Liam O’Kelly, Founder and CEO of AirSpeed Telecom, was announced winner of the RSM Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the prestigious European Business Awards ceremony last night in Athens. RSM International, the sponsor of the Entrepreneur of the Year award category, is the seventh largest worldwide network of independent audit, tax and advisory firms. 

The Irish company AirSpeed Telecom provides high performance telecommunications products and services to enterprise, public sector and SME businesses. Founded in 2003, it is the leading provider in Ireland and its success has delivered a year-on-year growth in revenues in excess of 40%. It was selected by the judges for spotting a gap in the market to deliver leased line replacement services for Internet access for between 30% and 50% of the cost of competing products.

Jean Stephens, CEO of RSM, comments: “The RSM Entrepreneur of the Year Award is an extremely competitive platform showcasing Europe’s most promising business talent. Liam O’Kelly has created a very impressive business in a highly crowded sector. His vision and sheer determination, together with his ability to continually innovate and read where the market is going, make him an outstanding entrepreneur and a very worthy winner of the RSM Entrepreneur of the Year Award.”

Liam O’ Kelly, CEO AirSpeed Telecom, says: “We were extremely proud to reach the Ruban d’Honneur stage of the European Business Awards and to represent Ireland. Securing the award for Entrepreneur of the Year is a tremendous achievement and recognises the hard work, focus and enthusiasm of the entire AirSpeed Telecom team. Demonstrating our ability to grow the business by 40% annually over the past few years, while maintaining consistently high levels of service and value for our customers, was a key factor in securing this win. Gaining recognition of that achievement from such a high calibre judging panel represents a significant endorsement for our business.”

The ceremony, attended by 400 business leaders, academics, media and political representatives, marks the culmination of a year-long programme which began with over 17,000 businesses spread across 31 countries and ended with just 100 Ruban d’Honneur finalists hoping to become one of the ten category winners, including the RSM Entrepreneur of the Year. The winners were announced and celebrated at a Gala Event held at the Westin Astir Palace Resort, in Athens, on 27 May.

The European Business Awards is an independent awards programme designed to recognise and promote excellence, best practice and innovation in the European business community. It connects the best in European business, across borders, business size and sector and provides an active platform to inspire debate and shape future trends in the European business community.

In the 2013/14 competition, the seventh in its history, all EU member markets were represented plus Turkey, Norway and Macedonia and their combined revenue exceeded €1 trillion, generated profits of over €50 billion.

For more information on the European Business Awards, please visit: www.businessawardseurope.com

ENDS