The UK's top growth companies
Article Date: Sep 21 2009
Our rising stars show stellar growth
11. DSE
Turnover: £16.2m (+25%)
Pre-tax profits: £5.0m (+82%)
Sector: Electronics Based: North Yorkshire
Established as a maker of communications devices for divers (hence the name, Deep Sea Electronics), DSE’s focus soon changed to the manufacture of electronic control devices for diesel generators. ‘We have 90 to 95 per cent of the UK market, but that is a limited size. The real growth area for us is in the 60 to 70 countries where our products are distributed,’ says marketing manager James Maynard.
12. Hydrock
Turnover: £27.1m (+27%)
Pre-tax profits: £1.9m (+95%)
Sector: Engineering Based: South Yorkshire
Brian McConnell founded engineering company Hydrock in 1996. It now has more than 400 staff. While admitting that the recession has affected orders, McConnell says his decision not to make redundancies has paid off. ‘Now we are well placed to take advantage of the upturn because, unlike our competitors, we didn’t carve chunks out of our staffing costs and still have all the right people on board,’ he says, adding that Hydrock is currently in talks with eight companies about potential acquisitions.
13. Redhall Group
Turnover: £86.7m (+52%)
Pre-tax profits: £4.4m (+102%)
Sector: Support services Based: West Yorkshire
Strong organic growth and selective takeovers are the hallmarks of engineering support services star Redhall. With proven entrepreneur David Jackson at the tiller, the AIM darling (number 11 in last year’s Rising Stars) is building its brand and swelling its order book through ever-strengthening ties with a loyal client base including Sellafield, the MoD and the Atomic Weapons Establishment.
14. Balhousie Care
Turnover: £15.0m (+74%)
Pre-tax profits: £1.5m (+15%)
Sector: Health Based: Scotland
‘We’re one of the fastest-growing companies in Scotland,’ says Tony Banks, chairman of Balhousie Care Group. The Forfar-based care homes manager has used the recession to its advantage, acquiring distressed businesses to complement its organic growth. ‘Falling property values don’t affect us too much because we’re not planning on selling and it means everything is cheaper for us,’ adds Banks.
15. Simcyp
Turnover: £3.1m (+56%)
Pre-tax profits: £1.0m (+82%)
Sector: Health Based: South Yorkshire
The words profit and spin-out rarely go together but that’s what Simcyp has achieved for its most recent year-end. Formed in 2001 as a spin-out from Sheffield University, this drug testing technology company assesses the reactions of virtual people administered with virtual drugs. However, the company’s growth is also down to its consultation work. ‘In the past 12 months we’ve had lots of orders on that basis,’ says MD John Evans, who adds that he sees ‘nothing in our foreseeable future that will require support from VCs’.
16. Thunderhead
Turnover: £15.9m (+28%)
Pre-tax profits: £2.9m (+47%)
Sector: IT Based: Hertfordshire
Software provider Thunderhead helps companies to add branding to their correspondence and marketing literature through automated processes. Having secured contracts with the likes of Direct Line, Barclays and, recently, the Bank of America, the company’s customer base is going from strength to strength as it expands into new sectors and countries. Thunderhead draws additional strength from being self-funded with no debt.
17. European Electronique
Turnover: £30.7m (+19%)
Pre-tax profits: £1.3m (+99%)
Sector: IT Based: Oxfordshire
‘Even though we’re in a recession, there isn’t a slowdown in government,’ says Mark Holton, general sales manager at European Electronique. The ICT provider has been helped through the downturn by lucrative contracts in the public sector, where it does ‘85 to 95 per cent’ of its business, according to Holton.
18. Brainjuicer
Turnover: £9.3m (+42%)
Pre-tax profits: £1.4m (+54%)
Sector: Media Based: London
Brainjuicer founder John Kearon isn’t letting the recession curb his enthusiasm: ‘We want to compete with WPP, not be bought by them.’ Bold words indeed, but it’s certainly full steam ahead as plans for next year include opening the company’s eighth and ninth global offices in Brazil and China. It’s optimistic stuff from the market research group but we definitely like their style (Brainjuicer came in at 32 in 2008).
19. Caretech Holdings
Turnover: £67.7m (+27%)
Pre-tax profits: £7.7m (+34%)
Sector: Health Based: Hertfordshire
Founded by brothers Farouq and Haroon Sheikh (executive chairman and chief executive respectively), Caretech provides social care, supported living and other services for people with learning difficulties who are unable to live alone. The group’s latest financials, for the half-year to March, were nothing short of excellent, showing turnover nurtured 30 per cent higher to £39.5 million – significantly, the rate of organic growth was very healthy at eight per cent – and a 47 per cent pre-tax profits surge to £5.7 million (Caretech was 40th in last year’s Rising Stars).
20. M&M Direct
Turnover: £74.1m (+18%)
Pre-tax profits: £5.6m (+32%)
Sector: Consumer Based: Herefordshire
Described by CEO Steve Robinson as ‘an internet version of TK Maxx, but with the look of a proper full-price retailer’, M&M Direct sells excess stock from famous brands at competitive prices and has grown its business through the downturn largely through word-of-mouth. ‘Because we don’t want to destabilise any existing market, we don’t shout about what we do,’ says Robinson, adding that a recent customer survey revealed more than 99 per cent of the company’s customers would recommend it to friends and family. M&M has recently launched a euro-denominated version of its website.
