'Our stores are truly at the heart of it’: CEO of The Maxol Group celebrates local heroes and rewards excellence across Northern Ireland network

Maxol, Northern Ireland’s leading family-owned forecourt and convenience retailer, has celebrated excellence across its network by hosting the 2024 Excellence Awards Winners’ presentation and celebration lunch at Belfast’s Merchant Hotel.

During the awards presentation and lunch, Maxol recognised seven outstanding service stations, both company-owned and independent dealer operated, for setting ‘Best in class’ standards in-store and delivering outstanding customer experience.

These winning locations and their dedicated staff were also commended for their strong community engagement and for positioning themselves at the heart of their local areas.

Maxol Braid River, Ballymena, operated by Aramark was a double winner on the night scooping Store of the Year as well as Excellence in Standards.

The annual Awards, promote excellence in station and store standards, customer experience, and community engagement. Standards are assessed through store audits by regional managers and the team from head office, along with mystery shopper visits and reviews of each store’s local community engagement, which includes fundraising activities for Maxol’s nominated charity, Guide Dogs NI.

Brian Donaldson, CEO of The Maxol Group, said: “Our stores are truly ‘the heart of it — serving local communities and that’s why it’s important we hold ourselves to the highest standards and champion best practice across our stores.

“The continued success of our business is driven by the passion, commitment, and drive for continuous improvement that we see from our fantastic teams, and it’s what makes us an industry-leading convenience retailer.

"I want to extend my heartfelt congratulations to all the award winners and their store teams, who continue to set the gold standard across the Maxol network.”

Company-owned winners:

Store of the Year – Maxol Braid River, Ballymena, operated by Aramark

Excellence in Standards – Maxol Braid River, Ballymena, operated by Aramark

Excellence in Customer Experience, Maxol A26 Tannaghmore Services, operated by Aramark

Excellence in Community Engagement, Maxol Edenderry, operated by licensees John and Sharon Bailey

Independent Dealer winners:

Store of the Year - Henderson Retail Limited, Clough

Excellence in Standards - Mulkerns, Newry led by Terry Mulkerns

Excellence in Customer Experience - Bradley’s, Kilrea led by Kenny Bradley

Excellence in Community Engagement – Litter’s, Portadown led by Louise Litter