Blacknight Sponsors Tourism, Hospitality & Retail Award at the Guaranteed Irish Awards

As a proud Irish-owned and operated company, we were delighted to sponsor a category in the Guaranteed Irish Awards for 2022, which had its awards ceremony this week in Dublin. Blacknight sponsored the Tourism, Hospitality & Retail Award category and all the nominees were worthy of being recognized.

The new event was held in person this year (what a novelty!) at the iconic Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin, which was catered by Guaranteed Irish members. We love participating in this organization because it shows that Ireland can make great products, provide great services, and compete on the world stage.

The nominees in our category were:

Applegreen

Applegreen has grown year on year, since its formation in 1992 to now operate in 129 forecourt sites and employs approximately 2,595 people across Ireland. Over 25 years, Applegreen’s success has been earned through quality retail and value offerings, including their low fuel prices and 100% traceable and quality assured fuel.

Blarney Woollen Mills

Standing since 1823, the Blarney Woollen Mills owned by the Kelleher family thrives as the largest Irish store in the world, selling luxury Irish goods and exclusively designed Irish knits to customers both from home and abroad. The indomitable spirit of founder Christy lives on in Freda Hayes his daughter, and CEO of the company.

Original Irish Hotels

Original Irish Hotels are a collection of 56 unique, owner-run hotels, located in Ireland’s most outstanding destinations. Each of these boutique hotels, castles, manor, and country houses, are run by locals. Across their restaurants and bars, breakfast rooms, and kitchens, there’s a provenance and a quality that you simply won’t find elsewhere.

SuperValu

SuperValu is Ireland’s leading food retailer, with 223 stores nationwide serving over 2.6 million customers every week. Together with its retail partners, SuperValu employs approximately 14,500 colleagues, making it one of the State’s largest private-sector employers.

The Winners

There were two winners in this category – Blarney Woolen Mills won in the Hotel or Irish Visitor Experience Category and SuperValu won in the retail category.

Blacknight team members Roger Brennan and Bennett Gutkin were both on hand to hand out the awards (and enjoy the delicious food on offer).

Roger Brennan, Blacknight’s Head of Sales, previously said he was “Blown away by the quality of the entrants. Being part of the judging panel is a great honour.”

Find out more about the Guaranteed Irish Business Awards here.

Here are a few photos from the event.