:: Moves to re-establish whiskey production in Derry took a step forward after the city's council granted planning permission for a new distillery on the former Ebrington Barracks site. It gave the go-ahead for Niche Drinks to convert four buildings, including the barrack jail and guardhouse, into a distillery. Niche managing director Ciaran Mulgrew said the £12 million investment at the Quiet Man Craft Distillery would lead to the creation of 35 jobs, and he said the first distillations will take place in early 2018.
:: Signature Living director Lawrence Kenwright confirmed that a new George Best-themed hotel is among five new hotels planned for Belfast by the Liverpool-based group. He said it will be along similar lines to the award-winning £20 million Shankly Hotel in Liverpool, but using George Best's name. It later emerged that the hotel would be located in the former Scottish Mutual building, opposite Belfast City Hall.
:: Official industry figures revealed that the Irish News sold 11 million newspapers in 2016 – easily outstripping all other locally-produced Northern Ireland titles. The Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), which monitors the sale of every publication in Britain and Ireland, said that during the calendar year, 10,917,440 copies of the Irish News were actively purchased (that’s the official measure which shows customers paying the full cover price). The corresponding figures for the Belfast Telegraph and News Letter were 9,434,130 and 4,824,610 respectively.
:: The direct Belfast City Airport to Brussels air link is to be axed less than a year after its launch. Belgian airline Brussels Airlines, a member of the Lufthansa Group and Star Alliance, confirmed it was pulling plug on the five-times-a-week service after business and leisure passenger numbers failed to reach expectations.
:: Manufacturing giant Wrightbus, which specialises in the design and manufacturing of coaches and buses, unveiled plans for a massive expansion to its operations in Ballymena. The firm, which employs around 1200 people, filed initial plans to build a 200,000 sq ft industrial complex, 600-space car park and 75 two-storey residential houses next to its current facility in the Galgorm area of the town. The new project is to be carried out in three phases.
:: Multi-Michelin-starred award-winning chef Jean-Christophe Novelli (55) announced plans for an exclusive new 104-seater restaurant in Belfast. He confirmed he is taking the helm of Belfast Harbour’s brand new hotel and signature restaurant development at City Quays, which will form part of the new £25 million AC Hotel by Marriott, the city’s newest waterfront hotel development, due to be completed in the first quarter of 2018.
