Longford’s Midland Language Centre in National Enterprise Awards Final

Midland Language Centre from Longford has been selected as one of the finalists for the National Enterprise Awards that take place on Thursday, June 1.

The company will represent Local Enterprise Office, Longford at the prestigious awards in the Round Room at the Mansion House in Dublin.

Midland Language Centre provides homestay programmes for international students coming to Ireland to learn English.

Set up by Clodagh Brady in 1976, the Centre has been managed by Angela Brady since 2004. It has grown significantly, with over 2,000 international students a year matched with host families and placed onto language programmes in over 120 schools across Ireland.

Angela Brady, Managing Director of MLC, commented, “For MLC to be a finalist is very exciting for our team and we are extremely proud to be representing Longford at the national awards.”

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This is the 23rd year of the Local Enterprise Office initiative, which was won last year by Aqualicense, supported by Local Enterprise Office Wicklow. Headed up by former Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur (IBYE) Finalist Kate Dempsey, Aqualicense have positioned themselves at the forefront of planning and project delivery in the offshore renewable energy sector.

This year the finalists cover a range of sectors and industries from augmented reality tours and sensory friendly clothes designers to energy saving software platforms and agtech solutions farmers. The finalists also include a range of consumer products from chocolate and whiskey to artisan bakery products and a zero-waste food company.

Michael Nevin, Head of Enterprise at Longford Local Enterprise Office said, “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 Finalists have shown outstanding resilience to get to where they are today and we are looking forward to celebrating with them at the Awards”.

Local Enterprise Office, Longford has had previous success at the awards with Cirtex Ltd from Shroid, County Longford winning the overall Sustainability award at last years’ awards.

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.

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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) and Bevcraft in 2021.

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.

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