Guaranteed Cork winners at business awards
There were a number of Cork winners at the second annual Guaranteed Irish Business Awards, which took place last week.
Among the winners were SuperValu, Kinsale Mead, We Are Riley and Helen O’Dwyer of Meadows and Byrne.
Guaranteed Irish One to Watch winner was the progressive We Are Riley who make eco-friendly female sanitary products while the Food Academy Award Winner was DemKat Ltd who trade as Kinsale Mead.
SuperValu won the 100 Plus Employees Winner in the Ecommerce category while Helen O’Dwyer of Meadows & Byrne was named as the Guaranteed Irish Advocate within a Business.
The awards supported by Permanent TSB, celebrated the best of business in Ireland, both indigenous and multinational, across various sectors and categories.
Picking up the Guaranteed Irish Person of the Year Award for 2023 was Ryan Tubridy, host of ‘The Late Late Show’. Mr Tubridy has long been a supporter of Guaranteed Irish and the body described him as “a deserving winner of this year’s award for his continued championing of Irish business, support of Irish brands, and overall embodiment of the core values of Guaranteed Irish”.
Building on the success of the inaugural Guaranteed Irish Business Awards in 2022, the 2023 ceremony saw a big increase in finalists with more than 120 member businesses shortlisted, with 18 counties represented.
The categories included Beauty & Fashion; Construction, Engineering & Manufacturing; Craft, Home & Gifting; E-Commerce; Food & Beverage; Pharmaceutical, Healthcare & MedTech; Professional Services; Retail, Tourism & Hospitality; and Technology. There were also a number of Guaranteed Irish Achievement Awards and the Guaranteed Irish Person of the Year Award.
Brid O’Connell, CEO Guaranteed Irish, said: “Congratulations to all our worthy winners at the second annual Guaranteed Irish Business Awards! We have been overwhelmed with the reception to and interest in the awards this year after the success of the inaugural event in 2022, and were blown away by the number of entries.
“It is fantastic to be able to celebrate Ireland’s leading businesses who continue to support Irish jobs, community and provenance. We again encourage all Guaranteed Irish members to keep a close eye on our announcements later in 2023 as we invite applications for the 2024 Guaranteed Irish Business Awards in line with our own 50th anniversary celebrations.”
Patrick Farrell, Director of Retail Banking at Permanent TSB said: “Permanent TSB is proud to support the Guaranteed Irish Business Awards for the second year in a row, celebrating the very best in Irish business while recognising the resilience, determination and innovation that has been shown by so many over the last year.
“I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to each of this year’s winners across the 22 award categories. We were honoured to be able to recognise the exceptional contribution to local communities made by Irish business, as well as celebrate the commitment to Irish provenance and local employment during this year’s awards cycle.”