They’ve met the competition; they’ve faced the judges and now the journey of 24 Irish entrepreneurs battling it out for the EY Entrepreneur of the Year award will reach a climax at the Citywest Hotel in Dublin this Thursday.

More than 1,300 business leaders and entrepreneurs are expected to attend the event, with one winner selected from each of the three categories – emerging, industry and international – as well as an overall winner. The overall winner will represent Ireland at the World Entrepreneur of the Year awards in Monte Carlo in June 2014.

“This year’s programme was centred on encouraging our entrepreneurs to think globally and scale the ambitions for their respective companies,” said Frank O’Keeffe, partner-in charge of EY Entrepreneur of the Year programme. Ranging from financial services and technology to agriculture and manufacturing, the finalists span a diverse range of sectors, collectively employing more than 6,000 people and generating revenues in excess of €1 billion.

Grow your business
On the subject of entrepreneurship, An Post is hosting a Grow Your Business conference in Croke Park on the same day.

Business owners will discover “easy to implement” ideas to find new sales channels and increase revenues.

Cooley Distillery founder Dr John Teeling, Amie Peters, head of direct mail at An Post, Irish Institute of Sport director of high performance Gary Keegan and Gary Brown, executive chairman of Target McConnells advertising agency, will be among the speakers at the event.

Dr Teeling will speak about the strategies he used to start and grow his successful businesses and the important lessons he learned along the way.