As marching season gets into full swing in Northern Ireland, Francess McDonnell reports on what it's like to do business on the front line
Mr David Willis has a steady trade rebinding Bibles, many of which have been handed down between generations of families. While his firm, Thesis Binding, restores Christian texts in the North City Business Centre, a few hundred yards outside its perimeter walls is a favourite location for the most unholy of sectarian clashes.
North City Business Centre lies in the heart of one of the most troubled sectarian flash-point areas in Belfast. It sits in a no-man's land between nationalists and loyalists - a few miles up the road is an area known locally as "Murder Mile".
The business centre where Mr Willis is located is based in Duncairn Gardens, between the nationalist New Lodge and the loyalist Tiger's Bay communities of north Belfast.
In previous years, during July, the area has witnessed violent inter-community clashes when tensions have flared between residents of the two opposing neighbouring communities.
Roads in one community close to North City are, as usual, this year adorned with Union Jacks while, less than a mile in the opposite direction, contrasting political slogans leave no doubt as to where the loyalties of its local residents lie.
It may not at first glance seem the most obvious location for a thriving, expanding business centre, but Thesis Binding, which specialises in a wide range of book binding, is just one of 26 ambitious, small firms that show how North City has succeeded against the odds.
Nearly a decade ago, the site was nothing more than a collection point for bonfire material.
Mr Michael McCorry, who has been manager of North City since it first opened, recalls visiting the site one summer in the early 1990s, to be greeted with a deluge of wooden pallets, stacked high, waiting for transportation to the nearest bonfire.
It was a sobering picture and one that underlined the challenges involved in developing an enterprise park in the pre-cease-fires atmosphere of north Belfast.
"Back then it was a high-risk project, both communities in the area were unsure about what the centre would mean for them and the fact that it would straddle both sides meant both were suspicious of it," said Mr McCorry.
"North Belfast's troubled past is well documented. Duncairn Gardens is one of the major interfaces between the two communities and we knew we had to convince both communities that the centre would be a neutral project that would bring great benefits to this area," he said.
He persuaded people in the area to support the centre by going into the heart of both communities and telling local political representatives and residents about the project directly.
His message was that the centre would be a "not-for-profit" company run by a board of directors drawn from local communities in north Belfast.
North City was set up specifically to encourage the development of small- and medium-sized businesses in the community, which, in turn, would create employment and provide a focus for social and economic regeneration.
One of Mr McCorry's first hurdles was to get potential businesses to view north Belfast as a viable investment location.
"When we brought people to the centre in the early days. . . they would arrive with the greatest collection of horror stories about north Belfast. Many of them, I still feel, just came out of curiosity.
"But the factors which made it a good location for business still apply today - we are conveniently located to the docks, the motorways, have good access to both airports and are a cost-effective location," Mr McCorry added.
Nearly 10 years later, the overall picture in Northern Ireland has changed dramatically since the Good Friday Agreement - but life can still be unpredictable in north Belfast.
Mr McCorry's office window looks out onto North Queen Street, which has played host to riots, sectarian clashes and skirmishes with police in recent years.
He admits it can be unnerving for the business centre's staff and tenants if unrest suddenly breaks out on the streets outside the centre's walled perimeter.
"In the past we have seen tensions in the area escalate during the early weeks of July and the violence which has occurred has a hatred in it which is amazing.
"But North City Business Centre could not survive if we were not perceived to be acceptable to both sides of the community. We have worked hard to achieve that and this centre would have been long gone if businesses and the centre were not respected by local communities.
"The fact is that we have always been crime free. We don't permit any flags on our buildings and we obviously have excellent security in place but, by and large, we are never attacked. If there has been any damage to the site in the past, it has been incidental," Mr McCorry said.
According to Mr Willis from Thesis Binding, what goes on outside the walls of North City has little impact on businesses inside.
"North City is pretty neutral. Either side of the community can come into it from their own sides. I am from north Belfast and it has never been an issue for me being located here. I just get on with my business like other people in the centre," he said.
Core Systems, an ambitious software development company and IT support services provider, is one of North City's longest established tenants. Set up nine years ago, it has expanded so much that it may have to consider relocating to larger premises.
Ms Patricia O'Hagan, a director of Core Systems, says its experiences of the centre have been very positive. "I do think people have perceptions of this area which could make it difficult if you need a shop front set up for your business and where you would have people constantly coming through."
North City Business Centre is home to 26 small firms, which employ more than 300 people. A £1 million sterling (€1.4 million) expansion plan is under way, which will create an additional 12,000 sq ft of work space in 12 new units, which could create a further 130 jobs on site.
It is, Mr McCorry said, the next chapter in North City's ongoing success story.
