Brendan Mooney, CEO of  software company Kainos Group Plc, won EY Entrepreneur of the Year at last night's ceremony. Kainos is Northern Ireland's largest locally owned IT services company.

 

Mr Monney said " I was genuinely quite shocked to win. When you look at the other finalists there's some fantastic companies with great stories and good business leaders. I really wasn't expecting to win at all. The award is for the company really rather than myself and it's great in terms of helping to attract new talent. Last year, 10,000 people applied for jobs with Kainos and we constantly want to have a conversation with people who might want to work for us and the award will help us do that."

 

Kainos employs 860 people across five countries. Clients include Diageo, FBD, Travelex, Netflix and the National Health Service. The company completed a £161 million flotation on the London Stock Exchange last year.

 

Investec acted as sole sponsor, sole financial advisor, broker, bookrunner and underwriter to Kainos's successful IPO.

 

Green Property (Green REIT PLC) Chairman Stephen Vernon was named EY Industry Entrepreneur of the Year. They are a property development and investment company operating in the core commercial sectors of retail, industrial and office in Ireland and the UK. In 2013, Investec acted as co-lead manager of the successful IPO of Green REIT PLC.

 

"I didn't really expect to be in this or to win the category because while the entrepreneurial thing is there in real estate it's perhaps not as obvious as in other industries" said Mr Vernon.

 

"I'm delighted to have won the award, which is hugely important in terms of the branding of Green".