Despite wrestling branch closures, An Post is Ireland's most 'likeable' company

AN POST HAS come out on top as Irish consumers’ favourite company, according to a new survey from the Reputations Agency.

The survey, which is conducted as part of the annual Ireland RepTrak 2017 study, scored 50 Irish companies out of 100 based on the sentiments of 4,500 Irish consumers.

It tracked emotional bonds people have with brands, how these links drive their purchasing power and whether they would recommend a company’s services to a friend.

An Post registered a score of 79.5 out of 100 in this year’s survey, which meant the company fell just short of registering a “excellent” score based on the report’s rating system.

Top 10 companies in the Ireland RepTrak study:

1. An Post (79.5)
2. Kerry Group (78.1)
3. Bord Bia (78.1)
4. Aldi (77.4)
5. Lidl (76.7)
6. Google (76.1)
7. Boots (75.5)
8. Tourism Ireland (75.3)
9. Aer Lingus (75.2)
10. SuperValu (74.8)

This is the second year in a row that Irish organisations occupy the top three slots in the index as Kerry Group and Bord Bia both tied for second place.

However, German supermarket chains Aldi and Lidl are closing in on the top three, while multinational tech firm Google placed sixth.

According to the report, one fifth of the firms saw their scores increase by over 3.7 points – which is classed as a significant improvement.

Compared to last year’s report, when just over a quarter of firms saw their reputation rating significantly drop, roughly 10% of organisations saw a decline in their score this time.

Big movers

An Post’s position at the top of the pile came during a year when the company admitted its mail business is fast becoming unsustainable and said hundreds of post offices will be closed nationwide.

Between 2007 and 2010, 198 post offices closed down and a further 24 were shuttered between 2011 and 2014. Last year the company revealed its annual losses would be between €12 million and €16 million.

An Post chief executive David McRedmond recently announced plans to combat the losses. He said post offices will launch additional financial services and the firm has also made moves to save its waning mail business.

Another Irish indigenous firm that scored well in the RepTrak study was telecoms provider Eir. It saw the biggest improvement in its reputation score compared to all other companies featured in the survey.

Its 8.3-point increase came during a year when the firm was slapped with a €3 million fine by the state’s communications watchdog after it failed to fulfill its universal service obligation.

Apple was another big mover in the index and increased its reputation with Irish consumers by 5.4 points despite the company being accused of benefiting from illegal Irish state aid worth up to €13 billion.

Other companies that saw big improvements to their reputations were Kerry Group (+6.1), AIB (+5.3) and Jameson whiskey producer Irish Distillers (+4.9).

Industry specific

Despite AIB’s gain, the overall financial services sector scored badly.

The food and beverage sector came out on top as the most highly regarded industry in Ireland.

1. The food and beverage sector (72.20 – Strong)
2. Retail food sector (70.4 – Strong)
3. Healthcare (69.2 – Average)
4. Airlines and aerospace (68.8 – Average)
5. Semi-states (65.7- Average)
6. Energy (65.1 – Average)
7. Communications (61.1 – Average)
8. Financial – Insurance (59.8 – Weak)
9. Financial – Banks (54.5 – Weak)

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