Thursday 8th May 2014 • Newtownards Chronicle
ARDS BUSINESS AWARDS 2014
Award win is a ‘Slice of Heaven’ for Emma
EMMA Boyle’s passion for baking was so great that she decided to switch career paths when she joined her mum, Heather, in her business venture, A Slice of Heaven. The 19 year old told the Chronicle that she had spent time in the kitchen with her mum since she was 13, devoting time after school and during the holidays. “I’m following in my mum’s footsteps,” she continued. And it is a distinguished path, with Heather herself an award winner having been the recipient of an Ulster Tatler ‘Businesswoman of the Year’ accolade for 2013. Nominated for the award by fellow A Slice of Heaven colleague, Robert Jenkins, Emma, who specialises in producing wedding cupcakes and traybakes, had no idea that she had been put forward for the award until April 23, when she was found out that she had been shortlisted. “I just couldn’t believe it,” she says when she heard her name being called out at the gala ceremony held in Queen’s Hall last weekend. Emma faced off competition from Jonny Steele of Regency Coffee House and Sam Coey of The Courtyard Hair & Beauty to take the award, which was presented by Gavin Logan, project director of Blue Build Energy. It was an unexpected but great surprise to receive the accolade, she added.
Gavin Logan, Project Director of Blue Build Energy, award sponsor, presents the Young Person of the Year Award (U25) to Emma Boyle from Slice of Heaven, Newtownards. B46-8-5-14
Ian Alexander, Managing Director of the Newtownards Chronicle, presents the Best Family Business Award to Tracy Hamilton from Mash Direct. B50-8-5-14
Advertising Feature
Mash Direct Win Best New Family Business Award Local Comber based company; Mash Direct recently won ‘Best Family Business’ at the Ards Borough Business Awards, a category sponsored by the Newtownards Chronicle. This was the first year Ards Borough hosted and celebrated the achievements of local businesses and individuals in the Ards Peninsula area. Mash Direct were delighted to sponsor the Best New Business Category and presented the award to Cara Chandler from Physio Plus in Comber Square a new company offering high quality physiotherapy and health care services. Mash Direct were recognised at the gala evening for their outstanding commitment to their family run business. Martin, Tracy and their two sons Lance and Jack were praised for developing one of the most dynamic, ambitious and successful food companies in Northern Ireland. This is a remarkable success story for the family business who recently celebrated their tenth anniversary. Mash Direct’s success started with a simple idea of how to add value to
their traditional vegetable produce in order to survive in an increasingly competitive market. They now lead the market producing an innovative range of vegetable accompaniments. They source the majority of the vegetables fresh from the family farm, in addition to buying from other local producers. It is the steam-cooking process and the quality and variety of the vegetables that give Mash Direct products their award-winning taste and texture of homemade food. This has been an extremely successful year for the local company who have had exceptional business growth in new markets outside Northern Ireland including Europe, the US and the United Arab Emirates. Recent new business and product development has now exceeded the factory’s capacity. A new 25,000 sq. Ft innovative processing facility is currently under construction.
Best Family Business Five Generations of Farming... We grow, steam cook, gently prepare and pack the vegetables on our family farm.
For more information, visit www.mashdirect.com or visit us on Facebook/mashdirect or Twitter@mashdirect
www.mashdirect.com GB-008
2004-2014
5