Limerick firm in the running as 20 years of winners to be celebrated at National Enterprise Awards

  • NEA Awards Limerick
Pictured ahead of the 2018 National Enterprise Awards are finalists Elaine and Bernard Berkery from Eastway Remote Monitoring Ltd, who are representing Local Enterprise Office Limerick on May 24th in Dublin’s Mansion House. (Pic: Martina Regan)

Twenty Years of Winners are being celebrated by the Local Enterprise Offices, including Local Enterprise Office Limerick at the National Enterprise Awards, which take place every year to highlight the successes of small businesses around the country.

The 2018 National Enterprise Awards are on in the Mansion House in Dublin on Thursday, 24 May.

Eastway Remote Monitoring Ltd which was set up in October 2015, and run by Bernard Berkery and his daughter Elaine and son Kevin, and employing four people are Limerick’s representatives for the final.

The business supplies an online machine monitoring system, the Eastway Safeguard, primarily to the manufacturing industry. This includes the design, contract manufacture, assemble and sale of the product, as well as an on-going technical support service.

The system uses sensors and a small module installed locally on a client’s machine to autonomously collect, monitor and detect very early machine failure indicators.

In all, 31 finalists, one from every local authority area, will be competing for a share of the €40,000 prize fund.

According to a survey from the Local Enterprise Offices, released this week, previous winners of the National Enterprise Awards now employ 832 people and generate over €131 million in turnover, €58 million of which is generated from exports to 52 countries. Since winning, 11 of the companies have scaled-up their businesses to become Enterprise Ireland clients.

Previous national winners, such as Limerick based Company Design Pro who won in 2013, will all be recognised at this year’s ceremony.

The Minister for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection, Pat Breen, will be presenting the awards on the night.

He said: “It is important to celebrate the wonderful success stories within Ireland’s small businesses and micro-enterprise sector. The annual National Enterprise Awards reflect the Government’s support for, and commitment to, all areas of innovation and enterprise development within the Local Enterprise Office network. As we celebrate 20 years of winners in 2018, we hope that the achievements of previous winners will serve to inspire and encourage today’s start-ups to follow in their footsteps and to look internationally for growth opportunities.”

Eamon Ryan, Head of Enterprise with Local Enterprise Office Limerick said: “The National Enterprise Awards are our chance to celebrate finalists’ economic impact on their local communities, the jobs they have created, and the overall growth of their businesses. Combined, the previous winners now employ 832 people all over the country, have a turnover of over €131 million per annum and have €58 million in exports to 52 countries. These achievements deserve to be celebrated on a national scale and we know they will inspire other local companies here in Limerick too.”

“LEO Limerick wishes Eastway the very best of luck in the final.”

Funding for the Local Enterprise Offices is provided by the Government of Ireland through Enterprise Ireland, and further details about the supports on offer to small businesses are available here

*Survey: Source Local Enterprise Offices (March/April 2018)

Figures compiled by the Local Enterprise Offices in March-April 2018 show that previous winners of the National Enterprise Awards:

  • Now employ 832 people in total
  • Generate €131,314,281 in annual turnover
  • Export sales are worth €58,353,000 to 52 countries
  • 11 former winners have scaled up to become Enterprise Ireland clients
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