Offaly company wins major national design award

An Offaly company has been chosen as the winner of a major national award.

The Factory, based in Fivealley, was chosen as the winner in the small category of the Design & Crafts Council Ireland’s Irish Business Design Challenge 2023

The Factory is a second-generation family run business specialising in the supply of sustainable printing and print products using recycled and sustainable paper, plant-based inks and plastics-free packaging and the reuse of rainwater in its production processes. The Factory has care for the environment and sustainability at the heart of its ethos and the products and services it supplies. It is expanding its services to graphic design and web development.

The winners of the three categories at the Design & Crafts Council Ireland’s Irish Business Design Challenge 2023 (IBDC) were announced on Thursday at an awards ceremony in Tangent, Trinity College Dublin by Neale Richmond TD, Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment with special responsibility for Employment Affairs and Retail Business; and at the Department of Social Protection. The three category winners, micro, small and medium, will each receive a prize of €15,000. Three runners-up prizes of €2,000 each were also awarded, and two entries were highly commended by judges.

107 businesses entered this year’s Design & Crafts Council Ireland Irish Business Design Challenge, 44 of whom were shortlisted and invited to today’s awards ceremony. The Irish Business Design Challenge is focused on raising awareness of the importance of incorporating design and sustainability into business strategy, and the benefits it brings to those businesses and the wider Irish economy and society.

The Micro category award winner was Westcountry Willows, based near Ballinlough in Roscommon, which specialises in making a range of handmade basketry products using locally sourced, naturally grown and renewable willow.

The runners-up in the Small Category were The Natural Sleep Co. from Co. Limerick with Eurotech Renewables, from Co. Monaghan being Highly Commended.

Medium category winner was Farrell Furniture. Established in the early 1960s and operating from Ardee in County Louth, and with a presence in the UK, Farrell Furniture are specialist suppliers of furniture and fit-out services to the commercial office, rental and residential sectors. This award is for a highly significant project which partnered with the OPW and the Atlantic Technical University to re-imagine and refurbish the Arthur Edwards-designed Crannac Chair which has been widely used in public sector offices for over forty years.

Now in its third year, the Irish Business Design Challenge from Design & Crafts Council Ireland supports companies applying design thinking to future-proof their business and support customer needs. This year’s challenge focused on companies that have used design thinking in their business by making them more sustainable and efficient.

For further information on the Irish Business Design Challenge, visit www.dcci.ie/ibdc-2023.