Achievement award for veteran hotelier
Setting the scene: The Grand Ballroom at The Europa is almost ready to host the LCN Awards 2014.
Belfast hotelier, Francis Brady MBE, has collected the Industry Achievement Award at this year’s Licensed and Catering News (LCN) gala evening, held at The Europa Hotel on Friday evening, June 6.
Mr. Brady, who co-owns the La Mon House Hotel in the Castlereagh hills near Belfast, attended the event to collect the award before an invited audience of more than 400 guests.
Its 18 years since Mr. Brady and business partner, Charles Beverland took on the ailing La Mon hotel and in the years since, they have spent many millions to transform the business into a four-star venue with country club facilities.
Speaking after receiving his award, he said:
“This is tremendous for the industry. Being recognised like this within the industry is a real morale boost for the premises. Awards like this let the customer know that wherever they go, whether it’s a bar, a restaurant or a hotel, that place is something special because it’s being recognised by LCN.
“When we took on the La Mon, it was a 30-bedroom hotel that had lost its way. Along with our team, we made it into a 120-bedroom, four-star hotel and we’re very proud of that, but you can’t do that without your family, your directors, management, staff and suppliers and I am very proud of them all tonight.”
This is the fourth year that LCN magazine – the leading hospitality trade publication in Northern Ireland – has held its gala event. The awards are open to businesses and individuals across the entire spectrum of hospitality, including bars, restaurants, hotels and tourist attractions. This year’s event attracted more than 400 entries, all of which were independently assessed by Shopcheck NI.
Host for the evening, Pamela Ballantine, presented awards in 17 categories to a packed Grand Ballroom at the Europa on Friday evening. Among the awards presented were Best Tourist Attraction, which went to the new visitors’ centre at the Giant’s Causeway; Best Use of Social Media in Hospitality, which went to The Albany on Belfast’s Lisburn Road and Best Hotel with more than 75 rooms, which was collected by the Slieve Donard Resort and Spa in Newcastle.
Speaking afterward, Bill Penton, organiser of the awards and publisher of LCN magazine, said:
“We’re just delighted with the way this event has gone tonight. These awards have always been about recognising and rewarding excellence across the hospitality industry and we’re very happy that we’ve been able to do that tonight in such a public way. It’s a great achievement to be named as a winner or a finalist at the LCN Awards, it’s a great morale boost and it recognises the professionalism and creativity of the businesses concerned. I’d like to say a very big well done to all our worthy winners tonight.”
Among the special guests attending Friday evening’s event were SDLP leader, Alasdair McDonnell MP; newly-elected Deputy Lord Mayor of Belfast, Marie Hendron and the newly-elected chairman of the Institute of Hospitality in Northern Ireland, Michael Cafolla.
