20 small companies shortlisted for €10,000 TV presentation packages

01.08.2012

Twenty small companies around the country are in the running to win one of six €10,000 presentation packages on ‘Shopping from Home’ series, which screens on RTÉ every morning.

The ‘Your Business on Irish TV’ competition is a joint initiative between the home shopping series and the County and City Enterprise Boards.

The competition, which was devised by Kathy Hoffman, founder and managing director of Shopping from Home, will provide the six winning companies with the platform for a month to promote and sell their products and services directly to viewers on television for the very first time.

As part of the package, the winning companies will also receive marketing and PR support during the course of the month.

The 20 finalists, all award-winning Irish businesses in their own right, have been nominated by their local County and City Enterprise Boards.

The judging process to select the final six begins next week and the winners are expected to be announced in the middle of August. Screentime ShinAwil, the production company behind The Apprentice, MasterChef Ireland, Dragons’ Den and The Voice, will film the first presentation in August, which will then be broadcast on RTÉ One from September.

“In collaboration with the County and City Enterprise Boards, we’re seeking home-grown businesses which can offer clever, innovative and affordable products to Irish viewers,” said Hoffman, who is also the show’s series producer and presenter.

“We want our winners to be able to capitalise on the added exposure that this TV opportunity can give them and their businesses. If ever there was a need to Buy Irish it is now. We want everyone in Ireland to get behind this initiative, support these worthy winners by buying their product and service and help them develop.”

“Getting their products and services onto RTE Television will open new doors for small businesses, giving them access to new marketplaces and consumers,” said Sheelagh Daly from the County and City Enterprise Boards. “This kind of unique opportunity can help small businesses grow and expand, potentially leading to job creation locally.”

The 20 nominees are:

Carlow – Bunbury Boards (wooden chopping boards)
Clare – WowWee (personalised rag dolls)
Dublin (Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown) – Red Rufus (sock dogs) and Slated (slate tableware)
Dublin (City) – Karora (tanning products)
Dublin (Fingal) – Simtech (flight simulator gift vouchers)
Galway – We Solve It (sure step ladder stabiliser);
Kildare – Shalford Interiors (handcrafted kitchens and furniture)
Kilkenny – Mileeven (honey and fine foods)
Meath – Hennessy & Byrne (Connemara marble tableware)
Roscommon – Willow Design (greeting cards and stationery)
Sligo – Quick Crop (timber raised vegetable kit)
Tipperary (South) – Wheelokit (wheel lock kit)
Tipperary (North) – Crossogue Preserves (jams and chutneys) and Lough Derg Chocolates (chocolates)
Waterford – Irish Handmade Glass (handmade Irish crystal)
Cork (West) – Rynhart Fine-Art Bronze Gifts (sculptor frames and lamps)
Cork (South) – My Blinds (window blinds)
Westmeath – Button Studio (jewellery)
Wicklow – Chocolate Garden (chocolate / confectionery gifts)

The six winning companies will each have their products featured on the series for one month. The package comprises 45 minutes of broadcasting for the month, including free filming and post production, as well as national and regional PR and social media support.

The winning companies will also be provided with a broadcast quality website link to upload the footage onto their website and a DVD to allow them showcase their products at exhibitions or trade fairs in the future.

Shopping from Home was first broadcast in 2010 and is screened on RTE One television every morning at 7.30am- 8.00am Monday to Sunday.