Titanic Belfast was the venue, black tie was the dress code and Symphonia gin was the toast of our evening as we were ‘Highly Commended’ for Entrepreneurial Spirit at the Workplace and Employment Awards 2019.
THE Irish News Workplace and Employment Awards (WEA) is famed for being a night of glitz, glamour and talent as the Northern Ireland business community gather to see which finalists get crowned winners in their chosen categories.
We chose to enter the awards this year because it’s a great opportunity to tell Ulrich’s story. His story is a tale of innovation and a sense of place and is indeed most inspirational for anyone who has a thirst for something new.
Many of you will know that Ulrich spent 30 years working in pharmaceutical laboratories discovering treatments for asthma, HIV, influenza and cancer.
He grew up with a great interest in chemistry which he then chose to study to fulfill his desire to discover new medicines. After studying for a PhD in chemistry he spent a few years doing research at Harvard University as a post doctoral fellow alongside some of the best chemists in the world before joining the pharmaceutical industry.
But, there was a real entrepreneurial spirit within him which was bubbling to the surface. He knew he wanted to change career and potentially do something within the food and drink sector but he didn’t know what. It was only when he and his wife Fiona sat down to a glass of gin one evening that Fiona suggested he could make gin too.
And so it all began and it’s his story which continues to impress. Not only did Ulrich adopt unique distillation techniques for making our delicious Symphonia gin range but he has been so innovative in terms of how he combines his knowledge of science with the taste of commonly grown botanicals in our luscious countryside.
We love his story and our customers do too, but, as with all awards, we could only hope to impress the Irish News WEA judges.
In this category we were up against; Ulster Bank, The Mac, Young Enterprise NI, SaltDNA, Excel in Education Tutoring School, ProfileTree, St Cecelia’s College and the b4bgroup.
It’s an impressive list so we are so proud to have come second and receive a Highly Commended award with The Mac taking first place.
The Irish News Workplace and Employment Awards, which are now in their 13th year, recognise the importance of people to an organisation and celebrates the very best organisations in Northern Ireland.
We believe that every organisation has a great story to share so it was fantastic to be in a room full of hard working, dedicated people to celebrate the wealth of talent across multiple industries here in Northern Ireland.
If you fancy catching up on who won what, the Irish News is publishing a supplement tomorrowow which gives you in-depth coverage of the awards night. Not only will you get to read a bit more about us, but, you will get to see the fantastic pictures taken on the night.
A huge thank you goes to the judges for reading our story and for choosing to honour us with an award. We also want to thank everyone who has supported us in our first year of business.
Here’s to many more years of handcrafting innovative Irish spirits.
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NOTES TO EDITOR:
- Symphonia is a range of handcrafted Irish spirits celebrating produce grown in the Irish countryside. The sophisticated Dry Gin is of exquisite complexity. The crisp Apple Gin is made using Co Armagh Bramley Apples and the Fruit Cup is a delicious summer fruit spirit drink. Symphonia is distilled at The Woodlab Distillery by Dr Ulrich Dyer who uses cold distillation to preserve flavours which are lost during traditional distillation.Â
- For interview requests or further information contact Eleanor McGillie of MGMPR Ltd on 028 3756 9569 | 07709805379|