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Newry's Around Noon which counts Starbucks and Henderson as clients, is quickly becoming one of the top food to go manufacturers throughout Ireland and the UK.
Earlier this month they picked up three Sammies – the UK industry’s top awards, winning against stiff competition.
The fast moving business is on course to grow by some 30 percent this year – from £14m to around £20m
Around Noon employs over 200 people at Greenbank Industrial Estate, beat competition from the likes of Marks & Spencer, Tesco, and Waitrose to collect an unprecedented three awards at the Sammies – the leading accolades of their kind in the UK.
Around Noon is a highly innovative and rapidly-expanding business, having almost tripled its workforce from 80 people just five years ago. And it is continuing to recruit.
The latest awards, which were presented at a gala ceremony in London, reflect the company’s strong commitment to innovation - Around Noon won the prestigious awards’ Innovation Category, Seasonal Category, and Overall New Sandwich of the Year award.
The accolades were for products by its Scribbles brand. The winning sandwiches were:
Gareth Chambers, CEO of Around Noon, says: “I was appointed CEO in 2012 and since then we have been putting in place a programme of transformation that has seen us recruit well over 100 new people, grow our turnover very significantly, and win new and exciting business.
“We see the award wins as an endorsement of our progress, but also an opportunity, due to the additional credibility it gives us in the likes of the London market. Currently, about £2m of our turnover comes from sales in GB, and we see a huge opportunity to radically increase that amount, which would have considerable benefits for our Newry base in terms of investment and employment,” he adds.
The Sammies 2017 – organised by the British Sandwich Association - were held in the Westbourne Suite, at the Lancaster London hotel. They are considered the Oscars of the sandwich business in the UK.
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Newry Junior Chamber are holding their Summer Networking BBQ on Friday 9th June at 6pm in The Bridge Bar, Newry.
This event will offer guests the chance to network in an informal environment and enjoy good food and entertainment from local legend Big O.
Proceeds from the event will be aid of the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust.
Ryan Sheppard, NJC President said "Networking doesn’t need to be in a formal setting to be effective, conducted in a comfortable and inviting environment evens the playing field giving you the best opportunity to showcase both your personal and business attributes. We look forward to welcoming you all and for such a great charity KBRT. I would also like to thank Parkview Provisions for their sponsorship for the event".
Tickets are available online via www.newryjuniorchamber.com or call into Clanrye Lighting. For regular updates, follow us on social media.
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Newry man Ruairi Miller has been accepted as a newly qualified member of RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors)
RICS is acknowledged as the leading qualification when it comes to professionalism in land, property and construction.
Diplomas were presented to several recently qualified RICS members at a ceremony in the La Mon Hotel and Country Club, Belfast and Ms Grant, RICS UK & Ireland Chairperson praised their dedication and hard work in obtaining the qualification.
RICS accredits 125,000 qualified and trainee professionals around the world. Its members are known as chartered surveyors and are recognised by the designation after their name: MRICS (Member of RICS), FRICS (Fellow of RICS) and AssocRics (Associate of RICS).
RICS is the global professional body promoting and enforcing the highest international standards in the valuation, management and development of land, real estate, construction and infrastructure.
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The Buttercrane Shopping Centre is the latest location for leading food-on-the-go retailer, Greggs, bringing 14 new jobs to the city.
It's the tenth company-managed Greggs’ shop in the province with the company having 1,800 shops operating across the UK.
It will offer the full range of Greggs’ products – from its famous baked savouries and freshly ground-to-order coffee menu to confectionery products, soups and sandwiches. Also available will be Greggs’ great value breakfast deal, which includes a bacon, sausage or egg roll plus a hot drink from only £2.
As part of its commitment to offer lighter, healthier alternatives, the shop will stock Greggs’ popular Balanced Choice range, including the Chicken Katsu Bake which is less than 300 calories.
And to coincide with the arrival of summer, local customers will be able to try the new salad menu from Greggs, a range of exciting options which includes Coconut, Lime and Chilli Chicken, as well as Falafel, Harissa, Roast Veg and Grains.
All summer salads are under 400 calories and meet green and amber on the Food Standards Agency traffic light system for fat, saturated fat, salt and sugar.
The shop layout offers customers a food-on-the-go experience, with lots of space for browsing. Seating is also available for customers who wish to relax and enjoy their purchases inside the shop.
Jason Eskdale, manager of Greggs Buttercrane said: “I’m delighted to be leading our team in this new shop. Newry is a very popular and thriving town and we’re excited to bring a taste of Greggs to all who shop, visit and work here!”
Peter Murray, Manager of Buttercrane Shopping Centre added: "We are extremely pleased to welcome Greggs to Buttercrane and regard it as a great addition to our retail offering. There has been a lot of local interest in its arrival with many of our customers eager to be among the first to try the famous Greggs’ product range.”
The new shop is open Monday to Saturday (8am to 6pm) and Sunday (1pm to 6pm)
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The third annual Business Eye First Trust Bank Small Business Awards, the premier awards for SME businesses in N Ireland took place last Thursday in Belfast with Newry's BlueZone Technologies being Highly Commended in Start Up Business of the Year.
Newry based BlueZone Technologies have developed an innovative software specifically for the management of health and safety within the built and compliance environment, which helps ensure your people are safe and healthy and your building portfolio compliant.
Adrian Byrne, CEO, commented: “With a very high calibre of businesses shortlisted, we were delighted to be recognised by the judges and this is acknowledgement of the dedicated staff and quality product we have here at BlueZone”.
BlueZone Technologies was chosen by the judges as they were deemed to be one of Northern Ireland’s most promising enterprises and illustrated what can be achieved by a Start-Up business.
You can follow BlueZone Technologies on Twitter @BluezoneTech1 or LinkedIn.
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ABP Food Group which has operations in Newry and Lurgan has become the first food processor in the world to achieve triple certification to the Carbon Trust Standard for the third consecutive time.
The Carbon Trust Standard is the world’s leading independent certification awarded to organisations that can demonstrate they are taking effective action to tackle their environmental impact, verifying reductions in carbon emissions, water use and waste output. It recognises good management and year-on-year improvements in sustainability performance.
The achievement is driven by ABP Food Group’s “Doing More with Less” sustainability strategy, which initiated a number of ambitious targets to be achieved by 2020 with a view to substantially reducing ABP Food Group’s environmental footprint.
Commenting on achieving triple certification to the Carbon Trust Standard for the third consecutive time, Dean Holroyd, Group Technical and Sustainability Director at ABP Food Group, said: “In 2014, ABP Food Group was the first food processor globally to achieve this prestigious recognition for the progress made on sustainability across our business. To now achieve it three times in a row is tangible proof of our industry leading standards and the real progress we have made in reducing our environmental footprint.”
John Newton, Associate Director at the Carbon Trust, added: “Great Britain and island of Ireland produce some of the world’s most sustainable meat. Within this market, ABP Food Group has once again demonstrated its leadership credentials through achieving significant ongoing reductions in its own environmental impact. We are delighted to recognise this by awarding recertification to the Carbon Trust Standard, thanks to the company’s achievements in once again cutting carbon emissions, water use and waste from its operations.”
In 2015, ABP opened the world’s most sustainable beef processing facilities at Ellesmere in Shropshire. The site generates all of its own heating and hot water needs and up to 100% of its electricity requirements from bio-fuel produced as a by-product of the beef processing operation. Last year, all of ABP’s Republic of Ireland sites received the international energy management standard ISO 50001 in recognition of the processes implemented to improve energy efficiency.
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The President of Newry Chamber, Michael McKeown has urged businesses from throughout the Greater Newry Area to showcase their business excellence and “show confidence” in the future at a Chamber launch of the Greater Newry Area Business Awards in Bellinis.
With 21 categories there is ample opportunity for all businesses in the Greater Newry Area to enter. Deadline for Entry is 11th August with the Gala Ceremony to take place in the Canal Court Hotel on 28th September.
Gold Sponsors and supporters of this biennial business awards competition include The Bank of Ireland, Flogas Natural Gas and Newry Mourne & Down District Council, together with individual category sponsors.
Chairperson of Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, Cllr Roisin Mulgrew stated, “The Council is delighted to be a Gold Sponsor and to endorse the Greater Newry Area Business Awards 2017. These awards support our new Council’s strategic objective of attracting investment and creating jobs by recognising business excellence, entrepreneurship and celebrate all that is good within the Greater Newry business community”.
Geraldine O’Hagan, Senior Branch Manager and Gold sponsor of the 2017 Awards, welcomed the search to identify, recognise and reward some of the region’s top businesses. She said, “Banking lies at the heart of business activity and our involvement in these awards reflects our continued drive and commitment in supporting the local business community in their continuous improvement”.
Mark Gannon, Managing Director of Flogas Natural Gas commented “With the availability of natural gas to businesses throughout the Greater Newry area, we are delighted to be Gold sponsors of these awards. We pride ourselves on quality customer service and similarly look forward to rewarding business excellence across the area”.
If you would like more information on the categories and entry procedure or to request a brochure please contact Newry Chamber office on (028) 30250303 or email admin@newrychamber.com. Organisations can also enter online at www.newrybusinessawards.com
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Newry, Mourne and Down District Council has provided a series of business development workshops throughout the district over recent months covering topics such as building your brand, facebook advertising, family businesses, local search engine optimisation, mobile movie making for social media, procurement, selling on platforms such as amazon and ebay, tendering and overseas export opportunities.
Over 200 businesses participated in themed and focused sessions and the Council plan to provide additional workshops between September and December 2017.
For more information place contact the Councils Economic Development Unit on 0300 013 3233.
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Newry based business Kukoon.com that sells rugs throughout the world has won the Small Business Marketing Award at the Business Eye First Trust Bank Small Business Awards held earlier this month at Belfast's Crowne Plaza Hotel. The business also received a Highly Commended from the judges in the overall ‘Small Business of the Year’ category.
Speaking about the importance of the awards, Head of First Trust Bank, Des Moore, said “Together, small and medium businesses and self-employed people account for more than 75% of turnover across NI’s private sector. As well as contributing significantly to Northern Ireland’s economic fortunes, they have a momentous impact on the social and cultural fabric of our local communities; supporting the supply chain, employing local people and engaging with schools and charities.”
“It was particularly gratifying to see not just a sectoral but a regional spread of businesses taking part. From Ballymena to Belfast and Armagh to Aughnacloy, we received entries from companies working across many industries. While they may have come from different parts of the province and from different sectors, they all shared a common denominator; namely an appetite to innovate and grow. On behalf of First Trust Bank, I offer my congratulations to all the entrants and winners.”
The Awards, which are organised by Business Eye magazine and sponsored by First Trust Bank, aims to shine a light on Northern Ireland’s small business sector and recognises its top performers across 13 different categories. The Awards are open to all businesses in Northern Ireland with less than 50 employees.
Brenda Buckley, Publisher of Business Eye, added “We have been delighted with the success of the Small Business Awards over the past two years, and we're even more pleased with how they've grown year on year. We received a really strong entry from a wide variety of companies based right across Northern Ireland.
“They are already an integral part of the business calendar here, and we've every reason to believe that they will go from strength to strength.”
Another Newry business Bluezone Technologies who develop compliance management software solutions also picked up a Highly Commended award in the ‘Start-up Business of the Year’ category.
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