A very busy Enterprise Week came to a close on Friday afternoon last with the announcement at a ceremony in the Lyrath Estate Hotel that Ormonde Technologies Ltd are this year’s recipient of the Kilkenny CEB - Enterprise Award.

Ormonde Technologies (www.surfbox.ie) is a fledgling company owned by Thomas Marry and Declan Lennon, and they received their Enterprise Award from Minister of Trade & Commerce, John McGuinness, TD.

Both Thomas and Declan are former employees of the German owned financial services company Infoscore, which was based in Kilkenny until the end of 2005. Thomas was Managing Director of the company and Declan was the Systems Manager.

In 2004, Thomas came up with the idea of providing ‘pay as you go’ internet access for people on the move.  He discussed his idea with Declan, and together they decided to turn the concept into a business. 

After months of research and development, they came up with a low cost prototype that was stable enough to ensure a high level of availability at low maintenance.  And a year later they took the plunge and left the relative security of paid employment to set up Ormonde Technologies supplying ‘SurfBox,’ a coin and credit card operated internet access solution for hotels, pubs and cafes.

From a standing start just 2 years ago, Ormonde Technologies now employs 5 full-time staff in Kilkenny and has many more sub-contractors spread throughout the country, and over 200 SurfBox terminals in locations in Ireland and the UK.  

I think it was fitting that Enterprise Week came to a close with the presentation of the Enterprise Award to Ormonde Technologies, as the focus was rightly put back on local entrepreneurs actually involved in business and the important contribution that they make to the local economy!

The National Enterprise Awards are one small way in which the network of County & City Enterprise Boards recognize the achievements and endeavours of our client companies each year.

The Awards involve two stages: first a County competition, with recipients at County level progressing to the second stage – the National Final, and each stage is independently adjudicated. So following receipt of the County Enterprise Award last week, Ormonde Technologies will now progress to represent Kilkenny at the National Enterprise Awards ceremony to be held in Dublin Castle next month.

Ormonde Technologies are one of the new start-up companies featured in the latest Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Report, which benchmarks the level of entrepreneurial activity in 28 OECD countries.

In the Report, Thomas refers to the hard work, the long hours and the many challenges and difficulties that he and Declan have encountered thus far along the way, but he says that the satisfaction of knowing you are building a business for the future makes it all worthwhile, and I think the following quote from Thomas in the GEM Report sums it all up:
 
“Entrepreneurship has become a way of life for me. I could not imagine going back to being a paid employee.  The sense of freedom, achievement, drive, excitement and satisfaction associated with running your own business is a tonic for healthy living.  I don’t go to work anymore, I enjoy life!”

Thomas is obviously living out the philosophy of that oft quoted Chinese sage – Confucius, who said:

“Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life!”

Ormonde Technologies certainly are a good news story, and I think it is fair to say that Thomas and Declan well and truly have the spirit of enterprise, and they are very worthy recipients of our County Enterprise Award this year.

Sean.

www.kceb.ie