Newry based Hill Engineering has been named as one of Ireland’s ‘Best Managed’ companies in the Deloitte Best Managed Companies Awards Programme. The company, which demonstrated superior business performance for the second year running, was recognised at an awards gala dinner in Dublin last week.The awards event in Dublin’s Convention Centre marked the eighth year of the Deloitte Best Managed Companies awards programme, in association with Barclays Bank Ireland. The awards were attended by over 800 people from the Irish business community. Frank Ryan, chair of the independent judging panel, was keynote speaker on the night.
The Deloitte Best Managed Companies Awards Programme, in association with Barclays Bank Ireland, recognises indigenous Irish companies across Ireland which are operating at the highest levels of business performance. The network of 115 Best Managed Companies now employs over 47,000 people around the country and has a combined turnover of almost €10bn. Recognising the importance of overseas markets for Irish companies, the Best Managed Companies also recorded an average growth in export sales of 161% over the last three years.
Established in 1994, Multi-Award winning Hill Engineering is celebrating 22-years of designing and manufacturing pioneering excavator attachments. The company’s quick couplers are designed for excavators ranging from 3 to 120 tonnes. Hill Engineering claim to be the market leaders in coupler technology in the UK with 50% market share domination.
Commenting on the award Ian Hill Managing Director of Hill Engineering said, “This award is further evidence of the advancements this company has made over the past six-years. We have grown our quick coupler market share to over 50% in the UK and we are well on our way to becoming market leader in North America. This is testimony to the contemporary management practices we have adopted as a business.”
“The whole company has been instrumental at listening to our customers’ needs and requirements. We have undertaken research programmes to identify how we can offer our customers a competitive advantage over other suppliers. In turn this has enabled the business to tailor our innovative products to customer’s requirements and improve their productivity in the field by reducing downtime.”
Mr Hill concluded, “2015 was a very busy year for Hill Engineering – winning this award in 2016 has set new benchmark for the rest of the year.”
Sixteen companies from around Ireland were awarded Best Managed status for the first time this year, following a lengthy qualification and judging process in which the complete performance of a business is assessed, moving beyond finances to such areas as operational excellence, strategy, and human resource processes. Eleven platinum award winners – companies that have retained their Best Managed status for seven consecutive years – were also recognised on the night.
Eighteen companies were also presented with the gold standard accolade having secured Best Managed status for a fourth consecutive year. An additional 70 companies re-qualified having upheld the standard of a Deloitte Best Managed Company, following a comprehensive review process.
Managing Partner of Deloitte and judging panel member, Brendan Jennings commented:
“Congratulations to all the 2016 winners. All the companies here tonight are at the end of a long process of evaluation, which makes their Best Managed designation even more rewarding and valuable as a marketing tool for their business. It is clear that these companies make an invaluable contribution to the Irish economy – employing 47,000 people and generating turnover of €10bn.”
Sasha Wiggins, CEO of Barclays Bank Ireland, added:
“Each of the companies being celebrated today have demonstrated their ability to apply best practice management across a wide range of business areas – something we have witnessed first-hand as the lead sponsor of the programme for the third year in a row. It has been a pleasure to mentor and support the management teams of these companies over the past few weeks and months and on behalf of everyone at Barclays, I would like to congratulate them on this wonderful achievement.”
The Deloitte Best Managed Companies Awards, in association with Barclays Bank Ireland, is open to companies from all 32 counties on the island of Ireland. It is the only awards programme that considers a business’ performance from every perspective.
