Irish companies invited to apply for Ireland’s Best Managed Companies Awards 2023

• Flagship awards programme run by Deloitte marks 15 years of recognising indigenous companies’ contribution to economic recovery and growth

• This year’s programme will focus on how companies are navigating continued economic uncertainty while planning for
  future success

25 January 2023. Deloitte has launched the 2023 Best Managed Companies Awards (BMC) programme and is calling for ambitiously-minded Irish and Northern Irish companies across all sectors to apply.

Now in its fifteenth year, the programme which is sponsored by Bank of Ireland, celebrates the hard work, passion and tenacity of indigenous businesses and their management teams. The Ireland’s Best Managed Companies network currently comprises of 136 companies across a variety of sectors, representing 26 of the 32 counties of Ireland. The network of companies has a combined turnover of €13.9 billion providing over 51,000 jobs in Ireland across a range of sectors – from retail and hospitality to manufacturing and construction. 

Speaking at the launch of this year’s programme Brian Murphy, Lead Partner for the Ireland’s Best Managed Companies Awards Programme at Deloitte said: “Year-on-year we’ve been impressed by the businesses in the Best Managed Companies Awards programme, and as we mark 15 years, we’re excited to be opening for entries to this year’s programme. Over the last 15 years we’ve seen great change in what constitutes a best managed company but one trait we continue to see in successful businesses is their ability to adapt strategies based on their external environment. For example, McCabes Pharmacy has grown from a shopfront to an online store, expanding its network and introducing more technologies like pay kiosks in-store. These are the kind of innovative developments that can drive growth and open new avenues to market. 

“New challenges continue to arise for businesses and the lack of availability of the right talent in today’s jobs market is a major challenge, which didn’t exist 15 years ago. It is therefore vital for companies to retain the talent they have. There are forecasts of an economic downturn globally, ESG is growing in importance, and inflation remains a problem, so businesses really do need to plan and adapt the best practices to overcome these. This is where the Best Managed Companies (BMC) programme can assist. We’re looking forward to seeing how these companies, alongside new entrants, retain their competitive advantage in the ever-changing world. We’d encourage companies focused on innovation and growth, with strong culture and governance to apply to the programme today.”

 Applicants to the programme can expect to receive dedicated coaching from Deloitte and the programme sponsor, Bank of Ireland. The application process provides participating companies with the opportunity to analyse their entire business, including performance, management practices and goals, which is a vital exercise for any company.

Nikki Canavan, Senior Director, Bank of Ireland Corporate Banking said: “The calibre of businesses that apply to take part each year in the Best Managed Companies programme is always extremely high and I am really looking forward to reviewing this year’s entrants. 2022 was a year when many businesses emerged from the pandemic, displaying great resilience and continuing to thrive and progress in a new working reality. It was also another year of significant challenges, factoring in geo-political instability and conflict and the resultant humanitarian crises, huge energy price volatility, supply chain disruption, rising inflation and interest rises. My colleagues and I have had the opportunity to work with and support many businesses affected and I have no doubt the management teams behind this year's Best Managed Companies are fully capable of responding to the current myriad of challenges.”

Last year’s programme saw nine newly-qualified companies including Kefron, Clarke, MTM Engineering, Relatecare, Kilwaughter Minerals, Kent Stainless, Re-gen Waste, Anthony Nicholas Group and Corrib Oil Group. There are also a number of special award categories with Cork-based EPS Group awarded the Family Business Award in association with the Family Business Network and Carlow-based Delmec winning the Best in Innovation Award in association with Salesforce. Ten companies achieved Gold Standard requalifying for their fourth consecutive year while nine were awarded Platinum Standard, requalifying for their seventh consecutive year. 

For further information and details on how to enter the awards, visit www.deloitte.ie/bestmanaged. The closing date for Phase 1 entries is Friday, 24th of February.

Companies that progress to Phase 2 of the application process will be notified in March, with the winners to be officially announced at the annual Gala Awards September 2023