The Heat Is On Awards Winners Announced

The Heat is on Awards is a competition for entrepreneurs in Northern Ireland that have an exciting new business idea. A total prize package of £20,000 was up for grabs with for the most imaginative and also feasible idea.

2010 was the second year of the competition and the second year that Smartboss was a main sponsor along with Country Stoves, The Alpha Newspaper Group and The Northern Media Group. Over 100 budding entrepreneurs submitted their business ideas for this year’s competition. The 6 best ideas where picked by the judging panel (which included the CEO of Smartboss – Brian MacAuley, Head of the Alpha Newspaper Group – Jonathan Taylor and Joint Proprietor of County Stoves – Gerard Molloy) to present their idea in a Dragons Den format to the Judges and a theatre full audience.

The final took place in the magnificent surroundings of the Burnavon Theatre in Cookstown on Thursday 2nd December and compere for the evaening was UTV Seven Thirty host Malachi Cush.

All 6 finalists impressed the judges and audience with their varying ideas and the judges found picking a winner a very difficult task due to the high quality of entrepreneurial talent on show. The judges found it a particularly tough task to separate this year’s finalists despite having met them all for a one to one interview before the live show. After much deliberation and consideration the judges made their way back on to the stage to announce the results.

The four runners up were Andrew Hassard (A Self Compressing Bin), David Dicks (Mobile Hyrophonic Growth System), Fergal O Kane (Multi- Purpose Link Box Attachment) and Michael Brady & Jonathan Scott (A Self Deploying Marque).

In the end there were two ideas that caught the judge’s imagination. The 2010 runner up is Damien O Donnell who had developed a New Pre - Fabricated Wall System that has performed extremely well under testing from Queens University Belfast. Damien is expected to be in production next year and is looking forward to making his idea a success.

The 2010 Heat is On Awards Winners who received a fantastic £20,000 prize package (£5,000 investment from Country Stoves, £5,000 Newspaper Advertising through Alpha Newspaper Group, £5,000 Radio Advertising and 2 Years Access to Smartboss with Extensive business mentoring) where Declan Campbell and Martin Conway from County Tyrone. Their idea was a new type of Roof Rack that can be secured from the ground with a sliding system. Their idea has worldwide potential and they really impressed the judges with their on stage demonstration.
The Smartboss team would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped organise this year’s event and all the budding entrepreneurs who entered and to congratulate the 6 finalists. Also the Smartboss team would like to congratulate this year’s winners Declan and Martin and we look forward to working with you and helping you grow your business over the next couple of years.

Smartboss Meets Indian Partners Net Solutions

At a time when the Prime Minister David Cameron is trying to encourage links with our Indian counterparts (BBC News), representatives from Smartboss travelled to London to meet with software developers Net Solutions on the 21st September.Net Solutions are a software development company from India and Smartboss have been working successfully with them for over two years.

The meeting place in London the was the world’s biggest online marketing and digital media tradeshow, Adtech hosted in Olympia with Smartboss Chairperson Brian Gallagher and Project Manager Gareth Coffey in attendance.

With over 170 exhibitors and over 30 seminars at the trade show there was information and knowledge a plenty for those that wanted it. Exhibiting and speaking at Adtech were global giants such as Google, Orange, The Fox Network, Youtube, Facebook and many more. Adtech provided a great back drop and opportunity to finally come face to face with behind the scenes developers Net Solutions, who have been developing Smartboss on behalf of Dungannon Enterprise Centre.

"We have worked with Net Solutions for over two years and it is great to finally meet face to face. There have been times that I have forgotten that Net Solutions are located in India as they are always there when we need them and their English is fantastic" says Project Manager Gareth.

Adtech gave Smartboss the opportunity to discuss other potential ideas and future developments and we would be happy to endorse the work of Net Solutions as they continue to enter the British Market. Smartboss represents the innovative nature of Dunagnnon Enterprise Centre. We constantly tell new and existing business owners to be as innovative as they can and we like to practice what we preach.

Smartboss Chairperson Brian commented on his return from London "We are really happy with our Smartboss product and this meeting with Net Solutions has strengthened our relationship with them. This meeting also allowed us to discuss future developments and new ventures. Smartboss is a really simple to use tool thanks to Net Solutions and is proving invaluable to small business owners."

At a time when many are shying away from innovation, Dungannon Enterprise Centre has used its profits to develop a product that helps businesses Start Up, Survive and Grow. The development of Smartboss has been driven by the need of small businesses throughout the UK and will continue to do so.

Project Manager Gareth had this to say when asked about the future of Smartboss "At Smartboss we will never stop learning and trying new things. We want to continue to develop new products that will help and support local entrepreneurs." So watch this space….