Innovation Awards’ winners switched on

A key and defining objective of The Hardware Show is to showcase new product innovation to retailers and merchants. On Saturday, 4th March the winners of the Hardware Show 2017 Innovations Awards were announced at the President’s Ball held at Clayton Hotel, Burlington Road, Dublin.

This year’s shortlist of new innovations was judged by a Dragons’ Den-style panel of industry experts and buyers, led by one of the original stars of Dragons’ Den, Bobby Kerr. Kerr was joined by fellow judges, Peter O’Donovan (Purchasing Manager – Retail, Glanbia), Denis Cronin (Head Retail Buyer, Dairygold), Paddy Kingham (Managing Director, Daly Bros N/E Ltd.) and Gary Craven (Regional Manager (ROI), Murdock Builders Merchants). These awards work to assist retailers and merchants in sourcing new and innovative products and services for their stores.

Awards were given for Commended, Highly Commended and an overall winner in each category for Home, Garden, Build and Hardware/DIY.

The overall Innovation Award winner was Irish owned company Solus for their XCross Filament LED bulb.

The overall category winners list is:

HOME: Solus for their XCross Filament LED bulb – the next generation of bulb generating a 360 degree surround, natural and warmer instant light, with no time delay.
GARDEN: Hygeia for their Greenforce Lawn Gold, an organic based lawn fertiliser.
BUILD: Botament for their RD1 Universal product, it’s the very first multi-functional reactive sealant in the world that comes as a single component in one container.
HARDWARE/DIY: DS Supplies for their Trojan Combi-One floor profile, one profile for all floor types.

Highly Commended were the following:

HOME: SME Sales with their Bemis STA-TITE fitting system.
GARDEN: Ames True Temper with their Dual Tine Leaf Rake.
BUILD: Metabo for their Cordless Angle Grinder.
HARDWARE/DIY: Fleetwood Paints with their Prestige Matt Paint.

Pictured above are Edward Wilson, Botament; Gerard Hogan, Solus; Kieran Burke, President Hardware Association Ireland; Elisha Daniels, Hygeia; Pat McDonnell and Derek Doyle, DS Supplies.