Deloitte is calling on companies from across Northern Ireland’s growing technology sector – including software, hardware, communications, media, clean-tech, and life sciences – to apply for this year’s awards.
Launching this year’s 2019 competition at First Derivatives’ Belfast office, Peter Allen, partner at Deloitte, said: “For 20 years, the Technology Fast 50 awards have celebrated the success and growth of Ireland’s leading indigenous technology companies. The awards provide a chance for businesses to demonstrate their excellence and future ambitions.
“It is fantastic to be able to look back and see how some of the companies which appeared on the Fast 50 list in the early days have become global businesses and market leaders. The likes of First Derivatives and Novosco, who were early stage tech companies when they first made the Fast 50, are now major employers and shining lights within the NI economy.”
One of the few NI companies to have topped the Fast 50, appearing in it 16 out of the 19 years since the ranking’s inception, is Newry-headquartered financial software company First Derivatives. In September last year, the stock market-listed business announced plans to create 1,000 new jobs in Newry and in November 2018 opened a new Belfast office across four floors of the redeveloped Weaving Works building on Ormeau Avenue.
Shane Mulholland, senior vice president of marketing and operations at First Derivatives, said: “We’ve been involved with the Fast 50 programme since it began and have found it to be not only great recognition of every stage of the company’s growth but also a chance to meet peers and like-minded businesses who are striving to be leaders in their own fields.
“The Fast 50 awards are a great celebration of the entrepreneurial businesses across Ireland and their longevity is a testament to the continued evolution of a robust local technology industry across the island.”
E-commerce start-up XSellco topped the 2018 Fast 50 ranking with a growth rate of 2,874 per cent. eShopWorld, having topped the list for the previous three years, continued its impressive run by achieving second position in the 2018 ranking.
Thirteen Northern Irish companies made the Fast 50 last year, with Belfast-based Repstor the highest-ranking Northern Ireland business at number 10 in the rankings.
The closing date for entries is 6th September 2019 and the winners will be announced on Friday 25th October at the awards ceremony in the Clayton Hotel on Burlington Road, Dublin. For details of how to enter, please visit www.fast50.ie.
Peter Allen, partner at Deloitte, and Shane Mulholland, senior vice president of marketing and operations at First Derivatives.
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