Offaly business set for National Enterprise Awards final

An internationally traded service company from Offaly are set to compete with the country’s best small businesses as one of the Finalists for the National Enterprise Award taking place next week.

Dermot Smyth, founder and Managing Director of Decontamination Technical Services (DTS) will represent Local Enterprise Office Offaly at the prestigious awards that take place on Thursday, May 22, in the Round Room at the Mansion House in Dublin.

DTS sets the global standard in sterilisation validation, decontamination innovation, and microbiological compliance. Trusted internationally by governments, healthcare, and life sciences leaders, DTS provides expert-led, independent solutions.

With 400+ recurring clients worldwide, DTS drives safety, regulatory excellence, and confidence—protecting lives through exceptional standards, precision, and innovation.

This is the 25th year of the Local Enterprise Office initiative, which was won last year by DreamDev Technologies, supported by Local Enterprise Office Kildare. Set up in 2019 by Eoin Barry and Douglas Augiar, the AI augmented platform helps companies to significantly increase their product’s time to market

Orla Martin, Head of Enterprise stated: “The National Enterprise Awards serve to highlight the very best businesses that the Local Enterprise Offices are working with across the country.

"The diversity of sectors and innovation shown again this year is outstanding and the winners will no doubt produce businesses destined for international success. These businesses have excelled in their areas and have the potential to follow in the footsteps of previous winners to become successful global companies."

Local Enterprise Office Offaly have had previous success at the awards which includes Applied Concepts Ltd. won the National Award in 2016; Dotser won a Regional Award in 2019 and Glass Innovations Ltd won a regional award in 2023.

The Finalists compete for a prize fund of €50,000 and along with an overall National Enterprise of the Year winner there are categories for Best Start-Up, Best Export Business, an Innovation Award, a One-to-Watch Award, and a Sustainability Award.

There is also an Outstanding Achievement award for a business that started with their Local Enterprise Office and has gone on to achieve international growth with the assistance of Enterprise Ireland.

Previous winners of the National Enterprise Awards include the likes of Irish Yoghurts (1998), Obelisk (2000), Simtech Aviation (2008), Digiweb (2004) and Design Pro (2013), Terra NutriTech (2018), Pestle & Mortar (2019), Bevcraft (2021), Aqualicence in 2022 and Advanced Cosmetics in 2023.

The National Enterprise Awards are one of a number of initiatives that the Local Enterprise Offices run, to foster entrepreneurship across the country. Others include Local Enterprise Week, the Student Enterprise Programme, National Women’s Enterprise Day, and Local Enterprise Showcase.

The Local Enterprise Offices in local authorities are funded by the Government of Ireland through Enterprise Ireland. Established in 2014, the Local Enterprise Offices are the essential resource for any entrepreneur looking to start a business or any small business that is looking for support or advice to help them grow. Since their inception eight years ago, the Local Enterprise Offices have helped create over 75,000 jobs across the country.

The LEOs work with thousands of client companies across Ireland in a diverse range of sectors offering mentoring, training, expert advice, and financial supports to small businesses. For more information see www.LocalEnterprise.ie