A West Belfast-born entrepreneur aiming to grow his health diagnostic company Cirdan into a Unicorn — a business with a valuation of $1bn — will address the next West Belfast Small Business Roundtable.
Dr. Hugh Cormican hails from Gransha but spent his formative years in Newry, Co. Down.
In a Belfast Media podcast, recorded in the run-up to his address to the small business forum in An Chultúrlann on 25 March, Hugh says too many local companies have been sold to outside investors too early, losing the chance to grow into indigenous global heavyweights.
His intention is to grow Cirdan, now with revenues of £10m to a £100m turnover company within ten years. At a valuation of ten times turnover, that would make Cirdan, based in the old Coca-Cola factory at Lambeg, a fully-fledged Unicorn.
Dr. Cormican is one of our most highly-regarded business leaders. While studying for his Ph.D in physics at Queen's he became a co-founder of West Belfast-based digital camera company Andor which floated in 2004.
In a Lagan Steam podcast chat with Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, Hugh tells how his decision to become a business founder was shaped by an Irish Development Authority speaker who told him — at the tender age of 16 — that he would be an entrepreneur.
He's in business to save lives through improved and innovative healthcare solutions, he says, adding that where Andor was about helping researchers do better, Cirdan is about helping the sick get better.
Tickets for the West Belfast Small Business Roundtable — which is limited to 14 attendees — can be purchased on Eventbrite.
You can view the podcast on YouTube at the link above or listen on your favourite channel including Spotify at the link below
