BELFAST BRIEFING:Battling against a tough economic backdrop, businesses in the North are driven by innovation, writes FRANCESS McDONNELL

BLAME IT on circumstances or timing but people in the North have traditionally had an “aversion to innovation”.

At least that is according to the Belfast-born entrepreneur Nicky Kinnaird.

As the founder of the luxury beauty chain Space NK – a business she developed from scratch to a £40-million-a-year success – she generally tends to have an opinion worth listening to.

In the past 13 years, Space NK has opened between two and 14 new shops a year. It now operates 62 in the UK and is well into a double-digit presence across the United States.

So Kinnaird is probably better placed than most to comment on why the North has not spurred on more innovators.

Her theory is simple – a traditional reluctance to embrace innovation may in the past have held some people back.

Now though, Kinnaird thinks that is all changing, particularly in her home town of Belfast.

She believes, like many a tradition in Northern Ireland, the “aversion to innovation” has been abandoned and people have moved on.

This is helping to contribute to a slow burn of new-found self- confidence which, in turn, is transforming the business landscape in the North.

“There is an increased desire for self-betterment and people are questioning why they should settle for second-best,” says Kinnaird.

She claims this change of heart has helped drive a “staggering” pace of urban regeneration in Belfast that has given rise to a host of new business opportunities.

Although today there may be opportunities where once none existed, there is little doubt that they are showing up against a very difficult economic backdrop.

Last year, there was a big jump in the numbers of local businesses going bust and the current climate is not exactly confidence- inspiring

Despite this, there is evidence of many people still willing to chase their business dreams in Northern Ireland and many already in business who are engaged in a determined fight for survival.

Anyone who is in any doubt of it should be reassured by the admirable achievements of 15 business founders who have just been recognised for their work in the 2010 Belfast Business Awards.

The awards, which aim to “celebrate success”, highlight how local people like Sarah and Paul McMaster, who won the best newcomer prize, have made their business a hit despite the odds.

The husband-and-wife team are the driving force behind the Streat@Ballyhackamore, a café which they set up a little over two years ago in east Belfast, which has become a firm community favourite and now employs seven.

From the McMasters to companies such as APTX, which won the “best international trade award”, there are many examples of businesses working hard to create jobs and have an important stake in the economic future of Belfast.

The awards, organised by Belfast City Council and Belfast City Centre Management, also deliver an important glimpse into the dynamics of the local economy.

This shows why some businesses such as Musgrave Retail Partners NI, which won the “corporate social responsibility award”, and McLaughlin and Harvey Builders and Civil Engineering Contractors, which picked up the prize for “best green business” in the city, are weathering the recession while others have floundered.

Luck may play a part but a lot of it also comes down to what Kinnaird describes as two essential Northern Irish components – “hard work and gritty determination”.

Companies such as WDR and RT Taggart, which were awarded the “best city regeneration project” in the Belfast Business Awards, have been trading since 1902 and have developed a resilience to economic trends.

Others like the Bryson Charitable Group, which won the “best social economy business” have been there to help people who have suffered the fallout from the slowdown in the local economy and have made Belfast a better place.

The city’s annual business awards may be a glittering gala occasion that allows local firms to forget for one night the pressures of bills, payments and creditors but it also serves as an opportunity to applaud the hard work of people who take a risk.

The awards show there are companies such as Todd Architects, which won the “legacy to Belfast” award, which have played a key role in propelling the city forward and building new opportunities for local people.

Sometimes it is easy to forget that a local coffee shop, a hotel, an international exporter or the likes or the 2010 “best young business person” – Ruth Ellen Logan’s Beauty Company – businesses are bringing an ambition to life which can become the bricks and mortar of tomorrow’s economy.

The people behind the companies and small businesses flourishing today in Belfast display like one distinctive trait – passion.

They love what they do and their ability to translate this when they offer you a coffee, a bed to sleep in, a service or a trade is fundamental to their survival and success.

Kinnaird, who was guest speaker at the awards, told the winners to remember that life is not all about “achieving status or earning money”. Instead she says it is about “being true to yourself, your own beliefs and principles”.

If that is the secret to creating a £40 million-a-year business, then perhaps it could also prove to be a path through the economic recession for local companies.

The full list of winners is at www.belfastcity.gov.uk/

economic development/belfast businessawards.asp