Dear Member, 

The 2018 SFA National Small Business Awards took place in the RDS on Thursday 22 February.  What a great night was had by all!  We had 36 finalist companies attend the event with colleagues, friends and families, to celebrate the achievements of small business in Ireland.  

Thank you to Minister Heather Humphries for her opening remarks, stating, “Ireland has a strong history of entrepreneurship and, without a doubt, this year’s nominees personify the strength of resilience and character that makes up our small business sector. Given their level of enthusiasm and determination, I have no doubt that each of these businesses have a very bright future ahead of them."  

We were also delighted to have the ever hilarious Colm O'Regan as host for the proceedings and to bring roars of laughter to the room with his witty commentary. Sue O'Neill, Chair of SFA was there to present to overall award to Briody Bedding.  In her address to the room, upon presenting the overall winner award, Sue stated that "this family business established in 1974 is going from strength to strength. Briody Bedding is one of the largest employers in Ballinrink, Co Meath and the company is not only manufacturing there, it is carrying out extensive R&D to develop innovative products to help the company penetrate new export markets.”

Please read through the below articles to see our other category winners and to read about their journey to success and make sure to check out our awards website for more details on the companies, www.sfa.ie/awards, you will also find the press releases from night.  Additional pictures can be found on our twitter page @SFA_Irl.

The Awards gala evening and the entire judging process would not be possible without the generosity our sponsors.   I would like to take the opportunity to thank them all for their support and the all the work that they do to promote the achievements of small business in Ireland. I would also like to extend a huge thank you to the group of judges who make this award show possible. 

If you would be interested in registering for our 2019 Awards programme please send your details to awards@sfa.ie and we will contact you when the programme opens later on in the year. 

Kind regards, 

Sven Spollen-Behrens

SFA Director