The Hut makes Deloitte’s Tech Fast 50
THE Hut Group, the Cheshire-based company behind a string of retail websites, has been named one of the UK’s fastest-growing technology companies.
The Northwich company is ranked 12th in this year’s Deloitte 2012 Technology Fast 50 after achieving revenue growth of 1,368% to £66m over the past five years.
The Hut Group, which now has 700 staff, operates websites including IWantOneofThose.com, Zavvi.com and MyProtein.com.
The business, founded in 2004 by Matthew Moulding and John Gallemore, is backed by ex-Tesco chief executive Sir Terry Leahy and Sir Stuart Rose, former executive chairman of Marks & Spencer.
Eze Talk, the Crewe-based provider of phone and broadband services, is ranked at number 39 with sales growth of 606% over five years. The top ranked company is ZBD, an electronic labelling business based in Ascot, Berkshire.
Jodi Birkett, partner and head of technology, media and telecoms at Deloitte in the North West, said: “The Hut Group is a North West success story. It is a great example of how two visionary entrepreneurs recognised a migration to online retailing and capitalised on it. In the process, they have made great use of the growing pool of technical talent in our region.”
Matthew Moulding, chief executive, said: “The opportunity for international expansion is colossal so we’ve pulled together a syndicate of people – from retail experience, to finance and technical expertise – that will help the group grow and prevent us from losing momentum. We look forward toleveraging our platform further and expanding our portfolio of products.”
The South East is home to many of the fastest-growing firms, with 64% of the companies in the list based in the region. Six of the top 10 companies are based in the capital, with several situated in London’s ‘Silicon Roundabout’ in Shoreditch.
