The Ulster Business Top 100: Northern Ireland’s biggest businesses see sales rise by 17%

Northern Ireland’s biggest businesses have seen sales rising by almost 17%, Ulster Business can reveal.

The Ulster Business Top 100 Northern Ireland Companies 2023, in association with KPMG, shows continued strong performance among the largest firms.

Businesses making the list saw sales turnover grow by 16.6% to £30.7bn from £26.3bn, compared with figures year-on-year, while pre-tax profits grew by 11.4% – from £1.43bn to £1.59bn.

The list has showcased the performance of the biggest firms from right across Northern Ireland, ranked by turnover, for more than 30 years, utilising data from the latest accounts filed to Companies House in the UK.

A dozen new firms have made this year’s list, many for the first time. And grain and commodities business W&R Barnett has topped this year’s Top 100. The family-run company, headed by William Barnett, saw sales of £1.57bn and pre-tax profits of £69.1bn for the year ending July 2022.

Some of the new firms making this year’s list include MBNI Holdings, which sells trucks and vans, CDE Global, headquartered in Co Tyrone and producing processing equipment for the mining, quarrying and recycling sectors, and Wrightbus – the Ballymena-based bus maker which is now expanding and growing under its new ownership.

Johnny Hanna, partner in charge of KPMG in Northern Ireland, said: “We at KPMG have a long-held regard for what is considered the definitive ranking of the businesses which contribute most to Northern Ireland’s economy, and we are proud to be a partner the Ulster Business Top 100 Northern Ireland Companies for the next three years.

“It is clear from this year’s ranking that the province’s leading corporates share similar attributes in the form of a thirst for innovation and an ability to provide dynamic solutions to a global marketplace.

“We congratulate all of the companies on the list. The opportunities – in the form of dual market access under the proposals put forward in the Windsor Framework and the potential to lower Northern Ireland’s corporation tax – are significant, and we look forward to working alongside them and the wider business community in the future.”

Some 13 companies within the listing declared losses for their last financial year – these losses amounted to £213m.

More than 102,000 people are employed by Northern Ireland’s Top 100 Companies.

Ulster Business editor, John Mulgrew, said: “Once again, the Top 100 list has shown our business landscape is continuing to highlight both healthy growth and resilience.

“We can see from the companies topping the list, those rising up it, and the newcomers, that the Northern Ireland business landscape is in a fairly healthy place given the sheer variety and wide breadth of firms making the Top 100 this year.

“I’d like to thank everyone involved in bringing this special annual edition to fruition and especially to our new sponsor KPMG for partnering with us for the next three years.”

Jonathan Cushley, who compiled this year’s list, added: “The latest edition of the Ulster Business Top 100 Northern Ireland Companies, in association with KPMG, highlights a continued strengthening of their financial performance. It once again shows increased performance and resilience among some of our biggest businesses.”

The bumper Top 100 August edition of Ulster Business will be hitting desks this week. The edition has showcased the performance of the biggest firms from right across Northern Ireland, ranked by turnover, for more than 30 years.