Ifac has won a top award at this year’s Irish Accountancy Awards 2020. Ifac’s Food and Agribusiness team led by David Leydon has been named ‘Advisory Team of the Year 2020’.
The fifth annual awards recognise excellence in the accountancy profession in Ireland and celebrate firms and individuals who have provided the highest quality of service and value to their clients. This year the judges were very impressed by the winners and standard of entries.
Ifac’s Food and Agribusiness Advisory Team was established in January 2018 to address a gap in the food and agribusiness sector for a specialist professional services provider with a deep understanding of the farming, food and agribusiness environment. Having already established a major footprint within the farming community across Ireland over the past 45 years, ifac now covers all aspects of the supply chain from primary production right through to the consumer.
The team boasts a broad and diverse skill set to serve each client’s individual needs but also engages the experience and knowledge of experts from the wider ifac team to provide an exhaustive offering. They work with a range of established and early-stage food and agribusinesses within the sector helping them to navigate a pathway for sustainable and profitable growth. These growth ambitions are met by assisting companies with securing funding, State and private, strategic consultancy, business growth hacking and strategic marketing consultancy.
The team’s recent achievements include:
Securing strategic grant supports for clients including High Potential Start-Up funding for an agtech client and a Competitive Start Fund for an agtech start-up from Enterprise Ireland, expansion funding for a food business through LEADER, product development feasibility study funding for an agri-engineering company and a ‘company valuation’ for an agtech company raising growth funds
Supporting national marketing campaigns for agri-focused clients
Providing VAT and Brexit advisory solutions for a food company
Securing R&D tax credits for an innovative agtech business
Facilitating market research and delivering actionable insights for one of Ireland’s leading agtech businesses
Creating and implementing a digital strategy for a leading agribusiness
Developing a five-year strategic plan for one of Ireland’s most prominent agribusinesses
Secured bank funding for a corporate finance proposal, as part of a business expansion project.
Head of Food and Agribusiness at ifac, David Leydon said, “This award is very much welcomed by all of the ifac team. We are focussed on the farming, food and agribusiness sector and our advisory work is making a real difference for our clients. Our current advisory covers the full range of professional services from audit, tax, accounting and payroll to digital transformation, strategic growth planning and funding, in particular focusing on working with Enterprise Ireland.
“At ifac we are fortunate to have a unique skill set to make a real impact; our advice is highly valued by clients, especially as we work with mainly family businesses. They trust us to provide the best possible strategic consultancy and financial advice for their businesses. This allows us to create long-term, sustainable relationships with our clients where we work together towards a common goal – to increase profits and protect the future of the sector.’
Ifac Chief Executive, John Donoghue said, “It’s a challenging time for businesses; COVID is here and the real impact of BREXIT is coming soon. Our Advisory Team brings tremendous experience and expertise to every business they work with. Our clients are seeing the results as they continue to make progress despite the challenges. This award is recognition of our Advisory Team’s solid work in helping businesses achieve their goals. Many thanks to the award judges and sponsors, and most of all, to our clients who continue to support us.”
Additionally, ifac’s Advisory Team will be holding a Brexit webinar on 9th December (from 13.10 – 14.00) to provide critical advice to Irish businesses on the steps they must take now to manage the new customs and VAT changes from 1st January 2021.
David commented, “We are very conscious that deal or no deal when Christmas has passed there will be significant customs and VAT changes for Irish businesses who trade in Great Britain. Our Brexit webinar will dive into the detailed, practical advice for companies to help them prepare over the coming weeks.”