Belfast Telegraph Business Awards 2025: Chief who turned NI company into global player given lifetime achievement gong
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Scroll down for updates and photos from tonight's Belfast Telegraph Business Awards, in partnership with Ulster Bank
The first of 19 awards has been presented as we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Belfast Telegraph Business Awards, in partnership with Ulster Bank.
The Lifetime Achievement Award, sponsored by NatWest Cushon, has been presented to Alan Armstrong, who leads one of Northern Ireland's most successful indigenous companies, Almac.
Our judges said they were delighted to nominate Alan for this award, saying his principles are second to none and he has grown Almac into such a significant global company, while staying true to the legacy left by founder Alan McClay.
Find out who wins the rest of our awards as we bring you live coverage from the evening:
8 minutes ago
Lifetime Achievement Award
Our first award of the night is the Lifetime Achievement Award, sponsored by NatWest Cushon.
This has been presented to Alan Armstrong, who leads one of Northern Ireland's most successful indigenous companies. He oversees Almac's entire operations globally and leads the strategic direction of the business, which supports the global biopharmaceutical industry with drug development activities.
Alan's career has spanned more than four decades since he graduated as a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 1981. He held several technical and senior management positions within the company before being appointed to the board of directors of one of its subsidiaries as chief operating officer.
Our judges said they were delighted to nominate Alan for this award, saying his principles are second to none and he has grown Almac into such a significant global company, while staying true to the legacy left by founder Alan McClay.
22 minutes ago
Our first award of the night is coming soon
The Lifetime Achievement Award is first to be presented... and we'll be revealing the winner very soon!
45 minutes ago
A word from our sponsor
The Belfast Telegraph Business Awards are held in partnership with Ulster Bank. Mark Crimmins, head of Ulster Bank in Northern Ireland, has been speaking on stage.
A member of the judging panel, he recently told us that getting involved is something he enjoys. He said: 'It's always a joy to do it and be able to lift the head out of day to day banking activity and focus on entrepreneurship," he added.
'I find the quality of the entrants to be excellent and it's a real privilege to be reading through their applications, to see the quality of those businesses in Northern Ireland.'
Today 07:36 PM
Belfast Telegraph Business Awards 2025 shortlists
Best Large Business of the Year sponsored by Wilson Nesbitt
AbbeyAutoline
Encirc
Irwin M&E
Mackle Petfoods
NI Water
Progressive Building Society
Woodside Logistics Group
Best Medium Business of the Year sponsored by MKB Law
Ardmore Group
Haymarket Belfast
Locate a Locum
P McVey Building Systems
Sumer Northern Ireland
Vaughan Engineering Services
Best Small Business of the Year sponsored by NFU Mutual
ARC Regulatory
Bennett Freehill
Collins Rolston Architects
Finlay Wealth Management
Hybrid Mail Solutions
Inclutech
Nourish and Nurture
PropertyPal & Propertynews
RBCA
Rory's Travel Club
Solarfix
Solmatix Renewables
Technidrive
Vision Fabrications
Best Start-Up or Emerging Business of the Year sponsored by Gateley
Farmdrive
Forge Female Fitness
Pharmacist Aid
Share Energy
Vibrotect
Corporate Community Champion sponsored by Belfast City Airport
Liberty IT
Musgrave NI
NI Water
P McVey Building Systems
Progressive Building Society
Employer of the Year sponsored by CIPD
ASCERT
DisplayNote Technologies
Inclutech
Locate a Locum
Mackle Petfoods
Musgrave NI
S&W Wholesale
Excellence in Exporting sponsored by Belfast Harbour
Relinea
Sensoteq
TES Power
Titanic Distillers
Excellence in Innovation sponsored by Sumer NI
Allstate
Hunter Apparel Solutions
Inclutech
Ionic Technologies
M&M Contractors
Sensoteq
Excellence in Manufacturing sponsored by Invest NI
Brankin Engineering
Technidrive
TES Power
Excellence in Marketing sponsored by S3 Creative
Belfast City Airport
Game of Thrones Studio Tour
Locate a Locum
NI Football League
Excellence in the Development of Management & Leadership sponsored by NI Chamber of Commerce & Industry
Bennett Freehill
M&M Contractors
Musgrave NI
NI Water
Excellence in Workplace Health & Wellbeing sponsored by Kingsbridge
AG Paving + Building Products
GCD Technologies
needi
Survitec
Family Business of the Year sponsored by AbbeyAutoline
Hunter Apparel Solutions
M&M Contractors
P McVey Building Systems
Woodside Logistics Group
Outstanding Commitment to ESG sponsored by Almac
Belfast Metropolitan College
Encirc
Telefónica Tech
Vyta
Retail Sector Business or Retailer of Year sponsored by Retail NI
Street Life
The Goldmine Jewellers
Cityman Menswear
Tourism & Hospitality Company of the Year sponsored by Belfast International Airport
Crowne Plaza Belfast
Haymarket Belfast
Hillyard House Hotel
Lough Erne Resort
McConnell's Distillery
McKeever Hotels
Titanic Hotel Belfast
Young Businessperson of the Year sponsored by Queen's University Belfast
Dermott Austin
Ellen Yates
Hammy Obikoya
Rory King
Varshitha Manjunath
Yasmin Forsythe
Today 07:36 PM
A word from Caoimhe Archibald
The Minister for the Economy spoke to us earlier in anticipation of tonight's events.
Today 07:31 PM
The party has started 🍸
Belfast City Airport on Twitter / X
Excited to be at tonight's #BelTelAwards as a finalist in the Excellence in Marketing category & a sponsor of the Corporate Community Champion category 👏 good luck to all the finalists! @BelTel_Business @BelTel pic.twitter.com/LH7xapooVJ— Belfast City Airport (@BELFASTCITY_AIR) May 1, 2025
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M & M Contractors (Europe) Ltd on Twitter / X
And we begin 🥁 reflecting on 2025 - Belfast's year in focus! All things Rory, Belfast Translink Hub…and Donald trump…. Great way to start off!! #DeliveringExcellence #BelTelAwards pic.twitter.com/4HIuhnYBzr— M & M Contractors (Europe) Ltd (@MM_Contractors) May 1, 2025
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Today 07:24 PM
'A great n ight of celebration'
Before the action kicked off, Belfast Telegraph business editor Margaret Canning noted that tonight is a time to honour local businesses and give them the recognition they deserve.
Today 07:22 PM
Minister for Finance Caoimhe Archibald
"It takes something special to set up and run a successful business and your achievements are even more remarkable given the challenges of recent years. Through all those challenges, our businesses adapt and find a way. Our job is to support you in our success. I'm delighted to be here to celebrate your innovation, success and resilience. The categories underline the many different ways our businesses display excellence."
Today 07:19 PM
Happy 25th anniversary... to us!
As we've probably already said, it's the 25th anniversary of these awards this evening. We're pretty proud to have shone a spotlight on so many of NI's top performers across that time span. A look back 25 years ago and we had the likes of OK Welding, AVX Limited, Digital Engineering, SERE Group and Randox among the winners.
Get involved!
If you are posting to social media tonight, remember to use #BelTelAwards.
Today 07:08 PM
'A true celebration of our amazing talent'
Belfast Telegraph business editor Margaret Canning has welcomed guests to what promises to be 'a true celebration of the amazing talent of our local companies, business people and economy'.
She noted that this is her 10th year being involved in the awards - which are celebrating their 25th anniversary tonight.
'We've certainly seen a lot of change in that time – and we've been delighted to welcome businesses, from SMEs to global firms that are headquartered in NI across many different sectors and industries to these awards throughout the years,' she said.
'And this year was no different, we were thrilled to see such a wide range of businesses entering these awards with inspirational stories.
'Being shortlisted means that your business has met the very high standards set by our panel of highly esteemed judges and it is an achievement in itself to have got this far, so congratulations to all those who were shortlisted. The fact that we had almost 200 entries, and a shortlist of around 80, illustrates that getting this far is something to be proud of.'
Today 07:03 PM
And the first big cheer of the night goes to...
...Rory McIlroy!?
As he goes through the big stories of the past 12 months, McIlroy's Masters win goes down a storm.
"Was it just me or did he have us all in tears? There's something about that man from Rorywood - yes, not Holywood. We're renaming it!"
Today 07:01 PM
The big kick-off
Our host for the evening Mark Simpson is on stage to kick proceedings off.
He said: "It's the hottest week of the year and we have some of the hottest businesspeople in NI here tonight. We're going to need the aircon! We have so many good stories to celebrate, we even had to turn people away!"
Today 06:34 PM
It's time...
Guests from across the Northern Ireland business community are now taking their seats at the Crowne Plaza Hotel as tonight's event is getting underway.
Today 11:12 AM
This year's shortlists
Companies from a range of sectors have been shortlisted across 17 categories, from Best Emerging Business to Outstanding Company of the Year.
All are eagerly waiting to find out who will take home the awards this evening.
Shortlists for Belfast Telegraph Business Awards partnered with Ulster Bank
The shortlist for the 2025 Belfast Telegraph Business Awards in partnership with Ulster Bank is revealed today.
www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
Today 11:11 AM
What happened at last year's awards?
Belfast Telegraph Business Awards 2024: Major NI company named Outstanding Business of the Year
Almac Group has been named Outstanding Business of the Year while Dame Rotha Johnston received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2024 Belfast Telegraph Business Awards in partnership with Ulster Bank.
www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
Today 11:09 AM
Welcome to the 2025 Belfast Telegraph Business Awards
Members of Northern Ireland's business community are gathering in Belfast's Crowne Plaza Hotel this evening for the 2025 Belfast Telegraph Business Awards.
Now in their 25th year, the awards showcase the very best of business and innovation in Northern Ireland and the event is due to attract nearly 500 guests.
Speaking ahead of the event Clare Guinness, chief executive of Belfast Chamber and chair of the judging panel, said the awards 'give companies across NI a chance to be recognised for their contribution to our economy and society'.
'Year on year the judging panel is blown away by the initiatives and performance of our business community and we look forward to celebrating with the finalists and winners.'
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His overseas experience told him that something in Scotland had to change. 'There is a pattern in all the small nations that are successful. 'Spain are the top nation in the world and they have B teams playing in the system. 'B teams is one model, the co-operation system is the other model. 'I don't think you will find many countries successful in developing players that don't have any model at all. 'B teams was not an acceptable system for our clubs. So we knew that the co-operation agreements was the one most likely to work when we got the feedback from the clubs.' Progress takes time and the results of the system are unlikely to be instant. One thing which won't change is the size of Scotland's top flight. While many harbour a suspicion that a 12-team Premiership makes it too risky for the job prospects of managers to field raw, untried youngsters the latest reconstruction talks between clubs voted to retain the status quo. Docherty remians to be convinced that the issue makes much difference anyway. 'I have worked in two countries with a more competitive league structure than Scotland. 'Croatia has a ten team league and Hungary has 12 teams with two automatic relegation places and there were more young players getting minutes there than here. 'I also used to work at Hadjuk Split and this season they were competing until the final matchday with a chance to win the league. 'They had a serious number of young player minutes there are and that comes from the strategy of the club. 'Because we have not had clubs following that model we haven't seen the benefits. This system gives Scotland an opportunity to change that.'
