If you haven’t visited yet, pencil it in.

Rebel City Distillery, which has revived part of the iconic Ford Factory building into a sustainable distillery and visitor centre, will represent Local Enterprise Office, Cork City at the National Enterprise Awards 2024.

The announcement was made as Local Enterprise Week 2024 kicks off with a diverse range of in-person and online events taking place in Cork City throughout the week.

The husband and wife team, Robert and Bhagya Barrett, opened Rebel City Distillery in June 2020 and have grown the business into a successful distillery selling their products in Ireland and across the globe including in the USA, Germany, and France.

They also set up an award-winning visitor centre at the premises at the Marina Commercial Park which offers customers an immersive and educational experience of the distilling process as well as the history of the Cork Docklands.

Local Enterprise Offices from all over the country select a representative for the National Enterprise Awards which are held in the Mansion House in Dublin every year. This is the 24th year of the awards which celebrate the best small businesses in Ireland.

“Rebel City Distillery is a fantastic example of how a small business can grow to become a highly successful internationally recognised brand.” said Dr Niall O’Keeffe, Head of Enterprise at the Local Enterprise Office, Cork City.

“Through hard work and dedication, Robert and Bhagya have transformed an unused building into a vibrant business. We are delighted to announce them as this year’s LEO Cork City’s representative for the National Enterprise Awards and I would like to wish them the very best of luck.”

‘We are doing a job that we really enjoy’

Speaking about the National Enterprise Awards, Bhagya said: “We are doing a job that we really enjoy and it’s wonderful to see all our efforts being recognised in this way. LEO Cork City has been a massive support to us on our journey from opening to what we are today and we would really encourage anyone who is starting out in business to contact them for advice and support.”

Local Enterprise Week runs from Monday, March 4th to Friday, March 8th. Among the highlights of the week in Cork City are a panel discussion on the importance of resilience in business which will include some insights from Irish rugby legend Donncha O’Callaghan.