Eye on News
Ken Belshaw Awarded NRF Lifetime Achievement Award One of the Northern Ireland business community’s bestknown persoanalities, Ken Belshaw, has been awarded the first ever Lifetime Achievement Award given by the National Recruitment Federation of Ireland for his support to the NRF and the Irish recruitment industry.
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well-known figure throughout Ireland both North and South, Belshaw co-founded Grafton Recruitment with the late James Kilbane in 1983. Today the Grafton Recruitment Group has 44 branches in 22 countries. He has worked in Recruitment for 42 years. Originally from Belfast he joined SOS Bureau, part of Hestair plc, in Edinburgh in 1975. Starting in tele-sales as a Vacancy Controller he progressed to Branch Manager with Hestair in Edinburgh and
London. Returning to Ireland he helped establish Marlborough Employment before opening Grafton Recruitment in Dublin in 1983 and Belfast in 1985. In 1994 Grafton established its first international branch in Prague and today the company has 25 branches in CEE. Commenting on the award Ken Belshaw said: “I am very grateful to the NRF and my colleagues and friends over all the years. I look back and think of all the people who helped set standards
Ken Belshaw from Grafton Recruitment receives the Lifetime Achievement Award from Geraldine King, Director of National Recruitment Federation.
for our industry. Looking around tonight I recognise their efforts and the professionalism we have achieved and I am overwhelmed by this award” Ken Belshaw (64) is now retired from day-to-day involvement with Grafton Recruitment. He was Managing Director when Grafton won the Queens Award for Enterprise in 2002 and 2006. In addition he was awarded the
prestigious Gratias Agit award by the Czech Nation alongside US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in a ceremony in Prague in 2006. A Visiting Professor of Ulster University Business School and Chairman of the Player Services Board of the Irish Rugby Union Players Association he continues to mentor young people on their careers. He is Honorary Consul for Hungary in Northern Ireland.
Partnership to Advance the Knowledge Economy Catalyst Inc along with Letterkenny Institute of Technology (LYIT) and Omagh Enterprise Company has announced a memorandum of understanding between the three organisations that will focus on collaboration, innovation and partnership.
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his agreement recognises the similarities and complementarities of the three organisations and their shared vision to grow the regional economy as an integral part of Northern Ireland becoming one of the most entrepreneurial knowledge economies in Europe by 2030. Through sharing networks, resources and programmes, the partnership aims to provide more opportunities for entrepreneurs to engage within the innovation ecosystem and maximise the impact of the support provided by the organisations. Omagh Enterprise Company will become a hub within the Catalyst Inc network. Catalyst Inc was founded with a focus on developing the
Knowledge Economy through increasing the scale and breadth of innovation. The 2016 Knowledge Economy report showed that Northern Ireland is the second fastest growing region across the UK with the knowledge economy representing 10% of the total economy. The challenge is to boost knowledge economy activity at a pace that exceeds other regions and then to translate this activity into economic outcomes in terms of employment and wage growth. Speaking in Omagh, at the signing of the agreement, Dr Noman Apsley OBE, CEO Catalyst Inc commented “We have had a close relationship with Omagh Enterprise Company for many years and we are delighted to see how this
John Andy, LYIT, Nick O’Sheil CEO Omagh Enterprise Company, Paul Hannigan President LYIT and Dr Norman Apsley OBE CEO Catalyst Inc
has developed. The three organisations share a common vision that this regional economy can be an integral part of one of the most entrepreneurial knowledge economies in Europe by 2030. Our 2016 Knowledge Economy Report, published in November, showed that there are a number of hot spots across Northern Ireland, of which Omagh is one, and this partnership will provide additional regional support for entrepreneurs and innovative companies.” He continued “The successful North West Regional Science Park Project is a collaboration between Catalyst Inc and Letterkenny Institute of Technology and today’s announcement with Omagh Enterprise Company will provide an
important further link within the region.” Paul Hannigan, President, LYIT welcomed the collaboration with Omagh Enterprise Company and praised the very productive relationship with Catalyst Inc. which has made this possible as well as a number of other exciting new collaborative opportunities to advance the Knowledge Economy. Dr Nicholas O’Shiel, CEO Omagh Enterprise Company, commented “I am delighted to formalise the link with Catalyst Inc and Letterkenny Institute of Technology as it will allow us to work closer together in developing an entrepreneurial economy in the area as part of the Northern Ireland vision to support knowledge based businesses.”
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