Special award for Monksland hair product distributor

A Monksland-based supplier and distributor of hair products to salons was among the winners at Thursday's Roscommon Enterprise Awards, hosted by LEO Roscommon.

Proving that every day can be a good ‘hair day’ was Paul Farrell and his business ‘Kreative Salon Supplies’ which won the ‘Special Contribution Award.’ A native of Roscommon town, Paul’s business distributes hair salon products countrywide.

The company’s main distribution brand is ‘Alter Ego Italy’ providing a range of top quality hair products such as hair colourings, shampoos and conditioners. The business has been 28 years in existence.

“LEO have been a great support to us, particularly during Covid-19. We’ve done a lot of training with them and they helped us set up our Social Media campaigns. We also got a grant to develop our website. This award is nice recognition for what we do and our contribution to the local economy,” said Paul.

Nine years ago Paul bought a new base in Monksland allowing him to grow and expand his business. He is the Irish distributor for Alter Ego Italy’s range of products and currently employs five full-time and three part-time staff.

“Our ambition is to expand the business, particularly online. At present 40% of our business is online. I previously worked with another hair care product and saw the potential to start and develop my own business."

The winner of the Ambition and Growth award was Central Switchgear. Central Switchgear has been operating in South Roscommon for the past six years, managed by Ballygar native Niall Galvin, supported by Sales Manager Trevor Kennedy, a native of Ahascragh; Senior Engineer Fergal McKenna and Production Manager Wojciech Jurneczko, a native of Poland.

SEE STORY ON CENTRAL SWITCHGEAR HERE

The overall winner in Roscommonm was Boyle-based Posude, operated by Kyle McLoughlin

while the Digital Journey Award went to Willowbrook Glamping of and the Start-Up category award was given to Garden Play Ireland operated by Padraig Scott from Tulsk and Donal Regan from Loughglynn.