Northern Ireland entrepreneurs travel to South Africa on annual unofficial trade mission

Four Northern Ireland business leaders have traveled to South Africa for the annual EY Entrepreneur Of The Year CEO Retreat.

Joining a delegation of over 100 top entrepreneurs are Denise Phillips (Voduz) and Hugh Cormican (Cirdan Imaging Ltd) from County Antrim alongside Gilbert Yates (Healthcare Ireland) and Connor McCandless (Energystore Ltd) from County Down.

Running until Sunday, May 26, the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year CEO retreat is dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship. The aim of the retreat is to support, inspire, and challenge the entrepreneurs to take their businesses to the next level.

The travelling delegation includes this year’s 24 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year finalists as well as programme alumni representing a broad spectrum of industries and representatives from Invest Northern Ireland.

The entrepreneurs will spend the week in South Africa where they will participate in a comprehensive programme of networking, executive coaching, and education. The itinerary includes meetings with some of South Africa’s most successful entrepreneurs and business leaders as well as inspirational talks by global thought leaders on a variety of topics.

This year’s retreat will also feature visits to University of Cape Town Graduate Business School, township development hub, Philippi Village, start-up incubator, Innovation City, a host of successful companies based in the region.

Four Northern Ireland business leaders have traveled to South Africa for the annual EY Entrepreneur Of The Year CEO Retreat. Pictured is Denise Phillips (Voduz) from County Antrim

Rob Heron, EY Northern Ireland managing partner, said: “The annual CEO retreat is one of the highlights of the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year programme. This year’s retreat takes place in South Africa and 100 leading entrepreneurs from across the island are attending, joined by Invest NI and Enterprise Ireland.

"South Africa is the gateway to Africa for investment and global trade. It’s a significant player in the global mining, manufacturing, and agricultural industries, with a flourishing technology sector. It’s also become a thriving hub of entrepreneurial talent with investment in many innovative start-ups based there increasing in recent years. Our group of entrepreneurs will have the chance to experience a melting pot of cultures in South Africa’s capital city, Cape Town, and meet with local entrepreneurs and learn more about the incredible opportunities that exist to trade and thrive in this region.

“Our annual CEO Retreat is designed to help entrepreneurs to think differently, to embrace new ideas and to push themselves even further as they see past conventional boundaries and limits. We hope the retreat will inspire and energise our entrepreneurs and maybe even be the spark that ignites some great new and exciting business possibilities for this talented group of trailblazers.”

Since its inception, the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Ireland community has grown to a tight-knit network of more than 600 alumni who harness each other’s wealth of experience, with three quarters (75%) conducting business with one another. Together, the EOY alumni community generates revenues of €23bn, and employs more than 250,000 people across the island of Ireland.

Four Northern Ireland business leaders have traveled to South Africa for the annual EY Entrepreneur Of The Year CEO Retreat. Pictured is Connor McCandless (Energystore Ltd) from County Down

The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Ireland programme is supported by Premium Corporate Sponsor Julius Baer International, and Government sponsors Enterprise Ireland and Invest Northern Ireland.

The 2024 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year finalists are:

Kasper Weber Anderson and Liam McMahon of Beyond Creative Limited

Duncan O’Toole of Captured Carbon

Four Northern Ireland business leaders have traveled to South Africa for the annual EY Entrepreneur Of The Year CEO Retreat. Pictured is Gilbert Yates (Healthcare Ireland) from County Down

Rosaleen Hyde and Maxine Hyde of Ballymaloe Foods

Seamus Tighe of Ecoplex Energy Solutions

Hugh Cormican of Cirdan Imaging Ltd

David Maguire of BNRG Renewables

Sharon Cunningham and Orlaith Ryan of Shorla Oncology

Padraic O’Kane of Corporate.ie

Four Northern Ireland business leaders have traveled to South Africa for the annual EY Entrepreneur Of The Year CEO Retreat. Pictured is Hugh Cormican (Cirdan Imaging Ltd) from County Antrim

Kenneth Fox of Channel Mechanics

Adrian Gilbane and Will Kennedy of Sons

Connor McCandless of Energystore Ltd

Conor Hanley of FIRE1

Jack Kirwan of Sprout & Co

Sean Moran of Home Project Centre Limited

Gilbert Yates of Healthcare Ireland

Ciaran Burke and Andrea Reynolds of Swoop

Ruth Mackey, David Mackey and John Mackey of Mbryonics Limited

Brendan Mee of MTM Engineering

Denise Phillips of Voduz

Clare Hughes of CF Pharma Group (including Telenostic Ltd)

Ivor Queally of QK Group South Africa

Damian Young of ZEUS Mobility

Dr Barry Flannery of Xerotech

Jonathan Larbey and Mark Gilmartin of T-Pro