ENTREPRENEUR
FROM
ENTREPRENEUR: RICHARD KENNEDY
TO SOCIETY The winner of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2019 is Richard Kennedy, CEO of Belfast-based agri-tech company Devenish, which has grown from £5m turnover and 23 employees in 1997 to over £225m turnover and 500 employees in 2018. It supplies high-quality nutritional products for the agriculture and aquaculture industries in more than 50 countries.
Q: How is life and how is business at present? RK: Both life and business are good at the moment.
There have been several positive developments and achievements within Devenish recently and it is my hope that this trend will continue into 2020. That’s not to say we aren’t faced with challenges. As an international business, Brexit has been a considerable challenge for us in the past 12 months. The ongoing uncertainty and lack of clarity around Brexit has been an unnecessary distraction. We also had a fire recently at our distribution centre in Belfast, but I’m extremely proud of the work that our team has done to minimise disruption and continue to deliver for our customers. Our people continue to work as a team to find solutions to every trial that comes our way and maintain excellence throughout. Q: Would you say you always had a business head on
your shoulders? RK: My interest in business stems back to working in
the family livestock mart from an early age. I always loved the engagement and interaction with customers. That early introduction to the business of farming instilled in me a great interest in the agri-food industry.
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Q: What would you say has been the
secret to the success and impressive global growth of Devenish? RK: A huge part of Devenish’s success is the ethos that our Founder and Executive Chairman, Owen Brennan, instilled in the business from the early days. As business, we’ve cultivated both a sense of integrity and entrepreneurial spirit within the DNA of Devenish and a culture that encourages our people to seek and grasp opportunity. Our team are ultimately the key to the success and growth of the business. As CEO, no-one directly reports to me, but they do look to me for leadership. The emphasis is on me and other leaders in the business to be authentic and ensure everyone has the opportunity to fulfil their potential. We have a clear set of values within the business – integrity; respect; authenticity; clarity; collaboration; empowerment; and excellence. We encourage each and every one of our colleagues to live our values in everything that they do. We tell our people not to see barriers or limits to where we can go. It’s important to not be afraid to try new ideas and potentially fail – provided we apply learnings from that failure. InBUSINESS | WINTER 2019
09/01/2020 15:10
