West Cork business Loughbeg Farm – which recently made a successful pitch on TV show Dragon’s Den – has now also won the regional finals of the Irish Local Development Network (ILDN) Enterprise Awards for the South Region.
WEST Cork business Loughbeg Farm – which recently made a successful pitch on TV show Dragon’s Den – has now also won the regional finals of the Irish Local Development Network (ILDN) Enterprise Awards for the South Region.
With stiff competition from entrepreneurs in Waterford, Cork and Kerry, it was among finalists chosen, based on their commercial and operational success to date.
The winning businesses were nominated by their local development companies and many were supported directly by the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance Scheme also.
Loughbeg Farm joined fellow regional winners Integreat and K&T Bakery.
Nominated by the West Cork Development Partnership (WCDP), Loughbeg Farm won the IDLN South Enterprise Award for their successful gluten free bakery business based in West Cork.
Walter Ryan-Purcell received investment from two Dragons, including Alison Cowzer and retail expert Eamon Quinn, when he appeared on the popular TV show recenlty.
Loughbeg Farm bread and bracks are now sold in more than 100 SuperValu stores around Ireland, and the company continues to grow.
Skibbereen-based Matthew Brownie’s Scratch My Pork product – pork scratchings ¬ – was shortlisted for the regional finals.
Hosted at the Ambassador Hotel, the entrepreneurs and their companies were judged by Veronica Murphy Discovery Partnership, Paul Healy of the CIT Rubicon Centre and Seamus Hayes of Fitzwilliam Consulting. The regional winners now go forward to the National ILDN Awards on September 15th.
