A Sandyford-based digital marketing consultancy took first place at County Enterprise Awards for Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and will go forward to represent the county at the National Awards Finals in Dublin Castle this November.
SiliconCloud, founded by Patrick Murphy, creates custom online sales and marketing strategies for clients in the US, South Africa and Ireland. The company, which began life in 2009, now employs six full-time at its offices in Sandyford Business Park. Patrick is pictured above with Cllr. Tom Joyce, Cathaoirleach Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and Paddy Beare, Chairman Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Enterprise Board.
Organised by the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Enterprise Board, the awards took place during the ‘Fly Higher: Celebrating and Inspiring Enterprise’ event held in the Royal Marine Hotel on Thursday, 2nd May in front of over two hundred guests. The Awards showcased best-in-class local micro-enterprises and winners in four Award Categories were presented with €5,000 in prizes.
Award Winners
Covali Group (Most Promising Start-Up), Irish Traditional Dance Theatre/Jig.ie (Innovation), Makers & Brothers (Online Business) and SiliconCloud (Business Growth) took category Awards while Poulet Bonne Femme and Vivien Walsh received merit Awards for Food and Design respectively. See profiles of all 6 finalist businesses.
Patrick Murphy, Founder of SiliconCloud said: "We’re honoured to be named winners of the DLR County Enterprise Awards. As a digital marketing consultancy we operate in an extremely competitive environment, especially within the Irish market. The beauty of being an online company means there are potential clients in every corner of the globe. With the County Enterprise Board’s support we were able to take advantage of this and prove that Irish SMEs can compete and succeed, on an international stage."
Michael Johnson, CEO of the Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Enterprise Board, congratulated the winners, saying: “Our six micro enterprise finalists are fine examples of the success stories that are emerging from Ireland’s small business community. If these businesses are to continue to innovate and create employment, we must continue to support their efforts through wide-ranging support services.”
The Fly Higher event included mentor clinics, an inspirational talk by motivational speaker, Paul McNeive and a panel discussion featuring Entrepreneur, Investor and Broadcaster, Bobby Kerr; Co-Founder of SimplyZesty.com, Niall Harbison; Chief Executive of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Enterprise Board, Michael Johnson, and the County Enterprise Awards Winner, Patrick Murphy. Irish consumer expert and journalist, Tina Leonard chaired the event.