Irish companies rise to the challenge in a most difficult year

It is a privilege to be lead partner at Deloitte Ireland for Ireland’s Best Managed Companies Awards Programme, in association with Bank of Ireland. Year on year, it is hugely motivating and inspiring to see the capability, agility and commitment of the winning companies.

We celebrated the 2020 winners at the very start of March last year – while we didn’t shake hands at the event, we were able to celebrate together! Just after, the environment in which Irish businesses were operating changed drastically and quickly.

When we started the Best Managed Companies process earlier this year, it was against the backdrop of a pandemic that was at the height of its impact.

How were Irish businesses responding to this? What strategies were they deploying, and what were the strengths that they were drawing upon as they faced the prevailing challenges?

Best Managed Companies programme was an opportunity for them to assess this, to benchmark against their peers, and to understand how they could improve.

And now, as we celebrate the 2021 winners, what have we learned about our winning companies, and indeed about Irish and Northern Irish businesses?

The fundamentals are sacrosanct in such a disruptive world. A comprehensive strategy and a commitment to delivering on it. Maintaining focus on the important things and the long-term vision. The right breadth of capability. Flexibility, agility and innovation. A strong financial framework.

External input, challenge and validation of this strategy is hugely valuable, and we are proud of the role that Ireland’s Best Managed Companies Awards Programme plays in this regard.

The Irish and Northern Irish businesses that are being recognised this year have demonstrated these fundamentals. These have enabled them to respond comprehensively to the challenges they have faced.

In a year that was certainly like no other, we received a record number of new applications to this year’s programme. That speaks to the confidence of indigenous businesses.

As I said, it is always hugely motivating and inspiring to have this role with Ireland’s Best Managed Companies Awards Programme, and in this year like no other, we have been incredibly impressed with the quality of the submissions and the resilience of these indigenous Irish companies. They truly are the heartbeat of our economy.

Anya Cummins is the lead partner for Best Managed Companies Awards Programme and head of Deloitte Private