Sporting legend finds new niche with Invest NI support

Just a month after hanging up his boots for good after a distinguished Gaelic footballing career at the highest level, John McEntee was knocking on the door of his local enterprise centre with the idea for a new business venture.

Following his successful participation on Invest Northern Ireland’s Go for it programme, John is now heading up a new wholesale distribution business, Mac Wholesalers.

“My retirement from senior football last year gave me plenty of food for thought” says John.  “I had some ideas in mind for starting up a new business, but I was a little apprehensive about moving it forward.

“Coming from a public sector background, I found the idea of developing a business case and learning how to handle accounts quite daunting.

“The Go for it programme was excellent, particularly in delivering practical advice in these areas, and now that the business has bedded in we look forward to enrolling on the Growth Programme.”

Mac Wholesalers supplies beverages to licensed premises including pubs, clubs, hotels and fast food restaurants from its new office on the Dublin Road in Newry. The company currently employs four people.

John, himself the winner of a bagful of All Ireland, National League and Championship medals with both Crossmaglen and County Armagh, has also co-opted his famous footballing twin brother Tony into the business, understands the need to use his extensive GAA connections to build company profile.

“We’re working in a very competitive environment at the moment,” says John, “and we obviously attract a large number of GAA clients given our personal involvement in the sport.

We’ve learned how we can differentiate ourselves from the competition by offering clubs support with fundraising initiatives, coaching and other value added services.”

The former occupational therapist admits that he had little commercial experience or track record in the wholesale drinks industry prior to setting up Mac Wholesalers, but he believes that his experience on Invest NI’s ‘Go for it’ programme has helped him to kick off his career in an exciting new direction:

“I didn’t have much personal exposure to the drinks industry, but we’ve worked very hard to attract great salespeople with the right pedigree.  Go for it has given me the confidence to manage my business and I’d recommend the programme to anyone, whatever their background.”