Published this weekend, 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 six companies headquartered in the West Midlands (compared with seven last year) have made a strong contribution to the local economy, together achieving combined profits of £366m and employing 6,600 staff, having added 2,400 jobs in the last three years.
The region’s highest-ranked company at No 20, is Staffordshire-based travel agency Riviera Travel, which says 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, 48.
New entrants to the league table based in the West Midlands include Nexus Industries in Telford, which designs and makes electrical products at its factory in China; and The Genuine Gemstone Company in Redditch, which manufactures jewellery and produces two, 24-hour jewellery shopping shows – Gems TV in Britain and Rocks TV in America – as well as craft channel Jewellery Maker.
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, commented on the region’s success stories:
“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.”
The national picture
The 100 companies on this year’s league table grew their profits over the last three years by an average of 68% a year to combined profits of £1.4bn in their latest available accounts. Together they employed 76,200 staff, having added 24,500 employees to their workforce during this time, some as a result of acquisitions.
Just under half of the companies on the league table are headquartered in London (26) and the Southeast (19). Of the remainder, 11 are based in the Northwest, 11 in Scotland, 10 in Yorkshire, 6 in the Southwest, 6 in the West Midlands, 3 in the East of England, 3 in Northern Ireland, 3 in Wales, 1 in the East Midlands, and 1 in the Northeast.