Media Release
7th March 2019
GYM + COFFEE ARE DUBLIN CITY’S ENTERPRISE AWARD WINNERS FOR 2019
The Athleisure clothing brand business ‘Gym + Coffee’ are this year’s winner of the Dublin City Enterprise Award for 2019. They took the top prize of €5,000 and will represent the Local Enterprise Office Dublin City at the 21st National Enterprise Awards, which takes place on Wednesday, 29th May in the Mansion House in Dublin.
Founded by Niall Horgan, Diarmuid McSweeney and Karl Swaine 26 months ago, the brand encapsulates and promotes the lifestyle the founders enjoy, ‘Gym + ‘Coffee’ - being physically active, enjoying new experiences, while socializing with friends.
Combining fashion and function, ‘Gym + ‘Coffee’ have designed a quality range of women’s and men’s hoodies, leggings, t-shirts and merchandise. From their base in Fitzwilliam Square, they already employ 17 people and they are selling both on and offline in Ireland, the UK and USA. The company successfully applied to the Leo Office Dublin City for grant support to secure additional staffing and to research export markets.
Greg Swift with Local Enterprise Office Dublin City said: “Gym + Coffee are already a huge success story. The judges were particularly impressed by their business strategy, the extent of job creation and their success in domestic and export markets. The National Enterprise Awards are a great barometer for what the Local Enterprise Office Dublin City is doing. Every year the standard is getting better and better and we are delighted to have Gym + Coffee representing us in Dublin in May.”
Gym + Coffee will be competing against 30 other finalists from every local authority area for a share of the €40,000 prize fund. Categories this year include ‘Best Export Business,’ ‘Best Start Up Business’ and ‘Innovation,’ in addition to eight regional awards.
Among the special guests at the announcement were Lord Mayor of Dublin Nial Ring, Richard Shakespeare Assistant Chief Executive Dublin City Council, Greg Swift, Head of Enterprise & Economic Development Dublin City and David Connolly, Business Advisor Local Enterprise Office Dublin City.
ENDS
For media queries, please contact:
Dublin City Council’s Media Relations Office T: (01) 222 2170 M: (087) 7400277
For queries regarding the Dublin City Enterprise Awards and the Local Enterprise Office Dublin City:
T: (01) 222 5611
E: info@leo.dublincity.ie
Notes to Editor:
Biography of the founders of Gym + Coffee
Diarmuid McSweeney – has a Commerce degree from UCC. Diarmuid has spent over 10 years working in marketing and communications strategy in some of the best communications agencies in Ireland and Australia. Across these roles, he has developed business, marketing strategies and advertising campaigns for clients in numerous consumer facing industries. During this time, he has won a number of international awards for market research, creative advertising and communications commercial effectiveness.
Karl Swaine – has a business management degree from DIT. Karl spent 4 years working as a visual merchandiser for FCUK were he was responsible for the Dublin stores. In 2013, he managed the set-up of a whole new food café in Sydney Australia. From there he moved to London and worked in some of the top coffee shops working as a freelance barista trainer. On returning to Dublin, Karl worked for AIB as a relationship manager in the Corporate Banking Division.
Niall Horgan – has a commerce degree from UCC. Niall has spent over 9 years in various sales and marketing roles including time at Twitter, Slack, Sky and Irish Mainport Holding. During this time he was responsible for setting up International Sales operations, building and scaling sales teams across the EMEA region, all while working with brands and agencies on their digital marketing strategies. In 2016 he was named one of the Sunday Independents Top 30 under 30 in Ireland
For more information on Gym + Coffee, please visit https://gympluscoffee.com/
#MakeLifeRicher: a content map to inspire the Gym + Coffee community into action
National Enterprise Awards 2019
Award Categories and Prize Fund
The 2019 National Enterprise Awards take place on May 29th in the Mansion House in Dublin and are organised by the Local Enterprise Offices
- Overall Winner, National Enterprise Awards 2019 (Cash Prize for business: €10,000)
- Best Export Business (Cash Prize for business: €5,000)
- Best Start Up Business (Cash Prize for business: €5,000)
- Innovation Award (Cash Prize for business: €5,000)
- Eight Regional Winners (Cash Prize for business: €2,000 each)
- Regions:
- Dublin City, Fingal, DúnLaoghaire - Rathdown and South Dublin
- Kildare, Laois, Offaly and Westmeath
- Wicklow, Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny
- Louth, Meath, Cavan and Monaghan
- Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim and Longford
- Galway, Mayo and Roscommon
- Clare, Limerick, Kerry and Tipperary
- Cork City, South Cork, Cork North & West and Waterford
