Offaly business achievers honoured at Tullamore Chamber Awards

FIFTEEN local businesses, individuals and a community group have been honoured at the prestigious annual Tullamore and District Chamber of Commerce Business Awards.

The awards were presented at a gala ceremony in the Bridge House Hotel on Saturday night last with an attendance of over 230 guests.

The award winners were:

Best Customer Service Individual: Darren Yeates, Midland Travel

Best Customer Service: Cloonan's Hardware

Retail Excellence: NAKID

Community Achievement: Ballycommon Telework and Training Centre

Best SME 1-30 employees: Print Plus

Best SME 30+ employees: Glenisk

Best Professional Service: the Junction, Offaly Innovation & Design Centre

Emerging New Business: Browne's Bistro

Best Licensed Premises: JJ Hough's, Banagher

Best Dining Experience: Captain's House

Best Multi-National Business: Steris

Business Person of the Year: Nigel Reams, Lumcloon

Best Website/ Social Media: Playtown

Offaly Tourism Award; Birr Castle

Lifetime Achievement Award: Frank Mulligan

Master of Ceremonies at the event, Ronan Berry said this year marks the return of the annual Chamber Business Awards at a time when the worst effects of a global pandemic on businesses seem to be behind us. “For many, if not most, the personal impact continues to be felt in many different ways.”

BIG PICTURE GALLERY: Gala ceremony as businesses honoured at Tullamore Chamber Awards

Mr Berry listed a number of developments since the last in-person awards ceremony in 2019. they include

* Some businesses have literally fought the pandemic flames and re-emerged stronger in true Tullamore Phoenix style
* A famous local retail business and a hotel changed ownership
* IDA backed companies continued to expand operations with ample appetite and scope for more
* Ambitious plans are afoot for the underutilized harbour that brought prosperity in the past and can do so again.
* Our town centre has undergone a spectacular transformation creating an amazing civic space (with just the right amount of parking spaces!!).
* Outdoor dining actually works in Tullamore!
* The second largest selling Irish whiskey in the world is distilled and bottled here, placing the town's name on millions of peoples lips globally.
* The craft of coopering is alive and well in 2022
* A much needed hospice will be completed by 2025
* A local recruitment company has established a welding academy in the far east to find skilled employees to support the continually growing local manufacturing cluster.
* A local tech company now processes ticket sales for horse racing, soccer and rugby on three continents
* The national construction skills centre is going from strength to strength with even more ambitious plans to come
* The health service continues to employ thousands from the town and surrounding regions
* 2022 marks the four-hundredth anniversary of the beginning of the township of Tullamore
* The spirit of volunteerism and altruism remains as strong as ever in the town
* The town and county continues to position itself as a crucial player in the national energy infrastructure through tried and tested technology and via stuff so forward thinking most of us don’t really understand how it works but feel comfortable knowing it’s happening and happening locally!
* A quiet and unassuming chap from just out the road won a stack of money but gained adulation from around the world for getting a small ball into a small hole over and over again, showing that a cocktail of confidence and skill is infectious and an example to all of us. Again, let this evening be a celebration.