Our Awards

We are a relatively young company in Ireland; we have only been established since 2001. Already we have achieved a number of successes which we have been proud to celebrate. Some of the most prestigious awards for our people practices and colleague excellence we have been shortlisted for or have won are outlined below.  

Best Workplaces in Ireland Awards

Since 2007 we have taken part in the Best Workplaces in Ireland selection process and have been honoured to receive external recognition through these awards. The Best Workplaces in Ireland are selected based on a two-stage evaluation process using an employee survey and a desk-audit of each organisation’s culture, conducted by The Great Place to Work Institute. The process focuses on the trust relationship between employees and management and only the most trusted workplaces are chosen for the lists.

We are very proud of these awards as 66% of the overall score achieved comes from the confidential colleague survey so we know our colleagues make these achievements possible.

Over the years the awards structure has developed as part of the study and we have been delighted to receive a number of different accolades. Most recently in 2011 we were selected as one of the Best Large Workplaces with 250 plus employees in Ireland.  In 2010 we were awarded the Best Workplace in the Retail Sector Award and also placed sixth in the Top 20 Best Large Workplaces in Ireland.

We also received the Best Workplace award with 500 – 1, 000 employees for 2 years running in 2008 and 2009 respectively as well as securing a Top 10 place. During the first year that we entered the competition in 2007 we were selected as one of the Top 10 Best Workplaces in Ireland.

Cormac Tobin, Managing Director and Tracy O'Brien, HR Director accepting the Best Workplace in Ireland 2010 award for Unicarepharmacy.

Best Workplaces Awards Ceremony 2009 Pictured from left to right: Bob Lee (GPTW), Gary Keegan (Irish Institute of Sport), Laoise Casey and Tracy O'Brien, Unicarepharmacy, Karen Preston (Independent Newspapers) and Lucy Fallon-Byrne (NCPP).

European Best Workplaces Awards

Companies from the Irish Best Workplaces lists are also eligible for the European awards which are based on 15 national Best Workplaces studies carried out in Europe. Our success at a European level again reinforces our firm belief of the high calibre of our teams.

In 2011 we achieved a place in the Top 25 Best Large Workplaces in Europe. We also enjoyed great success in 2010 with a Top 50 Best Places to Work in Europe award and also received a special award for "Speaking the truth" for our "credible communication" as a business. We also placed in the Top 50 in 2008 and the Top 100 in 2007.

Retail Excellence Awards

In 2010 we were delighted to be finalists in the following categories in the prestigious REI awards; Company of the Year, Best Employer, Manager of the Year.

In 2009 we were honoured to be awarded the REI Best Employer award and were also nominated in the Manager of the Year and Company of the Year award categories. The Best Employer award is extremely significant to us as it is an acknowledgement ofhow we manage our colleagues and is a reward for their effort and engagement in our business. We were also finalists in the following categories in 2008; Company of the Year, Best Employer and Manger of the Year.

Cormac Tobin and Tracy O'Brien accepting the Retail Excellence Ireland 2009 Award for Best Employer on behalf of Unicarepharmacy.

Some of our colleagues pictured at the Retail Excellence Awards Ceremony in 2008.

European Business Awards

In early 2010 we were selected as one of 10 country representatives by the European Business Awards. We were the only Irish representative in the Best Employer Category and were one of only 10 Company finalists in the whole of Europe for their Employer of the Year Award. We are delighted to announce that Unicarepharmacy was awarded a prestigious Ruban d'Honneur at the European Business Awards. Receiving a Ruban d'Honneur is a real mark of distinction and is a testament to the determination and passion which drives our business. Only 5 Irish companies were awarded this honour at the penultimate stage of the European Business awards. In total, 100 Ruban d'Honneurs have been given to the 'creme de la creme' of companies across Europe.

Our MD, Cormac Tobin, "Our team at Unicarepharmacy is extremely proud to have received the Ruban d'Honneur and represent Ireland in the European Business Awards. We believe our business is all about a knowledgeable, inspired and passionate team of colleagues who love to give customers compelling reasons to return to us."

Cormac Tobin (3rd from left in the top row) Managing Director of Unicarepharmacy with the other award recipients.

Alan Duffy, Head of HSBC Corporate Banking, Ireland commented: "It's a great credit to the companies involved and Ireland as a whole that we should have five award winners in such a prestigious European competition. It's a testimony to the level of drive and business initiative that we see from Irish companies on a day-to-day basis. I wish all five companies the best of luck at the next challenging round of judging."

This year we have been selected again as a country representative in the “Best Employer” Category and are awaiting the next phase of the judging process.

For more information on these awards, click on www.businessawardseurope.com

Individual awards

Our colleagues have also achieved great success with a number of individual industry awards which reflect their great passion and commitment to our business.

Vichy Advisor Awards                   

Vichy Advisor of the Year Awards 2010

The Vichy Dermo Advisor of the Year Awards recognises and celebrates the excellence of the top Dermo Advisors in the country. In 2010 20 of our colleagues were shortlisted as finalists and we had a total of 5 winners! In 2009 3 of our colleagues were selected as winners out of 10 finalists. The standard is very high and the judging process looks at all areas including study cases, in-store events, quizzes and training attendance. A special award was also received by 2 of our colleagues in 2010 for “Best initiative in an educational talk” for their work.

Retail Excellence Ireland Store Awards

As well as ‘people’ awards we have also achieved success with our pharmacies. These awards too are only possible by our teams’ passion and dedication and commitment to excellent Store Standards and customer service. In 2010 our Ashleaf Shopping Centre Pharmacy was selected as one of the Top 50 Stores in Ireland. Our first DocMorris Pharmacy in Rathmines was awarded the Small Store of the Year award in 2009. This award is a testament to the team in DocMorris Rathmines and recognises the consistently high standards in DocMorris. In 2008 our Charleville pharmacy was nominated for the Store of the Year award.