Clonmel butcher stakes his claim on internet award!
BUTCHER WINS GOLDEN SPIDER
The recently re-launched website jameswhelanbutchers.comwas awarded a prestigious Eircom Spider Award for ‘Retail Excellence’ at the 2010 awards ceremony in Dublin last week.
It was a week of award wins for Butcher Pat Whelan of James Whelan Butchers, Clonmel as earlier in the week James Whelan Butchers was also awarded with a Good Food Ireland award for Enterprise and Innovation.
The Good Food Ireland awards are recognised as a prestigious win in food circles with only the ‘best of their types’ presented with awards. Over 250 key representatives from the food and tourism sectors including chefs, restaurateurs, hoteliers, farmers, fishermen and food producers from the four corners of Ireland were in attendance at the highly respected industry ceremony.
The much coveted 2010 Eircom Spider awards recognise Ireland’s premier businesses for technology and digital media in conjunction with Business and Finance Magazine. The judges look for a website that demonstrates excellence in providing online customer solutions and retail sales of products or services. The competition in this particular category was very stiff with national household names Tesco Mobile, Smyths Toys and DID Electrical among the eight short listed companies. James Whelan Butchers emerged victorious and received the golden spider at a glittering awards ceremony in the Burlington Hotel in Dublin hosted by TV comedian Jimmy Carr. This is the second web award for James Whelan Butchers since September of this year having also come out on top at the Irish Web Awards.
Pat Whelan of James Whelan Butchers said, “We truly are delighted to just have been nominated for this year’s award, let alone to win the category outright! A few years ago we decided to go online and like everything else we do, it was a case of all or nothing. We’ve worked really hard to provide a great online shopping facility and an interesting website and we’ve constantly embraced the emerging social media such as blogging, facebook and twitter. We just do what we do as best we can with as much sincerity, energy and excellence as possible keeping the customer in mind and it seems to have paid off.”
James Whelan Butchers was the first Irish butcher to go online. The site has evolved into an excellent example of how information and retail can merge seamlessly.
Jameswhelanbutchers.com offers short informative ‘how to’ videos, plenty of recipes and food information, free competitions plus access to the blog, twitter and facebook along with the online shopping facility. The shopping facility is available 24/7 offering next day delivery all over Ireland with excellent price points.
On the cusp of one of food retail’s busiest times of the year the website has relieved a great deal of the pressure on both the shop and customers alike. Commenting on its convenience for the business and customers Pat Whelan said, “Even those that enjoy coming into the store in Oakville, often top up orders online. It’s a win, win for everyone.”
The James Whelan Butchers’ Store which has featured on several TV shows, including Rick Stein’s Food Heroes is located at the Oakville Shopping Centre in Clonmel; however there is no need to even leave the house check outJameswhelanbutchers.com.
