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read news
< previous | 1 2 | next >| Local LiveWIRE Kelly On Her Way to Final - added on 26 May 2006 | | |
PRESS RELEASE
April 2006
Local LiveWIRE Kelly On Her Way to Final
Take nine of Northern Ireland’s most inspirational and promising young entrepreneurs, a panel of expert judges, a first prize of £3,000 cash and what have you got?
The essential ingredients for Shell LiveWIRE’s annual competition that pits Northern Ireland’s most promising young business owners against each other to see who is worthy of the coveted “Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year” title.
Twenty five year old Kelly Troughton of the Armagh Cider Company in Portadown, who was recently awarded for being one of the most inspirational young entrepreneurs in the Craigavon area, has made it to the final of the Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.
The competition, now in its 23rd year, attracted a record 169 applications from right across Northern Ireland. As one of the nine finalists, Kelly receives a Livewire Awards package and will compete in the prestigious gala final in Belfast on May 23rd for the ‘Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2006’ title and a place in both the UK and All-Ireland finals.
The LiveWIRE programme, which is supported worldwide by Shell and partnered locally by Invest Northern Ireland, celebrates the spirit of enterprise that is alive and kicking in young people aged 16-30.
Having lived on an apple growing farm in Co. Armagh, Kelly often wondered why no one locally in the County actually produced Cider. In May 2005, she set up the Armagh Cider Company and currently produces two main products – Carsons Traditional Cider and Honeyhill Apple Juice. Carsons Traditional Cider is unique in that it is the only cider on the market that is made from Armagh apples and contains no artificial colours, sweeteners or preservatives and is available in 330 ml and 500ml glass bottles. Honeyhill Apple Juice is available in a 750 ml bottle. The company is concentrating on building its customer base in NI and RoI by approaching on and off trade customers directly and by employing local distributors already operating in the licensed trade.
Whilst both products are currently produced by an established cidermaker in England using apples that are grown in Ballinteggart, Kelly is currently investigating the viability of creating a purpose built production plant in Portadown in the next 18 months. Kelly’s long term objectives include developing the future Armagh based production facility into a tourist attraction comprising of a visitor centre, shop and restaurant.
Commenting on the encouragingly healthy entrepreneurial spirit in young people across Northern Ireland, Gerry Ford, Director of Shell LiveWIRE UK & Ireland,
said: “Every year the bar just keeps getting higher and higher in terms of the sheer number, variety and standard of young businesses that are making a difference and an impact to the Northern Ireland economy. Such was the interest from right across the province that we decided, in partnership with Invest Northern Ireland, to once again present an additional 26 local awards in the run up to the gala final. The Shell LiveWIRE awards are undoubtedly the biggest highlight in our year, celebrating the energy, determination and innovative entrepreneurial flair of young people in Northern Ireland.”
Wishing the finalists good luck as they prepare to put the finishing touches to their business plans and hone their interview skills for the gala final, Graham Davis, Director of Entrepreneurship at Invest Northern Ireland said: “This competition represents an excellent opportunity for our young entrepreneurs of tomorrow to demonstrate their skills and abilities. It also highlights the fact that young entrepreneurial talent is alive and kicking, but needs more support and encouragement to continue to grow. I wish all of the entrants the best of success and hope that each and everyone involved are able to realise their business potential.”
If you would like to explore entrepreneurship for yourself, contact Shell LiveWIRE on
028 9045 4510 / www.shell-livewire.ie for your Free ‘Start a Business Toolkit’.
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| Life’s a Pitch for Kelly with Tradelinks - added on 26 May 2006 | | |
PRESS RELEASE
Life’s a Pitch for Kelly with Tradelinks
10th May 2006
Local business owner, Kelly Troughton, Armagh Cider Company, based in Portadown, sampled a taste of life in the Dragon’s Den when she came face to face with Rachel Elnaugh, the elite business entrepreneur and formidable dragon from BBC’s “Dragon’s Den” at the recent Tradelinks East Border Region “Network Your Way to Winning Business Growth” seminar in the Seagoe Hotel, Portadown.
Along with five other small business owners from across Down, Armagh and Louth, Kelly presented a three minute pitch to Rachel and fellow panel members, Colm Piercy, founder of Digiweb, the 2005 winner of the County Enterprise Board’s National Enterprise Award and professional success coach and trainer, Trudy Arthurs of Dancing Leopards Ltd to attempt to win £1,000 to reinvest in her business.
Having lived on an apple growing farm in Co. Armagh, Kelly often wondered why no one locally in the County actually produced Cider. In May 2005, she set up the Armagh Cider Company and currently produces two main products – Carsons Traditional Cider and Honeyhill Apple Juice.
Carsons Traditional Cider is unique in that it is the only cider on the market that is made from Armagh apples and contains no artificial colours, sweeteners or preservatives and is available in 330 ml and 500ml glass bottles. Honeyhill Apple Juice is available in a 750 ml bottle. Carsons Cider is currently listed in 114 outlets throughout the province and the company plans to increase distribution through a network of companies in NI, RoI and GB over the next 12 months.
Whilst both products are currently produced by an established cidermaker in England,
the company also plans to bring the manufacturing of Carsons back to Ballinteggart and has in place a ten year investment plan to phase in a complete plant. Once this is complete, Kelly plans to address the tourism angle and incorporate a visitor centre and café / restaurant.
Organised by Tradelinks, a micro-enterprise development programme managed and delivered jointly by the six Border County Enterprise Boards and Enterprise Northern Ireland, the aim of the seminar was to inspire and motivate small business owners and provide them with a viable opportunity to network.
Over one hundred delegates attending the seminar also gained an insight into Rachel Elnaugh’s own fascinating entrepreneurial journey of how she started her first business, Red Letter Days and how she survived the media spotlight since its demise to set up her new company, The Life Changers. Delegates also participated in an energetic networking session facilitated by Trudy Arthurs.
Speaking at the seminar, Rachel Elnaugh said: “Entrepreneurs are a highly sought-after commodity these days and are the backbone of sustainable economic growth. In today’s very competitive markets, it is the company who differentiates itself by offering innovative products and services that survives. So my best advice for what it is worth is this, don’t be afraid to be different. To those companies who are looking to develop their businesses, I would urge you to never, never give up on your vision and always remember that learning from the mistakes you make along the way is an essential part of the entrepreneurs experience.”
Commenting on the success of the seminar, Tradelinks representative, Gordon Gough, CIDO, said: “Tradelinks would like to thank Rachel for offering a wealth of sound business advice and providing an insight into business leadership in a very open and honest way which really captured the attention of the delegates. I would like to thank all the companies who participated in the Pitch and Win competition, the standard of presentations was extremely high and the diverse sectors represented highlights the true entrepreneurial spirit and vision of companies North and South of the border. For the companies who attended today, we hope they return to their businesses motivated, invigorated and with new business contacts.”
Pic Caption
Ends
For Further Information contact: Shauna Magill, Shauna Magill Marketing & Communications, T: 028 9066 5313 Mob: 07718 632608 E:shauna@shaunamagill.com
Notes to Editor
Tradelinks is a partnership initiative between Enterprise NI, the network of local Enterprise Agencies, and the Border County Enterprise Boards and is supported by the EU Interreg 111A programme for Ireland/Northern Ireland, Invest NI, The International Fund for Ireland and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
Tradelinks objectives include the following:
· Increasing the growth potential of indigenous micro businesses by enhancing exporting capability and employment generation opportunities, and by addressing barriers to cross border trade.
· Encouraging micro businesses to investigate the opportunities afforded by new technology i.e. e-commerce, internet marketing.
· Encouraging micro businesses to engage in new market and new product development by establishing business to business links and business to education/research links.
· Encouraging innovation by assisting micro businesses to adopt and implement new technologies, new management methods and best practices.
· Creating stronger partnerships between enterprise support agencies on both sides of the border through collaboration in devising and delivering enterprise support programmes, which are consistent, quality driven, and offer good value for money.
Rachel Elnaugh profile
Rachel had an entrepreneurial spirit from an early age, selling home made gifts and cards from her dad's shop. After leaving school she worked her way up from Office Junior to become a tax consultant at the world's then leading accountancy firm Arthur Andersen, advising top-flight entrepreneurs like Sir Terence Conran.
Then at 24 she left to set up her own company Red Letter Days which as market leader pioneered the UK's £200million experiences industry, selling gift experiences such as balloon rides and shark-diving.
After stepping back from the business in 2002 the company ran into financial difficulties and despite Rachel's efforts to save the business, it fell into administration in August 2005, only to be bought by fellow Dragons Theo Paphitis and Peter Jones.
As well as being a high profile business speaker and adviser, Rachel has set up a new company, The Life Changers, with leading motivational speaker, Glenn Harrold.
“Escape The Rat Race”, the first in a series of books and CDs providing advice to individuals who want to literally escape the rat race and pursue a business idea will be available shortly.
Trudy Arthurs – Dancing Leopards - Profile
Trudy Arthurs is the Founding Coach of Dancing Leopards, a dynamic and refreshing coaching & training company based in Holywood, with clients across Ireland and the UK.
Trudy’s strengths as a coach are her ability to see straight to the heart of the issue, her courage in asking the questions that need to be asked and her ability to generate creativity and a sense of possibility in the most difficult of circumstances, combined with keen intuition, huge amounts of creativity and ‘edgy attitude’ with lots of learning.
Dancing Leopards work solely with businesses and companies who are committed to improving company performance through the development of individuals.
Our clients are looking for a way to engage their employees in a way that benefits the individual, the team and the company. Therefore our coaching and training is tailor made to fit with the challenges and aspirations of our clients.
For further information visit www.dancingleopards.com
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| Armagh Cider Company launches new products for Christmas 2005 - added on 01 Nov 2005 | | |
Armagh Cider Company are pleased to announce details of their new Christmas range for 2005.
By teaming up with some of Ulster’s best loved company’s Armagh Cider can provide exquisite hampers and gift boxes for an extra special gift this Christmas.
Irwins Bakery, Filligan’s Jam, Fosters Chocolate, Forthill Farm Traditional Pork as well as the finest Carsons Cider, Honeyhill Apple Juice and a selection of apples from our very own farm are just some of the goodies you can expect in our mouth watering hampers.
We are also pleased to announce a partnership with Forthill Farm Traditional Pork and Beef. We have teamed up with these guys to provide a gift box with a difference. The combination of pork and apple is well known – now how about pork and cider?
This Christmas we have the opportunity to provide you with a limited supply of our new products Honeyhill Mulled Cider and its non-alcoholic counterpart Honeyhill Hot Apple Punch. Both can be purchased in a single or double gift box. Warm up this Christmas with a cider twist!
To find out more information or to request a price list for these new products, do not hesitate to contact us by telephone – 028 3833 4268 or by email – info@armaghcider.com
We look forward to hearing from you!
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| Armagh Cider Company at Glenarm Castle Open Day - added on 11 Jul 2005 | | |
Carsons Cider will be available at Glenarm Castle Open Day on Wednesday and Thursday, the 13th and 14th July 2005 via our new mail order scheme.
So head over to Glenarm on Wednesday and Thursday of this week to try a sample of Carsons Traditional Cider and then place your order for your very own case delivered direct to your door!
I hope to see you there!
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'From the Orchards of Erin's Green Isle' |
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