6 Businesses in the South East named in Sunday Times' '100 Fastest Growing UK Businesses'

Six emerging businesses in the South East were named in the 100 Fastest Growing UK Businesses list in the Sunday Times, with companies from Oxford, Poole, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, and Hampshire included.

The stat through which the list was comprised was the measurement of each company's annual sales growth over three years.

At number 83 on the list was the Oxford Health Company. This vitamin and supplement manufacturer, founded in Bicester in 2013 by James Allan and Tom Humphrey, has seen its annual sales growth increase by 58.74 per cent. During the pandemic, the company won a contract from the Department of Health and Social Care to make vitamin D tablets for clinically vulnerable patients and produced 55.2 million tablets in 460,000 custom packets in 26 days.

At 54 was Poole-based IT services provider Vizst Technology. Annual sales for Vizst over the past three years was up by 74.30 per cent. Vizst was created, in 2021, from three existing technology companies, ITSB, Quad Vision and Data Integration. Cofounders include Lee Dredge and Sanjay Saini, with Richard Betts joining as chief executive and leading the firm to sales of £7.5 million in 2022.

Ranking at 36 was Aylesbury-based Steer Automotive Group. Founded in 2003 by Richard Steer, Steer Automotive Group began to truly expand in 2018 when Richard began growing the company into a national network of body shops. Steer saw its annual sales increase by 97.87 per cent over the past three years, generating sales of £164.8 million in the 12 months to March. The automotive company is by far the biggest company on the list, with over 1500 employees making up an incredibly strong workforce.

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East-Sussex company Health Partners is, according to spokespeople from the company, ''the largest privately owned provider of occupational health services in the country''. Ranking at 16 on the list, Health Partners saw its annual sales increase by 153.63 per cent over the course of the last three years, with revenue increasing to £53.4 million last year. Founder Andrew Noble said: ''Hats off to my amazing friends and colleagues at Health Partners, who are making a real difference to peoples lives every day. I couldn't be more proud of you''. Health Partners other founder is Dr Alasdair Emslie.

Rank 14 was held by father-and-son run business SDM Fuel Solutions. Simon and Simon Mayne set up SDM in 2011. Based near Southampton, its main business is testing fuel for contamination and cleaning tanks, but it also offers services such as delivering emergency fuel. Since Simon Mayne Sr's passing in 2019 the business has been run by Simon Mayne Jr, along with directors Craig Shephard and Craig Chiverton. Growth for the company over the last three years has increased by 174.98 per cent. SDM has forecasted that sales will grow from £6.1 million last year to £30 million in 2024.

Finally, the only company in the South East to break into the top 10 was Hampshire's Passenger Clothing. Passenger makes sustainable outdoor clothing, with 90 per cent of the range using low impact materials such as recycled cotton, recycled polyester, hemp and organic cotton. For every order Passenger receives the company plants a tree, with over 500,000 trees planted locally. The company saw an annual sales growth increase of 205.28 per cent in the last three years, with Sales reaching £18.6 million last year.

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