On 18 June 2025, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou was interviewed by Sarah Brett, host of BBC radio show Good Morning Ulster, to discuss the launch of the new Stelios Foundation North-South Business Cooperation Awards 2025.
Listen to the discussion below:
You can find the full episode of BBC Good Morning Ulster on BBC Sounds via the link here.
About the Awards:
The Awards launched for the first time on the Island of Ireland at a hybrid ceremony on 18th June 2025 at Monaghan Peace Campus.
Applications are now open for cross-border business entrepreneurs that meet the criteria. Full details and entry forms are available to download via this link.
Applications are to be submitted to maya.turnbull@stelios.com no later than 5pm Irish time on 16th September 2025.
Essential Details for Applicants
- Application Deadline: 16 September 2025 (by email to maya.turnbull@stelios.com)
- Awards Ceremony: 30 October 2025 at Castle Leslie Estate, Co. Monaghan
- Total Prize Fund: €500,000 in cash prizes
- 1 Gold Award: €150,000
- 2 Silver Awards: €100,000 each
- 6 Bronze Awards: €25,000 each
- Eligibility Criteria:
- Each company must be:
- Preferably comprise of a company registered in the Companies Registration Office (CRO.ie) in Ireland and a company registered with Companies House (Belfast) with the registered office being in Northern Ireland.
- Both companies must be start-ups incorporated in the last five years, 2019 or later.
- Each company should have an entrepreneur, founder or shareholder who owns at least 50% of the shares.
- The two entrepreneurs must be working in a joint business activity on the island of Ireland, across any sector of the economy.
- Each company must have a minimum annual turnover of €200,000 / £160,000 and must employ at least three other staff members, not including the owner.
- Alternatively, companies can apply on their own (without a second team member) if they can demonstrate significant cross-border economic activity, including a customer base in both markets.
- Each company must be: