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Irish entrepreneur Seány McCleary has been awarded the inaugural Rising Star – Young Professional of the Year Award at recent Causeway: Ireland Scotland Business Exchange annual business awards in Edinburgh.
Seány McCleary, co-founder of Streat School has been recently honoured by receiving the inaugural Rising Star – Young Professional of the Year Award at the Causeway: Ireland Scotland Business Exchange’s Annual Business Awards, that were held recently at a prestigious black-tie celebration in Edinburgh on 7 October 2021.
Sponsored by Cooper Software, this year’s Causeway Business Awards Celebrations were attended by approximately 250 business leaders, from a variety of sectors, from across Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland. The annual Causeway Awards are a high-profile annual event that showcase and celebrate business successes and trading triumphs from both sides of the Irish Sea, with keynote guest speeches on the evening from Scottish Government’s Ivan McKee, Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise, Irish Government’s Consul General of Ireland in Scotland, Jane McCulloch and the Depute Lord Provost of Edinburgh, Councillor Joan Griffiths MBE.
The Rising Star – Young Professional of the Year Award was a new award introduced this year by Irish-Scottish membership network, Causeway: Ireland Scotland Business Exchange, to give recognition to the growing number of exceptional young professionals from across Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland now active in the network and to showcase individuals who have demonstrated a promising future ahead in their field or in entrepreneurship.
Mr McCleary won the Rising Star – Young Professional of the Year Award against other finalists from across Ireland and Scotland who were shortlisted in this category, with the award on the night presented by award sponsor, Caroline McGrath of The Media Shop Scotland.
After travelling the world, Seány McCleary and his partner Nikita McCrory spotted a huge gap in the market for a street food sales, consultancy and mentoring company and established the business, Streat School, which today is a leading supplier of custom branded food trucks and trailers in Ireland and UK.
As an entrepreneur, Mr McCleary has worked endlessly to grow his own food business from the ground up, as well as nurturing the needs of his growing team. He has helped over 75 other businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs establish their own street food companies, and now his sights set more firmly on the UK and European markets.
Commenting on receiving the award, Mr McCleary said:
“I am honoured to receive the Causeway Rising Star: Young Professional of the Year 2021. I founded Streat School in February 2020, with the goal to help street food entrepreneurs get their 'eats to the streets' and to help them avoid the many pitfalls and teething problems in setting up a food/coffee truck or catering business, which I personally experienced.
“Back then, Street food and food trucks in Ireland was still quite a taboo - no mentoring, no supports, no grant aid, no courses, no industry experts willing to help - I wanted to change that. It has been a rollercoaster 18 months, keeping my own food business alive and pivoting our way through a global pandemic, one week at a time. I can now look back with a sense of hindsight and nostalgia and genuinely say, I wouldn’t change a minute of the madness!
“Having grown the business significantly in the last extraordinary year, I am truly delighted and honoured to have received this Rising Star Award and to have received recognition at such a high-profile Irish-Scottish business event.”
Chair of Causeway: Ireland Scotland Business Exchange, David Greenlees added:
“The strength of our Causeway membership network lies in bringing people closer together and creating new business opportunities. We represent an established and effective group of business leaders in Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland and our annual Awards are an opportunity to showcase and recognise the outstanding achievements of the businesses and people in our network.
“This was the first year we have awarded the Rising Star -Young Professional of the Year Award, with a number of impressive nominations received from inspiring young professionals from across Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland.
“Although the standard of nominations received in this new category from young professionals, from a variety of sectors, was very high, Seány’s entry, however, really stood out for the judging panel - what he has achieved with Streat School in an extraordinary short timescale and under very tough global challenges is exceptional.
“We congratulate him on receiving the first ever Causeway Rising Star Award – Young Professional of the Year Award and we have no doubt that he and Streat School will grow further and prosper across Ireland and the UK.”
Interested in becoming part of our growing Causeway network of Irish-Scottish business professionals? Join us today!