Voduz’s Denise Phillips is EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Ireland finalist

Voduz’s Denise Phillips has been announced as an EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Ireland finalist in the Emerging category.

Phillips co-founded Voduz in 2019 with Bperfect Cosmetics owner Brendan McDowell. The company offers a range of hair products and tools, which are stocked in a number of salons around Ireland.

Phillips also owns Pelo Hairdressing, which has branches in Dublin; Belfast; Newbridge, Co Kildare; and Tullow, Co Carlow.

Posting on social media, she said she was excited and grateful to be a finalist. “I am going to take this opportunity with both hands and give it my everything,” she added. “Thank you to my team – as you all know they are the foundation of our success at Voduz; my partner Brendan who always pushes and supports me; and my Pelo team, who again have been with me since the start and continue to support and drive my salons every day.”

According to Roger Wallace, EY partner lead for the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year programme, the awards received their highest ever number of nominations this year. “Our finalists hail from a diverse mix of backgrounds and are at the helm of some of the most inspiring and innovative businesses in their industries,” he said.

“They are all true trailblazers — leaders with the courage and capacity to plot and follow their path, pushing conventional boundaries and limits. Each of the finalists is exploring new markets and technologies to solve challenges and find solutions that are revolutionising their own industries and creating opportunities for their local communities, the island of Ireland and beyond.”

This year’s finalists will engage in a strategic growth programme over a 10-month period, which includes a week-long chief executive retreat in Cape Town, South Africa.

As part of this retreat, the finalists will join a group of more than 100 previous finalists and winners of the programme where they will meet a range of entrepreneurs, businesspeople and academics.