DCC chief executive and deputy chairman Mr Jim Flavin attributed the company's strong performances in recent years to the quality of its leadership and the contribution of its employees, led by entrepreneurial management teams.

"We employ just under 4,000 people. There is a lot of product knowledge and markets to keep up to date on. Our management structures are such that we give a lot of thought to how we best organise ourselves to manage a focused core activity in these markets," said Mr Flavin who founded the company in 1976.

DCC is a value-added marketing and distribution group, operating principally in the IT, energy and healthcare markets. It has operations in Ireland, the UK and is expanding in continental Europe.

"We are focused predominantly on a single activity which is value-added marketing and distribution, but we apply that activity across a number of market sectors," said Mr Flavin.

Last year, 82 per cent of DCC's operating profit was generated from the group's activities in the IT, energy and healthcare markets. Other activities in food, supply chain management services and house building generated the remainder of profits.

The company recently reported a strong set of half-year results, ahead of forecasts, and said it expected continued growth in the second half of 2001. Pre-tax profits were up more than 19 per cent in the first half to €29 million (£22.84 million) while sales jumped 12.5 per cent to €925.6 million.

Historically, the company has relied largely on organic growth over the years. "We have sought to try to position ourselves in growth markets and thereby get good organic growth and not depend on acquisitions for growth," he said.

However, he said the company's primary focus on organic growth was complemented by its bolt-on acquisition strategy.

"Organic growth and bolt-on acquisitions have served to increase the quality of our earnings," said Mr Flavin. "We have been good at bolt-on acquisitions. If you can get bolt-on acquisitions where you can immediately get synergies and that you can integrate with existing operations, it's attractive. We have managed to make a lot of these in recent years. They haven't been headline grabbers but they have been shareholder value-enhancing."

DCC has invested €30.3 million in acquisitions in the past six months. It expanded its energy business in the past year through the acquisition of Scottish Fuels, Noble Fuels and Envirotech. Mr Flavin said this sector was likely to be the focus of continued acquisition activity.

Mr Flavin said winning The Irish Times/PA Consulting Group Management Award was recognition of the hard work and dedication of management and staff.

"A lot of people have put in a lot of work over a long number of years. It's nice for everyone in the organisation to get independent recognition and this is a very well-established award. We welcome it and we are very pleased," he said.