Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter Trust given top President’s Prize

Belfast Chamber of Trade & Commerce has today awarded Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter Trust (CQT) with a highly coveted President’s Award for its work on Culture Night Belfast.

The trust, has been recognised for its work in ‘driving footfall’ and ‘boosting the economy’ of the city, including its achievements in providing a world-class cultural event for Belfast.

The Cathedral Quarter Trust represents the arts, culture and heritage, hospitality, business, community and education sectors within the Cathedral Quarter. Founded in 2008 as the Cathedral Quarter Steering Group and constituted as a charitable Trust since 2012, CQT supports the area’s growth as a cultural quarter.

Having just celebrated its seventh year, Culture Night Belfast is the city’s biggest, most colourful and inclusive cultural celebration. This year’s event welcomed over 200 acts to over 100 venues, with an estimated 65,000 people visiting Belfast on that day alone. It is estimated that the event brought an additional £3m of investment into the city.

Hugh Black, President, Belfast Chamber of Trade & Commerce said: “I would like to congratulate The Cathedral Quarter Trust, which is a voluntary organisation that is working hard, behind the scenes to positively profile and promote not only the vibrant Cathedral Quarter of the city, but for the greater good of Belfast.

“Their hard work, creative flair and ability to put on the world-class, inclusive Culture Night Belfast event has to be commended.

“Year-on-year this event has gotten better and better, and has become a real family friendly event with a range of activities people of all ages can enjoy.

“The fact that the event on its own attracted over 65,000 people and brought in an additional £3ml, is an achievement in itself. But it has also helped to put Belfast on the map for culture, the arts, our heritage, our exceptional entertainment, the vibrant retail offering as well as showcasing our good old-fashioned craic.”

Hugh concluded: “Belfast Chamber would like to see more events of this nature and would be strongly opposed to any funding cuts which would reduce the scale or momentum of such a world-class event.”

Paul McErlean, Chair of the Cathedral Quarter Trust said:
“We are delighted to accept this award on behalf of the Trust and, most importantly, the several thousand artists, cultural providers and businesses who help to make the event such a run-away success. Their collective creativity, energy and generosity, focused for one fabulous night on the Cathedral Quarter area, highlights Belfast’s cultural offering and welcoming atmosphere. We are grateful for this recognition of the contribution Culture Night is making to our city.”

Belfast Chamber of Trade and Commerce’s bi-monthly President’s Awards seek to identify a number of different businesses from their membership who have actively contributed to the economy of the country as a whole. The awards take into consideration a number of factors, from driving footfall to the city to marketing excellence to being an excellent ambassador to visitors.

Those eligible for the prestigious recognition, include all Chamber members from all business sectors in a range of categories, from customer service excellence, investment into the city, footfall driver through to marketing excellence.

If you are interested in becoming a member of Belfast Chamber of Trade & Commerce or proposing a member for the President’s Recognition Award, visit www.belfastctc.com or call Martina Connolly on .