Tralee, Friday 26^th February 2016: FEXCO Founder and Kerry Entrepreneur, Brian McCarthy, was honoured last night (Thursday 25^th February) at Ballygarry House Hotel & Spa, Tralee with the inaugural Cantillon Entrepreneur Award in association with EY.  The award was part of the Business Leaders’ Forum Dinner which was attended by the county’s leading entrepreneurs, new and established, as well as representatives from Kerry County Council, Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, Kerry Local Enterprise Office, North, East & West Kerry Development; South Kerry Partnership Development, IRD Duhallow, IDA Ireland, Udarás na Gaeltachta and the Institute of Technology Tralee.

Commenting at the awards, FEXCO founder Brian McCarthy said, “I would firstly like to commend IT Tralee and EY for coordinating this event bringing together industry leaders, technology innovators and some of the countries brightest minds in ecommerce at a forum for truly fresh thinking.

“At its core, FEXCO is an entrepreneurial organisation and our goal is to make doing global business easier and more efficient for our clients. I am delighted to accept this award which reflects so well the values of FEXCO and would like to dedicate it to all our employees who have played their important role in our continued success.”

Ian Venner of EY commented: “I would like to congratulate Brian and all at FEXCO on receiving this award as they continue to drive the business forward through constant innovation, connecting businesses globally. Due to their international outlook and client base, Irish indigenous Fintech companies weathered the financial crisis well.  These have been some of the most entrepreneurial businesses as they seek to address digitisation and efficiency challenges of existing financial services including payments, transaction processing, compliance requirements, smart billing, security, card services; and the list goes on. 

Ronan Murray who helps drive the Entrepreneur Of The Year (EOY) Programme in Munster added “For the last 19 years EY has been committed to supporting entrepreneurship across the Island and around the world through our EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Programme.  EY’s strong presence both locally and international in advising technology and financial services clients gives us a unique insight into Fintech sector and Brian is truly a deserving recipient of this award.

Earlier that day over 150 people attended  the Cantillon Conference at the IT, Tralee North Campus where a host of national and international thought and business leaders, economists, journalists, academics and entrepreneurs spoke about Fintech and how new technologies are impacting on  business, policies and financial trends. The Cantillon Conference is now an annual event and a ‘Forum for Fresh Thinking’, which challenges the status quo, pushes experts to think differently and allows its audience to really participate in debate on issues that affect the economy and the development of entrepreneurship in Ireland.

Commenting on the event, Dr Oliver Murphy, President at IT Tralee said; “once again the Cantillon Conference has proven to be a huge triumph. The key to the event’s success is the fact that topics for discussion are chosen to reflect issues that are topical and relevant to the strategic development of entrepreneurship and transformation of our current economic model. We had some of the world’s leading experts in the area of Fintech with us in Kerry yesterday disrupting the entire financial landscape. We are also delighted to have EY on board with our Cantillon Entrepreneur Award and look forward to building on this relationship. Kerry is unrivalled when it comes to entrepreneurial success and we congratulate FEXCO’s Brian McCarthy as the first recipient of the inaugural Cantillon Entrepreneur Award.”