath in Croke Park when an Athlone based business was honoured with two coveted All-Ireland Business awards.
Heat Merchants was awarded the Brian McEniff ‘Enterprise of the Year’ accolade at the prestigious All-Ireland Business Foundation’s annual All-Ireland Business Summit and awards ceremony.
There were further celebrations for the company as staff member, Alan Horgan, was also named joint winner of the Inspiring Business ‘Leader of the Year’ award.
The All-Ireland Business Foundation is responsible for overseeing the All-Ireland Business Summit and All-Ireland Business awards, ongoing All-Star accreditation, Thought Leader awards and promoting peer dialogue among members.
Companies which already hold Business All-Star Accreditation from the All-Ireland Business Foundation compete in the finals of the All-Ireland Business Awards in a range of categories.
The networking and collaboration element of the annual Summits led to the establishment of the All-Ireland Business Foundation, which has accredited 350 companies.
Vice-President of the European Parliament, Mairead McGuinness MEP, who presented the award, said the commitment to quality of the small to medium enterprise sector was critical to the Irish economy.
“Ireland has the fastest growing economy in Europe and one of the fastest rates of business start-ups. Small to medium enterprises make up 99 percent of Irish businesses and their importance to the economy can never be understated,” Ms. McGuinness emphasised.
