Octabuild Builders Merchant Excellence Awards 2022 - Meet the Judges

As the competition heats up for the 2022 Octabuild Builders Merchant Excellence Awards, The Hardware Journal caught up with the three strong expert panel of judges to seek their advice for Builders Merchants entering the Awards.

The three judges are well known industry professionals – Liam O’Gorman (chair of the judging panel), Joe Harlin and Mark McCaffrey.

Liam O’Gorman is a former Chairman of the National Insulation Association of Ireland and former Council Member and Chairman of the Irish Building Materials Federation. He also served for over ten years as committee member and two terms as Chairman of Octabuild. Liam was employed for over thirty years at Moy Insulation /Moy Isover (Part of the Global Saint-Gobain Group) in Ireland and UK.

Joe Harlin is very well known to builders’ merchants. He retired from Wavin in 2018 as Business Development Manager after 47 years of service. During that time he spent some years in Saudi Arabia with Wavin Overseas. Outside work Joe was an Inter-County GAA Football Referee and Referee Assessor.

Mark McCaffrey has recently retired as Managing Director of P.McDermott & Sons (Omagh) after 33 years following the acquisition of the business by Grafton Group in December 2021. The business grew significantly during his tenure, becoming one of the largest independent builders’ merchants in Northern Ireland. During this period, the business won multiple Octabuild awards.

Speaking on behalf of the judges, Liam O’Gorman said: “From our experience, we know that there is great work being done in builders merchants` across the island and we look forward to hearing more about this work and meeting the teams responsible at the shortlisted stage. The competition we know will be fierce and we look forward to the challenge.”

Tips from the Judges

- Give yourself the best chance of winning! Read the Awards Brochure in its entirety. - Read the small print. - Judges can’t score what’s not there. - Answer the question you were asked! - Be concise. - Don’t just say it, Prove it. - Make it shine. - Don’t leave it to the last minute.

For more from the judges visit www.octabuild.ie/judging/

Liam O`Gorman, Joe Harlin and Mark McCaffrey.

For more information and to enter the Octabuild Builders Merchant Excellence Awards 2022:

www.octabuild.ie/awards

www.octabuild.ie/awards and email awards@octabuild.ie www.octabuild.ie/awards and post to Octabuild Awards,

Huband House, 16 Upper Mount Street, Dublin 2.

Closing date for entries is Friday, 1st July 2022.