Michael Kelly Bio

Name:
Michael Kelly

Location:
Glandore Arthur house Belfast

Biography
Michael Kelly was born in Galway and has a BSC and an MBA from University College Dublin. He worked for Eli Lilly and Glaxo Smith Kline for 10 years before becoming Sales & Marketing Director for Johnson Brothers, for a further 10 years. During that time, Michael purchased and developed a number of properties, making his first purchase in Belfast in 1998 and his second in 2000, both properties in Arthur Street Belfast. In 2001 Michel founded Glandore Business Centres in Dublin, providing flexible office space, meeting rooms and coworking space. Glandore opened in Belfast in 2006 and quickly followed with a second building in Belfast in 2009. Glandore has a total of 700 desks over two locations in Belfast, with a further six locations in Dublin providing over 2,000 desks and one location in Cork providing 300 desks. In addition, Glandore run Suesey Street Restaurant and No. 25 Fitzwilliam Place in Dublin which provides private dining and special events in a beautiful Georgian House. Glandore employs a total of 80 staff and works closely with Invest NI in Belfast to provide a landing space for companies setting up in the city. In addition, Glandore has hosted Belfast City Council and Invest NI at Glandore Dublin providing a platform for them to promote Belfast to companies in Dublin that are considering scaling into the North of Ireland. Glandore is a family business and Michael’s three daughters work as Directors within the business.

What, for you, is the importance of our global diaspora and how do you contribute to its success?
Glandore provides flexible office space but it also provides a range of business services including a member and alumni network to support new businesses setting up in Belfast and, perhaps most importantly, Glandore connects these companies with each other and with important service providers around the country.

Tell us how you connect to Belfast:
I have been investing in Belfast since the late ‘90s and my company now provides the city with flexible office space, 700 desks, meeting rooms and coworking in Belfast City Centre. The company employs nine staff directly in the city but if facilitates the growth and development of many companies setting up operations there.