TWO Northern Ireland's business leaders have been honoured at the Institute of Directors (IoD) Director of the Year awards in London.
John McMullan, Chief Executive of Bryson Charitable Group, picked up the accolade of national Third Sector Director of the Year, while Helen Kirkpatrick of UTV and Invest NI was awarded the honour of UK Non-Executive Director of the Year.
Conor Walsh of Andor Technology plc was also Highly Commended in the Dr Neville Bain Memorial Award for Chartered Directors at the ceremony held at the Grange St Paul's Hotel. Institute of Directors Northern Ireland (IoD NI) Divisional Director, Linda Brown, said the awards demonstrate the quality and talent of our local business leaders.
"John, Helen and Conor are fantastic ambassadors for their industries, sectors, and indeed Northern Ireland as a whole, so it's fantastic to bring back three awards to the region," she said.
"The judges commented on the high calibre of business proficiency each of the directors possesses and the significant role they play at some of Northern Ireland's leading companies."
John McMullan and Helen Kirkpatrick were winners in their categories in the Northern Ireland IoD Director of the Year Awards 2012 and were then nominated for the national awards.
Also shortlisted for the UK awards were Karen Dundee from Galgorm Manor Hotel (SME Director of the Year), Karen Carmichael from mxb (Young Director of the Year) and David Dobbin from United Dairy Farmers (Large Company Director of the Year).
* DOING THE BUSINESS: IoD Director General Simon Walker (left) and Michael Portillo (right) are pictured with John McMullan (centre) of Bryson Charitable Group with his award for Third Sector Director of the Year and Helen Kirkpatrick (right) with the UK Non-Executive Director of the Year award at the IoD Director of the Year awards in London