Ormeau Business Park is South Belfast's enterprise agency, meaning that it is meant to support…read morelocal entrepreneurs and small business owners or those wanting to start a business by running night-class type programmes and offering support. I first went here to attend the 'Go For It' programme that the Park runs; a series of classes 2 nights a week over 3 weeks teaching prospective entrepreneurs the basics of running a business i.e doing the books. The staff are absolutely lovely and have so much time for the people who walk through their doors. They really go out of their way to make things happen for their clients. What's more, all of the support is free-it won't set you back a penny. This is definitely the place to go if you're considering launching a small business.

Although Artcetera is a centrally located gallery in the city and I've passed it many times - I've…read morenever previously noticed its existence! Because it sits slightly back from the pavement on Rosemary Street, it is easily overlooked. However, l visited on 03/08/17 with Belfast Art Bus Tour and saw VISAGE, The Face of Drag, a creative collaboration and exhibition by Photographer Carrie Davenport, nightclub promoter Aaron Eakin and Kaisen Print. This consisted of photographic portraits of Belfast-based Drag Queens in both male and Drag identities. It was a fabulous, entertaining and enthralling show. Artcetera gallery itself had a wonderful night club ambience with a lovely bar made from wine bottles - a delightful discovery and a real hidden gem.

This place used to be called Red Barn gallery. Worth checking out if your in the area. Really handy…read moreif your walking in the city centre!

Tile Works is an easy place to miss even though it sits on the main road through Balloo Industrial…read moreEstate. From the outside, the building looks small and gives the impression that they don't have a large range of stock. However, once inside you quickly realise that they carry and extensive range of tiles, from cheap as chips basics to posh as you like. They gave made very good use of the space available to them and have loads on display without making the place feel claustrophobic. The staff are pleasant, cheerful and very helpful. My only real complaint is that going on the measurements I gave them for my tiling needs (which were accurate) they over supplied me but said that it was OK cos I could return what wasn't used. The Tiler we employed, (recommended by Tile Works) took a good few weeks to start the job and when he was finished we were left with quite a lot extra. When we tried to return them for a refund we were told that they couldn't take them back because the batch number had changed in between. So I have been left with a few hundred pounds worth of extra tiles. All I all, I would still recommend them for the range that they carry but would warn people be wary of over buying.

I have probably driven past this business many times and didn't even know it existed. We were…read moretrying to source some extra tiles that we had purchased a while back and TileWorks was recommended. Easy to find when you know where to look, good parking at the front doors. I went in and two men looked up from behind a high counter, at first I thought I was in the wrong place, even though everywhere was Tiled, but then I told them what I was looking for and one went off to have a look out in the stock room. From looking around the reception seems they do lots of variety of bespoke tiles for anywhere you would like to tile. I paid for my tiles and the guy insisted on lifting them out to the car for me. I'm sure my purchase was one of the smallest that they would get, but still great customer service.

Had a great stay in the lobby, couch could be updated. Loved the lift. Great place to stay if you…read moreend up too drunk and need a wee lie down.

I've been living in this fine establishment for the last year or so and I can say it's been the…read morebest living experience I've had in Belfast. The Lucas Building is based on an existing red-bricked building which was renovated into apartments a few years back. It mostly comprises of one and two bed apartments of varying size, of which approximately half of which have an allocated car park space (as I do) The building is bright, airy and modern inside. It has an open core in the middle of the building, akin to something you'd find on a Spanish beach holiday. it's managed by Black Dog property management who specialise in block management. They are always on the ball and Jeff who runs the company is more than helpful regarding any problems. Certainly one of the best locations in the city. A five minute walk to the city centre, ten minutes or so from Queens University.

Popped in here yesterday to pick up some electrical terminal blocks to fit a ceiling light, that…read moresounded very professional didn't it? To be honest I only had a vague idea of what I was looking for but the blokes in Castle helped me out as soon as I walked through the door. This is an old school DIY and hardware store - they seem to have everything behind that counter. The good thing about coming here rather than going to a chain shop is that I was able to walk in ask an expert and leave within 5 minutes. I also didn't have to buy anything I didn't need. They stock plumbing, electrical and decorating equipment including paint but I would suggest just going in and speaking to the guys who work there - they couldn't have been more helpful. What's more, the electrical blocks cost me under £2! Great value!

Castle DIY is an independent hardware store on the Antrim Road, just off by the Cavehill Road…read moreintersection. It's a great place for a bit of local knowledge. I'm not a driver so if something goes wrong or I need to get some paint, its hassle to go to one of the big B&Q or the other big stores. The staff have a great knowledge of everything they sell. I needed some orange paint and whilst they didn't have a certain insane colour (not my choice!), but they offered to get it delivered in withouth any extra charge. Pleasant, knowledgeable guys who will go that extra mile to help.

I contacted a few companies for quotes and Site Surveys, David was the only one who produced a…read moredrawing of the layout of the panels (and gave us options of how they would look) We had arranged 4 appointments with other installers and only 2 showed up, SolarFixNI was over £1500 cheaper than other quotes I received. When we decided to go with SolarFixNI, We grilled them about the tile movement in the roof, which was quickly satisfied with an email back 10 minutes later showing photo's of how the tiles were moved, the brackets fixed, and the tiles replaced. From deciding to appoint SolarFixNI for the job, to the panels being installed was only a week, and the fitters were on site at 8 and complete by mid-day. I have to say my wife wasn't keen on the thought of getting the panels installed.... but they're the best damn panels in the street! The Inverter, cabling everything was exceptionally neat and tidy - I nearly want them back to install that battery backup system! Best Investment!

I had a few quotes for a solar pv installation and David was the most competitive, very…read moreknowledgeable with a very professional approach and addressed all my concerns. His team worked extremely hard in poor weather conditions. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Solarfix to anyone thinking about a solar pv installation. Much appreciated. Michael.

For every person who adored halls, there are probably five who genuinely hated the experience. I…read morewill nail my colours to the mast pretty firmly from the off... it was fine... (ok not firmly as such but I'll hold them in my hand instead). Halls are a difficult thing to get right because chances are they are there to be abused and defaced, so it is hard to decorate or put anything particularly extravagant into them for fear it will be destroyed. The beds are not great. The mattress is like lying on a comfortable bed but with someone booting you in the back everytime you roll over. The walls are essentially just massive bricks stacked on top of eachother which means one person singing in their room is something similar to one person singing in your room. In our day we weren't allowed anyone to stay unless you told them about a month in advanced and despite our best efforts, we eventually were caught out and had to stop. The staff are way too strict. That is the biggest downfall. Our friend got hurt on a night out (aided by a nasty tackle during football earlier in the day) so we (not being from halls) had to bring him back to his room (in halls) yet despite being in complete agony and not being able to walk unaided, we had to wait almost an hour in the reception until... and I quote... "security come back from their rounds". Cough cough... prison... cough We weren't trying to smuggle a family of 30 immigrants into the blooming (being careful not to swear) halls. All we were going to do is help him up the steps to his room and them out again. Instead we were made to wait and encouraged to head on back home while security did their rounds. Out of stubbornness we stayed and paced around the reception like a soon-to-be father. The halls could be so much better if it wasn't run by people who have forgotten what it is to be a student. You meet people. You get drunk and you throw up in your sink. That's what first year is about. First year is great fun but Queen's Elms makes it impossible to enjoy yourself fully because it is too much like a prison. And for £3000 a year you would expect a bit more.

I love living in Elms. Especially in first year. There was a lot of support available. My floor was…read moregreat. I love the Treehouse. It's such a great space. I think a lot of people who didn't like it, are people who didn't make the most of what was available.

Workwest is a small business/enterprise park at the top of the Glen Road in west Belfast. It's a…read moresmall collection of office and industrial units. The businesses here are largely 'social economy' type businesses, more involved with training and programmes to stimulate the local economy. There were a few of these types of enterprise parks set up around the late-1980's (Twin Spires is another example), and they were also designed to provide low cost office accommodation to try and stimulate local business. Among the events/training programmes that are hosted here include the 'go for it' training programme, first aid courses, health and safety in the workplace, and other such courses commensurate with training that would be required by small businesses for their staff. They also have conference and meetings rooms which are clean and spacious. I've been to a few things up here and it's a pleasant venue. The staff are courteous and the events all run pretty smoothly. It's pleasant when you have to attend something up here because you're relatively high up and have the mountain at your back and can look out over a small part of Belfast - not that it's an incredible view at that particular spot, but it feels a bit more tranquil, like you're removed from the din of the city