Central South: Region’s top three companies report latest profit of £17m

Three companies headquartered in the Central South have been recognised in the 16th annual Sunday Times BDO Profit Track 100 league table, which ranks Britain’s private companies with the fastest-growing profits over the past three years.

The companies, Fareham-based Captec, Poole-based 288 Group and Romsey’s Paultons Park, made a strong contribution to the economy in the region, together achieving latest reported profit of £17 million and employing 565 staff.

The Profit Track 100 is sponsored by BDO, Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking and UBS Wealth Management. It is compiled by Fast Track, the Oxford-based research and networking events firm.

Stuart Lisle, partner at BDO LLP in Southampton, the title sponsor of the league table, commented on the region’s success stories: “Medium-sized businesses in the Central South and across the UK are thriving. Our newly-named ‘Brittelstand’ has outgrown the German ‘Mittelstand’ with mid-market businesses across all sectors seizing the opportunities a growing economy presents.

"The Central South’s most profitable companies have remained focused on sustainable growth by making intelligent investment decisions in innovation and overseas expansion.”

The national picture

The 100 companies on this year’s league table grew their profits over the past three years by an average of 68% a year to combined profits of £1.4 billion in their latest available accounts. Together they employed 76,200 staff, having added 24,500 employees to their workforce during this time, some as a result of acquisitions.

Just under half of the companies on the league table are headquartered in London (26) and the South East (19). Of the remainder, 11 are based in the North West, 11 in Scotland, 10 in Yorkshire, six in the South West, six in the West Midlands, three in the east of England, three in Northern Ireland, three in Wales, one in the East Midlands, and one in the North East.