Wilsons Auctions announced as one of Ireland’s Best Managed Companies for the twelfth year in a row!

Wilsons Auctions has been named as one of Ireland’s Best Managed Companies. The awards programme is led by Deloitte Ireland, in association with Bank of Ireland. The company, which demonstrated superior business practices for the twelfth year, was recognised at a virtual awards ceremony on Wednesday, 8 September.

Established in 1936, Wilsons Auctions is Ireland and the UK’s largest independent auction company and is focused on continuing to grow and expand its offering, ensuring that it is meeting the needs of both its vendors and purchasers alike. Wilsons Auctions has grown from a single auction site in Northern Ireland to become the largest independent auction company in the UK and Ireland with an annual hammer total in excess of £390 million.

As a result of new business both locally and internationally, Wilsons Auctions hosts over 3,100 auctions annually, including property, vehicles, plant and machinery to specialist equipment, general goods and high-end valuables.

Wilsons Auctions also manages the asset realisation process for private and public sector as well as law enforcement agencies, dealing with the collection, valuation and auctioning of assets on behalf of its extensive client base.

Commenting on the award, Peter Johnston, Wilsons Auctions Group Operations Director said: “We are delighted to be continuing the success of being named a Deloitte Best Managed Company for twelve consecutive years. As a family-owned business, this is a great honour for Wilsons Auctions to continually be recognised by this prestigious award and I would like to take the opportunity to thank all of the staff for their hard work and dedication as we continue to strive to give our vendors and purchasers alike the best possible auction service and experience.”

25 companies have qualified for the first time this year. 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. 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.

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.

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.”

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 – 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.

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