Five leading Irish companies have been shortlisted for the Local Business of the Year award, which is run in association with Bank of Ireland and is part of The Irish Times Business Awards.
Galway-based food group Loughnane’s of Galway, retailer Furey Smyth Group, hotel group Address Collective, construction company Castle Group, and Meath-based Hanley Energy will be in contention for the award.
Loughnane’s is a second-generation, family-run business founded in 1975 as a small butcher shop in Galway. It is one of Ireland’s largest sausage and pudding producers, offering a range of sausages and puddings chilled or frozen in raw or pre-cooked formats.
It supplies premium meat and plant-based products to leading retail multiples and food-service sectors in Ireland and Britain. The company posted turnover of €71 million in 2024; its key export markets include the UK, Spain and Portugal.
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Furey Smyth Group is a family-owned retailer with Eurospar supermarkets in Dublin, Clare, Kilkenny, Kildare, and Westmeath. It was established more than 30 years ago by John Furey and Maurice Smyth, and employs 350 staff.
The company has invested €2 million in green energy projects and is poised to expand this year by acquiring a Eurospar in Kill, Co Kildare.
The Address Collective is a family-owned Irish hotel brand. It employs 300-plus staff, with the brand introduced in 2020 following a €16 million investment to rebrand and upgrade three existing hotels into a luxury concept.
Today, the group operates five four-star hotels in Dublin, Cork, Sligo, and Glasgow, with a new 79-room flagship hotel under development on Capel Street in Dublin at a cost of €34 million.
Founded by Seamus Brady in 1999 in Galway, Castle Group is a leading Irish construction company specialising in interior fit-outs, modular construction and facilities management.
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Employing 350 staff, it has delivered projects for leading brands such as Center Parcs Longford, Boston Scientific, Google, Microsoft, Holiday Inn, Intel and MSD.
More recently, it has pivoted its business model to embrace modular construction for housing. It has consolidated revenues of more than €50 million a year.
Hanley Energy was founded in 2009 by Dennis Nordon and Clive Gilmore. Headquartered in Stamullen, with additional offices in the US, Germany, Sweden and Australia, the company designs, builds and commissions turnkey solutions for large data centres and other big facilities.
It has 850 employees globally and was recently acquired by US manufacturing giant Jabil in a deal valued at $725 million (€621 million).
The Local Business award is part of The Irish Times Business Awards, which is in its eighth year. The award recognises the significant contributions of local businesses to the Irish economy.
Those shortlisted were identified for the award by Bank of Ireland relationship managers. The winner will be chosen by an independent panel of judges, chaired by Microsoft executive Anne Sheehan.
The Irish Times Business Awards will take place on February 19th in the Round Room at the Mansion House in Dublin 2.
