The 25th annual VHI Kilkenny Business Awards, presented by Kilkenny Chamber, were held at the five-star Lyrath Estate in Kilkenny on Saturday night.
Over 50 companies were shortlisted for awards spanning 20 categories, with a number of individual award recipients also named.
Among them, KCLR chief executive and chair of the Independent Broadcasters of Ireland, John Purcell, who collected the President’s Award from outgoing Kilkenny Chamber president Ann Barber; Mike Kelly, founder of Young Irish Film Makers – the birthplace for Academy Award nominees, Cartoon Saloon – collected this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award, while a Special Recognition Award was reserved for Michael Rossiter, who recently announced his retirement from Rossiter’s on the Butterslip after almost four decades in business.
Business of the Year
Solar Precision, led by husband and wife team Des & Bridget Walsh, were named Family Business of the Year and overall Kilkenny Business of the Year for 2025.
Speaking to KCLR at the event, Bridget Walsh explained just what winning meant to her.
“I’m in shock. It’s amazing”, she told KCLR News.
“We travel all over the world to see different, unique solutions. We’re an engineering company that designs and builds solar, so we spend a lot of our time engineering and building the solar systems, and coming up with new concept designs.”
“We work with a lot of innovation, concepts, and designs. Going back the last few years, opening our business – myself and my husband opened together – and it’s just an amazing journey. I’m so, so proud.”
“I left school at a very young age, and to go back to education and become a senior engineer, and to run a business as an engineering company to do solar, that’s the proudest moment of my life.”
Kilkeny Chamber Awards 2025 Winners
- Age Friendly Business Award: UPMC Aut Even Physio Department
- Café, Bar, Restaurant of the Year Award: Wild Tails
- Culture Heritage Tourism Award: Ceoltoiri at St. Canice’s Cathedral
- Customer Service Award: Rapid Fire & Safety
- Design & Craft Award: Kilgallen & Partners
- eCommerce & Digital Excellence Award: Olive for Education
- Employee of the Year: Jane Fitzgerald, Rustiq Salon
- Employer of the Year: St. Canice’s Credit Union
- ESG Excellence: Goatsbridge Trout Farm
- Family Business of the Year: Solar Precision
- Hotel & Accommodation Provider: Killure Cottages
- Innovation In Business Award: Fairstone Ireland
- International Trade Award: ISE Forest & Garden
- Investment in Skills, Training & Development of Staff: Mint Medispa
- Night Time Experience Award: Six After 6
- Retailer of the Year Award: Valley of Roses
- Salon of the Year Award: Luke Parsons Hair Salon
- Small Business Award: Yellow Deer Designs
- Taste of Kilkenny Award: Kilkenny Pembroke Hotel
- Volunteer Engagement Award: Linguan Valley Tourism Board
