Two Laois entries bid for National Q Mark Award for Hygiene and Food Safety

The National Q Mark Awards 2017 nominations have been announced and Corrib Oil in Portlaoise and the Midlands Regional Hospital Portlaoise Catering Department are representing Laois this year for the much sought-after National Q Mark Award for Hygiene and Food Safety.

The coveted Q Mark is awarded only to companies who achieve the highest standards of quality and excellence. The Q Mark awards celebrate the success of businesses over a range of sectors that review 100% of their processes and procedures 100% of the time so that they continually operate best practice standards.

The glitzy, black tie ceremony, which will take place on Friday the 29th of September, will see over 450 people representing 135 companies converge at the Clayton Hotel, Burlington Road in Dublin 4 to battle it out for the prestigious National Q Mark Awards. The Master of Ceremonies will be Chicago based keynote speaker, author and business humourist Conor Cunneen; Irishman Speaks.

EIQA (Excellence Ireland Quality Association) has been the Irish National Quality Association since 1969. They currently audit the operating standards of thousands of organisations and businesses both in Ireland and Internationally. EIQA is known as the ‘Guardian’ of The Q Mark suite of standards which includes: The Q Mark for Hygiene & Food Safety, The Q Mark for Quality Management Systems, The Q Mark for Nursing Homes, The Q Mark for Leisure Centre’s, The Q Mark for Accessibility (ABLE) and The Q Mark for Environmental Awareness (The Green Q). 

Only business that achieve the highest scores at audit are shortlisted in their relevant category.  Once Shortlisted, all companies must complete a very detailed submission document. This submission document is then presented to an expert panel of independent judges from the areas of Food Safety, Employment Law, Academia, Business & Quality to name but a few.

Speaking at the launch of this year’s awards Irene Collins, Managing Director of EIQA said “To be nominated for The Q Mark Awards is an enormous achievement.  Companies who achieve the Q Mark provide their own customers with added confidence in their products and demonstrate that the highest standards of quality and excellence are at the heart of their business”