Deadline: 16-Mar-21
The EY is inviting applicants for its Entrepreneur of The Year™ programme that passionately believes in promoting entrepreneurship across the island of Ireland and empowering entrepreneurs to grow their businesses in Ireland, Northern Ireland and around the world.
The programme is a world-class development programme that supports, advises and connects a community of entrepreneurs, championing entrepreneurship throughout the island of Ireland.
The theme for our 2021 programme is ‘The Unstoppables’ and entrepreneurs are the true definition of Unstoppable in their pursuit to make Ireland a better place to live and work for all our island’s people. These entrepreneurs find solutions to the most challenging of problems facing societies, businesses and individuals, and build world class businesses around those solutions. An entrepreneur’s determination and ability to overcome all obstacles and take brave risks to achieve their goals is what makes them truly Unstoppable.
Programme Categories
The categories in EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ programme apply to a wide range of businesses across all sectors on the island of Ireland.
- Emerging
- Nominees in the Emerging category run businesses that have been trading for a minimum of two years. They are ambitious entrepreneurs who have started a business which is growing quickly. They are high potential, dynamic, resourceful and ‘ones-to-watch’ for the future.
- Industry
- These entrepreneurs are significant employers on the island of Ireland and are mainly focused on the Irish and UK markets. They are market leaders in their sectors and have made a significant contribution to the economy over a considerable period of time.
- International
- The International category consists of entrepreneurs who are global players. Their companies operate in multiple markets across the globe and can be headquartered here in Ireland or overseas.
Initiatives
By becoming a finalist, applicants’ prize includes but is not limited to:
- Peer mentoring and network.
- Media profiling across national and local newspaper and broadcast media.
- Finalist specific digital content creation and profiling to a global audience.
- An invitation to join our CEO Retreat.
- Bespoke EY Enterprise Evolution Sessions with EY Partners.
- In-depth profiling on websites and on social media platforms.
- Business development opportunities with our programme sponsor.
- A table of ten at EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Gala Awards Dinner 2021 (COVID-19 restrictions dependent).
Eligibility Criteria
- The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ is an all-island programme.
- Nominees must own a minimum of 5% of the company (publicly listed companies will be assessed on a case-by-case basis).
- Nominees must be primarily responsible for the recent performance of the company.
- Nominees must either be Irish or running a company based on the island of Ireland.
- Turnover in excess of €1 million or £1 million.
- The nominee’s company must be trading for a minimum of two years (companies with a long R&D process pre-commencement of trading, early-stage life sciences and technology companies and companies that have received significant investment are dealt with on a case-by-case basis).
- If nominees have previously applied and not been shortlisted to the final 24, the judging panel welcomes and encourages them to apply multiple times. Some of the previous finalists and even winners have successfully been invited into the programme after multiple applications.
- Who can nominate?
- Anyone, including employees, company advisors and financiers, can nominate a successful entrepreneur, with the entrepreneur’s consent.
- Many of the nominations come from the entrepreneurs themselves.
For more information, visit https://www.ey.com/en_ie/entrepreneur-of-the-year