Women in Business Awards Gala 2016

Congratulations to our amazing 13 winners this year, each and every one them a star in their field and making a huge contribution to our economy. The evening was a celebration from the start with the atmosphere electrical with anticipation. Opening the evening with their debut performance was the Women in Business Choir, giving us a great rendition of “Sisters are Doing it for Themselves”.

Wednesday 30 November 2016

Congratulations to our amazing 13 winners this year, each and every one them a star in their field and making a huge contribution to our economy.

The evening was a celebration from the start with the atmosphere electrical with anticipation. Opening the evening with their debut performance was the Women in Business Choir, giving us a great rendition of “Sisters are Doing it for Themselves”.

I have to say they were brilliant … I was in my purple robe too!

Before dinner we heard from our supportive Minister for the Economies Simon Hamilton and the inspiring and amazing role model Rosaleen Blair, Founder and CEO of the global company Alexander Mann Solutions. After dinner we were enthralled by our guest speaker ex Taniste Mary Harney, she held the room while recounting stories and learnings from her successful career in politics.

Before the Awards started our finalists who had bonded on our retreat in the fabulous Corick House were delighted to relive the experience on the huge plaza screen wall… even waving from the hot tub!

The applause, support, encouragement and cheers continued for the rest of the evening concluding with our Outstanding Business Woman of the 2016, Suzanne Wylie. Our awards are about show casing our brilliant business women, our role models and without doubt Suzanne is an inspirational role model.

For the last two years our winner has held the top administrative post in Northern Ireland's largest local authority, responsible for a budget in the hundreds of millions of pounds and overseeing the delivery of services to more than 330,000 residents.

Her work ethic is amazing and she does it with such grace, style, integrity and generosity. She is resilient, determined, creative and passionate, a truly deserving winner …and she gave the audience a very entertaining acceptance speech.

Suzanne is a great support of the work of Women in Business and we are delighted to be able to congratulate and acknowledge her as the 2016 Outstanding Business Women of the Year.

Our job at Women in Business is to get more and more women reaching their full potential in their businesses and careers. We do that by inspiring, supporting, encouraging, celebrating and motivating. We do that through role models; and the Awards over the last 6 years has showcased our great talent in Northern Ireland. We now have nearly 250 Finalists in our Awards Alumni who meet at special events throughout the year.

As I look towards 2017 I am are confident that we will continue to build on the success of the Awards.

Roseann Kelly,

CEO WIB

Wednesday 30 November 2016