West Midlands firms named among UK’s fastest growing
A STAFFORDSHIRE travel agency, an electrical manufacturer and an online bookmaker have been named among the fastest growing companies in the West Midlands.
The 16th annual Sunday Times BDO Profit Track 100 league table ranks Britain’s private companies with the fastest-growing profits over the last three years.
The table contains six companies headquartered in the West Midlands (compared with seven last year) which have made a strong contribution to the local economy. Together, the companies have achieved combined profits of £366m and employ 6,600 staff, having added 2,400 jobs in the last three years.
The region’s highest-ranked company – at 20 – is Staffordshire-based travel agency Riviera Travel, which claims it is the UK’s largest escorted tours operator and the second-largest provider of river cruises. Profits grew an average of 83% a year over the last three years to £9.9m in 2013. In December, Phoenix Equity Partners backed a management buyout led by managing director David Clemson.
New entrants to the league table based in the West Midlands include Nexus Industries (97) in Telford, which designs and makes electrical products at its factory in China; and The Genuine Gemstone Company (77) in Redditch, led by award-winning entrepreneur Steve Bennett. The company manufactures jewellery and produces two, 24-hour TV jewellery shopping shows – Gems TV in Britain and Rocks TV in America – as well as craft channel Jewellery Maker.
The other firms in the region are Stoke-on-Trent online bookmaker, bet365 (61), Alliance Medical (90), based in Warwick, which claims to operate the largest fleet of mobile medical scanners in Britain, and Thwaites (99), of Leamington Spa, which makes articulated dumper trucks capable of carrying up to 10 tonnes.
The companies in the West Midlands appear alongside businesses from around the UK, including bicycle manufacturer Brompton Bicycle, travel search engine Skyscanner, biscuit and cake maker Tunnock’s, and home accessories retailer The White Company.
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.
Richard Rose, partner and head of the West Midlands at BDO, the title sponsor of the league table, said: “Medium-sized businesses in the West Midlands 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 West Midlands’ most profitable companies have remained focused on sustainable growth by making intelligent investment decisions in innovation and overseas expansion.”
