Three companies headquartered in the South West have been named on a list of the UK’s fastest-growing firms.
Published this weekend, the annual Sunday Times Virgin Atlantic Fast Track 100 league table ranks Britain’s private companies with the fastest-growing sales.
The entrants from the West Country include two new ones for 2020 - Bristol-based recruitment consultancy Precision Resource Group and Exeter-based oil drilling products manufacturer Antech.
The region’s highest-ranked company is Bristol’s Real Wrap Co, which came in at 79th place after growing sales 44 per cent a year to £10.9million in the year to March.
The business was founded in 2012 by childhood friends Jason Howell, 34, and Phillippe Gill, 31, and supplies sandwiches, wraps and hot food, mainly to schools, universities and NHS hospitals. During the first national lockdown, it teamed up with councils to provide recipe boxes for low-income households.
The three companies have seen sales grow by an average of 42 per cent a year over three years to a total of £48million, all are profitable, and they employ 352 people. The figures largely relate to financial periods before Covid-19 struck.
New entrant AnTech (97th place) works with oil and gas companies to revitalise old wells and avoid new drilling.
Under managing director Toni Miszewski, 63, sales grew 39 per cent a year to £5.9million in 2019. All of its products are manufactured in the UK, with 80 per cent being sold overseas.
The company has offices in Texas and Saudi Arabia, and its facilities and services have remained operational this year.
The companies from the South West appear in the league table with businesses from around Britain, including brewery company BrewDog and fitness clothing brand Gymshark, both valued at more than £1billion.
Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Group, which has supported Fast Track 100 for all 24 years, said: “While we are living in extremely uncertain and challenging times, there is one thing I am certain of: entrepreneurs are the dreamers, the doers, and the innovators that have the power to have a positive impact on society.
“There are so many inspiring examples of this on the Fast Track 100 league table showing this is just as true, if not more so, in 2020 as it ever has been.”
The full league table is published on December 6 as an eight-page supplement with the business section of The Sunday Times, both in print and in the digital edition, and on www.fasttrack.co.uk.
South West companies with the fastest-growing sales by rank
|
HQ location County |
Rank [2019 rank] |
Company Activity |
3-year annual sales growth |
Sales £m |
Staff |
Year end ‡ |
Comment |
|
Bristol Avon |
79 [37] |
Real Wrap Co. Food-to-go manufacturer |
44% |
*10.9 |
210 |
Mar 20 |
Provided recipe boxes for low-income households during national and local lockdowns |
|
Bristol Avon |
89 |
Precision Resource Group Recruitment consultancy |
41% |
*31.3 |
122 |
Apr 20 |
Helped local authorities hire public health specialists during the pandemic |
|
Exeter Devon |
97 |
AnTech Oil drilling products manufacturer |
39% |
*5.9 |
20 |
Aug 19 |
Saudi Aramco, one of the world's most valuable companies, has been an investor since 2013 |
