Local stores punch above weight at Musgrave Awards

Pictured above with special guest and Northern Ireland boxing legend, Barry McGuigan, is Michael McCormack, managing director of Musgrave NI; Alan Collingwood, owner of Mace Aghalee; Declan Watson, owner of Centra Portaferry; and Garvan Hegarty, owner of SuperValu Fintona

Three local stores from the SuperValu, Centra and Mace retail groups have claimed the prestigious Store of the Year title at Musgrave NI’s annual awards event.

Boxing legend and manager of Super-Bantamweight World Champion Carl Frampton, Barry McGuigan, was on hand to congratulate Hegarty’s Fintona on winning the SuperValu Store of the Year award, Watson’s Portaferry on winning the Centra ‘Store of the Year’ award and Collingwood’s Aghalee on winning the Mace Store of the Year award.

The evening, hosted by TV personality Claire McCollum at the Culloden Estate and Spa on March 4 also saw Bell’s SuperValu, Crossgar pick up the Newcomer of the Year award, sponsored by Tayto.

SuperValu Limavady won Fundraising Store of the Year for a third year running while McCool’s SuperValu Ballymoney was recognised as the first store in Northern Ireland to achieve the Investor’s in People Gold Standard Award.

Musgrave NI organises the gala ball event each year for its 230 independent retailers in Northern Ireland across the SuperValu, Centra and Mace brands, and finalists were selected following several rounds of performance and standards audits.

Finalists in the Mace and Centra retail brands went head-to-head on the night, competing to win gold in each of their categories, while SuperValu competed for highly-commended before the coveted Store of the Year titles, sponsored by SCA, Irwin’s Bakery, and Kerry Foods.

Musgrave NI managing director, Michael McCormack, said: “Congratulations to all of our 2016 winners – the Store of the Year awards allows us to recognise our retailers who provide outstanding standards in customer service and retail excellence and are driving their brands forward on a daily basis.

“The recipients of these prestigious accolades are excelling in the independent retailing market and have embraced the future of retailing across our three brands, SuperValu, Centra and Mace’’ he added.

Musgrave Northern Ireland (MNI) comprises the retail and wholesale segments of Musgrave Group in Northern Ireland and supports 360 independent retailers through the SuperValu, Centra, Mace and Day-Today brands and 2,800 wholesale customers through the Marketplace brand across the province.

The Store of the Year and category winners in the Musgrave NI Store of the Year awards 2016 are:

Mace Store of the Year: Collingwood’s Mace, Aghalee

Mace Under 1800 sq ft Gold: Boyd’s Mace, Toomebridge
Mace Under 1800 sq ft Silver: Hoey’s Mace, Belfast Finaghy Road North
Mace Under 1800 sq ft Bronze: McDonald’s Mace, Lurgan

Mace Over 1800 sq ft Gold: Collingwood’s Mace, Aghalee
Mace Over 1800 sq ft Silver: Stevenson’s Mace, Kilrea
Mace Over 1800 sq ft Bronze: Wilson’s Mace, Coleraine

Centra Store of the Year: Watson’s Centra, Portaferry

Centra High Convenience Gold: Jamesie’s Centra, Glenshane
Centra High Convenience Silver: Cathcart’s Centra, Magherafelt
Centra High Convenience Bronze: Jez’s Centra, Belfast Donegall Square West

Centra Foodmarket Gold: Watson’s Centra, Portaferry
Centra Foodmarket Silver: Kelly’s Centra, Derry Trench Road
Centra Foodmarket Bronze: McDade’s Centra, Ballygawley

SuperValu Store of the Year: Hegarty’s SuperValu, Fintona

SuperValu Highly Commended: McCool’s SuperValu, Ballymoney

Newcomer of the Year: Bell’s SuperValu, Crossgar

Fundraising Store of the Year: SuperValu Limavady

Special Recognition award – McCool’s SuperValu Ballymoney