THREE new categories have been added to the AIB Business Eye Awards, which are taking place for their 16th year.
Alongside the headline awards including Company of the Year, Business Personality of the Year and Lifetime Achievement awards, new for 2022 2ill be Green/Sustainable Company of the Year, Diversity & Inclusion and Homegrown Business of the Year.
The awards - which take place at the the ICC Belfast on Thursday November 17 - were launched at a reception hosted by Business Eye editor Richard Buckley and AIB's head of retail and NI Brian Gillan.
The event was attended by category sponsors and business guests, and Conor Boyle, regional director of Lidl Northern Ireland, winner of last year’s Retail Company of the Year award, gave a short address.
This year will see 19 trophies up for grabs, with the closing detail for entries being Friday October 21 (details at www.businesseyeawards.co.uk).
Brenda Buckley, commercial director at Business Eye, said: “We work tremendously hard each year to fine-tune and improve these awards and to maintain their reputation as the best of their kind in Northern Ireland.
“2021 produced a record number and really high-quality entries. Despite all the challenges facing business here, we're confident the bar can be raised again this year.”
Brian Gillan from AIB, a long-standing partner of Business Eye and its award programmes, added: “These awards are an incredible showcase of resilience, leadership and innovation, and given the challenges facing our business community, it’s important that we take a step back and shine a light on the qualities that make our local business community so successful.
“We’re particularly proud to reveal a number of new categories this year including the Green/Sustainable Company of the Year award which, given rising energy costs and our collective net zero ambitions, is a vital area to recognise.”
Last year's awards showcased an impressive array of winners at a memorable awards night held at ICC Belfast venue in front of a 650-strong audience.
Belfast & Derry-based FinTrU, one of the leaders in the dynamic fintech sector in Northern Ireland, lifted the coveted Company of the Year award, while Sam Anderson, the NI-born US-based founder of IceMos Technologies, was named Business Personality of the Year.
Other key winners included AES Global as Manufacturer of the Year, telecomms firm Barclay Communications in the Family Business category and law firm A&L Goodbody as the Professional Services Firm of the Year.
