Awards for three Offaly Spar shops

Offaly Spar shops in Cloghan, Edenderry and Birr picked up awards at a ceremony hosted by Spar owners BWG Foods in Killashee House Hotel in Kildare recently. Now in their twelfth year the awards recognise stores that excel across all areas of store performance. This year Corrib Oil Spar in Birr, Healy's Spar Express in Cloghan and Sweeney's Spar Express in Edenderry all picked up awards, with the latter two picking up additional honours and named Five-Star Award winners for five consecutive years. Congratulating the winners Chief Executive of BWG Group Leo Crawford said retailers and staff should be proud to belong to an Irish retail group with buying power of one billion euro that supports local jobs and local economies. Managing Director Willie O'Byrne said the Spar awards honours retailers who are willing to subject their stores to an ongoing assessment process throughout the whole year. "Given the commitment required, it gives me great pleasure to see the increased number of stores who have retained their 5 Star title for five consecutive years which I think speaks volumes about the efforts our retailers go to in driving store standards," he said. "SPAR retailers in Offaly are a prime example of this and I commend their individual efforts in making the SPAR brand a leader in convenience retailing in Ireland and abroad." The SPAR 5 Star Awards Scheme is a rolling programme, meaning that in order for retailers to participate, they must be prepared to undergo a year-long assessment, which involves surprise audits by mystery shoppers, EIQA and SPAR personnel. The assessments are conducted for shop presentation, customer care and food safety but retailers also carry out their own self-assessments on a monthly basis.