Evelyn O’Toole is the Founder and CEO of Complete Laboratory Solutions (CLS), a native of Clifden in County Galway, and has been a scientist for more than 20 years’. Following her graduation Evelyn managed an aquaculture laboratory for two and a half years which ended unexpectedly when it burnt down. Committed to creating a company for her and other scientists in the west of Ireland, two weeks later, at the age of 25 and using the redundancy money from that job, she set up CLS.

 

CLS is the largest privately owned contract laboratory in Ireland and supplies microbiological and analytical testing, and fully trained analysts on contract to clients in the food, environmental, medical device and pharmaceutical industries.  CLS have two facilities, employs 160 staff, and partners with leading national and multinational clients with 12% international sales and a client retention rate of 99.3%.  CLS is FDA, HPRA, ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 17025 (108T) approved.

 

This year Evelyn was named 2018 one of Ireland's Most Powerful Women: Top 25 Award Winner - Entrepreneur Award by Women's Executive Network (WXN). In 2017 she won the Industry EY Entrepreneur of the Year and Irish Tatler Business Woman of the Year award and this year she was a judge for the EY Entrepreneur of the Year. She is a WMB (Women Mean Business) Gender Diversity ambassador and is on the support centre committee for Cancer Care West. Earlier this year she was appointed to the board of Medtech Ireland.

 

In 2016, Evelyn was also awarded the Outstanding Business Woman of the Year in Galway by Network Galway and was also named WMB Business Woman of the Year.