22 new companies join Deloitte Best Managed Companies network as awards celebrate 10 years

The awards, in association with Bank of Ireland, culminated with the Best Managed Companies Awards symposium and gala, which was attended by over 1,000 people from the Irish business community.

Seven Northern Irish companies achieved Best Managed status for the first time this year, including Almac, Around Noon, Braidwater, Creagh Concrete Products, Edge Innovate, Grant Electrical Services and Ready Egg Products. County Tyrone based manufacturing company CDE Global were one of only seven companies celebrating a decade as a Best Managed company.

The 22 new entrants were awarded their Best Managed status following a detailed qualification and judging process. This took into consideration the complete performance of the business, looking beyond the finances at criteria such as operational excellence, strategy and human resource processes.

Five of the new award winners were singled out for special recognition – PFH Technology Group was commended for best submission in Strategy, Phonovation Limited for Capability, and Around Noon for Commitment. These criteria are the three cornerstones of the Best Managed Companies Awards submission. Meritsoft was recognised for Best Overall Submission. Codd Mushrooms was the recipient of the annual IMI Award, and was commended for their business model execution and sharp focus.

“2018 marks the 10th year of the Deloitte Best Managed Companies Awards programme, which has grown from 25 companies in year one to 137 in year 10. The programme represents companies from different industries with many industry-specific challenges but also common characteristics such as adaptability, innovation and ambition. Their stories are the stories of Irish business this past decade, and they are stories of resilience, recovery and confidence. It is pleasing to see continued strong representation from companies in Northern Ireland and we’re also proud to recognise those who have been in the programme since it began in Ireland.”

Of the 137 companies recognised this year, Dublin, Cork and Antrim dominated the winners’ list. 40% of winners are Dublin-based, while Cork and Antrim both yielded approximately 10% of the winning companies. Overall however, 26 of the 32 counties were represented, showing the wide spread of business excellence around Ireland.

The 22 first-time winners are: 

Almac Group Armagh Life Sciences & Healthcare

AROUND NOON Down Consumer & Industrial Products

Braidwater Limited Derry Consumer & Industrial Products

Carroll Cuisine Offaly Consumer & Industrial Products

Codd Mushrooms Ltd Carlow Consumer & Industrial Products

Creagh Concrete Products Limited Antrim Real Estate & Infrastructure

Crest Solutions Limited Cork Manufacturing

Dennison Trailers Kildare Manufacturing

Edge Innovate Tyrone Manufacturing

GES Group (Grants Electrical Services (NI) Limited) Antrim Consumer & Industrial Products

GSLS Dublin Consumer & Industrial Products

Kayfoam Woolfson Dublin Consumer & Industrial Products

LotusWorks Sligo Consumer & Industrial Products

McCabes Pharmacy Dublin Life Sciences & Healthcare

Meritsoft Dublin Technology, Media, Telecommunications

Obelisk International Group Holdings Limited Dublin Energy & Resources

Ocuco Dublin Technology, Media, Telecommunications

PFH Technology Group Cork Technology, Media, Telecommunications

Phonovation Dublin Technology, Media, Telecommunications

PlanNet 21 Communications Ltd Dublin Consumer & Industrial Products

Ready Egg Products Limited Fermanagh Consumer & Industrial Products

The Merrion Hotel Dublin Tourism, Hospitality & Leisure

The following companies are celebrating a decade as Best Managed companies: 

Ace Express Freight Dublin Consumer & Industrial Products

CDE Global Ltd Tyrone Technology, Media, Telecommunications

Clontarf Castle Hotel Dublin Tourism, Hospitality & Leisure

Galway Clinic Galway Life Sciences & Healthcare

H&K International Dublin Consumer & Industrial Products

KDD – Kevin Dempsey Distributors Ltd Dublin Consumer & Industrial Products

Musgrave Group Cork Consumer & Industrial Products

In addition to the new entrants and those that have featured every year since the programme began, 13 companies were presented with a “gold standard” accolade, having secured Best Managed status for four consecutive years, and 14 companies were awarded “platinum standard”, having won the award for seven years in a row.