The Cube Meets Crystal Maze In Belfast

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The Cube Meets The Crystal Maze In Belfast

A new entertainment complex in Belfast’s Boucher Road area brings a state of the art Scandinavian concept to the city.

Prison Island is one of only two franchises in the whole of the UK, designed and fitted out by the Swedish franchise operator but owned and run by Lisburn businessman Ryan Lyttle. A former senior manager in the world of FMCG with PepsiCo, he took the bold step in late 2019 to leave his job and bring the Prison Island concept to the island of Ireland.

“I first heard about it when I got friendly with some Swedish people on holiday. Myself and my wife ended up flying to Sweden to see a number of the centres in action before we decided to take the step,” he says.

Back in Belfast, Ryan found available former warehouse space on Balmoral Link and experts from Sweden flew in to do the detailed fit-out. Prison Island opened for business just before Christmas in 2019 and was starting to hit its stride the following February when Covid hit.

A couple of lockdowns later, it’s getting a real chance to shine and it’s proving popular with families, groups of friends, business groups, youth groups and so the list goes on. “It’s ideal for corporate days out, for team building and for business social events,” says Ryan, “especially now as we come out of the pandemic.”

So what is Prison Island? Imagine The Crystal Maze, Channel 4’s hit show, or current ITV favourite The Cube, presented by Philip Schofield. In both, contestants have to face a series of challenges, and that’s the premise behind Prison Island.

If you’ve enjoyed escape rooms, Prison Island takes things to an entirely new level. Why? Because where escape rooms focus on mental challenges, Prison Island blends those with physical tests, teamwork tests and a whole lot more.

Teams are not locked in trying to escape a room in one hour. Behind the doors at Prison Island, there are no less than 25 different rooms, each one containing a very different challenge. You are free to attempt all 25 challenges moving from one to the other in any order you like. You can also repeat the challenges to try for a higher score.

Participants can work in teams of up to four, and an electronic fob system controls access to the rooms but also records the scores, with scoreboards on display in the corridor areas.

What does it cost? £20 per

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person per hour or £27 for an hour and a half. Most participants, perhaps not surprisingly, opt for the longer period to get around all of the challenges on offer.

“There is a real competitive element to it and most of our participants keep a close eye on the scoreboards to see how they’re doing against others,” says Ryan. “The staff here get a real buzz out of watching how much everyone is enjoying the experience.”

Prison Island staff provide a briefing to every participant and group before they’re let loose on the rooms, and staff are also available in the corridors to help with any questions. On the door of each room is a panel which ranks the challenge in terms of physicality, mental agility or team working required.

Not all are suitable for everyone – a couple have a climbing element requiring a level of physical agility and one trademark Prison Island attraction is a vertigo-inducing sloped room where participants have to counter disorientation while completing mental tasks. Some look to be relatively simple – at least until you try them. The Belfast complex can accommodate up to 80 people at any one time. When a room is available, a green light is displayed on the door. When it’s in use, the light turns red.

And, just in case 25 different challenges isn’t enough for you, next door to Prison Island is another Scandinavianinspired activity and this one is quite unique.

The Axe Yard gives participants the chance to try their hands at the lesser-known sport of Urban Axe Throwing. Yes, throwing an axe at a wooden target. A bit like darts or archery, but with a very different edge.

Prison Island Belfast and The Axe Yard has its own fully equipped cafe/lounge for refreshments before and after and caters for birthday parties as well as corporate groups and families.

Prison Island is at Unit 3, 17 Balmoral Road, Belfast, and is open each day until 9.00 pm. Web – www.prisonislandbelfast.com Tel. 028 96 923020 or 028 90 380862 Email – admin@prisonislandbelfast.com

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Three Northern Ireland firms named as Deloitte Best Managed Companies for the first time in 2021 Awards

Three Northern Ireland-based businesses have been named by Deloitte as Best Managed Companies for the first time.

Twenty-five companies were announced as Best Managed Companies for 2021 after entering the awards programme for the first time this year. The programme is led by Deloitte, in association with Bank of Ireland.

Including this year’s new winners, 139 companies are now recognised as Best Managed Companies across the island of Ireland. This network of companies has a combined turnover of €8.5 billion and employ a total of 40,000 people.

The Northern Ireland companies who achieved Best Managed status for the first time this year were mechanical and electrical specialist contractors Dowds Group, field services management software provider Totalmobile and MPA Recruitment, a recruitment agency which provides permanent, contract and temporary workforce solutions.

This year’s programme saw the highest number of new applicants in its thirteen-year history and culminated in a virtual symposium and awards ceremony this week. The winning companies come from a range of sectors, including retail, hospitality, manufacturing, technology and construction.

Ireland’s Best Managed Companies Awards programme promotes and recognises excellence in Irish/ Northern Irish owned and managed companies and is the only awards scheme on the island of Ireland that considers a business’ performance from every perspective. Entrants to the programme compete for the designation in a rigorous process that evaluates the calibre of their management abilities and practices in addition to the strategy, capability, innovation, culture and financial performance of their companies.

Jason Starbuck, director at Deloitte in Belfast, said: “This year, a record number of applications to the Best Managed Companies Awards programme were received. The quality of the applicants demonstrated the extraordinarily high-quality businesses operating across the island of Ireland today. In a relentlessly challenging year, the winning companies displayed true bravery in how they adapted to change, with many innovating and some even accelerating their plans for their businesses.” 17 companies achieved Gold Standard at this year’s awards, having requalified for their fourth consecutive year and 12 companies were awarded Platinum Standard, requalifying for their seventh consecutive year.

Nikki Canavan, Senior Director, Bank of Ireland Corporate Banking said: “Over the last number of years the companies in the Best Managed Companies network have shown huge strength in the face of disruption and uncertainty. This year in particular – a year that tested Irish businesses like never before – the judges noted the commitment, bravery, resilience and tenacity of the applicant companies.”

Pictured at Deloitte’s offices in Belfast are (L–R): Gary Adams, CFO Totalmobile, Jason Starbuck Director at Deloitte, Julian McCamphill, Operations Director, Dowds Group and Paul McCue, MD, MPA Recruitment.