Irish Australian Business Awards Peoples Choice 2017

Hardly a day goes by without news of a massive data breach, an embarrassing leak of valuable or damaging information, a regulatory investigation into corporate wrongdoing, the discovery of an international crime syndicate or child exploitation ring, or the filing of a high-profile lawsuit. And these are just the stories that go public. At the heart of all these issues lies the need to investigate digital information.

Nuix is a privately owned Australian technology company, led by Rod Vawdrey who was appointed Group Chief Executive Officer in May 2017. Nuix was built to understand the DNA of data at an enormous scale. Armed and ready, our software pinpoints the most relevant information organisations need to anticipate and act on cybersecurity, risk and compliance threats. The unique capabilities of our supercharged data processing platform make Nuix one of the most exciting technology companies on the planet.



World-leading businesses and government agencies turn to Nuix when they need fast, accurate answers for investigation, cybersecurity, intelligence, insider threats, litigation, regulation, privacy, risk management and more.

This unique technology advantage has enabled Nuix to grow organically from a select customer base in Australia to a global marketplace in which we work with 1,800 customers in over 70 countries including the biggest public and private enterprises in the world. Our customers include the world’s leading financial institutions, corporations and government departments, all major global regulatory agencies, leading security and law enforcement agencies and all tier-one advisory firms and litigation support vendors.

Nuix has sustained its growth through ongoing innovation, committed customer service, working hard to understand customers’ pain points, but above all else, by providing a product that solves their complex problems when many competitors cannot live up to their claims.

The company employs more than 390 people worldwide, with offices in Sydney, San Francisco, Washington DC, Philadelphia, London and Cork (Ireland).

Flexirent was founded in the late eighties, establishing strong partnerships with Harvey Norman back in their first western Sydney store. Flexirent identified a need for businesses to have access to quick finance in order to remain competitive in a growing market. Over the following twenty years Flexirent matured, changed and thrived. In December 2006, FlexiGroup Limited listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (“FXL”). The success of FlexiGroup invoked desires to expand into markets further afield, so Flexirent opened its first office outside the southern hemisphere, in Swords County Dublin Ireland. The initial move was in support of Harvey Norman’s entry into the Irish market. Since then, FlexiGroup Ireland has come a long way. A FlexiGroup product is now available to consumers in over 500 retailers throughout Ireland, offering consumers more choice, access to fast affordable payment options and without any big upfront costs. Consumers can enjoy the goods they want, immediately. The nature of FlexiGroup’s products benefit retailers, generating repeat business and customer loyalty.



When FlexiGroup arrived in Ireland, Flexirent was the only product, but it wasn’t too long before the need for alternate finance options was evident. Since then, FlexiGroup have launched a brand-new consumer offering which is totally digital. The release of Flexi-Fi in June 2017 was a huge milestone for FlexiGroup Ireland and cemented its place in the Irish market, reinforcing the desire and commitment that FlexiGroup Ireland is here to stay! Flexi-Fi is a payment plan product, allowing consumers approval up to €15,000 within minutes via an end-to-end online application. The opportunities Flexi-Fi brings are far reaching, with early predictions of steady growth and a diversification strategy that will fuel the business for years to come.

FlexiGroup Ireland specialise in point of sale finance and are the only company currently offering a consumer hire agreement product to consumers through Flexirent. Even more exciting for FlexiGroup is that our new product Flexi-Fi is set to be offered in an ever-expanding network of stores around the country, empowering increased consumer choice, spending thus in turn, economic growth. Since 2009, FlexiGroup Ireland has achieved double-digit growth year on year and is forecasted to continue for years to come. Predicted organic growth will be fueled by the addition of Flexi-Fi and a suite of products our new technology will support. FlexiGroup Ireland is positioned well for busy (yet exciting) times to ahead. 

FlexiGroup’s DNA drives high employee engagement, innovative thinking, strong relationships and accountability which underpins our success. Experience has taught us that great organisations are made great by a dedicated workforce.

FlexiGroup Ireland started nine years ago, with a team of just two; fast forward to today and we have twenty-five great people on our journey... FlexiGroup Ireland is supported by a wonderful team based out of FXL’s Sydney headquarters. FlexiGroup’s culture is strong, although Australia is on the far side of the world, through building relationships, open communication and mateship, Ireland and Australia are really only inches apart.

EXEQ is a partnership-oriented company, and this is supported by its status as a preferred project management, equipment and labour supplier within numerous companies throughout Queensland and nationwide. We believe that our business model and staff work hard to produce an award- winning company that is based on the Darling Downs and making a small impact across Australia and internationally. We love supporting local business and are proud to be Toowoomba based.
 

What we do:

-We sell and hire construction machinery
-We specialise in project management of winning, crushing and stockpiling road materials
-We import/export goods for trade
-We handle land and sea logistics

EXEQ's Mission Statement is to deliver value to our clients while building a socially responsible company for our future generations. We endeavour to support our local and national community by engaging in philanthropy and serious social issues, and to inspire individuals and other organisations to do so as well.

A niche opportunity presented itself early on to create a business that delivered products and services to larger businesses in the earthmoving, mining and construction industries with a personalised approach, and therefore Excavation Equipment Pty Ltd was born.
Our management team invest time in building relationships with our customers to understand the economic environment first hand.

We are passionate about being successful and raising the local and national economy by meeting the customers requirements. We believe that the financials don't lie, with the year on year profit and profit reinvestment into the business, staff training and technology. In 2016 we were a worthy IACC finalist and it was an honour to be listed. For 2017, we hope to take away the trophy for our category as we have really worked on our business ten fold in all aspects, and our staff deserves to be recognised.

Finally, we would like to dedicate this nomination to our comrade, Joshua Blaik, who we lost in February of this year. He will always be lost but never forgotten - his spirit will always live on in the EXEQ Team.

Since 1974, Linesight has been a leader in construction consultancy, providing professional services and strategic support to the global construction industry. Headquartered in Dublin, we have 17 global offices, with our Australian operations based out of Sydney. Our deep domain knowledge and experience spans a multitude of sectors, including Commercial, Data Centers, Life Sciences, Healthcare, High-Tech Industrial, Hospitality, Education, Residential, Retail, Transportation and Infrastructure, Energy, and Oil and Gas. We work with top tier clients, and are considered as a leader in our field because of the reputation that we have earned over our 43 years in business.
 

We place a huge emphasis on our highly-skilled teams of professionals, who are our greatest competitive advantage and form the backbone of our organization. Continuous learning, a balanced culture, and personal and professional development are prioritized on a global scale, and we encourage all staff to benefit from our structured training programs and our regular in-house talks from external specialists.

As a business, we are acutely aware of the impact that we have on the environments and communities around us. Sustainability is of the utmost importance to us, and we employ sustainable practices in our day-to-day work, while completing projects to the highest environmental standards. We hold the latest accreditations and quality marks, and make significant efforts to continuously improve our sustainable performance. We fervently believe in having a positive impact in the communities in which we work, and this forms an integral part of our business strategy.

Since opening our Australian office in Sydney in 2011, we have embedded ourselves in the local business community and culture, and have helped many multinationals and SMEs build their businesses in the region. We are committed to playing an active role and having a positive impact on the local community, and to continuously developing our local knowledge and expertise. In terms of why we feel we would be a worthy winner of this award, we believe we are a prime example of what Irish businesses can achieve abroad, and in Australia in particular. We feel that we are a great representation of how a business should conduct itself when expanding into a new region, in becoming an active contributor and a positive addition in its local environment.

Ultimately, we are proof of the huge potential that Australia holds for Irish businesses, not only as a viable market in its own right, but as a gateway into the larger Australasia market.

Ireland has played a prominent role within Moog with a number of our design teams for Industrial, Aviation and Defence based there. We have seen designs for applications such as Boeings 787, Airbus A350 , Flight Simulation controllers, Ground vehicle systems for M113 & ASLAV to name but a few all originate from our Irish site. Ireland has also been quite successful in exporting its people with our current CEO John Scannell, Industrial VP Pat Roche and our managing director Bryan O’Connor all originating in the Emerald Isle.

As a Defence Recognized Supplier since 2003, Moog Australia has been actively supporting the efforts of Australia and New Zealand’s defence force and relief workers. Moog provides mission critical sub-systems and components on platforms including the F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet, Blackhawk, AP-3C Orion, ASLAV 25, M113. The collaboration between our Irish and Australian entities has resulted in Moog been able to provide cutting edge technology and through life support on both the M113 and ASLAV platforms. This affords the Australian Government the opportunity to have sovereign capability. It also provides Moog Australia and Ireland with both regional and global supply chain opportunities to grow future business.

WebVine is a technology consultancy, established in 2009 to enable businesses become more efficient, better performing, and more enjoyable places to work.

WebVine recently transformed their business from a service delivery model to Software as a Service (SaaS) model through the creation of a ready to go Intranet called Inijo.  Injio enables businesses to deliver a digital workplace intranet fast and is attracting interest from all over the world from New York to Prague, London to Tokyo, with recent clients including blue chip organisations like EY, Santos and Unispace as well as not for profits and government organisations like Cerebral Palsy Alliance, Queensland Health and Australian Hearing. WebVine have recently received significant funding from Microsoft to promote Injio as it runs on Microsoft’s SharePoint and Office 365 platforms.

WebVine clients include CommBank, Macquarie Bank, Citibank, LJ Hooker, Santos, EY, and many other household names.  Microsoft selected WebVine’s work for Redback Boots, an Australian bootmaker that use robotics to create world class boots in the heart of Sydney for a case study to be shown around the world. WebVine assist Redback Boots to achieve global growth through development of a CRM solution.


 

WebVine gives back to the community in many ways, Director Marcus Dervin partaking in the CEO Sleepout, and providing WebVine solutions and services to not for profits such as Ronald McDonald House free of charge.

With over 22 years’ experience in the industry, WebVine Director Marcus Dervin is a recognised digital workplace thought leader, regularly invited to participate in industry events such as the recent StepTwo Intranets2017 and is the author of ‘Transform your organisation with a Digital Workplace’, due for release in November 2017.

We believe that Teneo would be a worthy winner of an Irish Australian Business award as our company illustrates what a business with experience in Ireland can achieve in the Australian market – demonstrating world class best practice in our sector.

Teneo is a Geomembrane and Geotextile Lining Specialist operating throughout Australia, predominately in the Eastern States.  Teneo is Latin for containment – which aptly describes what we do. The business grew within and continues to operate in the LNG sector. Coal Seam Gas creates enormous containment requirements – in the most challenging of environments to the most exacting of Quality and Safety Standards.

The company had humble beginnings and basically had to start from the bottom up in Queensland. With the rapid development of the LNG sector, we Capitalised on the growth and could acquire an existing business which immediately gave us a wider market presence. We have grown this strategically – focusing on Landfill, as the LNG boom was sure to abate – and mining.  We have now completed installations in Mining, Gas, Agriculture, Aquaculture, and Landfill in four states throughout Australia. Our staff are challenged every day with inhospitable remote areas and difficult manual installation.



Teneo maintains the highest levels of Safety & Quality. We have had full ISO Accreditation for ISO 9001, 14001 and 18001 since October 2014. We work directly for some of the largest names in our Industries – QGC, Origin, BHP, Rio Tinto, to name a few. These are world class organisations and have the most demanding of standards which as a supplier we must meet and exceed every day.

To grow and develop from an unknow Irish installer to a market leader in Australia in that time we believe qualifies Teneo as a worthy winner of the Irish Australian Business SME award.  From the outset, the Directors wanted to create a company with a clear vision and sustainable business model.  Despite, or rather because of these barriers the company has grown where it now recognised as a leading Lining Specialist. To achieve this the company has been very determined in its strategic direction and recruitment. Teneo has developed a team now of industry professionals in Lining Engineering, Construction Quality Assurance, Safety and Compliance.

Originating from both Antrim and Dublin, the NuaMedia founders, since inception in 2011, have created and established a solid and high performing small business that is significantly disrupting the market, forecasting an exponential path of growth in terms of customer, partners and overall business performance.

NuaMedia's Customer Experience Management (CEM) solutions enable businesses across all industries deliver a better customer-experience in their digital and voice channels. In doing so, we improve customer advocacy, loyalty and ultimately growth, whilst at the same time making it super easy, intuitive and efficient for people to interact with businesses.

Our passion, innovation strengths and customer driven R&D is at the centre of what we do and why we continue to deliver products and services that resonate within the market, delivering first to market, unique and truly game-changing applications and services.

Our people & culture is king and with a strong Irish heartbeat at core of the company, we also invest locally and internationally to identify and bring in the best talent in the industry, building a highly skilled team that enables sustainable growth of the business.

Our business is contributing to building the new digital economy that will generate broader benefits for consumers, employees and business partners and in doing so is helping put Ireland and Australia on the map in new ways for product development & technology innovation.

 

Hydric Media is a technology studio specialising in building apps and digital products that delight, fascinate and touch millions of people. Over the last several years we had the opportunity to work a very wide and diverse range of clients, such as Spotify, MTV, Northwestern Mutual, Gatorade, Twitter, Reebok, among many others.

Hydric Media is solely owned by 2 Irishmen, Eoin McCarthy and David Lowry, who met while studying at the University of Limerick together. We started with humble beginnings in late 2012 and over the last 4 years, have grown to employ 12 people across Brisbane and New York - with the production happening exclusively in Brisbane.



 

Hydric is now regarded globally as one of the most experienced Spotify application developers having created Spotify powered applications for brands like Bose, Gatorade, SXSW and even Spotify themselves. The apps we have been built have been significantly features in the US app stores, with our own app Wonder.fm recently receiving an Apple 'Editors Choice' in the music category.

Our work with MTV in the US received this glowing recommendation from our client:
"We worked with Hydric Media for our MTV Artists App on iPhone, Android, and iPad from design to development. They are truly an amazing team to work with. They are incredibly collaborative and creative, and bring a lot of technical and platform knowledge as well.
They brought great perspective and ideas, and also came to the table with some great technical solutions for getting us where we wanted to go."
Mark Mezrich - VP Product Management, Music Group, Viacom

 

I have a successful hair salon in Melbourne and I have worked extremely hard to get to where I am. I have a dream and I work towards that every day. The thing I get the most out of in my career is encouraging others and developing their skills. I am extremely passionate about what I do and I love to share that with my team.  It takes a huge amount of stamina and belief in yourself and understanding from your family.

I started in Melbourne with very little money and I worked hard to get sponsored here. After that I worked after hours every week to build up my own clients and then rented a chair in a salon. After a year I had saved enough money to open up my first small salon and 5 years later I have my dream salon in an amazing central location in one of Melbourne's lane ways with 8 team members by my side.

I would like to think that I make my fellow Irish proud.