Rooneys celebrating on the double at merchant awards

Rooney's Homevalue, Kells, had a double win in the all-island Octabuild Excellent in Builders Merchant Awards 2022, held in the Round Room at the Mansion House in Dublin. last week. The business won the Leinster Regional Award while one of its staff Laura Cassidy won the Rising Star Award.

Attended by over 300 guests, including shortlisted merchants and representatives of the builders merchant trade from across the country, the event was hosted by Octabuild members, Dulux, Etex, Glennon Brothers, Grant Engineering, Gyproc, Irish Cement, Kingspan Insulation and Wavin.

Michael McGrath, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, was guest of honour, who said: "This is the first year the awards were held on an all-island basis and I want to commend the organisers and Octabuild chairperson, Ray Molyneaux, for such a great event. These are a unique set of awards designed to promote excellence within the Irish builders merchants industry and highlight the importance of the industry to the wider construction and building sector.”

The judges said that Rooney's Homevalue Kells certainly lives up to their stated vision of being the 'go to' destination shop in Leinster for building materials, hardware, homewares and electrical goods.

"Great attention is paid to Health & Safety. Excellent traffic management systems are in place both in the car park and the yard. Independent unannounced safety audits are carried out," they stated. “Staff are continuously trained and upskilled by onsite/offsite courses from suppliers, and for HAI certifications. All staff carry walkie talkies for easier and instant communication.

“Each Monday morning, a project for the week is discussed and then implemented during the week. Sustainability is an important issue for Rooneys. Its extensive sustainability practices include LED and sensor lighting in the shop thus reducing energy.

“The stand-out act in its active community relations programme was the donation of a five-bed house to accommodate eight Ukrainian refugees in April last. Rooneys provided the house fully fitted out and its staff were given time off to volunteered to decorate the house."

One of the staff, Laura Cassidy, made it a second win for Rooney's by receiving the Rising Star Award. She originally started in hardware as a student working part-time and full-time when available. Having achieved a degree in Applied Science in Food and Business Management she travelled widely for a few years. Laura rejoined Rooney’s in December 2020 and the company said that she is extremely passionate about her work there; she is making a huge contribution and is a key employee.