Today, the Stelios Foundation hosted the launch of the inaugural North-South Business Cooperation Awards at the Monaghan Peace Campus in Ireland.
At this hybrid event, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, creator and owner of the easy family of brands – including easyJet.com, easyHotel.com and many others (see www.easy.com and www.easyHistory.info), and the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation ( see stelios.foundation and stelios.ie) – has today (18 June) announced the launch of the inaugural North–South Business Cooperation Awards, a major new initiative designed to celebrate and support cross-border entrepreneurship and encourage start-ups on the island of Ireland. A total prize fund of €500,000 will be awarded to 18 entrepreneurs, across nine teams, who have started businesses registered in Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland within the past five years and are now trading cross-border.
Attendees heard from Sir Stelios to introduce the initiative and explain the Foundation’s work and his “Giving back to society in places he calls “close to home”.
Daniel Mulhall, Former Irish Ambassador to US, UK, Germany & Malaysia also championed the initiative and told the audience a brief history of the challenges on the Island of Ireland and how these Awards are a brilliant economic opportunity to all communities.
Ian Jeffers, CEO of Cooperation Ireland, talked about the history of the Cooperation between the North and South of the Island and how important cross-community diplomacy relationships are to building a better future.
William Haire, former member of the Northern Irish Civil Service and Board Member
Northern Ireland Anti-Poverty Alliance, expressed his endorsement for the Awards from the perspective of a former member of the Civil Service and how good economic ties leads to peace and prosperity.
These new awards are inspired by similar business awards run by the Stelios Foundation in Cyprus, the birthplace of Sir Stelios’ parents, for the last 16 years. The bi-communal awards in Cyprus reward Greek Cypriot entrepreneurs and Turkish Cypriot entrepreneurs who are engaged in joint business on the island.
The 2025 Gold Award winners, Andreas Andreou and Emre Serda of Co-founders of Slimline Frame of the Stelios Bi-Communal Awards in Cyprus joined the event to share the impact of Stelios Awards at encourage cross boarder economic prosperity.
View the presentation from the event here.
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:
