Wexford Business Awards 2015 Winners and Runners Up

1. Wexford Business of the Year Award, Sponsored by Wexford County Council.

• Winner: Killowen Farm – This family-run enterprise was selected as the overall winner of the 2015 Wexford Business Awards. The Enniscorthy-based company also won the 2015 Green Business Award as well as the Food Producer of the Year Award in association with the Wexford Food Family. Killowen Farm has been in operation for 9 generations and know their dairying business inside out. The Dunne family are proud to be top quality food producers, creating their delicious goods as much as possible at  home on the farm.

2. Wexford Ambassador of the Year Award, Sponsored by Monart.

• Winner: Pat Kent, Kent Stainless – Pat is a time served mechanical fitter by trade and in the early days worked away from his home county of Wexford. Founded in recessionary times, the company has, year on year, gone from strength to strength. Kents has gained many awards for its achievements over the years in quality, in exporting and in innovation and performance.  Pats passion lies in R & D, product re-engineering and new plant and equipment.

3. Wexford Tourism Award Hotels and Operators, Sponsored by Rosslare Europort.

• Winner: The Talbot Hotel – Great care was taken and their presentation on the day of judgement was of the highest standard.  This hotel has invested heavily in staff, in innovative marketing & sales development and their involvement in the community in terms of sponsorship and support is to be commended.

• Runner Up: Whites of Wexford

4. Wexford Tourism Award Attractions and Activities, Sponsored by Rosslare Europort.

• Winner: Wexford Festival Opera House – Collaborative partnerships with accommodation providers, restaurants, the EPA and with national and international key business influencers are to be commended.

• Runner Up: Wells House and Gardens

5. Wexford Design & Craft Business Award, Sponsored by Wexford Local Development.

• Winner: The Forge Craft Shop – With support from WLD, this popular and well known business specialises in bespoke furniture making and hand-crafted products.  5^th generation of the Parle family to work from the Forge.

• Runner Up: The Wood Turning Studio

6. Wexford Start up Business of the Year Award, Sponsored by Local Enterprise Office Wexford.

• Winner: Button & Spoon – Brand new to the scene, located out of town, giving employment to 3 full time and 10 part time employees, this small company is run using three main principals of business Customer Service, Consistency and Quality.

• Runner Up: Natural Health Store Ltd

7. County Wexford Food Producer of the Year Award in association with the Wexford Food Family, Sponsored by Danone Nutricia.

• Winner: Killowen Farm – This small business has always tried to think differently in terms of sales and marketing development. Innovation is the name of the game, and with their new limited edition range of yogurts, this company continues to excel and wherever possible uses real ingredients, sourced locally and flie the Wexford flag.

• Runner Up: O’Neills Dry Cure Bacon Co.

8. Wexford eCommerce/Social Media Award, Sponsored by DoneDeal.

• Winner: Ruby Rouge – Online selling has now become a fact of life and those that have embraced social marketing and online selling will never look back.  Always seeking to be the first to market with new ideas and innovations, this business is a 24/7 online boutique.

• Runner Up: Scurri

9. Wexford It – Security Excellence and Service Improvement Award, Sponsored by ESET Ireland.

• Winner: TK IT Services Ltd – A small company, operating in Castlebridge, established in 2011, passionate about IT and hugely focussed on deficiencies in users and external customer security infrastructures.

• Runner Up: South East Security & Safety Ltd

10. Wexford R & D/ Innovation Award, Sponsored by RIKON.

• Winner: Lantern Events – A new company, established in 2013 with 2 full time employees. They identified a niche market, sourced a venue and have been delivering one of the most innovative festivals ever since.  The Spiegeltent has brought an amazing new festival to Wexford.

• Runner Up: Irish Country Meats

11. Wexford Retail Award, Sponsored by Zurich.

• Winner: Pettitt’s SuperValu Saint Aidans – Their commitment to the Wexford Food Family which consists of 31 local producers, their focus on customer service, maintaining close relationships with their staff and a strong emphasis on business planning have made this supermarket Wexford’s best.

• Runner Up: Sam McCauleys Chemist

12. Wexford Export Award, Sponsored by Rosslare Europort.

• Winner: Scurri – The winner  provides a service that easily integrates parcel carriers and merchants, quickly and cost effective.  Software is now provided to BooHoo, Argos, Littlewoods, Oxendales and Zara.  An exemplary company with 99% of their business export based.

• Runner Up: Clearstream Technologies

13. Wexford Corporate Social Responsibility Award, Sponsored by  Wexford Bus.

• Winner: South East Radio – This organisation’s mission is to super serve their listeners by ‘giving back’ to the community in the form of proactive, engaging, empowering and educational initiatives and content.

• Runner Up: BNY Mellon

14. Wexford Training Award, Sponsored by Ulster Bank.

• Winner: Gainfort Academy – A company that has recently expanded their business model throughout the region into Waterford and Carlow.    Astute and passionate managers, those interviewed confirmed that a minimum figure of 38 hours additional training per year per staff member is the norm.

• Runner Up: Coderdojo Wexford Town

15. Wexford Service Provider, Sponsored by Datapac.

• Winner: Kerlogue Nursing Home – A business that offers 125 employment, provides care for many members of our community, has plans for future growth and continually flags the ‘shop local and buy local’ campaign.

• Runner Up: Graphedia

16. Wexford Customer Service Excellence Award, Sponsored by AIB.

• Winner: Pettitt’s SuperValu Saint Aidans – Leading by example, being innovative, supporting local, exceptional customer service, community focus, giving start-ups an opportunity and positive engagement between staff and their customers are some of the examples of this organisation.

• Runner Up: The Irish National Heritage Park

17. Wexford SME of the Year Award, Sponsored by Waters Techonologies.

• Winner: Wexford Home Preseves – Tom and his wife are running the highly respected and successful Wexford Home Preserves,  started by them in 2001. They now supply product to over 300 stores in Ireland.  They are just about to embark on exporting a selection of their jams to Switzerland.

• Runner Up: O’Neills Dry Cure Bacon Co

18. Wexford Large Company of the Year Award, Sponsored by PwC.

• Winner: Wright Group Ltd – Incorporating Wright Insurance Brokers & Patrona                             Underwriting Ltd – This company was established in 2012.  Starting off with 5 employees, the company has grown exponentially and now has over 75 full time employees.  A highly successful insurance entity, a company who is committed to continued growth through acquisition and investing in the technology required to ensure the highest standard of customer service.

• Runner Up: Clearstream Technologies

19. Wexford Networker of the Year Award, Sponsored by Graphedia.

• Winner: Heat Doc – In business for almost 10 years providing specialist energy saving installation services to both residential and commercial customers.

• Runner Up: The Talbot Hotel

20. Wexford Business Person of the Year Award, Sponsored by Alan Keville for Hair.

• Winner: Neil Hughes – This individual has helped steer a small regional firm into one of the fastest growing professional services firms in Ireland.  And a person committed to others, whether in business or through his extracurricular work with professional and charitable organisations.

• Runner Up: Graham Scallan

21. Wexford Green Business Award, Sponsored by EPA.

• Winner: Killowen Farm – The winning business has been on an impressive journey for a manufacturing industry through embracing the low carbon sustainable enterprise, commitment in their challenging ‘Origin Green’ programme and excellent collaborative and community initiatives.

• Runner Up: The Irish National Heritage Park

22. Wexford Chamber’s President’s Award, Sponsored by Whites of Wexford.

• Winner: Bettie Marie Burger Smit – An abundance of energy and enthusiasm and somebody who has embraced the Wexford culture and way of life like nobody else. The work she has done to promote Wexford at home and abroad has not gone unnoticed.