The 24th annual Sunday Times Virgin Atlantic Fast Track 100 league table ranks Britain’s private companies with the fastest-growing sales.
Nineteen companies headquartered in the South East of England (the same as last year) have won places on the table, including 11 new entrants. Their sales have grown by an average of 82% a year over three years to a total of £897 million, all are profitable, and together they employ more than 2,900 people. The figures largely relate to financial periods before Covid-19 struck.
The region’s top-ranked company is a new entrant, Glencar Construction, based in St Albans, which ranks in the top three nationally, having grown sales by an impressive 441% a year to an annualised £96.5m in the year to September. It was set up by Eddie McGillycuddy, 40, and Chris Gleave, 49, in 2016, and its growth has been driven by building warehouses for online giants such as Ocado; and it is currently working on the Vaccines Manufacturing and Innovations Centre in Oxfordshire, which aims to be capable of producing 70m Covid-19 vaccines by the summer.
Another new entrant is Hertfordshire nutrition brand Huel (No 7), founded by Julian Hearn and former NHS dietician James Collier, both 48, in 2015. Huel – short for "human fuel” – produces plant-based food products and powders that can be consumed as a meal. It has sold in excess of 100m meals across 90 countries, with more than half of its £71.6m sales in the year to July generated overseas.
The companies from the South East appear with businesses from around Britain, including BrewDog, the brewers, and fitness clothing brand Gymshark, both valued at more than £1 billion. Past star alumni include chip designer ARM, which featured in 1997 with sales of £16.7m and is in the process of being bought by American technology giant Nvidia for £31b, and drinks maker Fever-Tree, which floated in 2014 at £154m and is now worth £2.9b.
The Fast Track 100 is sponsored by Virgin Atlantic, BDO, DHL Express and N+1 Singer, and is compiled by Fast Track, the Oxford-based research and networking events firm.
Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Group, which has supported Fast Track 100 for all 24 years, said:
“While we are living in extremely uncertain and challenging times, there is one thing I am certain of: entrepreneurs are the dreamers, the doers, and the innovators that have the power to have a positive impact on society. There are so many inspiring examples of this on the Fast Track 100 league table showing this is just as true, if not more so, in 2020 as it ever has been.”
Private companies in the South East with the fastest-growing sales, by county and rank
HQ location County | Rank [2019 rank] | Company Activity | 3-year annual sales growth | Sales £m | Staff | Year end ‡ | Comment |
Westham East Sussex | 25 [90] | Identity Events agency | 83% | *20.4 | 75 | Aug 20 | Gained experience hosting virtual events when Storm Dennis hit the UK in February |
Brighton East Sussex | 52 [22] | Boxpark Retail and leisure developer | 58% | *15.9 | 165 | Apr 20 | Closed its three sites during the national lock-downs, but was open between July and October |
Brighton East Sussex | 74
| Clarity Environmental Environmental compliance services | 45% | 35.5 | 21 | Dec 19 | Donated £17,000 to charities affected by the pandemic, including the Care Workers Charity |
Harlow Essex | 36
| Lazer Lamps Automotive LED lights maker | 69% | *7.9 | 32 | Jun 19 | Motorsports teams such as McLaren and Toyota use its range of LED vehicle lights |
Colchester Essex | 66 [68] | OMG How Cheap Online stationery retailer | 49% | 9.5 | 37 | Feb 20 | Has increased staff numbers by 20 since March, to cope with extra demand |
Wickford Essex | 70
| White Stores Garden furniture retailer | 46% | *23.3 | 40 | Aug 20 | Opened a new warehouse in September and took on an additional 40 people |
Brentwood Essex | 93
| Matchroom Sport Sporting events promoter | 40% | 192.9 | 87 | Jun 19 | Its Covid-secure "Fight Camp" in August attracted professional boxers such as Dillian Whyte and Katie Taylor |
Braintree Essex | 96 [99] | Airline Component Services Aircraft parts supplier | 40% | *7.1 | 13 | Mar 20 | Saw its main market — supplying aircraft spares to airlines — heavily impacted from the spring |
Farnborough Hampshire | 35
| Ignition Technology Software distributor | 70% | 28.7 | 32 | Apr 20 | Achieved record sales for its remote-access software when the country was first asked to work from home |
Basingstoke Hampshire | 46 [59] | Reassured Life insurance broker | 61% | *65.1 | 564 | Jan 20 | Has doubled its number of offices, opening four since June, to make a total of eight |
St Albans Hertfordshire | Top 3
| Glencar Construction Construction contractor | 441% | * †96.5 | 60 | Sep 20 | Is constructing the UK's Covid-19 Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation Centre in Oxfordshire |
Tring Hertfordshire | 7
| Huel Nutrition brand | 131% | *71.6 | 120 | Jul 20 | Has recruited more than 30 staff since March, and launched its new "Hot & Savoury" range in September |
Queenborough Kent | 60 [35] | Revolution Beauty Beauty products retailer | 55% | *152.4 | 205 | Dec 19 | Online sales have soared by 250% since the coronavirus outbreak began, to £55m |
Chipping Norton Oxfordshire | 51
| Pareto Facilities Management Facilities maintenance provider | 59% | *14.1 | 118 | Sep 19 | Donated 1,000 food parcels to the staff of London Zoo and Whipsnade Zoo over Easter |
Camberley Surrey | 12 [4] | Performance54 Golf marketing agency | 111% | *12.7 | 28 | Apr 20 | Promoted Saudi Arabia’s first-ever ladies professional golf tournament, which took place last month |
Farnham Surrey | 68
| Symprove Gut-health drinks maker | 48% | *7.5 | 32 | Dec 19 | Reported a record 50% rise in customers in May compared with 2019 |
Windlesham Surrey | 82 [65] | Nurture Landscapes Landscape maintenance | 43% | *79.0 | 1,170 | Mar 20 | Set up a zero-interest loan fund during the pandemic for employees in financial difficulty |
Ockley Surrey | 92
| SIAN Wholesale Consumer goods wholesaler | 41% | 49.1 | 34 | Dec 19 | Chose not to raise the price on hand soap and sanitiser, its most sought-after products |
Crawley West Sussex | 33
| South Cliff Dental Group Dental practice operator | 72% | *7.1 | 150 | Mar 20 | Four of its practices became urgent care hubs treating emergency dental patients in the spring |
‡ Financial year-end of latest available accounts * Supplied by the company † Annualised figure
The national picture
This year’s Fast Track 100 achieved, on average, sales growth of 73% a year over three years to a combined total of £4.4b. The companies are all profitable, and together they employ 32,000 staff, having more than tripled their combined workforce over the period.
Geographical spread: The region with the most company HQs is London (31), followed by the South East (19). The third most dominant region is the north of England – 18 companies are based there, with 10 in the North West and eight in Yorkshire and the North East. There are 16 companies based in the midlands, five in Scotland, five in the east of England, three in the South West, two in Wales, and one in Northern Ireland.
The full league table is published on December 6 as an eight-page supplement with the business section of The Sunday Times, both in print and in the digital edition, and on www.fasttrack.co.uk.
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