SIXTEEN firms from across the island of Ireland, including two from the north, were included for the first time in the newly-published list of Best Managed Companies, which has been produced for the last nine years by business advisers Deloitte.
Some 127 companies employing almost 60,000 staff, and with a combined turnover of more than €11 billion (close to £10 billion), were named on the list at an awards ceremony at the Dublin Convention Centre.
Belfast-based technology training company Neueda Consulting and fellow tech firm Seopa, which specialises in insurance comparison websites, were the new Best Managed companies from Northern Ireland.
Meanwhile Cookstown-based construction machinery manufacturer CDE Global was one of only eight businesses to retain Best Managed status for the ninth consecutive year.
The others from the north to retain their status included Denroy Plastic, Mount Charles, Genesis Crafty, Portview, Henderson Foodservice, Mac Interiors and TES Group.
The awards, in association with Barclays Bank Ireland, were attended by 900 people from the Irish business community.
Earlier in the day, the companies gathered at a management symposium, where they were addressed by a number of speakers including David Carson, Deloitte’s lead partner on Brexit.
Acknowledging the concern among businesses on both sides of the border 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.
The 16 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.
