Dr Peter Fitzgerald, managing director of Randox Laboratories, was last night awarded the overall Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
Dr Fitzgerald was given the award at a special ceremony in the Burlington Hotel in Dublin, attended by over 500 people.
Randox is based in Crumlin, Co Antrim and specialises in the supply of medical and veterinarian diagnostic products. Founded in 1982, Randox employs 452. It also has 120 staff in 24 countries around the world.
The company is the world leader in the field of protein biochip technology. This involves putting a number of tests onto a microchip, allowing hospitals and laboratories to carry out multiple tests at once. Randox spent 11 years and about €90m developing the technology.
Dr Fitzgerald was chosen from among the three category winners. He won the International Category at the awards last night.
Peter Conlon, chairman and chief executive of Xsil, won the Industrial category. Xsil is based in Dublin but has offices in the US, Japan and Taiwan, as well as customer service locations in Singapore and Korea. It has a workforce of 140 and develops and manufactures laser micro-machining systems for the semiconductor, consumer electronics and bio-medical sectors.
Patrick O'Callaghan, of Delta Off-Site Solutions, scooped the Emerging Entrepreneur award. Established just two years ago, Delta Homes products pre-assembled bathrooms and kitchen pods and modular building extensions. It is based in Macroom, Co Cork and employs 75 people.
