Lorraine Heskin wins Business Person of the Year at the Fingal Business Awards

Lorraine Heskin, Founder and CEO of Gourmet Food Parlour has been awarded the Business Person of the Year at the Fingal Business Awards 2022, held at the Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport in Santry on Friday, the 18th of November 2022.
 
The award honours a distinguished business person in the Fingal region who demonstrates exemplary business achievements and exceptional leadership in bringing significant benefits to their business for employees, customers, suppliers and the community.
 
Hailing from a small village in Co. Galway, she studied at the University of Limerick before heading off to New York for three years, working in a diverse range of food businesses. On returning to Dublin, she opened the first restaurant in Dun Laoghaire in 2006. Since then, the group has grown to six locations across Ireland as well as a large catering and events business, and a newly rebranded sister company Gourmet Gifts, employing over 200 people across the group.
 
Lorraine has created a business that meets best practices at every level, and this is something every businessperson should aspire to. From using local suppliers and supporting Irish businesses to providing the latest training for staff to fueling athletes to perform at their best (Dublin GAA, LGFA, Dublin Ladies GAA), Lorraine Heskin is now recognised as one of Fingal’s best entrepreneurs.
 
Hosted by Fingal Chamber, the event saw twenty-five awards handed out during the glittering night of celebration for the local business community. The four award sections recognise business excellence, sustainable business impact, customer experience, and outstanding people in the business community.
 
Some of the big award winners on the night were Keogh’s Crisps for the Large Business of the Year and International Trade Awards; Osborne Recruitment who took home the SME of the Year Award; and, Seomra Salainn who was judged to be the Start-Up of the Year.
 
In the sustainable business impact section the winners were Swords Pavilions for Best Sustainable Impact by a Small or Medium Business, Bidvest Noonan for Inclusion Diversity and Equity; Flexsource Solutions for Workplace, Keelings for Climate Action; and, Paypal for Community Involvement.
 
Speaking at the Awards ceremony, Anthony Cooney, Chief Executive of Fingal Chamber said,
“Congratulations to Lorraine Heskin and all the winners of the award categories, whom we recognise for their achievements. Well done to all of the finalists
Our awards reveal how the benchmark of quality among projects implemented by businesses across Fingal continues to be driven upwards.
The programmes and activities developed by businesses of all sizes continue to evolve every year and have become ever more proactive at addressing current sustainability challenges.”
 
This eighteenth annual Fingal Business Awards Gala Presentation Ceremony was kindly sponsored by Fingal County Council. Each winner was presented with a newly designed sustainable trophy.

Ann Marie Farrelly, Chief Executive of Fingal County Council said,
"Fingal County Council actively supports our communities and our businesses and is delighted to sponsor this event because awards like these are important. They encourage high standards, they reward excellence, and they prove, as if any proof was needed, that Fingal is indeed a great place to do business in."

The 2022 category winners are:
 
The People Awards Section
Business Person of the Year - sponsored by Dublin Airport
Lorraine Heskin, Gourmet Food Parlour
Young Business Person of the Year - sponsored by TU Dublin
Lauren Mc Donald, Lynott Jewellery
Team of the Year - sponsored by Malone Group
IGate Customer Service Team
Employee of the Year - sponsored by Osborne
Jacinta Gorman, Maldron Hotel Dublin Airport
 
The Business Excellence Section
Large Business of the Year - sponsored by McInerney Saunders
Keogh's Crisps
SME of the Year - sponsored by Local Enterprise Office
Osborne
Start-Up Business of the Year - sponsored by TU Dublin
Seomra Salainn Salt Room Therapy
Best Public Service - sponsored by the Clayton Hotel
TIER Mobility
Best Not-for-Profit Organisation - sponsored by Paypal
Action Ireland Trust
​Best International Trade - sponsored by Country Crest
Keogh's Crisps
Best Innovation in Business - sponsored by Skillnet Ireland
CommSec
Best Sales and Marketing - sponsored by VHI Healthcare
Keelings
Best Training and Upskilling - sponsored by Keelings
Celuplast
 
The Sustainable Business Impact Section
Best Community Involvement - sponsored by AWS​
Paypal
Best Climate Action - sponsored by ​Swords Pavilions
Keelings
Best Workplace - sponsored by Adare HRM
Flexsource Solutions
Best Inclusion, Diversity & Equity - sponsored by Fingal County Council
Bidvest Noonan
Best Sustainable Impact by a Small or Medium Business - sponsored by Maldron Hotel​
Swords Pavilions
 
The Customer Experience Section
Best Hotel - sponsored by Aer Lingus
Castleknock Hotel
Best Leisure/Tourism Service - sponsored by the Carlton Hotel​
The Cyril Fry Corner at the Model Railway Museum
Best Restaurant - sponsored by AIB​
Earth & Vine Restaurant
Best Pub​ - sponsored by Tayto Snacks
Wrights Cafe Bar
Best Cafe - sponsored by Java Republic​
The Cottage​
​Best Retail Outlet - sponsored by One4all
Avoca Malahide
Best Professional Service - sponsored by the Crowne Plaza
McInerney Saunders

Photos are available at www.fingalchamber.ie/photo-gallery