O’Leary’s Centra, Tower, Co. Cork is celebrating their Centra Neighbourhood Store of the Year 2015 and Overall Store of the Year 2015 awards. The award was presented to Paddy O’Leary, Store Owner and Lisa O’ Leary, Store Manager by Martin Kelleher, MRPI MD and Ian Allen, Centra Sales Director.

Lee’s Centra in Charleville, Co. Cork scooped Centra’s ‘High Convenience Store of the Year Award 2015’ and Kelly’s Centra in Mountain-Top, Co. Donegal took home the ‘Convenience Store of the Year Award 2015’, all having fought off stiff competition from Centra retailers around the country.

The awards were presented by Martin Kelleher, Ian Allen, and Robert Finnegan, Three CEO. Three are the sponsors of the Awards.

The Centra ‘Store of the Year’ Awards are bestowed upon the stores which give a true reflection of excellence across every retail aspect.

All 463 Centra stores throughout the Republic of Ireland are audited by an independent retail consultant, Joe Comerford, for the award. The audit focuses on value, fresh food, quality, product range, hygiene, customer service and local community involvement.

Commenting on the awards, competition judge, Joe Comerford said “These finalists offer an exceptional service from the moment you step inside their door. They tick all the boxes – from a wide product selection with an excellent fresh food offering, to great value products with first rate customer service. Local community involvement is also of paramount importance to these stores.”

Commenting on the awards Robert Finnegan, CEO at Three, said “These awards are hugely important to the retail sector and we’re delighted to play a part in them. Three is proud to continue the sponsorship of the overall Store of the Year award and we look forward to bringing the partnership with Centra from strength to strength.”

Pictured at the Centra Conference in Killarney from left to right are, Martin Kelleher, Managing Director Centra, Alan Jordan, Centra Retailer Chairperson and Ian Allen, Centra Sales Director

Centra, Ireland’s number one convenience brand, have announced that it recorded retail sales of over €1.5 billion in 2014, a 3% increase on the previous year’s performance. Centra also revealed that it will add 380 jobs to the network this year, as 16 new stores are set to open in 2015. Last year, Centra retailers invested €7m in store openings and refurbishment, adding 25,000 sq. ft. to the Centra network.

Centra’s growth was underpinned by increased Own Brand sales, the introduction of its all day fresh food range, innovative products and services and delivering great value across all categories.

Sales of the Centra Own Brand range rose by 14%, reflecting the trend of consumers switching to Own Brand products in recent years.

Fresh food sales also drove growth, with the launch of Centra’s new range of gourmet sandwiches and pizzas experiencing significant sales increases. Gourmet sandwiches sales rose 8%, while pizza sales increased by 17% during the year. This was boosted by innovative promotions such as Centra’s 1 cent tea and coffee promotion on budget day, with coffee sales rising 14% in 2014.

Speaking today at the brand’s National Retailer Conference in Killarney to over 463 retailers in attendance, Martin Kelleher, Managing Director of Centra, said: “2014 was a very successful year for Centra in which we continued to lead the convenience market and achieved milestone sales of €1.5 billion. This is a tremendous achievement for the brand and our retailers, clearly demonstrating that consumers recognise that Centra offers the best value, choice and quality in the market. It also places the Centra brand within the top twenty Irish brands by turnover, which is a huge accomplishment when you consider that this has been achieved by the combined efforts of 463 local businesses across the country.”

“We plan to drive this momentum into 2015 by continuing to differentiate Centra from the competition by introducing new healthier ranges which will make it easier for shoppers to pick up healthy options at any time of the day, investing further in our Own Brand and fresh food ranges, whilst also focusing on rolling out new smart eCommerce technology services to give consumers the best retail experience in the market.”

With 463 stores, Centra employs almost 11,000 people and serves over three million customers per week. Centra purchases from Irish producers, selling over €1.1 billion of Irish goods, with 75% of all products sold in store produced or sourced in Ireland, with an additional €60 million worth of product being sourced by stores locally from over 1,400 small local suppliers.

Centra also invests over €240 million in local communities per annum, which is the equivalent of €4.5 million per week through a combination of payments to local suppliers, acquisition of local business services, wages, charitable donations and local sponsorships.

The store re-opened with an official ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday 22nd January 2015. In the image are Byfleet’s Primary School Head Teacher, Mrs Crowley, Byfleet’s oldest customers, Alan (82) and Thomas (97), Store Manager, Dan Rapson along with children from Byfleet Primary School.

Budgens has recently opened their second new concept store in Byfleet, Surrey. The store, which has been trading in Byfleet since 2011, was closed for four days while it underwent a refit to install a new look and feel. Byfleet is the first compact market town store to adopt the new concept which is currently being tested in the Broadstone lab store. The store plan is focused on the brand’s key shopper missions – a strong lunch offering, top-up shop and meal for tonight, and will serve as a good example of how the concept can be rolled-out at a lower cost.

Mike Baker, Budgens Brand Director say’s “It’s great to see the new concept being adapted to a smaller format store, the changes in Broadstone have been really well-received with sales revenue up 25% and I’m confident we’ll get a similar reaction here.”

Budgens of Byfleet enjoys a wealth of new ranges alongside an increased selection of fresh products, a fresh bakery and a focus on authentic, affordable, artisanal and locally produced foods. Other improvements include a broader ‘Discover the Taste’ selection, free wifi in store and a ‘Free Coffee Fridays’ initiative which offers customers a free coffee when spending £10 or more in store.

Budgens of Byfleet also welcomed popular TV chef and cookery writer Anjum Anand to the store (Saturday 24^th January), who joined in the relaunch celebrations by signing copies of her book and meeting and greeting customers. Budgens promoted the re-opening by door-dropping 2,000 of Anjum Anand’s ‘The Spice Tailor’ kits to local residents. Budgens have opted for a doorstep campaign rather than through the letterbox to safeguard any hungry pets that might otherwise get to them first. The relaunch was a great success.

Pictured is the winner of the Centra Pride Awards 2015, Brenda Donagher from Daniels’ Centra Portarlington, Co Laois

The inaugural Pride of Centra Awards took place recently in Croke Park where a selection of outstanding Centra employees were honoured for their commitment and dedication shown in the workplace. The awards were established to acknowledge the Centra employees who consistently live and demonstrate the Centra brand values each and every day. Just 10 Centra employees were selected as finalists out of a total of over 10,000 demonstrating the significance of their achievement.

The overall winner on the day was Brenda Donagher from Daniels’ Centra Portarlington, Co Laois. Brenda was a standout winner for her remarkable pride, enthusiasm, and thoughtfulness in everything she does. Brenda was nominated by store owner Dermot Daniels for her complete commitment to Centra and the community in Portarlington. Not only is she a fantastic Centra brand ambassador but she is also involved in all aspects of community life including walking clubs, Irish dancing, athletics and GAA that demonstrated her willingness to go above and beyond her call of duty.

There were nine other finalists there on the day representing seven additional counties: Clare, Cork, Kilkenny, Leitrim, Limerick, Tipperary and Wicklow. These nine finalists were also recognised for their ongoing commitment to their work through community initiatives, charity organisations, customer service and imaginative in-store ideas.

Centra is extremely proud of the all its employees and the strength they bring to the business, constantly ensuring that Centra delivers a very high standard in everything it does. It is the retailers, store managers and floor staff that have driven Centra’s business throughout Ireland over the past 36 years.

Commenting on the Pride of Centra Awards, Matt O’Callaghan, Human Resource Director, Centra, said; “Throughout our stores we have fantastic people who are all dedicated to delivering ‘Service Excellence’, a very high standard of customer service and local community engagement. We are very grateful to all our employees but in particular the finalists who made it to the inaugural Pride of Centra Awards. These finalists have really shown that they go the extra mile every day for the customers and communities in which they work and live. I would like to congratulate Brenda on this fantastic achievement and I hope she will continue to bring her enthusiasm to her local Centra store for many years to come.”

Overall winner Brenda Donagher from Daniels’ Centra Portarlington commented; “I am absolutely delighted to have been named overall winner at the inaugural Pride of Centra Awards. I have been working in Centra for eight years and I have enjoyed every minute of it. The store is a central part of the local community and I would like to thank all our customers in Portarlington for their ongoing loyalty and contribution to all our initiatives such as the walking club and our partnership with the Irish Cancer Society’s Action Breast Cancer.”

Pride of Centra 2015 Finalists:

• Carmel Dormeer – Lynch’s Centra, Ennis, Co. Clare
• Pamela Cox – Herlihy’s Centra Group, Cork
• Eoin Hurley – O’Leary’s Centra, Bandon, Co. Cork
• Bernadette O’ Regan – Fuller’s Centra, Union Hall, Co. Cork
• Roisin Law – Mulhern’s Centra, Mullinavat, Co. Kilkenny
• Brenda Donagher – Daniels’ Centra, Portarlington, Co. Laois
• Michelle McLoughlin – Gibbons’ Centra, Drumshanbo, Co. Leitrim
• Seamus Moroney – Chawke’s Centra, Castletroy, Limerick
• Gabriel Kearney – McKenna’s Centra, Roundwood, Co. Wicklow
• Tracey Coleman – O’ Connell’s Centra, Templemore, Co. Tipperary