Fast-growth UK companies in 2010

The UK's top 50 growth companies in 2010

Nick Britton

Date: 16 September 2010

Article: Research

From pies to porcelain, from data centres to diagnostics, GrowthBusiness unveils its top 50 Rising Stars of 2010: the companies with the fastest-growing sales and profits in the UK.

Seeking to identify the 50 fastest-growing companies in the UK, the 2010 annual Rising Stars ranking from GrowthBusiness is the only such research to consider both profit and turnover growth in its assessment. This year the Rising Stars have combined sales of £1.3 billion and profits of £215 million.

1. CSL
Turnover: £72.5m (+51%)
Pre-tax profits: £4.8m (+586%)
Sector: Consumer Based: Greater Manchester
The past couple of years haven’t been comfortable for sofa retailers, with MFI and Land of Leather going into administration. While CSL may have benefited from others’ misfortune, that isn’t the main reason for its stellar sales growth, according to managing director Jason Tyldesley, who took over the business from his father ten years ago. Instead, he cites the ‘sophisticated retail experience’ the company offers, with tablet-based ordering and a strict ban on hard-sell tactics, in contrast to certain larger competitors: ‘The harder you try, the less you sell,’ says Tyldesley. With 16 stores in the North of England, CSL is due to open two more by Christmas, in Lincoln and Stoke-on-Trent, and is also relaunching its website. It’s worth noting that profits for 2008 were depressed by unfavourable exchange rate moves and the company’s investment in IT, leading to an abnormally high percentage growth figure, but with trading holding up well this year, it’s looking cosy on CSL’s sofa.

2. Advanced Computer Software
Turnover: £30.2m (+312%)
Pre-tax profits: £4.2m (+281%)
Sector: IT Based: Surrey
Steered by Vin Murria, who was formerly CEO of Computer Software Group (sold to Hellman Friedman in a £500 million deal), Advanced Computer Software has a spread of clients across the healthcare and public sectors. Growth has come from five acquisitions, notably the £100 million takeover of software group COA Solutions in February. The company has agreed a loan facility with HSBC and the Royal Bank of Scotland, comprising a £25 million term loan and a £30 million revolving credit facility, which should stand Murria in good stead in her bid to create a consolidating giant among IT healthcare companies. ‘We only buy businesses that have strong recurring revenue,’ she says.

3. Portmeirion
Turnover: £43.2m (+36%)
Pre-tax profits: £3.7m (+236%)
Sector: Retail Based: Staffordshire
Pottery and earthenware producer Portmeirion is currently celebrating its 50th year, but is still finding new projects to keep it busy. Last year’s £3.2 million acquisition of the Royal Worcester and Spode brands gave the company access to designs dating back 200 years. Non-executive chairman Dick Steele says: ‘There ain’t a lot new in pottery, but design is key. There’s plenty more work to do going through the old catalogues for inspiration.’ International sales account for 70 per cent of Portmeirion’s business and North America alone accounts for 40 per cent of sales. ‘We have a showroom, office and subsidiary in the US, so if you asked me where we’re based, I’d say Stoke-on-Trent and Manhattan.’

4. Immunodiagnostic Systems
Turnover: £37.2m (+49%)
Pre-tax profits: £11m (+130%)
Sector: Health Based: Tyne & Wear
Increasing public awareness of the importance of Vitamin D has been a godsend to Immunodiagnostic Systems (IDS), a developer of tests to measure the level of the vitamin in the body. ‘Traditionally Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with rickets in children, but it’s now linked to a number of disorders: various cancers and multiple schlerosis for example,’ says CEO designate Ian Cookson, who steps into the role on 1 October. That’s boosted sales for the company’s manual Vitamin D assay, but further growth is expected from the launch of an automated version which does the same job but quicker. The new system has been on sale in the UK since early last year, but has only just won approval in the US, a region which already makes up nearly a third of IDS’ market. Cookson is confident that the company’s success will continue in other areas too. Products in development include tests to measure growth hormone levels and to diagnose bone and cartilage-related disorders.

5. Balhousie Holdings
Turnover: £12.7m (+48%)
Pre-tax profits: £1.9m (+41%)
Sector: Health Based: Scotland
A Scottish provider of residential care for the elderly, Balhousie was founded in 1991 by chairman Tony Banks (pictured) and has grown through acquisitions and new builds to 20 homes. Despite continuing to grow through the recession, Balhousie was recently denied additional development funding from its bank: ‘It was a bitter pill after 13 years building up a relationship with this particular bank. However, we are in the process of [switching banks] which will see us transferring our existing debt, plus an additional development facility being made available.’

6. All About Weight
Turnover: £3m (+15%)
Pre-tax profits: £1.1m (+97%)
Sector: Consumer Based: Cheshire
Before founding All About Weight in 2007, Alison Wetton spent ‘a good two or three years’ studying every weight loss method and company in the UK. This involved joining a few of them as a client and attending group sessions, which she says was a real eye-opener. ‘Food was a forbidden topic. Everyone was supposed to be surviving on a diet of soup and smoothies, consuming just 500 calories a day, but everyone was cheating and no-one was talking about it.’ All About Weight does things differently, allowing customers one proper meal a day in addition to the meal pack provided. Fending off attacks from established competitors, the company has grown quickly and has already been approached by two private equity firms. It was too soon to sell, but Wetton is planning an exit in around three years.

7. Moonpig
Turnover: £30.6m (+46%)
Pre-tax profits: £11.2m (+67%)
Sector: Consumer Based: London
A simple concept – DIY greeting cards – which brings together all the key elements that make for a successful, highly profitable website. Read more

8. Craneware
Turnover: £14m (+49%)
Pre-tax profits: £3.6m (+70%)
Sector: IT Based: Scotland
Craneware’s CEO Keith Neilson and CTO Gordon Craig decided to set up their own company in 1998. They had ‘half a dozen different ideas’ in the software and project management space, says Neilson, but eventually hit on the notion of targeting US hospitals looking to monitor systems and spending. It’s proven a rich opportunity, with growth accelerating year by year, and Barack Obama’s healthcare reforms have only increased the demand for the Edinburgh-based company’s products, claims Neilson. ‘There will be another 40 million patients going through the system, and no-one really knows how they are going to be paid for,’ he states, adding that Craneware’s software makes it easier for hospitals to see where savings can be made.

9. Pukka Pies
Turnover: £34.1m (+20%)
Pre-tax profits: £6.5m (+1%)
Sector: Food Based: Leicestershire
Not many companies can boast 47 years of unbroken sales growth, but that’s the claim of Pukka Pies MD Tim Storer, who took the business over from his father 20 years ago and runs it with his brother. ‘The best form of salesmanship is to put the product in front of people and let them try it,’ says Storer, a clear believer in his own wares. Marketing is another strong point, with Storer himself helping to develop concepts for campaigns. And he takes pride in the fact that ‘we’ve never made anyone redundant’. Though sales in British fish and chip shops remain a mainstay of the business, its market extends as far afield as Gibraltar, and a sales boost is expected from a microwaveable pie that has just been launched: ‘We’ve worked on the recipe for a very long time,’ says Storer.

10. First Derivatives
Turnover: £25.5m (+45%)
Pre-tax profits: £5.6m (+26%)
Sector: IT Based: Northern Ireland
First Derivatives provides software to banks to help them monitor financial markets and manage risk. ‘No matter how badly banks are doing, they still need to capture data,’ says CEO Brian Conlon. Although there have been six acquisitions in the past two years, most of the targets have been early-stage. Conlon says that four-fifths of turnover growth is due to organic expansion and he’s eyeing the ‘vast market’ for its services which he says remains untapped.

11. Fine+Rare
Turnover: £28m (+3%)
Pre-tax profits: £1.1m (+73%)
Sector: Retail Based: London
‘Wine has become a groovy thing to put money into as if an investment goes down you can always drink it,’ says Bud Cuchet, Fine+Rare’s buying director. He claims that the first six months of 2010 have equalled sales for 2009, which were best in the company’s 16-year history. ‘China via Hong Kong has seen a real explosion of business for us,’ he adds.

12. Animalcare
Turnover: £17.6m (+50%)
Pre-tax profits: £1.5m (+38%)
Sector: Health Based: N Yorkshire
In veterinary medicine, there’s a three-year gap between having a brilliant idea and getting it to market, says Animalcare CEO Stephen Wildridge. That’s why the company has formed partnerships with similar businesses across Europe, giving it a larger portfolio of products and allowing it to share costs and risks. ‘We have too many options in the pipeline,’ says Wildridge. ‘We increased the size of our sales force last year, and this year we’re hiring more managers to handle all the new projects.’ Wildridge adds that the company avoids ‘blockbuster’ drugs which are likely to meet heavy competition: instead, it prefers to target niches. Its products include bupracare, a morphine derivative which relieves pre- and post-operative pain for cats and dogs.

13. Node4
Turnover: £7.4m (+72%)
Pre-tax profits: £696,000 (+32%)
Sector: IT Based: Derbyshire
Launched in 2003 as a specialist in internet telephony, it wasn’t until 2007 that Node4 really took off, when it fitted out half of a building as a data centre in order to lease server space to its customers. ‘In the first year, it went absolutely crazy – we sold the space at a rate of knots,’ says MD Andy Gilbert. Node4 opened a second data centre in May 2009 and a third is due to open in January. Sales are expected to hit £11 million this year.

14. Ten Group
Turnover: £17m (+42%)
Pre-tax profits: £500,000 (+67%)
Sector: Consumer Based: London
Ten has 300 staff operating concierge services for the clients of Coutts and Barclays Premier Life, among others. The services it provides range from finding child-friendly restaurants to buying tickets for major sporting events. ‘There was a time when we were doing 1,000 requests a month and we only needed one entertainment expert, but now we’re up to 35,000 requests. We had three experts working just on the World Cup,’ says CEO Alex Cheatle.

15. AIT Travel
Turnover: £31.4m (+41%)
Pre-tax profits: £244,000 (+13%)
Sector: IT Based: West Yorkshire
AIT takes its name from its three shareholders, Allan Webster, Ian Wooton and Tony Shawe. Its subsidiary Redfern Travel was formerly a ‘solid West Yorkshire travel agent’, according to commercial manager Mark Bowers, but since its acquisition by AIT in 1999 it has developed a travel booking engine which is used largely by the public sector and has been responsible for the bulk of the company’s impressive growth. The system helps organisations pinpoint the most cost-effective and appropriate modes of transport and the best ways of booking it (‘everything from Oyster cards to coach travel’).

16. Halsall Toys International
Turnover: £66m (+12%)
Pre-tax profits: £4.5m (+32%)
Sector: Consumer Based: Lancashire
John Hutt joined Halsall Toys International as a sales administrator (or ‘general dogsbody’, as he puts it) at the age of 17. He’s now the CEO and majority shareholder. The business develops toy ranges under licence for brands such as Barbie and Peppa Pig. With offices in Germany and Hong Kong, HTI has a manufacturing base in mainland China and about a fifth of its sales come from overseas markets. Turnover this year is expected to hit £75 million.

17. White Stuff
Turnover: £58.4m (+31%)
Pre-tax profits: £9.1m (+30%)
Sector: Retail Based: London
Retailers up and down the country may bemoan fading footfall and diminishing disposable incomes, but that certainly isn’t the case with White Stuff. New store openings bring the total to over 60 and 200 additional employees have been recruited in the same period. Core customers are mainly female, cosmopolitan types who enjoy the in-store personal touch, such as receiving soft drinks and having space for children to amuse themselves. ‘We have to continually surprise and innovate. If you don’t differentiate, you die,’ says CEO Sally Bailey, who wants to take the company to sales of £250 million in the next five years.

18. Alterian
Turnover: £38m (+14%)
Pre-tax profits: £6.7m (+84%)
Sector: Media Based: Bristol
A specialist in direct marketing analytics, Alterian did not rush into the digital space, adding email to its offering as recently as 2006 through the acquisition of a company in Los Angeles. The considered approach hasn’t hurt the company’s growth, with sales almost quadrupling over the past four years and profits seven times higher. CEO David Eldridge, who established his first software business at the age of 14, says that 60 per cent of Alterian’s turnover comes from outside the UK. It now provides software to help its customers build and run websites, and added a further string to its bow by buying a New York-based social media specialist last year.

19. Microlease
Turnover: £29.8m (+31%)
Pre-tax profits: £10.6m (+35%)
Sector: Support services Based: London
Last year was a turning point for Microlease, which rents out expensive testing equipment to the aerospace and telecoms industries. The company attracted a further £8.3 million from existing private equity backer LDC and secured a debt facility of £19.5 million, as well as acquiring the European operations of US competitor Telogy. More organic and acquisitive growth is on the cards.

20. Lumison
Turnover: £7.1m (+16%)
Pre-tax profits: £648,000 (+67%)
Sector: IT Based: Scotland
Founded 15 years ago as a father and son venture, Lumison is an IT services provider to SMEs and larger private and public sector organisations. ‘We’re an old fashioned, bootstrapped organic growth business,’ says CEO Aydin Kurt-Elli. With an office in Scotland and London and 55 employees, Kurt-Elli notes that ‘every penny we’ve made goes back into growing the company.’

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