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Once the Christmas market season starts it's all downhill to the big day.
Now that the Christmas market tradition has made its way to the UK and Ireland there's almost no need to travel any more to enjoy that wonderful Yule-time atmosphere and breathe in the seasonal smells of spicy mulled wine, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and allspice
You may have already booked to visit a Christmas market somewhere in Europe. One of the most beautiful markets is in the French city of Strasbourg . This is very impressive and if you feel the need to further explore the European Christmas market scene you are only a short skip and a jump over the border from some of Germany's finest in Heidelberg, Nuremberg and Stuttgart.

The UK has also gotten into the Christmas market spirit with some very impressive markets now well established , a favourite is the Birmingham Frankfurt market which is in it's 13th year and packs in the crowds right up to Christmas. It tends to be very crowded and it's wise to pick your visiting time carefully. Of course if you are heading to the Birmingham Frankfurt market you can always drop in to Applegreen Small Heath.

The Dublin Docklands Christmas Market which has an impressive line up of Craft Stalls and an even more impressive line up of entertainment planned right up to the holidays. There's a mouthwatering array of food on offer including some traditional Christmas Market fare and also African, South American, French and Irish specialities.

Wherever you decide to give out your hard earned money remember that it's also the favourite time of year for pick pockets and thieves in general, so keep your wallets, bags, purses close to hand and give the fun spoilers no chance. Most markets are thronged and provide perfect opportunities for light fingered criminals.
Finally , while you are putting up and decorating your tree here's something to put you in a good old fashioned Christmas spirit. The one and only Karen Carpenter and friends in a full length Christmas special. No-one sings a Yuletide song like Karen. A voice soft as snow and full of music. Check it out at 21.23 and hear her sing The Christmas Song (Chestnuts roasting..) You can keep Bing.

I was waiting for the general excitement to die down and celebrations to subside before I mentioned Retail Excellence Awards. I'm sure you have all already heard the news that Applegreen Mount Merrion scooped not one, not two, but three of the coveted awards at the prizewinning ceremony last Saturday night.
Well I don't have to tell you that it was with great pride and joy that Applegreen director Joe Barrett accepted the awards and he was quick to point out that it was the result of an immense team effort from right across the company.  After winning the NACS award the Applegreen team have worked round the clock, not just to maintain, but to improve store offers and customer service. This has paid off across all Applegreen forecourts.
Hats off and congratulations to Keith Ennis and his team in Mount Merrion for going to the next level and beating off some very tough (and much bigger) opposition to take the overall Store of the Year award.
In the end it will be the Applegreen customer who will benefit from these awards. No doubt these successes spur on all Applegreen / Petrogas people across the board to outdo themselves and reach new heights in customer service and store management. It also has the same effect on all the head office support units, busy innovating and providing daily support to the management and site staff. All in all, it smells like team spirit to me and in the end the customer wins.

As with all industry and awards events it was a glamorous occasion. The Applegreen blog "Couple of the Night" award goes to Aedin and Matthew Scally.  Aedin is part of the Applegreen Trading team and Mathew runs the Applegreen MSA  at Enfield West.

Applegreen people celebrate  2nd left to right - Aideen Scally, Matthew Scally, Craig Sheridan, Vyta Jocaitiene, Joe Barrett, Keith Ennis (Manager of the Year Award), Trevor Moore, Claire Doyle, Adrian Grimes, Elizabeth Pierce, Alexandra Szabo Williams, Conor Lucey.

Keith Ennis (3rd from left completed the triple (just like Bayern Munich) - Best Store in category, Best Overall Store and Manager of the Year. Heartiest congratulations to Keith and his wonderful staff at Applegreen Mount Merrion, Dublin..