Better Business Q1 2016

Page 7

News  Updates

SPOTLIGHT SFA WINNERS: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

BIG NEWS FOR SMALL BUSINESS

It was all glitz, glam and gongs at the 12th SFA National Small Business Awards on March 3rd and we have a roundup for readers on page 38. Winning the overall award at the annual event has helped many companies go from strength to strength. Here’s a glance at what some of the previous winners are at now:

NewsWhip Co-founders Andrew Mullaney and Paul Quigley

CLEVAMAMA Exporting 80 per cent of product KEOHANE’S OF BANTRY €18 million turnover MEGAZYME INTERNATIONAL Turnover increased by 38 per cent since 2013

BMS IRELAND R&D collaboration with the University of Limerick GLENISK Using 90 per cent of the organic milk produced on the island of Ireland CONNEMARA SEAFOODS Over 60 years’ experience in the seafood industry THE JELLY BEAN FACTORY Making 14 million jelly beans per day FIRST IRELAND SPIRITS Acquired in a multimillion euro deal MR. CRUMB 20 per cent market growth per annum

TECHNOLOGY

EUROFLEX Producing innovative packaging through major R&D investment

More Jobs and New Home for NewsWhip

NewsWhip, the Irish tech start-up company launched in 2012, has announced a move to new Dublin headquarters along with a 100 per cent expansion of its workforce. NewsWhip has relocated to Dublin’s prestigious Merrion Square, where a four-story 200-year old Georgian building will facilitate the expansion of the company’s workforce from 25 jobs in January to 50 jobs before June 2016. NewsWhip has built a global reputation for its technological platform, Spike, which monitors digital media and identifies important events and stories based on how many new interactions they get in real time. Along with its Dublin headquarters, the company also employs 12 people in its New York office. Further job announcements are expected later this year.

IRISH BUSINESSES BEING HELD TO RANSOM New research from IT solutions provider Data Solutions has found that 20 per cent of Irish businesses have fallen victim to ransomware attacks, a serious form of cybercrime that sees hackers hold a company’s sensitive and critical data for ransom. Despite the serious nature of such an attack, 93 per cent of respondents stated that they would never pay a ransom to hackers. The survey was carried out among 137 senior IT decision makers in Irish businesses during February and March 2016.

Michael O’Hara, Managing Director, Data Solutions, and David Keating, Security Sales Manager, Data Solutions

SFA | BETTER BUSINESS 5

SFA 2016_News.indd 5

12/04/2016 17:12


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.