An Post revealed as most reputable organisation over last 15 years 2010-2024

Credit Unions top the Ireland RepTrak® 2024 study

Lidl Ireland and Boots Ireland complete the top three in 2024

 

Dublin, Wednesday 15^th May 2024 – The Reputations Agency has today revealed the most reputable organisation over the last 15 years, alongside the winner of the Ireland RepTrak® 2024 study, the largest and longest running study of reputation in Ireland. The results have been revealed ahead of a breakfast briefing for C-suite executives at The Merrion Hotel recognising those organisations that are exemplars in reputation management and sharing the key learnings from fifteen years of Ireland RepTrak.

The annual Ireland RepTrak® 2024 study is based on the perceptions of over 5,000 members of the public. It measures the level of trust, respect, admiration and esteem the public has for 100 of the largest, most familiar and most important organisations in Ireland, alongside 100 other reputation, brand, purpose and ESG indicators. The study took place between the 2^nd January and 11^th March 2024.

 

Most Reputable Organisation over the last 15 Years 2010-2024

An analysis of Ireland RepTrak data over the last 15 years revealed that An Post has had the strongest reputation score, with an average Strong reputation score of 78. The organisation ranked in the Top Ten twelve times over the last 15 years.

An Post has been recognised for bringing its purpose to life in acting for the common good, improving the quality of life across every community in Ireland, and for its transformation towards a sustainable business, successfully delivering in a new world of eCommerce and financial services. 

 

Winners Ireland RepTrak 2024

1. The Credit Unions topped the annual ranking for the second consecutive year with an Excellent reputation score of 84.2 – the only organisation to achieve an excellent score this year. Every Credit Union is owned by its members, and they exist only to serve their 3.6 million members across Ireland — not to profit from their needs. The organisation ranked first in four out of seven of the key drivers of reputation - Citizenship, Conduct, Products & Services, and Workplace as well as taking first place in Trust to do the right thing, Fair in the way it does business, Ethical, Open & Transparent and other important reputation metrics.

 

2. Lidl Ireland took second place second with a Strong score of 79.2, Lidl’s highest ever ranking in this study, jumping from 9^th place in 2023. The company also took first place in Offering Good Value for Money, second place in Trust, and second place in Open and Transparent.

 

3. Boots Ireland placed third with a Strong reputation score of 79, jumping from 8th place in 2023. The company ranked first in propensity to Buy from, second in Conduct and second in fair in the way it does business, demonstrating the high levels of trust the public has for Boots.

 

The top 10 most reputable Irish organisations in the Ireland RepTrak® 2024 study

Rank	Organisation	Reputation Score	Rank	Organisation	Reputation Score
1.	Credit Unions	84.2	6.	Samsung	77.3
2.	Lidl Ireland	79.2	7.	Mater Private Network	77.3
3.	Boots Ireland	79.0	8.	Fáilte Ireland	77.1
4.	An Post	78.7	9.	Revolut	76.9
5.	Toyota	77.7	10.	Blackrock Healthcare Group	76.9

 

The biggest movers of the last 15 years

Uiscé Eireann had the largest increase in reputation, improving by close to 44 points since we first started to track the company in 2015. The organisation has made significant strides in transforming its reputation and moving forward in its Workplace reputation in particular. 

In the last 15 years, VHI’s reputation has increased by close to 34 points, moving up two reputational tiers from a Weak reputation score in 2010 to a Strong reputation in 2024.

Similarly, Virgin Media increased by 29 points from a Weak score to a Moderate reputation score this year.

RTE suffered the largest reputational decline over the last 15 years, a drop of 23 points from 67th place in 2010 to 99th place in 2024, with the most significant impact between 2023 and 2024 in the wake of the payments scandal, demonstrating the impact of weak corporate governance on reputation.

Reflecting on the key learnings from the last 15 years of Ireland RepTrak, Niamh Boyle, CEO of The Reputations Agency will stress the importance of reputation as a critical component in business intelligence: “Over the last 15 years we’ve learned a good deal about the power of reputation and how to harness this for client transformation and growth, grounded in world class measurement and strategy. We have closely studied the exemplars as they have a very special reputational DNA - they contribute to society, display great conduct in the way they run their businesses, offer the highest quality products valued by their customers and have strong leadership teams, well organised for success.”

“To mark the fifteenth year of Ireland RepTrak, we are sharing our top ten learnings for organisations to consider when commencing their reputational strategy, gleaned from fifteen years of data and our firsthand experience of working alongside some fantastic business leaders who have built resilient reputations guided by RepTrak insights that have driven commercial growth.

Five of the ten key learnings over the last fifteen years:

 

1. Being Strategic makes a big Difference - The right strategy, anchored in great data and insight, combined with a concerted effort led from the top, can make an organisation stand out from its sector.

Lidl Ireland has an agile leadership team whose strategic focus has built a Strong reputation, providing it with far greater support amongst key stakeholders. This has helped Lidl to achieve its commercial objectives including expanding to 220 stores and partnering with 1,800 Irish suppliers. Lidl now has a record and growing market share of over 13% in Ireland in a highly competitive market.

 

2. Building Reputation takes time, perseverance, and the agility to acquire new skills in reputation management.

Sectorally, this is most evident in financial services, where the three Pillar Banks have improved scores by over 27 points between 2010-2024 from a Poor reputation score following the financial crisis to a Weak then Moderate score following a long-term, concerted effort.  This has aligned with increasing business and commercial success.

 

3. Land the basics and do the right thing by the customers who provide your revenues. Deliver the products and services that you’ve promised and do this right every time. Buying experience has the most powerful impact on reputation and the greatest audience reach by far, with a 12-point boost to reputation score and a 46% reach across the 100 organisations we studied in 2024. Customer Support also has an outsized impact on driving reputation. Organisations must get the fundamentals of customer experience right, above all.

Credit Unions are the exemplar in customer service for their members. They ranked first in Meeting customers’ needs and in Standing behind their products as well as taking first place in being Fair, Ethical, Open & Transparent.

 

4. Heightened focus on Corporate Governance - Organisations’ and leaders’ reputations can be crushed through weak governance structures. Good governance should allow companies to thrive, with the right risk appetite and controls in place.

Weak corporate governance at RTE has had a devastating impact on stakeholder support, the sale of TV licences, sponsorship and advertising over the last year. The organisation fell to 99^th place this year, with the propensity to Trust, Recommend, Work for or Give the benefit of the doubt to RTE reducing by close to 50% this year.  

Similarly, perceptions of weak corporate governance have been a contributing factor in why the FAI has failed to make headway in improving its reputation over the last 15 years. The organisation remains in the Weak reputation tier, ranked 97^th with a score of 44 out of 100.

 

5. Reputation is Resilient and Protects Against Headwinds – investing in a strong reputation lays the foundation to overcome challenges and continue to run a sustainable and profitable business. Organisations with Strong reputations tend to recover far more quickly from issues.

Despite the challenging impact of the covid pandemic on their sector, Aer Lingus managed to maintain their Strong reputation throughout Covid and beyond.

 

Speaking on their success over the last 15 years, David McRedmond, CEO of An Post, will say:

“We have transformed An Post to become a sustainable, commercial public service, with no recourse to state subsidy, successfully delivering in a new world of eCommerce and financial services. Central to this has been building our reputation with purpose-driven actions to ensure that we have a positive influence on society. Our determination to bring our purpose to life has had a positive impact on our reputation, our business and our team of over 9,000 staff working in retail,  mail, ecommerce and expert corporate roles across the country.” 

 

Welcoming their first place ranking for 2024, David Malone, CEO of the Irish League of Credit Unions will comment “Topping Ireland RepTrak for the second year in a row is a significant achievement for the credit union sector. It is a recognition of the role that we play in communities across Ireland  and the trust and esteem in which people hold credit unions. We are delighted with the results, which positions us as a leader amongst the most prominent organisations and household names in Ireland. This recognition proves to us that our constant focus on improving both the face-to-face in branch experience and our digital and online engagements is delivering. 

 

In more than 400 locations across the country, our 4,000 staff members, supported by more than 3,000 volunteer Directors, are the cornerstone of our organisation. They help build emotional connection and in turn our reputation amongst members every day through our products and services. We are immensely proud of the work they do every day.”

ENDS

 

For more information please contact: Aoife McDonald, The Reputations Agency, 083 300 5223

 

About the Ireland RepTrak® 2024 study

The Ireland RepTrak^® 2024 study surveyed a representative sample of over 5,000 members of the public aged 18+ throughout the Republic of Ireland 2^nd January and 11^th March 2024, measuring their perceptions of 100 of the largest, most familiar, and most important organisations in Ireland, across sixteen sectors.  Companies are ranked on a Reputation score from 0-100 and are grouped as Excellent (80+), Strong (70-79), Average (60-69), Weak (40-59) or Poor (Below 40). 

In this study, we rank organisations by their RepTrak^® Reputation score, which is the basis of the ranking and measures the strength of the emotional bond between an organisation and the public, based on the results of four statements that test the level of esteem, admiration, trust, and good feeling. 

The Ireland RepTrak® study carries out a reputation driver analysis to understand what components of reputation are driving reputation and what the public expects from the country’s leading organisations. These drivers include Performance, Products & Services, Innovation, Workplace, Conduct, Citizenship and Leadership.

 

Full Ireland RepTrak® Top 100 Ranking - 2024

Rank	Organisation	Score	Reputation Tier
1	Credit Unions (The Credit Union movement)	84.2	Excellent
2	Lidl Ireland	79.2	Strong
3	Boots Ireland	79.0	Strong
4	An Post	78.7	Strong
5	Toyota	77.7	Strong
6	Samsung	77.3	Strong
7	Mater Private Network	77.3	Strong
8	Fáilte Ireland	77.1	Strong
9	Revolut	76.9	Strong
10	Blackrock Healthcare Group	76.9	Strong
11	SuperValu	76.4	Strong
12	Aldi	76.3	Strong
13	Bord Bia (Irish Food Board)	76	Strong
14	Aer Lingus	75.8	Strong
15	IRFU (Irish Rugby Football Union)	75.5	Strong
16	St Vincent’s Private Hospital	75.2	Strong
17	Tourism Ireland	74.4	Strong
18	Bon Secours Health System	74.2	Strong
19	Kellogg's	74.0	Strong
20	Dunnes Stores	74.0	Strong
21	Microsoft	73.6	Strong
22	Tesco	73.5	Strong
23	BMW	73.3	Strong
24	Ford	73.2	Strong
25	Marks & Spencer	73.1	Strong
26	Kerry Group	72.9	Strong
27	Irish Distillers	72.5	Strong
28	IDA Ireland	72.4	Strong
29	Coillte	72.2	Strong
30	Centra	72.0	Strong
31	LloydsPharmacy	72.0	Strong
32	Glanbia	71.9	Strong
33	Iarnród Éireann (Irish Rail)	71.7	Strong
34	Apple	71.6	Strong
35	LinkedIn	71.3	Strong
36	Volkswagen	71.0	Strong
37	Vhi Healthcare	70.8	Strong
38	EirGrid	70.4	Strong
39	Diageo	70.0	Strong
40	Heineken	69.9	Average
41	Laya Healthcare	69.6	Average
42	ESB	69.5	Average
43	Aviva	69.4	Average
44	Enterprise Ireland	69.3	Average
45	Irish Life	69.3	Average
46	Dublin Airport	69.2	Average
47	Brown Thomas	69.1	Average
48	Spar	68.5	Average
49	Deloitte	68.3	Average
50	Google	67.8	Average
51	Penneys (Primark)	67.8	Average
52	GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association)	67.6	Average
53	The Irish Times	67.3	Average
54	Electric Ireland	67.2	Average
55	Gas Networks Ireland	67.2	Average
56	Pfizer	67.1	Average
57	Zurich	67.1	Average
58	Bauer Media Group	67.0	Average
59	FBD	66.8	Average
60	Bord na Móna	66.7	Average
61	An Garda Síochána	66.4	Average
62	PwC	66.2	Average
63	Dublin Bus	66.1	Average
64	Allianz	66.0	Average
65	Energia	65.9	Average
66	Bus Éireann	65.6	Average
67	The Coca-Cola Company	65.5	Average
68	Bord Gáis Energy	65.4	Average
69	Janssen (a Johnson & Johnson company)	65.3	Average
70	National Lottery	65.1	Average
71	Grant Thornton	65.0	Average
72	Virgin Media	64.9	Average
73	Circle K	64.5	Average
74	Daa	64.3	Average
75	AIB (Allied Irish Bank)	64.2	Average
76	EBS (Educational Building Society)	64.2	Average
77	Bank of Ireland	64.1	Average
78	SSE Airtricity	64.1	Average
79	PTSB (Permanent tsb)	63.9	Average
80	KPMG	63.7	Average
81	AXA	63.5	Average
82	Applegreen	63.2	Average
83	Mediahuis (Formerly Independent News & Media)	62.8	Average
84	EY	62.6	Average
85	Olympic Federation of Ireland	62.3	Average
86	Vodafone	61.5	Average
87	Ryanair	60.9	Average
88	Three	60.5	Average
89	Texaco	59.5	Weak
90	Maxol	59.5	Weak
91	Central Bank of Ireland	59.3	Weak
92	Sky Ireland	57.5	Weak
93	Eir	54.2	Weak
94	Úisce Éireann (Irish Water)	53.1	Weak
95	HSE	51.4	Weak
96	Meta (formerly Facebook)	47.8	Weak
97	FAI (Football Association of Ireland)	44.0	Weak
98	An Bord Pleanála	42.1	Weak
99	RTÉ	41.2	Weak
100	X (formerly Twitter)	34.9	Poor