MAY: HANNON’S AMBITIONS TAKE TO THE ROAD
The 2017 Belfast Telegraph Top 100 Companies in partnership with Arthur Cox is published, with Danske Bank the number one company with profits of £117m. The other 99 firms on the list reflect the variety of the Northern Ireland economy and include Lough Erne Investments, owners of a cooked egg products company with pre-tax profits of £3.3m.
The Belfast Telegraph revealed that ambitious transport company Hannon Coaches is applying for a licence to operate a bus route in direct competition to Translink from Londonderry to Belfast. However, the plans from managing director Aodh Hannon for a Derry route were turned down by the Department for Infrastructure. The company later announced it will examine taking on Translink on other routes, including Enniskillen to Belfast.
The Belfast Telegraph Business Awards returned for another year — and this time, the most prestigious awards programme in Northern Ireland had a new headline sponsor — Ulster Bank. The awards evening at Belfast’s Crowne Plaza Hotel sees Moy Park chief executive Janet McCollum received a Lifetime Achievement Award.
A £65m office scheme at the site of the Movie House cinema on the Dublin Road won planning permission from Belfast City Council. The Bankmore Square development is the brainchild of the Richland Group, led by property developer Gary McCausland. The cinema will be replaced by a 12-storey building with a capacity for 3,000 staff. The Belfast Telegraph first revealed the plans for the site in 2016.
The agri-food community enjoyed another Balmoral Show, which this year spanned across four days at Balmoral Park in Lisburn. Organisers the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society said the addition of a Saturday date for the first time in decades allowed visitor numbers to reach a record 115,000.