Winning Crossgar business grew ‘fromkitchen table’

Genuine Parts UK (NI) was named as the top family business out of over 1400 applicants, with the pair receiving the prize from former Dragon’s Den judge Jenny Campbell.

Michael said: “From the first job lot of automotive parts, there have been many challenges and learnings, but we’ve come a long way. We’re extremely proud to be named as eBay’s Family Business of the Year, and this award really is testament to hard work, commitment and long hours paying off.

The brothers have built a business that has evolved from packing orders on their mum’s kitchen table in 2017 to an 8,000 sq ft commercial premises in Crossgar with a turnover surpassing £100,000 in just two years.

Christopher Cleary added: “We used the small pot of money that we’d returned with from Australia to invest in the company’s growth and worked hard to make contacts within the automotive industry. Some months after we launched the business, we started to be contacted by car manufacturers with offers to buy their stock. This was the game-changer and our company has grown significantly with our eBay orders being shipped internationally.”