The finalists in the SFA National Small Business Awards 2019 have been officially announced by Sue O’Neill, SFA Chair and Chair of the SFA Awards Judging Panel. The aim of the awards is to celebrate the achievements of small business in Ireland, and to recognise the vital contribution of the small business sector to Irish industry.
“The response to the awards programme serves as a reminder that Irish small companies are resilient, putting their best foot forward and seeking recognition for their efforts” commented Sue O’Neill. “As well as our seven award categories we also feature five of the best Emerging New Businesses (less than two years established) and I must say that given the quality of the businesses represented this year, entrepreneurship is alive and well in Ireland.”

“The SFA National Small Business Awards are now entering their fifteenth year and are a celebration of the achievements of the 245,000 small firms in Ireland, who collectively employ 700,000 people, half the private sector workforce. The Awards aim to promote excellence, achievement and innovation amongst small businesses in all sectors and parts of the country. The companies that have been announced as finalists this year represent all that is good about small business” said O’Neill.

An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, TD, who is Patron of the Awards, stated that: “The SME sector is crucial to the success of the Irish economy making a huge contribution to jobs and economic growth. Each of these jobs is the result of enterprising and determined people who have turned ideas into businesses, creating employment and injecting life into our cities, towns and villages. These owner managers and their employees work incredibly hard and make an important contribution to their local communities and our economy. The SFA National Small Business Awards are a great way to showcase the many success stories. They provide a fantastic opportunity to recognise and celebrate the achievements of small firms across the different sectors.”
Andrew Flood (CEO, Prodigy Learning) said: “We are delighted to be selected as a finalist for Exporter of the Year in the SFA National Small Business Awards. Having recently been crowned Microsoft Partner of the Year at the Certiport Global Partner Summit and delivering our first programmes in Australia, being recognised at home in Ireland as a success story makes us very proud. Congratulations to the Prodigy Learning team on this achievement.  Most importantly, we’d like to thank our customers who are driving this success.”
38 companies have been selected as finalists, from 14 different counties, across 8 categories. Prodigy Learning has made the shortlist of 6 finalists in the Exporter of the Year category.