29th November 2021 - The finalists in the SFA National Small Business Awards 2022 have been officially announced by Sue O’Neill, Chair of the SFA Awards Judging Panel. The aim of the awards is to celebrate the achievements of small business in Ireland, and to recognise the vital contribution of the small business sector to Irish industry.
“The response to the awards programme serves as a reminder that Irish small companies are resilient, putting their best foot forward and seeking recognition for their efforts” commented Sue O’Neill. “As well as our nine award categories, we also feature five of the best Emerging New Businesses (less than two years established) and, given the quality of the businesses represented this year, entrepreneurship is alive and well in Ireland”.
“The SFA National Small Business Awards are now entering their 18th consecutive year and are a celebration of small business owners who in the past five years created over 75,000 jobs. The 270,000 small firms in Ireland employ half of the private sector workforce and these awards aim to promote excellence, achievement and innovation amongst these companies in all sectors and parts of the country. The companies that have been announced as finalists this year represent all that is good about small business” said O’Neill.
An Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD, who is Patron of the Awards, said: “The SFA National Small Business Awards acknowledge and recognise the innovation, resilience, and talent demonstrated by these companies, and their importance to the future of the Irish economy.
This is especially important as we re-open society and rebuild as we emerge from the pandemic. We need the agility, flexibility and adaptability of small business more than ever now”.
47 companies have been selected as finalists, from 12 different counties, across ten categories.
MANUFACTURING CATEGORY FINALISTS (up to 50 employees), sponsored by permanent tsb:
AFT Distribution, Dublin 15 Bevcraft Group, Mullingar, Co Westmeath
Blanco Nino, Clonmel, Co Tipperary
Clover Hill Food Ingredients, Clonmel, Co Tipperary
Thorn Environmental, Dublin 15
FOOD & DRINK CATEGORY FINALISTS (up to 50 employees), sponsored by Bord Bia:
Achill Island Sea Salt, Achill, Co Mayo
Goodness Grains Gluten Free Bakery, Co Longford
Kinnegar Brewery, Letterkenny, Co Donegal
Oishii Foods, Dublin 7
VITHIT Drinks, Dublin 2
Woodfire & Wings, Dublin 22
SERVICES CATEGORY FINALISTS (up to 50 employees), sponsored by Sage:
CALX Instrumentation Services, Kells, Co Meath
Campion Pumps, Thurles, Co Tipperary
Carlingford Adventure Centre, Co Louth
Commsec Communications and Security, Dublin 15
OSENG, Claremorris, Co Mayo
Phonovation, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin
OUTSTANDING SMALL BUSINESS FINALISTS (up to five employees), sponsored by Cisco:
Ballykilcavan Brewing Company, Co Laois
Blackthorn Hill Stud, Dublin 24
One Agency Recruitment, Dublin 15
Velvet Cloud, Claremorris, Co Mayo
Equine MediRecord, Curragh, Co Kildare
Miena’s Handmade Nougat, Co Wicklow
INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR FINALISTS (up to 50 employees), sponsored by NSAI:
Aalto Bio Reagents, Dublin 14
Campion Pumps, Thurles, Co Tipperary
Ecovolt, Dublin 11
Phonovation, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin
VivaGreen, Co Dublin
One Agency Recruitment, Dublin 15
RETAIL FINALISTS – NEW CATEGORY FOR 2022 - (up to 50 employees), sponsored by One4all:
Giftsdirect.com/TheIrishstore.com, Dublin 2
Air Impact, Thurles, Co Tipperary
Fishers of Newtownmountkennedy, Co. Wicklow
Monica Tolan, the Skin Experts, Balbriggan, Co Dublin
Reflect Auto-Care, Dublin 11,
Verve Boutique, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal
SUSTAINABILITY FINALISTS (up to 50 employees), sponsored by Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland:
Bread 41, Dublin 2
Chocolaty Clare, Dublin 16
ROCTEL, Dublin 1
Ballykilcavan Brewing Company, Co Laois
Tiller & Grain, Dublin 2
Packaging Laundry, Bray, Co Wicklow
EXPORTER OF THE YEAR FINALISTS (up to 50 employees), sponsored by Enterprise Ireland:
Aalto Bio Reagents, Dublin 14
ABSA Meats, Shannon, Co Clare
Blanco Nino, Clonmel, Co Tipperary
Giftsdirect.com/The Irish Store, Dublin 2
Goodness Grains Gluten Free Bakery, Co Longford
WORKPLACE WELLBEING (up to 50 employees), sponsored by DeCare Dental:
Fishers of Newtownmountkennedy, Co Wicklow
ZOMA, Readypenny, Co Louth
Clear Strategy, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin
Duke McCaffrey Consulting, Dublin 2
Zinon IT Solutions, Naas, Co Kildare
EMERGING NEW BUSINESSES (up to 50 employees and under 2 years in business),sponsored by .IE:
Coopman Search and Selection, Dublin 1
Craft Cocktails, Dublin 7
Lakelands Kayaks, Mullingar, Co Westmeath
Lurgan Foods, Athlone, Co. Westmeath
Sea Green Health, Malahide, Co Dublin
The Awards prize package for ALL finalists includes participation in the SFA Business Connect event next March, a strategic management masterclass weekend during February, as well as broad-ranging national and local media coverage, all valued at €50,000. Finalists also receive five complimentary tickets to the gala prize giving ceremony which will take place in the RDS on April 2022 when the category winners and overall winner will be announced.
The category winners will be presented with a trophy and free membership of the Small Firms Association for one year. The overall winner will also receive a bursary of €5,000 to present to a charity of their choice (donated by the 2019 Overall Winner, Kore Insulation).