Innovative Longford firm cooks up winning recipe to claim overall County Enterprise Award

The strength, ambition and innovation of Longford's commercial community was celebrated last week as the county's Local Enterprise Office hosted their annual awards with multiple successful local businesses honoured.

The ceremony, held at PV's in Longford town last Thursday, recognised and promoted success stories of small business owners from all over the county.

The overall County Enterprise Award winner was Dial a Chef Catering, which has grown from a small rural catering service in Ballinamuck into one of the region’s most respected food enterprises and they took home the top prize.

The company, founded by Eilish McLoughlin 22 years ago, caters for all sizes of private and corporate events as well as supplying large volumes of meals daily for schools across Longford and the wider region.

Dial-a-Chef, which is well-known for its quality, community values and fresh, locally sourced food, will now represent Longford at the National Enterprise Awards next June where they will compete for a prize fund of €53,000.

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Eilish, a health and nutrition coach who compiles and designs all their menus, is well placed to develop her business with an increasing demand for healthy, nutritious meals.

"It's a really nice honour to represent Longford and it's great for small businesses like mine to be recognised.

"We started off just doing christenings, communions and confirmations and all that kind of thing and then it just kind of moved on to the schools programme and it's getting better all of the time.

"Winning the Enterprise of the Year Award is a huge honour for all of us at Dial a Chef.

"It’s incredibly rewarding to see the hard work of our team recognised in this way.

"Running a business has its challenges, so receiving this recognition means a lot to us and motivates us to keep striving for excellence."

Eilish said they are very grateful to the Longford Local Enterprise Office for their ongoing support and encouragement, and they would also like to congratulate all of the other winners and finalists.

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"This award really belongs to our entire team. At Dial a Chef, we have an amazing group of people who work incredibly hard every day to deliver for our clients."

Eilish said they started supplying meals to schools 19 years ago with packed lunches and pupils at St Mary's National School in Drumlish were the first children to sample their food with word of mouth helping to grow the business.

"We moved on to Killoe National School after that and we provide meals to 24 schools."

Eilish said the help of the Local Enterprise Office in Longford was vitally important to the business when they were starting off and for expanding and developing the business who employ 22 people.

Her daughter Siobhán, who joined the business in a management role two years ago, stated they now supply meals to schools in counties Longford, Leitrim, Cavan and Westmeath with chicken curry and lasagne, two of the favourites.

"Everything is homemade," she added.

Well known journalist and broadcaster, Carole Coleman acted as MC on the day and there was an abundance of worthy prize winners in the various categories.

‘Spirit of Longford’ award

One of those, Norman Hall was crowned this year’s winner of the ‘Spirit of Longford’ award.

Norman Hall is a long‑standing North Longford entrepreneur whose company, Hall Transport, has been a major local employer for decades and who has further strengthened the region through continued investment, rural business revitalisation and major fundraising initiatives.

As owner of Hall Transport, he has built one of the region's most respected haulage businesses while providing vital local employment and he has 40 employees working for him across his multiple enterprises.

Norman is also widely recognised for his community spirit, having spearheaded several highly successful Truck and Tractor Runs that have raised hundreds of thousands of euro and supported numerous community initiatives.

He reopened The Hill Top Bar in Aughnacliffe and he purchased Smear Stores and ensured the continuation of long-established central to rural life.

Norman is also generating new economic activity through two recent ventures Emerald Renewables, a solar panel installation company and Remington Homes, a modular housing business, both with strong potential for local job creation

"It's definitely nice to be recognised, it's been a busy few years, [Hall Transport] was the start of it and we probably amalgamated then around 1997 and built it from there.

"There are a lot of local people employed, that was the start of it and I spread my wings then and went into the rest of the stuff.

"I thought the trucks were going to go downhill so I decided to go off with different stuff and I have the solar business as well and now we are at this modular housing as well so we'll see how that goes."

Asked if the solar panel business was primarily based in the Midlands, Norman said it was across the country.

'Lean Champion' award

Longford Signs, a specialist signage and printing business operating for over 20 years on the Athlone Road in Longford town, won the 'Lean Champion' award.

Joanne Rolka, who runs the business, which employs seven people, with her husband Piotr, said they are delighted.

"Yes it's absolutely an honour and it's nice our hard work is being recognised and this award is a big privilege and we wouldn't be able to do it without our customers and our staff."

Aside from the overall winner, the 'Spirit of Longford' winner and the 'Lean Champion' award, three other local businesses won awards.

Cassidy Blinds, a long‑established, family‑run Longford business known for made‑to‑measure blinds and bespoke window solutions, claimed the 'Digital Champion' honour.

Rapidly growing metal engineering business FC

Fabrication Ltd, founded by Frankie Carrigy in Killoe, specialise in the repair and refurbishment of excavation equipment winning the 'Best Start-up' award.

Well-known Drumlish-based Janni Bars, which was founded by Swedish native Janni Sjöstrandm and is an acclaimed producer of natural, handcrafted shampoo and personal care bars, won the 'Green Sustainability' award.

Speaking at the ceremony Longford County Council Director of Services with responsibility for Enterprise, Michael Nevin, spoke of the quality of local enterprise and how the businesses are key contributors to the economic growth of the county.

Longford County Council Cathaoirleach Cllr Garry Murtagh said the County Longford Enterprise awards show the strength and ambition of businesses across Longford.

"Dial a Chef’s success reflects the hard work that is happening in every part of our county, from long‑established family firms to new enterprises with fresh ideas.

"I also want to acknowledge the contribution of people like Norman Hall, whose dedication has supported local jobs and community life for decades.

"These awards remind us that local enterprise is not only about business growth, but about the pride and resilience of our communities.”