O'Donovan had already picked up the PwC ’UK Private Businesswoman of the Year’ Award and the Building Magazine ‘Female Leadership’ Award, and the Women’s Economic Forum has named her as their ‘Woman of the Decade in Enterprise and Leadership’.

She became managing director of O’Donovan Waste Disposal at 19 and has grown the company to a multi-award winning business with a turnover of £21m+ and 160 employees. With a reputation as a passionate and driven businesswoman, dedicated to making the family business a resounding success as well as influencing and improving the industry as a whole, she has spent her entire working career devoted to the company her father, Joe, started almost 60 years ago. She is passionate about demonstrating excellence in all of the company’s operations and setting industry standards.

O'Donovan comments: “I am delighted to win this prestigious award and with our 60th anniversary year just around the corner, this has been an exciting and rewarding time for the company.  I am thrilled that my siblings and I have been able to continue the legacy my dad started all those years ago.”