Deputy Lord Mayor of Belfast Tom Haire presents the award for Best Business Start Up to Refresh NI HR Director Nicola Cherry at the awards ceremony at the Stormont Hotel, Belfast on 29 April.

Refresh NI were honoured to be named Best Business Start-Up at the recent Eastside Awards.

The award was sponsored by Belfast City Council and our HR Director Nicola Cherry was presented with the accolade by Belfast’s Deputy Lord Mayor Tom Haire during the glittering ceremony at the Stormont Hotel.

The award is fantastic recognition for the hard work and dedication of all of our team here at Refresh who have together helped us grow from zero to 25 employees within 12 months. We would like to thank all of our great clients and customers that we have worked with over the last 12 months for their support and we look forward to continuing to work with them over the coming months and years as we further develop our business to become Northern Ireland’s leading one-stop shop for home energy efficiency upgrades.

The Eastside Awards, celebrating all that is good about East Belfast, returned after a year’s absence with winners being recognised in 16 sought-after categories. The sense of celebration was almost palpable as sponsors joined with finalists and their guests at the glittering awards ceremony, hosted by television presenter Tara Mills, in Hastings Stormont Hotel.

Stephen Patton, Human Resources and CR Manager at George Best Belfast City Airport, said: “This is the sixth year Belfast City Airport has had the pleasure of partnering with the Eastside Awards to celebrate the very best of this fabulous place we call home.

“Despite a challenging couple of years, spirit and hope have prevailed within our community and we have witnessed phenomenal efforts by businesses, charities, community groups, and individuals, both old and young, towards making East Belfast a great place to live, work, and play.

“The bar was once again raised in terms of the calibre of finalists in this year’s awards and I would like to not only congratulate every nominee but sincerely thank them for their invaluable contributions to our community.”

Jonathan McAlpin, Chief Executive of East Belfast Enterprise and Chair of Eastside Awards Committee, said: “The Eastside Awards has truly established itself in celebrating all that is good about East Belfast and, in this our sixth year, I’m honoured and humbled in congratulating those who have achieved magnificent success within our community in this past year. The 2021 Eastside Awards has been a truly memorable occasion and I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate every one of our award winners.”