A TOTAL of 33 local businesses have been chosen as finalists for this year’s Southern Star West Cork Business & Tourism Awards.
The awards, now in their fifth year, are presented by The Southern Star in partnership with Carbery, and celebrate the innovation and entrepreneurial skills found in abundance in West Cork.
Having received high quality entries from more than 70 businesses, the experienced panel of judges had a difficult job narrowing each category down to the final few. The finalists will take part in a pitch night, sponsored by OfficeMaster, at the Ludgate Hub in Skibbereen on Thursday, December 5th. The pitch night is an opportunity for all finalists to convince the judges that they should win their particular category, through a three-minute presentation showcasing their business.
‘We were delighted with the high quality of entries again for this year’s West Cork Business & Tourism Awards,’ said Seán Mahon, chair of the judging panel. ‘We’re looking forward to meeting and hearing from each of the finalists at the pitch night, where we get to showcase and learn from these brilliant West Cork businesses. It was really challenging for judges to decide on the finalists as we had so many quality businesses, organisations, festivals, and business people who entered.
‘We’d like to sincerely thank every organisation who entered, we appreciate the time and effort invested in each entry and we wish you every success in the future.’ This year’s judges are: Aishling Goulden, Carbery’s HR lead for Ireland; Josephine O’Driscoll, Wild Atlantic Way manager, Fáilte Ireland; Paul DiRollo, owner and director of Glentree Furniture; and Seán Mahon, Southern Star Media managing director.
After the pitch night, judges will reconvene to choose a winner in each category, which will be announced at a special awards ceremony in Fernhill House Hotel in Clonakilty on February 7th.
