Topaz, Ireland’s biggest fuels and convenience retailer has been recognised as the country’s leading forecourt brand in a survey carried out on behalf of Retail Excellence Ireland.

Topaz scored the highest brand awareness among consumers, which at 92%, was well ahead of their nearest competitors.

When consumers were asked to rank the eight brands on the basis of value for money, customer service, quality and range of product, Topaz came first in all four categories.

The research, which was carried out by Behaviour and Attitudes on behalf of REI, was published at Topaz’s recent annual dealer conference which was held at Croke Park and was attended by more than 200 dealers from the Topaz network nationwide.

In his key address Topaz CEO John Williamson, outlined the ongoing growth which was taking place in the Topaz Retail business, including the addition of new dealer customers as well as more company owned retail locations. He pointed out that the company is continuing to expand and now employs over 1,500 people.

Williamson made special mention of the highly successful launch of Topaz’s new interactive loyalty game, Play or Park.

“This is the first retail based loyalty programme in Europe to use an ongoing game mechanic and after just three months over 100,000 customers have registered for it. We wanted a fun way to reward our customers for their loyalty, but we also wanted to engage with them and new customers at a deeper level via innovative use of mobile technology and social media,” he said.

The conference concluded with a gala dinner at which dealers were presented with a variety of awards for outstanding performance in different categories such as contribution to the local community, customer service and health and safety.

Topaz/Spar, Musgrave Park, Belfast won the Customer Service Award 2012.