Best foot forward

UNDER THE RADAR:

TO GET to the finals of one national business competition in your first full year of operations is a notable achievement. To get to the finals of two would suggest you must be doing something right, writes

Ciarán Brennan.

Established in April 2006 by podiatrist Ann Marie Horgan and Catríona Kelly, Kerry Footwear & Orthotics Specialists last year earned a top award for young entrepreneurs in the southern region and went on to compete for the prestigious All-Ireland Shell Livewire Young Entrepreneur of the Year title.

The company also made it to the finals of the tenth annual National Enterprise Awards, organised by the 35 county and city enterprise boards around the country.

While it may have missed out on the top spot on both occasions, last year has nonetheless been a successful and busy year for the company.

"It was a big boost for us," says Kelly, referring to the two finals.

Kerry Footwear & Orthotics is a unique facility integrating a podiatry clinic - a specialist foot and ankle clinic - together with a comprehensive footwear store.

"It was down to Ann Marie," says Kelly very modestly. "She can take full credit for it. She grew up having foot problems herself and as a result she went off and trained as a podiatrist. From there on, she set up her own private practice.

"People were coming in with foot problems caused by footwear, she was giving people orthopaedic insoles and they couldn't get the footwear to match and, as a result, we said why not set up a shoe shop in the area of comfort and wellness."

While Horgan looks after the medical end of the business, Kelly, who has an honours degree in accounting, business and computing, runs the business side.

"We have been friends for years," explains Kelly, who teamed up with Horgan to set up the business in 2006. "I came in on the business side of things. I had just finished my masters in the Institute of Technology in Tralee. I couldn't get a permanent job. I was lecturing part-time for a while there and I said why not go for it."

With their own resources and a grant from the Kerry Enterprise Board, they set up the business, combining the clinics and the retail offering.

"They bounce off each other without a doubt," says Kelly.

"If people come into the shop, we can refer them on to the podiatry clinic and if they are in the podiatry clinic and they need a pair of shoes, we can send them to the shop. It works both ways."

The flagship store in Tralee carries an extensive selection of shoes including orthopaedic, sensitive feet range, athletic, dress, casual walking and work shoes as well as off-the-shelf specialist orthotics. Advanced technology, like the I-Step digital mapping and measuring system, which measures foot length, width, arch type and pressure points, enables staff to identify the ideal footwear and orthotics for customers.

The company, which employs 11 people including the two founders, also has two clinics in Killarney and Tralee where podiatrists perform minor surgical procedures, prescribe orthopaedic footwear, provide biomechanical and diabetic assessments, podopaediatrics (children and lower limb) and treat sports injuries.

A lot of business comes from people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes - and Horgan is researching and developing a diabetic foot programme.

They have also developed a corporate employee gaitscan programme, which involves assessing foot care for health and safety departments as well as providing safety foot wear.

"We work with the likes of Kerry Group, providing them with work boots and also educating the staff," says Kelly. "We're trying to expand that whole area."

But perhaps the most exciting development the company is pursuing is in the area of gait analysis in the lower limb. Gait analysis involves computerised 3-D reconstruction of how a person walks by tracking information from electronic sensors placed on a person's body.

The data provided enables doctors to better diagnose medical conditions that result in walking difficulties.

The firm has received feasibility funding from Enterprise Ireland to examine the possibility of setting up centres of excellence in the UK and Ireland.

"We are trying to use technology, gait analysis and pressure scanning to complement our existing business," says Kelly.

"Because we have so many different areas people think we're doing a lot of different things but they are all interconnected."

ON THE RECORD

Name:Catríona Kelly.

Age:29.

From:Tralee, Co Kerry.

Education and background:BBS in accounting, MBs (research).

Inspired by:Ann Marie. She has taught me everything that there is to know about the lower limb - and her driving ambition to bring podiatry to the forefront within the health industry.

Admire: Iadmire myself for putting up with Annie - she is a hard taskmaster!

Favourite book:Anything by Maeve Binchy, Deirdre Purcell, etc.

TV programme:The Apprentice.

Film:Beaches."Because we have so many different areas, people think we're doing different things, but they are all interconnected . . . they bounce off each other