Deloitte reveals 50 Irish companies with best growth

Deloitte’s ‘Fast 50’ ranking has revealed eShopWorld, for the second year running, as Ireland’s fastest-growing company.

A ranking of technology companies and their growth in the past four years, Deloitte’s Fast 50 has once again found eShopWorld to be top dog.

Establishing a growth rate of 2596pc during the time frame, eShopWorld was almost ten times the average growth rate of 270pc, with around €1.6bn in total revenues for the top 50 last year.

The awards, which are in their 17th year in Ireland, recognise the contribution of indigenous companies to the overall technology sector in Ireland, and indeed the overall economy.

The majority of the companies featured in the rankings work in the software industry, with manufacturing and communications making up around 40pc of the total.

eShopWorld operates in e-commerce and logistics management, providing a service that gives online retailers “control over the end-to-end customer journey”.

Tommy Kelly, CEO of eShopWorld, called the award a “great honour”, noting rapid expansion since the company’s creation.

“The result has been the development of an outstanding global e-commerce solution that allows some of the biggest brands in the world to power their international online sales,” he said.

“All the team can be extremely proud of these awards, which are recognition of their efforts in recent years.”

Lulu O’Sullivan, CEO of TheIrishStore.com and GiftsDirect.com, won Deloitte’s leading female award.

From left: Anne Sheehan, enterprise director at Vodafone; Lulu O’Sullivan, CEO of TheIrishStore.com and GiftsDirect.com; and Joan O’Connor, partner at Deloitte. Image: Jason Clarke Photography

Joan O’Connor, a partner at Deloitte, said she was “delighted” to recognise the companies and people behind them, during a particularly uncertain time in business.

“Their contribution to the technology sector is critical to the success of the industry overall in Ireland, and it is clear from the turnover derived from exports that they are having considerable success in global markets also,” she said.

“This ambition is hugely encouraging to see and will be increasingly important in a post-Brexit marketplace, where pressure on margins may necessitate diversification into other markets.”

The full rankings: