Roughty Foodie and Trigon Hotels claimed the top awards at the Cork Business Association’s ‘Cork Business of the Year Awards’, which were held at a glittering black tie gala event in the Radisson Blu Hotel & Spa on Saturday the 25th of February.
Meanwhile, Manus O’Callaghan was named Champion of Cork for his unwavering dedication over the past 30 years to promoting Cork and its citizens through the Cork Person of the Month & Cork Person of the Year Awards
The event, which was MC’d by Cork’s own broadcast legend Neil Prendeville, was attended by the Lord Mayor Cllr. Deirdre Forde, Táiniste Micheál Martin TD, Minister for Finance, Michael McGrath TD, Cathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann, Sen. Jerry Buttimer, CEO of Cork City Council Ann Doherty, a string of dignitaries, and over 350 members of Cork’s business community.
The CBA Cork Business of the Year Awards, which are run in partnership with JCD, Centra, Peninsula Ireland and The Irish Examiner, recognise the value and achievement of Cork businesses who survived, thrived and innovated over the past year and those who have contributed to or promoted the enhancement of the commercial, cultural or civic life of Cork. The aim is to encourage business excellence in the city.
Other award winners on the evening included The Chicken Inn who accepted the Best Cork Family Business Award, while IMART - International Mixed-Ability Rugby Tournament won Best in Tourism Arts and Events for promoting inclusivity and diversity through sport.
Best Cork Hotel was presented to The Kingsley, Best Cork VFI Pub went to Barry’s of Douglas, Best Cork Restaurant was picked up by Rare @ The Blue Haven Kinsale, and SOMA Coffee Company won in their category for Best Café.
ERA Downey McCarthy was recognized as the Best Professional Services Business, while HomeHak.com picked up the Best in Digital Business award for their unique online platform that seeks to address the chronic housing shortage by matching prospective renters to their ideal homes. Cork Harbour Cruises won the Cork’s Best New Business Award. The Sustainable Business Innovation award went to Ballymaloe House for their decades-long commitment to reducing their carbon footprint through a zero food-miles policy, where possible and the installation of a solar farm onsite meaning that the business can be independent of the national grid when the sun shines!
Guests enjoyed a five course ‘Taste Cork” dinner, which was an innovative chef collaboration between The Radisson Blu Hotel, Cork’s Vienna Woods Hotel, Trigon Hotels, Barry’s of Douglas, The Carrigaline Court Hotel and The Blue Haven Collection Kinsale. It showcased the wealth of producers and growers in the Cork region, and was paired with a selection of wines from the Wines We Love range by Centra.
Speaking on the night, President of the Cork Business Association Kevin Herlihy, said, “Our awards night is a celebration of the Cork business community who are driving our local economy. It’s a celebration of businesses who go above and beyond, and it’s a celebration of employers, proud employees and ambassadors of our community.
“I would like to congratulate each finalist and winner, as these are the people who are at the beating heart of our city. Each and every one of them demonstrated innovation, perseverance or overcame extreme challenges presented to them in the past year. We managed to ride the storm and emerge stronger after Covid, only to be plunged into greater uncertainty as a result of the war in Ukraine and the energy & cost of living crises that have ensued. Nevertheless, Cork businesses are still leading the way forward to a brighter and a better future for our city and its citizens.
“I would especially like to offer my heartfelt congratulations to Margo Murphy from Roughty Foodie and Aaron Mansworth, Managing Director of Trigon Hotels, winners of the overall SME Business of the Year and Large Business of the Year respectively. Roughty Foodie supports and champions so many small local producers and brings such colour and flavour to the city while Trigon Hotels with their forward-looking, family-friendly employee policies and inclusion & diversity agenda are fast becoming a model to which other businesses can aspire.”
“Also, I must acknowledge our Champion of Cork, Manus O’Callaghan, whose unwavering dedication to the Cork Person of the Month and Cork Person of the Year Awards for over 30 years has ensured that many of Cork’s citizens have been recognised for their unique achievements, while he himself rarely if ever receives the acknowledgement that he so richly deserves.”
Kevin continued, “We now need to be ready for the challenges that lie ahead. The uncertainty in the economy, rising inflation and global events mean we are still in unchartered territory. The theme of this years awards is “resilience and hard work” and cork businesses have shown that in spades over the last twelve months. We recognize the help from government during this crisis but we hope that there will be an ongoing partnership between government and business as we navigate our way through this.
For more see CBAAwards.ie corkbusiness.ie #CBAAwards #TasteofCork #TastetheIsland
