Friday 2nd October saw business people from across Fermanagh gather to celebrate and acknowledge the 2015 Fermanagh Herald Business Awards which were run in association with 02 Enniskillen. Below is a video detailing all the main winners from the night.

 

With over 300 people in attendance at the Gala Awards Night in the Manor House Country Hotel, the

stage was set for the biggest awards night of the year. The glittering occasion got off to a flying start with a video presentation of the short-listed nominees and a welcome by MC for the evening, Paul Clark of UTV. Then the main guest of the evening gave an inspiring insight into his experiences, Nick Leeson of the Barings Bank scandal.

During the night a total of eight category awards were handed out plus a Lifetime Achievement for Business Commitment gong and the Overall Business Person of the Year awards.

This included The Fermanagh Trust grant of £1,000 for the Social Enterprise of the Year and £2,000 worth of consultancy for the Best Start Up Business winner from South West College Innotech Centre.

After the meal, all the winners were announced and presented with their Award by the relevant sponsor with the main award of the night going to Terry McCartney of the Belmore Court and Motel, who was named as the Fermanagh Herald and 02 Enniskillen Business Person of the Year.

 

The celebration of Fermanagh businesses has gone far beyond the reach of the local area, thanks to the power of social media. The hashtag for the Fermanagh Herald Business Awards, #FHBA15, was so popular on Twitter on Friday night that it quickly became a trending topic in Ireland, meaning it was one of the hottest topics in the country, alongside international stories and events such as the Rugby World Cup, and the calls for FIFA president Sepp Blatter to resign.

Those who weren’t in attendance on the night were able to keep up with the Awards through the live tweeting of the winners and runners up, and congratulatory tweets from across Ireland helped to make the Awards one of the top trends in the country.

Just before the formal proceedings got underway, Paul Clark introduced the key speakers for the night: Dominic McClements, Managing Director, North-West News Group, Bridget Lea, 02 General Manager and Mr Nick Leeson.

The Awards ceremony was a fitting finale for the Business Awards that launched back in May when businesses and individuals were asked to nominate themselves or others for one or more of the awards.

The awards process also included a judging panel, an online/in paper support element, which engaged with readers and created additional buzz for the nominees, and a huge amount of in-paper publicity for all nominees short listed.

Demand for tickets was unprecedented as supporters turned out to back the nominees in search for glory

and what a night it was with gongs handed out to all the winners and highly commended certificates to the remaining nominees.