Deloitte BUSINESS AWARDS for 3 Cork Companies – Clonakilty Food Co (a.k.a. Clonakilty Blackpudding), PFH Technology Group, EPS Group (Mallow)

9 September 2021
By Mary Bermingham
mary@TheCork.ie

Ireland’s Best Managed Companies 2021

25 new companies have been announced as Ireland’s Best Managed Companies, entering the awards programme for the first time in 2021. The programme is led by Deloitte Ireland, in association with Bank of Ireland. With this year’s new winners, there are now 139 companies that are recognised as Ireland’s Best Managed Companies. This network of companies has a combined turnover of €8.5 billion and employs a total of 40,000 people.

Cork-based company Clonakilty Food Co UC (Clonakilty) won for the first time, while PFH Technology Group (Little Island) achieved Gold Standard, having won for the fourth consecutive year, and EPS Group (Mallow) achieved Platinum Standard, having won for the seventh consecutive year.

Sidebar: Clonakilty Food Company is the producer of the famous Blackpudding. The company is an UNlimited company.

This year’s programme saw the highest number of new applicants in its thirteen-year history and culminated in a virtual symposium and awards ceremony this week. The winning companies represent 26 counties across the island of Ireland and come from a range of sectors – from retail and hospitality to manufacturing and construction. This year’s winning cohort of companies also features a strong presence from the technology sector.

Ireland’s Best Managed Companies Awards programme promotes and recognises excellence in Irish/Northern Irish owned and managed companies and is the only awards scheme on the island of Ireland that considers a business’ performance from every perspective. Entrants to the programme compete for the designation in a rigorous process that evaluates the calibre of their management abilities and practices in addition to the strategy, capability, innovation, culture and financial performance of their companies.

This year’s awards programme saw the addition of two new award categories. Mayo company Portwest received the inaugural Family Business Award, supported by the Family Business Network. The company is a global manufacturer and innovator of workwear, safety wear and PPE. The award is a testament to how they have demonstrated resilience, not only in the past year but throughout their years in business. Tommy Breen, former CEO of DCC, supported the judging panel on behalf of The Family Business Network Ireland in selecting this year’s winner.

Construction company Errigal Contracts was awarded the inaugural Best in Innovation Award, in association with Salesforce. The company is a specialist in partition systems, external façade, interior fitout, ceilings and bespoke solutions. The award has been introduced to recognise the incredible wave of ingenuity from businesses operating in an era of fast-paced digital transformation. Deirdre Purcell, Area Vice President, Ireland, Salesforce assisted the judging panel in selecting this year’s winner.

Anya Cummins, Lead Partner for Ireland’s Best Managed Companies Awards Programme at Deloitte Ireland said:

“This year, a record number of applications to the Ireland’s Best Managed Companies Awards programme were received. The quality of the applicants demonstrated the extraordinarily high-quality businesses operating across the island of Ireland today. In a relentlessly challenging year, the winning companies displayed true bravery in how they adapted to change, with many innovating and some even accelerating their plans for their businesses.”

The 25 newly-qualified companies are: Acacia Facilities Management Ltd (Dublin); BidX1 (Dublin); Camile Food Group (Dublin); Clonakilty Food Co (Cork); CR2 (Dublin); CWSI (Dublin); Digital Marketing Institute (Dublin); Dowds Group (Antrim); Errigal Contracts Ltd (Monaghan); Fortus (Dublin); H&MV Engineering Limited (Limerick); Keltech (Waterford); Mannok (Dublin); Marco Beverage Systems Ltd. (Dublin); Modubuild (Kilkenny); MPA Recruitment (Derry); PEI Surgical (Dublin); Sanbra Fyffe Ltd. (Dublin); Stafford Lynch (Dublin); The Brennan & Co Group (Dublin); Totalmobile Limited (Antrim); Triangle (Dublin); Village Vets (Meath); Welltel (Dublin); Windsor Motor Group (Dublin).

17 companies achieved Gold Standard at this year’s awards, having requalified for their fourth consecutive year and 12 companies were awarded Platinum Standard, requalifying for their seventh consecutive year.

Harry Goddard, CEO, Deloitte Ireland and judging panel member commented: 

“This year’s winning companies had robust strategies in place prior to the pandemic, which enabled them to respond comprehensively to the changing situations they found themselves in. With no sector untouched by the impact of Covid-19, many companies remained committed to ensuring that they did not fall into the trap of doing things like they had always been done, just because that had worked in the past; in fact, many companies took the extraordinary challenge as an opportunity to develop and improve processes.

“The judges noted that, despite the risk of falling into crisis mode and focusing solely on the immediate challenges facing their businesses, the winning companies were adept at maintaining a long-term view of where their organisations were going and a strong clarity of purpose on what the business was trying to achieve, and why.”

Nikki Canavan, Senior Director, Bank of Ireland Corporate Banking and judging panel member said:

“Over the last number of years the companies in the Best Managed Companies network have shown huge strength in the face of disruption and uncertainty. This year in particular – a year that tested Irish businesses like never before – the judges noted the commitment, bravery, resilience and tenacity of the applicant companies.”

The members of this year’s judging panel were Frank Ryan, Chair of the Judging Panel; Harry Goddard, CEO, Deloitte Ireland; Nikki Canavan, Senior Director, Bank of Ireland Corporate Banking; Kate Malone, Director of Human Resources, IMI; Feargal Mooney, Non-Executive Director,  Meetingsbooker and Colm O’Reilly, CEO, The Business Post.

The 25 first-time winners are:

The Gold Standard winners are:

The Platinum Standard winners are: