Home-grown international luggage shipping company My Baggage has revealed significant growth with a recent investment of over £300,000 in the development and launch of proprietary technology which will simplify the customs process for customers.

Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council welcomes its Moira Speciality Food Fair back to Moira Demesne on Saturday 17^th August.  It is an opportunity to promote the rise in artisan producers and small business in Northern Ireland by showcasing a host of new producers alongside Food Fair veterans. 

A barrister with over 25 years of private practice legal experience in Northern Ireland, Michael Bready has been named as one of the first arbitrators and the only one from Northern Ireland included on the innovative new Private Arbitration Court.

Depaul has been named as one of 50 global community organisations to receive a grant of $500,000 in catalytic funding as part of the Citi Foundation’s 2024 Global Innovation Challenge, which aims to support solutions that address homelessness. Supporting people experiencing homelessness across the Island of Ireland, Depaul supported over 10,000 people – including over 1,400 families – in 2023 as homelessness continued to reach unprecedented levels.

Over 300 representatives of Northern Ireland’s charities, community groups and social enterprises came together at W5 Belfast on Tuesday (22nd October) to learn, share, and celebrate the value and diversity of the voluntary sector.

A recent report carried out by CIPD has revealed that nearly a quarter of staff in the UK have experienced workplace conflict which has affected their mental and physical health. Following the publication of these shocking statistics, leading Mediator Michael Bready is urging those in power and leadership positions to take action against this quickly by considering mediation as a valuable tool to address conflict in the workplace. The benefits delivered by workplace mediation could offer an important pathway to staff retention and improving workplace culture.

Artist Anna McKeever has delighted art collectors and appreciators with her newest collection, ‘I Brought You Flowers,’ which opened to the public recently at her Ormeau Road studio space. Consisting of twelve vibrant oil on canvas paintings of varied sizes, her newest collection is a celebration of colour and texture. From tiny budding blooms to huge displays of colourful blossoms, the exhibition draws on Anna’s reflections on the Irish psyche, communication, emotion, and our struggle to share thoughts and feelings.

Lowden Guitars have marked 50 years since founder and luthier George Lowden began producing premium quality guitars from his Northern Ireland workshop with the announcement of an exclusive collection of 50th Anniversary Model guitars.

Punctuating an exemplary 26-year tenure with Citi, Global Head of Enterprise Services, Peter Holden has been named as the new Site Lead for Citi Belfast. Peter will bring a wealth of experience, leadership and significant local knowledge which will continue to benefit staff of Northern Ireland’s largest financial services employer.

With customers seeking to establish energy independence and future-proof their operations, Dromore-based Wilson Power & Energy has revealed significant growth in 2023 with a 47% increase in projects over 250kWp, bringing the total of Solar PV generation installed to 4.95MW in 2023. This year has seen a particular focus in microgrids which incorporate solar PV, battery energy storage and wind generation.

Following the success of her second solo exhibition I Brought You Flowers this past summer, contemporary Irish artist Anna McKeever has unveiled her new collection of work, Solas, which will remain open to the public until 16th December.

Continuing their collaboration which saw the launch of the Sheeran by Lowden brand of guitars and a subsequent range of exclusive guitars to mark key albums, tours and career milestones, Ed Sheeran and Lowden Guitars have teamed up once again to create an acoustic guitar, this time to accompany Ed's latest – and seventh straight number one – album, Autumn Variations.

Ireland’s first all-island survey on electric vehicle (EV) charging habits, preferences and expectations has uncovered valuable insights, both optimistic and unsettling, from current and potential EV drivers north and south of the border. Launched this summer by EV power-sharing startup GoPlugable with support from the Irish EV Association (IEVA) and the Electric Vehicle Association of Northern Ireland (EVANI), the survey will be rolled out annually to continue to measure the changing attitudes around EV ownership.

Following the launch of our East Midlands-based headquarters in early 2023, which reflected an investment of over £1.7m, HSL have confirmed continued growth and expansion of our health tech and audio-visual solutions team to continue to oversee and deliver audio-visual solutions across GB.

A new-build house in County Down is set to dramatically reduce its carbon footprint after becoming the first in Northern Ireland to be heated using a biofuel.

Founded in 2016 by Joanne O’Doherty and Jackie Crooks, Kinsetsu provides innovative sensor-based and automation technology solutions that are deployed to drive positive change within critical service environments. Kinsetsu’s ‘ktrack’ software works by simplifying the connection and management of assets using a diverse network of sensors, providing automated insight and status awareness of equipment, people, inventory and fleet.

Strengthening their ongoing support for Northern Ireland’s LGBTQ+ community, Citi Belfast has partnered with Cara-Friend and The Integrated Education Fund to offer grants to three schools to support LGBTQ+ inclusion.

Addressing one of the primary obstacles to electric vehicle (EV) adoption in Northern Ireland, the lack of access to charging facilities, startup GoPlugable has revealed their plans to build an online network and charger-sharing ecosystem to enable EV owners to take advantage of available privately-owned chargers in their areas and homeowners with EV chargers to earn money through sharing access.

Citi Belfast have continued their mission to challenge misconceptions of careers in the financial and professional services and encourage more people from diverse backgrounds to consider careers in the sector with the recent announcement of their Citi Career Empowerment Programme.

County Down’s Lowden Guitars is hoping to expand its global reach with Amazon to sell its ‘Sheeran by Lowden’ range. This comes in time for Ed Sheeran’s 25-date North American leg of his ‘Mathematics’ World Tour, playing to almost 1.5 million fans.