From Mullingar to the national stage: Founders Friday shortlisted for Social Impact Award

AllPro Recruitment’s Founders Friday event series has been shortlisted for the Social Impact Award at the Workplace Excellence Awards 2026, following its successful expansion into Mullingar earlier this year.

The Mullingar Founders Friday was delivered by AllPro Recruitment in collaboration with MidlandJobs.ie and Local Enterprise Office Westmeath at Canton Casey’s, bringing local founders, entrepreneurs and business leaders together for an evening of candid conversation and practical business insight.

The event featured two leading midlands entrepreneurs with different business journeys: Denise Buckley, founder of Mullingar-based Sugar Plum Sweetery and co-founder of Wholesome Kitchen, and John Mee, co-founder of the Athlone technology companies Sidero and SolanoTech.

Since speaking at Founders Friday, Denise Buckley and her co-founder David Quirke have achieved one of the highest honours available to an Irish small business, when Sugar Plum Sweetery was named the overall winner of the 2026 National Enterprise Awards. The business also secured the midlands regional title.

Founded in 2022, Sugar Plum Sweetery has gained national attention for its handmade chocolate creations, creative branding and rapid commercial growth. Its products include the viral Dubai Chocolate Bar, which helped establish the Mullingar company as one of Ireland’s most recognisable emerging consumer brands.

John Mee shared the contrasting journey of scaling a major midlands technology business. He co-founded Sidero, which grew from a small team to approximately 240 employees before being acquired by GlobalLogic, part of the Hitachi Group, in 2023.

During the Mullingar event, both speakers spoke openly about the setbacks, changes in direction and difficult decisions behind their achievements, demonstrating the value of hearing the full story behind a successful business.

Mullingar is also home to Watt Footprint, the international energy technology company co-founded by Offaly entrepreneur Paul Mahon and Paul O’Reilly.

Paul Mahon previously appeared at Founders Friday in Tullamore, where he shared the story behind building Watt Footprint and growing a midlands-based company into an international energy and sustainability business.

Since its establishment in 2020, Watt Footprint has grown into an international company with offices in Ireland, London and Dubai. Its technology and energy expertise have helped clients save more than €9 million and reduce energy consumption by more than 44 million kilowatt hours. The company has also expanded its team to approximately 45 energy specialists and secured strategic investment to support its international growth.

Founders Friday will return to Mullingar in the winter.

The events are led by MC Ronan Berry, midlands radio presenter and business broadcaster whose insight, humour and understanding of the regional business community have become central to the Founders Friday format.

David Gleeson, founder of AllPro Recruitment and chairperson of the AllPro People Group, said: “The Mullingar Founders Friday demonstrated the extraordinary calibre of founders and businesses we have here in the midlands.

“Denise and John came from different industries, but both spoke honestly about the challenges, setbacks and changes in direction behind their success. Those are the conversations that make Founders Friday valuable.

“To see Denise and David go on to win the overall National Enterprise Award for Sugar Plum Sweetery is a fantastic achievement for Mullingar and for the wider midlands business community.

“Companies such as Sugar Plum Sweetery, Sidero and Watt Footprint show that nationally and internationally successful businesses can be created and grown from this region.

“We are delighted that Founders Friday has now received national recognition of its own, and we look forward to returning to Mullingar this winter.”

The Mullingar event was supported by MidlandJobs.ie and Local Enterprise Office Westmeath, whose collaboration helped bring the Founders Friday format to the local business community.

Approximately 500 guests have now attended Founders Friday events across the midlands. The Social Impact Award shortlisting recognises the role the series has played in building connection, encouraging openness and reminding founders and business leaders that they are not facing the challenges of entrepreneurship alone.

Further details about the winter Founders Friday event in Mullingar, including the date, venue and featured speakers, will be announced in the coming months.

If you would like to attend Founders Friday in the future, email jasmine@allprorecruitment.ie to be added to the mailing list.