12 Cork companies have been awarded Ireland’s Best Managed Companies accolade at the 15th annual awards programme, with 130 indigenous companies recognised at the annual awards, led by Deloitte in association with Bank of Ireland.
In all, 112 companies requalified as a Best Managed Company, 5 companies achieved Gold Standard, and 5 companies were awarded Platinum Standard. Also amongst the winning companies this year were four winners from Limerick, three Waterford companies and 1 from Tipperary.
There were eight newly qualified companies, namely: APC Ltd (Dublin), Codex (Dublin), JJ Rhatigan & Company (Galway), Kyte Powertech (Cavan), Lowe Corporation (Antrim), Mail Metrics (Dublin), Production Equipment Europe (Galway), and Topflight Travel Group (Dublin).
The awards sees four different categories of winners: New Best Managed Companies – Companies that receive the award for the first time; Gold Standard – Best Managed Companies that receive the award for the fourth year in a row; Platinum Club – Best Managed Companies that receive the award for the seventh year in a row; and Re-qualifiers – Best Managed Companies, already in the programme that are not going for new, gold or platinum status.
GOLD STANDARD FOR IITC & ENET
The network of companies has a combined turnover of €17 billion and €3 billion of exports sales, providing employment for over 53,000 people across Ireland across a range of sectors – from manufacturing and tech to construction and food and beverage. A detailed judging process precedes the recognition, evaluating the entire management team and business strategy.
The judges look beyond financial performance at areas such as a company’s environmental, social and governance standards, strategic planning and talent strategy, when awarding Ireland’s top privately owned businesses.
Amongst the winning companies in the Gold Standard, was IITC from Cork, as well as Enet from Limerick, both having achieved gold standard having won for the fourth consecutive year.
In addition to the Best Managed Company Award, there are several other award categories, with the Family Business Award going to Cork-based food wholesaler and foodservice company Musgrave Group.
Other category winners from the region are as follows: Platinum Requalifying Winners: Cork – Barry & Fitzwilliam, Cavanaghs of Charleville, EPS Group, Herlihys Supermarket Group Ltd., Johnson & Perrott Motor Group, Mainline Group, Morgan McKinley, Tour America, Wisetek Solutions Limited. Limerick – Roches Feeds Limerick, Samco Agricultural Manufacturing Ltd.
Requalifying winners: Waterford – Keltech, RelateCare, Cliff House Hotel; Tipperary – Clancy Construction; Cork – Clonakilty Food Co.; Limerick: H&MV Engineering Ltd.
BUSINESS CONFIDENCE
Brian Murphy, Lead Partner for Ireland’s Best Managed Companies Awards Programme at Deloitte, said:
“This year we’re celebrating 15 years of the BMC programme and the incredible companies that have qualified. Even though this year’s cohort faced into another challenging period, over the past 15 years we’ve seen how indigenous Irish businesses find opportunities in change. Strengthening governance and recognising the value of specialist expert advice on critical areas such as ESG were key discussion points in the coaching sessions. We also saw companies increasingly focused on innovation driving internationalisation. Despite the uncertainties of the past few years, the confidence of Irish businesses is clear as more and more are scaling their market reach internationally.”
