Just two companies in Wales have won places in a special Covid-19 edition of a league table of Britain's fastest-growing private companies.
Published this weekend, the 24 annual Sunday Times Virgin Atlantic Fast Track 100 league table ranks Britain’s private companies with the fastest-growing sales.
Two companies headquartered in Wales, compared to four last year, have won places on the table. Sales have grown by an average of 71% a year over three years to a total of £39m, both are profitable, and together they employ over 102 people.
The highest-ranked company in Wales is new entrant Hilltop Honey (No 26), based in Powys, which has grown sales 79% a year to £11.7m in the year to August, helped by consumers stocking up when the pandemic first struck.
It was founded by Scott Davies, 32, in 2011, and sources honey from around the world, with flavours including 'Brazilian mountain' and 'Spanish lavender'.
The second company is Character.com (No 43), which is based in Swansea. Its sales hit £27.8m last year, having grown 62% a year.
The company has licenses for more than 130 different brands and its products range from Captain America lounge trousers to Star Wars Stormtrooper backpacks. It was founded in 2009 by husband-and-wife team Stephen and Karen Hewitt, 44 and 40, in their garage.
The companies in Wales appear with businesses from around Britain, including BrewDog, the brewers, and fitness clothing brand Gymshark, both valued at more than £1bn.
Past star alumni include chip designer ARM, which featured in 1997 with sales of £16.7m and is in the process of being bought by American technology giant Nvidia for £31bn, and drinks maker Fever-Tree, which floated in 2014 at £154m and is now worth £2.9bn.
The Fast Track 100 is sponsored by Virgin Atlantic, BDO, DHL Express and N+1 Singer, and is compiled by Fast Track, the Oxford-based research and networking events firm.
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."
This year’s Fast Track 100 achieved, on average, sales growth of 73% a year over three years to a combined total of £4.4bn. The companies are all profitable, and together they employ 32,000 staff, having more than tripled their combined workforce over the period.
The region with the most company HQs is London (31), followed by the southeast (19).
The third most dominant region is the north of England – 18 companies are based there, with 10 in the northwest and eight in Yorkshire and the northeast. There are 16 companies based in the Midlands, five in Scotland, five in the east of England, three in the southwest, two in Wales, and one in Northern Ireland.
