Business & Finance Awards 2019: Sean Sheehan, CEO of Wisetek, reflects on the company winning the coveted Elevation Award

Pictured: Sean Sheehan, CEO, Wisetek

Wisetek, a global provider of end-to-end IT asset disposition services, were the recipients of the Elevation Award at the Business & Finance Awards 2019. This award recognises Irish companies that are fast-growing and with significant potential to continue to scale globally. Sean Sheehan, CEO of Wisetek, reflects on the company’s win.

On Thursday December 12, 2019, the 45^th annual Business & Finance Awards took place in The Convention Centre, Dublin.

Among the honourees on the night was Wisetek, a global provider of end-to-end IT asset disposition services, operating from bases in Ireland (Cork and Dublin), USA (Massachusetts and Texas) and Thailand (Laem Chabang).

The company won the Elevation Award, which was launched in 2018 in partnership with Enterprise Ireland. This award recognises Irish companies that are fast-growing and with significant potential to continue to scale globally, focused on Irish companies achieving up to €350m in revenue. The Award complements the well-established Company of the Year Award which recognises Irish companies above this revenue threshold.

Sean Sheehan, Chief Executive of Wisetek, accepted the award on behalf of the company. Speaking to Business & Finance over a month later, he says that he and the team at Wisetek were delighted to be nominated: “There was a lot of great companies nominated so we were pleasantly surprised but delighted for the team to win such a prestigious award. The award also gives Wisetek a lot of credibility.”

Galway-based business Portwest, who specialise in flame-resilient and high-visibility workwear and PPE, were the first recipients of the Elevation Award in 2018. Much like Wisetek, they are a global operation with bases in Ireland, the UK, Poland, Dubai, Australia and the USA. The two companies are fast-growing and global, and have now been recognised as such.

“It is always great to be recognised,” Sean says. “It increases the morale of the Wisetek team and also builds confidence in our growth, business plan and strategies. The exposure of winning the Elevation award has helped us succeed further in the marketplace.”

He continues: “We have seen a lot of growth in Wisetek. The team have put a lot of effort and time into achieving this growth. The work ethic and ‘can do attitude’ is second to none.”

How do Wisetek plan to capitalise on their win and continue down the path of being a fast-growing, global company?

Sean says the answer lies in being data-conscious, and cognizant of the environment: “Wisetek continues to grow mainly in the USA. I.T. asset disposal continues to increase and is getting more scrutiny particularly around Data Sanitisation.

“Wisetek will continue to develop our innovation and growth strategies. There is a lot of opportunity in the marketplace. Wisetek continue to embrace the circular economy and ways of contributing to help our environment.”

In order to achieve the growth that Wisetek has enjoyed, Sean says that companies should have a good business plan in place and implement future-building strategies.

“Do the homework on countries that you are entering, watch the cashflows as it takes a lot of time and setup costs to develop in a new region/country. Build a good team and the sky is the limit!”

The Business and Finance Awards 2019 were sponsored by KPMG Ireland. Our corporate partners for the event were Enterprise Ireland, HSBC, Ibec, IDA Ireland, Jaguar, and Brightwater Executive.