“A five-star garden centre is bound to have a remarkable entrepreneur at the helm” said Michael Kelly, CEO when congratulating Rachel Doyle on her most recent achievement of The Image Entrepreneur of the Year Award.  “As the many hundreds of weekly visitors to the Arboretum Lifestyle and Garden Centre in Leighlinbridge can confirm, this is now a centre of excellence which attracts local and national shoppers.  It is continually evolving as a result of Rachel’s leadership, management skills and teamwork.  Rachel and members of her team, have regularly availed of the services of the Enterprise Board over the years and the Board is proud to be associated with one of Ireland’s most successful entrepreneurs.

The Image Business Awards were developed in association with DAVY and the Sunday Times to recognise leading women in Irish corporate and entrepreneurial life. The judging panel commended Rachel on turning her passion for gardening into a state-of-the-art lifestyle and garden centre employing 55 people.  The centre is the first five-star Board Bia garden centre in Ireland.

 Jane Neill, a senior executive at DAVY and a member of the judging panel spoke of witnessing first hand the importance of Irish businesswomen in leading indigenous industries.