By Business & Finance Patrick Joy, the founder and chairman of Suretank Group, was named as EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2013 at the televised awards ceremony held in Dublin last night.
Over 1,400 business leaders from across the island of Ireland and around the world were in attendance to celebrate the achievements of the 24 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year finalists.
Headquartered in Dunleer Co. Louth, Suretank Group is the world’s largest manufacturer of cargo carrying units for the offshore oil and gas industry. Holding a 62% global market share, Suretank is also the leader in the transport tank industry, currently employing 600 people with revenues of over €68mn.
“I am absolutely flabberghasted,” said Patrick Joy of his unexpected win. Thanking his 900 employees for building the business to where it is today, Joy made a touching tribute to his family, attributing his success to their support.
“As entrepreneurs we have to realise that we can’t do it without family and, in particular, I’d like to thank my wife, who has always encouraged me to pursue my career while she looked after the family – this award is as much yours as it is mine.”
Joy was among 24 finalists from across the island of Ireland that made it to the competitive final stages of the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year programme and will now go forward to represent Ireland at the World Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards in Monte Carlo where he will compete with over 50 leading entrepreneurs from across the globe.
“An integral part of the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year programme is to encourage our entrepreneurs to think global and become global,” said Frank O’Keeffe, partner-in-vharge of EY Entrepreneur Of The Year.
“Suretank Group has scaled to become a market leader in the fiercely competitive offshore oil industry and has achieved this from their headquarters in Co. Louth, Ireland. Patrick’s big thinking and uncanny ability to compete and dominate in the global arena should serve as an inspiration to us all.”
In addition to being selected as the overall winner of EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2013, Patrick Joy was also named as the International EY Entrepreneur Of The Year. Brian Hogan of KSG, the commercial catering, restaurant and hospitality service provider, scooped the award for Industry EY Entrepreneur Of The Year while Kieran Fitzpatrick and Maurice Curran of Barracuda FX, the Foreign Exchange trading and risk management software solutions provider, were named as winners of the Emerging EY Entrepreneur Of The Year.
The winners were selected by an independent panel of judges chaired by Padraig Ó Céidigh. The judging panel included previous EY Entrepreneur Of The Year winners Denis O’Brien, Anne Heraty, Michael Carey, Liam Casey, Jerry Kennelly, Liam Shanahan, Brian Long and Pat McDonagh as well as representatives from Enterprise Ireland, InterTradeIreland and Invest Northern Ireland.
“It is the private sector that is creating jobs and willing to take risks and so economic recovery is likely to be business-led,” said Margaret Hearty, director of Programmes and Business Services at InterTradeIreland. “As sponsors of EY Entrepreneur Of The Year, entrepreneurial spirit and innovation are at the heart of InterTradeIreland’s vision and I would like to congratulate all of the winners for their contribution towards future economic recovery.”
Congratulating the winners, Jeremy Fitch of Invest Northern Ireland said: “Invest Northern Ireland’s role is to encourage a greater spirit of entrepreneurship and higher levels of innovation, increased exports and wealth generation. The quality of this year’s EY Entrepreneur Of The Year finalists has been exceptionally high and Invest Northern Ireland congratulates all of them.”
Each year, EY Entrepreneur Of The Year presents the Special Award to an individual who has made a profound contribution to the island of Ireland through their entrepreneurial vision, innovation and commitment to excellence. This year, the prestigious accolade was awarded to Denis Brosnan, founder and former chairman of Kerry Group.
Presenting Brosnan with the Special Award last night, partner-in-charge of EY Entrepreneur Of The Year, Frank O’Keeffe, said: “The business founded by tonight’s recipient can boast manufacturing operations in 25 countries – with international sales offices in a further 20 countries. It employs 24,000 people. It sells in excess of 15,000 products in over 140 countries and last year, its global sales approached 6 billion euro. But what’s most impressive – in the face of these stunning numbers – is that this entrepreneur has always known that community counts above all.”
