In August, Davin Doherty joins the Miconex team as our Client Success Manager for Ireland. Entrepreneur Davin is one of the founding members of the Carndonagh Traders’ Association and was instrumental in Carndonagh picking up the prestigious Bank of Ireland Most Enterprising Town 2020 award, and introducing the hugely successful Carndonagh Gift Card in 2021. Davin told us more about why he’s taking up the opportunity to work with Miconex:
“I was 18 when I set up my first business, a local pub. It was a massive commitment for anyone, especially for someone of 18. A lot of mistakes were made and it was the biggest learning curve but I enjoyed the challenge and that love of building up something from scratch has stayed with me. I then worked in the hospitality industry for a long time, including as a function manager for a hotel, and I still have a shop in Carndonagh that has a team running it.
“All of my life I’ve lived in Carn and like many business owners I’m a workaholic who’s never really worked the traditional 9-5. Lucky for me though, I already live in one of the most beautiful parts of the world – Carndonagh is the gateway to Ireland’s most northerly point, Malin Head – who needs a holiday when you’ve got all that on your doorstep! I also have one daughter, Ellie, who is 12 years old and horse mad. We’ll often have a few days away at a horse show together.
“As a Carn business owner, I was involved in setting up the Carndonagh Traders’ Association in 2018. The Association came about when the Irish Open was held at the Ballyliffin Golf Club with Carn being used as a shuttle point. As business owners, we said ‘look, we’ve got 100,000 people coming to Carn, what can we do?’ We set up a festival in the town centre with live music in the street and it was so successful that we kept it going and it’s now an annual event alongside several other major events that we run.
“It was the events and support for residents that helped us to be regional winners in the Bank of Ireland Enterprise Town Awards in 2019, and from there we set up our own tourist office in Carn. The Traders’ Association is voluntary and made up of local business people, with 3 of us on the committee. The tourist office is run by staff from our local community employment program who deal with the day to day activities.
“There are about 80 businesses who are part of the Traders’ Association. It’s a tight knit group and we’re in contact every day. Before the Association came about, everyone was working independently, so setting up the group has been a great benefit for the town, leading to us winning the Bank of Ireland Most Enterprising Town 2020 award, and we’ve some other awards in the pipeline too!
“We introduced the Carndonagh Gift Card in 2021 and it has been the most successful initiative we’ve run as a Traders’ Association. I see Ireland as a massive opportunity for Miconex and that was the appeal of working for Miconex. I know the Town & City Gift Card program as a client, and I know it as a merchant. That is knowledge that I can take forward to help others setting up their own gift card because I’ve been in their shoes.
“Culturally, Ireland is quite different to other countries. We’d always rather pick up the phone or talk to someone in person than send an email. It was the same when we were thinking of setting up the Carndonagh Gift Card, I remember speaking to Trevor in Drogheda about their experience introducing the Love Drogheda Gift Card which was really useful. One of my first tasks is to get around to meet our existing clients in Ireland, in person.
“Miconex has grown massively over the past few years into America and Canada, but I still see huge growth potential for Ireland. Corporate sales in particular is a big opportunity, thanks to the country’s really generous small benefit exemption scheme which allows an organisation to give its employees up to two small benefits, tax free, each year of up to €1000. I’m looking forward to the job ahead, getting to know existing clients and what their needs are, and building relationships with brand new ones too.”