Hughes keen to continue Portwest growth and expansion

WINNERS ALRIGHT EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2017, Harry Hughes of Portwest (centre) is pictured with the EY Emerging Entrepreneur Of The Year 2017, Jack Teeling of Teeling Whiskey, and EY Industry Entrepreneur Of The Year, Clifden’s Evelyn O’Toole, of CLS. Pic: Maxwells

Anton McNulty

THE 2017 Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Harry Hughes of Portwest, is looking forward to continuing to grow the company by 25 percent each year, and plans to employ 200 people at their new offices to be located in the Quay in Westport.
The Chief Executive of the Westport-based company, which specialises in safety wear, was named the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year at the 20th annual awards ceremony held in Dublin on Thursday night.
Founded in Westport in 1904, Portwest is now a global safety supplier that designs, manufactures and distributes a full range of specialist workwear.
Speaking to The Mayo News ahead of a reception in Hotel Westport on Monday night to honour the achievement, Mr Hughes said it was a ‘wonderful surprise’ to receive the award.
“I can honestly say I was not expecting it and it was truly out of the blue. Twenty seconds before it was announced, four camera crews came around our table and my heart started pounding. It was a wonderful surprise,” he recalled.
Mr Hughes said the award was a result of 113 years of growth in the company and the hard work of the staff and everyone involved. When asked why he thought he had won the award, he said he believes it was due to the fact that Portwest shows that rural Irish companies can compete in the global market.
The company employs over 2,000 people worldwide with sales in 110 countries and, along with his brothers Cathal and Owen, they have driven revenues from nearly €200,000 in 1979 to over €140 million in 2016.
Harry said they decided to expand globally 14 years ago and as part of their five year company plan, they look to expand their company by 25 percent each year. They employ 120 people in their offices in Westport but plan to expand the figure further in the coming years.

Making plans
“In the next week or so we plan to apply for permission for an office block on the site of the Old Mill in Westport Quay. We plan to employ 200 people there in what will be a modern and hi-tech office,” he said.
“We have not grown by bulk, we have grown steadily along the way. Over the last 37 years we have grown by 20 percent per year every year. There has been a few recessions along the way but there was been no real tough year and we would make it up [the loss] the following year.
“We had a bit of luck along the way in that we are involved in safety wear which is now a huge market with people now wearing yellow jackets when walking. Europe opened up to us with the Euro coming in which has been fantastic for business. But there has also been a lot of hard work and persistence and we continued to keep going forward rather than staying the same,” he explained.
In addition to being selected as the overall winner, he also scooped top honours in the Best International Entrepreneur category and will now represent Ireland at the World Entrepreneur of the Year Awards in Monte Carlo in June 2018.
The winners are selected by an independent panel of judges chaired by Anne Heraty of Cpl Resources plc. The panel includes previous EY Entrepreneur Of The Year (overall and category) winners Michael Carey, Mark Roden, Terry Clune, Dr Edmond Harty, Joe Hogan, Jerry Kennelly, Brian Long, Pat McDonagh and Denis O’Brien as well as Joe Healy from Enterprise Ireland and Jeremy Fitch from Invest Northern Ireland.

‘Visionary leader’
Anne Heraty, Chairperson of the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year judging panel described Harry Hughes as a visionary leader.
“This year Harry Hughes stood out - he is a visionary leader who has built a world class business from his roots in Westport. Harry personifies the entrepreneurial spirit and is a role model for any aspiring entrepreneur. The judges were impressed with Harry’s clear thinking, his perseverance, commitment to his team, community and his humility. In selecting him as the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year, we are recognising the excellence and innovation he has brought to the business to help drive it to these heights,” she said.
Minister for Rural and Community Affairs, Michael Ring also congratulated his fellow Westport man on winning the prestigious prize.
“Portwest is a great example of what Irish companies can achieve from a rural base,” he said. “The story of Portwest and the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award given to Harry is a great example for entrepreneurs in Mayo and throughout rural Ireland. This is a great accolade for a company based in the West of Ireland. It shows that with vision and commitment, a company based in any region of Ireland can be successful in national or international markets.”
There was further success for the west at the awards ceremony when Clifden native Evelyn O’Toole, founder of Complete Lab Solutions (CLS) was named EY Industry Entrepreneur of the Year.
Founded in 1994, CLS is a leading contract laboratories provider of sampling and analysis for the food, environmental and life sciences industries. CLS is growing at a rate of 10 percent a year and turnover is expected to reach more than €10m in 2017.