Two Galway companies have been recognised as leaders in their fields at the 2017 Deloitte Best Managed Companies held last week.
127 companies employing almost 60,000 staff all around Ireland have been named Best Managed Companies by Deloitte at the 2017 awards ceremony last night in Dublin’s Convention Centre. Sixteen new winners join an existing network of companies awarded the accolade since the scheme’s establishment nine years ago. The awards, in association with Barclays Bank Ireland were attended by over 900 people from the Irish business community.
Galway companies recognised on the night included Galway City-based Acorn Life, which was named Best Managed for the first time, and Galway Clinic, which requalified for its ninth consecutive year.
Earlier in the day, the companies gathered at a management symposium, where they were addressed by, among other speakers, David Carson, Deloitte’s lead partner on Brexit.
Acknowledging the concern among Irish businesses about the political and economic uncertainty of a hard Brexit, he spoke about the steps companies can take to best position themselves to survive and grow. He advised companies to plan now rather than adopt a “wait and see” approach, and in the absence of full information, to plan for the scenario of most change, in respect of movement of people, restrictions to market access, cost of market access and identifying new market opportunities. He also touched on the attractiveness of Ireland as a location for businesses to grow, with tangible assets like its talented, agile and flexible workforce.
The sixteen new entrants were awarded “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.
Half of this year’s first time winners came from the technology industry, demonstrating Ireland’s strength as a producer of exciting and innovative companies with considerable export potential. There was also a strengthening in the number of winners in the construction and engineering sectors which is to be welcomed. Many of these companies have reported record profits, acquisitions and the creation of new jobs in the last 12 months.
Four companies were singled out for special recognition at the awards - Openet for Strategy, Netwatch for Capability and Vizor for Commitment. 2468 Group were the recipients of the annual IMI Award, chosen for their business model execution and sharp focus.
