Geraldine Swarbrigg receives Lifetime Achievement Award at 2017 IMAGE Businesswoman of the Year ceremony
Geraldine Swarbrigg is to feature on the RTÉ Radio 1 programme, The Business, tomorrow, Saturday November 25, at 10am
Director of Inglot Ireland and serial entrepreneur Geraldine Swarbrigg received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2017 IMAGE Businesswoman of the Year Awards ceremony at the Clayton Hotel, Burlington Road, Dublin 4 on Monday.
Selected by the editors and directors of IMAGE Publications, the award is presented to women who have trailblazed in their careers, and former recipients include Breege O’Donoghue, former group director of Primark; Mary Finan, a founding partner of Wilson Hartnell PR; and Freda Hayes, founder of Meadows and Byrne.
Geraldine Swarbrigg (née Morris) has retail in her DNA.
Born in 1952, she grew up in Arvagh, County Cavan, the daughter and granddaughter of Morris General Drapers.
After marrying musician Tommy Swarbrigg in 1977, her first foray into retail was opening Music City record store in Mullingar the next year.
A move into fashion began with Geraldine’s first boutique in 1980 before she discovered Vero Moda in Norway and brought it to Ireland in 1991.
Opening stores across Ireland, this accessible fashion brand became a staple in style-savvy Irish women’s wardrobes.
Geraldine then went on to repeat the success with Jack and Jones for men, and Exit for children.
She brought Aldo shoes to Ireland in 2005, opening in the then-new Dundrum Town Centre and extending before she sold the brand back to its parent in 2008.
Her skill at finding new blockbuster brands continued as she diversified into beauty in 2009, buying the licence for Inglot Cosmetics, which currently has 17 stores nationwide and a busy online sales portal at inglot.ie.
Geraldine is joined in Inglot’s management with daughter Jane and son Peter. The brand expanded into the UK in September 2017 with the opening of Inglot’s first store, in Newcastle.
Clodagh Edwards, CEO, IMAGE Publications says: “Geraldine Swarbrigg is a woman with immense talent and dynamism who has been a quiet leader in Irish retail for over three decades.
“Geraldine’s entrepreneurial spirit, can-do approach and tireless energy makes her an inspiration to all women in business; she truly has forged a path we can now all follow.
“At IMAGE Publications, we’ve had a longstanding admiration for Geraldine and all the brands she’s brought to Ireland, so we are delighted that she has accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award for 2017.”