1. THE SUNDAY BUSINESS POST
AUGUST 19 2012 n21
START-UP stories
Swinging into golf club hire REAL views
business perspectives
G er many, and the Nordic
Surround yourself with a
Clubs to Hire
What it does: online
countries.’’
Weather aside, Judge said strong team to succeed
Ireland was still an attractive
provider of golf club destination for overseas gol-
rentals fers. I admire entrepreneurial
‘‘Golfers coming in from the spirit – taking the risk
Why it works: ‘‘A lot of and looking at developing
guys from the UK and US, France and the UK are
very important to us,’’ Judge an opportunity. Within
Germany use us be- our industry, we see the
cause it’s costing them said. ‘‘We actually have a num-
ber of German and Austrian wealth of entrepreneurial
»100 to put their clubs spirit that Ireland has.
on the plane. Our mid- groups coming to us in Sep-
tember that number 40 and 50 We work with a num-
range clubs cost e45, so ber of businesses which
in size. The business is begin-
a UK customer can ex- have grown from small
ning to get good volume this
pect to save some- year, and is growing exponen- beginnings to large SMEs
where in the region of tially year-on-year.’’ and corporates. One ex-
»65 by using our ser- In fact, growth has been ample is Pat McDonagh,
vice.’’ Tony Judge,
chief executive
such that Clubs to Hire will
shortly be introducing a new
Supermac’s founder and
managing director, who Nigel Motyer
loyalty scheme for its repeat is a school teacher by
customers. This new scheme profession.
will coincide with the launch After five years of using a particular retai-
of a new website in mid-to-late teaching in Kilrickle, Co ler, the results for the
By Nevan Reilly September. Galway, he spotted an business can be devastat-
‘‘We are continually trying opportunity in Ireland’s ing in terms of both cost
to make things easier for our quick service restaurant and reputational da-
Clubs to Hire rents out clubs clients. Our aim is to make the sector and pursued it. mage.
online to golfers holidaying website a kind of one-stop- Since then, Supermac’s The Payment Card In-
abroad. Established by Tony shop.’’ has become a success dustry Data Security
Judge and Gerry McKernan Expansion into the US is the story in Irish business. Standard (PCI DSS) is a
in 2010, the company offers the next step for Clubs to Hire, and For entrepreneurs to worldwide mandate from
full range of golf club brands, Judge and McKernan are hop- succeed, it is crucial to the PCI’s Security Stan-
with prices starting at e35 per ing to have a number of units surround yourself with dards Council, which
week. open Stateside by early 2013. the best people. Have the comprises Visa, Master-
The idea is that customers ‘‘We are in discussion with right people doing the Card, American Express,
can make considerable savings four airports in the States, and right things, and bring Discover and JCB.
on baggage fees levied by air- pretty much have an agree- these people with you. PCI DSS was estab-
lines like Ryanair and Air Ber- ment made with them.We have With consumers reluc- lished to help organisa-
lin, which charge a minimum worked heavily on it and the tant to spend in this tions that process card
e100 return for golf bags. business plan is very much period of uncertainty, the payments to prevent
‘‘It is a simple concept,’’ said Tony Judge, chief executive, Clubs to Hire: has 13 premises up and running across Europe TONY O’SHEA ready to go,’’ said Judge. impact can be seen across credit card fraud. It af-
chief executive Tony Judge. Clubs to Hire was recently all businesses, including fects everyone, but yet
‘‘Y just log on to the website,
ou crowned Digital/Online Start- card payments. There is there is currently a rela-
choose your destination and set able for hire, and expects to Airport,’’ Judge said. ‘‘That use him extensively when we poor Irish weather was making up of the Year at the Vodafone also growing awareness tively low awareness of it.
of clubs and, when you arrive save its 25,000 customers about will open the first week of Sep- are negotiating with major the prospect of guaranteed Startup Awards 2012. of data security risks.
into the airport, you simply go e1 million in excess baggage tember, so we will have full re- manufacturing companies like sunshine all the more tempting The company also topped We all hear about Nigel Motyer is general
to our shop and pick up the fees this year alone. tail shops in Malaga and Faro TaylorMade or Calloway. He is for Irish golfers. the innovation category for high-profile data manager of AIB Mer-
clubs. Having opened its first out- airports. In our other locations, not involved actively in the ‘‘What we have actually seen best service at the GOLFma- breaches but, in fact, chant Services (AIBMS),
‘‘A lot of guys from the UK let in Faro, Portugal, Clubs to we operate a meet-and-greet day-to-day running of the busi- is more people going abroad,’’ ga z in Awards held at the more than 80 per cent of a joint venture between
and Germany use us because Hire has 13 premises up and service.’’ ness, but he is there in an advi- Judge said. Hanse Golf fair in Hamburg, data breaches occur in AIB and First Data Cor-
it’s costing them »100 to put running across Europe in loca- The company has attracted sory role,’’ said Judge. ‘‘Though we are not fully de- Germany, in February. small businesses. If card- poration that employs 90
their clubs on the plane. Our tions including Antalya, Ali- high-profile investment from Despite government initia- pendent on the Irish market to ‘‘It is nice to be recognised. It holders feel that their people in Ireland and
mid-range clubs cost e45, so a cante, Dublin, Edinburgh, p ro fe s s io n a l gol fe r Pau l tives aimed at persuading Irish be quite honest ^ a lot of our lets us know we are doing data is not secure when Britain
UK customer can expect to Gibraltar, Gran Canaria, Lis- McGinley, who has taken a holiday-makers to enjoy a business comes from the UK, something right,’’ said Judge.
save somewhere in the region bon, Malaga, Murcia, Tenerife minority shareholding in the ‘staycation’ rather than a trip
of »65 by using our service.’’ and the Isle of Man. company. abroad, Clubs to Hire has not
Clubs to Hire has between ‘‘We are just in the process of ‘‘He is like an official am- seen any knock-on benefits. If
30,000 and 35,000 sets avail- building a new shop at Malaga bassador for the company. We anything, Judge said this year’s
Bin firm is wasting no time
By Nevan Reilly
The Bigbin Company provides
a pay-as-you-go waste service
that allows customers to dis-
pose of their household waste
at a time that suits them.
Founded in 2010 by entre-
preneur John O’Connor and
Tommy Kavanagh of Kava-
nagh Coaches in Urlingford,
Co Kilkenny, the company
started out with four units in
Waterford, Clonmel, Kilkenny
and Carrick-on-Suir. It now
has 22 disposal locations na-
tionwide and plans for a lot
more.
According to O’Connor,
Bigbin has carved out a suc-
cessful niche within the Irish
waste industry by undercutting
the cost of traditional roadside
collection, with a e5 fee for the
disposal of two 80-litre black
bags of rubbish.
‘‘Depending on your county,
you could spend between e250
and e400 on annual waste col- John O’Connor, director, The Bigbin Company
lection charges. Our customers
would traditionally use our ser-
vice once every two weeks, so
that is around e125 a year,’’ he full, so I forward a message on and city councils,’’ he said.
said. The Bigbin to the truck driver who picks ‘‘Each council is autono-
After leasing a car park up the bin. Once the bin is mous, so even though you have
space from a forecourt owner, Company picked up, we bring it to a sort- people [in government] who
Bigbin will install and main- What it does: pay-as- ing facility where we pick out are in favour of these bins, you
tain a compactor. The fore- you-go domestic waste the recyclables. This leaves us might have to deal with a coun-
c ou r t ow ner re c e ive s a with about 45-55 per cent black cil that’s being totally negative.
disposal
percentage of each e5 ticket bin waste,’’ he said. ‘‘Before I got into this, I was
sale. Why it works: Bigbin successfully lobbied hearing people say that the
‘‘When I first started out, ‘‘Depending on your the Department of the Envir- councils weren’t business-
forecourt owners were really county, you could onment, Community and Lo- friendly, but I was fairly dismis-
hesitant about taking them, spend between e250 cal Government to introduce a sive of it,’’ he said.
but they have found it really and e400 on annual new statute specifically grant- ‘‘What I’ve found now is that
draws people to their business. waste collection i ng pl an n i ng exe mptions some are very helpful, while
If we are going to put a bin into charges. Our custo- throughout the country for its others are almost impossible
a town like Clonmel, we are mers would tradition- compactors. to deal with.
only going to put in one bin, so ally use our service Key to this success was Big- ‘‘Limerick [County Council]
the people in and around that once every two weeks, bin’s argument that its waste refused us because they said
town will be drawn to that loca- so that is around e125 a disposal units would help re- the compactors weren’t plan-
tion,’’ said O’Connor. duce the amount of unrec- ning-exempt.
year.’’ John O’Connor,
Bigbin is the only operator of o r d e d w a s t e t h at m i g h t ‘‘When the exemption was
the concept in Ireland, having director otherwise be burned, left in introduced specifically for the
signed an exclusivity agree- ditches or dumped illegally bins, they turned around and
ment with Wexford-bas ed around the country. said we needed recycling bins
manufacture ACE Compac- Despite these early suc- on the same site, even though
tion which, in turn, is the sole O’Connor to remotely monitor cesses, O’Connor faced signifi- we do our own recycling off-
manufacturer of this type of each unit and determine when cant challenges when trying to site. You would be afraid to
compactor in Europe. it needs to be emptied. expand his business. ‘‘The grow your business with the
The compactors are fitted ‘‘Generally, I will get a text most frustrating thing for me uncertainty they create,’’ said
with GSM modems that allow when the bin is three-quarters was dealing with the county O’Connor.