Hannah Grace at Ganly's wins the Overall Award at Westmeath Style Awards

Hundreds of people gathered at a gala event at the Sheraton Athlone Hotel on Friday evening last for the inaugural Westmeath Style Awards. The event, organised by the Westmeath Independent and Westmeath Examiner, honoured local businesses in Westmeath for their style and finesse in ten different categories, with Hannah Grace at Ganly’s being announced as the Overall Excellence in Style winner on the night.

Hannah Grace at Ganly’s had picked up the 'Best in Interiors’ award earlier in the evening and proprietor of Ganly’s, Michael Ganly, commended his staff for their hard work in establishing the new department at the store.

He told presenter Karina Charles, of Irish TV, that he had “a great bunch of girls” working in the store and after appearing on 'The Takeover’ on RTÉ with Norah Casey, they had come up with the idea and he simply signed the cheque!

Speaking after being announced as the Overall Excellence in Style winner, Mr Ganly paid tribute to all of the businesses in the room, saying it was great to see so many local businesses that had survived the recession and were doing well and providing employment in the community.

And while the awards honoured the style of local businesses, there was also plenty of style on show at the Sheraton Athlone Hotel on Friday evening as people gathered for a drinks reception ahead of the awards ceremony and meal.

Mystery judges scouted the crowd in the search of the Best Dressed Lady, with the award later being presented to Aileen Harney, proprietor of Goldilocks Hair Salon, which was a runner-up in the Best Hair Salon category. Ms Harney said she was thrilled with her prize and said her dress was from Nell’s Closet Athlone, while her hair was done by Yves at Goldilocks and her make-up was done by Sorcha O’Dowd.

The awards were run in conjunction with Sheraton Athlone Hotel, Specsavers Athlone and Mullingar, and associate sponsors, and many in attendance were already planning ahead to next year’s event.

And the winners were...

Best Fashion Boutique - Olivia Danielle

Best in Accessories - Jasmine

Best Beauty Salon/Spa - The First Floor

Best Hair Salon - Peter Mark Mullingar

Best Interiors - Hannah Grace at Ganly’s

Best New Business - Next Generation Speed

Best in Bridal - House of Flowers

Best in Social Media - NJM Nails

Best in Men’s Fashion & Grooming - Galvin for Men

Best in Health & Fitness - Medcoll

 

Overall Excellence in Style - Hannah Grace at Ganly’s

Most Stylish Lady - Aileen Harney

 

Sponsors of the awards

Specsavers

Sheraton Athlone Hotel

Motivation Weight Management

Byrne Carolan Cunningham Solicitors

Grovelands Childcare

Burgess Athlone

The Laser and Skin Clinic

O’Rourke Fireplace & Stoves

Guineys

Red Earth

Irish TV

 

The inaugural Westmeath Style Awards was recorded by Irish Television and will be shown (with scheduled repeats) soon as a special featured programme.

Pictured is Hannah Grace at Ganly's proprietor Micheal Ganly accepting his awards with the awards organisers Westmeath Independent and sponsors Specsavers representatives.