Nominee: John O'Neill Heatons

Heatons Ltd was founded in 1946 by Hubert Heaton, in Athlone, Co Westmeath. The retail business was a spin-off from a woollen mill company that the Heaton family owned which processed wool and also wholesaled fabrics.

The company was family run until John O'Neill joined in 1986 at which time they had 11 stores and 150 employees. Today Heatons has 58 stores throughout the island of Ireland and employs over 1,500 staff, a number which is expected to increase to 2,000 by 2008. The sole business is retailing with a product offering of home and gifts, children's clothes and men's and women's fashions. They are, however, currently testing their new website for online retailing and plan by September 2007 to have 3,000 live products for sale. As the third largest Irish-owned retail non-food business, Heatons has doubled its turnover in the last three years and plans to achieve this again at end of 2009. They have secured the franchise for the island of Ireland for the UK's largest sports chain, and aim to open 40 of these stores within the next three years. Heatons' expansion plans also include the Polish and Slovakian markets in the next two years.

Product/Service

Heatons carry a full range of ladies, men's and children's clothing and footwear. They also have a home textiles department, which carries a large range of soft furnishings, bedding and bathroom products which complements their homewares department selling pottery, glassware, kitchen and home products. In the last three years, they have introduced a home entertainment department with music and DVDs, and recently offer a select range of furniture in their stores.

Customers

Heatons' low prices attract a wide range of customers, with young couples buying or renting their first home representing their biggest growth customer sector.

Describe your progression to your current status.

Starting in retail with a part-time Saturday job while at school, I have been a manager, regional manager, buyer and chief executive. I have worked in Penneys, Dunnes Stores and Tesco, and the retail experience I gained with these retailers helped to bring multi-retailing skills to Heatons.

What motivates you to succeed?

Watching a small business grow and seeing the people in our team growing with it, certainly makes you want to try harder. And, maybe we secretly keep a close eye on other retail business in the marketplace!

What is your biggest business achievement?

Persuading manufacturers worldwide to supply a small Irish company when our initial buying quantities were not worth their while manufacturing, and getting them to believe in our vision.

Has your Irishness contributed to your success?

Yes, as a local-based business we feel we understand our customer, and we also would try to have an involvement with local communities. Also when we look at a dot on the map we would probably still know most of the people on the team in that location. I don't think other retailers who have overseas bases can have that understanding of these communities and the people who live in them.

Express the biggest challenges you see your industry facing?

Rising fuel costs, and Ireland's dependence on outside fuel sources, while not developing our own fast enough.

Also, poor decisions on employment issues made by successive governments, without having any thought about the future competitiveness of this country.