The East Midlands’ 200 fastest growing businesses have been unveiled in a region wide report unveiled by the East Midlands office of business and financial advisers Grant Thornton, in partnership with the CBI East Midlands.
The East Midlands Top 200 report provides a detailed financial analysis of the region’s 200 fastest growing companies which are managed and run from the East Midlands, covering Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, and Nottinghamshire.
It is the regions only dynamic, in depth study of the growth, performance and percentage rise in the profitability of the East Midlands’ businesses, from a regional perspective and by individual market sector and county. It is compiled using the most recent publicly available accounts of companies that are run and managed from the East Midlands, highlighting the region’s 200 fastest growing companies on the basis of profit growth.
The findings of the third annual report were unveiled at a Breakfast event at the Hilton Hotel East Midlands Airport, with the 200 companies ranked on the basis of their profit growth over the last three years.
Of the East Midlands’ Top 200 fastest growing businesses, 55 are based in Nottinghamshire, 46 in Leicestershire, 41 in Derbyshire, 33 in Northamptonshire, and 25 in Lincolnshire.
Taking the number one spot in the 2015 report is Clinigen Group plc of Burton-on-Trent, a speciality global pharmaceutical company. The Report’s findings reveal the company increased its profits by 175% per year during a period when the UK economy grew by approximately 1.4% per year.
Placed second for profit growth in the region is Derbyshire’s International Piping Products (Europe) Limited, a manufacturer, stockholder and bespoke fabricator of piping products for the oil, gas, petrochemical and nuclear industries. The company has increased its profits by 140% per year.
Construction and property development company Broadthorpe Limited, based in Loughborough, is ranked third in the 2015 Report, and has seen its profits increase by140% in each of the last three years.
The remaining top 10 places, from fourth to tenth, go to Mash Holdings Limited (108% per year), I-Sm@Rt Group Limited (85% per year), Blades Restaurants Limited (80% per year), Nova Bio-Pharma Holdings (79% per year), C. Walton Limited (66% per year), Dalepak Holdings Limited (63% per year), and Benoy Limited (58% per year).
The majority of the companies on the list are small and medium sized businesses – 57% are medium sized companies, (employing between 50 and 250 employees) which have created jobs over 40% faster than large companies and at ten times the rate of small companies. They have also grown turnover, overseas turnover and adjusted profits at a faster rate than any other size of company. Between them, the report’s 200 companies employ 139,000 people, have created over 14,250 net new jobs over the last three years, and increased workforce at an average rate of 3.7% per annum.
Diversity is evident in the underlying industry groups represented on the 2015 Report – there are over 40 different industry groups represented, although the largest group is automotive accounting for 11% of the total. However, as in previous years, the Top 200 report’s league table is dominated by the manufacturing and services sectors, with 60 and 56 companies respectively. Other sectors are ‘catching up’ year-on-year, with substantial increases in the numbers of suppliers and distributors as well as retailers featuring in 2015, together accounting for in the region of 30% of the companies on the list.
Presenting the East Midlands Top 200 2015 findings was Phil Sayers, partner in Grant Thornton’s Leicester office, who explained: “The report carries out a detailed analysis of the financial performance of the region’s 200 fastest growing companies providing a snapshot of the health of the East Midlands economy.
“Businesses are ranked by the percentage growth in profitability, so highlights both established and up-and-coming businesses. As with prior reports, we have looked at growth in adjusted profits over a three year period, during which time the average company has grown profits by over 81%, which equates to an annual compound growth of approximately 22%.
“There are 58 companies on the 2015 top 200 list which also ranked in the 2014 report, whilst 14 companies have returned a sufficient rate of growth in profits in the last six years to have appeared in each of the three East Midlands Top 200 Reports to date.
“The growth of the East Midlands Top 200 companies appears to have been achieved in a number of ways – notably diversification into new markets, particularly new geographic markets. Many companies indicated their success over the last three years was also due in part to taking difficult decisions to invest in items such as people and R&D during the recession, which are now paying off.
“Another recurring theme was that, after several years of economising, making do and cutting back, there is a move to quality, evident in both a focus on providing quality products and services, and in looking for quality from suppliers.”
David Shutts OBE, Director, CBI East Midlands, added: “The last year has seen the roots of a UK recovery strengthen with the East Midlands having played a major part in delivering that economic growth, creating jobs across the region.
“With one of the most unpredictable General Elections in living memory, the business community is facing political and economic uncertainty at home and abroad. So it is right to take the time to reflect on the strength of our local economy and celebrate some of the fantastic businesses which have helped the East Midlands stay ahead of the pack.
“The Top 200 is the leading indicator for some of the best and brightest companies growing here in the East Midlands. From Derby to Daventry, we are fortunate to have hundreds of innovative, medium-sized businesses (MSBs) that power our region forward alongside the larger, household names. While this often forgotten army of MSBs rarely grabs the headlines, it is no exaggeration to say that the region’s future success depends on their performance.
“So once the dust has settled after the election, the CBI will be pushing the new Government to deliver for these ambitious firms, supporting them in their efforts to break into fast-growing markets around the world.”
Grant Thornton’s Leicester office has approximately 120 staff providing business and financial advice across Corporate and Personal Tax, audit and assurance, employer solutions, corporate finance, and sustainability, to organisations across the East Midlands.
