Healy is Entrepreneur of the Year award finalist

MAURICE Healy, originally from Skibbereen and now living in Churchtown, Dublin is the founder and owner of Healy Group since 1985. 

Healy has been selected as one of the finalists in the 2016 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award. He featured on the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year programme on UTV Ireland this week.

Maurice was educated at St Fachtna’s De La Salle College in Skibbereen, before moving to Dublin in 1971. At 18 he began his career at a haulage company followed by Dublin Maritime, before starting work with the National Chemical Company in 1976. It was here that Maurice gained valuable insight into the chemical industry, which would aid in establishing his own company, Healy Group, in 1985. Maurice’s ambition saw Healy Group grow substantially, securing an established supplier network and loyal customer base. Over the last 30 years, the company has expanded further through partnerships with likeminded people such as those in Camida, Organic Little Ones and Couverture, where the group holds significant equity and Maurice is a chairman of the boards.

Aided by his extensive knowledge and experience of running a successful business, Maurice later returned to education at the Irish Management Institute where he gained a BA in Business Management. A keen advocate of corporate responsibility and philanthropy, Maurice is committed to supporting charities and local communities through social enterprise, and he is currently chairman of TraidLinks and serves on the boards of Haven Partnership and Anamcara. Maurice has previously been president of IBEC and served on the boards of the Irish Chamber Orchestra, the Niall Mellon Foundation, Social Entrepreneurs Ireland and the Leuven Institute for Ireland in Europe.

The group’s customer base ranges from small, artisan food producers to global corporations. A family-run business, it employs about 100 people.

Maurice now resides in Churchtown with his wife Adelaide. He has four sons, David, Anthony, Gareth and Tim, and is a grandfather to Gareth’s daughters Kate, Dara and Sarah. In addition to his hobbies of golf, rugby and hurling, Maurice enjoys visiting Cork with his family, where he has a home office on the coast in Ballylickey.

The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year is a six-part documentary series that profiles entrepreneurs who have overcome adversity through innovation and creativity to create world-leading businesses which are revolutionising technology, education, health, agriculture and more. It explores the lives of the people behind these businesses and the inspirational stories in their journey to success. The will air every Monday in the build-up to the Awards Gala on Thursday October 27th.

The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year is sponsored by Enterprise Ireland and Invest Northern Ireland.