EY Entrepreneur of the Year profiles: From exam software to timber, healthcare, and bread, here are some of this year’s nominees

Louella Morton and Sheena Bailey, TestReach

Louella Morton and Sheena Bailey are co-founders and co-CEOs of TestReach, a cloud-based online assessment solution that provides a scalable, secure and cost-effective way to run computer-based examinations.

The application has an extensive array of features, from question authoring and test creation, through to multiple exam delivery options, marking, moderation, results management and candidate feedback.

TestReach also includes the integral option of exam delivery via remote invigilation.

This is where the exam hall experience is recreated online, and TestReach in-house supervisors validate and monitor candidates for the duration of their exam, using video, audio and remote screen-share connections.

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TestReach works with over 100 high-profile clients, including the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply, ACCA, the British Council, Council of Europe, the Garda and the Royal College of Anaesthetists.

Q: What vision/lightbulb moment prompted you to start up in business?

A: Louella was selling enterprise software that included a simple quiz tool, allowing you to roll out multiple choice questions. One of her customers got in touch and asked if the quiz could be run over Skype (this was 10 years ago), to prevent cheating.

The request triggered a lightbulb moment, where Louella realised that this was a way formal exams could be run online, removing the need for test centres.

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Q: What is your greatest business achievement to date?

A: TestReach commenced running the British Council’s flagship English language test, Aptis. Aptis is a well-established English language proficiency test taken by more than 1.8 million candidates in around 85 countries.

Q: What was your ‘back-to-the-wall’ moment – and how did you overcome it?

A: Pre-Covid, we had many customers using our software in test centres, but when the pandemic hit, literally overnight these customers got in touch and asked for remote invigilation to be switched on, as test centres were forced to close.

Some of these were medical colleges, where doctors had to be able to sit their exams. It put us under enormous pressure, and our team was working round the clock. Covid was actually a blur.

Q: What moment/deal would you cite as the ‘game changer’ or turning point for the company?

A: When we initially started building our application, communications technologies such as Skype were only just starting to emerge.

What we were trying to achieve was both complex and very cutting edge – video of candidate, video of their screen, instant messaging, delivery of the exam, everything recorded, etc.

Particularly when it comes to high-stakes exams, there isn’t an option to have bugs. It took us about two years to develop the application, and it was a huge turning point when we successfully ran our first live exams back in early 2015.

Q: To what extent does your business trade internationally, and what are your future plans/ambitions?

A: Although we run a lot of exams in Ireland for organisations like the Royal College of Physicians, the Insurance Institute and the Institute of Banking, most of our business comes from UK awarding bodies and Royal Medical Colleges (75 per cent).

We have never actively targeted the US, but plan to do so next year as part of our growth plans.

Q: What is your growth funding path?

A: Aside from a very small amount of HPSU [high potential start-up] funding from Enterprise Ireland, which was matched by friends and family when we first started the company, TestReach has been boot-strapped, and all growth has been funded by revenue.

That said, we continually review our growth plans and may look to take on some funding next year in line with our US expansion plan.

Q: What are the big disruptive forces in your industry?

A: Up to around 10 years ago, exams had not changed in over 3,000 years, since the first recorded exams were run to enter the Chinese civil service.

There has been a huge amount of disruption in the industry in the past 10 years, with not only the move to online exams run in test centres, but also the extra step of remote invigilation.

There will be a lot of additional disruption in the short to medium term as new technologies and methods are introduced to help detect and combat attempts to cheat.

Q: What are you doing to innovate and improve the products or services you offer?

A: We have a lot planned in our roadmap, including a whole range of features focused on accessibility. In addition, our expert marking suite has a range of features focused on ensuring the fastest possible time to results.

We have developed a data analysis suite that includes data forensics, which helps our customers to identify performance trends and issues.

Michael McCambridge, McCambridge Bread

Michael McCambridge’s company is located in Rathcoole, Dublin 22. It operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Its key focus is on the production of Irish wholewheat products with a key emphasis on breads. The company employs a team of 50.

Q: What is your business model – and what makes your business unique?

A: We are focused on quality Irish brown bread. Our vision is to produce the best traditional Irish wholewheat products in the world.

We sell a range of traditional, gluten free and artisan fresh breads – stone-ground, seeded, spelt, soda and bread mixes – throughout Ireland, and we also produce bread mixes and frozen bread for export. These are available in America, Australia and the UK.

Q: What was your ‘back-to-the-wall’ moment – and how did you overcome it?

A: In 1994 the owners of the business, John and Maureen McCambridge, were killed in a road traffic accident. There were four adult children. None of us were working in the business and had no connection with the business.

The business was on a sound financial footing; however, there was no handover. The steep learning curve, coupled with other factors, made it a very challenging time personally and commercially.

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Q: What moment/deal would you cite as the ‘game changer’ or turning point for the company?

A: It seems small for a game changer, but changing our brand livery to the John McCambridge signature made a big difference to our brand. Introducing the reusable zip-lock resealable bag to the market was also a significant moment.

We have made a few small acquisitions in Ireland, but the most important was our purchase of Gills Bakery Limited out of High Court examinership.

The purchase gave us a modern premises close to strong transport networks. We retained all Gills staff and paid all creditors in full.

Q: To what extent does your business trade internationally, and what are your future plans/ambitions?

A: We have a small but growing export business. We sell online through Amazon and our own website. The UK is a strong market for our bread tin home baking kits. Our gluten-free bread kits are particularly popular.

These are also available in Australia, Singapore and from a few independent retailers in Europe. We sell quite a lot of frozen bread in the USA.

Q: What is your growth funding path?

A: We have just completed our three-year strategy, and our goals and growth will be funded largely by internal resources. The current interest rate climate likely precludes any significant debt funding.

Q: How will your market look in three years, and where would you like your business to be?

A: The market evolves rapidly and constantly. Some of the main themes will be a move away from heavily processed foods to foods with simple and locally sourced ingredients. Seasonality is becoming more relevant and topical.

Q: What are the big disruptive forces in your industry?

A: AI will have a huge effect, particularly in market research and consumer marketing. In particular, AI will help to rapidly convert consumer trends and interests into tangible products.

Q: What are you doing to innovate and improve the products or services you offer?

A: Ireland is no longer a low-cost economy, and McCambridge, like many other businesses, needs to run a continuous improvement programme to improve efficiencies. We innovate in production process.

There is no dedicated engineering solution for the production of Irish soda bread. We explore other process for different food types and take ideas from them. This has worked well for us.

Q: Is AI impacting your business and industry?

A: Not yet. Traditional businesses will need to go looking for implications of AI before they arrive at their door. Two areas which spring to mind are consumer research and process improvement.

Q: How is the current inflationary environment impacting your business? How do you expect things to unfold?

A: Raw material inflation has eased somewhat over recent times but there is still inflation. Additionally, indirect costs, such as insurance, IT etc, continue to increase at a significant rate. I expect a couple more rate rises before the rate of inflation starts to ease.

Q: What is the single most important piece of advice you would offer to a less experienced entrepreneur?

A: If you don’t lead in a clear and confident way, you won’t succeed. You need humility so that you can admit mistakes and flexibility to change direction at pace. Communicate your vision with your team.

David Beggs, Pure Pharmacy

David Beggs is the founder of Pure Pharmacy, one of the largest pharmacy chains in Ireland with an annual turnover of €25 million in more than 20 locations, dispensing more than 1 million prescriptions each year.

Q: What vision/lightbulb moment prompted you to start up in business?

A: I realised early on in my career that I wanted to have a real impact, whatever I ended up doing. I think I’m quite creative; I had lots of business ideas, and I knew that would likely mean going out on my own to make them a reality.

Q: Describe your business model – and what makes your business unique?

A: We have a revolutionary pricing model, making prescriptions more affordable for our communities.

Patients were cutting back on their prescriptions, or simply couldn’t afford them. We found a way to pass discounts on to customers directly, saving them up to 60 per cent on prescriptions.

We’re also launching a new DNA testing service, GeneCheck, to support more effective prescriptions for each patient.

Q: What is your greatest business achievement to date?

A: My greatest business achievement was keeping our pharmacies open during the pandemic. At a minute’s notice, we had to replace entire teams.

Q: What was your ‘back-to-the-wall’ moment – and how did you overcome it?

A: When we had to close our flagship store in Dublin Airport after 15 years, it encouraged me to begin researching the future of pharmacy, including world-leading technologies that are core to GeneCheck – a new genetic test which helps doctors accurately prescribe according to each patient’s DNA.

Q: To what extent does your business trade internationally – and what are your future plans/ambitions?

A: Currently, Pure Pharmacy trades across the island of Ireland through its stores and online; however, I have global ambitions.

Q: What is your growth funding path?

A: Pure Pharmacy is growing, on average, by three stores per year.

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Q: How will your market look in three years and where would you like your business to be?

A: Irish pharmacy will face great consolidation. Personalised and digital-driven healthcare will be central to the future of the industry.

Q: What are the big disruptive forces in your industry?

A: Digital healthcare is a majorly disruptive force in our industry. Customers want access to their pharmacists and prescription medications at the click of a button.

We’re ready for the challenge, and we’re excited for what lies ahead as a business and as healthcare providers within our local communities.

Q: What are you doing to innovate and improve the products or services you offer?

A: We want to improve our patients’ lives, with access to the right medication, at the right dosage, and ultimately reduce their side-effects at the same time.

Polypharmacy (multiple medications) is increasing among patients, so GeneCheck will help to analyse individual patients’ genes against over 100 common medications and identify potential risks of serious side-effects.

Q: Is AI impacting your business and industry?

A: Algorithms can analyse and process our genetic data at an incredible rate, and this could have exponential benefits for patients, identifying potential risks of serious side-effects and helping determine the most effective dosage.

Q: How is the current inflationary environment impacting your business? How do you expect things to unfold?

A: Wage and rent inflation have undoubtedly put pressure on the system. Half of the pharmacy business is State-funded, and if the State does not move with these pressures, by way of increasing dispensing fees, then as a sector we will certainly become irreversibly squeezed.

Q: What is the most common mistake you see entrepreneurs make?

A: Entrepreneurship in most cases is a test of endurance. You’re constantly tweaking the model to find the next win.

Sadly, the most common mistake I see is people who have given up too easily. You need to be able to adapt and find opportunity where others might not look at first.

Q: What is the single most important piece of advice you would offer to a less experienced entrepreneur?

A: My advice to less experienced entrepreneurs is to carefully select and approach a mentor, and if they agree to help, then listen.

John Desmond and John O’Callaghan, Cygnum Timber Frame

Established in 1997, Cygnum specialises in designing, engineering, manufacturing, project managing and constructing timber frame for residential and commercial buildings.

Based in Macroom, Co Cork, Cygnum employs 120 people. The company produces more than 700 timber frame houses per annum using automation technologies.

On the back of a €7 million investment and expansion programme, the company has seen its Irish turnover grow by 250 per cent over the last four years.

Q: What vision/lightbulb moment prompted you to start up in business?

A: One of our colleagues built his house in timber frame. The benefits over traditional construction were very obvious and we saw it as a great business opportunity.

Six months after we set up, we took the risky decision to take on a project that was to be featured on Duncan Stewart’s Our House series. It went exceptionally well and gave the business a great kick-start.

Q: What is your business model – and what makes your business unique?

A: House building is a tough business with a multitude of challenges. We make the process easier by delivering certified insulated timber frame structures, including preassembled walls, floors, and roofs.

Working to a strict programme, we install them on site in a matter of days. We dramatically reduce build time, the requirement for skilled labour and, importantly, the embodied carbon.

Q: What is your greatest business achievement to date?

A: Over the years we’ve converted hundreds of builders from building in masonry to building in timber frame with us. When they experience the benefits, they don’t go back. This has allowed us to build a strong loyal customer base, many of whom have worked with us for decades.

Q: What was your ‘back-to-the-wall’ moment – and how did you overcome it?

A: In the years that followed the crash of 2008, our Irish turnover fell by 97 per cent. This was a hugely challenging period for everyone in construction, with many businesses not surviving.

In anticipation of a downturn in Ireland, we had opened a sales office in the UK in 2007. We focused on winning specialised, technically challenging projects. Most importantly, we managed to keep our team and the DNA of the business intact.

Q: What moment/deal would you cite as the ‘game changer’ or turning point for the company?

A: In our first few years, most of our projects were one-off houses. About four years in, a highly respected local developer offered his clients the choice of timber frame or traditional build.

Seventy-one of the 72 home-buyers chose timber frame, making it a reference project that led to other builders adopting timber frame. Ultimately this gave us the confidence to take the business onto a new level.

Q: To what extent does your business trade internationally – and what are your future plans/ambitions?

A: We have built a strong reputation in the UK, but right now we are focusing on the Irish market.

Our business is growing consistently as it addresses many of the operational and logistical challenges facing the housing industry, with the added benefit of being much more sustainable than traditional construction.

We plan to double our output over the next three years to meet the growing demand.

Q: What is your growth funding path?

A: Our primary growth funding over the years has come from reinvesting profits back into the business. We have always adopted a policy of retaining strong cash reserves to fund growth and to protect against the cyclical nature of the industry.

Q: How will your market look in three years – and where would you like your business to be?

A: In three years, our market will have experienced increased demand driven by the need for lower carbon in construction, a rising preference for offsite methods and ongoing shortages of skilled site labour.

Q: What are the big disruptive forces in your industry?

A: House-building has to change. The industry has major issues with capacity and productivity. It is also a major contributor to Ireland’s carbon emissions.

We have developed one of the most advanced plants in Europe, automating many of the tasks that are normally carried out manually on site. We install timber frame houses in a matter of days, dramatically improving builders’ capacity.

Q: How is the current inflationary environment impacting on your business? How do you expect things to unfold?

A: When the inflationary cycle was at its worst, we navigated our way through it by being very open and transparent with our customers. Thankfully, we are now in a post-inflationary phase and have been able to pass price reductions onto our customers.