Ulster firm named one of Britain’s best businesses

Launched with just £100 by Caoimhe O’Kane in 2015, Eat NAKED NI now has a healthy six-figure turnover and delivers tasty and nutritious meals to ordinary people and elite professional athletes from all over the world when they visit Ireland to compete.

Certified nutrition coach Caoimhe O’Kane became passionate about health and wellbeing after recognising the benefits of how eating better was impacting her own health. In her first year of trading she built a base of weekly customers, providing them with healthy meals that supported their busy lifestyles.

Demand for Caoimhe’s service increased - but, like many micro-enterprepreneurs, she needed to address the challenge of how to scale up the business in a sustainable way.

With the help of the NI Small Business Loan Fund (delivered by Enterprise Northern Ireland in partnership with UCIT), Eat NAKED built a bespoke ecommerce website, helping the firm grow to become the leading meal prep company in Northern Ireland. It now employs five people, delivers its meals free to gyms, cross-fit boxes and other local drop-off points, and will shortly move into its own brand-new production factory in Magherafelt.

This week Eat NAKED NI was named one of just three UK finalists for an “Environmental Sustainability of the Year” Award in the Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards, funded by the Citi Foundation.

Caoimhe O’Kane said: “I’m so proud and honestly blown away to be made finalist for such a prestigious award. Starting my own business was never about trying to win awards or being recognised as the best, it’s an opportunity for myself and my team to celebrate the work we have put in collectively over the past number of years. This recognition affirms to us that we are meeting our own high standards as a nutritional food company. We are passionate about helping people to improve their quality of life by promoting the importance of healthy living, but also about our environment and will continue to take the necessary steps when we can, to make a difference.”

Donal Leahy of Enterprise Northern Ireland commented: “With microenterprises, especially start-ups finding it increasingly difficult to access funding from the mainstream banks it highlights the importance of alternative providers like the NI Small Business Loan Fund. Eat Naked NI is a good example of this with support being provided initially to start-up and further funding accessed to assist with the continued growth of the company. Caoimhe is not only competent but passionate about what she does so backing her was an easy decision both in financial terms as well as the social impacts the business creates.”

The UK’s 5.6 million microenterprises - businesses with nine or fewer staff - account for 96% of all businesses, and employ over nine million people. Some would not exist at all without the financial and business support they access from the UK’s ethical “responsible finance” sector, which in 2019 lent £171 million to thousands of credit-worthy businesses and social enterprises rejected by or unable to access finance from mainstream lenders.

“Microenterprises like Eat NAKED NI play a vital role in strengthening communities throughout the UK by creating jobs, unlocking opportunities, and addressing social and environmental challenges,” said Bob Annibale, Global Director, Citi Inclusive Finance and Community Development.

“The Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards recognise the positive impact they are having on a local and national scale, and these exceptional finalists and the responsible finance providers which supported them all contribute to the economic, social and environmental vibrancy of their communities. We are proud to support the Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards and the eighth cohort of finalists in the UK.”

Eat NAKED NI must now wait until May 12 2020 when the winners of the Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards will be announced at an Awards Ceremony in Bristol.