If you require assistance with the completion of the application form, please do not hesitate to contact us at cathy.mcpadden@dublincity.ie or kevin.geraghty@dublincity.ie.
Please answer all questions, otherwise the form will not allow you to submit it. The system will save your progress if you exit the application and be available for completion when you login again.
The closing date for applications is Thursday, 13th February 2025 at 4pm.
You must submit the following as part of your application:
- Business Plan,
- Most recent financial accounts,
- Sample of marketing material.
The Local Enterprise Offices (hereinafter referred to as LEO) are now launching the 2025 National Enterprise Awards.
The National Enterprise Awards is a national competition & Awards ceremony run by the former County & City Enterprise Boards since 1998, now the LEOs, and is open to any LEO client that has availed of Measure 1 / other grant aid supports. The competition is open to manufacturing & internationally traded services businesses in all sectors, structured at local or county level and culminates in a prestigious national final.
The aim of the National Enterprise Awards is to spotlight, showcase, encourage and support a culture of enterprise and entrepreneurship in our communities in Ireland, to promote entrepreneurship and to showcase, encourage and to celebrate the achievement of the core client portfolio in both the rural and urban areas of the LEOs.
To showcase the success of the clients who have availed of a variety of supports from the LEOs allows us to publicise the many services the LEOs have to offer, as well as the different types and diversity of clients and businesses that we encounter, as well as their personal and business success stories and challenges in building growing and developing their business.
These businesses are based in our cities, local towns, rural areas, and peripheral coastal areas and perhaps operating globally. They have availed of the services of the LEO to support their business, and perhaps both financial and soft supports to help them build grow and scale their business and now may be enjoying success and making strides in areas such as business growth, turnover, employment, new product development, export markets and innovation.
Who Can Apply?
The 2025 National Enterprise Awards Competition will be open to the following:
The applicants must be current measure 1 micro enterprise clients of the LEOs or transferred to Enterprise Ireland within the last 12 months (i.e. after 31st December, 2023).
Employing 10 Full time equivalent or less as at 31st December 2023.
Local Enterprise Dublin City client businesses that are involved in internationally traded services or manufacturing and have received Measure 1 Funding (Measure 1 funding is: Feasibility Grant / Priming Grant / Business Expansion Grant funding) and preferably one or more of the following:
· Measure 1 Financial Support (Essential)
· Mentoring / Training Supports
· TOV/TAME Support
· Completed a LEAN/Green/Digital for Business programme.
Competition Categories:
Export: This category recognised achievement of clients who have grown their customer base outside Ireland. The successful applicant will demonstrate their approach to growing their export business, research undertaken prior to entering market, market development strategies and execution with results. Successful businesses in this category will clearly demonstrate market entry strategy, success in export markets and sales achieved year on year.
Innovation: The Innovation category will showcase applicants who clearly demonstrate excellence in new product or service development and their ability to successfully offer new products and services to the market. Successful businesses in this category will clearly demonstrate an ability to respond quickly to changing market trends and/or short product life cycles and a structured approach to R&D and product/service development.
Start-Up Award: The start-up award will recognise the most promising new business receiving Measure 1 funding across the network. It is intended for businesses which began trading since 01 January 2022. This recognises businesses demonstrating great potential for growth and scalability in the immediate future. This growth can come from domestic or international sales and can be realised through new product or process innovation.
Digital: This award recognised businesses that have used digital technologies to give them a competitive advantage, as well as better customer communications, optimised Ecommerce, improve business processes, logistics & tracking, data analysis and assessment, training, HR, decision making, as well as reducing cost and demonstrating efficiencies/effectiveness using digital technologies. This business has optimised business resources and business performance through use of Digital Technology.
Green: This award is designed to recognise companies who have incorporated sustainable practices into the day-to-day running of their business, to improve resource efficiency and direct cost savings, getting better access to customers who are increasingly demanding more environmentally friendly products and services. Demonstrated better environmental performance leading to increased agility and resilience of the company to climate change impacts would also be a key contributor to this award category.
Outstanding Achievement: This award being presented is to acknowledge the outcomes delivered by all finalists of the awards for the last 23 years. This award demonstrates the strength and profile of the LEO client base in delivering jobs, sales, export sales, exports to more than 50 countries and continued employment growth to become Enterprise Ireland clients over the 23 years of the awards. It recognises the strength, local impacts and longevity of the businesses supported by the LEO network as finalists in the awards over the years.