Eight companies awarded for special achievements
President’s Award presented to Rose Hynes
Adare-based Samco Agricultural Manufacturing was hailed Overall Business of the Year at the 2013 Limerick Chamber Regional Business Awards last night. The awards, sponsored by LIT, were announced at the Limerick Chamber President’s Dinner at the Limerick Strand Hotel.
Over 400 of the region’s top business leaders and government officials attended the annual dinner and awards ceremony which featured a keynote address by Department of Finance Secretary General, Mr John Moran and City of Culture Chairman, Mr Pat Cox.
Speaking at the awards ceremony, Limerick Chamber President, Fergal Barry, congratulated all the winners as well as those who were shortlisted, commenting that “whether you are a winner or not, these awards unite us in excellence and we should all be proud of our achievements, congratulations to all.”
Presenting the Overall 2013 Business of the Year award, Dr Maria Hinfelaar, President, Limerick Institute of Technology and sponsor of the award, praised Samco for its innovative approach and continued focus on research and development.
“Samco is a forward-looking company that has achieved significant success through its commitment to research, innovation and an expansion strategy into International markets.” she added.
In addition to the 8 business awards contested on the evening, a special award was presented by the President of Limerick Chamber, Dr Fergal Barry.
Rose Hynes, Chair of Shannon Airport, was the recipient of the Limerick Chamber President’s Award. Ms Hynes was honoured for her outstanding contribution to the economic development of the region through her tenure as as Chair of the Aviation Business Development Task Force and now as Chair of Shannon Airport Authority. (Full copy of the citation can be found here )
The full list of the 2013 Limerick Chamber Regional Business Awards winners is as follows:
Best Start-Up / Emerging Business Award: Nualtra Ltd
2013 Best SME Business Award: Carambola Kidz
2013 Best FDI Business Award: Glass Lewis Europe
2013 Best Exporter Business Award: AMCS Group
2013 Best Retail & Hospitality Business Award: Matthew Stephens Jewellers
2013 Best Large Indigenous Business Award: Masterchefs Hospitality
2013 Best Sport, Art & Culture Business Award: Pig ‘n’ Porter Tag Rugby Festival
2013 Overall Business of the Year Award: Samco Agricultural Manufacturing
2013 Limerick Chamber President’s Award: Ms Rose Hynes
Overall 2013 Business of the Year Award: Samco Agricultural Manufacturing
ENDS
About the Awards:
Now in its third year, the annual Limerick Chamber Regional Business Awards celebrate excellence in business across 7 categories. Attracting high profile industry support and involvement, the Awards offer businesses the opportunity to promote major achievements and celebrate success. Forward-looking and innovative organisations within Limerick Chamber membership and in the Midwest region are eligible to enter or nominate as many of the Award categories as they wish.
For further information
Please contact Edwina Gore, Communications Consultant, Limerick Chamber, 061 217607 / 087 6295323 or email egore@limerickchamber.ie
AWARD WINNERS DETAIL
Best Start-Up / Emerging Business Award: NUALTRA
With its initial product launch in November 2013, Nualtra now employs 12 people and will achieve over €1m turnover in its first year. Now expanding into their first export market and with a strong product development pipeline, Nualtra growth trajectory looks set to continue in 2014.
Best SME Award: CARAMBOLA KIDZ
Founded in 2003, Carambola Kidz is now a multi-million euro business that employs 67 people and delivers freshly made lunches to over 130 schools in 16 counties before “little break” at 10:30 every school day. To date, the business has delivered over 12 million lunches without ever missing a delivery.
Best FDI Business Award: GLASS LEWIS
Established in Limerick city centre in 2012, Glass Lewis moved to a new city centre location in 2013, reflecting the growth in staff and its position as the global hub for IT development and innovation. Now employing 35 staff, the Company expects to see peak employment of 75 in 2014.
Best Exporter Award: AMCS Group
Founded in 2003, AMCS Group now employs 135 people and has seen turnover increase three-fold in the last four years. The Company continues to innovative and 15% of turnover is invested in R&D which has allowed it to win significant business across Europe and in the North America, where sales are expected to double in 2014.
Best Retail & Hospitality Business Award: MATTHEW STEPHENS JEWELLERS
Established in Limerick for over 40 years, Matthew Stephens Jewellers employs 30 people year round and over the last number of years has continued to innovate and respond to customer needs which has seen the business continue to grow and receive numerous awards.
Best Large Indigenous Business Award: MASTERCHEFS HOSPITALITY
Masterchefs Hospitality is a Limerick company competing with the best nationally and internationally with over 300 full and part time people employed by the business. This award winning business continues to diversify and 2013 has seen the opening of its Artisan Food Factory as well as securing a 10-year contract with Thomond Park.
Best Sport, Art & Culture Award: PIG ‘n’ PORTER
The Pig n Porter Tag Rugby Festival is the largest if its kind in the world. 130 teams from all over Ireland took part in the 2013 festival, generating over 3,500 bed nights and over 22,000 people have participated in the festival over the last 13 years.
Overall 2013 Business of the Year Award: SAMCO
Samco’s innovative approach, continued investment in R&D and focus on export markets has resulted in a significant increase in export sales in each of the last three years. The business is now serving a growing number of export markets, with customers in over 20 countries worldwide now accounting for 90% of sales. This success has allowed the company to plan a significant expansion of its Adare plant which will result in further job growth in the coming years.
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