MARGARET HIRSCH WINS TOP AWARD IN ANNUAL BUSINESS WOMAN OF THE YEAR COMPETITION.

Chief Operations Officer of Hirsch’s, Margaret Hirsch,  was announced the winner  in the Entrepreneur section of the Annual Business Women of the Year Awards at the awards dinner held in the Sandton Convention Centre last night.  The competition is  run by the Business Women’s Association of South Africa (BWSA)   Nedbank and Telkom are co sponsors of the event.

Accepting the award from the Guest of Honour, H.E.  President Jacob Zuma, Margaret said “ This is a great honour for me, but I want you  to know that I could never have done it alone. To my husband Allan, thank you for the past 41 years, and thank you for being a strong enough man  to allow me to be a strong woman and always do my own thing even when you didn’t agree. To my mother who is 87 and still fighting fit -thank you for keeping me grounded and teaching me the values that have enabled me to think for myself and do the right thing no matter what. To my children and grandchildren - you are my true wealth and you have given me more than you will ever know.

 

 I could not stand here without the support of the Hirsch team, some of whom have been with me for over 30 years. We work together like a family and Hirsch’s is run like a well oiled machine. It has been my joy to see you go from strength to strength as our company has grown steadily year on year and to the new team members  coming into the orginsation as we grow - my goal in life is that you can reach all your goals. It’s by helping all of you to grow that I have grown as well - you have lifted me up and you continue to do so daily.”

 

This is the 33^rd year that the competition has been in existence – and co-incidentally, the Hirsch’s have been in business for 33 years, having founded their Appliance and Electronics company 33 years ago.  Margaret and Allan are joint founders of this family run business, starting out with R900 when they opened their doors in a small shop in 1979.  With eleven branches spread throughout KZN, Gauteng and the Cape, they plan to  cross the R1 billion turnover mark for the 2012 financial year.