South West's fastest growing companies revealed

By Nicky Godding

23 April 2024

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InSpecs is the South West's fastest growing business

Bath-based Inspecs Group, which manufactures eyewear for a global portfolio of brands, is the fastest growing company in the South West region, in the Growth Index 2024, the annual ranking of the 100 fastest-growing companies in the UK, published today (23 April 2024).   

Inspecs Group comes in at No. 19 in the UK Top 100 with a compound annual growth rate of 143.26 per cent.  

Now in its third year, ORESA Growth Index ranks UK companies with the fastest growing sales.

Companies are ranked by compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in sales over their last two financial accounting years (including filings up to February 2024). The ranking shines a spotlight on the most successful sectors and companies in the UK, championing good growth and the equitable democratisation of business opportunity in the UK.

The top four companies from the South West whose phenomenal growth has secured them a place in the UK’s Growth Index 2024 are:

(No. 19) Inspecs Group, a Bath-based company that manufactures eyewear for a global portfolio of brands, with a CAGR of 143.26 per cent  
(No. 42) Sponge, a B2B learning and development platform, based in Bristol, with a CAGR of 94.97 per cent  
(No. 56) Nationwide Engineering Group, a family-owned civil engineering company focusing on building & rail sectors, from Salisbury, with a CAGR of 82.43 per cent  
(No.68) MWE, a specialist manufacturer of quality swabs & specimen collection vials based in Wiltshire, with a CAGR of 77.95 per cent

ORESA Growth Index 2024 Nationally

Basingstoke-based InstaVolt, the UK’s largest EV fast charging network clinched pole position in the ORESA Growth Index 2024 Top 100. The company achieved its number one podium position with an unparalleled exponential compound annual growth of 362.55 per cent.

Currently keeping more of the UK’s electric vehicles on the move than any other, InstaVolt is the UK’s largest owner-operator of rapid public chargers, with 1,500 in strategic locations around the country, or approximately 15 per cent of the market.

The rest of 10 top fastest growing businesses seemingly show that as well as making greater attempts to get from A to B with a lower carbon footprint, Brits got back into their stride, post-pandemic, with retail therapy, and valued their health and security, both physically and online.

1. InstaVolt - a rapid EV charging network with a CAGR of 362.55 per cent. 

2. Balfe’s Bikes - specialist cycling retail & maintenance with a CAGR of 351.06 per cent 

3. Liberis - a global embedded finance platform for SMEs with a CAGR of 210.55 per cent 

4. VPI - tech & trading services to improve energy security with a CAGR of 208.45 per cent 

5. RAM - fleet tracking & management software providers with a CAGR of 203.31 per cent

6. Bold Security - a private security company with a CAGR of 183.59 per cent 

7. CCL - a wholesaler of solar, battery, EV charging & off-grid power equipment with a CAGR of 177.14 per cent

8. Live Unlimited - a fashion brand for curvier women with a CAGR of 175.45 per cent 

9. Garnalex - Aluminium extrusion specialists with a CAGR of 171.07 per cent 

10. HealthHero - a digital healthcare provider with a CAGR of 169.78 per cent. 

This is the year the ORESA Growth Index has gone green. Three of the top ten fastest growing companies in the UK participate in the clean and renewable energy market, offering electric vehicle charging (InstaVolt), low-carbon and carbon-reducing energy services (VPI) and renewable energy equipment (CCL). Two more (cycling retailer Balfe’s Bikes and fleet management software business Ram Tracking) also contribute to reducing fossil fuel consumption.

The fastest-growing energy companies are disproportionately focused on green power and technology, and this is testament to the commercial opportunities from decarbonisation. Seven out of the eight companies representing the energy, utilities and recycling sector in this year’s top 100 operate in some capacity across clean energy, renewables, and decarbonisation.

This mirrors a wider trend. The UK’s net zero economy grew by nine per cent in 2023, in stark contrast to the 0.1 per cent growth seen in the economy overall, according to the report by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). And although renewables have struggled since the end of this year’s Growth Index reporting period, the direction of travel is clear.

For example, the strength of winner InstaVolt’s financial position is a result of its acquisition in early 2022 by Sweden’s EQT, one of the world’s largest private equity companies, with a focus on the green transition. Not only does InstaVolt intend to hit a target of 10,000 rapid chargers in the UK by 2030, but it has also launched in Iceland, and will launch in Spain and Portugal later this year, with a concurrent European target of 5,000 chargers.

Adrian Keen, CEO of InstaVolt said: “The UK needs approximately 60-70,000 rapid public chargers by the end of the decade to keep pace with electrification goals, so there’s plenty of headroom for growth. We’ve got a pipeline of thousands, and partnerships with big brands that can keep us busy for years, but we’re only just getting started. There are huge segments that haven’t been explored yet, where we’d love to work. It’s really exciting. Everywhere you stop your car is an opportunity to charge.”

According to the ORESA Growth Index report, the tech sector’s continued sharp decline in representation – last year it had 15 of the 100 fastest-growing UK firms – is attributable to inflationary pressures, and to private equity and venture capital funding continuing to plummet.

But the report shows 70 of the top 100 grew through their own profits, without major external financing from private equity or venture capital, listing on the public markets or major debt transactions.

Orlando Martins, founder of Growth Index and ORESA said: “What our findings this year confirm, for me, is that growing revenue and making a profit are not mutually exclusive goals. This is something to be welcomed, not least because profitability is an essential feature of good growth: without it, an enterprise cannot be sustainable.

“The wider spread of sectors in Growth Index 2024 could be a sign of a broader economic recovery from Covid lows or simply a response to contraction in equity funding - we suspect a combination of both.”

The 2024 Index also includes a notable rise in family-run firms in the top 100 while the Farming sector makes its Growth Index debut, which may be in part due to post-Brexit adjustments, suggesting the UK may be ‘buying British’. Ready Egg comes in at number 85, Gusbourne (wine) at number 87, and Gressingham Duck at number 88.

By Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe.

After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts.

She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.