THREE Northern Ireland companies have been named as Deloitte Best Managed Companies for the first time.
Merchant Hotel owners, Beannchor; precast concrete and construction products maker, FP McCann; and Tyrone-based precision hydraulic cylinder manufacturer, Northern Hydraulics were among 12 new businesses given the designation at the firm's annual awards event in Dublin.
The firms join a network of 136 privately owned companies, which were awarded the status of Best Managed for 2019. Of that number, 20 per cent (27 businesses) are from the north, with the list including established names such as Creagh Concrete, Braidwater, Henderson Group and Around Noon.
In addition to new entrants and those that requalified as a Best Managed Company, 13 companies were presented with the 'gold standard', having secured Best Managed status for four consecutive years. This group include Northern Ireland firms Denroy Plastics, Learning Pool, Combined Facilities Management and Novosco. A further 13 received the 'platinum standard' designation for seven years as a Best Managed Company, including Kestrel Foods and McCue Fit-Out.
The Best Managed Companies Irish network this year has total revenues of almost €11 billion (£9.4bn), export sales of almost €3bn and employs approximately 44,000 people.
Two in five of this year's winners are Dublin-based, while Cork and Antrim accounted for 10 per cent and 9 per cent of the winners respectively.
Glenn Roberts, partner at Deloitte congratulated this year's winning companies.
"The Best Managed Companies process is a rigorous one, examining every facet of an organisation, and the bar is set high by our judging panel. As ever, the spread of companies across a number of industries underlines the importance of Irish and Northern Irish companies to the economy," he said.
"At a time of economic and political uncertainty, technology disruption, an open competitive market and near full employment, the continued strong performance of these businesses is admirable. In the current environment, it is important for this contribution to be recognised, supported and showcased.”
Tom Hayes, chief executive at Bank of Ireland Corporate Banking added:
“It’s a challenging time for businesses in general, with the operating environment consistently and rapidly changing, due to technological developments, new ways of doing things, and challenges on the macroeconomic horizon. The Best Managed Companies this year have demonstrated that they can optimise each area of their business while always operating with an acute awareness of their environment, recognising the opportunities of expansion into global markets, in addition to strategic alliances and partnerships. I look forward to their continued growth.”
