Entrepreneurs pitch to judges for Illuminate
TEN female entrepreneurs from across the North East region were invited to pitch to a panel of judges and potential investors in Coca Cola HQ this past Monday as part of their participation on the Illuminate Boyne Valley/M1 Female Entrepreneurship Programme.
The Illuminate programme was developed by The Mill Enterprise Hub in Drogheda to fast track female led businesses to develop their business and enhance their leadership skills to ultimately achieve scale and create employment.
Having completed the programme - which included training in business strategy, leadership styles, finance & funding, legal, sales, marketing & branding, business & financial risk assessment and how to sustain and grow your business - and honed their highly developed business management and leadership skills, the group of 10 were ready for their pitch.
Allocated with the very difficult task, judges on the day included Sheelagh Daly, Entrepreneurship Manager at Enterprise Ireland; Tony Campion, HR Manager Coca- Cola; Nichola Tighe, Bank Manager, AIB; and Shona McManus, President of Drogheda Chamber/Promoter M1 Drogheda Chamber Skillnet/CEO of Osborne Recruitment.
Speaking about the Illuminate programme and the pitches, Shona McManus, President of Drogheda Chamber who was also a judge said: ‘One of Drogheda Chamber’s goals is to enable local businesses to scale and grow. We are behind this programme as we want to inspire a new generation of female entrepreneurs to develop the skills and confidence to back themselves and their businesses.’
There were a wide variety of participants and businesses, including Bronagh Conlon - Listoke Distillery & School, Elaine Connolly - Cubicle 7 Games, Evita McCloskey & Inese Rasina - Westend Salon, Evelyn Nomayo - Phase Innovate, Una McGoey - Anu Change, Jacqui Millar - Weddings by Jacqui, Aoife Keady - Whatswhere, Jane Kerr - metimetraining and Priscilla McGeehan - Blas Marketing.
The programme was organised by M1 Drogheda Chamber Skillnet in conjunction with The Mill Enterprise and sponsored by AIB, CocaCola International Services and part funded by Skillnet Ireland from the National Training Fund through the Department of Education and Skills. Breanndán Casey, Business Development Manager at The Mill added: ‘ This is the third time we’ve run the Illuminate programme with DCU Ryan Academy and were delighted that AIB and Coca- Cola co-funded the programme again.’