Environmental Street Furniture's (ESF) Managing Director, Alan Lowry has secured a major prize at the Institute of Directors 'Director of the Year' awards for Northern Ireland.

The MD of the Newtownabbey-based company was named Innovation Director of the Year at the 2019 awards, recognising the innovative Stellar Solar Smart Bench – a versatile outdoor bench that utilises solar energy from the sun to provide USB mobile charging, WiFi, LED lighting and data gathering capabilities.

Mr Lowry accepted his prize at a ceremony at The Merchant Hotel in Belfast on Friday 17 May. He was also shorlisted for Export Director of the Year.

Speaking about his win at the awards, Alan said: "I am truly delighted to win the award for Innovation Director of the Year at this year's 'Director of the Year' awards. It reinforces to me how special the Stellar Solar Smart Bench really is – I had complete faith in this product from the initial idea and to see that concept brought to life, followed by the success the bench has experienced has been fantastic. 

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"With the increase of Smart Cities globally and the Internet of Things (IoT), as well as the need for consumers to be constantly connected, the need for solar technology is growing – we've seen this with the success of our 'Street Charge' mobile charging stations that were installed at City Hall, Belfast. To be successful in this industry, we need to be innovative, incorporating consumer demand into our products and services and this is something we have achieved with the Stellar Bench. We look forward to developing more products of this nature in years to come."

Judges of this year's awards described Environmental Street Furniture as a great small business with excellent potential, driven by an export led leader with entrepreneurial spirit.

ESF's Stellar Bench, which is manufactured wholly in Northern Ireland, can be fully customised and branded for each individual client and has been acquired by some of the world's most famous theme parks in America, UAE and Hong Kong.

More recently, the Stellar Solar Smart Bench has been installed at City Quays in Belfast, with talks underway for it to be installed in further locations around Belfast and Dublin.

Alan Lowry will now go on to represent Northern Ireland in the National Awards which take place in London later this year.

(CM/MH)