Exporter of the Year Award Goes to Kent Stainless.

Kent Stainless, Wexford, won the Irish Exporters Association’s overall Exporter of the Year Award 2012 at a dinner at O’Reilly Hall at the UCD today (24/11/2012). Mr Richard Bruton, T.D., Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, was guest speaker at the ceremony and presented the awards. 

Kent Stainless was presented with the Exporter of the Year Award 2012 after winning in the Manufacturing Exporter of the Year Award category earlier in the evening. The Award in that category was presented in recognition of the company’s exceptional performance in securing and building new export markets. Kent Stainless then went on to win the Exporter of the Year Award 2012 for its impressive performance with its diversified range of stainless steel products aimed at niche market sectors and for its willingness to go to the ends of the earth, literally, to find out what customers want and then to manufacture and deliver the product exactly as the customer requested. The company currently exports to ten countries including such far-flung ones as Qatar and South Africa. The judging panel also paid tribute to the company’s ability to recover from the global downturn to more than double its turnover in the past three years.

Mr Colin Lawlor, President of the Irish Exporters Association, speaking at the Awards Ceremony said that Irish exporters, despite the current global economic uncertainty, are still managing to show credible growth. “At the Irish Exporters Association we believe that exports will continue to be the driving force that will bring Ireland out its economic doldrums,” said Mr Lawlor. . Mr Lawlor congratulated all the exporters who took part in the Export Industry Awards Programme for 2012 and said that he was certain that the exporting community are fully committed to ensure that Ireland’s economic recovery is export-led.

( L-R) Frank Ryan, Enterprise Ireland, Minister Richard Bruton, Colin Lawlor,IEA President, Ann O’Brien Managing Director Kent Stainless)

Sector Category Winners

The Irish Exporters Association’s Export Industry Awards are broken down into a number of key sector categories. The winners in each category then go forward for the Exporter of the Year Award. Following are the nominees and winners in each sector.

Emerging Exporter Award 2012. This award, sponsored by the County and City Enterprise Boards, recognises exceptional performance by small Irish businesses in developing export activity. The nominees for this category were: Powerpoint Engineering Ltd., Portlaoise; SIA Flexitanks Ltd., Carndonagh, Co. Donegal and Zatori Results Ltd., Portlaoise. The winner was SIA Flexitanks Ltd.

Multinational Exporter of the Year 2012. This award, sponsored by Aer Lingus Cargo, recognises the exceptional performance of multinational companies in contributing to Ireland’s impressive export performance. The nominees were: Diageo Europe, Dublin; GE Healthcare, Carrigtohill, Co. Cork and Wellman International, Mullagh, Kells, Co. Cavan.  The winner is Diageo Europe.

Life Sciences Exporter Award 2012. This award, sponsored by Kuehne and Nagel, recognises the importance of the Life Sciences sector which includes pharmaceutical, medical devices and allied areas such as biopharmaceuticals and diagnostics. The nominees were: Bausch and Lomb, Waterford; GE Healthcare, Carragtohill, Co. Cork and MSD Ireland, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary. The winner was Bausch and Lomb.

Services Export of the Year Award 2012.  This award, sponsored by Enterprise Ireland, recognises the efforts of Irish companies in securing and building new export markets in the international services sectors. The nominees were: Associated Marketing Ltd., Dublin; Carrig Solutions, Ashford, Co. Wicklow and Ticketsolve, Dublin. The winner was Associated Marketing.

Manufacturing Exporter Award 2012. This award, sponsored by Enterprise Ireland, is presented in recognition of the achievements of manufacturing companies in securing and building new export markets. The nominees are: Kent Stainless, Wexford; Killeen Manufacturing, Drogheda, Co. Louth; Glennon Brothers, Longford and Dromone Engineering Ltd., Oldcastle, Co. Meath. The winner was Kent Stainless which then went on to win the Exporter of the Year Award 2012.

Software Exporter Award 2012.  Sponsored by Enterprise Ireland this award recognises the achievements of software companies in securing and building new export markets. The Nominees were: Global Shares Ireland Ltd., Clonakilty, Co. Cork; The Now Factory, Dublin and TyreCheck, Ennis, Co. Clare.  The winner was The Now Factory.

Seafood Exporter of the Year 2012. Sponsored by Bord Biá this award recognises companies in the seafood sector that have made significant progress in securing and building export markets for Irish seafood. The nominees were: Burren Smokehouse Ltd., Lisdoonvarna, Co. Clare; Errigal Seafood, Meenaneary, Carrick, Co. Donegal and the Irish Seafood Producers Group, Connemara, Co. Galway.  The winner was Errigal Seafood.

Food and Drink Export Award 2012. Sponsored by Bord Biá this award recognises the important position of food and drink in the Irish economy.  The nominees were: Dawn Farm Foods, Naas, Co. Kildare; Mister Crumb, Mullingar, Co. Westmeath; Silver Hill Foods, Emyvale, Co. Monaghan and Western Brand Group Ltd., Ballyhaunis, Co. Mayo. The winner was Dawn Farm Foods.

Innovation Export Award 2012. This award, sponsored by KPMG, recognises companies that have made a significant innovative contribution to exporting resulting in a new technology, product or service, or a new use for an existing product.  The nominees were: Danone Baby Nutrition Ireland, Wexford and Macroom, Co. Cork; Ingredient Solutions Ltd., Mallow, Co. Cork and Megazyme International, Bray, Co. Wicklow.  The winner was Megazyme International.

Deep Sea Shipping Company of the Year Award. This award, sponsored by the Port of Cork Company, recognises the strategic role that deep sea shipping plays in Ireland’s economy. The nominees were: CMA-CGM Shipping Ireland Ltd., Dublin; Hapag-Lloyd, Dublin and MSC Ireland, Dublin. The winner was Hapag-Lloyd.

Short Sea Shipping Company of the Year Award. This award, sponsored by the Irish Maritime Development Office, recognises the strategically important role of short sea shipping to our island economy. The nominees were: Eucon Shipping and Transport Ltd., Dublin; Stena Line, Rosslare, Co. Wexford and Samskip Multimodal Container Logistics, Dublin. The winner was Stena Line.

Logistics Company of the Year Award. This award, sponsored by Dublin Port Company, recognises the importance of logistics and supply chain management companies to the exporting effort of firms trading internationally from Ireland. The nominees were: DB Schenker; DHL Global Forwarding Kuehne and Nagel Ireland Ltd. and Norbert Dentressangle Overseas Ireland Ltd. – all based in Dublin. The winner was DB Schenker.

Sustainable Exporter of the Year 2012. This is a new category to the Export Industry Awards and it was open to all companies – services companies as well as manufacturing companies, shipping companies, legal and software companies. The objective of this award is to identify and highlight companies which have excelled in re-shaping their companies into sustainable role models for others starting on the road to sustainable production and services. Rosslare Europort was the sponsor of this award. The nominees were: Danone Baby Nutrition Ireland, Wexford and Macroom; International Warehousing and Transport, Dublin; The Irish Dairy Board, Dublin and Wellman International, Mullagh, Kells, Co. Cavan. The winner was Wellman International.

Sponsorship

The Irish Exporters Association gratefully acknowledges the sponsorship of Aer Lingus Cargo, Bord Biá, County and City Enterprise Boards, Dublin Port Company, Enterprise Ireland, the Irish Maritime Development Office, KPMG, Kuehne & Nagel, the Port of Cork Company and Rosslare Europort.