Last night’s 2025’s Retail Excellence Awards, hosted by Independent Pharmacies Australia (IPA) at Pullman On the Park in Melbourne, saw six of its own awarded with top honours.
Announced on the Monday 10th February at the inaugural Retail Excellence Conference at the Gala and Awards Evening, the awards recognised six of the most exceptional individuals within the IPA network, based on factors such as individual performance, innovation, and ongoing commitment to patient health.
Key selection criteria for those who took home first place included: connecting with consumers in an impactful and creative way, leveraging the power of loyalty programs to generate optimum performance, providing outstanding customer service, making a difference to pharmacy, community and team culture and being identified as a Rising Star early in their career.
The list of winners includes:
- Award Category: Consumer Engagement Award
Winner: Jessica Brown – Emerald Village Pharmacy - Award Category: Loyalty Champion Award
Winner: Judith Kopp – Life Pharmacy Forbes - Award Category: Making a Difference Award
Winner: Jess Horneman – Old Bar Pharmacy - Award Category: Rising Star Award
Winner: Taylah Driesson – CDC Warragul - Award Category: Service Excellence Award
Winner: Jakki Begley – CDC Patterson Lakes
In addition to these five awards, IPA also announced a highly anticipated sixth new award category – Commitment to Community Health – which recognised an individual within the network who exhibits outstanding dedication to their community and delivers services in a culturally appropriate way. Taking home this award for 2025 was Alyson Munroe Peddell of Thursday Island Pharmacy and Bamaga Pharmacy, for her tireless leadership and ongoing commitment to understanding the needs of the Torres Strait people.
IPA Managing Director, Steven Kastrinakis, said the 2025 Retail Excellence Awards were a testament to IPA’s determination to continue to recognise those within the network who not only generate results, but make a concerted effort to connect with and make a difference to their community and pharmacy teams.
“We are delighted to recognise and congratulate the exceptional hard work and dedication of all six winners to deliver quality healthcare outcomes at our first Retail Excellence Conference with 120 member delegates and 60 sponsor delegates. Each of their exemplary contributions to their pharmacies, communities and teams illustrate incredible problem solving and a can-do attitude,” Kastrinakis said.
As part of IPA’s focus on empowering the independence and capabilities of member pharmacies, IPA’s Retail Excellence Conference and Awards will become a regular part of the events calendar and complements IPA’s learning management platform, IPA Academy, launched in January this year.