BELFAST CITY AIRPORT WINS TOP AWARD FOR CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY

George Best Belfast City Airport has become the first UK airport to be awarded the prestigious Gold Level CORE accreditation at Business in the Community’s Responsible Business Awards.

CORE is Business in the Community’s framework for identifying and measuring corporate responsibility activity and performance across organisations.

Belfast City Airport’s commitment to education, the environment and the local community has helped it attain the highest standard and follows last year’s accolade of being named Northern Ireland’s Most Responsible Business.

Organisations were judged on their contributions to people, planet and the places they operate. Initiatives such as the airport’s Community Fund – which has supported 120 local projects – its High Flyers apprentice scheme, adopted school programme and host of environmental projects helped achieve Gold status.

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Michelle Hatfield, corporate services director at Belfast City Airport, said: “Corporate Responsibility is central to our business and it is a real credit to our employees who have worked hard to ensure we are playing our part, as a major employer, in our local community.

“We are constantly striving to improve our standards and to be recognised with a Gold Level CORE award is a testament to the efforts of all our employees.”

Kieran Harding, managing director of Business in the Community, said: “CORE strategically supports companies to develop and improve their approach to corporate responsibility.

"It is made up of ten assessed areas that enable companies to map their entire corporate responsibility activity and performance, and benchmark it against other organisations. 

"The process is very stringent – it is verified by external assessors and overseen by an independent panel of experts.

“By completing the Standard, companies gain a better understanding of their strengths and weaknesses, providing a baseline for next steps and further improvements. 

"Congratulations to the ten organisations that achieved CORE this year – the Standard is extremely high and you should all be very proud of your commitment to responsible business.”

To find out more about Belfast City Airport’s Corporate Responsibility programme please visit http://www.belfastcityairport.com/Community/CR-Core-Values