Yorkshire firms win places on league table of fastest-growing profits stars
Published this weekend, the 22nd annual Sunday Times BDO Profit Track 100 league table ranks Britain’s private companies with the fastest-growing profits over their last three years – largely before COVID-19 struck.
Ten companies headquartered in Yorkshire have won places on the league table, including seven new entrants. These regional stars have grown their operating profits by an average of 61% a year over the last three years to a total of £106m, and together they employ more than 8,100 people.
The region’s top-ranked company is Fullers Foods, headquartered in Leeds. The family business operates 120 factories in 12 countries to supply own-brand frozen, chilled and ambient prepared foods. It generated record profits of £9.2m in the year to January 2020 and features on the table for a third time.
York-based VetPartners makes its debut in the listing. Founded in 2015, the veterinary group provides centralised finance and IT functions for its 500-plus clinics, freeing vets to focus on treating animals. Profits have risen by an average of 77% pa over three years, reaching £45m in the year to June 2020.
The companies in Yorkshire appear alongside well-known British brands based across the UK including Thatchers Cider, the Somerset cider-maker, and Brompton, the London-based bicycle manufacturer.
Past star alumni include Dyson, which featured in 2000 with profits of £24m, and saw these rise to £711m in 2019, and global technology platform THG, which ranked No 1 in 2014, with profits of £11m; it floated last year valued at £5.4bn and is now worth £6.3bn.
The Profit Track 100 league table is sponsored by BDO, Santander and UBS Wealth Management, and is compiled by Fast Track, the Oxford-based research and networking events firm.
Terry Jones, tax partner at BDO, said: “These ambitious, entrepreneurially-spirited businesses punch well above their weight and are vital for the UK economy; they invest and this investment also creates jobs.
“As the vaccine programme continues to be rolled out and lockdown restrictions are eased, high-growth businesses like these must have adequate support.
“We are pleased to see the range of business support measures in this year’s Budget.
“Developing and strengthening our innovation-focused economy is crucial and these businesses will play a key role in the UK’s wider economic recovery post-pandemic.”
