Best food and drink shop: “The win meant a lot to everyone who works here,” says Fiona McHugh, MD at Fallon & Byrne on Exchequer St, Dublin. “There is little doubt that winning the award also brought new customers across our threshold.” (fallonandbyrne.com)
Best specialist shop: “It was the best thing that has ever happened to us in our 15 years in business,” says Margaret Mangan of Galway-based Cloon Keen Atelier. “We won new customers and it created a sense of belonging within our existing customer base.” (cloonkeen.com)
Best fashion store: "Shopping footfall from the Leinster region has jumped about 20 per cent and the win also raised our profile in the north," says Ruth Spence of Envoy of Belfast. (envoyofbelfast.com)
Best gifts/crafts/design/interiors (joint winner): "The impact has been huge," says Robert Collins, manager of joint winners in the category, Portlaoise-based The Store Yard. "From the morning of the announcement there's been an increase in footfall of 40 to 50 per cent." (thestoreyard.ie)
Best gifts/crafts/design/interiors (joint winner): “Winning the award was such an affirming pat on the back for me, my brother Marcus and for our staff,” says Vanessa MacInnes of joint winner Industry Design, Drury St, Dublin.
Best salon: "The award brought us to the attention of a lot of new potential clients," say Cian McDonald and John Erraught of The Grooming Rooms, South William St, Dublin. (thegroomingrooms.com)
Best market stall: “Winning meant respect with a capital R,” says Peter Ward of Country Choice, Nenagh for his stall at the Milk Market in Limerick. “After 34 years of business it was our proudest moment.”
Best newcomer: "As a business that was only a year old at the time, winning meant I could better talk to banks and to the local enterprise board," says Ash Senyk of Run Logic in Temple Bar. (run-logic.ie)
Best cafe/teashop: "The business has rocketed," says Tessa Perry, one of the three sisters who run Glebe Gardens and Cafe in Baltimore, Cork. "In the immediate weeks we were swamped and we've 11 weddings booked this year, up from two last year." (glebegardens.com)
Best online shop: “To receive this level of encouragement and recognition from the public has made us more determined to introduce a larger range of product, and a superior service to our valued customers,” says Ciaran Crean, CEO of Micksgarage.com (micksgarage.com)
