Power NI employees Ashleigh Best, Ian Halliday and Gillian McAuley.

VIRIDIAN Group, incorporating Northern Ireland’s leading energy provider Power NI and Ireland’s largest independent energy supply company Energia, has won the Best Workplace 2013 award in Dublin.

The company beat off stiff competition to lift the prestigious accolade as one of the top 20 ‘Best Workplaces in Ireland’ for a large employer at the Great Place to Work Awards in the Burlington Hotel Dublin on Thursday, March 7.

Gillian McCauley, Head of HR, Viridian Group said: “This is a fantastic achievement for the company particularly in our first year of taking part in this survey and given that we were up against the highest number of award submissions in 10 years.

“Employees rated the company through a range of criteria and results indicated that they consistently trust us, have pride in what they do and enjoy the people they work with.

“This ranking recognises our continued investment in our people that creates aworking environment that enables its employees to excel.

“We are delighted that our employees value us in this way and we believe that these benefits will be passed on to our customers as happy employees means enhanced customer service which generally equals happy customers!”

Commenting on the success of the 49 listed organisations, CEO of the Great Place to Work, John Ryan, said, “It is a great achievement particularly given the difficult economic backdrop, proving that if you invest time and effort in developing the right culture in your organisation your people will be your best assets and will be key to your business success.”

Power NI, which is part of the Viridian group, employs over 175 people and operates three centres across Northern Ireland supplying energy to over 600,000 homes and over 35,000 farms and businesses.

Energia, also part of the Viridian Group, has 260 employees in the North and South and supplies both electricity and gas to over 65,000 customers across Ireland.

The Great Place to Work Awards’ annual research processes data from more than 10 million employees in 45 countries to evaluate, create and recognise great workplaces through the development of high-trust workplace cultures.