AWARDS: The Maxol Group scores a hat-trick at Forecourt Trader Awards 2023

Maxol, Northern Ireland’s leading family-owned forecourt and convenience retailer was showered with accolades at the Forecourt Trader Awards 2023 as the Group secured a trio of prestigious awards.

The annual industry awards recognise, reward and celebrate the very best of forecourt and convenience retailers throughout the UK who work hard to innovate, to lead and earn a deserved reputation for excellence in the forecourt and convenience retailing sector.

Maxol’s sustainably designed flagship development at Kinnegar in Holywood took the title for Best Forecourt Retailer in Northern Ireland up to 4 million litres per annum. The site’s manager, Danielle Hamilton was awarded Best Site Manager for her exceptional leadership skills that guided her team through the service station’s transformation and is now one of the highest-performing sites across Maxol’s estate. Maxol also won Best Sustainable Strategy for the North Down forecourt where cutting-edge technology has been used to create a measurably different service station and enabled Maxol to reduce the site’s pre-development carbon footprint by up to 40%.

The awards were presented to Maxol at a glittering ceremony held in London and hosted by actor, comedian and presenter Stephen Mangan.

Brian Donaldson, CEO of The Maxol Group, said: “I want to congratulate everyone at Maxol Eurospar Kinnegar, our wider team and our retail partners at Henderson Group and to thank them all for their hard work and dedication which has made these awards possible. A special word of congratulations to Danielle on her richly deserved award which not only recognises her talent and commitment to her team but also to her customers and the wider community.

“It is hugely gratifying to be recognised by our industry peers as being among the best in the business. Maxol Kinnegar demonstrates our commitment to sustainability, our drive to offer our customers value, range, quality and local produce right on their doorstep and our ambition to provide leading edge facilities in the communities where we operate.

“As a family-owned business, which has been operating for more than a century, we’re enormously proud of what we have achieved and we’re excited as we continue to transform from being a traditional forecourt retailer to creating award-winning service stations of the future.”

Mark McCammond, retail director at Henderson Group, added: “These awards are a fantastic achievement for the store which has seen an outstanding performance since opening just 10 months ago. The Forecourt Trader Awards are a competitive scheme and we are thrilled to see so many SPAR and EUROSPAR stores from Northern Ireland triumph on a national level. All at Henderson Group send their congratulations to Danielle and her team for this hat-trick of awards.”

Maxol Eurospar Kinnegar re-opened last December to great acclaim following a £2million investment programme that included launching the first dedicated Ultra Rapid EV hub on the island of Ireland.

Kinnegar’s retail space almost doubled in size with the opening of a brand new Eurospar, another first in the Maxol estate. The store offers a huge range of locally produced food including groceries, a large, dedicated pre-packed butchery section as well as a choice offering of fruit & veg, dairy, and frozen food ranges.

The design and construction at Kinnegar established a blueprint for sustainable developments across Maxol’s network and now provides the sector with a new benchmark in forecourt innovation in Northern Ireland.