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By TOM GILLESPIE A Claremorris based enterprise, CBE Software, has been awarded The Company Of the Year Award For 1998, by Mayo County Enterprise Board. The award was presented to the Managing Director of the Company, Mr. Gerry Concannon, at a function in Breaffy House Hotel, Castlebar by Mr. Des Mahon, Chairman, Mayo County Enterprise Board. CBE Software produces software for the retail sector which links point of sale equipment, such as cash registers and scanners, electronically to back office or remote computers. CBE Software was established by Gerry Concannon in late 1995. At that time his existing company Central Business Equipment Ltd., which is the national distributor for Casio point of sale equipment and cash registers, was spending substantial sums importing software to link point of sale equipment to back office computers. Gerry Concannon and his co-directors in CBE, Sean Kenna and Seamus Murray, believed not only that they could produce such software, but also that they could improve on what was then available in the market place. In a little over two years they have successfully done so, and in the process created ten additional high quality jobs in Claremorris, most of them for computer and electronics graduates. A native of Kilconly, Gerry Concannon established his original company, Central Business Equipment Ltd., in Claremorris in 1980, to distribute cash registers in the West of Ireland. In 1983 that company became the national distributors for Casio point of sale products. He, and his team, have since brought their share of the overall Irish market from 12% to 42%, to become in the process the largest company nationally in this sector. While most national distributors are Dublin based, CBE have achieved this remarkable success from their original Claremorris base. Speaking at the presentation Mr. Des Mahon, Chairman Mayo County Enterprise Board highlighted the achievements of the board since it was established - assisting local entrepreneurs to create of 556 full-time and 105 part-time jobs, in 276 separate projects, by providing them with grants in the order of £2.5 million. While the role of the Board was important, he said, that of local entrepreneurs willing to take the risks associated with the establishment of new business ventures was critical if we are to maximise the development of the local economy, generate a positive attitude towards enterprise, and create an enterprise culture. It was important, therefore, to salute the achievements of local entrepreneurs. For this reason Mayo County Enterprise Board has initiated a Company of the Year Award Mr. Mahon indicated that Mr. Gerry Concannon, and his co-directors, Sean Kenna and Seamus Murray recognised a new business opportunity to develop computer software to replace products which their existing distribution company, CBE Ltd, were importing. Mayo County Enterprise Board, for its part was happy to support the promoters to develop a new business t exploit this opportunity, and in 1996 to provide grant assistance to the company to undertake the developments necessary to make their dream a reality. The County Enterprise Board confidence in the company had since been fully justified. The company had projected that it would create seven new jobs in Claremorris, in the event it crated ten. As such it had provided much needed graduate employment in the East Mayo area, and would hopefully, increase employment further in the future. Mr Frank Fullard, Chief Executive Officer of the Mayo County Enterprise Board said that in his view CBE Software was one of the best projects assisted anywhere in Ireland through the County Enterprise Board system. The company had already made a major contribution to employment creation locally, and it was his belief that they would make an even more significant contribution in the future. They had, he said, developed the technical, marketing, and management skills necessary for such growth. He hoped that the success of the company would encourage other entrepreneurs to look afresh at their existing operations to see whether new opportunities might be exploited in the same manner as CBE. Mayo County Manager, Mr. Des Mahon said the Mayo County Enterprise Board in carrying out it's remit under the EU Operational Programme for Local Urban and Rural Development assists, through a range of measures, the development of micro enterprises within the county. During the period October 1993, when the Board held it's inaugural meeting, to December 1997 the Mayo County Enterprise board has approved grant assistance totalling £2.5 million to 276 separate projects within the county, facilitating the creation by those enterprises of 556 full-time and 105 part-time jobs in the process. To date in 1998 it has approved grant assistance in excess of £300,000 to a further 24 projects. It is hoped that these projects will create a further 67 full-time jobs when they are fully operational. The Operational Programme under which we receive EU funding ends in 1999 will be forthcoming, whether from EU sources or from the national exchequer. I would accordingly ask the Deputies and Senators here to-day to keep this in mind when policy decisions are taken on this important matter. The Mayo County Enterprise Board plays a pivotal role in the development of micro-enterprises, and provides an integrated package of support to this sector excluding grant aid as well as business training and consultancy at the crucial start-up and early development stage. He said: We have a very extensive Soft Support Programme developed in consultation with those working in the sector. It includes:- "Business Skills Training for those wishing to establish a business. These programmes have so far been run at various locations throughout the county including Achill, Ballina, Ballyhaunis, Belmullet, Castlebar, Claremorris, Kiltimagh and Westport. "Workshops have been organised on specific themes of relevance, including Marketing & Selling Skills, Financial Management and Customer Care. "One to one advice, counselling and training on specific topics relevant to individual businesses has been provided. "We have provided Mentors to small businesses. "Extensive Management Development Training Programmes, have been organised, with the intention of enhancing the management capability of those running their own small firm. "If we are to maximise the development of our local economy we must do everything to create a positive attitude towards enterprise, and create an enterprise culture. One way of doing this is to salute the achievements of those in the field. For this reason Mayo County Enterprise Board has initiated a Company of the Year Award. It gives me great pleasure, therefore, to announce that the recipients of this award in the current year are May 3 Software Ltd., trading as CBE Software, and to present the Managing Director of that company, Mr. Gerry Concannon, with that award. "He and his co-directors, Sean Kenna, and Seamus Murray recognised a new business opportunity to develop computer software to replace products which his existing distribution company, CBE Ltd, were importing. Mayo County Enterprise Board, for its part was happy to support the promoters to develop a new business to exploit this opportunity, and in 1996 to provide grant assistance to the company to undertake the developments necessary to make their dream a reality. Our confidence in the company was fully justified. "The company was projecting to create seven new jobs in Claremorris, in the event they created ten. As such they have provided much needed graduate employment in the East Mayo area. I know that they are currently proposing to increase employment further. "If we want role models for the further development of enterprise in Mayo, we need go no further than CBE, its Directors and staff. The Chairman of Mayo County Council, Mr. Pat Kilbane, paid tribute to the directors of CBS on their great achievement. They had played Mr. Gerard Concannon in accepting the prestigious award said: " To be selected by the Enterprise Board as Company of the Year is a land mark in the history of our business. If as Shakespeare said "Praises are our wages", then I feel as if I have just got a mighty rise. Well! You have heard a little bit about CBE Software already so I will just say a little about the companies origins and why? We set up the business. "Our first company CBE was set up in Claremorris in 1980, eighteen years ago. We started with only three employees. We are now a multi-million pound company, employing 54 people directly, and a further 95 people indirectly through our dealer network throughout the country. CBE is now the number one supplier of P.O.S. Systems in Ireland with 42% of the market. "We have successfully competed against major Multi-nationals to get major deals. We are already Claremorris towns biggest employers and know that through the further development of CBE Software we can be the major industry that the town and region needs so badly. "CBE started off as Cash Register Distributors and over the years moved into Point of Sales Systems and full I.T. Solutions. As our Systems Division developed we imported more and more software from abroad, primarily from the U.K. "This is when the need for the CBE Software company arose. Here we were! Importing software from abroad and very often we had to carry out modifications on this software to make it suit the Irish Market. It was an obvious decision for us to set up our own software manufacturing company. That was in 1991 and it wasn't until 1995 that we got things underway. Indeed if it wasn't for the Mayo Enterprise Board we'd have never got CBE Software underway. "I have to pay special tribute to Frank Fullard, C.E.O. of the Mayo Enterprise Board. We approached the Enterprise Board and got a meeting with Frank. We didn't get the usual 'if, buts or maybes or that terrible phrase "I don't know it depends!" We were greeted with enthusiasm and most importantly with encouragement. That said, Frank, set out rigorous guidelines on putting a proper business and development plan together for the project so that it's potential could be accurately assessed by the board. Painstakingly we put our development plan together. "Fortunately our application for assistance was successful. The financial assistance was hugely important but the wise guidance and advice was equally important. Frank Fullard and his colleague Padraig McDermot were always available with guidance, advice and encouragement during the nervy start up period. They continued to guide and encourage us through out the development of the project. "As part of our development plan we gave projections to the Enterprise board. As a tribute to the Mayo Enterprise Board, I am pleased to confirm that we have surpassed all expectations. We had a start up of just three employees. We projected that in the first 18 months we would employ seven people. We surpassed this. In our first year of trading CBE Software now employs 10 people. As most of our activities in the first year were in the area of development we projected modest sales. In fact our products began to sell well immediately as they were completed. In six months we had approximate 100k sales. "We projected 200K sales in our second year. Our second year software sales have in fact trebled that of the first year in nine months, to 300k. Very significantly 50% of our sales were export. The innovative software produced by CBE Software was directly responsible for us succeeding in getting a £1.4 million export order for our hardware systems sales. Thank you Mayo Enterprise Board. "CBE Software has at present four major new projects at the planning stage. With the assistance and guidance of Forbairt we have absolutely bo doubt that these projects will succeed. We can confidentially project doubling the employment at CBE Software in the next two to three years." Mr. Concannon added: "The outcome of Enterprise Boards confidence in CBE Software is best illustrated by the number of people and companies in the area that had an immediate positive effect by the start up of this small company. The following people are just some of those positively effected by CBE software setting up in Mayo." He listed graduates from all over the region and the country that have been recruited by CBE Software as well as 20 different companies in the region that benefitted from the set up of CBE Software. Mr. Concannon continued; "The success of CBE Software is a team effort. Indeed the success of our overall business can be attributed not to anyone one person but to a group o people with a common goal. I want to especially thank my Co-Directors Sean Kenna and Seamus Murray for their hard work and commitment to making our business a success and for their dedication to developing CBE Software. Thanks Sean and Seamus. "I would also like to say a special word of thanks to my wife Catherine for her patience and understanding of the many long hours it takes to keep a successful company successful. Thank you too, to Sean's wife Marie, and Seamus's wife Carmel whom I am sure are equally as understanding and patient. Special tribute of course has to go to the staff of CBE Software for their loyalty and commitment to making CBE Software a success. We have a great team. A team of high caliber people going places. "The ripples of one company's success is far reaching. I hope the ripples of our success will encourage other companies to expand and new companies to start up. If there are people thinking of starting up something. I for one will definitely be encouraging them to get right in to the Enterprise Board. "Now as someone once said "Public speaking is like spelling banana". You have got to know when to stop."
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