Michael sprinkles gold on business event

Larne’s business development organisation LEDCOM has become the first local enterprise agency to achieve the top Investors in People award.
Paralympian, Michael McKillop shows off his gold medals as Ken Nelson CE of Ledcom receives a certificate of accreditation for acheiving the Ivestors in People Gold Award from Bill Gordan, Assesment Manager from DEINI. INLT 41-009-PSBParalympian, Michael McKillop shows off his gold medals as Ken Nelson CE of Ledcom receives a certificate of accreditation for acheiving the Ivestors in People Gold Award from Bill Gordan, Assesment Manager from DEINI. INLT 41-009-PSB
Paralympian, Michael McKillop shows off his gold medals as Ken Nelson CE of Ledcom receives a certificate of accreditation for acheiving the Ivestors in People Gold Award from Bill Gordan, Assesment Manager from DEINI. INLT 41-009-PSB

LEDCOM is the first local enterprise centre in Northern Ireland and the first social enterprise with less than 25 employees to achieve the prestigious Investors in People (IiP) gold award.

LEDCOM directors and staff were joined at a special celebration in the Willowbank Rural Conference Centre on Friday by another great Northern Ireland success story, multi gold medal Paralympic winner Michael McKillop.

LEDCOM Chief Executive Officer, Ken Nelson said the award showed the company’s deep commitment to achieving excellence in developing and supporting its staff and continually improving its quality of service as a business support organisation.

“I would like to pay tribute to everyone at LEDCOM who have worked tirelessly to put us among the one per cent of IiP accredited organisations across the UK to achieve gold status.

“We are constantly striving for excellence within economic development and this gold award is recognition of the past 29 years of supporting local businesses and individuals wanting to further their careers.”

Bill Gordon, the assessment manager of Investors in People Northern Ireland (Department for Employment and Learning) outlined the benefits of IiP and the support available to encourage organisations to seek accreditation, and paid a glowing tribute to LEDCOM.

Michael McKillop spoke about how he overcame diversity to one of the most successful Paralympic athletes of all time with 10 gold medals in major competitions, five world titles and three Paralympic wins, including two world records.

He said that a professional approach to training and a determination to succeed applies to any area of business as much as the sporting arena.

In an inspirational speech, Michael - who was born with cerebral palsy on his right side, didn’t speak until he was three years of age and developed epilepsy at the age of 14 – described how he overcame these hurdles to become a Paralympic champion.

“Life isn’t simple. Business isn’t simple,” he said.

“Getting a gold medal was a long journey. I had to build a team around me to achieve my goals. In business you have to work together to achieve your goals.

“There is a great similarity between my gold medal success and the process you had to go through to achieve your IiP Gold success,” he said.

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