WE normally get to see Greg and Sarah sporting their Mac Ivors Cider Co T-shirts and hoodie tops but the styling was upped a notch recently for the Black Tie Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council Business Awards.

The awards are a first for the ABC Borough Council so we thought we would get all dressed up and join in with businesses from the borough for a night which showcased entrepreneurial spirit across many sectors.

It was announced on the night that Mac Ivors Cider Co was the winner of the Best Export Business Initiative award. A great achievement indeed for Greg and Sarah who pulled out all of the stops to look absolutely dapper.

But the journey to Craigavon Civic Centre took a bit of a roundabout twist. In order to make it through as a finalist, like all businesses, Greg had to present to a panel of independent judges who were keen to find out how our great tasting ciders are being exported, hear evidence of our business export activity and to understand how Mac Ivors Cider Co is on track to maintain and expand the export market.

Quite aptly though, at the time of the interviews with the panel, Greg was in Kentucky along with distributor All-Tech as part of ongoing negotiations for a US distribution.

So with his cowboy hat on, sporting a Kentucky tan and having attended a good old hoedown the night before, Greg was in a prime position to talk about export, growth plans and our great tasting cider with Kentucky as a nice backdrop.

What did we do in the days without technology? A quick Skype interview and job’s a good’un – we got through and we won.

There were a lot of fantastic businesses at these awards so we were in good company – the added bonus of course was that our great tasting cider was being sold at the bar too.

This year so far has been another amazing year for us but we will not be resting on our laurels – there’s lots to do. But with another awards ceremony under our belt now is a good time for us to reflect too – it is pretty cool that what started off as an experiment in the orchards has led to widespread distribution across Ireland and Europe with negotiations ongoing for China, the US and Canada.

We are a small team and we are very proud that Mac Ivors Cider Co is firmly one of Ireland’s leading Irish Craft Cider producers with great global reach. #followthefox