26 firms ranked on International Track 200
CHESHIRE and Manchester businesses are the region’s star performers for international sales growth according to new research.
The fifth annual Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200 league table, which is published this weekend, ranks Britain’s private companies with the fastest-growing international sales.
Of the 26 North West companies making the list, eight are in Cheshire, nine from Greater Manchester, six from Lancashire, two from Liverpool and one from Cumbria.
Over the last two years they have jointly added 2,240 jobs and now employ a total of 9,110 people. Their combined sales are £2.1bn, and their international sales have grown by an average of 59% a year over two years to a total of £690m.
The region’s highest-ranked company – in the national top three – is metal processor Tandom Metallurgical Group, based in Congleton.
Exporting scrap to China and India helped to boost international sales, which have rapidly risen by 364% per annum to £21.9m in 2013.
Music Magpie, the fast-growing Macclesfield-based re-commerce business led by entrepreneur Steve Oliver, also makes the top 20 nationally, along with Hotter Shoes, the private equity-backed Skelmersdale manufacturer and retailer.
Manchester’s nine representatives include oil and gas recruiter Air Energi, whose overseas sales topped £290m last year, and Altrincham-based clothing manufacturer Akroyd & Sons, which has seen its international growth surge by more than 60% over the past two years.
Entrepreneur Dan Wright’s Blackburn-based textile company Vision Support Services is the highest-placed Lancashire firm. VSS is a linens, bedding and towel provider to hotel groups around the world.
The International Track 200 companies increased their overseas sales by an average of 36% a year over two years to a total of £8.5bn.
They employ more than 191,000 staff, having added more than 34,000 jobs during this time, some as a result of acquisitions.
After London, the North West was the best performing region. There are 62 London firms on the lsit, 26 in the North West, 25 from the South East, the North East and Yorkshire (22), the Midlands (21) and Scotland (21). Of the remainder, 11 are based in the southwest, eight in the East and four in Wales.
