A Wexford-based telecoms firm last night won the 16th annual County and City Enterprise Boards National Enterprise Award for microenterprises.

Innovate, which started its life in a bedroom seven years ago, was named overall winner at a ceremony in Dublin’s Mansion House.

The company, established by Jim Hughes (centre, with Vincent Reynolds of County and City Enterprise Boards and Tom Banville of Wexford County Enterprise Board) at the age of 25, has developed the ground-breaking telecoms product VoiceGrid.

It employs nine people and has a turnover of more than €1.4 million.  Rita Guinan, chairwoman of the organising committee, said the company was a deserved winner “having become a market leader in technology and telecoms”.

In other categories, Keoghs Crisps, from Fingal, Co Dublin, won Best Start-Up; web-based vegetable growing company Quickcrop won the Innovation Award; and Limerick-based Hailstorm Commerce was named Best Export Business.