Spider award for Carve On

The Carve On team at the awards: Rita O’Byrne, Alan McCormack, Kristina Surikora (front), Adrienne Store and Robert Kennedy.

Kilcullen business Carve On have won a prestigious Spider award for their website, despite being up against some really heavyweight opposition, writes Brian Byrne. "We were in there against the likes of Vodafone and Brown Thomas and people like that," says the MD and one of the founders of Carve On, Alan McCormack, who added that they were 'blown away' by winning the award. It was the first time they had entered the awards.

Carve On, which produces premium craft leather gifts that are bought worldwide, were nominated in four categories in the 2024 Spider Awards, established in 1997 and considered the 'digital Oscars' in Ireland. "We didn't win in the first three, but then the Best Website-SME came along and we got it." 

Carve On was originally established in 2011 in Kill, the home town of Alan and his co-founder brother Gary. They moved the business to Kilcullen in 2016. They took over a vacant factory premises and renovated it to accommodate their skilled craftwork operation based on leather products such as iPhone cases, wallets and credit card holders, portfolios and golf and travel accessories. 

Having a highly attractive but easy to navigate website, developed by Alan, helped the company become a significant exporter to premium buyers in the US, the Middle East and Asia as well as the home business which included Irish state agencies amongst their customers. 

The Spider award isn't Carve On's first such recognition. Other awards have included Best E-Commerce category in the Kildare Business Awards in 2019, and companion products branding company Made Personal was the winner of the Kildare Digital Champions Awards in 2022.

The latest award has already brought in a lot of congratulatory messages from current and past customers. "It's amazing when you look back on it, what we have achieved, and it's a source of pride in our team," Alan says.

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