One of the Province’s leading business figures has been appointed Honorary Consul of Hungary in Northern Ireland.
Ken Belshaw, co-founder of Grafton Recruitment, part of the Belfast-based Grafton Employment Group, has been appointed by the Hungarian government to hold the prestigious post.
Grafton opened its first Hungarian office in Budapest in 1996 and now has three offices in the country. The company is not only a market leader in employment solutions within Ireland but also in Central and Eastern Europe and today has over 30 offices in the CEE region.
Mr Belshaw is one of Northern Ireland’s most successful entrepreneurs. He started his first job in telesales in Edinburgh in 1975, moving to Dublin in 1979 and helping to form Marlborough Recruitment. In 1983 Ken and Dubliner James Kilbane set up Grafton Recruitment and he became the company’s first managing director. Since co-founding the company almost 30 years ago, he has managed its growth to over £100m in revenue, employing 700 staff in 76 offices across 19 countries.
Grafton, as a leading international recruitment provider, has expanded rapidly overseas in the last decade with a network of offices stretching from Chile to Hong Kong.
Mr Belshaw’s appointment was celebrated as the Hungarian Ambassador to the UK, Janos Csak officially opened his country’s first Consulate n Northern Ireland which is based in the Grafton Employment Group offices in the striking new Boat Building in Custom House Square, Belfast.
Speaking at the opening, Ambassador Csak said: “It is important that Hungary has representation within every area of devolved government within the United Kingdom. We are pleased to now include a Northern Ireland Consulate to work alongside our offices in Scotland and Wales. As a fellow member of the European Union, Hungary wishes to provide regional support for Hungarian nationals either working, visiting or trading with Northern Ireland.”
Ambassador Csak said that with the opening of the Consulate in Northern Ireland, Hungary is able to provide general consular coverage in the whole of the United Kingdom.
Ambassador Csak and his diplomatic party were welcomed to Northern Ireland by a group of local politicans including Junior Minister Jonathan Bell and Independent MLA David McClarty who hosted a reception in the Ambassador’s honour at Parliament Buildings.
During his two-day visit to Northern Ireland Ambassador Csak met Assembly Deputy Speaker Francie Molloy as well as leading figures from business and the arts, and visited the Ulster Business School at the University of Ulster, Jordanstown.