Waterford Local Enterprise Office, together with Waterford City and County Council have announced Coffeehouse Lane as their first Waterford Digital Awards Overall Winner.
The ceremony, which took place at Dooley’s Hotel on Friday 28th October, aimed to recognise and reward SMEs based in County Waterford who have developed their ecommerce and digital platforms as part of their product offering.
Coffeehouse Lane, the overall winner, is an Artisan Coffee roaster and producer with strong Waterford roots. It is owned by the Bergin family and run by Mark Bergin. Its range of coffees is not just inspired by its name, but also by the ethos of coffee roasting and brewing back to 1690 when Coffee House Lane, adjacent to the then busy trading port of Waterford, boasted what is long believed to be Ireland's first ever coffee house. Green Coffee was traded at the port, then roasted, brewed and sold at John Aikenhead's Coffee House on what became Coffee House Lane of Waterford.
Mark was obviously delighted to win the award:
“When Coffee House Lane started out, we were committed to not only producing Artisan Coffee of the highest quality but also building a business that we had fun working at. We are always open to new ideas and evolving. Any modern retail business needs an effective digital sales and promotions platform. Our website is an extension of our business and our family’s attitude to our work. We’re thrilled to win this, the first Waterford Digital Awards trophy and would like to thank the team at the Local Enterprise Office who have helped us grow and grow, for many years now.”
The winners of each award category were:
- Best Business to Business Website - NC Consulting & Co.
- Best Business to Customer Website - Coffeehouse Lane
- Best E Commerce Website - Murphy Larkin Timber Products Ltd.
- Best Export Website - Herdsy
- Best in Social Media - Pepper Hustle
The winner of each category received €1,000 towards technical advice, photography, videography and marketing. The overall winner received €2,500 in cash.
Jacqui Gaule, Senior Enterprise Development Officer with Local Enterprise Office Waterford was extremely impressed with the standard of entries.
“For the past number of years the Local Enterprise Offices have been promoting the importance of online sales. Though even we didn’t realise how high the bar had been set. The judges spent much longer than expected debating and deliberating on who should win each category, let alone the overall prize. Through training and Trading Online Vouchers many of our clients have transitioned to include digital sales and promotional platforms. This development has reaped financial rewards for many, while these awards are an opportunity to give them some public acclaim also.”
