24 finalists of the 2021 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Ireland programme have been revealed, and include seven successful entrepreneurs based in Northern Ireland.
The 24 nominees, which span the retail, consumer, technology, health and leisure sectors, collectively generate annual revenues in excess of €1.325bn.
They will compete across three categories - Emerging, Industry and International - and one overall winner will be selected as The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2021 in November.
Rob Heron, Partner Lead for the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year programme in Northern Ireland said: “This year’s finalists highlight the vibrant diversity of the entrepreneurial landscape across the island of Ireland.
"Sectors including food, construction products, leisure and healthcare are all represented and its fantastic to see seven businesses from Northern Ireland featuring in all three finalist categories.
“The ability of entrepreneurs to embed the power of digital into all aspects of their businesses is reflected strongly in this year’s cohort of finalists, who include a number of businesses in the online retail space that have been able to grow exponentially in the past year due to lockdown, along with companies in the health testing and antimicrobial technology space among others.
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The 2021 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ finalists are:
The seven Northern Ireland-based finalists are:
They have been shortlisted from more than 120 nominations by an independent judging panel of previous winners, chaired by Anne Heraty, CEO of CPL Resources Plc, and EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2006 who commented: “Entrepreneurs are facing one of the most challenging business environments we’ve seen and we continue to be impressed by their relentless determination and resilience in an uncertain climate. The calibre of all the applicants has been truly inspiring. While some of our finalists have had to navigate a very turbulent year, some have been able to seize unexpected opportunities to accelerate growth.”
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Since its inception 24 years ago, the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year community has grown to a network of more than 550 alumni, with more than three-quarters conducting business with one another. Together, the EOY alumni community generates revenues of €21bn, and employs more than 200,000 people across the island of Ireland.
Mr Heron concluded, "In what has been a really tough period of trading for entrepreneurs, it has been uplifting to see so many of our entrants thriving, and able to successfully pivot and adapt their businesses to this new environment. We at EY are proud to play our part in supporting the island’s entrepreneurs and I am delighted to formally welcome this year’s finalists into the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year community.”
For further information, please visit www.eoy.ie.
