Thirteen local businesses in Carlow have been shortlisted by Carlow County Council's Local Enterprise Office to compete for the honour of representing the county at the 2025 National Enterprise Awards.
The National Enterprise Awards, Ireland's premier showcase for small business success, are organised annually by the Local Enterprise Offices. Each county chooses its leading small business to represent them at the national competition and the successful business will make a presentation on their growth strategy and take part in an intensive questions and answers session with an experienced panel of entrepreneur judges to compete in the national competition. The awards culminate in a ceremony at Dublin's Mansion House each May, where Ireland's Enterprise of the Year is crowned.
This year Carlow County Council’s Local Enterprise Office will host an awards ceremony in March to recognise the vibrancy of businesses in Carlow and to announce the business who will represent the county as “Carlow’s Enterprise of the Year” at the National Enterprise Awards. The shortlisted businesses will also compete for a number of other prestigious titles including “Carlow Lean Business of the Year”, “Carlow Green Business of the Year”, “Carlow Digital Business of the Year” and “Carlow Exporting Business of the Year”.
The businesses who have been shortlisted and who are in contention to represent Carlow at the National Enterprise Awards are:
- Allskills Tech – Developers of an innovative new online platform to support female financial literacy.
- Autom8 Installations – Over 20 years’ experience manufacturing automatic doors for the commercial sector.
- Ballybar Ireland – Designers and manufacturers of a range of premium lifestyle clothing for country sports enthusiasts.
- Brendan Kavanagh Furniture – Based near Borris, a leading manufacturer of fitted furniture for the domestic market.
- Coppenagh House Farm – On farm business based in Tullow which has embraced business growth through lean efficiencies.
- Country Kitchen – Hospitality business in Carlow town which has placed sustainability at the centre of business planning.
- Cullen Nurseries – Based near Hacketstown, a DAFM approved nursery with over 25 years experience.
- Equinox Education Services – A leading providers of tailor-made, educational and cultural programmes for overseas students since 2005.
- JF Sports – Carlow town based business which diversified from retail into manufacture of sportswear.
- Lynch’s Bakery – Old Leighlin based bakery which services retail customers in 7 counties with a premium offering of fresh deserts.
- Mount Brandon Cottages – Hospitality business in Tinnahinch which has made environmental sustainability a key part of their product offering.
- Seed Golf – Designers of high performance, tour grade golf balls from their headquarters in Carlow town.
- VisionGreen Consultancy – based in Rathvilly with a mission to support their clients to put strategies and solutions in place to reduce their environmental impact and drive sustainable change.
According to Cllr. Fergal Browne, Cathaoirleach of Carlow County Council “Carlow's strong history of success at the National Enterprise Awards reflects the vibrant and thriving small business community in the county. Just last year our representatives Eskimo Software were the winners of the National Exporter Award and previously David Walsh, of Netwatch and Halocare, was the deserving winner of the first ever Outstanding Achievement Award. I'm excited to see who will be chosen to represent Carlow this year and am confident they will be a strong contender at the national competition.”
Séamus Doran, Assistant Head of Economic Development & Enterprise added “The National Enterprise Awards provide an invaluable platform for ambitious businesses to gain national recognition. All the shortlisted Carlow businesses are dynamic and impressive, and our eventual nominee will be an excellent representative for the county's enterprise sector.”