Local company, Glynns Homevalue with stores in Claremorris, Tuam and Milltown is in the running for share of €125,000 OPTIMISE Fund Glynns are calling on the people of Mayo to vote for them to help them make the top ten.
“Securing this opportunity would help our company improve our digital presence and sell online,” said Liam Glynn from Glynns Homevalue which started out in 1913. The OPTIMISE Fund, valued at €125,000, provides 10 days worth of digital consultancy, training and development to successful SMEs to enhance their e-commerce offering and online presence. Launched in 2011, the annual OPTIMISE Fund works shoulder-to-shoulder with Irish SMEs and micro-enterprises to improve their online presence by making greater use of existing web technologies and becoming e-commerce enabled.
One quarter of Irish SMEs (28% ) say that a lack of technical ability and financial supports are holding them back from transitioning online and engaging in e-commerce, while an incredible one in four Irish SMEs still do not have a website, or any online presence whatsoever. This is according to research conducted by IEDR among the SME community. To date, the OPTIMISE Fund has provided training, development and support services to the value of €750,000 to 75 Irish SMEs and micro-enterprises to improve their website and online sales capabilities. There are 32 businesses shortlisted for this year’s OPTIMISE Fund, including Glynns. This shortlist will now be reduced down to a final 15 winners of OPTIMISE 2016. The public will select 10 of the final 15 businesses via an online public vote, with the final five businesses being chosen by an independent judging panel. This year’s judging panel is chaired by Conall O’Móráin (Today FM’s Sunday Business Show ) and consists of Keith Bohanna (Near Future ), Alan Sherlock (IBEC ) and Ronan Smith (AIB ).
Voting is simple; all 32 shortlisted businesses can be viewed on the IEDR website, www.iedr.ie/optimise Simply log on and select your preferred business to cast your vote. Voting close on Friday, June 17.
