Ballylanders company taste success at Irish business awards
Ballylanders business The Natural Sleep Company has gained recognition at this year’s Irish Business Design Challenge, scoring second place in the category for ‘Small’ businesses. They scooped the award for one of their ranges of natural mattresses, as sleep is a business which they’ve been involved with for almost 40 years.
Speaking with The Avondhu, Rose Fitzpatrick said they were delighted with the award and appreciated the recognition that the awards provided.
“We’re a small company, with 30 employees and we’re always trying to develop new and niche products.”
Rose says that the company were spurred to research the natural products as they noticed Irish people becoming more generally conscious of sustainability, materials, and the source of the product. Devoting five or six years of research to the project, they developed the mattresses which Rose says dust mites tend not to stay in.
While it is “very hard” to get rid of the chemicals, they have achieved it with the likes of lambswool, which is naturally fire-retardant, and the products are tested in the UK after production.
Rose’s husband, James Hayes set up the company in 1984 in Ballylanders, and their expanded factory was officially opened by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern almost 21 years ago this week. A thriving business, they also provide a range of adjustable beds.
Held in Trinity College Dublin last Thursday, the Irish Business Design Challenge awards recognise businesses who focus on sustainable products, services or strategies that have benefitted customers. 107 businesses entered this year’s awards, of whom 44 were shortlisted.
The winner of the Small Business category was The Factory, an Offaly-based eco-friendly printers and graphic design studio.
Meanwhile, the winners of the Microbusiness category were Westcountry Willows, a Roscommon company that specialise in baskets and crafts using natural materials. For the third category, dedicated to Established businesses, the top prize went to Farrell Furniture, a furniture company in Louth.
The winners of each category receive €15,000 each, while runners-up get €2,000. All companies who place successfully in the annual competition avail of free publicity and promotion.