Business

The Irish Times Business Person of the Month: Brian O’Sullivan

Founder of Zeus Packaging was named in November as EY Entrepreneur of the Year

Fri Dec 17 2021 - 06:00

Brian O’Sullivan, the founder and chief executive of Zeus Packaging, has been chosen as The Irish Times Business Person of the Month for November, an award run in association with Bank of Ireland.

Mr O’Sullivan was chosen during the month as the EY Entrepreneur of the Year. He also won the international category in the annual awards, which have been running since 1998.

Zeus is one of the largest privately-owned packaging companies in Europe. It employs more than 670 people, has business units in 26 countries and annual revenues of more than €300 million.

Significant growth

Mr O’Sullivan initially funded Zeus by selling houses he had invested in during his studies and using all of his personal savings. Since then, he has led the company through significant growth, both organically and through acquisitions that have been financed by debt rather than outside investment. He is now seeking to grow turnover to about €500 million over the next three years.

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On accepting the overall award, Mr O’Sullivan’s message to budding entrepreneurs was one of “resilience, work, make sure you have heaps of common sense, plenty of cop on and that you’ve got a goal and once the goals are achieved you move on. Tomorrow morning it’s all about what we do in Zeus . . . it’s about keep going and driving forward.”

Mr O’Sullivan will now go on to represent Ireland at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, which will be held next year.

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